My last day of summer :(

Though I thought I was done with the high school web development curriculum, I was not, and I've been working on that and trying to catch up in the garden, before returning to work this coming week.  The course was supposed to be a one-semester course, but it was erroneously published as a year-long course.  By the time we noticed it, students had already planned schedules around the class.  So...I'm adding some material to the end to extend the course.  We'll get to cover some fun topics I didn't think we would have time for (objects and cookies, along with others), and I'm enjoying that. I would liked to have had the time to do something fun though.  I like to name my summers.  Previous summers include "Summer of the broken wrist", "Summer of the heart crap", "Summer of Dej & Laree's drug exploration".  This summer gets to be called "Summer of drudgery".

I had a long, productive cooking day, getting ready for the work week. The first couple of weeks are always so difficult, intense, and hard to get back into the swing of things, that I try to have as much done ahead as I can to take a little stress off.  I still need to make a batch of hummus, but I  have everything done, cleaned up and put away, and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to get back in the kitchen.  The hummus may have to wait until Tuesday.  So far I've made:

• Dal
• Roasted Red Pepper Sauce - I've never tried this before. I'm serving with pasta and
• Roasted broccoli (harvested from our garden today), cauliflower, and eggplant (also from our garden)
• Stewed seitan and potatoes in miso gravy served over
• Quinoa
• Peeled and prepped 2 bulbs of garlic (I use a lot of garlic)
• Chocolate "ice cream" (and chopped and froze another big bunch of bananas for the next batch of ice cream)
• A giant fruit salad, because we go through buckets of fresh fruit

It's going to be a really rough week for Froggie, who still can't stand to be separated from me.  I've barely left the house this summer, and suddenly this week, Luce and I will both be gone for long periods of time.  Frog and I are both going to have withdrawal!

Froggie loves the idea of going for walks with us, but struggles, and I have to carry him for at least half the walk.  Pugs have issues with breathing and overheat easily, and he's an old man with much shorter legs than anyone else. He loves to look around and be carried while we walk.  We walk four or five (we watch Sophie--Dej's dog a lot) dogs, and carrying one isn't particularly easy. I gave in and got a doggie backpack carrier for him.  He loved it! He relaxed against me, looked around, and was a very happy boy. His face said, "What took you so long to figure this out."  He gets a ridiculous amount of exercise following me around the house everywhere. I walk fast, so he runs, and I go up and down the steps dozens of times a day. I'm not worried about his exercise level, so the backpack seems to be a good solution for us for now.

I'm not totally certain what my schedule will be yet.  I know my class times, but Luce will be starting at the high school on our campus, and I will have to arrange my schedule around her transportation needs.  We don't yet know her schedule.  The school runs like a college, rather than a high school, so they don't need to be there all day every day.  We won't have her class schedule until next week (I hope!), and then I can set my office hours and set my daily schedule.  I don't like not knowing.  I'm going to try to be home as much as I can for Froggie and may have to get someone to come sit with him on my longer days.

Max and Elvis moved into their third new "nesting box" this morning.  I'm pretty sure they have decided that the eggs will come if they just find the right box.  Poor little guys!