Fall forward

The weather has cooled down here, after the remnants of the tropical storm drenched us for a couple of days. I hope y'all up the coast are drying out now. I love the fall weather. I say there are 15 minutes in SC when you can enjoy the outdoors, and this is it. Fall and Spring are my two favorite days.


I have been sort of busy (busy! busy! busy! I am Important!). I actually worked a full week, which for me is 30 hours M-Th.

Mark was sick last week and he's catching up on his work in his virtual charter school.  You know, when your kid goes to school, you take him in at 8 and pick him up at 3 and you pretty much assume there is learning in between.  Like magic.  And of course, Mark was at Carolina School for Inquiry, where excellent learning takes place every day, like magic.  Magic and a great deal of hard work and planning from an excellent faculty, staff, and administration.  With a virtual charter school, I have to make sure Mark has 30 hours of learning in a specified variety of subjects.  Whether I know diddly squat or not.  Now, the lessons are really well planned, with a mixture of on-line instruction, off-line work (including labs), and on- and off-line assessment.  But Mark doesn't get the interaction he had at CSI.  The energy that comes with a really good classroom setting, lead by a professional teacher.  The on-line teachers are fine, but we haven't figured out if we can use them to Mark's benefit yet.  It's a process.  It's still happening.

I was sworn in to the CSI board again last night and elected chair. We are planning to work on sustainability and long range plans, especially on-going funding sources and technology.  The new board has a lot of people who are new to CSI, at least to the board, and I'm really excited.  They respect the history and the ancestral memory, but they are not entwined in past drama-baggage.  They are looking to the future.  One of the new board members suggested that there is a danger that some of the members who were re-elected (after being off a year) might be subject to the old bad patterns.  That is an excellent point, and something we must all guard against.  Although our mistakes were not as outrageous as the board from last year, we did have a couple of problems.  For me, it is that I had trouble communicating with the community.  I was trying so hard to keep the board professional and about governing not managing that I may have been too aloof.  It's a fine line, and I think that there are some other board members who can help me find the balance.  I am looking forward to the challenges.  More challenge, less drama.


In other news, I have passed two of the three parts of the enrolled agent exam. I'm going to take the third part in the next two weeks. After that, I have to apply, which means a background check and examination of my tax return.  More challenges, along with the regular ebbs and flow of a tax office.  October 15 is the deadline for filing personal tax returns if you got an extension.  It's like a mini April for us.  Then we start going to workshops and classes, sending out planners, examining last year's procedures to see how to make it better this year, and incorporating the new regulations into our routines.  It's very exciting.  OK... maybe not to everyone.  Go figure.
 I am also running for the St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church vestry, which meant I had to go get "received" into the church by the bishop. Last Sunday my friend Morgan and I went to Rock Hill (about an hour away) for me to do that. It was very cool.  The church was beautiful in a very different way from St. Michael's.  The people were welcoming, the music was great but different.  I got goose bumps when I was received, although that's when the rain started. Hmmmm. Anyway, I forgot to get my official certificate, so I might not be able to be on the Vestry anyway. If that is the case, I'll take it as a sign from God and be grateful for the heads up.

Oh yeah, I have volunteered to help a non-profit organization called Girls, Inc. here in Columbia.  I have three sons, and like many women, I always wanted a daughter.  At some point I realized that the good Lord had a reason for giving me sons not daughters, and it may have something to do with the violent twitch I get when I hear high pitched squeals.  Although I enjoy my nieces (hey Roslyn!), my cousin Lizzie, and my daughter-in-law Katie, I am not a girl scout leader type.  Which is irrelevant, because I'm going to be helping with the bookkeeping.  Accounts rarely squeal.  And who knows, maybe someday I will have the opportunity to work with these great young women, even if they do squeal.

On Mark's schooling, I need some advice. I want to enrich his world history experience by watching a couple of movies. I'm going to get Luther when we get to the Reformation next week, but isn't there a good movie about Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci? Something that will show the art and give him a feel for the time and politics and culture. Any suggestions for this or any world history type movie from 1400 to the present would be appreciated. 

So that's me today.