The First Week

Well, we Cunninghams have started our fall, winter, and spring schedule for school. I started college, Mom began as the science teacher, and Seth and Mandy have returned as students to Geneva.

On Monday, Dad woke us up around six fifteen, which was a big change from sleeping in until nine or ten AM. We ate breakfast and got dressed. We were in a hurry, so we did not have the chance to get first-day of school pictures. Because it was the first day of school, Geneva was having a sort of orientation/ breakfast for the parents of the students. Dad drove to me to Georgia Gwinnett, and I walked into it. The college is taking over Georgia Perimeter, which will be fully gone by next year. The college is made of up three buildings, A, B, and C. A is where Perimeter still is, but the bookstore and information desk is also there. Buildings B and C have GGC classrooms, and B has a restaurant that I will be eating in starting next week. Anyway, the college is brand-new and is all for the latest technology in helping students learn. I don't call it helpful; I consider it unnecessary and complicated, one more thing to do. All the students have three accounts (and they will probably get more over the rest of the year). The first is the banner account where the schedule is posted; the second is the Web CT Vista where the students get to see their grades, announcements, and homework assignments; and the third is the e-mail account that the students use to e-mail teachers and get messages from the school. Well, the first week of school went bad for me technology- wise. My Vista refused to work, and my e-mail refused to log me in and I was unaware of the account number and password. On Tuesday, I got my Vista solved. I spent the next few days feeling stressed out about the lack of a working e-mail address. Finally, today, with the help of my algebra teacher, I got to fix it. I hope next week will go smoothly.

My schedule is weird and means boredom. My first classes everyday begin at 8 AM and end about an hour later. On Wednesdays, my next class begins at 11 AM and school is over by 1 PM. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, school is over at 3:20 after a two- hour computer class. Mondays and Fridays mean two hours of waiting before going home. I guess it serves me right for not knowing how to drive myself yet. Thankfully, my laptop with Internet helps spare me from boredom and I'm reading "The Amber Spyglass."

School has gone well for Mom, Seth, and Mandy as well. Mom is enjoying it thoroughly. On Wednesdays, she teaches Geneva at Home, a program for homeschoolers before they can enter Geneva in sixth grade. She loves this class, and the students are like little sponges and have said that science is their favorite class. Mandy has her best bud Bethany as her classmate as well as another girl Megan. She also has two annoying boys in her class, Ian and Micah. Seth is doing well, considering this is his first year with Mrs. Boyd, the infamous strict English teacher. On Tuesday, she gave him an assignment of summarizing various chapters of "The Count of Monte Christo." Poor Seth spent six hours finishing it, and that meant missing a trip to the pool. When he returned to class on Thursday, he learned his classmate Michael had only taken an hour to complete the assignment. He then learned that he had only to do five chapters, not the whole thing. Well, at least Seth won't have English homework for a while, hopefully.

Well, enough of school. The weather has been miserably hot this week as usual. However, we have found a way to keep the house cooler. We turn on the master fan when it is cool in the evenings and have smaller fans running all over the place. Our yard and back deck were looking poor for plant life. However, we have received a special blessing and a relief. On Thursday, we had a rain shower that didn't last that long. It was so good to see rain again after not having it for several weeks. Tonight, we had a thunderstorm pass through the area and got poured on. The air is humid but cool, and the house feels wonderfully cool. Nights are getting cooler, now let's hope the days start getting cooler as well.

On Thursday, Dad turned forty. We did a little intimate family celebration off- the- cuff. Mom and I went shopping and bought him some tobacco, the Indiana Jones trilogy, and some beer. We kids all got him cards and signed them. Mom made BLTs for dinner and made pumpkin pie as a surprise (since it is Dad's favorite dessert). I believe next month is the party, but I'm not actually sure about that, so don't call me reliable on that.

Tonight the Hortons, good friends of our family that we have known since late 1991, invited us over for dinner. Dad was suspicious. Ever since his surprise 30th birthday party, he has insisted on no more surprises. He asked Mom if she was up to something, but she denied it. On the way to their house, Dad kept looking around the neighborhood to see if there were any recognizable cars. Dinner was lovely with salad, grilled chicken, bread, cheesy potatoes, and a chocolate casserole. We enjoyed good conversation and watched "Much Ado about Nothing." Around ten PM, we came home.

So, it has been a good week as a starting point. Tomorrow will be busy for us. Dad, Mom, and Mandy will be going to Kiera Abraham's 1st birthday party. Seth and I will be going to a youth group pool party, which we are both looking forward to.