What I've been up to....

I'm not sure where to begin, but thought I owed you guys SOME sort of explanation for my ever increasing slackerness (my word), when it comes to blogging.

Because I know my absence is what has consumed your thoughts, day and night. What? You didn't even notice I was gone? Fine. Whatever.

As many of you know, I serve on the Board of Trustees for my children's Charter School. Not only am I a board member,but I am also a founder. This means that I helped create the school, get it approved by the state, and put in lots and lots of my time (for free) to get the school up and running. It has truly been a labor of love that has been a big part of our whole family's lives for the past 6 years. We are currently in our 4th year of operation. We have an amazing school. But in the young life of our school, we have endured our fair share of growing pains.

This past month has been especially tumultuous. We recently went through a transition in leadership that was sudden, and unexpected, and was very stressful for our staff. Our director was recruited away from us by a University, and resigned unexpectedly (but on really good terms with us, it was just a great opportunity for him). We replaced him with someone we hoped would help our school reach its full potential. Unfortunately things didn't turn out as we expected, and we again find ourselves looking for a director who will be the right one to help us fulfill our charter, and live up to our mission and vision.

This is a time of high anxiety and stress. Our staff is uncertain, they're anxious about their jobs, and the direction of our school. We (the board), have invested so much of ourselves into this school. We feel so much pressure to find the right leader. One who will uphold the values our school was founded upon, as well as help us fulfill our charter promises to the state, and uphold the mission of the school. Parents are always nervous when big changes happen with the school. My absence in the blog world has been due to the many, many meetings we've had as a board, with the staff, with legal counsel (so we can make sure the school is always protected in decisions we make, and action we take), with emails and interviews and all sorts of responsibilities that would normally fall to the director, but which the board has had to pick up due to this transition.

This has taken a toll on my family as well, and the time I would normally spend blogging and visiting has been something I've felt needed to be dedicated to my family, and the care of my household.

I wasn't able to blog about the changes taking place during the time decisions were needing to be discussed and made, since I have a public blog and I know some people affiliated with our school do know about my blog, and may read it. It has been so hard not to be able to use this as an outlet for all the stress and anxiety!

Things are far from settled with the school, but the stress is diminishing each day, as we put more and more processes, and people in place to get things running smoothly. And we have an amazing staff that is setting their anxiety aside to continue with the wonderful education they have provided our children all along. The kids all LOVE going to school there and the dedication of our teachers never ceases to amaze me.

I know this is getting long and boring...I just have a lot all built up that I haven't been able to share! Even now there are things I will never be able to blog about, but at least getting some of it out feels better!

During this time we have also had some health concerns with Cowgirl we are dealing with. We don't have any real answers yet, and hopefully it's nothing serious, but the uncertainty still takes it's toll. I will let everyone know how things are with her as we have more tests done, and hopefully get some answers. The symptoms aren't anything that are disrupting her life horribly and we are optimistic that it's nothing very serious. Still, I'm kinda paranoid, so if I let myself, my mind will wander to the worst possible scenario and then I get kinda freaked out. So I just try not to go there!

Last night we returned from a little family weekend away in Idaho. I'll be sharing more about that the next few days. I'll have pictures from the wedding tomorrow, and I can't wait to share about Cowgirl's riding lessons...she was in her element! I almost felt like I should leave her there on the ranch, because it seems to suit her so much better than here in suburbia!

I really miss my blog friends, and reading about your lives and activities. I hope to be back blogging and visiting a lot more from now on, but please be patient with me. I can't promise anything!

I hope you are all well, and I'm off to start making the rounds! I can't wait to see what you've all been up to!