Where in the world are the Koopmans?
Well, right where we've been for ages, but quite a bit busier than we have been in a while.
Jeff started work at a local car dealership about a week and a half ago and has already made his first sale. He seems to be enjoying the work (pretty much anything to do with cars is a winner in his book) and the people he works with. As irony would play out, we had a HUGE hail storm just a couple of days after he started there, so he's getting the challenge of selling cars with hail damage. He wound up doing two interviews the day he turned in his application and then was sent to do the standard drug testing. The job had to have been appointed of God, as it took less than 4 hours to get his background check and drug tests back. I haven't ever heard of either of those things coming back so quickly. He does work primarily on a commission status, so it's nerve wracking to not know exactly how much our income will be monthly, but I feel good about it all.
I start my summer class in just under a week. This semester I'll only be taking one class, but I've planned out the next 5 semesters and will be completing two Associate's of Science degrees by May of 2015; one in Psychology and one in Forensic Science. What does this mean for me? Most likely that I'm at least partially insane myself. Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters will involve 4 classes each and Summer 2014 will involve 5. Yes, FIVE. Granted, one of the courses is only 1 credit hour a week, so I kind of "don't count it". Completing the summer semester(s) will complete my Associate's of Science in Psychology. Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 will be 3 and 2 course semesters respectively. At this point in time, the plan is that I will be working part time, whether by cleaning houses again or by working as a Student Instructor (SI) Leader at the college. Right now, that is undecided primarily because the permanent funding for the SI Leaders did not come through and we are waiting to find out if the special funding is going to be given. We won't know that until likely mid-August or later. I really hope that it all comes through. It would look good for me on transcripts, as well as the fact that I truly want to help people get into their programs by tutoring and leading. Where will all this leave Kamden?
Well....
I met with the head of the Special Needs Program for our area schools last Thursday and we started the process of getting Kamden set up for evaluations to be in the special needs program in the school district. It's a little tricky to do over the summer, but still is possible and they are doing everything they can to accommodate us. Many of the tests will be done at the main office, but some have to be done in a classroom style setting. With Kamden's anxiety level being so high in new surroundings and situations, we are seeing about having him observed and evaluated during one of the local library story times or play groups. Depending on the severity of his need for the program, he will go to one of two schools. One is the one he would be in according to the district lines of the city. The other is actually somewhat specialized for working with autistic children. Not only are the special education teachers specially trained regarding autism, but the regular classroom teachers are as well which helps tremendously with integrating some autistic children into regular classrooms over time.
In my absence, we also hit the two-year anniversary of Kaidance's death. This year was infinitely harder than last. I suppose in many ways I was still in shock last year and this year was the reality that she's truly gone and never coming back to me. The day before her birthday, I was a complete wreck, and apparently spoke somewhat out of my mind to Jeff. I spent the majority of the day in bed and couldn't shake the feeling that I was either going to vomit or explode from the emotions I was wrestling with. On her birthday, a wonderful and loving friend from the U.K. sent me flowers in her honor. My flowers "for Kaidi" were always Gerber daisies... I never mentioned that, but when I got the bouquet, there were three huge daisies as part of the arrangement. I don't know exactly why seeing those flowers made me feel so calm, but it set me at peace.
Jeff started work at a local car dealership about a week and a half ago and has already made his first sale. He seems to be enjoying the work (pretty much anything to do with cars is a winner in his book) and the people he works with. As irony would play out, we had a HUGE hail storm just a couple of days after he started there, so he's getting the challenge of selling cars with hail damage. He wound up doing two interviews the day he turned in his application and then was sent to do the standard drug testing. The job had to have been appointed of God, as it took less than 4 hours to get his background check and drug tests back. I haven't ever heard of either of those things coming back so quickly. He does work primarily on a commission status, so it's nerve wracking to not know exactly how much our income will be monthly, but I feel good about it all.
I start my summer class in just under a week. This semester I'll only be taking one class, but I've planned out the next 5 semesters and will be completing two Associate's of Science degrees by May of 2015; one in Psychology and one in Forensic Science. What does this mean for me? Most likely that I'm at least partially insane myself. Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters will involve 4 classes each and Summer 2014 will involve 5. Yes, FIVE. Granted, one of the courses is only 1 credit hour a week, so I kind of "don't count it". Completing the summer semester(s) will complete my Associate's of Science in Psychology. Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 will be 3 and 2 course semesters respectively. At this point in time, the plan is that I will be working part time, whether by cleaning houses again or by working as a Student Instructor (SI) Leader at the college. Right now, that is undecided primarily because the permanent funding for the SI Leaders did not come through and we are waiting to find out if the special funding is going to be given. We won't know that until likely mid-August or later. I really hope that it all comes through. It would look good for me on transcripts, as well as the fact that I truly want to help people get into their programs by tutoring and leading. Where will all this leave Kamden?
Well....
I met with the head of the Special Needs Program for our area schools last Thursday and we started the process of getting Kamden set up for evaluations to be in the special needs program in the school district. It's a little tricky to do over the summer, but still is possible and they are doing everything they can to accommodate us. Many of the tests will be done at the main office, but some have to be done in a classroom style setting. With Kamden's anxiety level being so high in new surroundings and situations, we are seeing about having him observed and evaluated during one of the local library story times or play groups. Depending on the severity of his need for the program, he will go to one of two schools. One is the one he would be in according to the district lines of the city. The other is actually somewhat specialized for working with autistic children. Not only are the special education teachers specially trained regarding autism, but the regular classroom teachers are as well which helps tremendously with integrating some autistic children into regular classrooms over time.
In my absence, we also hit the two-year anniversary of Kaidance's death. This year was infinitely harder than last. I suppose in many ways I was still in shock last year and this year was the reality that she's truly gone and never coming back to me. The day before her birthday, I was a complete wreck, and apparently spoke somewhat out of my mind to Jeff. I spent the majority of the day in bed and couldn't shake the feeling that I was either going to vomit or explode from the emotions I was wrestling with. On her birthday, a wonderful and loving friend from the U.K. sent me flowers in her honor. My flowers "for Kaidi" were always Gerber daisies... I never mentioned that, but when I got the bouquet, there were three huge daisies as part of the arrangement. I don't know exactly why seeing those flowers made me feel so calm, but it set me at peace.
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