Kindergarten tease; part 2

So the school called yesterday.
"Connor is going to be in preschool this year right?"
"Yes" thinking, wow, they actually figured out the preschool/ kindergarten mixup on their own. Nice.
"Ok, we are going to need his birth certificate, shot records, and proof of residency. Can you bring that by today?"
"Well, can't you use what I submitted last year?"
"Oh, he was enrolled here last year? Hold on a second." ..............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................... "Ok I found his chart, you're all set."
"Also, just to let you know, I got a letter saying he was going to be in Kindergarten this year. You might want to look into that."
"Ok, thanks, I will"

Jeeze louise! Did his chart slip behind the filing cabinet or something? Seriously. I don't know what the heck is going on over there. These are the people I'm trusting to educate my children and they can't even keep track of their own... um... behinds.

Day by day

"Mommy look! I have two and half boo boos."
And sure enough, three scratches on his ankle, two long, and one short. 2.5 boo boos if I've ever seen them.

His hands are his snappers, and his legs are his chunkers. And that's how life is when you're 4.

I woke up yesterday morning to a sweet kiss on my cheek, only one of two per day that I get voluntarily. The other is before bed. But when I opened my eyes I saw instantly that my baby had slipped away a little more in the night. Clearly something was different around the chin, neck, shoulder area. He grew. An absolutely imperceptible amount. An amount only a mother could see... but there it was.

"Bub... you grew while you were sleeping!"
"I know! Someday I will be bigger than Daddy!"

And don't I know it. Someday he will be bigger than Daddy. Inch by inch. Day by day. He will grow to be bigger than Daddy. Everyday I lose my baby and gain a full grown man. But that's life isn't it? We all move along our paths at such a slow rate it doesn't seem like we make any progress at all. That is until we look back and see just how far we've come.

We were at Fuddruckers the other day... or Fun Wreckers and Connor calls it. And we sat in the Elvis themed booth. Connor thought the pictures of Elvis were pictures of our friend Brad. I'm only mentioning this because when I read this later... and I will... it will make me laugh all over again.

Kindergarten tease

I got two identical letters today. One was addressed to the parents of Connor, and the other addressed to the parents of Madison.

Larry opened them since I was totally kicking Connor's butt at Bowling on the Wii and couldn't possibly be bothered. The first one said Madison, grade 3, would be picked up for school by bus at this particular location at this particular time. Fine, expected. The second one said that Connor, grade K, would be picked up by bus at this particular location at this particular time.

I'm sorry... what? Connor, grade K. This is worthy of putting down the Wii-mote for a second.

I'll admit, at first I was a little excited. Could I send him to school this year? Full day school? Would anyone notice that he is only 4? Not to brag, but I think he could pull it off, both in size and smarts. I tried not to smile at the thought of my devious plan, cause inside I knew we could never get away with it. Or could we? Clearly, no one is checking IDs here.

But in the end it doesn't matter. Reality quickly set in and I know I can't send him this year. I'm not going to say anything quite yet though. I don't know how this magical mix-up occurred but I'm curious to see if he gets assigned a teacher. Maybe this was just a bus scheduling glitch. Time will tell.

2010 is the year of the n

2010 is half over!! Can you believe it? I know my life has changed quite a bit in the last 6 months. Phew! And I think the changes are just getting started.

If this year had a shape it would be an "n". Uphill battle, then a little rest, then it's all down hill. (at least I hope.)

Ok, so the end of June means it's time to check in on the New Year's Resolutions. See how we are doing. I had 4 this year.

1. Get my associates degree: I'm still on track for this. It's on my to do list to sign up for my last 2 classes! I plan to be registered by the end of July. Then all I have to do is, you know, pass the classes.
2a. Pay off non mortgage debt: This might actually happen, we'll have to see. We've paid off about half so I guess according to that we are right on track.
2b. Not take on any new debt: Tougher. We did buy Larry a car, so I guess we have taken on new debt. But if we pay it off by the end of the year does it count? But either way, I doubt we will make this one. I'm currently planning to take on quite a bit more debt. This one doesn't look like it's going to happen.
3. Get my hair done at least 3 times: This shouldn't be too hard. I've gotten it done twice so far, so one more time is doable.
4. Do something together as a family at least once a month. I really underestimated myself here. We do stuff together as a family. I must have been having a guilty mommy moment when I put this one on the list. As proof we are planning to see Toy Story 3 tonight.

Ok, not too bad. On track with most and the one I'm sure to miss was done intentionally. I think we are doing the right thing, so I'm forgiven. :)

I'm an excellent driver

Do you know why I'm such a good driver? It's because I have the world's best, most attentive back seat driver ever. Driving with Connor is like that dream I had where I was taking the test to get my license and the DMV tester person was sitting in the passenger seat with a clipboard marking off every little infraction.

"Are you going to turn here Mommy?"
"Yes I am."
"Well you better turn on your arrow!"

After I changed lanes. "Mommy! You went over the line. You are not a great driver. I'm going to call the police."
Then I stopped at a light, after I stopped I rolled forward about 2 inches. "Mommy! You are not a great driver. Your wheels moved a little bit. I'm going to call the police."

We were on the freeway and he felt I should use cruise control. "Push that button. The arrow keeps moving. Make the arrow stop moving."

Heaven forbid I miss my exit. Oh my gosh! "Mommy, where are we going? Mommy why didn't you turn? Mommy why are we going this way? Mommy this is not the way to our house. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy."
"What?!"
"You are going the wrong way."
"I'm so so sorry. I'm not a great driver. You should call the police."

Prompt

Writing Prompt: Start your story with "She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled."

Ok, Here we go...

She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled. A moment later the city bus pulled up and she carefully stepped on.

"Well, hello Lizzy!" said the bus driver. Retired from the Army, he had started driving the city bus to get him out of the house for the day. "Where's your ma today?"
"Hi Mr. Montgomery. Momma has to work today. She said I go to see Chris by myself."
"Well, that's mighty brave of you, riding the bus all alone."
"I'll be alright."
"No doubt about that. I'll make sure you get where you're going."

She took a seat directly behind the bus driver. It was the first time her mother had ever let her ride the bus alone. She was nervous and wanted to be close to the kind Mr. Montgomery. But if anyone asked her she would say she sat there so she could listen to the Jazz playing quietly on his radio.

Along the way they passed the little store where her and Chris used to buy ice cream sandwiches with the money they earned walking old Mrs. Appleworth's dog. She remembered the time Chris was in the back of the store leaning against the drink coolers and talking to that girl from school who giggled too much. She wanted Chris to hurry up. She was bored and the store smelled like beer.

"Chris! Come on. Mamma's gunna be worried!" she had yelled to him. But he never even looked at her. He just waved his hand towards her in an effort to get her to stop bothering him. So she wandered around the store a bit and then casually walked out without paying for her ice cream. As soon as she was out the door she ran all the way to her building, up the stairs, and into her apartment. She was gasping for air when she arrived home but she tried to act normal.

"Hi Momma." she said casually as she unwrapped her stolen treat.
"Lizzy? What on Earth is going on?" her mom asked while wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Where's Chris?"
"Talking to a girl at Mr. Robert's store."

Just then Chris came bursting through the door. "God damn it Lizzie!" he yelled. "What did
you go and do that for?"
"Don't you talk that way in our house, young man." their mother said.
"Ma, Lizzy stole that ice cream! Mr. Roberts said I better get her back there right away or he's gunna send the cops here."
"Elizabeth Rachel Hawkins! I swear. What gets into you girl?"

At the store Momma paid for the ice cream and then made Lizzy work at the store after school for two whole days as punishment.

"Lizzy. Hun? This is your stop." Mr. Montgomery's voice broke through the fog of her memory.

As she approached the hospital the glass double doors opened to let her into the cool, bleached air. She gave a small nod to the lady behind the desk and walked to the elevators. The door opened as soon as she pushed the button and she stepped into the empty oversized elevator. On her way up she took the small metal box out of her dress pocket. She had gotten it out of Chris' room that morning while Momma was making breakfast. It was red with a black lid that had a red dragon on it. She rubbed her thumb over the dragon while she waited for the door to open.

Her dress shoes clicked on the shiny tile floors on her way to Chris' room. The door was open and the curtain was drawn halfway so she could only see him from the knees down. His skinny legs and feet were the only disruption to the smoothness of the thin blue blanket.

"Hey Chris. Happy Birthday!" she said as she sat down in the chair next to the bed. The blinds covering the window were open and the room was filled with summer sun. The nurses had brought in a balloon that said "Happy Birthday" in colorful letters on a silver background. The TV was on but he sound was turned down to almost nothing and the remote laid on a wheeled table along side Chris' uneaten breakfast.
"Hey Monkey Face." Chris whispered. "Where's Ma?"
"She had to work, she said to tell you that she'll be by later." Chris nodded and moved his eyes back to the soundless TV.

"I brought you something." She said after a moment and handed him the dragon box. He struggled to remove the lid, working on one corner and then another. Lizzy almost offered to help him but knew better. He finally opened it to reveal a blue and red braided friendship bracelet.
"Thanks." he said holding it up in the sunlight. "It's really great."
"I made it for you." she said taking it from him and wrapping it around his thin wrist. "You are supposed to make a wish while I tie it on." Chris closed his eyes and wished while she tied the ends in a knot.

He held his arm up to both admire and show off his new bracelet.
"So what did you wish for?" she asked.
"I know I'm not supposed to tell." he said smiling and giving her hand a light squeeze. "Did mom say when she would be here?"
"Seven I think. Do you want me to get your breakfast for you?"
"No thanks. I actually going to take a little nap. If that's ok."
"Sure Chris. Whatever you want." She sat back the hospital chair and watched him drift off to sleep.

Warning: Poop talk ahead!

Red likes his walks at 7:50 am. Sharp! So this morning we are out on our regular walk. Now I have to tell you that Red will only poop on a walk if he gets near this one type of flower. I don't know why. Weird, I know, but I swear it's true. So I do my best to keep him away from these plants. So far so good.

Until today.

I was walking through this one spot where there are quite a bit of these flowers. We were walking along and then all of a sudden Red just backs his butt up into this bush and starts pooping. Crap! (literally) Right as I realize what is going on this car turns the corner and I just know that it's this lady who is known for her calls to the HOA.

This lady walks around the neighborhood several times a day being a busy body and reporting everyone and everything she sees. I don't know if she is on the board, or just bored. But either way, I know this is bad news. She caught me bagless while my dog poops into a flowering bush. Awesome.

She drove down about 5 houses and stops. There is no way I'm going to leave the poop there while this lady is watching, so I just stand there. We were in a stand off. She was sitting there staring at me. I was standing there staring at her. But I was determined to wait her out. She's the one who has somewhere to be, not me. Finally after what seemed like 5 minutes she slowly drove away.

Yes, I went back and picked it up. Lord knows she is going to check that bush when she gets back home to see if I did. And I don't need any letters from the HOA. I thought about hanging my full poop bag on her doorknob with a letter saying something about how since she was so interested in my dog's poop that I wanted her to have it. But I didn't.

I'll just post it on the internet instead.