A little rain must fall.

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:52:37 GMT

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." ~John Ruskin

It's the first day of school and it's raining. How poetic is that?

I always feel sad on the first day of school. For me, it's just a sign that my kids are on that runaway train called "growing up". It is bittersweet for sure.

Emma woke up to her alarm and got herself ready--including doing her *own* hair! This is new. Usually I have to say, "Um, can you do something with that bird's nest you call hair??" We'll see how long it takes for this to wear off. Am I right? I dropped her off and watched as she disappeared down the hallway. And I will not go on to tell you how a big ole crocodile tear escaped my eye as I watched her go. Nope, I won't do it. (It was just one tear. Really.) SIGH. Sniff. My little girl is growing up.

Jacob was so funny this morning. I woke him up. He got dressed, brushed his teeth, etc. He then came downstairs and plopped himself at the kitchen table.

JACOB: "Mom, can I NOT go to school today?"

ME: "Of course you are going to school and you are going to be fine."

JACOB, SMIRKING: "Well, I had to give it one last shot."

And then, I knew it would be okay.

We did the whole "meet the teacher" deal last night and it appears, upon first inspection, that the ones that we had time to meet, are nice people. The resource/special ed teacher basically hand picked his teachers and arranged his schedule. I am very grateful for all the help. Jacob and I met his one on one aide this morning and she made me smile. Do y'all ever meet people like that? You just look at them and they make you feel all smiley? She has this infectious smile and laugh. And as she opened her mouth, in her wide smile, I caught a glimmer of her Gold Tooth. Gold around the edges with a gold star in the middle. And if that doesn't say "How Do Ya Do?" well then I just don't know what does. She warmly shook my hand and accepted my cell phone number and she promptly wrote hers down for me. I can dig it. So far, so good.

But the great news is WE ALL SURVIVED! Yes we did. I am reminded of a little song...We get by with a little help from our friends. I pretty much distracted myself today with friends, and then an entryway bench that my MIL gifted me for my birthday, which is still a month away, arrived today and I spent some time assembling it.

First Day Comments:

Jacob: It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be.

For him, that right there is a pretty positive statement.

Emma: It was boring.

There ya go.

I don't speak Whinese...much.

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:51:01 GMT

Enjoy the green in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

"Untold suffering seldom is." ~Franklin P. Jones

-------

Word Of The Day: fanfaronade (fan-fare-uh-'nayde) A noun meaning empty boasting: bluster. Sentence: We soon found out that Christopher's claim that he could play the bagpipes was nothing but fanfaronade--he turned out to be just as bad as the rest of us. I know some people like this, don't you?? I mean, I've always bragged about my bagpipe skills...thankfully no one has ever called me on it.

----------

OY! The weekend is over again. The horror!

Last night, as Emma mopingly started to head up the stairs, she peeked back around the corner at me and said, in Whinese, "Mooooom, the weeeeeekend is never loooooong enough." I generally don't reply when my children speak in Whinese, but this time I had to agree with her and give her a hearty, "I knoooooow," complete with head tilting and foot stomping. Waaaaah! Somebody call the waaaaaambulance!

So, that was that and it didn't stop Monday from coming.

We are able to console ourselves with the fact that it is a 3 day school week. My kids' spring break starts Thursday. And for the first time in 4 years, their spring break falls around Easter. In Iowa City, our spring break always coincided with the university, so it was NEVER around Easter. I found that to be a bummer. Previously, we had always had a week off from school in the spring and it always included Good Friday and Easter Monday. Always. So it was a bit of an adjustment when we moved to Iowa City. Now we're back in the South, baby. We are going to go visit the in-laws for the weekend. It will be nice. Hubby is anxious to spend some time with his folks. I've mentioned before that his dad is in poor health.

The following week, the end of spring break, Emma is going on a trip. WITHOUT HER MOTHER!! I am a bit devastated, but I suppose I will survive. She is going to fly to Iowa to visit her peeps. What?? You may ask...BACKSTORY: It goes like this...hubby has 3 sisters. Sister One lives in NC. Sister Two lives in Iowa City, IA (they moved there a couple of years before we did and I think they will be living there for the rest of their natural lives) . Sister Three lives in SC, about 3 hours from us and she goes out to Iowa about twice a year to visit sister number 2. She has invited Emma to travel with her to Iowa so she can visit her peeps. Sisters Two and Three and the grandma have gone in together to get Emma her plane ticket as an early birthday present. Now you are all caught up...So she won't be flying by herself. But still. I will miss her. She won't miss me. And I'm sure she will have a great time.

Last Friday afternoon we visited a new bird store here in town. They have some way cool birds. For example, there is Rocky, a Moluccan Cockatoo. (The picture is not Rocky, but another like him.) The coloring is so beautiful and that dude can ring like a telephone! Not kidding. It is freaky. There was a fellow in there, not an employee of the bird store, but OBVIOUSLY an avid bird lover. He was just a wealth of information. Following us around the store sharing tidbit after tidbit. <insert awkward smile here> We finally leave the store, hop in Big Red and then Jacob says, "Mom, that guy was like an information desk...only, without the desk." Oh, how I cracked up at that one. That kid is full of ' em.

I'm off to do some much delayed housework. We are expecting some friends in for a couple of days this week. I always find that somewhat motivational.

Red Van Ramblings: Kids

A little rain must fall.

I don't speak Whinese...much.