June 11, 2012

• Last Week, First Day

  It is the middle of the first day of the last week of school. I was at the school so much today that two different teachers told me that they thought I should be collecting a pay check at the end of the week.

  I showed up at school at 9:30am to attend our daughter’s “Market Day,” in which 4th graders sell, sell, sell. They each have to create a good or service to market and sell to their classmates, parents, and teachers. It is mass chaos, but there are some cute ideas out there. Our daughter made signs with catchy phrases, words, sports teams, etc., hand written with fun fonts and bubble letters, and framed with fancy duct tape. Other favorites included pop top bracelets, homemade rubber stamps, sports themed paperweights, and bookmarks decorated with Chinese letters.

  On the downside, students were allowed to sell baked goods and candy this year. You know I’m not a fan of all the sugar kids have access to at school, and also there’s the whole what-about-the-kids-with-food-allergy aspect. Our daughter is really careful, so she only ate things that I approved by talking to other moms and kids. She got one cupcake made from scratch by a good friend. She took one bite and said, “mmmmm,” then turned to me, made a face and threw it away when the friend wasn’t looking. HA! So the stuff that looks gloppy and unappetizing really is just that, huh?!?

  I shopped at Market Day for about an hour, and then ran around the school like a chicken with my head cut off taking care of odds and ends for a meeting I was set to run after school that day, teaching K and 1st graders about the environment. I stopped home for lunch and more supplies, and then went back to school for the meeting. It’s a lot of work, but those little ones are so cute. When I told them that our school saved 40 trees by recycling paper this year, they all spontaneously clapped and cheered. We made a poster to show how many trees we saved, and one little girl wrote the word “HAPPEEEE” across her tree. 

  And now I’m back home, itchin’ and a scratchin’. More red ants? Nope. In fact, I think my initial itchy outbreak was not in fact from the ants, but from something altogether more difficult to avoid — the sunshine. (Yes, @transvestite_rabbit and @madhousewife, I know it’s not that hard to avoid the sun in Seattle and Oregon…..but it is nearly impossible in VA, especially in the communities whose “master plans” included uprooting all the natural shade trees.) I am not happy about this discovery. Or the itchy bumpy neck I’m sporting. Again.

  Swim practice begins in 45 minutes, and I’m busy hiding upstairs where there’s A/C because it is HOT downstairs. Being hot makes me itchier. Sitting at swim practice will be hotter than sitting downstairs in my house. I need to figure out what to feed the entire family in 3-4 different shifts. I am not making much progress on that responsibility from up here in the cool air.

  I have had a flurry of adult social outings over the last week or so. I have another tonight, and I must say — I’m quite looking forward to the margaritas planned for tonight. Icy beverages make the itchiness subside a bit. And the crankiness, I suppose.

   

   

  • 4:45 pm
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