Quiet morning

Ahh.  It is so nice outside this morning.  According to the van, it's only 65 degrees out there.  Very nice!  Everyone is off to school and  work, so it's only me and Kate here.  Nice and quiet in the house.  Finished my 2nd English class on Monday and started my Intro to Film class yesterday.  Counting this class, only 3 let until I graduate.  I'm so excited!  I will miss doing these classes, and I will especially miss Ashford since they have been so good.  When I decide to start my Master's, I will have to find another college since Ashford doesn't have the programs I need.  That kinda makes me sad since I really enjoy this place.  Oh well, thoughts for another day.
There is a craft vendor fair the beginning of December again this year.  I was thinking about combining the cards with comfort scarves.  I just don't know how they would go over.  Been trying to get in touch with Andrea to get her thoughts on it, but we just haven't been able to connect lately to talk about it.

Funky

Talk about a funky weekend.  Pouring down rain Friday morning before school time.  Rain had pretty much stopped by the time I had to leave to take Del to the bus.  Too bad I didn't realize the roads I have to take flood  that bad...  That really sucked!  Floated my van not a block from the house.  Didn't get very far, did I?    Had to call Donald to come get us.  He thought it was funny.  We didn't  though.  He gave me his truck keys after he got me out of the large "puddle" I was in.  But there were so many roads flooded that I just gave it up and came back to the house.  Del's bus driver called me, but he couldn't come get him since they weren't letting any more buses through the gates due to the flooding.  Called Del's teacher and let her know too.  Donald ended up throwing the belt on my van bringing it home, so he spent the next two hours fixing that.  Needless to say, he wasn't happy.  Even after he got it fixed, I didn't want to try and drive all the way to Del's school.  Too far and there were supposed to be more big storms coming....  Nope.  Just kept my happy self at home.  I didn't even go out the gate until yesterday morning.  Van seems to be doing OK, but I'm going to take it in later and get it checked out and the oil changed, just to be safe.  Ugh.  Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Too Much to Ask?

Is is too really too much to ask for my husband and my kids NOT to be stupid when I am trying to write a term paper?  I've only been attending this school for the last 2 1/2 years and the schedule has only been  the same the ENTIRE time.  My entire family knows that I have homework on Thursdays and Mondays.  And I have papers due on Mondays.  So what do they do?  Danny decides to throw a fit because I won't just drop everything and drive him up to the Boardwalk so he and and some friends can walk around and "look for jobs".  Not like I have anything better to do.  It's only after 4pm, haven't started dinner, still have papers to write, kid to put through showers and in bed, house to clean....  Dinner ended up being an hour late since I had to send my husband to the store for sour cream since I have no idea what happened to the container I had in the fridge.  That took almost 30 minutes right there.  I finally get dinner on the table and Danny is asleep in his room.  Guess that is what happens when you stay up half the night and still have to get up and go to school.  At least I get to lay down during the day to take a nap when Kate does.  So I finally sit down about 8 to start writing and Del decides that is when he needs to come downstairs and tell us he is having trouble with a couple kids in his class.  His daddy goes ballistic.  The last couple of years, that was how the "I'm not going to school" started.  Trouble with other kids, trouble with the teachers, on and on until he just wasn't going or it was a battle to get him out of the van at the door.  So his dad immediately jumped to that conclusion and got mad.  I sent Del upstairs and went outside to calm down.  Ridiculous that he waits till I sit down to write to start this and that his dad can't even hear him out before getting upset.  Turns out Del is handling it at school like he is supposed to, just wanted us to know what was going on. (Supposedly).

Can I get a day where I don't have to play mediator between my kids or between my husband and the kids? I finally get my paper done at about 11:45, still have other homework to finish and turn in by midnight.  That still leaves me with the house to clean up before I can go to bed.  I didn't even bother to make hubby's lunch before I went to bed.  Left if for this morning.  Made it before I left to take Del to the bus.  Still have a sink of dishes, but wasn't waiting up for the dishwasher to finish so I could unload and re-load it.  Ugh...  At least it was gorgeous out this morning when I walked out the door.  Nice and cool, only about 72 according to the van...  Wish it would stay that way.

And I seriously need a new keyboard.  The space bar on this one doesn't like to play nice anymore.

Ugh. Mondays!!!

As much as I prefer the school year to summer vacation, I remembered this weekend one of the downsides to the school year.  The kids get into the habit of waking up early (this year they adjusted quick!), and don't sleep in on the weekends.  So I don't get to either!  Oh well.  In the scheme of things this is minor.  The school year is easier, when Del goes to school, since they have to be on a such a strict schedule.  But Mondays are always rough.  This morning it was a slightly late start, no time to play computer before we left for the bus, and a broken plate....  The up side is that he got on the bus with no problems.  I did call the school and talk to one of the paras and let them know about his morning though.  Since I don't like being blindsided with stuff, I try not to do that to others.  He may be just fine when he gets there but don't want to take the chance that he isn't.

Del had a big weekend.  Danny asked on Friday if he could have a friend come over to hang out for a while on Saturday.  Through some misunderstanding between them, the friend thought he was spending the night.  Not something we usually allow since Del doesn't do very well with strangers in the house, but I decided to go ahead and try it.  Del was kinda wound up at first, but he settled and did ok later.  I didn't take Danny's friend home until 1:30 yesterday afternoon, so that gave Del more time to adjust to someone else being in the house.  He did fairly well overall but it isn't something I would want to do every weekend I don't think.

Here's to keeping our fingers crossed that we get through this week as well as we did last week......

Just have to keep in mind:   

Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Geez!

You would think Del wants to go to school or something!  He woke me up at 5:30 wanting me to get up and get ready to take him to the bus.  We don't have to leave until 6:30...  Danny on the other hand, he's already fighting about getting up and getting ready when he is supposed to.  I told him yesterday that he has to be up, dressed, downstairs, and ready to go before I leave.  He was in bed asleep by a decent time, but he certainly isn't a morning person.  Ugh.  I really haven't had enough coffee yet this morning!

First day of school

Both boys made it through the first day of school with flying colors it seems.  My oldest's schedule got changed since he isn't playing football any more and doesn't need PE both semesters.  I think he's talked to me more in the 10 minutes since I came in the door than he has at one time in months.  And I didn't have to pry to get him to talk to me either!  My younger son did very well on the bus and at the school.  I called (after school ended) and talked to one of the aides in the room.  She said she saw him at lunch and he seemed to be in good spirits and did well.  He even initiated conversation with her!  Talk about cool.  He said he went to math and to social studies, but his teacher said they were going to wait a week before going to PE to let all the craziness subside.  That sounds like a plan to me.  My son said he enjoyed riding the bus and likes the driver and the aide. He was in good spirits when I picked him up too.  That is a relief to me.  Still don't want to get my hopes up.  We'll see....

The First School Morning of the Year

So everything seemed to go smooth this morning.  Boys got up easy, got ready quickly, and we made it out of the house relatively on time.  Too bad the train halfway between here and the drop-off decided to come to a complete stop across our path...  Oh well, good thing I have the bus driver's phone number, huh?  My son said he was excited about going back to school.  We got in the car and the first thing he told me was "be good, follow direction, stay calm".  I stayed at the transfer station until his bus pulled out.  And then I cried all the way back to the house.  After the last two years, I am terrified that we are starting the whole routine again.  My hope is that this teacher actually does what she says she does and doesn't just give up.  Everyone else has in the last two years.  It's not like this is the first time I have sent my son off to school.  I know this is a reaction to the stress of the last couple of years and my husband's fear (not that he will admit it) of what this year will bring.

Now I just have to keep myself from calling the school to check on him.....