It's a Wonderful Life!!

It's Football Season

Yes, sports fans, it's football season. And......my son Sam, is playing football for the first year. It's all a little bewildering to me. I can manage being a fan, and a spectator, but being the mom of a player, well, let's just say, I am a wee bit out of my comfort zone.

Let's start with the practice schedule. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 5:30 til 7. That seems a little extreme to me, but what do I know. Plus, they don't want us parents sticking around, they WANT us to leave. Which means they actually don't want me to hang around and spectate and speculate on the goings on. Well, I have gotten over that by running errands and sneaking in about 30 minutes early just to get a peek.

Next is the gear. This is like dressing up for the prom or something. Like you are about to fly off into space and you will be gone for an extended period of time. There is practice pants with these weird pockets. There is shoulder pads. You have to wear a t-shirt under the shoulder pads. So I show up the first day of dress out with Mr. Man in his practice pants and I had a bag in my hand with all the pads in it. A sweet little coach came up to me and said there are pockets inside the pants that those fit in and snaps that the butt pads snap onto. So me and Mr. Man and the sweet little coach go to my car and Mr. Man has to pull off his pants (while he is giving me the look) and the coach gives me a lesson on how to dress my son for football.

So really football practice is from 5 till 7:30 because you have all this damn gear to get together and tear apart.

But Mr. Man loves it, there is not a dry thread on him when he comes running off the field and he is STARVING TO DEATH. He is already eating me out of house and home.

It occurred to me the other day that it will be my responsibility to feed this creature for another 12 years or so and that scares me to death. So long as they keep making Ravioli and Doritoes, we are in business. The problem is Mr. Man likes good ole home cooking and I don't particularly love to cook.

Life is good at the Condo. I had a wonderful weekend. We had a benefit for the American Cancer Society and raised $2500, which I thought was awesome. We hope to do it annually and let that be Walthall's cause. It especially means alot to me since my dad died of cancer. We had some 250 people come through. I drank a little too much, but hey, I had me some fun. Brian Blair played beautifully, as usually, and my gracious, my great friend Sallie, she is the bomb at her music, but Tina definitely gets the dance award, that sexy thang........

It was a good night indeed all around!

Life is good, my friends = I WILL FIGURE THIS FOOTBALL THING OUT!

Peace and Blessings!

White Belt - Black Stripe

Mr. Man has been working on the next step in his Karate Class. I can't say he has worked hard - I think it sank in by osmosis. We would study the terms at home and he would work on the stances and moves in class. He was eager to "earn" this new belt. So, the past couple of months, I have been occasionally "testing" him on the terms. It took three tries, but he earned his new belt. We kept the study sheet in the car and as we drove from here to yonder, I would ask him questions. You know us moms have a captive audience in the car while driving, so I figured it would be a good time to review the terms.

His teacher, Mr. Morris, is a tough guy, and a tough teacher, he puts up with no nonsense, and since my child is full of nonsense, I figured Karate would be just the thing for him. The beginning of class, Mr. Morris always asks his students how their week was and if anything happened they would like to share? And then they begin by stretching and exercising. I believe this class has been good for Mr. Man. Mr. Morris also insists that when they leave the class they are to be respectful to their elders and to try and do their best. He reminds them to do what their parents say and to always say yes ma'am.

This is an interview with Mr. Man this morning:

ME: What do you like about Mr. Morris?

MR. MAN: He makes us do right in class.

ME: What have you learned in his class?

MR. MAN: I've learned to be a better student in class.

ME: What is your favorite part about Karate?

MR. MAN: Sparring

ME: What is your least favorite?

MR. MAN: Oh, that's easy, making us do the iron chair.

ME: What important life skills can you learn in Karate?

MR. MAN: Blocking is something that protects you from getting hurt.

ME: No, I mean how you act and treat people?

MR. MAN: Sometimes good. It teaches you all the things that are important about life. Like doing things good in school, like, you know how people should be nice.

ME: What  color best in next?

MR. MAN: After white belt, black stripe it's Yellow Belt, then Gold, then Green. I better stop there, then I think it may be red, then Black.

ME: What do you have to do to earn a Yellow Belt?

MR. MAN: You have to study the punches, terms and blocks and the stances, it's all hard.

ME: When do you hope to earn your Yellow Belt?

MR. MAN: I could do it around my birthday on March 28th.

ME: Who do you like to spar with the best?

MR. MAN: Probably Mr. Morris.

ME: No, someone who is a better opponent?

MR. MAN: Hunter or Logan - I could beat him.

ME: How many push ups can you do?

MR. MAN: Without taking a break  - probably 50.

ME: OK, prove it....and he did - 50!

ME: Good Job Sam!

MR. MAN: That was hard mom!

ME: What are the last things you do before class ends?

MR. MAN: Usually the words: COURTESY, INTEGRITY, SELF-CONTROL, PERSEVERANCE AND INDOMITABLE SPIRIT. Then we bow to Mr. Morris and he holds up his hand and we jump up to clap his hand. But a Black Belt bows like this: Hands by his hips and then bow. But a lower belt puts their left fist out and right hand grabs the other fist, then you bow.

ME: Do you like Karate alot?

MR. MAN: I wouldn't say alot.

ME: Do you want to take classes next year?

MR. MAN: Sure!

ME: OK, Sam, thank you for the interview.

MR. MAN: You're welcome.

Here are some other pics of the class and Mr. Man taking the test for his white belt, black stripe.

So, that was that.

Peace!

The Saturday Evening Post - Reincarnation and The Snaggletooth 1st Grader

If I were of the persuasion to embrace re-incarnation, I would either come back as my dog, Ginger, or a 1st Grade Teacher. Now, I say this with a little reservation, but let's just take this one step at a time.

Ginger, my beloved rescue dog, has a wandering spirit, much like myself in my younger days. What with all the kids in and out of the gate and door, we have found it quite difficult to keep her gated in. She is the neighborhood watchdog. She not only barks at people, but she barks at the wind, squirrels, birds, and stalkers. I am thankful she is a barker. But some of my neighbors may beg to differ. One night not in the too distant past, she had "treed a cat" (is that how you spell it?). Now bear in mind this was 3am and I was in a dead sleep. The barking aroused the attention of my neighbor Sid. He walked down and tried to persuade Ginger to settle down.

All I heard was a man's voice outside my bedroom window. And being the cautious and scared individual that I am, I called 911. The police came out, walked around the house and didn't see anything. They said "we must have scared him off". The Stalker must have scampered home before blue came. So they left and I had a sleepless remainder of the night. The next morning I called Julie to tell her about my stalker and the police drama. She in turn called her beloved only to discover he was my stalker. So, a belated thanks to Sid for watching out for my well-being. But scarring me to death. I am just glad to know who it was.

The other event with Ginger was when my back-yard neighbor, Steve, called at 2:15 AM to say that he was gonna KILL my beloved Ginger if I did not shut her up. I still have that taped conversation saved on my answering machine, just in case.

You see, I sleep very peacefully on my C-Pap machine, and I don't know there is a world going on out there. It takes alot to stir me to arousal (please get you mind out of the gutter!). I have been sleeping like a baby lately - which is a much needed reprieve from the days before C-Pap.

And thanks to Ginger for keeping the neighborhood a safer place.

The other reincarnated force I would be is a 1st grade teacher. I had the pleasure of participating in Mr. Man's "workshops" on Wednesday. My "job" as the guest teacher was to listen to the children read. There were 4-5 in a group and the children would take turns reading short stories. I so enjoyed this - just the pure delight in the eyes of a child when he has sounded out a word and got it right. They were so eager to learn to read. As for my home, I place reading a priority and Mr. Man and I read every night - without fail. It is our time to unwind and calm the day and spend time together. He will read aloud for 15 minutes or so, then we read silently our separate books. Mr. Man is like me, he has several books going at one time. His reading has dramatically improved in the last 3 months or so. I would not say he is way ahead of the other children in his class, but he is in the top 3. Proud, Proud Mama, I am.

Mr. Man has been fiddling with his front tooth for some time now. He wouldn't let me touch it. But at school, he bit into something and it made his loose tooth bleed. He went to his teacher, which she promptly referred him to the assistant, Ms. Wade. She took a Kleenex and pulled that sucker right out. So in Mr. Man's backpack was a sweet note along with the tooth in a container.

That was last Friday. We were spending the night at the hotel in Gulfport Friday night and Mr. Man was worried that the Tooth Fairy would not be able to find him at the Fairfield Inn. But lo and behold, she not only found him, but left him a personal note and $5. Inflation, it is killing me.

So here is my snaggle-tooth 1st grader in all his glory.

Now is there anything cuter that a boy missing a tooth? I think not. It is a segway to adulthood. It has generated conversation about the importance of taking care of those permanent teeth. My dentist would be so proud! I loved to ask Nellie Boone to smile when she was snaggle-tooth - she lost both her front teeth about the same time, so she was extra special cute.

So all is well with the world and we are one tooth less, with several more to go - I am excited! I love my son!

It IS a Wonderful Life!

Peace!

Double Take

I noticed a pose Mr. Man repeats. It generally happens when he thinks he did something outstanding, like make a basket, or catch a football pass.

It makes me laugh.

Don't you just love youngins'.....

They are truly a different breed of folk.

Peace!

The Postlude - All Hallows Eve

It was a hectic day, that Wednesday afternoon, of all Hallows Eve. This is it's significance in the Catholic Church:

The Catholic Church designated the following holidays:

• November 2 - All Soul's Day

  Remembrance of all the dead.

• November 1 - All Saint's Day

  Remembrance of the dead who found special favor with God. Since saints = holy people = hallowed, All Saint's Day is also known as All Hallows Day.

• October 31 (night) - Halloween

  The evening before All Hallows Day was called All Hallows Eve, which was shortened to "Halloween".

So, folks were swarming around Mr. Man's school this morning. I park in front of the Church and walk across the street to the school, and by 8:00 a.m. I saw at least 10 folks walking in the church.

I told Mr. Man that this was a special day for Catholic folk, that they honor the people who had died this past year. His head must have still been buzzing from the sugar metropolis from the night before, he only commented, "THAT'S NICE". And well, it is nice that folks honor and remember the dead, but my child is one that likes dialogue. He likes to chat and discuss things at great length. He says he is half Catholic and half Methodist. Just thought this would take on more chatter from the back seat.

Speaking of back seats ---- does anyone know the law about weight limits/heights before a child sits in the front seat. He is driving me crazy wanting to know if I have called the Police Station to get this info...... I take the position he rides in the back seat, except when we go to church, which is 1 1/2 blocks from home. So he is in the back.

I remember All Saints Day at church the year my sweet daddy passed. I slipped in by Beaux in second service - the fellow that lives with Sam and Baby Thomas! And bless his heart he had to listen to me snort and sniff my way through the service. I mentioned this to Beaux the other night at a party, and he didn't even remember....I guess I am a quite cryer, but the sniffles and snorts were there. This is an emotional service and always has been since then.

So, back to Wednesday - All Hallows Eve - Mr. Man's home room mother and I are friends and I phoned her to see what I could do to help. She said only one other mother had called. So, I told her I would make a couple of treats. And I had so much fun - I made Spider's out of Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter and 2 Raisins for the eyes and stick pretzels. And worms in dirt - that is chocolate pudding with chocolate cookie crumbs sprinkled on top with gummy worms stuck in the mud. Mine didn't look quite right, because I went to Walmart and I guess everyone else had the same idea, cause they had no chocolate cookies (I used box choc. cake mix and cocoa pebbles for rocks) and they were out of gummy worms (I used green yucky sour long thingys that I had to cut).

Here are some pics of his class party:

Check out the cat vegetable cut-ups. Shae and I put that together at the last minute - it didn't turn out exactly like the picture, but it was cute. That would be the worms and dirt around it!

And please notice who my child sits by everyday at school, Kathryn S., that Jay S. may be my son's father in law someday afterall! They have been in the same class since diapers.....

So, we rushed home to get our costumes on. Mr. Man laughed the whole time at me, I guess it was the Ho Wig, or something! He thought I was crazy looking. It was way fun and I already have an idea for next year.

Our first stop was Trish's. Then Leisa took Mr. Man and Wild Walker to Innswood to meet some friends, and I went on over to Trunk and Treat. Here are the pics.

I guess my favorite costume was Hadley V. as Cruella De ville!

My favorite trunk was Jonathan and Jessica W. - it was wonderful with candles - very mysterious indeed.

My favorite photo is frustrated Mama (Julie) with Keith. He had enough already! Been there, done that, honey.

I got a wonderful bag full of Smoothie King treats - vitamins, supplements, t-shirt, and gift card for my prize which was the most "Creative Trunk". I have no idea in the world how that happened, because in my opinion, there were some far more creative trunks than mine out there. I whipped up in there, and threw mine together in a matter of 10 minutes. The children were running out and I was still spinning my web. But all my thanks, it was way too much fun for one whole day!

So, Mr. Man and I, the Good Witch, are left with a boat load of candy! Oh, my lord......this year was cream of the crop, the best. I dumped out his candy on his bed. It filled up a 3 gallon tub!

Oh, my Lord, DANGER ZONE - DANGER ZONE......so I packed it all up and it is in the trunk of my car where it will stay until I sort thru it and give it away. Woodley School will be the recipient of this!

Here are a few from Zoo Boo:

OK, I know anyone reading this is just about to throw up by now, because I am and THESE ARE MY pics.

So, what were your favorite costumes?? Decorations??

Is your head still swimming in a syrupy sweet cobweb of sugar?? Or are you free and clear??

It's a Wonderful Life!

Peace!

Fall Festival and Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

Well now, where do we begin.....I made a big pot of Chili this afternoon, in and amongst work and running errands. Leisa and Wild Walker came over to eat a bite before the festivities began. Our first stop was the annual Fall Festival at Mr. Man's school. It was the best ever. There were about 25 booths set up with games galore - from the Dance Party Tent (which was Mr. Man's favorite), the hay ride, costume parade, three or so jumpies, to the Haunted Hallway (children under ten had to be accompanied by an adult). Mr. Man was brave, but to tell the truth, it was a bit scary. Here are some pics.

There were lots of adults dressed up, but the kids costumes were amazing. We had Elvis, the Hershey's Kiss, Ninja's, Pirates, a Coke Machine and lots of pretty girls in princess costumes. We ran into Mr. Man's teacher - she is the one in the pic right beside Mr. Man - and she bragged about how well he was doing in school with his behavior and scholastically. It made me proud for just a moment.

Now, bear in mind that Mr. Man had ample preparation and warning - he was clear on the rules from the get-go. I told him he was not to run wild and I had to know where he was at all times. As it turned out, I spent half the time wandering around looking for him. It was like he took a hit of speed or something. He lost all control.

The icing on the cake was when Wild Walker and Mr. Man duked it out after Wild Walker poured a juice pack on him when Mr. Man was in the Dance Party tent. Oh, my Lord, they fell out of that tent fighting like a bunch of red-necks. I was horrified. So, I broke them up in front of a growing audience and proceeded to calm him down - we went for a hay ride. When we returned, he darted back into the masses....it took me 30 minutes to find him.

So, I gingerly escourted him to the car and spanked his leg with my ever sturdy ping pong paddle, which Leisa brought "just in case". I was mumbling something like "I am so damn mad with you - I told you not to run off - and you did it anyway - have you lost your mind???"

Here are some cool pumpkins......

So that was that for the fall festival. It was lots of entertainment and a walk on the wild side.

The mood was a little tense on the ride home. Mr. Man apologized and told me that he was "just excited" - and I can relate to that. It makes me crazy to not know where he is in public. In fact, most of the kids were going from tent to tent without their parents. The Fall Festival probably would have been more pleasant if I weren't so freaked out about that. But, that is just the mother in me - not to mention the fact that he is only 6 and he should't be wandering aimlessly around unsupervised. I have to moniter my child - he has a tendancy to live life on the edge.....and sports fans, that puts me over the edge......

I love annual events. They are predictable. One of my all time favorite annual parties is the Pumpkin Carving Party at Sara and Wes J's. We all get together and craft an amazing piece of art. Our beloved pumpkin. It is just the best! Over the years we have become quite skilled and we take great pride in our work. Sara provides the carving utensils - and she had lots of patterns to chose from. We gather round the table and very intently get to work dotting our pattern, sawing, digging out the guts. I chose 2 bats above a haunted house with a big tree on the side. It was the hardest pattern I have ever attempted - and I have to admit, it was awesome.

Here is the finished product.....

It takes concentration and determination to accomplish this! Sara J. was the first to finish - man, she was quick out of the gate. Wes was last, but he did it free-handed, that artist in him....But I took the longest. I love all of them. They looked magical lit on the table outside. It was a brisk night. There was a wonderful bon-fire. It was Mr. Man and Walker's job to gather the pine cones and fire wood. They enjoyed every last minute of this.

I just love their home. It is so inviting and comfortable. It was nice the kids could go outside and run and play. I have awesome memories of spending some weekends out there. One of my favorites was a Friday night and we commenced to stay up till the wee hours of the night and crashed. We got up the next morning and made the best damn pumpkin pancakes in the whole universe. Isn't friendship the best gift in the world??

I love my friends!

Thanks be to God for surrounding me with the most loving folks around, bar none. I am truly blessed!

I must go crash now and we WILL sleep late - don't ya just love Saturday's?

Wahooooo to a lovely evening!!

Peace!

Halloween - The Prelude

I've often thought this a tad odd, considering my Christian persuasion, but my favorite holiday is Halloween. Mr. Man and I love to decorate and carve pumpkins and go to parties and festivals. It is basically stress free, unless of course you attend the annual carving of the "Christian Pumpkin" at church. There is nothing like a room full of overactive kids of all sizes and shapes and ages holding knives and digging out the slimy stuff pumpkins are made of. It was enough to just about send me over the edge last night.

I, of all people, forgot to take my ever trusty camera, but my friend Sara did have hers - damn she's always so organized and together! So here is the shot of Mr. Man digging out pumpkin guts.

Next to us is Tu and Quinn, my new buddy! Julie tells all about the Christian Pumpkin in a lovely way. Quinn and I have become buddies since I pick him up for Karate on Wednesday's. Emily and Mr. Man are in the car also, and I have to ask those two chatter boxes to be quite for a minute and let Quinn say something. He is a quite boy with a sweet spirit - I have found him to have alot to say if given the opportunity. I think Mr. Man is sometimes conflicted about Emily. He sees her as his buddy and "one of the boys", and wants to "protect" her on the other hand. It is funny how I see their relationship evolving. But she is tough as nails and I have to hand it to her for stickability!! But often Mr. Man will want Emily to come over and play - and I have to make him pinky promise he will be kind and nice to her. Emily and I like to play word games on the way to get Mr. Man from school. She likes that - and well, you know, I love a little word play myself.

Angie and Josh had a Halloween Party last weekend. My friend James, the world traveler, went with me. It was fun - I love to see adults in costume. Josh was even in drag, and well, I don't remember who Angie was, but she is the one with the white face and unibrow - I didn't even recognize her. Sam was the witch with the dangles from her hat. She completed her witchery with orange and black stripe tights with pointy shoes. Beaux wanted to be Professor Snapes from Harry Potter, but he thought he looked more like a Rock Star..... Wes, and my A/R Guru, AJ came as a Groomsman and Bridesmaid, and Tina came as Tina. The adult beverages were really tasting good and well, I had way too much fun for one evening.

If that weren't enough, James and I thought we needed a night-cap. So we headed down the middle of Swan City for a local tavern with a mahogany bar. We met this sweet couple, Clarence and June,  and we joined them and their appetizers (they had stuffed mushrooms!!)......they had been married 24 years and I guess we solved everyone's problems til around 3:30'ish. I liked Clarence's hat! We invited them over, and they were especially pleased when they found out my business involved pork skins. On their way out, I loaded them up with as much as I could - I just bet they thought they hit the jackpot with us.....

Here's to Clarence and June!!

It was a spooky night come to think of it!

Stay tuned, there will be more Halloween '07 events coming soon.

Peace!

My Little Snuggler - The Drama King

I think Mr. Man is too attached. He has had a little trouble breaking away from me on his weekends with the A.F. This week was very bad and I am sad over what is going on and a little perplexed.

Last night my smart and funny bookeeper, Trish, and I were working. Mr. Man had his bath and was watching some TV. Then it was bedtime - or close. He started to whine about not wanting to go to his dads. I told him that his dad loves him and wants to see him. I said all the right stuff, trying to convince him that it was going to happen. He ended up crying himself to sleep.

This morning I went with Mr. Man to his school for breakfast. We do that occasionally. When we were leaving the cafeteria, he started getting upset - visibally crying and shaking. We stood at the doorway of his 1st grade classroom for perhaps 10 minutes and he would not go in. His teacher came out and she asked him a few questions and he just said "I don't want to leave my Mama". Nothing bad at dad's, he just didn't want to leave me.

She told me to leave and she would take him to the bathroom and wash his face and bring him back to class. She called me on my way home and said he was OK, just seems a little sad.

One thing I need to do to sever the tie that binds is make him sleep in his bed. Sleeping arrangements in our house has never been a big issue. We both go to bed at the same time and we read for 20 minutes or so, then we read silently our own books and turn off the lights and say prayers. I am just getting the feeling that perhaps for him (and me) that he needs to sleep in his bed, in his room.

This will be hard, because he has been sleeping with me since he was 1 year old. With a little prodding - I will readily admit it is for selfish reasons that we sleep together. He is a good little snuggler and he is so sweet at bedtime.

Just a little something to think about on a Friday afternoon.

Peace Out!

The Crusaders - Coming Up For Air...

  With the advent of Fall we look forward to a busy schedule! In my former life I watched alot of football - I don't really miss that much. Now I go to pep rallies and parades - plus alot more.

Mr. Man had a bad week at school. We are on the light system.

Monday - Green

Tuesday - Green

Wednesday - Red (we just skipped right over yellow)

Thursday - Blue (it was bad - trust me!)

Friday - Green

He was concerned!

The week before it was a yellow somewhere in the middle of the week. Maybe that is always the reason I appear stressed at WAP!! Let's just suffice it to say disruptiveness, disrespectfulness, not being kind to his classmates, making noises, playing too rough on the playground - well you get the picture - he was testing his new territory - First Grade.

Mr. Man was grounded - but I did allow him two outings - one was a pep rally and one was church. Here is the proof (about 80).

We spent the weekend confined to home - which ain't so bad to me. He was grounded from the computer, but we played games and read. He watched some TV - all in all - it was a pleasant weekend.

Our other outing was church. Here are some pics of the Upper Rooms - the best way in the universe to teach children about God in my most humble opinion! And may I add that Ms. Shannon, Ms. Debra, Ms. Jennifer, Ms. Kaylee and all the shepherds have big ole stars in their crown!

So, that was our grounded weekend. It wasn't all that bad, now really!

I had a little chat with the school counselor - because he was referred to her by his teacher. She gave me some helpful hints, which have worked. She told me that most kids are so motivated by staying on Green all week so they could pick out a treat from the Treasure Box on Friday's. Mr. Man told her there was nothing in there he liked! She recommended my making a "deal" with him at home that I would do something he liked or buy something he really wanted. So, after a week of all Green - he wanted the coveted Level X - Pokemon Cards. Simple enough for me.

All is well with the world so long as my child is behaving - and believe me, he is one hard headed little man. His teacher said he has made the turn and knows she intends to enforce the rules.

She also said everyone in the class took a reading test and his score was above average and he is reading almost at 2nd grade level. I was proud!

So, that is the story of my life - one minute you are down and the next you come up for air.......

I prefer air.

My sibling and I have an appointment with his Psychiatrist on Friday. He seems to be doing OK. He called the doctor today because the night medicine is not helping him sleep. Last Friday, he told the Psychiatrist and I  he had not slept in 2 weeks - amazing, huh? He increased the dose. All I can say is that today is a heck of alot better that last week! I guess that is progress.

To Peace and alot of Air!

First Grade, Finally - Labor Day

My child is in the 1st Grade. The day began with the alarm clock set for 6:30 am, blaring, disturbing my peaceful sleep. I haven't seen 6:30 in quite some time. I am not a morning person, I actually detest doing much before 8am. But I keep in mind that if I don't get Mr. Man to school on time, that my record will be tarnished, and frankly, the school could care less that I am not a morning person. The next option would be to home school. My hats are off to you chickadees that home school, but it ain't for me......(I know that is grammatically incorrect, but sometimes I talk that way, so that is how I write!). I really don't see any reason to conduct business, school or anything else til 9'ish. But be all that as it is, Mr. Man jumped up like a rocket, shooting to outer space. He was so excited, it brought a smile to my otherwise somber mood. Mr. Man loves school and he has been ready to get back to school for about 4 weeks now. That boy, he never ceases to amaze me! He is so full of life and wonder. He has grown so much over the summer. I had to buy all new shorts for this year, because last years batch was just to binding for the young lad (something I can relate to!). 

We were ready a full 20 minutes before we had to leave. Of course, there was no traffic on Hardy St. - everyone was off work. I guess the good Catholics don't think we need a Labor Day off. Actually they only started today out of necessity. The building renovations were not completed over the summer, so the 1st day of school was pushed back.

When I was a kid in grammar school a long time ago, the late sixties, (see really I have no secrets, and I tell no lies!) we never started school til after Labor Day! The good news in all this is we will still be getting out the end of May - just holidays will be abbreviated.

So, here are some other pics of our day:

It was good to see familiar faces, even a few tears. I was so proud of Mr. Man today. There was a little boy, Gregory, that was shy but silly in his own way. You could tell he was scared and started to cry. I whispered to Mr. Man to ask Gregory to sit by him. Now some may say my little 1st grader is not a compassionate little fellow, but I will beg to differ. So Gregory sat down and Mr. Man patted him twice on the knee and said "It'll be OK buddy, don't worry". I just about beamed with joy and delight!

His behavior has turned around since the Contracts were signed. I have tried my dadgum best to follow through. It has about worn me out! Well, as usual, there is one exception: CHURCH, the house of our Lord, God's house, you know, Jesus that lives in your heart ('s) house. He laid on the pew, he talked during the prayer, he banged his knee while laying down against the pew making a bass drum noise. He made the motion that he was about to break the pencil in half, he dipped the bread in the juice cup (that's what kids think) - SHOULD CHILDREN REALLY BE TAKING COMMUNION?? My Presbyterian upbringing is coming out.....

Back to story, he ran back up to the communion rail to take a $5.00 he was to have taken when we went before. I told him after he took the elements that he better ask God to forgive him for misbehaving in Church!! OH, MY GOSH, MY PRESBYTERIAN IS COMING OUT AGAIN! We made it out in one piece, but I didn't hear a word my wonderful, talented, ever-pointed Metro Minister said.

Speaking of what he said: "If you have to ask if you were a young adult, then you're probably not a young adult".  That cracked me up, because I always considered myself a young adult with a 6 year old. Isn't that why we have children at the ripe old age of 40, to keep us young?? But by darn, when I turn 50 I am going to the Senior Adult Ministries functions. I bet they have alot of fun! Ya know I only jest, but it was a funny moment.

Speaking of Metro Minister and his 1st grader:

So, all is well with the world. I think.

I am ready to get back into a schedule. A routine......

Peace!