I came home and sat on the back porch for a while, drank my coffee in the cool of the morning and finished the April blog to post for my faithful 3 readers. I decided not to go grocery shopping because we really didn’t need anything and Stuart decided he could go to the grocery store the following day in Gallup. We spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing. I’m really ready for summer and for Stuart to be home for good for a while.
So when Stuart had gone, my parents picked me up to go to a celebration of life service for a friend of ours from Kansas. She had moved to Arizona a number of years ago and ended up dying of Covid in the middle of March. Her sister was a really good friend of mine and was actually at the service. So as unfortunate as it was for this event to occur, it was nice to catch up with her for just a bit. The service lasted for nearly 2 hours. It seemed a bit long but it was really nice and well put together.
When I got home I made the kids dinner and then just sat down for the evening. I was emotionally drained from the weekend. I decided to take a shower at about 7 PM and then I reclined in our chair and fell asleep at about 8 PM, just after I put Millie to bed. Just before 9 PM Jack leaned over my face and scared the living life out of me. I walked him upstairs and came back downstairs to watch television for a bit. By about 10 PM I decided I would give up and go to bed.
Monday morning I was awake by 5:30 AM. The kids got up very easily and we left the house on time. Those days are more frequent now. It makes it more pleasant to drop the kids off. I got to school and discovered that one of my paraprofessionals would not be at school that day because she has a stomach bug. My other paraprofessional that was there was very helpful. By now we have just learned that we need to tiptoe around the student who has yet to be evaluated. We kept him at bay for most of the day and after lunch he lost his cool and began to pull his regular tricks. It’s just always so exhausting. However I reminded myself that I only had 17 1/2 days left of the school year. I surely can handle that.
After school I headed to get Millie and take her to gymnastics. I then traveled on to Casteel High School to pick Jack up from volleyball practice. We went home for a few hours and then I returned to pick Millie up from gymnastics. It seems a never ending driving trip. I know one day I will miss these days, but I am ready for summer in order to stop it for a bit.
School on Tuesday was a bit more of the same. My little guy was somewhat out-of-control. We have been trying a new system. If he completed one academic rotation, then he would get 10 minutes of free choice time. We suspected that would improve his behavior, and it really did. So Tuesday was loads of fun. After school I went to my new job to meet my team. I also applied for the team leader position. So I’m kind of hopeful that maybe that will be my leadership role opportunity at this point.
I had a conversation with the principal prior to meeting with my team. I went back and saw my classroom and it made me very excited to start a new school year at a new school. I got the enrollment information from Millie as she would be coming with me, which I’m thrilled about.
My parents had picked up both kids and they were at home, so I went to have a bite to eat with my friend Lisa, who also is Millie‘s teacher. We talked about what we were going to be doing for the summer and just caught up with each other‘s life. When I got home my neighbor Elise came over for a chat. She didn’t stay long, and then I headed to bed.
I woke up Wednesday morning with pink eye.
Lovely!
But because I didn’t have any sick days I went to urgent care and then headed on to school. By the time I got to school my little boy wonder had already popped off because he was put in someone else’s classroom. He’s progressively getting worse. It makes me very sad. When will someone help this child.
When I went to pick Millie up from school she was visibly upset. Apparently there was girl drama at school on Wednesday. I was told that she punched a girl in the stomach. Millie insisted she just put her hand by the girl’s stomach. It seems that the girl had pulled Millie’s chair out from underneath her, causing her to fall and hit her head. Millie said she told the substitute but the sun didn’t do anything about it. I told her just to lay low for the next 15 days and get through it. I do feel sorry for her because I think she just puts up with a bunch of crap and then gets fed up. Then she’s the one that gets into trouble. Her reaction is not correct, but I kind of get it.
I picked Jack up from volleyball practice and took him home to grab something to eat. I then took him to basketball practice and went on to Chili’s to have dinner with our permanent substitute teacher, Mindy. After our delightful dinner I picked Millie up from gymnastics and we did our normal Wednesday evening drive-through McDonald’s trick. We then went to get Dutch Brothers drinks for Jack. Andrew’s mom had messaged me to tell me that Andrew would not be going to practice that evening so I did not need to bring him home. That cut about 15 minutes off of our drive. So we got home and Millie took a shower as did I. She laid downstairs and went to sleep so I carried her up to her room. I’m so thankful she still doesn’t even weigh 60 pounds. She is getting more difficult to carry upstairs, though, because of her long legs. Jack went to bed around 1030 and I followed shortly after.
Thursday morning we had a meeting to determine that we were going to evaluate my fine little lad, and that he would be in another room for in-school suspension Thursday and Friday. I could tell by the father’s reaction that his parents were fed up with him. They don’t seem to understand it as he does not behave this way at home, according to Dad. I wanted to say I kind of understand that, because when I tell people how Millie flips her lid from time to time they really don’t believe me. She never behaves that way anywhere else except with us, so I kind of understand, if the dad was telling the truth, them being so baffled by it all. But we did determine that we would have him evaluated and hopefully that would bring about some answers and a proper placement that would help us to assist in the best way possible.
I got a call from the Millie’s principal who left a message on my phone saying that he had a conversation with Millie that she needs to keep her hands to herself. He said he told her f there was a problem that she needs to address it and not let it build up. So basically he told her everything I had told her the previous night. What I really heard him say was blah, blah, blah, blah. But at least she didn’t get in trouble and maybe him speaking to her will help her to be her own advocate sooner so that a physical issue doesn’t occur.
I left school just before 3 o’clock and headed to pick Millie up to go to Jack’s volleyball game. I stopped at the store to get Millie a snack, some milk that we would take home before the game, and some butter. It’s strange the things you run out of at different times of the week. They won their volleyball match, but just barely. Gavin wasn’t able to play because he had a concussion the week prior so they really missed him on the court.
I let Jack stay and watch the volleyball game of the eighth graders and took Millie home. After I made her some dinner I came back to pick Jack up and then went to take him to basketball. He begged me not to make him go to which I responded, ‘you’re going because I paid the money, and you made a commitment’. Andrew‘s mom brought them home a little bit later. Elise came over for a couple of hours. Millie went to bed around 8:15 pm. Jack showered when he got home and had something to eat, and then it was time for bed.
Friday morning I was up rather early and put on my shorts for field day at school. It was hot, but the kids had a lot of fun. I was also informed by one of my paraprofessionals, who helps out in a different classroom most days, that the teachers in those other special classrooms were saying the reason my little guy has been popping off is because I have checked out every since I resigned at CUSD. Of course this irritated me and quite frankly hurt my feelings. I wanted to give them a piece of my mind, but I promised my paraprofessional that I wouldn’t say anything. It’s very aggravating to know that you give 110% and it’s seen as you’re checking out just because this child is not getting appropriate interventions. Needless to say I did complain to my other paraprofessionals who thought it was just absolutely absurd.
After school I went to get Millie and then we picked Jack up from volleyball practice. Kyle also came home with us as Jack invited two young ladies to our house for the evening. They were sweet girls and it seemed the kids had fun. But neither of their parents came in to meet me. They just dropped the girls off. Mary came to pick Kyle up and she stayed and visited for a while. In the end, Kyle ended up spending the night.
Saturday morning I woke Millie up and she had no interest in going to gymnastics but as I told her brother Thursday evening, ‘I paid for it and you’re going.’ They have the week off starting May 9th, so it was important for her to go. I kind of started tickling her and she finally got up and got ready. When I dropped her off I went to the Kia dealership to pick Stuart up from him dropping his car for an oil change. We then went and had breakfast with our friend Brian Matlock.
He paid for breakfast, which was nice. Then we decided to go and book an eye appointment for me at Costco. It was absolutely manic and we both decided that the East Valley infrastructure is not big enough for the amount of cars and people that reside in the valley. We did a little shop at Winco for our Mother’s Day lunch that Stuart was going to cook the next day. We picked Stuart’s car up snd then I picked Millie up .
We got home and I went shopping for a Mother’s Day gift for my mother. The stores were packed and the traffic was horrible. I accomplished my mission and got home to take a shower. Stuart and I were due to go to dinner with Mitch and Elise. We went to Barrio Queen and although they said the wait would be 30 to 45 minutes it turned out to be about five. We had a great dinner but the kids were at home acting up. The Hill kids, not our kids. Our kids are actually trying to calm the storm. When we got home we sat on the back porch for a while and then called it a night.
Sunday morning I got up and walked with Sue. She told me all about her soon to be daughter-in-law‘s parents. They had come in town to meet Tim and Sue and check out a venue for the rehearsal dinner. It was nicer to walk this Sunday because it was lighter outside. I enjoy walking in the daylight better than in the dark.
When I got home from walking I did some work around the house. Stuart and I decided to go to Kohl’s to shop for a bit because they were having a sale. Millie went with us and she’s the one that actually got the best bargains. I had already opened my Mother’s Day gift and the I thought the dress that the kids got me was too big so I was going to exchange it at Target but they didn’t have a smaller size so I decided to keep it in end. When we got home from shopping I decided to take a shower. Stuart had prepared the lunch items. He was making teppanyaki (stir fry) and my parents as well as Liz were coming for Mother’s Day lunch. Of course we were going to watch the Suns game as well. Sadly, the Suns lost. Grammie and Pop went home shortly after the game was over and we just chilled out for the rest of the evening. Stuart went to bed just before I did, but I did follow about a half hour later.
Stuart was up and gone by 4 am. He only had two more weeks of work and then he will be off for the entire summer. The downside to that is he won’t get paid all summer. Monday at school my little guy was in a behavior for over an hour. It was decided that he would go home for Monday and not return until Thursday. At that time he would return to the in school suspension room until he could show no aggressive behavior. It made me so sad, but some children get the raw end of the stick and can’t get themselves out of it. So it’s our job to find him the appropriate placement.
Millie didn’t have gymnastics for the entire week. Her gym didn’t take a spring break, so their spring break ended up being after the regional meet. After I picked Millie up from school we headed to get Jack from volleyball practice. We went home and did a whole lot of nothing. The dogs ripped a tomato plant out of the garden, which continues to just irritate me to death. But the rest of the night was very calm and relaxing.
At school, on Tuesday, I only had one student in my classroom. It was a boring day to say the least, but it was also a very quiet day. After school on Tuesday I went to a teacher store where I was allowed to go in and get a lot of items for free. The problem was I forgot to wear close toed shoes. So in true form, I went to CVS and bought some beach shoes to put on. Technically those are close toed shoes. I got 55 pounds of books. I grabbed seven reams of paper, a lot of office supplies, and two boxes of snickers bars. It was a profitable day.
Once I left the shopping place I picked Millie up from school and we headed to pick Jack up from volleyball. He wanted to go watch the varsity game and so we ended up going to dinner at Skippy’s and then I returned him to the varsity game. I picked him up about an hour later and he let me know that the varsity team won so they would be carrying on to the semi finals. When he got home he had a snack and took a shower. Then Millie went to bed shortly after 8 PM, Jack followed about an hour after her, and I followed about 20 minutes after Jack. For some reason it’s easier for me to go to bed when Stuart is not in town. That makes no sense in my head, but it is what it is.
Wednesday morning every one got up very easily and we headed out the door. I took Jack to school because Gavin would not be going to school that morning and it was just easier for me to drop Jack at Casteel. I then dropped Millie and headed to school myself. Another quiet day was ahead of me as I only had one student. My paraprofessionals had started packing my classroom. So most of the things in my room are ready to carry out and take to my new school. Once school was over I headed to have a document notarized at the bank and then picked Millie up from school and took her home. I went to Casteel to pick Jack up from volleyball and then he headed home to get ready for basketball and have bite to eat. On the way home from taking Jack and his friend Andrew to basketball, I got Millie McDonald’s for dinner. That’s usually what I do on a Wednesday evening anyway, so it made sense that I would do that even though she didn’t have gymnastics. When I was in the drive-through the bill came to $6.36. I gave the cashier seven dollars and the cashier handed me my receipt. The cashier did not hand me any change. So I sat there for a bit thinking that maybe he would remember. He did! I wasn’t really sure what that was all about, but I carried on and took the food home to Millie.
Before I picked the boys up from basketball I stopped at Cane’s to get them food. Millie had taken a shower and was ready for bed, which makes things easier once we are home. We got home and Jack showered, Millie went to bed, and I sat down to watch television. Jack went to bed around 10 and I followed shortly.
Thursday we were up and out of the house at a normal time. Once I was at school I discovered that my little guy was not going to be at school. I kind of think his parents will keep him home the rest of the year as not to be bothered during the day. It makes me sad that we have done what we’ve done with him and he is not getting the help that he needs. But I am just one person and there are many others in the puzzle. I left school to pick Millie up and we headed to Casteel for Jack’s volleyball match. They won in a few games and then we headed to the varsity game which was the semi finals for the state championship. Unfortunately the varsity team lost in the third set. It was heartbreaking. The final score of the final match was 15-13. So the game that we would’ve gone to on Saturday afternoon was not going to happen. I ran through Burger King to get the kids food after the match. When we got home Millie took shower and went to bed shortly after that. Jack showered after Millie and he and I watched television for a bit. The Suns got beat, which tied up the series 3-3. I’m pretty sure that sometimes they let the series go 7 games just to make more money.
Friday I seemed to have a lot of kids in my class that didn’t really belong to me. I had one in school suspension child, one of my other kids kicked off and had to come back to our room. This is the one that actually graduated the program and will not be going to the school next year. I then had another child who just got kicked out of the classroom so they put him in my room. My school is kind of a mess right now. I picked Millie up after school and then we went to collect Jack. We got home and Stuart was there. He only has one more week of work and then he will be finished until August. We didn’t really do anything on Friday evening but our neighbor Mitch came over for a while.
Saturday Millie didn’t have gymnastics so we didn’t have to take her anywhere. She was supposed to get a haircut at 9 AM but then decided she didn’t want one. So instead, I took Jack and had his hair cut. He will get a perm the last day of school, but the lady who was doing his perm didn’t have an appointment so we just let him have Millie‘s haircut appointment. We sat around the house most of the day and did absolutely nothing. Stuart had gone to the grocery store because he was going to make ratatouille and lamb gyros for lunch for us on Sunday. The ratatouille vegetables were going to be from our garden. Jack had a basketball game Saturday afternoon. They won by a great deal. He just doesn’t seem to be as into basketball as he is volleyball. He doesn’t have a natural reaction to the basketball court like he does on the volleyball court. So we shall see where that goes. We dropped Jack at the house and then Stuart and I went to our friends house for an anniversary party. This is our friends, Bethany and Ollie. Ollie is also an Englishman, so he and Stuart get on really well.
Sunday Stuart made gyros and ratatouille for ourselves and the neighbors. The kids all came over to swim. Stuart had to leave around 3 pm to go back to Gallup for his final week of work for this school year. Yahoo!
Monday my student I will call ‘Tennessee’ was a perfect angel at school. He had an observer, which helped. He seldom flips out when someone seems to be taking notes on his behavior. I said maybe I should just plant someone in my room everyday and just have them doodle so it looks as if they are taking notes on him. I took Millie to gymnastics after school and then collected Jack from Kyle’s house. I returned to get Millie at 7:30 pm and our normal Monday routine took place.
Tuesday morning I got a call from Sherry to tell me our dear friend Mack had passed away the previous evening. I was so very sad. Mary is one of the dearest people I know and would do anything for her people. She and Mack were besties, even though you would often hear him say ‘God dammit, Mary’ to her silliness. I am so sick for her. He had been in the hospital for over three weeks from a virus. He had made a bit of progress over the weekend, but just couldn’t continue to fight. I’m starting to get into the time of my life where funerals are more the norm than weddings or baby showers. It does make you face your mortality for sure.
Tennessee kicked off because of a kid I will refer to as ‘Gatherer’. These two boys just allow the other to wind them up. We removed Gatherer and my 6th grade girl from the classroom. The thought that these kids are general education students just floors me. If either of my children did something similar to what my students were doing, they would be suspended for sure, and then eventually expelled. My other student, Gatherer, continued to be agitated during the day. He got so frustrated when I was reminding him to stay in his safe space, he threatened to kill me. I reported it to the Dean and said to her, ‘He had better have a consequence for this behavior!’ I was pissed and knew that they would be required to do something.
Wednesday morning I awoke to a message from a random parent that Millie had some conversations with some boys in her class that I might to know about. I sent the mother my number and she called me. I had already talked to Millie about something that was going on with these boys. I asked her if she knew anything about this. She claims she didn’t. After I had spoken to the mother and found out that Millie had sent a video of her dancing to these boys I lost my mind. The mother had told me that she was sure it was all quite innocent, but her husband was a policeman and had told her what could happen as she got older. Well, I unleashed on her and told her that if she wasn’t careful someone would take her and find a dark space to do naughty things to her. I scared her and hopefully for a long time. Needless to say, her phone became mine and we deleted a lot of things off of it.
At school, Gatherer was in ISS and my boy was an angel. He had our total attention all day long.
After school I took Millie to gymnastics and then headed to get Jack from the Sossaman eighth grade volleyball championship. I wasn’t able to get to school in order to get him home in order to get him changed into nice clothes so that he could attend the award ceremony that was at Casteel high school for the junior high kids. After the match which the eighth grade lost, unfortunately, Jack gets a text from one of his friends that said he was awarded the seventh grade male athlete of the year. I was so bummed we didn’t go. But I was so impressed that he got the seventh grade athlete of the year. It was so amazing to know how accomplished he is in athletics. I was very very proud of him.
Once home I fried up 12 pounds of taco meat as my team was in charge of the taco bar offered to the staff the following day. I took Jack to basketball then went to hang out at Target, waiting to pick Millie up from gymnastics. When I got her, we stopped for gas. Millie clearly had never noticed how much money I put into my car. She was shocked that my bill was $75. It is a bit maddening. We carried on to get chicken nuggets and then to Dutch Bros. for the boys’ drinks. We got to the gym and waited, as we always do. On the way home Millie fell asleep. However, she did wake up and take a shower, with me, and then went straight to bed. Jack took a shower as well and went downstairs to watch television for a while. He and I headed upstairs just after 10 pm. He almost puts himself to bed now. He is 13, after all.
Thursday morning I was at school early and took in my taco meat. It does amaze me that some people have no idea how much food it takes to feed a staff of 80. We had one member bring two small bags of tortilla chips.
Tennessee lost it and ended up being suspended for the remainder of the year. After school I went to Casteel to watch the 7th grade boys vs 7th grade girls volleyball match. As always, Jack got frustrated because not everyone was as intense about the game as he was. He was fine once I gave him a little bit of sympathy. When we were home I fed him and he went to basketball practice. Millie waited for our neighbors to come over to swim but they never did. So in the end she ate dinner and watched some television. The neighbors did finally come over at about 7 o’clock. Elise came over for a while and we had a chat. Millie showered and went to bed right about 8 o’clock. Jack got home around nine, took a shower and was in bed by 10 pm, as was I.
Friday morning we got up and headed to school. I had an IEP meeting for Gatherer. I’m very concerned about him as his impulse control is non-existent. His mom cried, but she did agree to special services, so we got the result we wanted.
I went with my team to happy hour after school, but not for very long. I picked Millie up from school and headed home. Once I was home with Jack and Millie, we kind of chilled for the rest of the evening. Jack’s buddies came over as did a few girls that these boys have been hanging out with. Millie also had a friend over and all of the kids left by about 9 o’clock.
Saturday Stuart got up and took Millie to gymnastics and then came back and got me. Jack had two basketball games on Saturday and that was the end of his season. They lost both of them but played rather well.
After the basketball game we went to pick Millie up from gymnastics and we headed to the outlet stores for a family and friends discount we were given by Hannah Tharalson for a percentage off our purchase. It was quite exciting because we all purchased something. So nice to have friends that do such nice things for you. When we got home we got ready to go to Melinda Reynolds‘s surprise retirement party.
Melinda’s party was a hit.
I made Jack and Millie go with us. I didn’t realize that no other kids would be there. So after Todd and Mary got there we went back to their house to pick Kyle up to bring him to the party. We saw Jack’s first daycare person, Ms. Robin and Mr. Russ. It was so lovely.
He’s much bigger than when he left Ms. Robin’s house.
A nice evening was had and at the end of the night Mary and Todd took Kyle and Jack back to their house. And Millie, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, was carried to our car and then carried into the house once we arrive home.
Sunday morning we got up and did some odds and ends around the house. Alyssa, one of my teammates from last year, came over for a visit and had lunch with us. Stuart served ribs and chicken, which were delightful. We had quite a few leftovers as neither one of our kids would eat that food. They seem to be more finicky as they get older. I didn’t think that was possible with Millie, but it seems it is. Jack just eats a lot of carbs right now. I suppose he’s a growing boy. Alyssa left around 3 PM and our neighbor Elise called to see if I wanted to go with her and her boys to take the kids bowling. We went to Bowlero which is on Gilbert and Warner. We had pizza, bowled a couple of games, and returned to our house for the evening. Her kids were actually out of school, which made the kids and I kind of jealous.
Monday morning I was up and out the door with Jack. Stuart got up and took Millie to school. He then went on to the warehouse to do some work on these lesson plans that we have for our project. I got to school and had one student in my classroom. My 6th grade girl had dyed her hair like a rainbow so was not allowed to come to school. So Gatherer was my only student left for the remainder of the year, 3 and a half days. He loved it because he got all the attention. After school we had a short staff meeting to explain what was happening the rest of the week. I went to collect Millie to take her to gymnastics only to find out that the gymnastics gym was closed until June 1. So that’s a little bit of a nice thing about the end of the school year. She won’t have gymnastics this entire week. She and I got home just after four and I left her at home. Stuart was arranging to pick Jack up from Kyle’s house at 5 PM so that I could go to my eye appointment at Costco. I was also going to buy some food items for Mack Standifird’s service on Friday. I still have a hard time believing that he has passed, and I can’t even imagine what Mary is going through. It makes me so very sad.
It turns out I have cataracts. My left eye is way worse than my right eye, but nonetheless I have a difficult time seeing because of the cataracts. The optometrist didn’t know if it was bad enough to require surgery, but she said if my new prescription contacts do not work out, she would be sending me to a surgeon. So we shall see how that goes. I thought cataracts were for old people. Oh, wait, I am old! But contrary to my belief, the optometrist told me that cataracts can happen at any age and most likely mine have come about because of taking steroids in the form of penicillin at some stage. I got home and Stuart and I had dinner. We just had leftovers because we had a lot of them. I worked a little bit on our project, and then called in a night. I went to bed at about 930. I knew my early bedtime would mean I would be up at about 330.
I did wake up at about 2:30 AM to the smell of dog poop. One of our dogs has chosen to poop and pee in my closet the last two nights. So we closed the closet door only to discover that the dog was not particular to the closet. Seems the dog would pee and poop anywhere. We’re a little bit concerned that this means there is some kind of problem with the dog. The problem is we don’t know which dog it is. At any rate I cleaned up the poop and best I could and tried to go back to sleep. I think I went back to sleep around 4:15 AM. My alarm then went off at 5:30 AM and I was up and ready for the day. We let Millie sleep in a little bit because she was supposed to have a med check appointment at 8:15. It turns out that had to be canceled and rescheduled . But she did get to sleep in.
I took Jack to school and then carried on to school myself. Again we had a very quiet day at school, but I did get a pie in the face because our reading challenge allowed children to assign their minutes to teachers. I was one of the three teachers that got the most minutes so there was a pie in my face at the assembly.
I was prepared.
It didn’t prevent me from getting cream down my neck, unfortunately. But the kids loved it!
Because somewhere between school on Monday and going to bed on Tuesday evening I misplaced my glasses, I started a big search on Tuesday morning. They were not at school, they were not at home, so I could only assume that I left them at Costco when I was doing the paperwork for my eye appointment. So after school on Tuesday I gave Costco a call and sure enough they were there. Although I was getting contacts in the next couple of weeks, I still can’t see without my glasses. So I was relieved to know that I didn’t have to get another pair of glasses. My glasses are a little bit wrecked, but they will work for emergencies. I went and collected my glasses from Costco and then I headed to pick Millie up from school. I then carried on to Gavin‘s house to get Jack. Jack was not terribly pleased with me because he wanted to hang out with his friends on Thursday after school for a little while. But I had already made plans to go to dinner at some friends’ house. These friends are older people and they have not seen us in years, so I was going to make my children do what all parents make their children do, and that was to hang out with old people. I clearly have ruined Jack’s life . He was not pleased with me. I did however get his perm appointment moved back to 1 PM instead of 11 AM. This was going to happen on Thursday and for some reason I thought his half-day was much earlier than what it was. So he told me he could not leave at 11 AM because he would be in the middle of a final. So I did get that changed. I do still count myself as a candidate for mother of the year! It was determined that the kids could actually hang out on Friday evening. Millie had a birthday party Friday afternoon, so we agreed to the teens hanging out at that time as well.
Wednesday was my last official full day of school. I was so thrilled. I got a call from Stuart that said Millie was sick and so he went to pick her up and when he got her home she threw up. I’m not sure what that was about, but he did give her a Covid test to make sure she was negative. The thought of missing a second niece’s wedding made me sick inside. But she came up negative and Stuart tested himself and he came up negative. So for now we’re all safe. After school on Wednesday I went up to Maytee‘s salon to get my haircut. She had also bought me a flat iron because somewhere between 2020 and 2022 I lost my flat iron. When I finished there I came home and had a bite to eat. I just sat on the couch the rest of the evening.
Thursday I was so thrilled for school to be finished.
The last day as a teacher in Chandler, last day as a 7th grader and last day as a 4th grader. Yahoo!
I took my paraprofessionals out for lunch and I had a beer!
These ladies kept me sane this year!
When I got back to school I stayed for about an hour, finished up my stuff and left. I then came home and Stuart and I ran to Kohl’s to return some things to the Amazon counter. We ended up buying Jack and Millie something to wear for Mack’s service which would be Friday. Thursday evening we went to Larry and Cheryl Burleson‘s house for dinner. The kids got to play in the hot tub. And as a surprise Christian and her husband came by for a visit. It was a really good night. We got home and the kids went straight to bed.
Cheyrl made apple dumplings with the kids. It was a sweet gesture.
Friday morning I got up and got ready for school. I ended up taking my food items to Sherry’s for her to deliver to Carolyn’s house. Carolyn is Mary’s daughter who lives just up the road from Mary. This was where the family would be coming after the celebration of life. I was so honored to be a part of this preparation. Sherry, Elisa and Gina were going to set up the house. Once I dropped everything at Sherry’s I headed to school. On the way, I stopped at Wal-Mart to get a birthday gift for Millie’s friend. While I was in Wal-Mart I got to thinking on things Sherry and Paul had said to me about going to school that day. I decided to forget school and head to Carolyn’s with my friends and help them set up in order to do our part to honor an amazing man who had always been so good to all of us. I called Stuart and messaged Sherry. Both people applauded me for doing the right thing. I felt really good about my decision. It was the right thing to do.
I got home and got my dress on. When I arrived at Carolyn’s the girls had almost everything already done. It looked amazing. The house was decorated in an American theme. It was totally Mack!!! Sherry was the ‘boss’ and for good reason. It does take a village to do things of this nature, but Sherry was so organized and brought in all the right stuff for this celebration. I got a bit overwhelmed for a minute. I hadn’t really stopped my crazy life long enough to process that my dear friend had lost her best friend. I think when someone dies we feel so badly for those who have lost. Then I believe we all reflect on our own lives and how such a personal death would impact our own lives. As we all know, death is a part of life, but the closer the death is to our heart the more we relate it to our own lives and how it would affect us. I hope death always helps me to remember to hold everyone I love more dear each day.
We went to the service at The Barn at Schneff Farm. The venue was perfectly Mack. There were tables set up for a meal. There was an opening prayer, a slide show which was perfect with the right music and amazing pictorial memories of this amazing man, some poems were read, and Paul Bollard brought the eulogy, which was well thought out and heart felt. The tables were set with tomato plants as the center pieces. There was a denim runner on each table with a white T-shirt placed in the middle, Mack’s signature wear, jeans and a white T-shirt. Many people were dressed like Mack, adding a bucket sun hat. I had my kids come with Stuart. When we would go to Mack and Mary’s for a visit, no matter the time of year, Mack would take them in the Rhino to the pond. He would also often take them to get eggs from the chickens or he and Mary would take them out to the garden. They referred to each other as Grandma Mary and Grandpa Mack when speaking to Jack and Millie. When we sat at the table in The Barn, Jack said to me, ‘Mom, that’s Mack’s Rhino over there!’ That so touched my heart as I know Jack has found memories of Mack as we all do.
After the lovely service there was a beautiful Mexican meal. We then carried on to Carolyn’s. Stuart took the kids home for the afternoon. Millie would carry on to her birthday party, however Jack would not be able to go to his social event as Todd came down with Covid, and although Kyle didn’t have any symptoms I couldn’t risk Jack getting Covid and missing Emily’s wedding. Jack wasn’t impressed that I wouldn’t let him go anyway, but the girl’s mom wanted to make sure all the kids could attend the fun.
I spent the afternoon with my girls.
These ladies have been a part of so many wonderful times in my life. These girls will always be a part of my life. So many people love Mary and Mack, and the amount of food that her sorority produced was evidence of that. It was an amazing celebration for sure.
I left the party just after 6 pm to pick Millie up from her party. When we got home I finished packing and cleaning the house. Whatever didn’t get done, didn’t get done. Elise and Mitch came over for about an hour and then we were all on our way to bed.
Saturday when the alarm went off at 3:20 am I wasn’t terribly impressed, but we needed to get rolling in order to get to Amarillo at a reasonable time. In the summer, when we travel through two different time zones, the trip to the Midwest is a bit longer, or so it seems. Stuart and I listened to the book, The Shack, on our journey. The kids slept until we got to Sandy’s in Gallup for breakfast. Once breakfast was over, we carried on. The trip was relatively uneventful. We arrived in Amarillo around 4:30 pm, Texas time.
We decided to eat at the famous Big Texan Steak House. No one from our family did the 72 ounce steak challenge, but there were two people participating while we ate. The food was great, but there was a lot. Jack couldn’t even eat his 12 ounce steak. However, initially he stated he wanted to do the challenge. We told him when he got older we would consider letting him participate.
After dinner we headed to our hotel. Conveniently there was a Buffalo Wild Wings next to our hotel. Our thought was we would have the kids shower and we would pop over for a beer. We walked to the restaurant and it was so filthy we decided to go to the gas station, get a couple of cans of beer, and head back to our room. It was too gross to even have a beer in the restaurant. Ugh! We ended up going to bed around 9:30 pm, which was actually 7:30 pm Arizona time. We shall see how this turns out.
