Stuart took the kids to Elevate for a bouncing session while Louise and I were having breakfast. We ended meeting Stuart and the kids at Elevate and then we went for lunch and then did some shopping.
We came home for a rest and then took the gang to San Tan Flat for dinner. It was so much fun. Grammie and Pop came along and paid for our meals. Our neighbors came as well. I had brought marshmallows for the kids to roast. So we weren’t able to leave until it was cool enough to build a fire.
My favorite goddaughter!
San Tan Flat never disappoints.
And the evening is complete with roasted marshmallows. Yum!
We came home and sat on the back porch for a while. Elise came over for a chat. The kids went to bed way too late, but who cares? Their cousins are not around very often, so we always have to make the most of it.
Monday we got up and left for Canyon Lake around 10:30 am.
The boys blew up the toys.
Millie and Zoe had a go at the kayak and paddle board. Millie ended up attaching the bungie to the kayak and pulling Zoe.
Zoe loves her cousin Jack.
We took a picnic lunch with us. The kids weren’t on the water very long. It was also getting a bit toasty. So we left around 1:30 and went to Tortilla Flat.
Can’t pass up prickly pear ice cream at Tortilla Flat.
When we got home the kids went out to the pool. We fed the kids meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Stuart and I had a meeting with Empower that lasted longer than expected. But after our meeting, Louise, Stuart and I went to eat at North Italia, treated by Louise. We left the kids at home which pleased them to death. We had a lovely meal with just the adults. When we got home we put the kids to bed, then we all followed. The sun had taken the life out of us.
Tuesday morning I got up and went to school for half of the day. One of my kids had come back for the day. The day went so slowly as most of my kids are out of the room most of the day. It is getting a bit boring for me and my paras.
I left school just before noon to meet Stuart, Lou and the kids for lunch. We went to Kona Grill. I’m amazed at how prices at these restaurants has jumped in the last few years. When we got home from lunch, the kids entertained themselves. Stuart left around 3 pm to go back to New Mexico. I was so glad he could take a few days off. When he left, this was our clue to go shopping. We left the kids at home to play on their devices. Lou had bought Billy an a oculus that morning. So all was right with the world.
When we got back from shopping the kids got in the pool and Lou napped. Liz came over around 6 pm for a visit. It seems I hadn’t seen her in forever. Louise got up from her nap with prompting from Billy. He told her Auntie Dana’s friend was visiting. I was happy Lou met Liz. Liz left after the kids ate their spaghetti. Louise ate some spaghetti as well, and for whatever reason I forgot to eat.
Elise came over around 7 pm for a back porch visit. Millie didn’t take her meds in the afternoon and lost her shizzle. Elise had come to talk about her son’s counseling. Kid troubles are so heart breaking. The night ended a bit troubling.
Wednesday I was supposed to walk with Sue, but I didn’t in the end. Will we ever get back to walking? Why am I so lazy? I miss the conversation more than the walking. The kids woke up with no trouble and were very quiet as to not wake up Louise and the kids. We left the house on time with no trouble. Those type of mornings are so wonderful.
After school I took Millie to gymnastics. I picked Jack up from volleyball and we went home. We ended up going out to Buffalo Wild Wings because Jack decided he didn’t want to go to basketball skills training. We had tried to talk Billy into going with him, but in the end he was too shy for such an adventure.
When we got home Elise was sitting on her front porch, hiding from her kids. Her son had just pulled an epic meltdown on her. She said his episode was very similar to Millie’s the previous night. Once we went inside, I took a shower and then Zoe and I went to pick Millie up from gymnastics. When we got home she went to take a shower. I let her stay up a little later as the cousins and Auntie Lou were leaving the next day and we wouldn’t see them after the morning. What a wonderful surprise they were. I could tell the kids didn’t want to leave each other. The fortunate thing was we would see them in Bali in July.
Thursday morning we got up and got ready for school. Billy and Zoe got up as well. Lou got up just before we left. No one cried as we knew in 12 very short weeks we would see them again.
School was okay. One of my kids returned to me just after 10 am. This program is not effective at all. It’s a holding pattern for students who can’t control their behavior. It’s supposed to be a restorative program, but it really is just a place we put students and cross our fingers they get better so we don’t have to test them for disabilities. It’s sad.
After school I went to get Millie and we went to Jack’s first school volleyball game. It was a blowout! Jack had about 8 points on serves. I do really think that volleyball is going to be his game. We went to Elmer’s for bean burritos afterward. Todd and Kyle went with us. We then went to collect Andrew and took he and Jack to basketball practice. These days really do pass so quickly because the kids are so busy.
Millie and I came home and found the tv remote. Lou had messaged me and said once my parents came to get them to take them to the airport they couldn’t find the remote. Ha! We also found a rash guard, a brush, and a pair of socks that they had left. Millie commented that we were probably going to find some other things over the course of the next few days. My sister in law is kind of known for leaving things behind.
Millie took a shower and laid on the sofa for the evening. She was really exhausted. Jack got home about 9:30 and took a shower as well. Elise had come over for a chat and we sat on the back porch to enjoy the cooler weather of the day. The high on Thursday had been 94°.
I had felt a cough coming on through the night and decided I would get up and try to take a hot shower on Friday morning. Everyone got ready to go to school and we left the house a little bit late because Millie decided she didn’t want her hair braided after all. She also forgot to take her medicine Friday morning so I messaged her teacher to warn her that it could be a little bit difficult during the day.
School was relatively quiet. I had one student in my class for the entire day. I had another student who was there for the first couple of hours and then left for the rest of the day. I can imagine these next seven weeks are going to be relatively boring, but I think I deserve a little boring after the year I have had.
I almost forgot I had to get my car’s emissions tested at the end of the day, before picking Millie up for gymnastics. She was having a Friday evening session instead of Saturday as they wanted the girls rested and they had different teams competing all weekend for their state meet. I’m happy to report that my car passed. I dropped her at gymnastics and headed to get Jack from volleyball practice.
Stuart was home when we got there. Ken and Maytee came over and we ordered Chinese food. We hadn’t seen them in so long. It’s kind of difficult as they live about 30 minutes away from us and the weekends are the only time we can get together. I drive so much during the week that I hate driving at the weekend. So we stay to ourselves quite a bit.
Saturday morning we didn’t actually have to get up since Millie didn’t have gymnastics. However, I still couldn’t sleep in. We decided to go to Kohls to see if we could find Jack a suit for volleyball. I guess the volleyball player tradition is to dress up on game days when the match is at home. Sadly, we came up empty. We found a blazer at Target that would work, but Jack wanted a colorful blazer. So my search would continue on Sunday. We came and back to the house and hung out until it was time to go to Jack’s basketball game.
Jack didn’t play a lot. He seemed a bit flat. I’m not sure basketball is going to be his sport. They lost by 4 points. Jack also couldn’t find his basketball at the end of the game. The boy would lose his head were it not attached to his body. We told the coach and he said they usually show up. After his game we stopped and got a drink at Quick Trip then headed to Men’s Warehouse to see if we could find a suit. No luck.
We got home just before 4 pm and I started helping Millie put up her wall art she got for Christmas. At some point during this process she got angry with me and started throwing a fit. After about 45 minutes, screaming, crying and fighting, she finally calmed down and it dawned on me what was really upsetting her. She had a gymnastics meet on Sunday that Stuart would not be able to attend because he would be driving to Gallup. We talked through it and I told her I knew she was disappointed and that I was so sorry, but it wasn’t safe for Dad to drive much later in the day. I assured her I would send him videos and we would call him after the meet. She also was just nervous. She always has a meltdown the day before her competition.
Mitch and Elise came over for dinner. We ordered Thai food for us and pizza for the kids. Mitch left around 8 pm because he was going for a ride on his motorcycle with some of his buddies. Elise left around 11 pm. The kids came home from the Hill’s house and went to bed.
Sunday morning I got up to walk with Sue. It was so nice to see her. I hadn’t seen her in forever. We caught up on each other’s lives and everything seemed right with the world. When I got home, I started working on the Empower project. This project has turned out to be a lot more involved than I had originally thought. The four of us had lunch together and then I put Millie’s hair up in her competition bun. She makes a racket every time I do it because it hurts her head. It’s so much fun!
Grammie, Pop and Elise went with us to the meet. She was nervous, but in her session she placed 1st all around. In the state of Arizona, she placed 4th all around. This really is the sport that she was meant for. She loves it and she’s really good! We are so excited to see where gymnastics takes her.
Look at all those medals!
Two of her biggest fans.
We came home and ordered pizza and wings. The Hills came over to eat and to swim for a bit.
Monday morning I had to drop medicine off at the school for Jack, which caused me to be a bit late to my school. Monday was our state writing test, so all of my kids were in my room for the entire day. That was such torture.
I left school to get Millie some K tape for her ankle. I’m not sure I got the right stuff. I was sure she would let me know after gymnastics. I was invited to go by Mary and Todd’s for a chat before picking Jack up from the 8th grade volleyball match. Apparently the 7th graders weren’t playing as the other team didn’t have a 7th grade team. But Jack wanted to know if he could stay for the 8th grade game, so I let him.
Once Jack and I were home he went upstairs and did about 2 1/2 hours worth of homework. Unfortunately his grades have slipped again. What he doesn’t understand is that if the assignments are weighted and he messes up one of them his grade drops significantly. I’m hoping he learns this lesson before he gets into high school where the grades actually do matter.
I left to get Millie at 7 o’clock and picked up McDonald’s for her. When we got home she ate, showered, and stayed up until about 830. Elise came over to hang out for a little while, after I put Millie to bed. Jack stayed up until about 10 and Elise went home.
Tuesday morning we all got up and went to school and work. Millie gave me a bit of grief, but then pulled it together. School was boring as it is these days because I usually only have one student in my class. However, I did have two of my previous students grace me with their presence because they couldn’t keep their behavior together. So at the end of the day it was a little more exciting that at the beginning of the day. I left school about 4 o’clock and pick Millie up and then headed to Casteel to get Jack from volleyball practice. I had offered to take the kids out to eat and then go and try to find Jack a blazer for his first home game on Thursday. But neither wanted to go. I think it’s funny how Jack is all eager to have his blazer but doesn’t want to go with me to pick it out. So for the next two hours I shopped around to try to find something to please him. In the end he said I could just go to Target and get the one we had seen a few days prior to that.
When I got home I was totally exhausted. Millie went to bed at 8 o’clock, Jack went to bed at 9 o’clock, and I went to bed at 9:45. It had been a long day and I didn’t feel so well. It seems I had eaten something that didn’t agree with me.
On Wednesday I had to cancel my walk with Sue due to the food I ate that I probably shouldn’t have. I felt badly, but I also didn’t trust my belly. My plan was to go to school, pick Millie up to take her to gymnastics, pick Jack up from volleyball, and then take Jack and his friend Andrew to basketball. Unfortunately, that is not what happened. School was relatively quiet and I left right after school. When I got to Millie school I parked in my normal spot to pick her up from Kids Express. Someone else had parked in the spot next to where the person who runs kids Express parks. She came rushing out which made me feel like I needed to move quickly. I ended up doing a little bit of a U-turn and hit the curb and can only assume knocked my tire off the wheel. Because the tire went instantly flat. I was super frustrated, but fortunately was able to call Millie‘s friend’s mom to pick Millie up to take her to gymnastics. All the while, I was changing a flat tire. The good thing is I remembered how to do that. When I changed the tire, I noticed that the spare was actually flat as well. However I had no choice and I had to drive 2.6 miles to get to the nearest Discount Tire. .
Flat tire and the jack!
Successful change, but now I had a flat spare! Cute lil donut, as Todd called it when I sent the picture to him.
Knowing I had to pick up Jack from volleyball, I messaged Todd and Mary to see if they could bring him home. Fortunately, yet again, my friends come through for me. They took him home while I waited at Discount Tire to get my tire repaired. I actually decided to go for a walk and I walked around Walgreens and got a soda. When I got back to Discount Tire they called me up to the counter and told me that the tire was not repairable and that I would need a new tire. These tires are brand new, and they didn’t have one that was the same tire. But ironically enough, they had a tire that was a better grade. Shocking! And it would cost me another $90. Also shocking! Needless to say I told them that I needed to find a Discount Tire that had that exact tire and it needed to be replaced right then. They found a place, so I then headed to Ray and Val Vista to get a new tire for free.
I got to the new Discount Tire. Before he could explain to me what was happening, they were replacing all 4 tires. Ha! It was just before 6 pm and they were trying to get finished by 6. They ended up wasting time they didn’t need to waste. I only needed one tire! I finally left there at 6:05 pm and headed to meet my friend Bethany for dinner. We had a great time catching up. We ordered food to go for our families and I headed to pick up Millie. We then drove through McDonalds for her meal and through Dutch Bros. to get Jack and Andrew a drink. We picked them up about 8:30, but as usual they didn’t come out to the car. I went in at nearly 8:40 and announced to Andrew that I was going to leave him if he didn’t come right then. Jack was cracking up. Jack knows his friends are just a little bit scared of me. And I think he likes it! When we got home Millie was asleep so I just took her leotard off and put her straight to bed. Sometimes a shower is just not that important. Jack stayed up a bit later and then after he was in bed I stayed downstairs on the sofa and fell asleep for my pre-night sleep nap. It’s horrible, I know, but I do it.
Thursday morning was our last day at school for the week. We had Good Friday off, thank goodness. Thursday after school I went to pick Millie up and then headed to Jack’s volleyball game. Because it was a home game they dressed up.
Every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man. We had a bit of an argument about his shoes. His feet grow so fast that I can hard keep up. He is now wearing a size 11. It’s crazy!
They won their game by a huge amount. I will be shocked if they have much competition this season. They are really good. After the game we came home and got settled in for the evening. The neighbors, or the ‘boys’ as Millie refers to them, came over for a while. The kids stayed up too late, but would be able to sleep in the following morning, so I wasn’t terribly fussed by it.
I got up around 7 am Friday morning and decided to go to the store to make sure all the Easter festivities were ready. While I was out, Millie found out that Jack was having a sleepover at our house that night. She then wanted to have some of her friends over for a play date. I moved heaven and earth to make it happened.
We colored Easter eggs and I made bird’s nests.
Millie lost the plot when I told her they couldn’t go to the neighbor’s to jump in the trampoline. She threw an absolute fit. She told me to shut up and that she hated me. I told her later that she had probably keep all that fun talk toward me to when we were home alone, because if she came home and told me one of her friends was treating her mother they way she treated me, I wouldn’t let her go for a play date at that girl’s house again. I’m not sure she really got it, but if she’s not careful she will totally understand when no one wants to be her friend. I took the girls home around 4 pm, which was about the time Stuart got home and the boys arrived for the sleepover.
Blake ended up spending the night as well. Elise had come over and we had another later night. The boys didn’t get to bed until about 2 am. Once Millie was asleep around 10 pm, I went to bed. The boys are still too innocent to get into much trouble, so I figured they could handle things.
Saturday morning I got up and made pancakes for everyone. I ruined Stuart frying pan because I’m ‘that’ person, and I cried, but it really wasn’t about the pan. I hadn’t had a good cry in a while, so it made sense.
Owen’s mom picked him up at 9 am and I took Gavin home at 11 am. Stuart and I then went to the grocery store for his food for the week. He had decided he was going to start eating more healthy.
I got a message from my brother Russ in the middle of the afternoon letting me know that a guy that I taught with at Sanborn Elementary had passed away due to complications with Parkinson’s disease. Rich Meseroll was an intense human being that I admired a great deal, and argued with a great deal as well. I was so sad for his family. It was my own check with mortality as he was not that many years older than I am.
Around 5:30 pm we headed to John and Jenni’s and went out to dinner with them. We went back to their house for a bonfire. We got home around 11 pm and Millie was asleep on the sofa. We have started leaving the kids on their own a bit more. This night was an example of that.
Sunday morning we got up and I finished cleaning the house. The kids hunted their Easter eggs and enjoyed their baskets.
Oh to have that little girl’s abs!
I started the fruit salad and had made bird’s nests the night before for our brunch at Ken and Maytee’s.
So cute!
The brunch gang.
Jack was bored within the first ten minutes of being at Ken and Maytee’s. He is never the only boy. His attitude was horrible. I laid into him about his attitude and behavior. I get so tired of doing things for them and then we ask for one day with friends and he acts like a total turd. But believe me, he will expect me to do all my normal things for him throughout the week. It’s exhausting at times.
Stuart left for Gallup from the Green’s house and the kids and I headed home. Elise came over for a chat. The kids went to bed at their normal time. It was needed as their weekend had been all late nights.
Monday at school was quite eventful. I had one student from fourth grade come back to me permanently. I had one student on the bus that caused some issues before school. Apparently he thinks pointing the toy gun at one of the bus aids is appropriate. Needless to say when everything was sorted out he was going to be in a great deal of trouble. After school on Monday I did my usual driving around with kids and then ended up going to the airport to pick my brother up at about 9:30 PM. Russ was coming into town to do some basketball clinic at Seaton Catholic High School. Millie was initially going to ride with me to the airport, but I convinced her to stay home and go to bed. We all know how great she is at late nights!
Tuesday was a very boring day at school because we were testing. All five of my students were in my classroom for the test and some of them finished relatively quickly. Unfortunately, one of my students is academically quite a bit behind for his grade level and I knew he was going to have difficulty. After school I went to pick Millie up and take her home in order to put dinner in the oven. I then went to Casteel to pick Jack up from volleyball practice. Russ came over around 5 o’clock and we had dinner. Jack didn’t like the dinner of chicken alfredo pasta so he chose not to eat. I do not understand my children and why they are so picky with food. Jack claims that it’s because he got food poisoning at school from chicken alfredo. I don’t recall that time, but he does. He’s usually not too picky, it’s usually Millie who is so picky.. At any rate, Russ left around 6:30 PM after we played a couple of rousing games of Blockus. The kids went outside and played basketball for a while and then came in and showered all on their own. Millie went to bed at 8 PM, Jack went to bed at 9 PM, and Dana went to bed at 10 PM! I had messaged Sue earlier in the day because she sent me a message asking if we were going to walk on Wednesday morning. I told her that I hated to be an absolute lazy ass, but getting up at 4:30 did not appeal to me for this particular Wednesday. So we decided we would walk at 6 AM on Sunday morning instead. That pleased me down to the ground.
We got news from Empower that our unit one project would need to be completed by the coming up weekend or at least by the middle of the next week. It definitely put the pressure on some of us. I had about nine more lesson plans to write and then my part of the unit one project would be complete. However finding the time to do that has been the big challenge.
Wednesday morning I got to school and found out that my student who had the toy gun on the bus was going to be placed in in-school suspension for his bus behavior. That also meant that this was his third strike in his 30 day full phasing stage. So he would be coming back to me on level 2 day 1 after his in-school suspension time. Fortunately, he is going to be evaluated and we are hoping that we get some answers about his behavior. The thing that kills me about this program is that these kids are general education kids who should suffer the consequences of their behavior. If my daughter had done a similar thing at her school she would have likely been suspended and waiting for an expulsion hearing. It makes no sense. This boy did not handle the news well about being in another room for three days. He also didn’t handle the news well to know that after those three days he would come back to me full-time. School wasn’t terribly exciting, because now I’m back to having two students in my class.
After school I headed to get Millie to take her to gymnastics. And then I picked Jack up from volleyball practice. We got home and Russ came over. Russ and I took Jack and Andrew to basketball practice just before 7 o’clock and then Russ and I went to have dinner together. When we finished dinner, we went to pick Millie up from gymnastics and then headed to Campo Verde high School to pick Jack and Andrew up from basketball. We then made our usual run to Dutch Brothers for a drink. That was good for Russ because Dutch Brothers is one of his favorite coffee shops.
Thursday I was in charge of feeding the seventh grade volleyball team after school before their game. I took Uncrustables, Gatorade, water and chips. Jack was mortified that I was taking Uncrustables because other parents were taking Canes Chicken or Barro’s Pizza or McDonald’s. I told him I was not made of money and that if any of his friends said anything about it he can tell them that his mom and dad are educators. It was ridiculous.
At school it was another day of testing. I had all of my students in my classroom. One of my students ended up going to test with someone else in the afternoon. He just wasn’t able to keep it together after lunch. That did not upset me a bit. Considering he will be with me for the rest of the year, I was a bit relieved to have him not with me for an hour or so. After school I stayed and did some paperwork for this particular child because he’s being evaluated. I then went to pick Millie up from school. On the way, Jack messaged me to ask if uncle Russ was coming to the game. I had to tell him that Russ had a clinic at 5:30 and wouldn’t be able to make it. Then I asked Jack how the Uncrustables went over. He said that all the boys loved them. Again, I was right!
We headed to Newell Barney Junior High to watch Jack play volleyball. This particular game was a little more challenging, and unfortunately they ended up losing the match. They won the first game, lost the second game and lost the third game 15 to 13. Jack was very disappointed and when we were riding home from the game he decided he didn’t want to go to basketball practice. I got into it with him because I said that he made a commitment to the basketball team and he needed to go to practice. He said he wasn’t going. I said he was going. In the end, he went! Mama knows best. He knew I was right. I kind of think his team had been lulled into a false as of security. So for them to have a loss this early in the season is probably a good thing. It will teach them a good lesson.
While Jack was at basketball practice, Millie finished her book report project. She had to write a letter for her book report. Have I mentioned how much I hate book reports? She took a shower and went to bed a little later than normal just because I felt like she worked so hard on her book report. Jack got home at about 9:15 and took a shower as well. Elise came over for a little chat but didn’t stay very long.
Friday morning my alarm went off at 4:30 AM and I took Russ to the airport at 5 AM. I could not locate my glasses so the ride there was a little iffy. I got home just after 6 o’clock and woke the kids up to get ready for school. School was okay. We had pizza at the end of the day because we were celebrating the fact that state testing was over. Once school was out I immediately left to get Millie. Then we went and picked up her friend Mallory for a sleepover. We drove to Casteel to pick Jack up from volleyball practice and then we headed home. And about 6:30 Elise brought McDonald’s for all the kids and she stayed for a little while. Then she went to get Thai food for Stuart, myself and her. Mitch did not join us because he had a touch of the stomach flu. We stayed up and talked until 1 AM. That is way too late or someone my age!
Saturday morning I woke the girls up around 7 AM. They got dressed came down for breakfast, and then I took them to gymnastics. Stuart went along as did Jack, because Jack had an orthodontist appointment at 8:20. He was hopeful that he would get his braces off, but that did not happen. I’m not sure why orthodontists give kids that false hope of getting their braces off, but it’s irritating for a mother. It seems that now he will get them off closer to the end of June. As you would guess, he was very disappointed. I told him I was really sorry, but he would rather have them on longer and his teeth straighter than for them to take them off too early and not be as pretty as they could be. After the orthodontist, we went to the grocery store to do our weekly shop. We also bought Maytee a gift for her birthday. When we got home we had a few minutes for Jack to grab something to eat and then Stuart took him to his basketball game. I headed to gymnastics to pick Millie up, and I also delivered her friend Ella to her house. Then Millie and I headed to the basketball game. Jack played so aggressively! I was shocked! He had a really good game. They didn’t win, but he performed really well. There were only six players on the team so he got to play a lot. I don’t know if that boosted his confidence or not, but he did surprisingly well.
After Jack’s game we came home and Millie got her bag ready for her second sleepover of the weekend. She was going to a girl’s birthday party from school. I took her to her birthday party and then returned to finish getting ready for Stuart and my evening out.
We may have stopped at San Tan Brewery before dinner for a drink.
We went to the Hidden House in downtown Chandler to celebrate Maytee’s birthday. Jack ended up staying home and then went to Blake’s house, which is our neighbor, and spent the night there. So we had no children at our house that night. We got home from the restaurant and went immediately to bed. We are such pitiful people! The previous night had been too late for us, so we needed a good night’s rest.
Sunday morning I got up and went to walk with Sue. It was a bit chilly, but catching up with her was worth the cold. After we walked, I took my car to Cobblestone car wash and had my oil changed and got a free car wash. I then went home and did some work on my Empower project. I headed to get Millie early from her sleepover as she was having some issues with some of the girls. The girl drama may kill me! Once we were home she went right to sleep on the couch. She slept for nearly 3 hours. I knew that Sunday would be this way.
We had lunch around noon. We made stuffed chicken breasts and roasted vegetables. We watched a bit of the Guardians of the Galaxy and then Stuart started packing up his stuff to leave for the week. We had a great weekend, but it always goes too fast.
Once Stuart left, I decided it was time for the dogs to have a bath. That was the battle of my lifetime. I mopped the floor while they were drying outside. Elise came over to show me the tattoos she had gotten. We discussed the dogs smelling like poop and then realized that because we have gardens now and we have fertilized them with manure, the dogs have been digging in them so therefore they smell like poop. Thank goodness that came to us.
Millie went to bed at 8 PM as she was exhausted. Jack went to bed at 9:30 pm because I made him. And I follow shortly after. I think I was in bed at 9:45. During the night on Monday I woke up several times and then at 4:45 I was nearly done sleeping. I really don’t require much sleep. So when I go to bed at 9:45 I expect six hours later I will be wide awake. I took the kids to school and then headed to Superior Court in downtown Phoenix for my jury summons. I spent most of the day working on my Empower project and then at 1:35 PM they announced my juror number and I was dismissed from jury duty. I was relieved as the case had to do with sexual assault and a minor. I would not have been a good juror for that.
I had asked one of the moms to pick Millie up from school just in case I was still downtown. She said she would as long as Millie would apologize to her daughter for calling her ugly. As you would guess, I said never mind. Why can mothers not stay out of 10-year-old drama? At any rate, this is the sister of the mean girl. So none of it was very surprising. I took Millie to gymnastics and then headed to Cooley Middle School to watch Jack play volleyball. They won quite easily. Three of the players were ineligible so Jack and his friend Owen played the entire set. They did really well!
Jack decided to stay for the eighth grade game and then I picked him up at Casteel just after 6:30 pm. I then dropped him at home and went on to pick Millie up from gymnastics. I had made her some mac & cheese and she ate it on the way home. She ended up going to bed just before 9 o’clock, Jack went to bed at about 10 o’clock, and so did I!
Tuesday morning I woke up and took the kids to school and then headed to the dentist to get my permanent crown put in place. It hurt like hell! I guess I’d let my temporary crown stay there too long and it had irritated the gum. So when they pulled it off, it bled quite a bit. Then when they put the permanent crown on the cement was cold and my tooth was clearly sensitive to cold. So it wasn’t the most pleasant experience of my life. However it only took about 30 minutes. I then went and did a little bit of shopping before heading to the airport to pick up my friend from college, Jodi, and her husband Kerry. I had only met him one time before and that was 28 years ago at their wedding. When I picked them up, we acted as if we had never been apart. She is the same delightful human that I knew all those years ago. Her husband is quirky and funny and a delight to be around.
I decided to take them to Goldfield Ghost Town where we ate lunch in the saloon and then took a train ride. We then drove up to Canyon Lake and had prickly pear ice cream at Tortilla Flat. We sat and ate our ice cream while we listened to some live music. We headed back to the valley and to our house where Jodi and Kerry took a little bit of a nap and I dealt with some bank issues. Then we went to pick Millie up and headed to Casteel High School to watch Jack play volleyball. He had another stellar game. My mom and dad were at the game as well. My dad even commented that he thinks that maybe Jack is a better volleyball player than he is a basketball player. So I think it is slowly but surely sinking into all of us that maybe basketball is not his game of choice. Jack stayed for the senior varsity game and Vicki brought him home after the game. The rest of us went to dinner at Serranos and then were home by the time Jack was there. Kerry and Jodi stayed up for a little while to watch the of the Suns’ game and then needed rest because they had been up since 5 o’clock their time which was 3 o’clock our time. Jack and I watched the rest of the Suns’ game and then headed to bed as well.
I got up early on Wednesday morning to go fill my car with gas. Jodi and Kerry were leaving for Sedona for a few days. Their plan was to do some hiking and go to the Grand Canyon. The kids and I left before they got up and we were at school and carrying on with our day. My students weren’t terribly cooperative. I found out that one of my students was told by his parents that if he did not graduate my program he would be grounded for the summer. He will not graduate my program. His disability lies further than what we know at this moment. So I can’t help but feel sorry for him. I left school shortly after 3 o’clock and took Millie to gymnastics. I then headed to the grocery store for a few items, and then on to Casteel to pick Jack up from volleyball practice.
I was informed by Jack that the theme for the following day for their volleyball team was onesies. Anyone know where to find a onesie at the end of April in Arizona? We found one at Kohl’s but then Jack decided he didn’t like it after looking for nearly an hour. So we went home, he got ready for basketball and when I dropped him at basketball I went to Target and got him a dinosaur onesie from the boys department. It was way too small for him, but he wore it anyway. Initially I wasn’t supposed to pick the boys up from basketball but then I decided to do that so that Alena could take them the following day and pick them up. I picked Millie up from gymnastics at 8 PM and drove through McDonald’s for her chicken nugget meal. Then we went to the drive-through at Dutch Brothers and got the boys’ drinks. We picked them up from basketball practice and took Andrew home, then home ourselves. Millie showered and went to bed pretty easily as she was very tired. Jack showered as well and went to bed about an hour after Millie. I went to bed as soon as Jack went to bed.
Thursday was the absolute worst day I’ve had at school since September. Three of my four students kicked off and had epic meltdowns in their general education classes and in my class. It was all I could do not to tell my principal I wasn’t coming back the next day. I still just can’t understand how a child who has no diagnosis can throw rocks, throw items around the room, kick, scratch, punch, and curse me out and still get away with it and have virtually no consequences. If my son or daughter did any of those things in school they would be immediately punished. I can’t express how thrilled I am to get out of this job.
After the epic day I had, I went to pick Millie up and we headed to Jack’s volleyball match. I was supposed to go to a quiz night in Scottsdale to meet up with our friend Joel, but his flight was late so instead Stuart came home Thursday night and we went to the Daniels’ house to watch the rest of the Suns’ game. The kids got in the hot tub and the adults watched the basketball game and ate pizza.
Friday morning I took Jack to school because at the volleyball game the previous night, that they won, Gavin got a concussion. So he wasn’t going to be going to school on Friday. Stuart took Millie to school and then ran some errands and went to the Empower warehouse to work for a bit. He then brought me lunch and stayed in my classroom to eat. After school I picked Millie up and we went home. Stuart picked Jack up from school because he didn’t have volleyball practice on Friday. Jody and Kerri returned Friday evening just after I took Millie to her friend Ella‘s house for a sleepover and I delivered Jack, Kyle, and Trent to their friend’s house. Their friends just happened to be a group of five girls. Of course I went in the house and met the mom and all the girls. Jack was not terribly pleased. However he did give me a hug when I left the house.
Todd came over and Stuart made smash burgers. Todd picked up the boys at 9:30 and brought them back to the house. He brought them back on the back porch and we debriefed regarding their evening with the girls. They were embarrassed. We thought it was funny!
Saturday morning we got up and started preparation for our charcuterie board evening. I had invited some people over as we had talked about having a charcuterie board evening with some of our couple friends. We left just after 9 AM to go to a celebration of life for Rich Meseroll, the friend I taught with at Sanborn Elementary years back. It was very surreal as Rich was only two years older than I am. He was a great guy who often frustrated a lot of us because of his intensity. But he was intense about everything! And that intensity made him a wonderful human being. The service was beautiful and sad.
We left the service and went to the grocery store to pick up some last minute things for the charcuterie board event. We then picked Millie up from gymnastics. When we got home we unloaded the groceries and loaded up Kerry and Jodi‘s luggage and I drove them to the airport. On my return from the airport I went the wrong way and ended up getting stuck on the freeway for a little longer than necessary. Once I was back at the house Millie jumped in the car and I took her to her friend Mallory‘s (the mean girl I can wait to get her away from next year) for their end of season gymnastics celebration. I returned home and made our guest bed as well as completed some other tasks ready for the party.
People started arriving just after 5 pm. There was way too much food, although Stuart wondered whether there would be enough.
The food was amazing. We had very different boards. My favorite might have been the booze board. It was quite epic! We had a really good night. Everyone left around 11 pm. I stayed up to clean up, as I hate to come downstairs after a party, the next morning, to an absolute mess. Roll on May!!!
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