Monday I went to meet with my principal for an ‘Opportunity’ meeting, which was code for ‘do you want to teach a 5/6 class with the cream of the crop kids’, type of question. I jumped at the opportunity. Having the best kids, academically and behaviorally, in the 5th and 6th grades seemed like a winning year to me. I was also told that I wouldn't have duty all year and I could remain the team leader. That was a win/win for what might be my retirement year. After school Millie and I went to gymnastics after picking Jack up. Jack and I then returned to the house for a bit. I fed him and took him to the carpool spot for volleyball training. I went shopping for Millie’s dance that Friday. I bought her a couple of dresses, knowing I would be returning at least one of them. One was on sale and the other was full price. Take a stab which one she ended up keeping? After I got her from gym, we ran through McDonalds and then went home for her to get ready for bed. She showered and was in bed before I had to leave to get Jack at the drop off spot.
On Tuesday, we continued benchmark testing that had started the previous day. I made arrangements to leave school early to take Jack to the endodontist but it turns out I showed up on the wrong day. I was so frazzled that I cried. So they rescheduled me on the latest appointment they had the following week. Now why couldn’t they have done that in the first place? On the way home from the ‘not appointment’ we stopped for something to eat at Sonic. It was a Tuesday, so once we were home we just chilled. Elise came over for a while and then Millie and I watched Dancing with the Stars.
Wednesday it was school as normal. I checked Jack’s grades and discovered he had missing assignments in Algebra, again. When I got home Grammie had taken Millie to gymnastics and Pop had picked Jack up from school and brought him home. So Jack was home once I got home. I talked to him about his missing assignments and he lied to me. Needless to say, I was irritated and fed up. I told him as far as I was concerned he would no longer be playing club volleyball this spring. I am so tired of his lack of care for school, and his lying sent me over the edge. I know volleyball is his ‘currency’, as my friend Sue says, and knew he would pay attention at that point. I made him call his coach and tell him. Jack started crying and asking me for one more chance. I told him I was fed up. When he wouldn’t call his coach, I called and put it on speaker phone. At this point Jack barricaded himself in his closet. When I told his coach this, he asked me if Jack had his phone with him and told me he would call Jack. So I hung up and waited. He had to tell his coach why he was going to have to quite club volleyball. His coach then asked me if we could meet the following night before practice and just talk about some possible compromise. I agreed to that. I told Jack to shower while I picked Millie up from gymnastics. While Millie was showering, I went to Elise’s to sit by the fire. I told Millie to go lay on the sofa and go to sleep. She didn’t do what I asked which is the story of our lives. So I ended up cutting my time short at the neighbor’s. Millie was being a pain and was still awake at 10:30 pm. I knew the following morning would be super fun.
Thursday morning I went in one time to tell Millie to get up. Since she left her Alexa in the bathroom, her alarm didn’t go off. When I went in, I told her this would be her only wake up call. I left to take Jack to school and when I got back she was downstairs and ready to go. I do think she tries to make up for her behavior from situations by being extraordinarily good the next time. I guess that is okay. On the way to school I told her about Jack’s consequence and how I was no longer playing about taking privileges away when they ignored my requests or lied to me. I am not sure what kind of impact that information had on her, but I was hopeful she got the message. At school I got an email from our tax guy telling us we would have a large tax bill. As I looked at my W2s I realized that I didn’t have any federal taxes taken out from Queen Creek. Isn’t that special? So as you would guess, I started to panic. What would be would be. I was on carpool duty that evening and we had a meeting with Coach Joaquin. Millie went with me and the plan was for us to go to dinner while the boys practiced. After the very intense conversation with Coach Joaquin, where he convinced Stuart and I to give Jack another shot, and told Jack he had to send a screen shot of his grades each week, Millie and I headed to Oregano’s for dinner. Once we were all home after volleyball, the kids showered and we all settled down for the evening.
Friday morning, I headed to the optometrist for a shot in my eye. It was so weird! I saw major floaters all day long. After school I had a mammogram. It seems I packed a lot of fun in one day. Once I was home from my boob squeeze, I helped Millie get ready for her daddy/daughter dance. However, Stuart was obligated to be in Gallup for a make-up new teacher weekend, so Pop took Millie to the dance.
So sweet.
He brought her a wrist corsage. It was totally his idea.
Her friend, Brinley, took a picture of them dancing.
Stuart stayed in Gallup for the weekend to do a make-up class for the new teachers. While Millie and Pop were at the dance, Jack and I took Grammie with us to dinner. Jack was a wealth of no conversation, so that is always fun.
Saturday morning I got Millie up to go to gymnastics. She was supposed to go and groom a horse with a friend of ours after gymnastics, but when I woke her up on Saturday morning, she didn’t want to do that. She gets overwhelmed if there’s more than one thing going on in the day. She feels like we’re stealing her time. So I decided I wouldn’t fight it and I messaged the mom to say we couldn’t come. The mom returned my message and said that she totally understood because her daughter was exactly the same way. She went into a little bit about how her daughter had anxiety and that she’s been this way her whole life. So I think eventually this little friendship will be good for Millie, and good for me, because the mom might be able to give me some insight into an anxious child. Once I had Millie at gymnastics, I came home and picked Jack up and took him to get his perm. I went to have breakfast at Skippy’s and when I returned to pick Jack up he wanted to get Bosa donuts. So we got donuts. Once I dropped him at home, I went back to pick Millie up early from gymnastics at her request. Since she had a gym meet on the Sunday, that’s how we usually handle things. While I was picking Millie up, Jack’s tutor friends showed up and they had an hour of tutoring with Lauren.
For the afternoon we all did a little bit of nothing, and then I got ready to go to supper club around 4 o’clock. Jack had a basketball game at 6:10, which Grammie and Pop took him and Millie to. Apparently it was one of the best basketball games he had played, which is par for the course, because I usually miss those. I picked Skip and Todd up and we headed to Tony and Evette’s house. Tony and Yvette made homemade pasta and we enjoyed a dinner outside on their patio. Grammie and Pop took Jack and Millie to get some food and then brought them back home. They stayed at the house until I got home just after 10 PM.
Sunday morning I got up at 5:30 and went to meet Sue to walk. We hadn’t walked together in forever. She had some traveling and I’ve had some busy-ness. So it was nice to reconnect with her and share as much of our lives in the 45 minutes that we walked as we possibly could. I returned home and took a shower, I had some coffee, and woke Millie up. I fixed her hair for her gym meet and we headed out. She did a new trick at her competition. She did a back walkover on the beam. It was so surprising and so amazing. She came away with two 2nd places and 2 first place medals, and was the 1st all around champion.
Gina came to support her, which meant so much to Millie. Because of our time in the Middle East with Gina, Millie has a special relationship with her. It is really sweet! We came home and headed to the Holmes’ house for the Super Bowl. It was an epic game. Of course our Chiefs won! Vicki drove us home and I left my car there as I may have celebrated too much. It was the most sensible decision.
School Monday morning was dull. None of us wanted to be there. After school I took Millie to Circle K for a drink and then we headed to pick up Jack. Jack and I dropped Millie at the gym and headed home. Before I headed to get Millie from practice, I returned a dress to JC Penney and then went to have a beer at Fat Willy’s and met up with a co-worker from last year. She now works for a charter school and loves it. We had a good chat before I returned to collect Millie from gymnastics. Once Millie was home, had eaten and showered, she went to bed and I went to collect Jack from the carpool spot.
Tuesday was Valentine’s Day and we had a Valentine’s Day party at school. I got some flowers Stuart sent to school. All the card said was ‘I love you!’, so I assumed they were from Stuart. I messaged him to thank him and he informed me that he was coming home because it started snowing in Gallup and he didn’t wanna get stuck there. Since he was due to take Millie to Florida the following weekend he needed to be home and not stuck in Gallup. After school I went to pick Jack up and we stayed at the house for a little bit. Then Elise and her kids, as well as Jack, Millie, and myself to TC’s for dinner. Stuart surprised the kids by meeting us there. They were shocked.
Wednesday I was up and out of the house and Stuart ended up taking Millie to school. We had discovered from our tax accountant that we were going to owe a large sum for taxes so we started to try to figure all that out. After school, Stuart took Millie to gymnastics because I had a team leader meeting. He had picked Jack up earlier and took him home. Stuart and I then went to dinner before we picked Millie up from gymnastics. Pop picked Jack up for Skills Academy for his basketball club team. Once we were home, Elise came over and ate our leftovers. I found a it kind of funny.
Thursday morning was similar to Wednesday morning. I took Jack to school and was able to go to school a little bit earlier. Stuart brought Millie and then I took her home at 11 am to get ready to fly to Florida. My parents took them to the airport in the early afternoon and they were off for their weekend. I had kind of forgotten that I had a formal observation on Thursday afternoon. Fortunately, I know how to pull stuff out of my ass for something like that. I did a great little scoot game with line plots. It was a hit! I picked Jack up from school and brought him home. I went over to see Elise and had a chat with her. I then took Jack to the meeting point for him to get a lift to club volleyball. Once I was home I took a shower , and then returned to pick him up. I stayed up way too late, as I always do, watching my trashy shows. It was strange to not put Millie to bed on Thursday night. Stuart called when they got to the hotel and told me that they would be going to Hollywood Studios the following morning. I know he hates amusement parks and the lines, but I think it’s really sweet that he was able to do this with her. I went to pick up Jack and fed him once he was home.
Friday morning I didn’t have to get Millie up because she was in Florida. I had started cleaning her room a bit. She told me not to move anything around. I did, however, take all of her clothes that were in the floor, or on the bed and put them in the washing machine. I also stripped her bed and started that laundry. I took Jack to school and then headed to my school.
Stuart and Millie message me throughout the day to let me know how things are going in Florida.
They went to Hollywood Studios in the morning and then headed to Epcot later in the day. Millie actually felt sick so she wouldn’t ride the roller coasters. Stuart broke my heart by telling me she’s really not a Disney kid. So of course that made me sad. I want one of my kids to be a Disney kid. They called me on Friday night to let me know that they were hanging out with some of the girls from the gym. So I’m sure that made Millie happy. After school on Friday, I came home and took Jack to his junior high dance.
I then went to the chiropractor. I returned and picked up Jack, Alex, and Owen to come home for a sleepover. They changed their clothes when we got home and then I took them to a movie. So what my night was consumed with was junior high stuff.
Saturday morning I was intending to sleep in. However, the squeaky toy that my dogs never played with before now, has turned into one of their favorites. So needless to say, I was awakened by a squeaky toy. I finally got up at about 6:30 AM and came downstairs and had some coffee. I went upstairs and made my bed and folded some laundry. I then got a call from Stuart at 10 am telling me that Millie was having a meltdown about her hair. We knew this was going to be an issue because I’m the one that usually does her hair for her competition. Her little friend Mabel was at the competition as well, and her mother agreed to help out. Stuart stepped out of the room and to call me so that Millie would maybe calm down being with just Mabel’s mom. She chilled and did a phenomenal job at her meet. She won 1st all around for her age group and placed 11th out of 209 competitors in her level.
She was surprised and thrilled!
Sunday I was supposed to walk with Sue but had the beginning of a splitting headache the previous evening so had to cancel. I felt a bit better by morning, but slept until almost 8 am. I got up and made coffee, folded some laundry, and got dressed for the day. I made a Costco trip and then came home to watch a movie with Jack at the house. I watched television the rest of the day and did absolutely nothing. I picked up Chinese food for Jack and then headed to the airport to pick up Stuart and Millie. They had spent the majority of the day at Animal Kingdom before flying home.
I picked them up and Millie was tired. Therefore, the tidying I did of her room made her mad and she had an epic meltdown. She finally calmed down and went to sleep. Thank goodness the following day was Presidents Day and we didn’t have school.
Because Monday was Presidents Day, the boys came over for tutoring. Millie went home with the Lloyds for a playdate. Brandy works with Stuart and her son comes to our house for tutoring. She has four other children we met in Mexico in October, so Millie has been begging for this playdate for a while. Jack had a birthday party and Stuart and I went to lunch. I had a ‘favorites’ night with my girlfriends. This is where you bring your favorite thing (things) for everyone, if it is a small group, and everyone gets a new gift. It was so much fun.
Tuesday morning, Stuart took Jack to the orthopedic doctor because Jack was unable to raise his right arm up to the level of his waist. After examination it was determined he would be off of basketball and volleyball for two weeks due to bicep tendinitis. He was very disappointed because this meant he would not be able to play in the first tournament of the spring season. We finally convinced him this was for the best as we told him the worst thing that could happen would be for him to permanently injure himself and never be able to play again.
School was manic as it always is in a short week. Millie had an orthodontist appointment that initially I had asked my dad to take her to. However, Stuart had decided to stay home from work as he knew snow was coming up north and his school would be closed. Well, I failed to communicate this to my dad. I got a call from the front office just 5 minutes after Stuart picked her up for her appointment. It seems my dad was waiting for her. Oops! I spoke to him on the phone and apologized for the miscommunication. After school I headed to get Jack to take him to the endodontist. It turns out that his tooth would be needing a root canal. That was a cheap appointment!
At practice, his coach spoke with his team about their contributions over the fall season and that he hoped they would all be in the summer team that would travel to Orlando. That conversation may or may not have been prompted by me. The boys had been feeling devalued when he didn’t pick a first and second team at tryouts. I hoped this conversation would make them all feel better. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to make some of the parents feel better.
Tuesday was pancake day, or better known as Fat Tuesday.
Stuart made crapes for our neighbors and ourselves. We have done this the last few years. It was fun and tasty.
Wednesday morning it was cool as usual. Stuart was thrilled to know that he made the right decision by not going up to the northern part of Arizona to work this week. School was canceled at his school and he was afraid with the snow that he wouldn’t get home, so he made the right decision. Instead, he cleaned out our garage all day and tidied it up It needed to be done about a year ago. So I no longer feel like we live in the garage of Sanford and sons. Millie had a half day and was delivered home by our neighbor. Stuart picked Jack up right after school. I stayed for a team meeting at school and then came home in time to take Millie to gymnastics. When we return from delivering Millie to gymnastics, Liz was at the house and we went to eat sushi at a place called Sushi Creek in Queen Creek. It’s been there for years, but we’ve never eaten there. It was delightful, and the happy hour was pretty good. We then went to Total Wine and More and selected some adult beverages that we had never seen before. It’s always a little risky to spend that kind of money on beverages that you’re not sure of, but we did anyway. We got home after picking Millie up from gymnastics, watched some television, and then we all retired at about 10:30 PM.
Jack told me on Thursday morning that his shoulder was feeling a lot better and he indicated that he wanted to play on Saturday. I convinced him that playing on Saturday could further his injury and prolong his healing. He knew this to be the case and said that I was right that he would rather rest it and make sure that it was healed properly for the next tournament. Mama is always right. Stuart and I had frozen appetizers for dinner and I took Jack to the carpool spot at 6. Liz and I went to pick him up after she got home from dinner with friends. It was another early night for us.
Friday was a big debacle with one of my students. A police report was made and it was a mess. I had a boy who made a threat a few days prior and the mother of the girl that was threatened decided to press charges with a police report. It was a bit much and terribly unnecessary. As a result, the girl was taken out of school. Her narcissistic mother didn’t give a shit how all of this affected her daughter, which is a shame as the daughter is the only one losing out. When I got home from school we decided make pizzas. The neighbors came over, as well as Liz, and we had delightful pizza for the evening. The boys, as boys do, decided to make their own version of a pizza. Boys love penis jokes.
Saturday morning we were up and I took Jack to Owen‘s house to ride to the volleyball tournament, even though Jack wouldn’t be playing. Liz and I then took Millie to gymnastics and Stuart headed to the volleyball facility. After we stopped at Los Favoritos to get a burrito, we headed to
The tournament as well. Although Jack didn’t play, he was there to support his team. Liz, Stuart, and I went to IKEA during their second match. Stuart, then headed back to get Millie and Liz and I went to the volleyball facility to watch Jack’s last game. There’s still a lot of controversy around his volleyball club team this spring.
When we got home from the volleyball match, I took Jack to the high school to watch the scrimmage between the junior varsity and senior varsity volleyball players. I had a good conversation with some of the other moms from the volleyball club. It seems the moms just want the fall team to stay in tact, but as the boys start to develop as athletes, they start to vary in ability and keeping them together really isn’t going to be possible. Once we were home, we fed the kids and the adults decided to go to uncle Bear’s for dinner Saturday night and then came back to the house to watch a movie.
Sunday morning when I woke up, it was raining so instead of walking with Sue, Liz and I went to meet her for breakfast. We had a good chat and then returned to the house for Liz to pack up her car and head back to Las Cruces. I laid around most of the day and didn’t do anything. I realized at about 3 o’clock that I needed to go get gas in my car as well as run to my school for something I forgot to do that needed to be done by Monday. I wasn’t going to be at school on Monday because Millie had a gymnastics meet at Rawhide. So after running my errands, the neighbors came over for dinner. Stuart made lamb, veggies, mashed potatoes, and an onion sauce. The food was amazing. We sat outside by the fire until around 7 o’clock. Mitch went home to put his kids to bed. Elise stayed for a little bit longer and then left her self. I took a shower and came back downstairs and watched TV for a little bit. Stuart went to bed before I did, because he always does.
Monday morning, my alarm went off at 5:30. I got up and let the dogs out of their kennels and returned upstairs to get ready for the day. Stuart took Millie to her competition. This was after I did her hair and she got dressed. They left around 6:45 AM. Jack and I left at the same time to go pick up Grammie and Pop and then we all delivered Jack to school. We stopped to get Dutch Brothers coffee and then headed to the gymnastics meet. Millie performed very well. She got two first places, two second places, and placed second in the all-around competition. Her score was exactly like her friend Mallory‘s, but Mallory had received a 9.85 on two events, and Millie received a 9.85 on just one event . Millie thought it was unfair, but I understood how they calculated it. As you know, Mallory is her nemesis. After the meet, we went to eat lunch at Mimi‘s Cafe in Chandler. Stuart left for Gallup right after we ate. Millie and I came home and relaxed for a little bit. I then headed to the high school to pick Jack up from school. Once I was home, Millie was dressed and ready to go to gymnastics practice, so I drove her there. I then came home and had a bite to eat before taking Jack to the carpool spot where he would travel off to volleyball practice. I went shopping for some needed items and then collected Millie from gymnastics. I fed her, she showered and then went to bed. I fell asleep in the recliner and was nearly late to get Jack after volleyball practice. Once we were home, I warmed up some food for him after he showered. We both made it an early-ish night.
Tuesday morning Millie struggled to get out the door. When exactly will this end? Wait, don’t tell me. I am not sure I can handle the truth. We took the students to BizTown and the day was pretty much a wash. It was a great experience but was a bit boring for me and the other teachers. At the end of the day, Millie and I left just after 3 pm. We picked Jack up and went home. I was supposed to have dinner with my friend Debi, but it turned out she wasn’t able to make it. It was kind of for the best as I wasn’t feeling 100%. We all sat around and watched television and just had a chilled night.
Wednesday at school we were trying to wrap things up for the quarter. After school I picked Jack up, took him home, then picked up Millie to take her to gymnastics. I then headed to meet Sue for dinner and then to see 42nd Street at Hale Theater in downtown Gilbert. We ate at JoyRide Taco. It was delicious. The play, as usual, was fantastic. At
Intermission I got a message from one of the gymnastics moms. It seems there was an issue during practice. I called Millie to ask her about it. It seems they have a teenage boy coaching them on bars. There are three little sassy girls on Millie’s team, Millie being one of them. This coach was making fun of them, making them do physical tasks as a consequence for being sassy. I was livid. I don’t pay that amount of money for a teenage boy to be able to be on a power trip and make my daughter cry. He just isn’t old enough or mature enough to have good judgment in these situations. I messaged her coach and the owner of the gym and told them she was to not have contact with this boy again. In the midst of all of this, Stuart called me and told me he was coming home that evening. He was supposed to work on Thursday, but figured out a way to do work from home in Friday instead. The winter snow is not quite finished and he wanted to get home before he got stuck. One the show was over, I headed home. My mom had picked Millie up from gymnastics and had stayed at our house until I got home. Once she left and the kids were in bed, Stuart called to let me know the road from Globe was closed and that he would have to stay in a hotel. What a bummer! He was so close, but the weather was brutal.
Thursday morning, Stuart got home around 9:30 am. He brought me lunch and surprised Millie. He also surprised Jack by picking him up. Once I was home from school, Stuart and I took Moose to the vet. He was supposed to have blood work in preparation for neutering. However, we postponed the neutering so he just had his teeth checked and all was well. I was due to take the boys to volleyball practice, so we all decided to go and then Stuart, Millie and I went to Wal-Mart and to eat at Oreganos.
For book week at school, on Friday the theme was based on Oh the Places You Will Go! So we were all to dress as tourists.
Friday after school Millie had 4 friends over to play. Jack, his buddies and Stuart went to a volleyball tournament to watch the high school team. They were playing Desert Vista. Jack’s club team is coached by the coach at Desert Vista. Casteel won, of course. My mom called me sometime in the afternoon to inform me that my dad wouldn’t be having his knee replacement surgery as he wasn’t cleared by the cardiologist and would instead need a pace maker put in. She also told me he didn’t want the boys, my brothers, to know. My dad is too much sometimes.
The girls went to the park to play, played outside, and played music and danced upstairs. I took all the girls home around 8 pm. When I got home, Mitch and Elise came over for a while. We watched music videos for about 3 hours. It was actually quite fun. It was a very late night. I had developed a cold and was a bit miserable.
I woke up Saturday morning feeling like absolute crap! Stuart and I took Millie to gymnastics and then went for breakfast. We decided to pick some things up at the grocery store and then headed home. Jack had vacuumed, kind of. Stuart and I cleaned the house and then went to pick Millie up from gymnastics. We decided to get the kids McDonalds got lunch. The line at the McDonalds was so long I decided to go inside. It turns out it was closed due to staffing issues. I have seen this a lot lately. We ended up driving to a different McDonalds. It aas a pain for sure. Stuart and I decided to go have our regular Saturday afternoon beer. I was still feeling a but crap, but did my best to carry on. When we got back home, I took a nap on the sofa in preparation for our evening out with friends, celebrating Vicki’s birthday.
I showered around 6 pm and we left to go eat at The Sicilian Butcher with the gang.
After a very filling dinner, we headed to the Game Show Battle Room in Chandler. I had never heard of such a thing, but it was so much fun. We played women against the men. Intellectual questions were won by the women, but skilled challenged were won by the men. So in the end, the boys won. Boo!
After our battle, we decided to go to the Sand Bar on Ray and the I10.
Needless to say, we were awkwardly out of place; old, over dressed, super suburbia. We stayed for about an hour. We danced and then remembered bow old we all were. I drove Vicki, Ryan and Stuart home while everyone else got an Uber. It was a great night. When we got home, both kids were asleep on the sofa. It was nearly 1 am and we were all wiped out. I was hopeful that sleeping in the next morning would be possible, but I am sure that was just wishful thinking.
