Random Sampler

I am full of lots of small comments tonight, but no prevailing theme, so I thought the title apropos.

The first full week of school is over and I am already looking forward to being done with 1st graders. They are just too young! The activities I do with them feel too much like babysitting and not enough like fine art. I understand completely why mom refused to teach me how to sew and hired someone else for that inglorious task. Mom is a master seamstress and I was the proverbial 1st grader when it came to sewing. I feel like I have so much to offer that they can't possibly understand that it is suffocating to try to keep myself to a level they can understand. I really can't wait for the term when I get to teach 7 kindergarten classes (heavy sarcasm).

My next-door-neighbor-teacher (meaning her classroom is next to mine) is a good friend who is going through a bitter divorce. She has not allotted time for herself in her schedule for many years. Now, however, she is ready for that to change. She has been meeting with me at the gym 3 days a week for workout/weight training sessions. I claim I am doing it to help her and be her 'personal trainer', passing on all the info my trainer taught me 2 years ago. The truth is, I need someone to expect me at the gym, or else I let my lazy self talk me out of going.

Will and Helena both seem to be doing great at school... who wouldn't be with only one week under their belts? Seriously, though, Will asked to stay after once this week to work on a science lab just because he wanted to, not because he had to. And Helena stayed after one day to retake a math quiz because she wasn't happy with the B she got on it the first time (the teacher allows ONE retake before the next class session). That was a B in Honors Alg. II, now an A in Honors Alg. II! Can you hear the pride in my voice?

Helena is very happy sans ballet! She is so much more relaxed and able to focus on school work. She has been able to go to school events, too. She went to a pre-season football game, followed by a school dance at the high school tonight and had such a good time that now her back is sore and her voice is hoarse.

Tomorrow Helena will be attending her first 2 hour observation session in driver's ed. That means she spends 2 hours in the back seat of the driver's ed car and 'observes' another student driving. Should be a snoozer. Friends told her to bring a 'note-taking pad' and color.

I need to take Will to the music store tomorrow and try to find some sort of dolly for his baritone so he can wheel it home whenever there is band on a Monday. The kids get out of school an hour early on Mondays, but I don't get off work early, so he is guaranteed a long walk every Monday, rain, sleet, or snow. Yup, definitely big wheels on the dolly. If you think I am dooming my boy to complete geekdom by doing this, you should know that

1. the schools here are over the top when it comes to band. It is not as geekish to be in band since the band program is so overwhelming amazing.
2. He is well known as one of the (former) football players and now one of the lacrosse players. Somehow, playing a sport balances out the band thing.

There you have it. Tons to say and none of it related. Good night!