Busy Week Again

This past week we stayed pretty busy.

Tuesday evening I attended a two hour parent presentation for parents of kids who are going to Middle School /Jr. High next year. Kevin's school is HUGE!! The city has two Jr. High schools. Kevin will be going to the one near our house, and his class will have 390 students in it. I think there that many kids in my whole high school. We got to tour the school, and it is quite impressive. I felt lost on the tour, and the teachers said all the 6th graders get lost on their first day. The school has designated 8th graders that help the 6th graders get through the first week of school. The day before school officially starts, the 6th graders attend an orientation day. They get to find their way around the school, learn their class schedule, and ect..

Kevin is disappointed that a lot of his best friends in elementary school will be going to the other Jr. High, but I'm sure he'll make lots of new friends on top of the ones that will be in school with him. They split the Jr. High kids into two groups called "houses", and each group has their own side of the 6th grade school area. Within the "house" they have their class rooms. One house will have 200 kids in it and the other house will have 190. Each "house" stays with the same group of kids all year as they switch classes. So for example English teacher A will only see the same 200 kids all year, and English teacher B will see the other group of 190 kids.

All 390 kids will have lunch at the same time. That should be rather interesting. Also, their class schedule will change slightly from day to day as some of the classes are on alternating days. They call them Blue Days and Green Days. For the first part of the year, they will learn Spanish, and the second half of the year they'll learn French. All the kids have to take a Home Ec class, so they'll learn to cook, do laundry, and other household chores. So that is a good thing. They don't have a "shop" class, but instead its called Technological Art. That looked like a fun class to be taking. The current project we got to see was the kids had made rockets that they were going to launch later in the month. Kevin would really LOVE that project.

During the parent night orientation, they had 4 8th grade students each present a speech about the Middle School. It was quite comical. The one kid said the hardest part about Jr. High was learning a new locker combination each year. So I hope that is the worst of our Jr. High happenings, but I'm sure we'll have our growing pains through out as he grows up. It was weird to see the two boys who were speaking had deep voices and hairy legs. They go into Middle School as boys and come out as young men. Yikes, I'm not sure I'm ready for that!

Wed, I took Sam to the bank to cash his check he got for his birthday. He felt like a really big kid signing his name and making a full bank transaction all by himself. He can't wait to go shopping again.

Kevin got his braces readjusted. They did quite a bit of turning and twisting, so he was a bit sore when they were done. The orthodontist put a spring between two of his teeth to separate them some more to make room for the I-tooth that is coming in. Then he got to pick new color of bands. This time he went with Fire Red and Black.

After we were done with that, the boys helped me grocery shop. They sure were good helpers. Not like the old days where they each had to push a cart, run into people, put extra stuff in the cart that didn't belong, and then leave the store before the groceries were bagged...They were pretty good kids, so they each earned a couple dollars for being such good helpers. I think I found their new motivator. Money...hard cold cash...the good stuff.

Then we visited the pet store. This is a nice treat for them. Sam likes to talk to all the cats, memorize their names, and ask me if we can bring them all home with us. Kevin likes to go look at the snakes and lizards and remind me that I promised he could get one when he is 13.

Thursday evening was the first adult league kickball game. Spring season has officially started. We have quite a few new players, and they were pretty good for first timers. Definitely some keepers. We won our game 4-0. Go Kick Busters!! We rotated between 3 pitchers (me included) and we each had a 3 pitch inning during all 9 innings. That was a pretty great feeling. I like pitching much better than playing catcher, short stop, and I'm no good in the outfield. But I'm the captain, so I get to tell everyone where they play.

One guy who signed up for the team decided last night that he didn't want to play this season, so a new player on the team said he knows a guy that can come and play a few games with us. He couldn't make every game, but could make some. The even better news is this new guy was a field goal kicker for the University of Minnesota. Oh yeah...he can play on my team ANYTIME!!

Tomorrow I have a lunch date with the girls I went to Mexico with. I told my grandma we'd have a cocktail and a toast in her honor, since tomorrow is her 101 birthday. Definitely reason to celebrate even if I do live a thousand miles away.

Monday Ramblings

This morning started out with me paying my $10 to the office booky. I said to him "What the hell?" and shook my head. He laughed, took my $10, and said "muddy track, anybody's race, and it wasn't yours." No it wasn't. Dang, I could have won $120

Work was busy with the usual Monday happenings. I booked my flight out to North Carolina for software training at the end of June. Yes, I get to go to the beach...again. (Big huge smiley face). Two oceans in one month for me. Oh, I am loving life! The Pacific in June for my niece's wedding and the Atlantic a week later for software training.

The hubby came home early from work. He is still sick. He has a sinus infection. He hasn't had one in a very long time and he is feeling miserable. He said he was going to the doctor, but I don't know if he's actually done that yet or not. It's his face that feels yucky and he knows the way to the doctor, so I guess it's up to him. I sure hope he went though.

We are once again doing 5th grade math. UGH! I HATE 5th grade math. Last week he brought home the same kind of problems. I ended up calling a guy I work with who has his masters degree how to do it. He said "THAT'S 5TH GRADE MATH!!"...Welcome to my world. I had called a couple other highly educated people and they didn't know. I guess I know who to call when I need help with 5th grade math again!

Today was a gorgeous spring day! Gorgeous enough to have the spring grilled out dinner. We are having brats and dogs on the grill. Oh yummy, yummy...I love beer battered brats!!

Sidenote: Today I looked at my calendar. Even though May has just begun, it is almost over.

Random Saturday Things

Two things I hate about spring....allergies and dead worm smell. Especially when they are combined. My allergies have kicked into full gear and I haven't felt this lousy since before my reconstructive sinus surgery three years ago. It's either been windy or rainy and neither one of those things are conducive to my allergies. The rain makes all things I'm allergic to bloom and the wind blows the pollen all over the place. I have felt really cruddy since Thursday. It rained all day Thursday, which made things grow, and the rain also drives all the worms out of the ground to get run over and stink up all parking lots and drive-ways. Yucko!

Sam got a birthday card from his Aunt Patty in Montana. It had $10 in it. THANKS AUNT PATTY!! He was pretty excited and it went right into his wallet.

Today, on my third day of feeling cruddy with swollen sinuses, I got up and took a Prednisone that I bought in Mexico. It sure has helped. I can tell my sinuses aren't nearly as swollen as they were when I woke up, as most of the sinus pressure I was feeling the last few days has gone away. Plus, I actually had a small burst of energy. I'll take another one tomorrow and hopefully that should do the trick. Predinsone is an anti-inflammitory that you take for only two or three days. I'm glad I was able to bring some home from Mexico, as it saved me a trip to the doctor today.

Since I had a burst of energy, I decided to venture out to Goodwill. I was still trying to find a dress to wear to my niece's wedding in California. Something between a casual and dressy dress. The boys decided they wanted to come with me. Kevin didn't have any money, so Sam let him borrow $5 from him. I was shocked at that one. Sam has $50 in his wallet and he decided that he maybe wanted to spend some of it. So off we went. Kevin & Sam grabbed a cart and headed to the toys and games aisle. I headed straight to women's clothing.

Sam & Kevin both found some things they wanted to buy. "Hurry up, mom, we are done shopping and ready to go." Ha! Typical men...once they are done, they are done, and ready to leave. They didn't like waiting for me, but I made them. And I found a dress!! It's really pretty. It's a light blue color and is mid calf lenght. I just need to do sit ups for the next month so that I can tighten up my winter ice cream eating tummy. I also found a really cute top that if I find a cute skirt to go with would also be good for the wedding. Decisions, decisions, decisions. I guess I'll have to wait until I see how tuned up I get my tummy if I wear the blue dress for the wedding or not as the top and skirt combo would be a bit more conceiling to that. It sucks getting old!

I also found a very cute purse. It reminded me a lot of my grandma. She has a collection of elephants and every time I see elephants I think of her and her collection. Well, this purse has elephants all over it. So of course I had to get it. There are just some things a girl can't have enough of...shoes, purses, and clothes.

Since I was getting a new purse, Sam suddenly decided that he needed a purse to carry his wallet in. After all that's where I put my wallet, so it made perfect sense to him. He picked out a blue one. It took a bit of talking by both Kevin and I that boys DO NOT carry purses. Well, he really wanted one. He didn't want to just carry his wallet around with out something to put it in. We told him boys don't carry a purse, but lets see if we can find you a man bag. A more masculine looking bag to put his things in. I was so glad we found a blue one. It's a small Nike bag with a handle. It'll have to do until he gets a smaller wallet that will fit in his pocket.

I told the kids since they were ready to go, to take their wallets and their merchandise to the counter and pay for it. They did it all on their own. I was so proud of them. They learned how to be good consumers today. They really enjoyed it, and it made them feel good to pick out their own things, and pay with their own money.

When we got home, I watched the Kentucky Derby. Every year I get in on the Kentucky Derby office pool. I have never won. I end up drawing some horse for the race (there are 20 horses, you pay $10 and draw a name of one of the horses from a pot), that either gets scratched before the race, breaks a leg, or comes in somewhere close to last. This year I drew the favorite. I drew the horse that EVERYONE said was going to win. Ha! The stupid horse came in second to last. This year a horse with 50-1 odds won the race. It was the second biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history. What luck!

The boys have been busy with their new purchases since we got home, and I have been vegging out, blowing my nose, drinking hot tea, napping on and off, and wondering how the hell the horse I picked came in second to last place.

Happy 10th Sam I Am!!

10 years ago my youngest caveman was born. Aw....Wow! How did he get to be 10 already! He was really excited for his birthday. He got 3 cards in the mail that had money in them. That seems to be his favorite these days. Prime Green Solid Paper Money....

The last month he's been earning dollars off of me from helping out. He got a liking to that and ran with it. I asked him to clean his room this weekend and he could earn a dollar. He got right to cleaning his room and then said
Sam: Mom, I cleaned my room. Do I earn $20?
Me: No, you earn $1
Sam: Do I earn $10
Me: No, you earn $1
Sam: But I don't have a $20 bill in my wallet
Me: Well, neither do I. You only earned $1
Sam: Oh, fiddlesticks, I wanted $20
Me: If you want $20 you'll have to mow the lawn.
Sam: Nah, I'm too young to do that.

Hmmm....So much for that.

His birthday money went right into his wallet. I didn't even get to see it, and when he did let me look, he was very guarded. I think I have a money hoarder on my hands. If he keeps this up, he can support me when he grows up. From all the allowance he's earned off me, plus his birthday and Christmas money. I guess the days of slipping it into my wallet & telling them it's going in their bank account is over. It gets to their bank account eventually. Just consider it a small loan...My mother did that to us..eventually she ended up giving us money, so really it just went back and forth from wallet to wallet through out the years. So, I guess I'm just handing down tradition. Well, those days are over. I guess now they'll have to pay for their own movies and McDonalds, now that they have more money in their wallets than I do. Besides, most of it started out in my wallet anyway. So it all evens out in the long run.

Sam had a great birthday day. He got a present from his bus driver, his teacher, and his daycare lady. He had his favorite for dinner tonight, French fries, apple sauce, and deli ham. He had a two-layer rectangle shaped chocolate cake with white fluffy frosting and green & blue icing. He had 10 multi-colored candles, so it was quite colorful. He didn't eat any of it, he just likes the pomp and circumstance of the birthday cake tradition. Which is fine with the rest of it, it means we get to eat more cake. We do a pretty good job of it too.

He got a watch, blendy pens, fake money & cash drawer, and the Dr. Suess Happy Birthday To You book. If you ask him what his favorite presents are he'll tell you the watch & the real money. Yep, he's 10 alright!

The first 10 years of his life were definitely challenging and boy did they go by fast. I sure hope the next 10 don't go by as quickly.

I've Got Work to do!

Along with the new title of Eagan Kickball Director, comes the plethora of duties I must finish before May 21. Create a kickball email address, write an article for the newsletter due by Monday, create a flyer and get the flyers out and about town, help out with a write up for the local paper, create a detailed budget, create the final rules and guidelines of the game, create a webpage for the EAA website, prepare for registration and a sport showcase event, come up with team names to use, ect...

The youth sports use team names of the professional sports they mirror, but since there is no such thing as professional kickball, then that option is out and I don't want to really duplicate what the other teams are using. I think I want the team names to include the work Kick in it, like my adult league is named Kick Busters. Or perhaps I could name them after different types of animals native to Minnesota. I won't really need team names until I form my teams, but it's still a fun task I get to do. Any suggestions?

At least it is all fun work to do, and I'm excited about doing it all.

Meet the New Director

Of the Eagan Athletic Association Youth Sports Kick Ball League. The first in Minnesota.

Tonight I met with the entire board of sports directors and gave my proposal to add kick ball to the youth sports program. Lots of questions, concerns, and comments from board members, but I was able to get the motion passed, seconded, and nominated as the director.

It went back and forth. For a while I was optimistic, yes, it's going to be added. No wait, here comes some opposition. Nope, back to being all for it. Nerves of steel, I made it through the blast of questions, comments, and concerns. A motion was passed, it was seconded. Every one said yay, no one said nah. Whoo Hoo. Complete elation came over me.

Onto the next step. I was given a budget. The next meeting in May I am to have a budget proposal, a more clear picture of how the program will work and operate.

So, tonight I begin history in Minnesota of adding Kick Ball to youth sports in Minnesota. A first. Kick Ball has been a co-ed adult sport for the last 6 or 7 years. It has grown and grown. I am hoping to bring the youth to that field.

Who knows what is next? Olympic Kick Ball....could be...don't count it out. Minnesota Youth Kick Ball..Bring it on!!

Another funny composition entry

Last night I was looking through my oldest son's composition notebook. Here were a couple more I found.

Arizona/New Mexico

Somewhere in the world a snake is being killed for it's skin.
Somewhere in the world a snake's venom is being milked for anti-venom.
Somewhere in the world a snake's habitat is being destroyed.
Somewhere in the world someone is dieing from a poisonous snake bite.

My that's touching huh?

Here is another gem.

I Wonder

I wonder why my dad wears his slippers 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
I wonder why my mom wears her necklace all day and all night.
I wonder why the flight attendants on our plane had such a bad attitude.

He must have written this one after our California Thanksgiving trip. I don't remember wearing a necklace all day & night though, but I must have. And yes, dad does wear his slippers all the time.