Race to the Finish

It is, without a doubt, the month that has sped by the fastest. I think my vision is blurred from the speed at which the days have raced by. In the past few weeks, I have spent countless hours volunteering at school both in the office and in the classroom (not to mention a full day of adult mentoring on a field trip). I have eaten my fill at picnics and festivals (evidenced by the "Navajo Taco" at left, a concoction of ground beef, beans, lettuce, onions, and salsa on Indian fry bread). I have tried, tirelessly, to get my computer to cooperate as I attempt to finish end-of-the-year PTSA paperwork (that I have postponed completing for months). I have planned various 8th grade promotion activities, like trying to secure food and monetary donations for the party and breakfast. I have helped my daughter buy "the perfect" promotion ceremony dress, bolstered her confidence as she auditioned for the right to sing the national anthem at next month's promotion (she earned that right....*smile*), and shuttled her back and forth to numerous early morning chorus rehearsals. I have cajoled my son into finishing dozens of homework assignments and long-term projects, while trying to juggle dinner preparations and countless trips to the martial arts academy.

In between the mindless back and forth obligations of this mom turned volunteer, I have gone back to singing at church again (after a three month hiatus). And yet, most of the chaos in my life has revolved around the kids. This is not unusual for mothers, but this time of the year seems to be more hectic than most of the months preceding. Not having my usual toes-in-the-sand respite next month to look forward to has made me a bit.....well, shall I say.....bitchy with my family the unfortunate recipients of my sniping.

Happily, I can say, however, that my children seem to be in good spirits despite the impending end of a very successful and even enjoyable school year. My husband and I, as we prepare to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary next week, are also enjoying the ride even in the face of seeing our baby girl grow into a high schooler.

My blogging visits have been sparse, I know, but given this post, I hope you can see just why that is fairly understandable. By the end of May, I should be able to take a deep breath, sleep late in the mornings, and take some time to enjoy the beauty that is revealed in all of your blog treasures.

Until then.....later daze...................

Random Observations

Just a few things that have crossed my mind lately:

• Have you ever noticed that whenever you go into the store with absolutely NO preconceived ideas about what you might want (e.g., a shoe store), you find just that....NOTHING?
• I kept getting notices from a favorite online retailer about this sale or that sale. I hadn't had the money to get some things I needed. Finally, a really great sale popped up, and having money to purchase the two things I wanted and needed, I pulled the trigger and made the purchase. Today I opened my incoming e-mail and saw.......a notice of an even better sale. It figures.............
• My husband forgot his wallet yesterday, so I offered to drive down to his office to give him said wallet. Because I had no other appointments, and because the distance between his office and our house is about 50 miles each way, he said he'd buy me lunch while I was down there. Even though there was virtually no midday traffic (considering the metro area has about five million residents), the trip took me one hour down and one hour back. I was exhausted when I got home. Why?
• My wireless computer keyboard performs beautifully whenever I am typing personal correspondence, writing my blog posts, or playing around on Facebook. Whenever I go to do data entry for my PTSA records, it starts misbehaving by skipping keys or doubling and tripling letters. I think it's possessed. Or anti-paperwork.
• I do believe I over-scheduled myself again tomorrow.
• My regular exterminator abruptly resigned from the company after nearly 20 years. He's been my "bug guy" for the past ten. It was weird letting someone new into my house, even though he was pretty nice looking.
• I hadn't seen my new neighbor/good friend since he and his family moved in down the block. Today, as I was taking The Lass to school early for chorus, I remembered it was his birthday. After I dropped her off, as I passed his house, he was coming out of the garage to leave for work. How fortuitous that I was able to deliver my birthday greetings in person. :) I like those kind of coinkydinks.
• My daughter and I went shopping this weekend to find her a nice dress for 8th grade promotion next month. We found a really cute one, and seeing her in it made me teary. Actually, we found two cute ones, so I bought her both. She's such a great kid; she deserved it. :)
• Only 26 more days until my daughter officially is a freshman in high school. In 27 days, my son officially will be a 6th grader.
• I was watching a television rerun last night, and one scene took place at the beach. Seeing that expanse of blue ocean made me sad that we won't be making our annual trek there next month.
• As much as I love music, sometimes I sit in my house alone and listen to the sounds outside. So far this morning, I've heard one emergency vehicle siren, two commercial jets, a handful of F-16s, numerous birds, and a flock of geese.

I think I'd better get back to my paperwork. *sigh*

Later daze..............

Doldrums....

I've heard of winter doldrums, but springtime? We're actually having a lovely spring here in the desert, that is, if you can stand the sneezing and coughing and watery eyes caused by all things blooming. Ergh. We're all too quickly approaching the end of another school year, and I'm caught up in the ensuing whirlwind. I'm on the planning committee for the 8th grade promotion activities (party, breakfast/award ceremony, promotion ceremony), and my head is swimming in details.

Because the weather has been so mild, there are school carnivals, church festivals, martial arts festivals, and company picnics to attend every weekend between now and the beginning of May. The kids will be taking the state-standards test all next week, so my volunteer skills will not be needed in the school office until those are completed. It's a welcome respite for me because, as I began by saying, I'm in the doldrums.

I can't really explain it. Life is awash in wonderful weather, fun activities, brilliant accomplishments by my kids, and I'm feeling.......blah. Just blah. If I were to colorize my mood, it wouldn't be gray. More of a........an absence of color.

We've booked our flights to Ohio this summer. My wonderful in-laws will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and after a weekend of partying with family, the four of us will be driving to Washington, DC to show the kids some of the monuments and museums. In late July I hope to spend a few days in Atlanta meeting up and partying with some fun friends who I have met online. THAT should be a wild time; someone start a bail fund for us, would you? ;)

Until then, I'm kinda floating like a leaf in a babbling brook. I'm just moving along at a clip, being buffeted against rocks and creeksides, enjoying the ride but wondering what drop off will come next.

Hope you all are having a glorious spring. Later daze........

(Oh, and the photo above? Not indicative of my mood, really. I just got a good chuckle out of it and thought I'd share. *grin*)

Thoughts on a Random Afternoon/EDITED TO ADD

Last week I had the....ahem...."pleasure" of observing 1,100 junior high schoolers in their natural environment: lunchtime on their campus. (I use the term "junior high school" because in my day, schools with only 7th and 8th grades were called junior high schools, NOT middle schools, and I'm stubbornly sticking to that, so THERE! Middle schools have 6th, 7th, and 8th or, rarely, 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.)

I was the guest of a friend of mine at her son's school during their cultural arts week, and I went to enjoy the Chinese dancer. These are my observations from that afternoon:

• Armed police personnel are required not only on the high school campuses in our district but on the campuses of junior high schools, too.
• 12-14 year old boys will wear diamond stud earrings in BOTH EARS, and the carat size of a single stud is more than all of the carat weight of the diamonds in my wedding band and engagement ring COMBINED.
• Apparently, dress code violations are not given. Girls wear shorts that show their butt cheeks, muffin tops are in proud display, and spaghetti straps are not covered.
• When given free reign at lunch time, junior high schoolers will freely have public displays of affection and not pick up their trash after eating.
• There are no punishments for cussing in the halls because, again, there were no lunchtime monitors or teachers in attendance (thank you, budget cuts.....sigh.....)

I'm so glad my daughter opted to stay at our little K-8 school. She'll have enough cultural shock come August when she starts her freshman year.

~~~~~~~~~

I am SOOOOOOO proud of my Butler Bulldog men's basketball team. Excellent championship game. Well planned, well executed, exciting albeit disappointing.

Way to go Dawgs!