Who knew half a dozen sentences could be so hard?

Know how, when you're waiting a minute or two on something (like, say, a pregnancy test or some microwaved popcorn), and it would normally go by really quickly, but it doesn't, because you're counting the seconds?

Yeah, helping a second grader write eight sentences about her favorite type of whale is just like that.

I write for a living. For me, pounding out eight sentences on a subject is no big deal. But between her utter lack of typing skills, and her penchant for being distracted, writing eight sentences on Killer Whales took an hour.

And we nearly came to blows when the photo of a whale (a requirement for the report) which I'd found wasn't deemed suitable by Her Redheadedness.

I had her leave the couch where we were sitting to work on the report, and sit on the floor on her hippo chair. Because I needed a minute to COOL DOWN, as it were.

But the report (which is due Thursday) is done. I still have to buy a folder to put it in, but that's no big deal - shopping I can handle.

Writing eight sentences with an eight-year-old? Not so much.

What? I have how many years until she graduates?

Somebody make me another pot of coffee. This is going to be a long decade.

With a hip hip, and a clippity clop…

Anna Marie and I watched Ichabod and Mr. Toad last week, and I forgot how much I loved those old Disney cartoons. But that is totally not what this blog post is about.

First, let me explain how the car lines works at our school.

We pull up to a covered, curved walkway in front of the school, and there are four or five ladies on the sidewalk, which is on the passenger side. A group of cars stops, and the ladies go down the line, each opening the doors of two or three cars before that group pulls away and another several pull up.

Now, on to what happened this morning:

The truck in front of me had stopped, and one "crossing guard" (that's what they're called, even though no one is crossing anything) opened the door. Anna Marie was getting out at the same time, so I was half paying attention, when the other crossing guard screamed.

Apparently, someone in the truck was wearing a mask, and she was startled - which brought back some elementary school Halloween memories for me that I hadn't thought of in YEARS.

For me, in elementary and middle school, it got to the point where eventually my mom let me stay home on Halloween. Between the boys scaring the bejeezus out of me with their ugly masks, and the librarians telling ghost stories in the library (WHO'S GOT MY GOLDEN ARM?), I didn't sleep well for weeks.

I hope Anna Marie was having a better time of it today, and I suppose she would - she's not as easily frightened when I was her age.

Case in point: when we were watching the movie last week, and Ichabod Crane was trying to get over the bridge and get home. Every time Ichabod would get scared by something, she'd say, "Dude. It's just a tree." Or, "Dude, it's just a frog." Or, "Dude, it's just some plants beating on a log."

No joke.

So this weekend, as you're eating more chocolate than the law allows (and believe me, I've gotten a head start on you) don't be scared. Just remember: Dude. It's just the wind.

To watch, or not to watch?

I'm about to get a little deep and political, y'all. Hold on to your seats.

(I happen to be very opinionated, politically speaking, but I'm also Southern, and I was taught that politics and religion don't come up in polite conversation. While there are some exceptions, I think our present atmosphere has become quite unhealthy.)

As some of you may have heard, President Obama will be addressing the nation's schoolchildren next week.

Now, I know some folks are going all "brainwashing" and freaking out. I know parents in the district just north of mine, who are sending their kids to school on Tuesday with a note that they are to go into the hallway during the broadcast and "pray for our country."

Fine. Whatever. Our country and the people in it need lots of prayer. I'm all for prayer, and for your rights as an American citizen, and free speech, and all that.

But, I'm also all for not over-reacting. And I'm all for getting the facts before making a decision. And I'm all for letting times when your kids are exposed to things that are outside of their "norm" being used as talking points and teachable moments, so you can explain why your family believes what they do and so forth.

So, I went to the White House website. The address is (supposed) to be about setting goals, and taking responsibility for your actions. I was a little put off by the language of some of the elementary age discussion questions, like "What is President Obama asking me to do?" But I don't see how that's much different than Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country speech."

(And let me just interject here, one of the things that concerns me is that our children are being raised to ask what the country can do for them, to keep them in new cars and Reeboks.)

(I'll get off that soapbox now.)

And then tonight I was talking to the school superintendent, and I asked him as a mom (not as a reporter) if the children would be watching on Tuesday.

He asked the school board members, and most said that if a teacher wanted to show the broadcast, it was fine, but that they didn't think watching should be mandatory.

(Actually, one board member said to let those who wanted to watch do so on a tiny little screen in the hallway, to make it as hard as possible. But that's just him. It's his personality.)

The superintendent said he was leaving it up to the teachers. I told him that I didn't really care one way or the other, but I wanted to be prepared to discuss it with Anna Marie if she did watch it.

Did you hear that? I'm a conservative, and the President wants to talk to my kid, without me there. And I don't care.

Don't get me wrong - I do care, very much, about the information that she gets. But I also do care that in all this debate about healthcare, and stimulus, and cash-for-clunkers, that something is being lost. We've lost a healthy respect for the office of the President, and I think that's eventually going to trickle down to a loss of respect for all authority.

Or maybe it already has, and that's part of our problem.

I didn't vote for him. I don't like some of his policies. I don't like the suggested discussion question that says "Why is it important to listen to our officials, and why is what they say important?" Mainly because I think that not everything they say is important - and I know enough elected officials personally to say that.

Heck, believe it or not, even everything I say isn't important. All the time.

I don't like extremism of any sort, whether it's the type that causes a country to spend $1.6 trillion more than it's bringing in during one year alone, or the kind that causes people to interrupt public gatherings with fake birth certificates and be completely disrespectful of the other opinion.

And I don't like the extremism that makes people not let their kids watch the President talk to them about reaching their goals. Because as much as some are crying "brainwashing," I have enough faith in my child, and in our ability as parents with God's help, to help her work through whatever she is being taught.

I know that as she gets older, I'm going to have to do that anyway - in science class, on the playground, and yes, even at church.

I wish that we, as parents, could be part of the solution, not part of the problem - and I wish we could set a better example for our kids.

Show me yours, and I'll show you mine

Lots of my Facebook friends have been posting pictures of their little ones on the first day of school (today for most of them, who live in the next county). And it reminded me - I went to all the trouble of taking this:



(and believe me, it was a lot of trouble!) and I didn't even post it!

Shame on me! No post on my birthday, and no first-day-of-school post!

I have truly fallen down on the job.

She started on Thursday, and so far, so good. In her words, half of her her first grade class is in her second grade. The teacher seems very nice, and I'm hoping that she stays as excited as she is now for the rest of the year.

Of course, they haven't gotten into any "real" work yet, but I'm believing this year is going to be much better than last. She did make it into the gifted program, and I think the extra challenge will help her with her, ahem, talking problem.

Not only have I fallen down in the "mommy blogger" category, I've fallen down in the "bloggy friend" category. But, just like I made a fresh start today with my eating (you'd think I'd been on a cruise for the past few days, the way I've been shoveling it in) I'm making a fresh start in the bloggy friend category.

Be forewarned: you're going to be seeing more of me around the blogosphere. You're welcome.

For those of you who haven't started school yet, I guess you're the lucky ones. Lord knows it'd be easier to go a couple of weeks in June, instead of sweating it out during the hottest part of the summer!

August issues

Today, I made a new folder on my computer called "August issues."

Now, this is nothing new - working for a newspaper, I have to have a way to organize my work each week, and my way happens to be creating a folder for each month, and then a sub-folder inside that for each week.

And since I work in some sort of wonky space-time continuum, even though we haven't reached the end of July, I'm already working on August.

And I realized, why, I do have August issues. I have issues with the fact that it's almost August already!

I have issues with the idea that next week, a little red-head I know is starting second grade. How did that even happen? What does that even mean?

Will I ever get done with her neverending list of school supplies?

I have issues with the notion that, starting next week, I'll have to get up a whole hour early to get to the gym. I'll have to start thinking about lunches, and backpacks, and clothes for the next day.

I AM NOT READY FOR THAT!!!!!!!

I am not ready for waiting on 3:00, to see how she's done in school that day.

I am not ready to worry again about how the other kids are treating her, or how she's treating them, and what kind of influence all the kids are being on each other.

I am not ready for fundraisers, and field trips, and having to make sure she wears tennis shoes every day for a week because she'll be going to gym.

And I am most definitely not ready to spend large chunks of my time sitting in traffic, wondering if the people with the out-of-county tags in front of me are really supposed to be here, or if they're trying to sneak into our fabulous school system.

And while we're at it, I'm also not ready for another birthday next week, or the 10th anniversary of my grandmother's passing, or having to put yet another issue of our magazine to bed.

Yes, I do have "August issues." And that's why I'm going to leave you with a picture of my cousin's daughter, Amelia, who, after spending the first two years of her life being skeptical of me, finally decided I was OK yesterday and has secured herself a spot as my new favorite person.



The end.

On being blessed - and being a blessing

I have about eleventy-million blog posts rattling around in my head right now, but for the moment I'll just regale you with one.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do something that, when I signed up for it, seemed to be no big deal.

However, as I was doing it, and afterwards, I was struck with the enormity of it all.

I read to four kindergarteners.

Simple, I know. I signed up with the PTO, went to the school at my appointed time, picked four books out, and read to four little kids out in the hallway, one by one.

It was two hours out of my life that affected the rest of my day, and continues to do so.

It was pretty obvious that these kids were chosen to be read to because they need a little extra help in that department. Know how educators are always telling us to read to our kids, from the time they're babies? I don't know if these kids parents were doing that or not. So, that's where I came in. I pulled the kids out of class to give them a little one-on-one reading time, time which the teacher can't spare.

I had picked pretty rudimentary books, most of them at a preschool level. Some of these kids couldn't even read me the "sight words" - and because I had a kid in this school as a kindergartener last year, I know they should be able to read things like "my," "she," and "the" by now.

This isn't a judgment on the kids - it's just a fact. They aren't very fluent readers, but that's why I (and the other volunteers) are there - to give them a little extra help.

And those kids told me some things that revealed a lot about their situations at home, and maybe why they might not be getting that reading practice outside the classroom.

One of the books we read was about going to the beach. I asked the girl if she'd ever been to the beach, and she said she had, with her father - when he lived in Virginia. He now lives in Kentucky, she said.

We live in Mississippi - ergo, her parents aren't together.

Don't take this as a stereotype, but I'm going to guess that her mom is trying to put food on the table (an admirable quest) and may not have as much time as she'd like for reading with her daughter.

Like I said - not a judgment, just an observation.

Another book was about a girl who liked making messes. I asked this student (different from the beach girl) if she kept her room neat, and she said she didn't have a room - she sleeps with her mom.

As does her baby sister.

Y'all, in all Anna Marie's life, she's never had to share so much as a room - even when we had to live with my parents - never mind having to share a bed. My girl doesn't know how blessed she is.

The kindergartener told me later that her mom was going to school, but she didn't know what she was going to be when she finished.

Again, this is admirable - and I told the girl that her mom was doing a good thing by trying to get an education - but it doesn't leave much time for extra reading with your kid.

Most of the time, we focus on unfit parents as the ones whose kids aren't up to par in school - but these two families show that sometimes it's just life's circumstances that don't permit the one-on-one learning time.

As I was leaving yesterday, I stuck my head into the room of one of our town's aldermen, who happens to be a speech therapist at the school. She thanked me for volunteering with these kids.

And then it hit me - Anna Marie had come home the day before with a certificate (and a coupon for a Personal Pan Pizza) for joining the 80 point Accelerated Reader club. That is a HUGE accomplishment for a first grader - and probably due to the number of chapter books she reads, which are worth more points.

I realized I was so blessed that, for all the other struggles I've had with my strong-willed daughter, academics had not been one of them. I don't have to beg her to read - many nights I have to take the books away from her so she'll go to sleep. And many mornings, she gets up earlier than she needs to and I have to take them away from her again so she can get ready for school.

This isn't bragging on myself - I didn't do anything special to get her to this point. I read to her since she was a baby, yes, but her intelligence and love for learning is a gift from God.

So, as I was talking in the speech room, I realized why I needed to do this - I was blessed, so I needed to be a blessing to someone else.

In fact, here is what Genesis 12:2 says about what some folks call "paying it forward:"

2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

Our pastor covered this text a few weeks ago, and he said that the original language commands us to be a blessing - to do good to others.

I thought I was volunteering because the PTO said they needed help - but I was really doing it in obedience to God's Word.

How can I not? How can I sit with my daughter, in her own room in her own bed surrounded by so many books that I passed over two dozen down to a coworker's daughter and mine hasn't even noticed they were gone - and not do what I can to help these other kids?

Maybe their parents aren't able to read to them, because of time or other obligations. Lord knows, if I had more than one kid I wouldn't have been able to spend the time that I do with Anna Marie. Maybe they are so burdened down with life's concerns that reading a bedtime story is the last thing on their to-do list.

Or maybe they are taking the time to help their kids with their homework, and they just need an extra set of hands.

Whatever the reason, I walked out of that school much different than when I'd walked in: excited about the opportunity to serve these kids and their parents.

The opportunity to be a blessing.

Meet K•9!

Dude. We did it.

And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - MUCH less complicated than the recent Reading Fair fiasco.

I put together the internal structure - a Capri Sun box, opened to make a rough triangle, with cereal box cardboard covering the bottom and front and back openings; an oatmeal box for a head; and a toilet paper roll for a neck.

(And also an old makeup brush handle for a tail)

Here is the original:



He's Doctor Who's canine companion, who now lives with Sarah Jane (one of the Doctor's former companions). Anna Marie first saw him on The Sarah Jane Adventures, a Doctor Who-type show geared towards kids. She LOVES that show, and she can't wait for the new season to begin.

(Her dad has turned BOTH of us into sci-fi geeks, I suppose.)

And here is our version:




I explained to Anna Marie from the get-go that ours was not going to look like the original. We did the project on my bed, with the laptop showing the above original picture for reference. She was OK with the project, and its deviation from the norm.

We figure it'll be the only robot dog brought in today, and certainly the only one from a much-beloved British sci-fi show.

The only problem is, last night while we were searching for an image, she saw a radio-controlled model. Now, that's on her list - at $60!

Maybe I should've just made a Dalek instead. Maybe she wouldn't have thought them so cute!

Official "Thursday" Weigh-In

Editor's note: the Official Thursday Weigh-In is taking a short hiatus, while Melissa panics because she's gained another pound this week and just about burst into tears right in front of the weigh-in lady at the scales. Thank you for your patience.

So, instead of talking about how well my weight loss journey is NOT going, let's talk about how well Anna Marie did NOT do at the reading fair yesterday, shall we?



She was pretty upset when I called her yesterday afternoon. She complained about the whitespace on her board (although that's not what she called it, that's what it was) compared to the other kids. I tried explaining to her that I worked in designing things for a living, and that whitespace was important - otherwise, the important message you were trying to convey would get lost in the visual clutter.

Her response? "I don't get it."

Of course you don't dear girl. You are seven years old. For you, more is more.

Last night was parents night, when we got to see our kids' projects all set up - code for "check out the competition and see what you can do next year."

In reality, Anna Marie's project was at least as good as the best ones out there. Yes, I'm probably a bit biased, but I didn't see a single entry that was as creatively done as hers.

One of the judges asked who had done her board, and she said that she and I had. Truthfully, she should have said that it was her and my Cricut, because that diecutting machine saved my everloving sanity this week. It really did most of the work!

But today is a fresh start, for both my weight and Anna Marie's dreams of reading fair glory. I got up extra early today to exercise, because if I don't, I won't make it a priority. And Anna Marie has a whole other year to plan for the next reading fair.

Her only requirement: one of the characters must allow her to wear that red cape again.

*crickets chirp*

Howdy.

I just realized this morning that it's been ages since I last blogged. Well, maybe not ages, but several days, to be sure.

What have I been up to? Mostly the reading fair. This is our first big school project, and I wish I could say it would be our last - trying to do something like this with my strong-willed daughter is not easy! It's hard to strike a balance between telling her that her ideas won't work (i.e., painting an entire tri-fold project board with a small watercolor brush) and letting this be her project.

If I didn't have my Cricut, I'd probably be institutionalized by now. That thing has been a life saver!

I also experienced another first this week: my first hockey game! And I was on the clock! It wasn't NHL or anything - more like the Central Hockey League - but it was a hockey game, all the same. The team is based in the county just north of here, and they sponsored a morning game field trip event. No fewer than 8,400 screaming kids, each with his or her own folded paper noisemaker - it was mass chaos and confusion!

I was told that two groups from our county would be there, but I couldn't find them. I was doing well to find my place, after wandering around the civic center forever, and traipsing up to the team's office, and finally breaking down and calling my office mate to ask her to find the invitation email giving me instructions and read it to me.

Yes, I had instructions. No, I didn't take them with me. Yes, I'm a well-prepared reporter!

I finally found what I think was the right spot - no one was really sure - in the team's corporate suite. It wasn't half as nice as it sounds. The game was three hours long, and all they had for food was a bowl of fruit, a platter of donuts (which I stayed far away from, naturally), a bowl of fruit juice bottles, and an airpot of mediocre coffee. Where was the catered buffet I'd heard that private suites had? I expected much more. Hmph.

But cold - Lord almighty, it was cold! Even that far from the ice, my feet were starting to get numb by the time the third period started. And you hockey fans out there, I'm wondering, are all those fights staged? Because about 10 minutes into the first period, I looked down to see some guy on the ice, his face mask thrown asunder, and another player on top of him beating the tar out of him.

Once the kids got a whiff of that action, every time two players looked at each other cross-eyed they were trying to egg on a fight. It was like the school cafeteria, only without a principal to break it up.

(Well, I guess there was a ref on the ice to break up the players. And there was a penalty box, which would be kind of like in school suspension. But, whatever.)

Now, we're in the midst of a snow day, only without any snow! There was some sleet here in town (and light snowfall in the county) but the roads seem pretty clear. They actually seemed pretty clear at 6:30 a.m. when the decision was made to close, but again, whatever. Anna Marie came to work with me for a few hours, and then Aunt Manda came to our house for lunch and is staying with her.

(Maybe they'll get some work done on that reading fair project! crosses fingers and toes)

I guess not all the roads are clear though, or at least closer to the church, because I just got a text message that service was canceled. At least we'll have more time to finish up the *coughreadingfairprojectcough* which is due in the morning.

(Did I mention that there's a reading fair, and that I'm well sick of working on it?)

Try to stay warm, y'all, and send some good reading fair vibes my way. I sure need it!

Found it! Found it! Found it!

(Ok. So I only found it after asking Jason where it was. But still! He only told me where he'd laid the memory card. I still had to look on the desk and find it my own self!)

This time last week, I was at the Pink Palace with Anna Marie and three busloads of first graders.

(And also, several busloads of kids from other schools. Who coordinates these things anyway?)

More precisely, at this time last week, I was waiting in line at the museum's IMAX theater, which is under the front lawn, and which is impervious to cell phone signals.

(I know. I tried to check my email before we went in. UNDERGROUND! NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM! OR SEND YOU A TEXT MESSAGE!)

Before we descended into The Abyss of No Cell Phone Coverage, we ascended (the escalator) to the Festival of Trees.

The general idea is that different organizations decorate trees, and the entrance fees are donated to charity.

Here were a few of our (meaning Anna Marie and my other charge, her BFF Madi) favorites:



Hannah Montana, of course. But what is up with that creepy head at the top? Could they not have used something a little less grotesque? Is there no end to The Creepy at this museum?



I liked this tree, with its gold and white and musical instruments and "JOY" ornaments. Just plain pretty.



You knew this was coming, didn't you? You knew SOMEONE was going to put a High School Musical tree together. This was, obviously, the very favorite of the two girls I had in tow.



While I am not a big fan of satin-ball ornaments, I did very much like this tree. I wish I had somewhere that a white tree with bright ornaments would work at my house! It would be FABULOUS.



Yet another white tree. This one had a snow/penguin theme, and it's a little hard to see, but there was a giant snowflake as the tree topper.

(CAUTION: we are now entering the super-secret part of this post. I was all snap-happy taking pictures, and wondering why I didn't the last time we came, and then I realized that I wasn't supposed to be taking any. View at your own risk, and if you're caught, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence.)

Let me remind you: these decorations were used at least 30 years ago, because that's about how long ago my parents took me to the basement of a downtown department store to see them. They spent several years in storage after the store closed, and when I was in high school, they were moved to an agricultural exposition center. A few years ago they were moved to this museum, and here they stay.

That being said, on with the cheesetasticness.







There was, of course, more to look at, but The Man got all hot and bothered about the photography going on. Some of the stuff moved! And everything! I promise!

(Those elves - they're the main thing I remember from seeing this stuff as a toddler. Scarred for life!)

Now that that's over, I have one more, really scary thing to show you:



Not so scary, you say? What if I told you that each one of those stuffed penguins had set someone back $50? What say you then? Sure the money went to charity, but that's a lot of Benjamins.

(Or is it Hamiltons? I honestly have no idea whose picture is on the $50 bill, because I haven't seen one in so long.)

And how many kids do you think actually heeded that sign telling them not to touch the penguins. Yep, just that many.

Perhaps later today, I'll get around to telling you about Anna Marie's Christmas list, which she compiled on the way to church on Sunday, and which involves both her teeth and a plant.

Maybe by "plant" she means "money tree," because that's what it's going to take to fulfill her wishes!

Official Thursday Weigh-In

Not!

Ok, so I didn't go weigh in tonight.

I know! It's awful! I'll give you a minute to return your pulse rate to normal.

Tonight was Anna Marie's open house at school, and it started at 6:00 p.m.

Technically, weigh-in is supposed to begin at 6:00 p.m., but the ladies are usually there about 5:30 p.m. But, every time I try to weigh in and leave to get somewhere early, I run into some kind of snag - they're late, or there's someone who needs a lot of special attention, or something.

Plus, I don't like to eat before I weigh in (because, let's face it, I still have plenty of fat to show up on the scale, without adding dinner) and it wouldn't have given me time to eat before open house. So I'd just now be getting dinner.

And now is when I have to go put Little AM to bed.

And so it goes - my first time to willfully (meaning not out of town) play hooky from weigh in.

Don't worry - I'll be back in there next week!

That which shall not be named

Well, if you must know, this is what is going on today, but we shan't talk about it.



Instead, we shall talk about yesterday, which, being my birthday, I took off from work.

And, since Jason had to work, Little AM and I had a little mom-daughter time.

We went to the auction for lunch, and, wouldn't you know it, I got pressed in to service - first as a cashier, and then on the serving line.

Such is the pitfall of a family-owned business.

I had promised Anna Marie we'd do something special, since it was my birthday, and it was the last day of summer break, so we went to the movies to see Space Chimps. Cute movie, lots of pop culture references, yada, yada, yada.

And then the main event - the obligatory dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse.

Where Anna Marie's preferred method of eating spaghetti was this:



Which resulted in this:




And Anna Marie pretending to return the favor:



Of course, there was the other birthday girl, coyly sipping her Diet Coke with no ice:



And the obligatory Anna Marie posing on the giant dragon carvings in the entry way.



So, we won't talk about this morning - because some of us are still recovering, and have lots and lots of paperwork to fill out between now and tomorrow morning.

Nope, we won't talk about it at all.

Let's see if I can blow Blogger's mind

I knew I took lots of pictures today at the zoo, but when I sat down to edit them, I saw the full scale of my shutterbugness.

(Shutterbugness? Is that even a word? Guess it is now. Somebody call Webster's - I have an addition to their next dictionary!)

(Also - why did no one, including my shutterbug of a sister, tell me that when you upload photos to Flickr, they put them in reverse order of how you uploaded them? Very annoying.)

Yes, after a several-month hiatus, I have once again uploaded my photos to my Flickr account. Mainly because I needed to upload lots of pictures, and I didn't want to have to wrestle with Blogger.

You might want to take a potty break and grab a glass of tea. This could take awhile.

Oh what fun we had today! There were enough chaparones that I only had to be responsible for Anna Marie. Plus, everyone was on their own, free to roam the zoo until the appointed meet-up time. I had checked Anna Marie out before we left the school, so she got to ride home with me.

Amanda said she wished she'd been there, because it sounded "delightful." And it was! It was sunny, but there was a surprising amount of shade around. We had our lunches, so we got to stop whenever we wanted and eat. Thankfully I also had some cash, because we also needed other refreshments during our three-hour tour.

(A three-hour tour!)



The front entrance. I haven't actually been to the zoo (I think) since my cousin Shawn had his birthday party there, when he was like, five, and he's going to be 26 this summer. That's a long time, y'all!



There are all these really cool animal statues at the front entrance.



We procured a map (from a guy who tried to charge us $10!) and Anna Marie quickly became a Map Nazi. And yes, that's a random piece of yarn around her hand. She got off the bus with it, and I have no idea where it came from. She took it off soon thereafter.



Tigers! That water looked so cool and inviting, I wanted to brave the big cats and jump in. Obviously, I didn't.



I don't remember if they had meerkats before The Lion King and Meerkat Manor came along or not.



The snake house. Of course, the interior did not lend itself to photography, but rest assured that the future herpatologist that shares my last name was EXTREMELY excited to get here.



I suppose that in order to get two pandas, Memphis had to promise to make a big tribute to China. That's the only way I could think they could justify the scale of this exhibit. There was this bell . . .



And this statue (which Anna Marie thought was the dog with its baby, but I'm not so sure this is a loving pose), and, finally . . .



The pandas. They were in separate enclosures, each having lunch. There were lots and lots of other things in the panda's pavilion, but I didn't want to go, you know, overboard with the pictures.



I need a sign like this hung around my head at all times.

(Hey! We're halfway done!)



There was a baby giraffe. I wish I'd have gotten a picture of what happened next - a giant door opened and the giraffes walked through. Guess they must've been hungry, which got us hungry, so we headed to a pavilion to eat.



Anna Marie had a sack lunch from the school. I was going to be all "hip" and bring my beloved couscous and vegetables, but I ran out of time. So when I ran to get gas this morning, I picked up an apple and a banana and threw them into my tote bag.

(Well, I paid for them first. The point is, that's what I had for lunch. I was STARVING when we got finished, but thankfully this was an auction day so we swung by for something from the cafeteria. We got there just as the line was being taken down!)

Anyway. Back to the zoo.

Anna Marie was also excited about the monkeys. Unfortunately, the orangutans couldn't be bothered.



How rude! The penguins were much more obliging.



This is the original zoo entrance, from when I was a kid. Also, probably from when my parents were kids. I'd actually forgotten about it until today.



It was starting to get hot by this point, but fortunately there was a concession stand nearby where Anna Marie could get a fudge pop and I could get a bottle of water.







(We're in the home stretch now!)



The Egyptian theme continues throughout the park. You know, since Memphis is named after an Egyptian city and all. Very original.



She even talked me into putting a penny (and two quarters!) into the penny-squishing machine.



And then she had the gall to be upset that it was bent! When I was a kid, there was this machine that dispensed animals (plastic? wax? I don't remember) for a small fee. I didn't see any of those, which disappointed me. I also didn't see the peacocks that used to roam freely. I guess they attacked one too many visitors.

She fell asleep on the way to the auction, and then woke up enough to eat something and help wipe down a couple of tables. We went to Gordman's on the way home where I picked up a couple of nice tank tops to layer under shirts. I'd also promised her a trip to a "real" bookstore, so we went across the parking lot to Books-a-Million where she got a chocolate milk and a book on snakes, and I got a skim milk latte.

Tomorrow is the last day of school, y'all! And not a moment too soon - Anna Marie's doctor is setting her up with a specialist so we can get to the bottom of these respiratory problems that keep cropping up. It'll be nice not to have to worry about missing school for a while.

She's still coughing some, but not nearly as much. She's taking about four different medicines, but tomorrow is the last day for the Prednisone. The hives are still cropping up here and there, but she's still taking Benadryl and I'm using hydrocortisone creme when it itches. I have read, though that it's common for hives to do that after a severe allergic reaction.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and good thoughts during this time - and please keep remembering us! I'm just exhausted with all this, but I'm also thankful because I know there are some much sicker kids out there whose parents have to go through much, much more.

I need to get off here and let Blogger cool down get to bed. In addition to being off today, we're on a short deadline because of Memorial Day, and I have to get her from school tomorrow!

Guess who made Warrior of the Week?

C'mon. Bet you can't guess.

Oh, all right. It was Anna Marie!

For those of you who don't live in Senatobia, the Warrior of the Week is a child picked from each class in the Elementary School. One of the requirements for WoW (as we will henceforth refer to the honor, because I'm certainly not typing that out each time) is to not get in trouble all week.

Obviously, Anna Marie hasn't been in the running for WoW in quite a while.

She was starting to get disheartened. Would she ever be named WoW?

This week, she's been SO GOOD. I mean, really, really good. Like, she hasn't gotten on yellow at all.

She was getting so psyched by the end of the week. Every morning before school, we'd pray that God would help her stay on green. And that He would help her be named WoW.

This morning, when I went to wake her up, she said, "Mom, Ms. Wendy (that's the school counselor) pronounces the Warrior of the Week in the morning. So I've already been on green enough!"

When I was fixing her hair, she said, "Mom, are you trying to make me all pretty for when they take my picture for Warrior of the Week?"

(Dude. Told you she was serious.)

So this afternoon, I called to see how things went. And she'd been named WoW for her class! She's been so happy all afternoon! And, the best part - even after she was so honored, she still stayed on green!

I've tried to use it as an example of God answering her prayer. I'm looking for small ways to grow her faith.

The counselor took a picture to send to the paper - and even though she's been in the paper lots (she is my kid, after all) she's been really excited about that part.

Praise the Lord! Anna Marie finally got Warrior of the Week!

On being an involved parent

Being a parent, it's hard work, y'all. Especially once your kid gets to school, and you have to deal with the whole bureaucracy there.

One of the kindergarten teacher aides from Anna Marie's school comes to my Weight Watchers meeting. And while we weigh in, we sometimes chat about how school is going. And lately she's been telling me that a couple of the teachers had nixed the idea of taking the kids on their annual zoo trip.

Now, I know the class sizes are bigger than usual this year - each class has 27 kids! That's due to two factors - one, we're experiencing tremendous population growth, and two, one of the teachers retired last year and they never hired a replacement. Twenty seven kids might not sound like a lot, but oh my word, it is!

So, this past Thursday at weigh-in, this teacher aide tells me that the trip is off - and that Little AM's teacher is one of the ones who doesn't want to go!

Keep in mind, our teacher also has a daughter in kindergarten at the school, so she's cheating her own kid out of the trip.

One of the excuses the aide said she was told (and there was another kindergarten mom in line with us, talking) was that there weren't enough parents willing to help out. Hello! We haven't even been told a date for the trip! No one asked us to help!

So Friday, I sent an email to the principal.

(Yes, I know, going over the teacher's head and all that, but I seriously thought he was the one who made that decision.)

He finally responded this morning, saying that those decisions were made at the grade level, but that he had spoken with the teachers, and the trip was back on.

Back on!

I don't want to take credit for this - I know I can't be the only parent who heard the trip was canceled and went to the administration! And part of me is a little worried that AM's teacher (remember, the one who wanted the trip canceled) would get wind that I had contacted the principal and give The Kid some problems. I certainly don't want her last month of kindergarten to be ruined because of her mom!

Now, I have to live up to my end of the bargain - the principal said that I needed to get as many of the parents as possible to come chaperon. I don't know many of the other parents from her class (because, oddly enough, when I go volunteer for something they aren't there!) but I do know the class mom, so I guess I'll have to enlist her help with the contact information.

And I also may have to get Jason and both my parents to sign up to go.

But man - what do other kids do, when they have parents who either don't care enough to get involved or are not educated on how to do so? How are we supposed to get the best education for our kids, if we just sit back and take what's handed to us instead of taking a pro-active approach?

It may just be a trip to the zoo, but I think it's the principle of the thing - they had us order class T-shirts in the fall, and specifically said in the note that they would be worn on field trips, to include the annual zoo outing. I don't think I'm remiss in saying that the two trips they've had so far this year, both of them to the movies, do not count as actual educational experiences.

Guess I'd better buckle down and get to dialing now, huh?

Dear other moms of kids at my kid's school:

Hi there! You don't see me too often in the afternoons, but I was there today (cute brunette in the green Grand Prix, rockin' tunes coming from my iPod, playing Solitaire on same), a little earlier that I usually am because my boss didn't come to meet with us today.

And, as I sat there, way further up in the line than usual, I noticed a trend.

I noticed that, unlike the rest of us who come and sit in line for our Precious Little Ones to be released to us, some of you like to circumvent The System.

You know who you are. The ones who park your car, get out and walk up to the school building, and then, with your Precious Little Ones, try to get the rest of us in The System to let you back in so you can leave.

No dice.

You may not like The System, but it's a little like the IRS - you deal with it. You work within it.

You do not try to circumvent The System.

So, yes, your Precious Little Ones are more-precious than anyone else's. And yes, the converging and diverging traffic lanes of The System are somewhat tedious.

But, suck it up. Get in line. Wait to pull up to the gaggle of children and have one of the teachers open your door so your Precious Little One can enter the hallowed halls of your vehicle and be returned to your extra-special care once more.

You'll be teaching them a valuable lesson called Don't Rock The Boat.

Sincerely,

Anna Marie's mom.

Can I just brag a little?

Anna Marie was being punished yesterday (no, I'm not bragging about that) and, as part of her sentence, had to sit outside while the other kids had recess and, well, write.

Not the "I will not play with my bottle water during lunch" type of sentences. The teacher had her write sentences describing what she saw outside.

Here's the rundown of what my baby observed. All spellings are original.

"Flowers are purple.

Grass is green.

Skys are blue.

Leaves are coming back."

Now, here's the part where she waxes philosophical.

"Its all most spring chair.

i whant it to be sprig now."

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it? Especially when you find out that when she wrote "chair" she was trying to write "cheer." She's as tired of winter as the rest of us are!

I told her this morning that, although I was disappointed that she had to be punished, I was proud of the job she had done on her writing.

Pulitzer prize, here we come!

First day updates

Guess who was the Student of the Day on her very first day of kindergarten?

Yep, you got it. Apparently she got to be the line leader all day long. Remember when that was a really big deal?

(Actually, judging from the behavior of some adults I've seen at stores, it still is.)

We didn't make it to Sonic yesterday. I had some emergency business to tend to, and when I got finished, it was time to pick her up and I needed to get back to the office. So I got her a Sprite out of the fridge here and sat at our conference table and went over the stuff in her backpack.

The teacher gave out goody bags, with a cute little note ("You're a star in our class" and gave out Starbursts, etc.) She also got a "Backpack Buddy," which was a plastic folder I'm supposed to check every day for papers and send things like ice cream or lunch money back in.

(Because, as she explained to me, she can buy ice cream at lunch, and she expects me to give her ice cream money every day. I did today, but that was just because I happened to have fifty cents handy that I pulled out when we were in line at the school.)

And yes, I saved all the stuff she brought home yesterday like her coloring sheets and the note from the goody bag, because I realized yesterday morning that this called for a scrapbook!

Jason had to put her to bed last night, because we had a county election and I was at the courthouse until midnight to get the results. Fat lot of good it did me, because when I tried to post them to our website, it wouldn't refresh. I called after-hours support, and she was all "I'll bring the issue up at the office in the morning."

And I was all "Yeah, so will I." Well, I didn't say that to her, I said it to my GM Shirley who was up here with me. I don't know if you remember or not, but a few months ago we were having trouble with these people and my publisher sent them half a check with a note that it was proper payment for the half a$$ed service we'd been getting.

He promptly received a call from the hosting company, offering a free month.

They finally got the site refreshed about 30 minutes ago, after we'd gotten several phone calls and emails asking us where our results were.

All that overtime is about to come in handy, though - Anna Marie is going to sign up for ballet, and we have to buy everything from the school so all the students will look uniform. And while the individual items aren't expensive, it all adds up to about $80.

(Oh, and they want her to have her hair in a bun, but that obviously isn't going to be happening.)

(Unless, of course, I get her a weave.)

Oh, I almost forgot - seems Peyton is in her class after all, and they're like best buds. Except that she keeps comparing herself to Peyton ("Peyton has a High School Musical backpack. Peyton brought a juice box today. Can I bring one tomorrow?) Peer pressure already!

Ta Dah!

Presenting one of Senatobia's newest kindergarteners!

Sorry for the not-great picture. I tried taking some in the backyard before we left, but it was so muggy that my lens kept fogging up. The school parking lot was a little better, but by that point she was too distracted.

So, this is the best I could get.

I also realized after we got inside that I should've taken the camera inside, but I didn't because I didn't want to look like one of "those" moms. I could kick myself - I AM one of "those" moms. Who am I kidding? I wouldn't have been the only one with a camera in there!

She was up before her alarm went off, ready to go. Saying "I've been dreaming about this for so long. It's my best day ever!" School didn't start until 7:40, but we left the house at 7:15 so we would have plenty of time to get through traffic and find a parking space.

No problem on either count, even though there is a new middle school on the street that the street in front of her school dead ends into. Guess leaving early helped.

We parked across the street next to a now-unused building (since the new school was built) and walked over. Along with about a bazillion other parents and kids, some carrying nap mats signifying they were also kindergarteners.

Her teacher is the mother of one of her soccer teammates from last year - Abby, the girl with which Anna Marie was going to start the Tate County Pint Size Republican Club. (Her grandfather, the teacher's father-in-law, is the head of the GOP here). Abby, of course, was not in her mother's class. Dayton isn't in there either, and I'm kind of glad - I was afraid that she would hold back from meeting new kids if he was there.

Her Arch Nemesis, Peyton, isn't in there either. I didn't have time to see whose class she is in, except that it isn't her grandmother's.

We put her stuff into her cubby (she has a cubby! With her name on it!) and sat her down at the table where her name was (her name! She has an assigned seat!) There was a coloring sheet there, so I guessed that the kids were expected to color quietly while everyone was arriving.

The teacher remembered us from soccer. As I look back over last fall, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not!

I even got a car pass to pick her up - Jason will have to get one too for the days when it's his turn. Apparently, no pass, no AM.

She sat down at her table, and put on her name tag. Luckily, since the teacher knew us, we didn't have to go into the "she's called both names" stuff. Her name was Anna Marie on everything, right down to the frog on the front door.

My little girl started coloring, like she belonged there or something! I hated to leave - but I knew I had to. I gave her a hug and she gave me a kiss, and I said a little prayer with her, and I left.

And I didn't even cry.

I think it helped to see who her teacher was - knowing that she also has a daughter starting school today, and being somewhat familiar with her.

I can't wait to see her this afternoon and hear how her day went. She was feeling much better this morning, by the way. I did give her a Benadryl, just for good measure. And to keep her calm - hey, maybe that's why she was being so quiet once we got in there!

Maybe we'll go to Sonic after school and get a drink, and have a little chat. Just the two of us.

One! More! Day!

Try saying that title like Captain Kirk. It's pretty funny.

(Yes, it's my birthday, happy birthday to me, blah blah blah, it's been pretty crappy so far, so let's get on to the mommy whining, shall we?)

One more day. Anna Marie keeps saying, "Tomorrow, I'll be in kendragarten."

And no, I'm not misspelling that. That's how she says it. Guess it's an homage to my friend Kendra, purveyor of the finest Girl Scout cookies this side of the Mississippi.

So, yes, tomorrow she's going to school. And next year, I'm either moving to a new district or putting her in the insanely pricey private school here, because her dang allergies are acting up.

Like they do every year.

Like she's sick EVERY year on my birthday. Which is part of the reason today has been mildly crappy. But there isn't a thing in the world I can do about it.

So, I'm moving. Because the schools here start the first week of August. And since my birthday is also the first week of August, and her allergies kick up around my birthday, that makes chances pretty good that she'll be sick when school starts.

And tomorrow is going to be her very first day of school. Ever. Ever.

You only get one of those.

So, we're pumping her full of antihistamines and decongestants and expectorants. Every four hours, even (as I learned in the wee hours of this morning) overnight.

I went to the store last night for lunch box fare - lunch box fare! My kid has a lunch box, and it's in need of fare! - trying to avoid today, when the aisles will surely runneth over with last minute shoppers.

And I went past the school supplies - past, because, gentle readers, I'm done. Have been for a couple of weeks now. DONE.

It's the same giddy feeling I get at Christmas, when I've done my shopping beforehand and I walk past the toy section, and parents and grandparents are wandering around like they're in a daze picking through the remains of the Doras and Diegos and Backyardigans.

(Except this Christmas, they'll also need a lead testing kit.)

School.

Tomorrow.

My kid.

Help!