Catching Up & Turning 35

Last week, Wednesday, was Princess' last day at school. Monday, they had their field day, Tuesday was "move up" day (where they met the teachers of the next grade and found out what they were going to be doing throughout next year), and Wednesday was a half day. I'm not sure what the exact requirement is for number of days the children must attend school, but I'm pretty sure most of them learned nothing in the final three days of school!

While I was waiting for her to come out of the building, I saw a ton of 6th graders pour out. They were singing. These are the kids that move on to the middle school next year, so they were high-fiving just about every teacher they came across. Once Princess came out, full backpack and a Father's Day gift for her Papa, the area had cleared a bit, but we had to go back inside to check the lost and found (just in case; we weren't actually missing anything) and get the Box Tops/Soup Labels container (Ace is the PTA's coordinator for those).

By the time we came back out, the only people left outside were three teachers, and they were waving to the busloads of kids. These teachers, though, happened to be all ones we knew (which isn't saying much; Princess, Ace, and I know almost every teacher & staff member at that school): her 2nd grade teacher (Mr. S.), and the two men who were co-presidents of the PTA (Mr. R. and Mr.
P.). We got our own high-fives and fist-bumps, and headed home.

Thursday, we had a playdate with our new mom's group. My friend (another from high school that I've recently reconnected with), A.A., started it so her school-aged kids could have friends their own age. I like it because it gives us scheduled things to do when we're home (which is only about 1/2 the summer, considering everyone's activities & trips we already have going on). Besides, a big chunk of the moms in this group are also ladies I went to h.s. with, so that part of it is nice, too!

Friday, I worked a bit. Mom was my last client, and afterwards, we went for Happy Hour at Newport Seafood Grill (nee: Newport Bay) on Portland's wonderful waterfront. Mom treated me to an early dinner, drinks, & dessert. She also got me a cool gift: flip flop shaped coat hooks for my room at work. It was raining off and on, so instead of my cute heeled flip-flops (to show off my awesome toenail polish), I wore my new biker-style boots. Dark, long jeans, a cute green top, and a black sweater topped off my outfit, but I couldn't find my umbrella in my car, so we shared hers.

Saturday, I had one client... at 8am. This has never been a time I take clients, but (a) I really adore this client, and (b) it was the only time he & I could both do it this week (he had to cancel his last one 'cuz he had nasal surgery). Oh, yeah, he also tips really well, and loves my kid. When I got home, I made the children do their chores, so Sunday was free for Father's Day.

Sunday, Ace and I slept in, but I got up a little earlier than he did, so Princess & I could make him his mocha. After we were both mocha'd up, the kids brought out their gifts. I got photos of all of this, but since he was in his robe, he won't let me post them :(. I gave myself a gel pedicure that early afternoon, then we decided to do a little "window-shopping" (not for actual windows; we have those already... for kitchen things. We're starting to think about remodeling), then went grocery shopping for dinner things.

Ace made boneless pork chops, garlic bread, etc for dinner (my choice). After dinner, we gathered to do presents for me. I did get photos of that part, which you can view on my MySpace & Facebook accounts. Today is officially my birthday, but Princess left this morning for Costa Rica, so we did dinner & gifts last night. After dinner, we took Princess to Krispy Kreme (my idea of a birthday cake), then took her to my mom's. They left early this morning, and will return late on July 2nd.

Maybe it seems weird, but even though I miss my daughter when she goes on these trips, I look forward to her leaving. I know that she'll write a few times and may call me once or twice. And, I know she's going to have a great time; an experience like no other that very few other children get to experience. What a wonderful thing for her.

To answer the unasked question, no, I don't feel older, but then again, I guess aging is a slow process. The goal is to do it with grace, and hopefully gain wisdom as you do it.

It's Over

Softball season, that is. Seems like it went by faster than in the past, although I only have one other year to compare it to. Perhaps it was due to the three cancelled games, perhaps it was due to the fact that we missed a couple games for personal reasons, or perhaps I just wanted it to be a little longer... Whatever it was, it's done.

We had a good season. The team won 4 of their games overall; about the same from last year. Princess made contact with the ball a few times, which is a definite improvement over last year. The ball also made contact with her... which left a few bruises, but nothing broken. During tournament games, that means a free walk to 1st base. She's decided to play again next year, so I bought her a full-inch-larger sized mitt, and am on the hunt for bigger batting gloves (the local sporting goods store has a HUGE discount on most of Spring sports' gear).

I've said before that softball is the beginning of Spring, to me. So, the end of the season means the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. Bring it on!

Not The Storm of the Century, but...

... definitely one for the record books! I don't know how much rain/wind/hail my area got, but I do know that tree branches were coming down all over the northwest part of the state, then it moved northeast (I'm assuming it hit T & D, too?).

Yesterday was my SD's 8th grade graduation/promotion ceremony. The Princess had MAD SCIENCE after school, and since it was the last one of the school year, I told her she could go, but I'd pick her up 15 minutes early. Her instructor, "Professor Genius", made her some slime to take home before she left. Then, we picked up Ace from work before driving what was supposed to be 1 1/2 or so hours up toward the mountain to A's school.

As we got closer to where we were going, the winds got worse. At one point, my SIL called to tell us they got halfway there and the winds were so bad, a tree branch flew between their car & the one in front of them (turns out that their area got the worst of it), so they were turning around and going home. We kept going. Then the rains hit.

Ok, a little sidebar here. For those who don't know me very well, I should probably tell you a few things: (1) Unless I am super-familiar with an area, I hate to drive. (2) My husband usually drives when we're together because he gets a bit carsick if he's not (plus, the whole I-hate-driving thing). (3) Storms are awesome, unless stuck in the middle of one.

Back to my story: There weren't many people on the road, anyway, but when the rain is POURING down and the wind is WHIPPING BRANCHES OFF TREES, it's usually time to pull over. I was in the left lane, going about 10 miles/hour so decided to pull off; yes, on the left side (median). I couldn't see to safely change lanes & pull off to the right shoulder, so I did the next best thing. Now, tell me, given the choices to keep going when you can't see anything through all the rain & wind, try to change lanes so that you can "legally" pull to the right shoulder, or pull to the left median with your flashers on, which would YOU do?

After a couple minutes of Ace ranting about us being late, but him not wanting to drive either, I told him he had two choices (well, three, if we turned around to go home): either drive the car, or shut up and let me do it my way. He really didn't want to drive (I still don't know why), so we waited it out a little, then continued on our way.

We got there, with time to spare, as I figured we would. Streets were soaked, and there were branches & leaves everywhere, but we were fine. We found our seats, and proceeded to watch Squeeks, and the other kids, become high school students. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!