Rendezvous in the a.m.

Despite the coyotes, we have a warren of rabbits here at Corinth West. They eat all of my flowers and leave their round little turds all over my front lawn. There is one rabbit about which I am concerned. Every morning when I drive Katie up the driveway to catch the bus this rabbit darts in front of the car at about 1/3 of the way up the driveway. It has gotten to the point that I slow down when I get to that area so I don't have to slam the breaks on when he shoots out of the bushes. Either that rabbit is suicidal or a thrill seeker. Which brings me to what I think is the intriging part. Katie and I go up the driveway pretty much the exact same time every day which means the darting rabbit crosses the driveway the same time everyday. Why does he keep a schedule? Does he work? Does he have a standing breakfast date? Is he actually waiting in ambush because he is an adrenaline junkie? These are the types of things that I ponder when I have too much time on my hand. ("Quick, give her something to do!!)

Heart Day

Katie had her first Valentine's Day at school. This past weekend she did her valentines. We had five boxes of cards, leftovers from previous years, so she was able to pick suitable ones for girls and boys. I gave her her class list and she wrote the names, as well as her own name on them. Finally, we attached a Jolly Rancher sucker to each card and loaded them into a big, sparkly Valentine's bag for Katie to bring to school. Oh, Katie was so excited. She is a testament to the idiom of it is better to give than receive.

I had volunteered to help with the balloons that we, the PTO, were selling. A few days before Heart Day the school sent home a note and a purchase form for the PTO's valentine balloons.  The school had also included a drop-off schedule for those parents that were bringing their own gifts from home for their children or those who planned on coming in to purchase balloons. "A schedule?" I chuckled to myself. Oh boy, I shouldn't have been amused because we were seriously very busy.  My assignment in the Great Balloon Sale was to write the "to and "from" names on the little card that was attached to the balloons. My hand got a sore, but it was better than working the helium dispenser. The dispenser was one of those big cans that stand about 4' high. Everyone that blew up balloons ended up with red eyes and were acting like they were stoned. Correction: They were stoned. A few of the moms took turns expanding the balloons and breathing in passive helium so one mom couldn't hoard all the fumes. I didn't blow any balloons and I am grateful. (A few years back, I sucked the helium out of a balloon to see how my voice would sound. It sounded very odd and I got an instantaneous, crashing headache.) We had attached pencils to the strings to weigh the balloons down but a few balloons ditched their pencils so they ended up on the ceiling, the very high ceiling, of the gymnasium. 

I was taken back by how busy we were. Oodles of parents dropped off gifts for their little Valentines and oodles more didn't use the order form so they came in at last minute to purchase balloons. Once the gym was ready for the classes to come through it looked like Valentine's Day heaven. It actually was very pretty, but darn it I did not have my good camera with me.

Oh the children were so excited and keyed up. However, there were also some children for whom my heart broke. A particular grade came in to pick up their balloons and one little girl forgot to give the order form to her mom, so her mom knew nothing about the balloons. Apparently the girl was in tears so the little girl came back with her mom who purchased a balloon. Even though she got a balloon in the end, I am sure the experience of seeing most of her classmates get a balloon and her whole class seeing that she didn't get any still stings her. I also recall seeing kids standing in line watching as the balloons were handed out with a hopeful looks on their faces. When they did not receive a balloon, you could just see the disappointment. After seeing that for a few classes, a few of the PTO moms decided to purchase balloons for the kids in their child's class who did not get a balloon or gift. It was a last minute decision to buy balloons for the unballooned so we were scrambling to make more balloons. Matter of fact, Katie's class was getting ready to leave and their were seven balloonless kids in her class. When I walked back to the class' line with balloons in my floating behind me, you should have seen the looks on the kids' faces that received one of those balloons. Precious.

I understand that maybe some parents did Valentine's gifts a home; did not know or forgot about the PTO balloons or could not afford them. (Seventy-three percent of the kids at Katie's school are classified as low income so cost was most likely the factor.) But I can't help but wonder if there is a better way to hand out the balloons and gifts so the unballooned won't be so disappointed when they remain balloonless. Perhaps only those children that get a gift or balloons should go to the gym. It would still hurt but you could hurt in private. So what is my point? It was a day of extremes. Enjoying the Christmas morning-like excitement from the kids while also witnessing the disappointment on the faces of the unballooned. When you are a kid, it is hard to understand that a gift is only a material object. Kids tend to simplify it and see it as a sign of not being considered or loved.

As for Katie, she purchased two balloons, one for her teacher and one for the teacher's assistant and Rick and I bought one for Katie. Katie also got a balloon from Armando, a boy in her class. So of course I am still teasing her with "Katie and Armando sitting in a tree . . . . . . "  Did you expect any less from me?

Katie has a "life size" Rapunzel doll that is 3' high. Yesterday Rapunzel took a bath with Katie. Punzie is a poseable doll so she has joints at her hips, arms, neck, etc. When bath time was over, Punzie had water in her so I put her in the shower. The shower door is right across from the bathroom's entrance door. Do you know how many times I got spooked because Punzie looked like a real girl standing in the shower? When it comes to scary movies, child ghosts give me the shivers. I don't know why. Perhaps it has something to do with my aunt Hilda who died when she was 9 and did so in the dining room of the house I grew up in. I was convinced that Aunt Hilda was metaphysically roaming around the house. You know it could also be because growing up we had a doll called Kathy who was 3' tall. Kathy was kept in the attic and when I was a youngster I was terrified of the attic because I was convinced my paternal grandfather, who also died in that house, was in the attic and would walk around at night. One time we, my sister and I, went into the attic and I was scared to all get out by Kathy. I am pretty sure my sister laughed her head off. Anyway. . . . I stood Punzie over by the bathtub, but I still had that little shock when I went into the bathroom. Matter of fact, for a flash second I would think it was Katie. Finally I laid Punzie down on the floor and that seems to be the only position from which she does not scare me. I have had other encounters with Rapunzel. Once she was sitting at the dining room table and it freaked me out for that split second when I first walked into the room. Upon further consideration I think it is the eyes. They have a vacant look like they are looking straight through you. As soon as I had her staring at the ceiling, so no longer freaked me out. So, what is my point? Learn from my experience. If your child has a "life size" doll make sure your daughter lays it down once she is done playing with it. It will save you a lot of little heart jumps.

"You're once, twice, three times a lady."

When I was in Target today I was checking out the Valentine's Day cards. There was a mother and her grown son also looking through the cards. Mom was in her 70's and son was in his 50's. The son found a hilarious card and showed it to me. It was pretty funny. So the next card that he found funny he showed it to me. About seven cards later, I needed to check out and trek across town to my doctor's appointment. I left mom and son, who was chuckling about a new card, in the card aisle

My doctor's office is with other doctors' offices in a huge building. I was waiting for the elevator and glanced over at the lady who was also waiting. Son of a gun, if it wasn't the mom from the card aisle in Target! Pretty soon the son comes into the lobby and we laughed about the whole small world concept.

My doctor got tied up with another patient so I had to wait in an exam room clad with that cute paper gown. (Actually it was not a gown, it was a bolero. You don't want to move around too much in that.) After 45 minutes, my doctor came in and said everything was fine with my mammogram. She also asked if I was interested in genetic testing to see if I have the "breast cancer gene." (I'll blog about that some other time.)

Anyway, I was merrily on my way to the first floor via the elevator and guess who was in the lobby? Yes, that's right, mom and son from Target's card aisle! I joked that they were now my best friends. Isn't that weird? Now if I run into them again . . . .

Inquiring Minds

  "What ya doin' over there, Katie?" Cody asked in his Scooby-Doo voice.

"Teaching driveway ballet." Katie replied

Mystery DVD

We, Katie and I, have been deep cleaning Katie's room. I asked Katie to fire up her laptop to make sure a DVD wasn't in the drive. Well, there was one, "It's Tiger the Pooh. . . er. . . or is that Tiger Pooh?" How about Winnie the Pooh?!

Big Drilly Thing, Yakking and Toes

Yesterday I was zipping along US277 to go pick Katie up at school. About 2 miles north of Anson I crested a little incline and saw flashing lights and a lot of vehicles up in the distance. As I got closer, I realized those in front of me were stopped. So I stopped too and the car behind me stopped and the car behind them stopped and so on and so on. Fifteen vehicles were ahead of me including semis so I couldn't get a clear view of what was going on. As the line behind me grew longer and longer, I called Rick to have him call the school to let them know that I was going to be late. Well, 45 minutes later, the law enforcement, which there were oodles of milling around, rerouted the traffic to the left lane of the northbound lanes. As I motored past the hub-bub I saw a very large semi/drilling rig off of the side of the road and a whole bunch of tow trucks idling around it. Best that I can ascertain is that the Big Drilly Thing slid off of the road. When I reached a bend in the road, I peered in my rear view mirror and the line behind me went on for miles and miles. So that was the Big Traffic Tie Up of 2012 in Jones County.

Other News:  I was a wrong. (In my head I hear Rick going, "What did you say? I didn't hear that. Can you say that again?") Katie lost a cube again for talking in class and another for going up the slide's ladder after the whistle blew that signaled the end of recess. On the bright side, she hasn't lost any cubes in the last two days which is a thing to celebrate considering how the cubes have been flying off of her strand.

Cody Observations:  Last night I was working on the kitchen floor and he was right next to me. His foot was in the way, so I stuck my finger between his toes. He pulled that paw back so quickly. Of course I needed to replicate my action to ensure my findings were correct. After the seventh time, he was mildly miffed and tucked his feet underneath himself. Conclusion: Cody doesn't like to be touched between the toes. However, I will conduct follow-up experiments at regular intervals (whenever he is peacefully sleeping) to see if his aversion has changed.