Her sinuses are pounding, my poor little thing. Missing 2 days of school means a lot of make-ups and not much fun. Hopefully, the Amoxicillin will kick the butt of the infection soon. It was a long night of, "Owie, Owie, it hurts. The pain." That hurts Mommy worse.
Dress shopping with my girl is hard work. Too busty for most Junior fashions, too petite for Ladies, too fussy for most stores, in general, it's a nightmare. Enter the Eighth Grade Dance. $15 tickets to go to the dance in the Junior High cafeteria, and anybody who's anybody will be there. Now we need a dress. The search has been underway for a few weeks, and we were about to give up and go with a not-so-springy red dress she wore to a New York Bar Mitzvah last year. A last ditch effort took us to the mall tonight. We struck out in Dillard's, Penney's, and Belk. We checked the boutiquey stores, even willing to overpay and have little selection. Nothing. That is nothing, unless I wanted my daughter to look like a streetwalker. Our last chance at 8:40. Sears. We scored the white number for the dance, two have-em-in-the-closet dresses for all occasions, and a lovely pair of silver sling-back shoes with a moderate heel (all on 50% off sale). Mom is the hero, the daughter is happy, and peace and harmony will be with us in our humble home. For now, anyway.
More than 1/3 into my project 365, and I'm trying to make a conscious effort to snap a picture each day. Sometimes I have an epiphany, and I can come up with a photo to match. Sometimes I have a decent picture, and I needn't say too much. Today I have had neither, and it's after 7 PM. The only picture I snapped was the family loading the small trunk of the convertible with our loot after a Costco run. We love to ride with the sun and the wind. The cool, aloof, teenage daughter actually pitched in with the schlepping, and then did a great job practicing piano and voice, making for a pleasant afternoon. The recovered husband and I undertook a 16 mile bike ride this morning, definitely adding to the "pinch-me-I-live-here" feeling we've had lately. We worked diligently to memorize our scripts as we sat in the shade of the bottle brush trees beside the pool. A little grill action for dinner, and the Starbucks Espresso Roast is grinding as I write this. No epiphany. No great photo. Just a day filled with many blessings.
Show nights at the school are crazy! The kids take extra loony pills, parents are on edge. We have the whole rush on the door to get the best stage view in the cafe-audi-gyma-torium. We want everything to go well. One thing I wish I could enjoy more are the returning "alumni." At tonight's Aladdin showing we had former players going back to shows we did 7 and 8 years ago. They've all grown up, but they come back because the shows they did on this little elementary school stage have helped to define who they are. One alum was my own kid, who definitely looked like she's way out of elementary school. She hooked up and spent the evening with an old BFF, ST, who joined us for a post-show Sonic treat. Still goofy together, but too much grown-up. Somebody slow down the clock!
...but she's trying. She did a beautiful job on Pre-Algebra homework, which I dutifully checked as any reponsible parent should. Then she left it on the kitchen counter.
We're running out of room on the piano. Lesson books, vocal exercise books, anthologies of songs and arias, and music theory books crowd the space on the small ledge above the keys. All hold assignments and opportunities for our young musician. She's just beginning to glimpse her potential.
In Columbus, Ohio, observing a workshop on Differentiated Instruction, stuck in a hotel meeting room all day, nothing particularly photo-worthy has occurred. This pic of my "little girl" was taken two days ago. On her way out the door, the social butterfly of Green Cove JHS is all ready for school.
All 5 of us sleep here. That is, two adults, one teenager (who would never admit that she needs her mommy and daddy so much that she crawls into their bed every night) and 2 cats. I like to have the bed tucked and tidy, but it's 11:35 AM and still unkempt. The unseemly lump in the center is our boy cat. It's a chilly morning so he's tunnelled his way under the comforter. I don't have the heart to disturb him.
