Sep. 4: Yay! Grrrrrr! Yay! Grrrrrr!

Last week was completely, totally, 100 percent chaotic. I’m not even going to try to share all that’s been going on, but I will say that it pretty much begins and ends with PTO. You’re shocked, I know. This is a crazy time of year for PTO—school starts on Tuesday and there is SO much to get ready—and while I have the most amazing team to work with, my brain just won’t shut off. Argh.

I got the original Broadway cast soundtracks for Les Miz and and Mamma Mia yesterday. Having new music is such a lovely thing. I look forward to having time to sit down with the lyrics so the stories of both shows make more sense—though I suspect Mamma Mia is as stupid as it seems.

Jack got the teacher I was hoping he’d get, and one of his best buds is also in his class. BUT I’m actually kinda mad at Jack right now, so I don’t really care whether or not he’s happy. Seriously, you know how sometimes your kid can act like a complete fartknocker, like you even consider driving him out to the country and leaving him in a beet farm somewhere? That’s Jack the past few days. Vic and I are ready to kick him out of the house, which we didn’t expect to want to do for another six years or so.

I’ll be honest; I’m glad the kids are going back to school and won’t be around home, whining whining whining. Where are my clean clothes? I’m bored! When will you feed me? Geez. It’s EVERY DAY with that stuff. Good riddance, whiners! (Seriously, I’m tha-rilled that they’re growing up as quickly as they are—most the time, anyway.)

The pup will not stop barking at anyone who dares to walk past our house. He’s making me crazy. It’ll be all quiet in the house and suddenly he sees something outside and goes NUTS at the window. It makes me pee a little. OK, not really. But it’s scary.

The PTO has already received several donations in response to the solicitations we sent out last week. It always surprises me when people are so eager to sponsor our efforts!

I read a local headline the other day that said someone threw a bunch of kittens out of a minivan on a busy road. Can you believe that? It makes me want to throw that person out of a minivan on a busy road. People are jerks.

We went up to Mt. St. Helens today. The last thing I should be doing right now is taking off for a non-school thing, but really, it’s exactly what I needed. Tuesday morning, when I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I’ll be glad I had a little break. The weather was perfect today—clear and sunny, even hot at times—and the views were amazing. Want proof? Here’s a pic I took from Johnston Ridge Observatory:

The viewpoint is 5½ miles north of the crater. We never see the big hole from Portland—in fact, from Portland, St. Helens looks a bit flatter but otherwise the same as she did pre-1980. It’s really fascinating to be right there. We stopped at two other visitor centers on our way back to I-5. It was a perfect day to be up in the mountains. It was a perfect day to be with family. It was a perfect day.

Bring it on, Tuesday! I am soooo gonna kick your ass.