Oct. 7: Sports are for… momma?

As I’ve bitched about mentioned already, Jack is playing tackle football again this year. It’s an incredible thing to watch each game. And by “incredible,” I mean “frightening,” because the combination of not-too-serious and very-scary-looking injuries, refs who don’t make the calls they should, and that one horrid mom sitting too close to me (just my luck her kid had to be on Jack’s team)… well, they cause my blood pressure to spike, my anxiety levels to go sky-high, and my skin to do something it shouldn’t. I don’t know exactly what my skin does, but I just read that stress is not good for women’s skin. Thanks, Idiot Scientists! Like we didn’t know that stress is pretty much bad for everything.

And Katie is competing in cross-country again this year. After not-great finishes last year, she’s finally grasped the importance of building up her stamina. Even so, every time she gets home from practice, she whines and whines (don’t know where she gets THAT) about how exhausted she is. I remind her that cross-country is exhausting—the name of the sport implies such—and also that no one is forcing her to do it. Pretty sure she’s in it for the Nikes and the season-end pizza party—I mean, she only played soccer in first grade because of the post-game snack.

The fact that our kids’ two chosen sports share the season is no picnic for me and Victor; our afternoons are different every day and therefore impossible to remember. It’s really only our sync-ed online calendar that keeps us sane.

Mondays: Jack gets home at 4:30, Katie stays at school for CC practice and I pick her up at 5:15.
Tuesdays: K&J get home at 4:30, Jack has to eat a hearty snack and get his gear on so I can take him to FB practice near the school at 5:15, Victor picks him up at 7:45.
Wednesdays: I pick up Jack at school at 4:05, feed him quickly and head off to Katie’s CC meet 4:35-6:00 at a park or school in the district, Jack’s FB practice is near school at 5:15 (hopefully he can hitch a ride with a teammate; otherwise one of us misses the CC meet), Victor picks him up at 7:45.
Thursdays: Jack gets home at 4:30, Katie stays at school for CC practice and I pick her up at 5:15, she showers quickly before they both have piano lessons 6:30-7:30
Fridays: K&J get home at 4:30, Jack has to eat a hearty snack and get his gear on so I can take him to FB practice at a local park at 5:15, Victor picks him up at 7:45, or they end at 7:00 if there’s a HS football home game that night and the moon is full and you’re holding your head just right.
Saturdays: Jack’s football game, anywhere from Sandy to Hillsboro, anytime from 9am-5pm; he has to be there an hour and a half before kickoff—Victor usually takes care of this delivery, thank Buddha.

The whole sports schedule is chaotic, to say the least, because things like dinner, homework, orthodontist appointments, and piano practice have to happen in waking hours too. I still work occasionally, and those twice-a-day naps won’t take themselves. But there’s something that makes the crazy all worthwhile for me.

No, it’s not alcohol.

Well, it’s mostly not alcohol.

Several of my friends with kids in cross-country (like Stephanie, Cristina, Dawn, and Julie) attend the weekly meets. Football games are all-Dina-all-the-time, plus some other fun moms. Not only do we get to hang out and sip from our flasks all stealth-like, we get to pretend we’re good parents while we cheer for our kids.

Momma likes the win-win.

Sep. 5: Already failing

It’s Day #5 of the September Blog Challenge! A bunch of people are playing along now, and I’m thrilled about that, but I haven’t had a chance to read their posts because of reasons. Well, one reason, which I’ll explain below. Today’s blog challenge topic:

What are some of the things you’ve learned that school won’t teach you?

Here’s my lazy answer: sometimes you can’t do the things you promised you would, like blog every day in September.

I spent all day yesterday staring at lines of code at work. I know, I know, some people do that all day every day and I should just shut up about it. But I went to work thinking I’d be there for an hour or so and ended up staying for six more than that. My brain is completely fried and my throat hurts from screeching many curse words. I kinda wish all the cursing would make me unwelcome to come back, but NO, I have to go in again today for more code-staring. Hopefully some code-wrangling-into-submission too, because OMG, I’m going to recommend this client goes to an all-paper system if this continues.

So I’m not actually putting time or thought into answering today’s topic because I’m a big whiny baby who occasionally earns her paycheck and has the grey hair to prove it. HOWEVER, this still counts as a post! Yay for making up rules of a blog challenge as we go along!

I hate to leave you hanging with this “why did she even bother?” only-technically-a-post post, so here’s a cute video of sleepy corgis. You’re welcome.

Sep. 3: Back to school

Welcome to Day #3 of our September Blog Challenge! In trying to blog every day this month, it’s taken a very short time for me to feel like all I’ve done for three days is blog, blog, blog! That feeling will eventually wear off, if I remember correctly. Today’s topic:

Back to school: What did you love about back to school and how do you translate that to your adult life?

As a kid, my favorite part of going back to school was definitely the clothes shopping in August. Once I stopped growing so much and didn’t need an entirely new wardrobe each year, that shopping excitement diminished. I was always eager to plan my outfit for the first day of school, though. Second in importance to clothes were school supplies—because OMG, have you SMELLED freshly sharpened pencils? Brand new binders, heavy stock ruled paper, fine tip ballpoint pens, and a full pencil box could (and still can) make me swoon.

My back to school planning of long ago has impacted my adult life in that I feel the need to go all Boy Scout when I start new adventures.

I am the Queen of Being Prepared.

Um, I take that back.

More accurately, I am the Queen of Thinking I’m Totally Prepared But Actually I’ve Forgotten Really Important Stuff But I Did Pack Gum To Share So Don’t Worry Because If You Lose A Limb At Least Your Breath Will Be Fresh And You Can Flirt With The Paramedics Yaaaaaay.

These days I still enjoy going through the planning stages before I tackle new projects; I try to anticipate the things I’ll need and have them ready. My painting projects are much more efficient when I don’t have to stop in the middle for a run to Home Depot to buy spackle or tray liners. If I have to go to a meeting, I gather paper and pens for note-taking, print any documents I may need, and make sure I’ve reviewed info ahead of time. Before I have to dress up for an event, I decide what I’ll be wearing and whether it needs to be cleaned/pressed, if I have the right shoes, what purse I’ll carry, and if I have to buy horrid pantyhose. Some preparations require very little planning, and some call for much, much more. Don’t get me started on how I plan vacations.

Suffice it to say, I’ve been known to over-prepare.

I’ve always liked organizing and being ready for anything, so I don’t know if I can credit my years of back-to-school planning with those traits or not. I kinda think I’d probably enjoy those things either way.

Today is Jack’s first day of middle school. What did he do to get ready? Last night he made sure his socks matched. He didn’t make sure his socks matched his clothes, just that his socks matched each other. I had to remind him to brush his teeth and comb his hair. Katie’s first day is Wednesday, but she’s had her backpack prepped and outfit planned head-to-toe for weeks—she is my girl.

If you’re a blogger and want to do our blog challenge with us, let me know and I’ll send you our list! Otherwise, tune in here (and on Sherilee’s happy little blog) every day in September!

Sep. 1: Moving

Sherilee and I have created a blog challenge! We’ve both been slacking on posting regularly to our blogs, so our goal is to post every day this month. We’ll write fun/interesting lists, tell some tales, share recipes, and more. Can we do it? I think we can! We’re starting with this topic:

Did you move many times as a child? How did that impact you, and does it still influence how you see the world today?

Jack asked me the other day how many places I’d lived, and then got bored before I was out of high school. The kids get a look on their faces when Victor or I start waxing nostalgic, like I’VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE, and if we notice (which isn’t always, much to the kids’ dismay) we leave out most the details and stop talking.

So… I’m not gonna go through the list of every place I’ve ever lived, and I’m gonna define “child” in the above question as the years before I started college. That will shorten the post considerably.

1. I don’t remember living in the house in which I was born, but I visited it later because we knew the people who bought it.
2. The first house I remember was on Miracle Lane, in Medford, and we lived there until I was six-ish. I’m still in touch with some of the people we knew in that neighborhood. We lived in an apartment in Medford for a bit, too, before we moved to Portland.
3. When I was seven years old, we left our extended family in Southern Oregon and moved to Portland. We bought a new house in the Bethany area of Beaverton and I went to the public school for three years. My parents divorced during that time and Dad moved out. We stayed in the house another three-ish years—and I transferred to an SDA school—until Mom got remarried and we moved to the Walla Walla area.
4. We lived in a house in College Place for a year and a half; I went to two schools during that time. I got fed up with my step-dad’s complete jackassitude and, after ninth grade, moved back to Portland to try living with my dad.
5. We lived in a high-rise apartment building in downtown Portland. I thought it was pretty cool, being one of the few kids who lived in the building. I attended the same SDA school I had been at before.
6. After a year I moved on to the SDA high school in SE Portland. Dad decided we should live closer to the school, and we were there for two years until I graduated and left for college. Dad was really happy to see me go. Not like my friend Stephanie’s dad when she left for college, but close.

As far as impacting how I view the world today, I feel like it wasn’t moving that made such a difference as it was changing schools. I didn’t like being the new kid, not knowing anyone and feeling lonely and lost. Adjusting to each new school’s rules was less than fun. Going from a public school to a conservative SDA school was a culture shock in many ways, but then I went to a different SDA school that required girls to wear dresses every day—that was like going back in time a few decades. Sheesh.

Something else that was difficult about going to new SDA schools is that I was always lumped in with the other “divorce kids.” There was such a stigma back then (in Adventist circles). Some teachers would “tsk tsk” when they saw us; others would avoid us. A few were downright mean. (Isn’t that strange? It’s hard to believe life was like that and that we tolerated it.) But there were also the kind, accepting, nurturing grown-ups who knew that “divorce kids” couldn’t help being “divorce kids.” They made school a nice place to grow and learn.

My kids have lived in one house their entire lives, and have only switched schools when they’ve grown out of them. Staying in one place was never intentional, exactly, but since we haven’t been interested much in moving anywhere else, it’s how things have worked out for us. I’m glad Katie and Jack have that stability, even if they don’t yet realize its benefits.

One last itty-bitty comment:

I’m still in touch with friends from all of the different times (and locations) in my life, partly thanks to Facebook, but mostly just because I met some really great people over the years. While I admit that I wish life had gone a little differently at times, I’m grateful for the goodness that has come of these experiences, and the people who have stuck by me and stayed in my life. I know not everyone feels blessed by such a thing, but I definitely do.

If you’re a blogger and want to do our blog challenge with us, let me know and I’ll send you our list! Otherwise, tune in here (and on Sherilee’s happy little blog) every day in September!

Apr. 13: Is this racism? I don’t know.

On my way out of the school yesterday, the principal pulled me aside to tell me about an incident with which Jack was involved. I immediately started to apologize—it’s a habit—but this time it wasn’t Jack’s fault… because he can’t help his ethnicity.

Seems one of the instructional assistants heard another fifth grade boy calling Jack “Asian.” Not referring to him as Asian, but actually calling him “Asian,” like a name. I was kinda “meh” about it until the principal said the same boy calls another kid “Little Mexican.” Together, these things made me super-prickly. I was glad the IA reported it and the principal gave this situation the attention it deserved: the kid was reminded of the rules about name-calling at school and asked to apologize. (For those of you familiar with our PBIS program, I don’t know if he was given a warning or referral, or spoken to only.)

I don’t know if I should be angry or sad or mama-bear-protective. My boy knows his ethnicity doesn’t make him better or worse than anyone else, so I’m not worried he’ll be scarred by this incident (it helps that he doesn’t like the kid much anyway). I think the whole thing mostly just makes me sad. What makes me prickly about it is that a kid—any kid in 2013—thinks it’s OK to talk to others this way. Have these racist attitudes been taught at home? Or could it be that the school staff and I are all overreacting because it’s typical at this age to be unintentionally insensitive?

When my nephews were in high school, I remember my sister being shocked to hear them and their friends call each other the n-word. To them, though, that was just a silly name that meant “friend.” It seems like many of the racist attitudes we were exposed to while growing up in the 70’s are mostly history, at least in this part of the world. This makes me very happy. The idea that people who grew up then might not only still be hanging on to those attitudes, but teaching them to their kids, makes me very unhappy.

We all have biases, some so much a part of us that we don’t even remember where they came from. I am only slightly embarrassed to admit that I am biased against ignorant and/or mean people, bad drivers, and jackasses who walk slowly in crowds. But when it comes to the biggies—gender, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc.—it is so, so important that we point our children in the right direction, discrimination-wise. 

Stepping off my soapbox now.

Feb. 28: Month in summary

Here’s my review of February 2013.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• Katie turned 13 this month. I can’t believe it. She’s mostly still a sweetie, but every once in a while we see the signs of ATTITUDE creeping up… Yikes. To celebrate her big day, she had a couple friends over; they went to the mall, saw a movie, and had a “sleep”-over, which involved very little “sleep” and grouchy girls in the morning.
• Our 16th anniversary was last weekend. We spent the day preparing for the school carnival—always going for the romance! Last night we went out for dinner at our special occasion place, Morton’s Steakhouse. Best. Steak. Ever.

Gifts I gave and/or received this month:

• Katie got a desk for her birthday from Grandpa & Grandma, and my mom and the rest of us contributed to the setup—chair, lamp, contents, décor, etc. It was fun helping her get everything organized. She is sooo like me when it comes to that stuff.
• The kids made us some fun ceramics as anniversary gifts. Katie’s were thoughtful, sweet and hearts-y. Jack’s was all-football-all-the-time. Shocking.

Books I read this month:

• I read some travel books… because we’re finally, finally going on a vacation.
• My concentration was very SQUIRREL!! while preparing for the school carnival, and I read pretty much nothing else.

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

TV is exactly the kind of thing my brain can focus on—for 22 minutes at a time, anyway—so I’ve watched a lot.

• So glad Community is back on.
• Sherilee and I agree that we’re not feeling the love for Smash so far. They better get Jesse L. Martin on there soon, or I will completely lose interest. I will.
• Still enjoying the charming fun that is Go On (looooved the Sixteen Candles references this week!) and The Mindy Project.
• That new Kevin Bacon show, The Following? It scares the livin’ crap outta me, but I can’t look away.
• Loveliest Lori live-Facebooked the Oscars and I missed the entire thing. Stoopid other things I was doing…

Special or unusual purchases I made:

• Music! I got the soundtrack to Bombshell; the new release from my nephew’s band, The Rouge; and Josh Groban’s latest album.
• Those aforementioned travel guides, as well as airline tickets, Disney passes, and more fun stuff to use during spring vacation.
• We got the kids memory foam mattress toppers and BOY, do they smell weird! Hopefully the odor will dissipate so they can actually put them on their beds someday. Right now they’re spread out in my office, giving me a headache (the mattress toppers, not the kids).

This month’s disappointments:

• I’ve been super-sick for the past week. I had a broken filling repaired last week, and a root canal on the same tooth this week. The tooth pain was pretty unbearable for a while, but it’s the antibiotics they have me on that are REALLY kicking my ass now. If they make me get that infection where they have to put someone else’s poop in my intestines, I will NOT be happy.
• We didn’t win anything big at the school carnival. Last year we won two of the huge auction items, so it was a bummer to go home empty-handed. Still, I did most of the drawings and it was so much fun seeing the winners’ faces when their names were called!
• Downton Abbey’s finale. It was disappointing because it’ll be many months until the next season begins, and also because the season sucked for two big reasons and several small ones.
• Nobody bought me a pony.

My accomplishments:

• The carnival was a big hit. This wasn’t my accomplishment alone, of course; there are seven other people who deserve credit too.
• I slept 11 hours last night and it was awesome.
• I’m actually writing this post. I barely got it in before March.

Anything else noteworthy:

• The kids both took Red Cross classes this month; Katie is now babysitter certified, and Jack did a “When I’m in Charge” thing wherein he got to role play throwing a tantrum. He was a little out of practice, since his last tantrum was about seven years ago, but he was proud of his performance nonetheless. The class was supposed to teach him how to handle emergencies when a grown-up isn’t around, and I don’t know if he learned anything new but he sure did enjoy the snack.
• Isn’t it nice when people surprise you with their generosity and kindness? I’ve run into three or four occasions lately that just warm my tiny little black heart. It’s a lovely thing.
• Today a photo popped up in my Yahoo news feed and I thought, “Hm, that building looks familiar.” And then I read the text below it and knew immediately, embarrassingly, that it was about Walla Walla College (University), my alma mater. (Here’s the article it linked to.)

That’s about it, doods.

Oct. 14: Still here

I think the only way to get back to my regular blogging schedule—ha! “schedule”—is to just start. So, here I am. Starting. Playing a little bit o’ catch-up. Rambling, even.

I don’t have time to do lots of the things I love anymore, it seems. I know (hope) this is just a busy time and things will eventually return to the normal that I want. That normal includes talking to Mother Mary several times a week. Reading every night. Getting my laptop’s awful/noisy fan repaired so I don’t have to listen to movies to drown out the annoyingness. Thinking about things that don’t involve school. That’s the big one.

Victor and I took a break from everything on Friday night and saw a local production of Avenue Q, one of the silliest and most entertaining Broadway musicals I’ve ever seen. We first saw it as part of a Broadway in Portland series a few years ago. The one on Friday night was just as good—not an abridged version (I was worried), with just the tiniest of changes to fit in topical humor. It was delightful to laugh for two straight hours.

Not that I haven’t been laughing in other parts of my life. My busy-ness at school, while incredibly stressful at times, is still very much something that feeds my soul. I feel fortunate every day for the people I work with there because they are dedicated and creative and lovely. I am so, so lucky.

Here’s one bit of exciting news: we hosted a costume swap one evening last week. I had sent a press release/announcement to the school district, hoping our event might appeal to people outside our little school. As it was the first time we’d planned a costume swap, we had no idea what the response would be. The press release definitely helped—it was picked up by several news agencies, and we had lots of outsiders attend. And the biggest surprise was when KGW news showed up with a camera (because, really, isn’t a costume swap, like, the best idea EVER? Nowadays parents spend so much on costumes that are worn one time; why not trade them with other people?). I missed the bit they ran on the news that night, and the video isn’t online, so that was a bummer. But otherwise? What a memorable night!

Jogathon is Friday. Our multicultural fair is the next week. Did I offer to coordinate the continent of Europe? Why, yes I did. I might not be very smart.

Overwhelmed? Very much. Happy, though. And needing a vacation like never before.

That’s all the catching up I have time for at the moment. I’ll try to do more in the next few days.

Aug. 31: IDCEAYWTPFriday

Yay! It’s Friday! I feel like this week has been nonstop go-go-go (as opposed to nonstop go-go, which would actually be kinda groovy), and I’m finally getting time to breathe. Breathing’s good.

• I’m sleeping again. This makes me and my family happier than you can imagine. In fact, I’ve been going to bed around 10pm all week, which is quite early for me, and sleeping eight or nine hours each night. It’s very nice. It’s amazing how much a good night’s rest helps us cope, y’know?
• This morning I watched the pilot episode of The Mindy Project and thought it was adorably charming. I’m not a huge fan of Kelly, Mindy Kaling’s character on The Office—she’s completely insane in a not adorably charming way—but I like her as a real person in interviews, and eagerly got Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) when it came out last year. I was disappointed in the book—seems there’s a lot more Kelly in Mindy than I thought. So… liking her new TV show was a surprise to me. Watch it.
• My email server is farked up and I don’t know why. I haven’t had time to investigate it thoroughly this week, but if you need to reach me, go through Facebook or email me at one of my other email addresses, like jennifermanullang-at-gmail-dot-com.
• I’m totally hooked on the logo quiz games on the iPhone. There are tons of them—lots online too. See how much you suck at identifying logos! Actually, it’s pathetic how many logos I do recognize—I can’t remember how math works, but I sure can identify the Chupa Chups logo. Gah.
• A few weeks ago I was interviewed by the editor of the West Linn Tidings—or as she’s known here at Stuff Jen Says, Fancy Lori™—for a special “Living with Cancer” feature in Portland’s community newspapers. It came out this week. I don’t know yet if it’ll be online, so I took pictures to show ya. Here’s the cover—that’s me and Victor in the upper right:

And here’s the article that Lori wrote so well.

• I can’t believe school starts next week—August went so quickly. Jack will be in fifth grade and Katie’s going into seventh. I love, love, LOVE that they are growing up—no wistful what-happened-to-my-babies? from this mom. Well, maybe when they start driving, but that’ll be from fear, not wistfulness.
• Jack took this picture of Lucy in front of her favorite hanging-out spot and snack area. I edited it to show where she likes to chew on the window frame. She is the biggest termite I have ever seen. Also the cutest.

Have a good holiday weekend. Happy September!

Jul. 1: June in review

Shoulda posted this yesterday. Oops.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• The last day of school on June 14. From what I remember, it was a good time.
• Mother Mary’s birthday. We took her out for lunch but that’s about it. Bad Jen.
• Father’s Day. I don’t remember how we celebrated. Wow. I’m a terrible daughter and wife.

Gifts I gave and/or received this month:

• End-of-the-school-year parting gifts from friends. Such sweet surprises!
• Mother Mary’s birthday gift was a slightly customized version of this bracelet. I got myself a matching one. The etsy seller has some really fun items—she’s my new favorite. 

Books I read this month:

• Why Moms Are Weird, again, by Pamela Ribon. I so enjoy the way she weaves stories.
• Forget About It, by Caprice Crane. Very light, but cute.
• Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown. A page-turner.
• The Girls’ Guide to Hunting & Fishing, by Melissa Bank. Fun read.

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• Katie and I saw Brave. Loveliness.
• I Redboxed Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Great cast, so-so movie.

New recipes or restaurants I tried:

• The kids and I had breakfast at IKEA. I like some of their regular food, but had never tried their breakfast before. It was delicious. Totally cheap and way yummy.
• I made key lime cake balls. More accurately, they were cookie balls. Or truffles. Yes, truffles sounds better. Key Lime Truffles. Here’s the closest thing to the recipe I ended up using. They were pretty good, but I will definitely add more lime juice next time to cut the crazy-sweetness.

Special or unusual purchases I made:

• We bought two tents for using at Relay for Life this year. I never thought I’d own a tent, since I hate camping so, so, so much, but THANK BUDDHA the North Clackamas Relay isn’t in the wilderness. With air mattresses and my favorite down comforter, I be way cozy, but JUST FOR ONE NIGHT. Then I go back to having a nighttime restroom closer than a half-lap away.
• I bought the supplies for our Lap Beads Relay for Life fundraiser. My fingers are sore from adding jump rings to eleventy billion charms and lobster clasps.
• Floats! I floated! I’ve pre-purchased four more floats; just the idea that I have them available to me at any time is relaxing all by itself. That’s weird, isn’t it?

This month’s disappointments:

• We had to send Oliver away. Sad face.
• June 7, the anniversary of my dad’s death, is always a tough day. It’s been seven years.
• The weather. Ugh. We’ve had a few perfect and gorgeous days, but they’ve been unpredictable, with way, way too much rain and cold.
• Sunshine visited, but then she left again.

My accomplishments:

• My office is in a usable state again! Lucy’s got roaming rights to the entire house now, so I don’t have to be downstairs all the time and that means I’m pretty much living in my office. I like. I like very much. It’s a happy place.
• I made planning calendars all pretty-like. Picture proof to come.
• I lived through the school year. That’s big.

Anything else noteworthy:

• Katie and Jack had their piano recitals—Katie’s fifth, Jack’s third. They’re both doing so well and really enjoy it—though if you ask Jack, he’ll deny it. Katie is starting guitar now, and I’m sooo glad it’s not violin. Early guitar practice, even when the notes are wrong, is much less likely to make my ears bleed than anything as vile as a violin. Vile-lin. THAT’S what it should be called.
• One of Katie’s electives for the last term of sixth grade was Musical Theater. I don’t know why they called it that, because there was nothing musical about it. The class went to a high school play—not a musical, just a regular ol’ play—and their big performance at the end of the term was changed from an evening program to a during-class performance; most parents couldn’t even be there. We took off work to watch, and I was surprised at how unprepared the students were—they didn’t have props or microphones when they needed them, didn’t know their lines, and the whole thing was as though they were doing it for the first time. I don’t expect perfection, but I don’t see what guidance the teacher gave them at all. I was disappointed with what could have been a very fun learning experience for them.
  
  This wasn’t the only meaningless middle school elective, though… my friend’s daughter took a sewing class in which the only project was one of those no-sew fleece pillows. WTF???
• I finally figured out how to get Jack to clean up his room: ground him. Unfortunately, he thought it was kinda cool to be grounded, so it took him a week to clean enough to be set free. Whatever… it’s done. We had to go through his garbage carefully, though. Where Katie keeps every scrap of paper EVER (oh, how I wish I were exaggerating), Jack throws out old yearbooks, pictures, books he wrote in first grade, and clothes. Sheesh.

Here’s to a sunny July! Smell ya later, doods.

Jun. 15: Second annual last day of school blowout

Fifteen minutes after yesterday’s dismissal bell, bunches of us gathered at Tina’s and my houses for a last-day-of-school party that would go until almost midnight. I think we have the best friends EVER. What a blast.

I love these cocktail napkins

See that sweet girl Angie is hugging on the left?
She’s having to comfort her because I said a very naughty word.
I’m a bit of a potty-mouth drunk, but for realsies, I didn’t know she was there.
So sorry, Angie!

Two of  my best girls: Sunshine and Val

Tina’s bounce house is always a hit with the little peeps

Cindi and Sunshine do NOT look happy with whatever Olivia is telling them

Darby and Jim brought the testosterone

This should really have said “Adults Spilling Drinks”

Aw, this be my favorite boy and my favorite girl!

Tina and Jenn K

How much do I love this picture?
Julie L., me, Wendy, Theresa, Heather L.
We are feeling fiiiiiine.

 

Here are some things y’all left behind. Please claim them or I will.

 

I think Julie H. brought this cake vodka.
If it was left intentionally, THANK YOU!
If not, I’ll try not to drink too much of it before I have the chance to get it back to you.

 
The green bag says “Sharon Manuel” so I think it might belong to Sharon Manuel.

Annie’s?

 

This morning I went out in the driveway to survey the damage we wrought. It was a bit like viewing the wreckage of the Titanic, but-cept we lost far fewer third-class passengers in this chaos.

Oh, if this cocktail stirrer could speak, the tales it would tell…

Our recycle bin tells the real story, although it’s not even the whole truth:

Here are three very large, very empty bottles of vodka.
I’m embarrassed to say they were full when the party started.
Needless to say, I don’t feel super-great today.

 

We had a great time celebrating the last day of school, even though some very important people were missing from the party. I don’t remember a lot, but I’m pretty sure it was a good time. How lucky are me and Tina to know such amazing people???

Now, can anyone can tell me how to make the buzzing in my head stop?