Back in the Saddle Again....

It is officially still Wednesday night, though there is not very much left of Wednesday! I am tarrrrrrrrd tonite, as we say down here in the South! Just got back from church and then made a Wal-Mart run, and now 4 out of 5 babies are in bed. I need to get there, as I could count the hours of sleep I have had since Sunday on my fingers. No one has been sleeping soundly at the same time, and when I get one down to sleep, another wakes up with issues and needs Mommy. Even the 18 year old and the 11 year old have been needing Mommy at the weirdest hours this week.

Well, my Mother's Day was very pleasant, despite a slight change in plans when Sarah and Hannah had wicked nights Saturday night. Sarah has had some kind of intestinal thing going, and while she is not in too much distress, she is "loose" and it is hard to take her places right now. I may have to end up breaking down and taking her to the Dr. in the next couple of days if she is not better. I am just growing weary. We did not make it out for Sunday morning services, but we had recooped enough to drag out Sunday night for services, even though I was not the most energetic that I have ever been.

Afterwards, we made a very brief but lovely stop at my Mom's house and dropped off her presents. While there, the kids and hubby gave me mine. They had gotten Sarah to grill me on what would make me happy and I said that jewelry was always nice! Except Sarah pronounces it jewrrrrrryyyyy with about 50 syllables instead of 2 or 3, and her daddy was not sure for a while what she was trying to say! The boys all went and each picked out something. They did not dare take Sarah, as she cannot keep a secret for anything yet. Sam picked out a watch, Dan and Micah each got me a bracelet with lots of the sparkley stuff I like, and Tim got me some gorgeous earrings. I only wish that someone had thought of a necklace, as I need a few more of them in choker length to cover my "nasty" thyroid scar. It is really not all that bad, but I am just sensitive to it, as it is in such a prominent place. All my other miles of scars are in places no one ever sees, but this one is like Rudolph's nose.

At any rate, Mom seemed to like her goodies. I fixed both of the mothers a "brag bag" this year---one of those totes with pictures of the kids and grandkids on it, and I got them each a pretty windchime. I got myself a chime too. I love them, and I love to hear them going out on the porch before a storm. I have got to get out there and fix it on the hook better, because it won't stay up through some of the storms we have around here. I also got Mom two crossword puzzle books, as she is off to Florida Friday with some of the family to see the grandparents and get a little R & R! She will enjoy sitting on the beach working crosswords.


But back to the main story...Anyway, Daniel came out of school today with the same loose problem. They don't have any other symptoms...no fever, no tummy ache, nothing. We surely have had some mystery illnesses this year. Someone even suggested that we have had such pitiful luck every since we moved in this house in 2000 that maybe we are located atop an Indian burial ground or something...??? I don't know, but I feel like if it were something environmental, we would all be sick. My South Carolina friend Donna found out recently that their water is polluted, and it has been for years. Her whole family is sick. When they grew up and moved out, they got better. Now, they are having to use bottled water or purified water for all cooking and consumption. It is a big hassle, but they cannot move right now.

I've wondered about this place, but none of us ever have the same symptoms at the same time. Sarah and Dan have the runs, and Sam has a sore throat. Go figure. Micah has been passed out every since he got in from school. I could not even wake him for church tonight. That is way unusual for him, first to take a nap at all, and secondly, to be that out of it. Maybe he is sick, too. There was that kid who came to school with 103 fever and throwing up last week!

So, it was just me and the Bee (Hannah Bee) on the road tonight headed north to our Wednesday night church. (We met DH there!) I am teaching this quarter (back in the saddle again) and loving it. It has been some time since I have tackled a class due to all my surgeries and getting over them! I have a neat little group of pre-school through 2nd grade or so. These kids are great, because lots of them bring their friends and their cousins, and I just never know who is going to show up. One mother brought her daughter and her daughter's friend in tonight, and she mouthed the words to me that the little visitor loved the class last week and really liked "the new teacher!" That made me feel good, as I really couldn't tell if they liked me last week or not. I am still in the name-learning mode, and it is hard these days, because parents can think up some doozies! To top it all off, I have a set of boys who are twins, and they look as much alike as twins can. They are darling, and I have a bit of an edge right now because one has a cast on his arm. Put the name with the cast, and you are o.k. What WILL I do when he gets the cast off? I should be an old pro at it after having identical twin brothers, but I still have problems.

My, my, my, I have not updated in a few days, and my thoughts are skipping around. Well, Daniel got back off his senior trip, and it was tolerable, but that was about all. The sights of Washington D.C. are interesting enough, and he got some good pictures, but the places they ate and sometimes the company itself left something to be desired. Everyone was on a shoestring budget, which I can relate to, but he would have preferred to eat at the Olive Garden on his last night there instead of Taco Bell. They really did not do anything too exotic the whole week. So much for glamourous senior trips!

Remember I told you all about the "Dara" thing---the Jewish waitress who supposedly was going out with Daniel to bowl on their last night there? Well, that turned out to be a big hoax perpetrated by the other seniors and chaperones upon Daniel. He was not all too pleased when he found out. In fact, it hurt his feelings a little, because they went to such lengths to build it all up. Turns out that the female senior on the trip disguised her voice and called him and pretended to be the waitress. Everyone but Dan got a big laugh out of it all.

Then, if that wasn't bad enough, they proceeded to jump him on the way back about his religious beliefs. The other four in the van were of one faith, and Daniel was all alone in his faith. For four hours on the way back, they browbeat him about how he wasn't "saved" and needed to do something about it. It just would not have done for me to be along on that trip. I've got news for them. For every verse they can pull out of the Bible and throw at him, I can counter with a position just as based on scripture, if not more so. I don't mind mature people discussing their faith, and I even believe it is commendable to do so, but to condemn another person so flagrantly seems rather self-righteous to me. When I am teaching others from the Bible, I prefer to let the Bible speak and let the Spirit do His work! He is much more worthy to convict sinners than I! I find it presumptious of them that they can so boldly state that my son is most definitely lost and they are saved. Even if they are so sure, they don't have to be pompous and arrogant about it. What if it is the other way around? Do they want Daniel to tell them they are all lost and he is saved? I doubt it!

Oh, well, it looks like we are back to home schooling next year! (Did I just hear a big whoop out of Will?) Right now, unless there are some huge drastic changes at our school, and a few broad, sweeping apologies, we won't be going back. Things have changed this year so much from last year. I don't know what the difference is. I have my suspicions on a few things, but I hesitate to speculate.

For example, we got a letter yesterday that was sent to all the parents of the combined 5th and 6th grade class who have one new teacher in her first year. Let's just say she has made few allies this year, especially among parents. I have mostly stayed out of the wars, because my child was happy enough, and as long as he could take it, I figured I could. Besides, I have to get better at letting go of my children so that they can fight a few of their own battles so that they will not be totally lost when they hit the real world. Anyway, a group of parents marched on the school Monday to speak to the principal, and he refused to see them that day. A letter came out the next day that basically said there would be no group meeting of the parents, but concerned parents could come in "one on one" so to speak. The letter also said, in effect, that two men mainly make the policy for the school, and if we as parents do not like it, we can find another place to send our kids.

Well, you know me! I am a big sucker for getting involved in the injustices of the world...in fighting for the underdog.... I cannot just sit back and be all neutral and let people tell me to sit down and shut up because my opinions as a parent on how my child's education should be handled do not matter in the least. I don't think that I am the activist type. I don't go looking for trouble, but when it finds me, I don't tend to let misguided people tell me what to do. The Bible does say to answer a fool according to his folly (right in the verse after it says not to answer a fool according to his folly. I think the point is that there is a time and a place to deal with fools.)

Pardon me, but when a teacher yells at kids all day and even goes so far as to hit one in the head with something, that teacher might need a little guidance in the proper classroom demeanor. If I cannot be a voice for my child, who is taught to respect authority and leave the challenging of it to the big folks, then perhaps it IS time to go.

Well, that is about the extent of my random ramblings for today. I am going into panic mode now, because I just found out that graduation is 6 days earlier (June 3, 7:00 p.m. for all the local people) than I thought it was going to be! I have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it!

Hopefully, I will be back soon, if I don't have to "wrassle" me some religious people.... :)