Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Be My Valentine



Alright! Okay! I'm really getting the hang of it now. I was up at my desired rise time of 5:30am. My morning calisthenics went much better than the day before as my tight muscles finally loosened after the weekend’s demanding labor. Ykraps and I set out on our walk by 5:45am. I returned refreshed and invigorated after breathing some fresh morning air. It was very wet, warm, & humid.

My morning routine included a little internet, meditation, and food prep. I finished breakfast by 7:05am and then found my way to the shower. Mindy reminded me that we had Jacob’s open house slated for 5:30pm where we would meet his teacher and see his classroom. The school is only a mile or so from my office. I would simply meet her there after work. Jimaken would be attending too.

I arrived to work on time. The morning was busy, but certainly not out of control. I left for a run around 12:45pm. The weather at the time was mostly cloudy and the temperature only near 80, but the humidity was sky high making it feel more like I was swimming. My hamstrings were still a little tight, too. I noticed the sun’s lower position in the afternoon sky. Just a few short weeks ago I would have to bend my head back as far as I could just to catch a glimpse of the 1PM sun. In fact, only 30 days remain of official summer, and much less than that if you close it out at Labor Day like many folks do.

I returned from my run soaked with sweat – a very common occurrence of late. After a shower I returned to my desk to eat my packed lunch. I worked until 5:15pm. I left and headed directly to Jacob’s school – Beacon Elementary. It was kind of hard to find since I didn’t know what street it was on. I had only a general idea. Eventually, however, I found it. It’s a older school, especially compared to most other Hilliard schools. I had little trouble finding Jacob’s classroom where Mindy, Jacob, Bella, and Jimaken already were. Mindy introduced me to his teacher. We chatted only briefly while other parents and students arrived.

At 6pm she was slated to begin a presentation. I decided to walk the halls and discover the rest of the school in part to kill time. I found the art room. There I met Mrs. Southern, a very chatty and interesting art teacher. She welcomed me in and gave me an overview of the first grade art curriculum that Jaocby might expect. I learned that Jacob will have art once a week. Right next door was the music room. Mrs Southern was prepared to introduce me to that teacher too but I declined stating an urgent need to move on. Eventually I found my way back to Jacob’s classroom where Mrs. Valentine, his new teacher, was already engaged in dialogue with all the attendees. She went over everything from where the bus drops the kids to the grading scale. There were some scary looking people amongst us. And what couldn’t be overlooked was the extreme diversity amongst the student population. This is somethign that Mrs. Southern already mentioned during our brief conversation in the art room. This school in particular is noted for it’s diversity on many fronts, most notably racial and economically. A look around the room only confirmed her point. Probably a good thing.

The open house wrapped up around 6:40pm. Mindy and I were hungry. Jimaken went on his way. We opted for dinner at the Vaq. The kids rode with Mindy. I drove by myself. I arrived well ahead of them by taking the back way - Walcutt to Trabue. I even made a bad turn onto Roberts Rd. which I later corrected. Traffic was a nightmare there even at 7pm.

I went ahead and got seated once I knew that Mindy was nearly there. As they always do, I was served with complementary chips and salsa. I dug in immediately. Soon the family was inside and we placed our orders. Our dinner was fast, hot, and delicious! Always tops on my list.

We headed for home around 7:30pm. Bella rode with me. Mindy rushed the kids to the bath tub with a goal to have the kids in bed by 8pm – their standard school day bedtime.

After the kids were in bed I did some reading. I am almost finished with the Tony Dungy book. Mindy headed to bed first. I soon followed.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.