Two Elementary Schools in One Day

Times have sure changed. Here's a picture of St Mary Magdalene Elemenatary School with a temporary lift truck posted outside with a guard/sniper all set to shoot. I was still on vacation, but with two additional kids to get ready and moving, I couldn’t hardly stay in bed and expect Mindy to do everything. After all, Mindy had to return to work. I woke around 6:40am to lend my assist with the kid prep. And believe me, there’s plenty to it. Aside from the feeding, dressing, and bundling, Mindy would be running Bella, Rocky, and Landon to grandma Sharon’s. I’d still be getting Jacob on the bus. Ex-Kelly would be picking Rocky up at Grandma Sharon’s and taking him to school at St Mary Magdalene. I would then pick-up Rocky at 11am from school and run him back to grandma Sharon’s. However, before all of this, we had to get them all fed and dressed. Despite Kelly’s extraordinary effort, Rocky & Landon’s shoes still smelt like cat piss. This created another mandatory to-do for my vacation day – picking up new shoes for both. To complicate matters, it was icy outside. I started Mindy’s minivan. Mindy & the kids left at 7:35am – later than desired, but not too bad for day one. I didn’t bother doing anything prior to getting Jacob to the bus stop. However, I simultaneously walked Ykraps while walking to the bus stop at 8:00am. After seeing Jacob onto the bus I returned home to prepare for a run. I was already feeling pinched for time. It was after 8:45am by the time I actually left for a run. It was spitting wet snow all through my run. It was really pretty. I was still feeling ill, by the way, but getting better by the hour. After my run I woofed down a few pieces of loose turkey before getting in the shower. I needed to leave the house to fetch Rocky by 10:45am. His three hours of school goes awfully fast. I prepared myself to be gone for most of the afternoon. I had some other errands in mind. I hadn’t been to St. Mary Magdalene in many years. I waited a few short minutes before Rocky appeared. He thought nothing of darting out into the road. I had to grab him. Yikes!!! Getting to grandma Sharon’s was easy. Straight down Binns Blvd to Briggs and then west. Rocky was excited to spend time there. I dropped him off and headed out. I planned to meet Courtney in Grove City, however I couldn’t make phone contact. By default, I was within earshot of Mindy’s school. And as luck would have it, it was her lunch time. I called to measure her availability for lunch. She was agreeable but had only 30 minutes. I agreed to stop and grab some fast food. I chose Burger King. This marked the first time that I’ve ever met Mindy for lunch at school, not to mention the first time that I’ve ever been in a teacher’s lounge. It could best be described as a group of cackling hens sitting around a table – not what I envisioned. I left school and headed to meet Courtney and Al just down the road. By chance, they were just passing Mindy’s school and heading back home. We chatted briefly and I gave Courtney some cash. Al expressed a great deal of frustration with Courtney directly in her presence. I understood his concerns but my heart broke for her. No one wants to be berated in front of someone else. I attempted, in a subtle way, to communicate the huge amount of improvement Mindy & I can see in Courtney after a few short months. Granted, it’s always easier to see from a distance. I gave much of the credit to he and Rosemary, deservedly so. Too, I gave Courtney a few words of encouragement before they left. Most notably, I reminded her to stay focused on her goals and to seek the good and good she will find. She thanked me. From there I headed to Wal-Mart, Target, and Dick’s on Stringtown Rd. I found some new shoes for Landon, but no dress shoes for Rocky. Finding non-tying dress shoes for little boys is like pulling teeth. I was surprised. I left there thinking I was heading home. Instead, I got off of I-270 at West Broad to stop in Kohl’s. There I found slip-on dress shoes in Rocky’s size. They were $30 – a bit more than I wanted or expected to spend. I also picked up a couple other gifts on my shopping list. Feeling exhausted, I headed for home. It was already after 3pm. It was snowing pretty heavily still. Where had the day gone. Not only had the day seemingly slipped away, but my frame of mind was not so good either. Not sure why – weather, illness, circumstances. At home I took care of a few miscellaneous chores and then a quick nap to curb a bad case of the sleepies. Jacob was home right at 4:00pm and was in a very good mood. We did his math homework right away. It hasn’t taken him long to get with the program. Home work first, then fun. Always less problems that way. After we finished his math he darted out to play with friends. I did my best to pick up the house in order for the chaos to begin once more when Mindy, Bella, Rocky, and Landon got home. Honestly, I questioned my readiness for such a nightly ordeal. But then again, I also recognized that I was still under the weather. They arrived home a little after 5pm. Mindy had a mandatory staff meeting after normal teaching hours. I listened to all her teacher pals complain about it at lunch. Many of the teachers expressed where and how they’d get their 1.5 hours back. Being a huge fan of internal communication, when else could these meetings be held? Geesh! In the door, Mindy almost immediately began making dinner. I’ll give her this much, she had a plan. But I could tell that she was exhausted. At this point we were still unclear how long we might have the two boys. I walked Ykraps. That was my brief reprieve. J As one might expect, we were having TG leftovers for dinner. I was especially looking forward to it since I didn’t get to enjoy it much on Sunday with family. By dinner time I was feeling pretty good. The nausea was almost completely gone. Dinner soon transitioned into clean-up and eventually bedtime. I could easily see how impacted each of our routines would be with four children instead of two. We’d have to be hitting on all cylinders for any chance of success. All things considered, getting the kids in bed went pretty well. Everyone was cooperating. Landon fussed for a short while after Mindy placed him in the crib but went to sleep after no more than five minutes. Ahh… quiet! At 8:30pm I tuned into MNF. Mindy called ex-Kelly to discuss how the day went and details surrounding Lindsey. We had no more answers than we did earlier. Mindy went to bed at 9:30pm. She asked if I was joining her. I sensed that she already knew the answer. I was staying up to enjoy my last vacation night. It felt really good to stretch out on the sofa and let the TV put me to sleep. I watched football until early in the third quarter when I woke mid-droll and headed for bed.