Short stories

Okay. In no particular order...

First of all, remember me bitching about the process to apply to alternative middle school programs for Scooby? I'm pretty sure I did that on here. Yesterday we got letters from both that he'd been wait-listed for both programs. Because apparently, yes, they are THAT exclusive. Whatever. The one program I'm not 100% sold on anyway - not really sure why, just a gut thing, kind of. The other, though, I was kind of hoping that would pan out. And it still may, we'll see. Did I mention I HATE wating and seeing? Wait-lists are evil and should not be allowed. I'll be calling the school tomorrow (on the elementary gifted teacher's advice) to find out where he is on the list and how much hope there actually may be that he'll get in. I've tried to talk to Scooby about all this and see how he's thinking and feeling, but all I get is "I dunno." Of course I don't even know how I think and feel about all this, so how can I expect him to? Still waiting on the gifted elem. school application for Tarzan, and I won't know about gifted status for Cinderella until May. WAIT AND SEE. Blah.

Second...there was an attempted carjacking near Regent on Tuesday night, and the emergency alert system went haywire. From 11:43pm until 3:14am (although I shut my phone off at 2:00) I received 20 text messages alerting me about the attempt and the fact that the police were looking for the suspect and not to be alarmed. Also, 4 voicemail messages, and 4 emails. Thank you for the alerts. It's nice to know you're on the job, now shut the heck up!!!

Third...Tarzan started baseball this week. He has two 1 1/2 hour practices and one game every week. It's a league requirement that all players wear a cup to practices and games. Seeing his eyes when he learned what a cup was, was priceless. Me trying to find a cup small enough...also priceless. (ps: there aren't any small enough. The kid looks like he's walking around with a grapefruit down the front of his shorts.) Parents also have requirements, although they fortunately don't involve unfortunate crotch bulges. At least, not yet. Instead, I've been signed up to a. sell concessions, b. volunteer manpower at the Bingo Hall, c. provide snacks,and d. sell Pampered Chef and Virginia Peanut products for a fundraiser. And that was all at the first practice. Remember when I said I sold my soul to the Little League? I WAS RIGHT!!!

Fourth...I was offered a position with the Regent Summer Camps for the junior camp (ages 10 - 14) which runs June 21 - July 11. I was hoping for the Sr. camp which is July/Aug, but that didn't pan out. It's for the Dance Teacher/Choreographer position. They're doing Mulan, Jr. I'll probably take it, but Don's stressing to try to figure out how much it breaks down to per hour. I'd have to figure out what to do with the munchkins for the first two weeks, as the camp runs 8:45 - 5:15 Mon through Fri. I was thinking maybe I'd try to send them to Pittsburgh - St. Philip's KidzKamp runs that first week,and maybe Don could take them up and stay for at least one week. I want to try to get up to Mass. for a couple of weeks too - maybe the end of July?

Fifth...I've been spending at least two hours a day in Cinderella's classroom for the past two weeks, helping out her teacher. I was going to vent a lot about this, but I don't think I will. Suffice it to say, I'm glad I'm there, and even though it's eating up a lot of my homework time, I'll continue as long as I can.

Finally, we needed to get the brakes fixed on the green car this week - it was kind of an emergency situation so we dropped the car off at Meinke that evening, and were told it should be ready by 9:00am the next day. Well, we've had enough experience to know that probably wouldn't happen, so we made plans for me to borrow someone else's car for the day, and give Don the van, just in case. We drove over in the morning, around 8:30, and the car hadn't been touched yet. Then Don realized he'd forgotten his ID at home and I left him there while I went back to get it. By the time I got back, around 9:20, the car was up on the...what do you call that thing? The lift? Anyway, it was being worked on, supposedly. But when I went into the office to give Don the ID and see if he was going to wait for the car or drop me off at school, he and the other two people in the waiting room were sitting with stunned expressions on their faces, listening to the employees and the manager screaming at each other behind the (very thin) closed door. This wasn't just a little argument, there was major profanity, breaking glass, threats of "I'm going to f&$&#ing kill you!" and it went on, and on, and on. It was unbelievable. If the car hadn't been up on the whatchamacalit, we would have left and gone somewhere else. I plan on writing a shocked and appalled letter to the company. Don elected to stay, partially to make sure they weren't going to bust out the windows in the car, and got to work very late, since the car wasn't done until 11:30. But, the brakes seem to work.

And that's all the news I'm awake enough to print.