Ms. Angelou, I certainly agree

Maya Angelou Upset Over MLK Memorial Inscription

2nd Day of School!

Thanks to Daddy (and his amazing punctuality), here's the official "starting school" picture of our little kindergartener!

The ascent into the bus.

Her bus driver, Ms. K, is great. She had H turn around and pose for her Daddy.

:)

First Day of School!!!!

Despite the mornings of practice runs and Mom actually getting up and out of bed before H (um...I think....at least I was awake before she got out of bed....), we barely made it to the bus! We had headed out five minutes earlier than the bus driver had told us (although, I had wanted to be there fifteen minutes early), with her last minute, cheese-stick breakfast and a chair for relaxing in hand, and before we even reached the intersection, here zooms the bus! We live in a deep cul-de-sac off a 45mph country road, so that bus will easily come and go without us having a clue. I tossed the (of course, unwrapped!) cheese stick in a back pocket of her backpack, H climbed aboard, and before the door even closed the bus was off!

There was no time for pictures, not that the batteries were working anyway, despite my vain efforts to charge them that morning. But, ah well, I figured I'd get a good one when she came home. We could always fix her hair again if she needed it, right?

Hahhaha, riiiiiight......

Jumping to this afternoon:

So, Mama's watching the clock practically the whole hour before H's supposed to come home. If I'm not there to pick up Miss Kindergartener, she'll have to ride along the whole bus route and be taken back to the school. I double-checked the time school gets out to see when the soonest is that H could arrive (she's one of the first stops). That would be 2:15p.m. At 2:10, H's teacher calls to verify that H is supposed to ride the bus as she was insisting. (She accidentally checked "car rider" during the Open House). I confirm that H's correct, give her the bus number, hang up the phone, and am feeling on the ball. At 2:20, I look in the mirror. Ooo, scary! Lil'S is still asleep. I have 10 minutes to wash my hair. Perfect. Once again, I'm feeling on the ball.

I finish washing my hair, I hear Lil'S calling, and it's 2:30p.m. Time for the buses to leave the school and ten minutes before the bus driver said to expect her. Of course, I'm expecting her sooner, so I grab Lil'S, pull on his shoes, hurry out the door, get the stroller from the car trunk, strap Lil'S in, and head down the street.

Low and behold, I'm not even halfway down the cul-de-sac when I am able to view the stopping bus. Run, Mama, run!!! If the driver doesn't see me, H'll be on her way back to school, and if she does see me, my baby's going to be crossing the highway without me!

Might I add, that my long hair was still a tangled, soaking wet mass at this point. I had started brushing it out once I got the stroller off our (NEW!!!) gravel driveway and onto the road, about three strokes before I saw the stopping bus.

Well, of course, Miss H made it across the highway safe and sound (with a long line-up of cars to watch this sloppy, running mama picking up her little girl...but I was thankful my prego belly was NOT gigantic yet!) We hugged and headed to the house. She was so exhausted when she got home that she couldn't even smile. There was NO posing outside for the camera for this little girl! So, I just had to grab some snapshots of her getting settled inside.

putting down her backpack

Here's the best I could get from her as she took off her shoes--a half smile!

Starving Girl!

Finally, a slip on diaper!

Sheesh, it's taken them long enough! I mean, the Pull-Ups styles have been around forever now for older toddlers and preschoolers, but of course they cost a ton. The question now is are these things 0the exact same price as pull-ups or as regular diapers?

Baby Diapers | Disposable Diapers | Slip on| HUGGIES®

Little Cook

This is actually from last October, but I was going to through pictures (yeah, I know I have 1k to post), and I couldn't resist tossing it out here. I love my little girl's imagination!

Earthquake

So, I didn't realize yesterday's earthquake was what it was until a while afterward because it took me so totally by surprise. I've even been in an earthquake before. But, laying in bed and feeling the bed rippling like a waterbed was a little cooler sensation for an 18-year-old who'd always wanted to experience an earthquake than a crashing through the ceiling of a 29-yr-old's tree-surrounded house when she's got two little kids to worry about and a husband out of town.

When I heard a rumbling sound, I looked up from where I was standing by my fridge and actually saw the center portions of my home's ceilings rising and dropping with the waves. It sounded like a heavy tree rolling and bouncing across the house, or a huge man or animal crashing through my attic. It looked like someone was running across my ceiling, making the ceiling drop wherever his feet were placed, toward me through the kitchen, over my head, and then turn right and continue running across my long, narrow family room. I backed into the family room as I saw the ceiling buckling toward me, and then I chased it through the family room, wondering what in the world was going on. I actually stood there watching out the windows of my french doors, waiting for something to fall off my roof and land on my back deck, despite how illogical that seemed.

My scared H ran from her bedroom ("The shaking is scaring me, Mama!"), and I made her stay in the kitchen while I went outside to see if there was something still on my roof, as obviously nothing had fallen, and the crashing had seemed to peter out as it approached the back deck. Of course, outside was as peaceful as could be, and there was no sign that anything had ever been up there on my roof. When I came back in, my girl was on the phone with her Daddy, who'd called to say he'd just heard from some colleagues that we'd recently had an earthquake. Oh! So that's what it was!

Is it obvious I have pregnancy brain? But, seriously, how likely is an earthquake here of all places? I think a falling tree or a lunatic running across my roof are more likely to happen than that. Of course, they wouldn't explain the movements of my ceiling, but it's not like my brain believed my eyes on that one until hours later anyway.

Barber Shop

I asked S to find a well-rated place thru Google to get his haircut for next week's Society of American Archivists conference. I usually cut his hair for him, or he goes to Great Clips if we're crazy busy (and desperate). However, after cutting his hair for an important event last month, I decided I didn't want the stress of that today. S will be meeting with tons of people, as well as presenting, and I don't want to be paranoid about the quality of my handiwork the whole time he's gone. ;)

S sat down and followed through on my request and quite outdid himself. The picture above is from the website of the place he found. I just couldn't stop laughing when I saw it. I know he'll have a great time.

(I just hope we can afford it! I guess that's where I get a new shirt, and he gets an awesome haircut experience, huh. . . . Although, I guess that's not totally fair as I was the one requesting he get his hair professionally done. Hmm. . . . how else can I rationalize the shirt I just bought from Lands End Clearance?)

New Name

Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections is receiving a new name--and a $13.6 million grant to go along with it to pay for the renovations the Perkins Library has been hoping to complete. Once approved by the Board of Trustees, Special Collections will then be called the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. S's coworkers still working at the Perkins Library will be moved out over the next year so that renovations can begin. S moved out a few years ago with Technical Services, although he's...technically...a part of Special Collections to the Smith Building, which was an old tobacco warehouse that was given a new life in time to house them and others supporting the university.

What waits to be seen is whether it will be nicknamed the "Rubenstein Library" or simply "the Ruby".

One More Link

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/continue-in-patience?lang=eng

Quick article on patience, which I stumbled across and realized how much I needed right now, in so many ways!

So, Maybe . . .

Just maybe, African women really do birth their babies and get right back to work in the fields. . . .

http://www.healthyguts.net/blog/crossfitter-and-pregnant-my-experience-as-a-crossfitmom

S emailed me this link, knowing how much I wish I were exercising, and I just had to laugh back and ask if he was going to buy me a gym membership and find a friend for me to work out with as well. ;)

Special Visit

Last week we were lucky enough to spend some time with my German "Sister" Tina & her hubby Stefan, as well as her brother Tobi and his wife Hattie. (Turns out he's been in Raleigh the past thee years!) It was so great to see them again!! It's been YEARS--as in LOTS OF YEARS. And, of course, I took NO--yes, that's ZERO, ZIP, ZILCH--pictures the entire time! But, Stefan had a great new camera and took a ton, and Tobi took some as well, so I'll just have to wait to get pictures from them. Ah, patience. I can always use a little exercise in that. . . .

On Monday night they all joined us for a casual dinner at our place, and then on Tuesday Tina and Stefan invited us to go to the beach with them before they headed down to tour Charleston and the rest of the east coast. It was great fun that just didn't last long enough.

Going to Work with Daddy!

 

S wasn't so sure this was going to be as great as H thought it would be, if you can't tell by his smile. ;) I'm glad to report they had a great time! H behaved splendidly--the whole two hours she was there that morning. Thanks, S, for being such a good sport!