August = DISCOVER

The word of the month is DISCOVER. It is defined: verb. 1) to expose something previously covered 2) to find something for the first time It's an interesting definition. I know that we will be discovering new things with Asher starting Kindergarten. And I may discover new things just me and Allie together at home while he is in school. And maybe I will discover something in my old memorabilia and baby book that I had forgotten or didn't know. It is a challenging word and I still am not sure how all I will put it to use this month. Last night's Open House went well. We had to haul all the school supplies (tissues, wipes, pencils, etc) there. They do a community pot basically. I also started his lunch account. He will take his lunch some days and eat there some days. So we put $50 in and he can eat breakfast (not likely) and lunch and he has a card that they swipe and it automatically takes it out of his account. Pretty cool and very unlike when I was in school and I had to have a $1.25 every day for lunch. We also got issued his pick-up number if there are days we want to pick him up from school instead of having him ride the bus home. He will have a badge with his name and # and then I have to put this large # in the window of the car and the teachers match up kids with the numbers to make sure they get in the right car. I don't think we will use that much, as he is riding the bus home, but it is nice to have options. Also found out procedures for morning drop-off if I take him versus the bus. The bus comes by our house at approx. 7:15 am and if he is there, she will take him, if not, she won't. So very flexible for mornings if I want to take him or let him ride the bus. If I take him, we wouldn't have to leave the house until 7:45 as he can get to school anytime between 7:30 and 8:15 am. I signed up to be on the "PTO" which is Parent Teacher Organization. Basically the PTA that I grew up with. Not sure how much I will be able to do with having Allie, but was interested so paid the $3 to join. We found his classroom, he is in the YELLOW hall. His teacher is so sweet. I think he is realllly going to like her. I had more papers to fill out and we got his student agenda book which is an interesting concept. It is a spiral bound book, maybe 1/2 inch thick, that has policy/procedure in it as well as calendars and such. He keeps it in his binder all the time. There is a pocket in there for teachers and parents to communicate back and forth. We found out that he is only allowed 5 absences without a doc excuse. Yikes! Not sure what happens if they are unexcused after the 5. I also got "bus notes" that if I want him to ride home on a different bus or if I will pick him up instead of him riding the bus, I send that with him in his agenda pocket to let them know. So, lots of info! The funny thing is, we were heading out of his classroom going to the cafeteria for the hot dog cookout (Asher was very excited about that) and John was holding Allie, and all of sudden pee just went all down the front of his shirt! He was mortified and totally grossed out. I was cracking up. Apparently she had a diaper malfunction (and the funniest part - he was the one to change her before we left). Still do not know how it managed to do that, must have been how he was holding her and the dipe off to the side or something. Anyway, he wanted to leave IMMEDIATELY and Asher (and me) were disappointed as we still hadn't toured the rest of the school and hadn't gotten to eat. He was like, we will pick something up on the way home, let's just GO! LOL. We get out to the car and he immediately takes his shirt OFF and I change Allie. We ended up calling our favorite Mexican place to order take-out. We got home, immediately put Allie to bed with no bath (ick!) as it was already almost 9 pm, and we 3 ate and talked about Kindergarten and so forth. Very nice way to wrap up the evening. On a side note, my back has been bothering me pretty badly the last few days. Partly disc pain (from my previous herniated disc back in 2001) and also something new in the muscle to the right. I am seriously considering getting back to a chiropractor. Asher and I played LEGO Star Wars for about an hour today during Allie's naptime - enough to play 2 levels. That game is SO FUN! I resisted playing last night after bedtime - I was wiped out and made myself try to go to sleep. With the back hurting it wasn't easy but I knew that playing video games probably wasn't the wisest decision for "unwinding". LMAO! John just called and is done for the day - yay! Being post-call strange to work until 3 pm. Very busy week. He is officially on VACATION and boy does he (and we) need it. He hasn't been off since the first of April. And work has been a bit intense with various things the last few weeks. So ready for the break, mentally & physically. Oh, we finally got a new deep freezer. Some of you may remember our old one being power surged earlier this year. It still freezes, just beeps randomly and we would have to push the button to silence it at least 2 times a day. Plus the compressor ran nonstop. Yikes! Well on Tuesday, the day of my girls' night out, I thought I smelled a burning smell and finally realized it was coming from the furnace room, where the freezer is. Apparently it had finally decided to defrost itself and things shifted, the door got cracked, light was on, and a plastic wrapped pheasant was against the light smoldering! OMG!!!!!! And some of the food was thawed! AAAAGGGGHHHH!!! So, onto the phone I went, and found a great deal at Lowe's, John picked it up around 4 pm, and we got it installed. He and Asher moved all the food over while I was out, so at least I didn't have to deal with that. Now we have to haul the old one out of here. Even unplugged it is STILL BEEPING and the battery needs to be taken out, but apparently that is a process John says. Whatever, I am just ready to be done with the freezer drama. My night out went fine - it ended up just being me and one other gal, Laura. It was really nice to get to know her better and chat for 3 hours with no interruptions other than our server, LOL. And the pina colada I had was awesome! Tonight is a swim birthday party I am taking Ash to around 6. I am pretty sure Allie & Daddy will stay home, but am going to see if he wants to come. I would love for him to, but understand the practicality of not having another late night for Allie. Tomorrow is the wedding that will be a big event for us. OK, outta here - John will be home any minute and I need to do some account stuff plus update the blog elements!