School is coming...

We're in full "get ready for school" mode now. Grace and I had to take a quick run to Staples today to get a couple of supplies she still needed. I was silly and let her pick out a pink 3-ring binder and the list specifically states "white." So we exchanged that and got the markers they had listed incorrectly on the supply list and some colored pencils they didn't have on the supply list before the revised list came out. I hope everyone else reads the revised supply list. School starts on Thursday and we got the revised list on Saturday.

Oh and speaking of our school district, I read in last weeks Sunday paper about how our school district is in heavy long-term debt. The article is about paying for the special needs school that is being built in Gurnee to support the special needs children of our county. What it basically says is that we're in such a debt-laden situation as it is we don't know how we'll come up with $1.1 Million to pay our share to help build this new school. Here is the article if you'd like to read it. So I guess I'll try to get involved in the school district as well; at least to find out what's going on. For all the money we pay in real estate taxes that goes to this school district ($2,386 this year) that is just ridiculous. In fact this amount is more than we pay to the high school district.

Anyway, we're getting ready for school (back on topic--sorry.) Grace is excited but she also says she's scared because she won't know anyone. I can understand being afraid of the unknown (I think we all are) but she's such a friendly outgoing kid it's just hard to believe she's afraid of meeting new people and making new friends. That's the one thing she's always been good at. I think we need to work on her self-esteem a little...or maybe it's just what I said before: the fear of the unknown.

We had a nice relaxing weekend this last weekend. We went to church on Saturday night so we didn't have to get up at any particular time on Sunday morning. Sunday I mowed the grass...which is news because it's been dry and hot here so the grass hasn't been growing much. So it's been some time since I last mowed, but I got it done yesterday evening. While I was doing that Grace and Julie went to our friends house for a good luck/going away "party" for their granddaughter whom is going to Children's Hospital for treatment for her condition (can't remember what it was exactly except that it has to do with her skull and the rate at which it's growing--she's only just turned one.) Her treatment was going to begin with chemotherapy and then stem-cell transplants. Bless her little heart--I truly hope and pray that she pulls through.

This afternoon there was a PTO popsicle welcome at her school and we went. Grace was anxious to meet her new teacher but there was no guarantee that she'd be there and of course she wasn't. So Grace was pretty upset about that. What did happen was one of those stay-at-home-dad moments where the moms treat you like you're just there because you got out of work earlier than the mom or something. I was looking at things to sign up for to help the PTO out and one of the things was a bake sale. The lady that was behind the table said "you could help with the bake sale if you like to bake" and then a loud belly laugh. I just walked away. Julie said I should have told her I do the cooking; but obviously I didn't.

So that's been our last few days. I'll get this posted and get to bed. We have a busy week ahead of us.