From Old Photos to New Rides or The First Week of School

School started this past Monday ending a fabulous summer for our family. The summer brought: awesome vacations and staycations, Lainey's baptism, Malcolm's introduction into BMX, and Ed's reintroduction into BMX, Sofie's introduction into piano, Corina's mysterious "accident" resulting in her losing her first tooth, and many, many happy days and times. This first week of school has already brought many memorable moments.

My baby (up until Lainey was born) entered KINDERGARTEN. Is she that old? I have been asking myself for a few weeks now how and when that happened. It seems the three older kids just grew up while I was busy doing something else - laundry, cooking, cleaning. This makes me both proud and deeply sad. It all started with my tiny mental breakdown after returning home from Las Vegas (breakdown was mainly caused by my detour to Hell on the way home - via an unexpected overnight delay in Dallas). During this teeny mental instability I decided I was sick of the house and that if we couldn't afford to move out right now (damn it) I was going to get someone much smarter than me to help me "redo" some things. Well, that spurred a move of furniture all over the house and the uncovering of some old, old pictures. After a good three hours of crying and ooing and ahing I decided I had spent a lot of time doing other things while my kids were changing right before my eyes. So, it was with that perspective that I was launched into what has always been a heart wrenching time for me...the first week of school....

Well, the first day was both marvelous and a little strange. I tried to stay busy all day to avoid crying, Lainey was a little unnerved by being in the house alone for the first time in her short life, and the kids loved school until about Wednesday.

Monday I got a call from my Uncle Larry who was here for a Marine reunion. I was a little disappointed when he told me he was going to be quite busy for the remainder of the week so he wasn't sure we could get together. But, I understood. Monday evening I heard amazing facts about school from the kids. Did you know there is a cafeteria with food? Did you know in second grade we have to be responsible? Did you know there is a teacher with snakes? Did you know kindergarten is for big boys and girls? Did you know if you stick your hand out the window on the bus it could get cut off? and on, and on, and on..............

Tuesday the kids were still excited about school and eager to go. Ed and I became parent oriented Tuesday night. ;o)

Wednesday morning Corina declared that she wasn't going back to school and Sofia and Malcolm were equally unenthusiastic. Ed and I decided the honeymoon was officially over. Just as I was sad when I found I probably wouldn't get to see my Uncle Larry while he was here, I was equally thrilled when Wednesday we decided to have lunch together. Not only is it a treat for me to go to lunch during the week - downtown, it was really, really great to see him again. I grew up with my Uncle Larry being a common figure in our house and seeing him again after a long time brought up many happy memories for me.

Wednesday also ended a long, depressing search for a new (read "really used just new to us") vehicle. Depressing because we do not really believe in credit or owing (anything but our house) and we live on a cash basis which seriously limits our ability to buy things. ;o) (read "we is poor") Cars are expensive. It doesn't matter how you cut the cake. So, we had resigned ourselves to saving a little more and continuing to drive the beater that we own. We ended Wednesday with meltdowns all around, but after a second night of parent orientation Ed and I felt fully prepared to be parents of school age children...................HA!

Thursday morning there was an ad for a GMC Yukon 2002 for so cheap we knew it was a scam or a misprint. We read "garage kept." But, knew that must be code for "rust bucket, piece of work." Well, Thursday we dragged the kids all over town to see this "too good to be true" vehicle and Friday night we were the proud new owners. There were a few minor items that were not quite represented in their truest of form, but all in all we got an awesome, truly unbelievable deal. Thursday ended with the girls safely tucked in bed, thoughts of my new ride swimming in my head, and my bubby bringing home yet another BMX trophy. :o)

Saturday we spent one last day as a family with my dear uncle. We, again, had a fabulous time - swimming in the hotel pool, laughing, and reminiscing.

I have composed about 1500 blog posts in my head this week and somehow when I sit down to type it all falls short. So, I can only sum up with my favorite thing...a list.

What I learned the first week of school 2009:

1. Enjoy the time you have with the ones you love because time goes so, so quickly and they might not be here tomorrow - even if they are - it will never be the same.
2. Always try to remember the past because if it was good you have a guide for how to live today, and if it wasn't good you have a guide for how to live today.
3. The best new ride is the one that's paid for.
4. Sometimes when we let go of longing for what we want - we get just what we need.
5. And last but not least, give generously and from the heart because you WILL be repaid. :o)

That's the best I got today. ;o) Thanks for the read my friends.