First Day of School

 Can you believe it? When I first started blogging, it was just me and Dan (and a little ball of cells that would become Penny). Now that little ball of cells is going to pre-K at our local public school! We took a bit of a leap of faith on this one - the Pre-K program at the school doesn't do open houses, let you tour or really give you any information before you arrive on the first day of school. We had to choose them site unseen over some other places that also offer the free Pre-K. From what I've now seen, they seem pretty good. It would have felt better getting a little more info up front.

But that's beside the point. It was so funny seeing the little group of shy kids gathering outside the pre-K entrance for the school. Their backpacks almost as big as they are. Some of them still crying as they are wrenched away from their parents (it's now Day 4). Penny instigated a whirling game of tag, getting even the some of the shy ones to participate. She appears to be one of the smallest kids in her class, but they allow everyone who has a birthday in 2008 to join, so it's quite possible that she's one of the youngest in the crew as well. She's so excited to be going to "The Castle School" (so called because it has lovely crenulations on the front facade of the building).

It's only a 2.5hour program, so it doesn't buy me a whole lot of extra "getting things done" time. The 30-45 minute walk to drag her to school does eat significantly into my day, as does the starting right at lunch time (she's the afternoon session). On the plus side, we'll be pretty much guaranteed sunlight for our 0.6 mi walk throughout the winter (only one car and Daddy takes it to work), we get plenty of exercise daily, and there's tons of fun things that catch Penny's attention on the walk. Ok, when we're late that won't be quite as big a plus. We have some pretty fascinating neighbors, though, who've put some weird stuff in their yards (who invented faces you could implant on your trees so it's like walking through an apple orchard in Oz?).

After school, we have been taking the opportunity to play at the school's playground for a bit as well. It's a little disappointing for Paul because there's so many big kids that it's really not safe for him to crawl around like he's used to. He does appear to have found his own little niche in pole dancing, though. Not sure if I should be worried about this one...

Paul is quite mobile these days, getting into just about everything. He's crawling speedily (moreso when he thinks he's going somewhere he's not supposed to), walking along furniture, opening cabinets and doors, climbing up on anything that is piled nearby. He sticks quite a few things in his mouth, much to my chagrin on the playground. There's a remarkable amount of non-natural debris that collects on a playground. I'm sure he's consumed quite a bit that I still don't know about. No ill effects just yet, though, thank goodness.

A visitor to our wildflower garden

We recently mourned the loss of our wildflower garden. We have a little bed between the house and our parking spot. I decided the best thing for it was native wildflowers because they'd be able to hold down the dirt and withstand the blazing sun without needing constant watering. All I've really got for yard work are my two hands and a lawnmower, so some grass sneaked in there and I didn't necessarily pull it all out because I didn't want the mud to leak away and then get tracked into the house. The landlord offered to trim the grassy bits so they were a little less wild looking. We headed off to school...and returned to find a naked patch of dirt. He had weed-whacked the whole patch down to the roots, collected the debris and headed off. I e-mailed him the next day to tell him how disappointed Penny and I were that our flowers were all gone. While I drafted the letter, I watched the confused bumblebees circle the naked patch, wondering what happened to the bounty their sisters had waggled about. The landlord emailed back that he found he just couldn't maintain the space with the way our plants were growing, so he decided to level it, put some herbicide on it, then put in the fabric and some mulch to prevent unwanted plants from growing. After he puts down the mulch, we could plant our garden good as new. Ummm...yeah. Is it me or should he have called BEFORE mowing down all our months of work? Or maybe had the balls to apologize BEFORE I e-mailed him. And am I the only one who realizes that any seed I plant now won't have time to flower before the first frost, thus being a total waste of my time and energy (not to mention limited funds)? I started writing a reply, which I made sure to have Dan proof so I didn't come off too offensive. After reviewing, Dan recommended I talk to him in person. I'm not sure that's likely to be less offensive because I'm pretty ticked. I have an ugly patch of naked roots where there used to be flowers and butterflies. I have mud running into a place we walk every day, meaning more floor maintenance in the house. Each day that passes, more soil from the space is lost as well. And did I mention the HOURS of planning, soil prep, planting, weeding, etc. that were wiped out! If he wants one of those goofy high-maintenance landscapes with just a few expensive annuals peeking out of that fabric stuff, all of which has to be replaced every year and watered every day, he's definitely going to be in charge of its upkeep and purchase. Just because the neighbors in our duplex have that kind of thing doesn't mean I want to do it too. Prayers for calm might be helpful, if you've got a spare moment. Better use of prayers might be for my two family members recovering from the removal of brain tumors, though. They're doing ok, but prayers are always helpful.

At least we still have our ridiculous patch of seven-foot-tall tomato plants, which continue to keep us well-supplied with red, juicy deliciousness. They're all kinds of funny sizes, every cherry tomato comes with a caterpillar, and I've never seen such a crazy creeping growth style, but Penny is so proud of them. They are all her tomatoes, of course. We have a lovely supply of spaghetti sauce, ratatouille, gazpacho, raw tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato chutney, you name it, all canned or frozen for the coming winter months. Paul LOVES tomatoes, having them as a finger food for lunch and dinner on most days. I have no idea how much of them actually make it into his mouth, but he finds them very satisfying to pick up and eat. I will be sad when the cold finally puts an end to this fun. I'm hoping to clear a little more space this fall so we can have a greater variety of plants in our garden. We'll see how that plan goes, though.

We're still working on figuring out Paul's sleep schedule. He moved into Penny's room (which did start him sleeping through the night) and I'd love to find a way to have him nap while Penny is at school. He seems to require a morning and an afternoon nap, but the timing that results in a happy Paul remains elusive. He wants my exclusive attention when Penny isn't around, so having him awake at home while Penny is at school eliminates any chance of getting work done during the day. At the very least, Dan is finally out of the dining room, so I can now stay up late washing dishes, doing laundry, generally tidying up after everyone's bedtime. It doesn't necessarily mean more sleep, but at least I can enjoy the kids a little more during the day because I'm not constantly pressured to complete everything during waking hours. Alas, the life of the residency widow! Only 2.6 years of this action left? maybe?