"Where's Jeff?" Joey asks as he walked in the house after school today.
"Wasn't he on the bus?" I ask.
"I didn't see him," Joey replies.
Hmm. Interesting. Don't panic. He is probably at the school, having somehow missed the bus, and they are getting ready to call me any second to tell me. I'll beat them to it. I'll call the school myself, I decide. "Is Jeffrey there?" I ask. "He wasn't on the bus."
The woman in the front office asks if he is participating in the after school rec program. "No, he's not participating in anything," I tell her while my heart does a little flip in my chest. Don't panic. To Joey, I ask, "Are you sure he wasn't on the bus?"
"I don't think so," Joey answers.
I try to ignore Mrs. A's voice and the indication that she is trying to keep it at an even keel as she puts me on hold for a second time after I assure her he is not involved in the drama club. He's in 2nd grade, after all. He isn't even allowed to participate in drama, although I'm thinking this is as dramatic as it gets. "Maybe he fell asleep on the bus and Joey didn't see him," I say. It has happened, after all. The last time was three years ago when he was in Kindergarten. But still, it's possible.
"Let me put you on hold and call the bus company," Mrs. A says. "What is the bus number?"
I give her his bus number and wait, again asking Joey if he could have possibly missed him and maybe he fell asleep because he is clearly not at the school and where else could he possibly be, anyway, except for somewhere slouched in a back seat of the bus, unseen by the driver? There is just nowhere else he could be, and therefore no need to panic.
She comes back on the line. "He's on the bus," she says with relief. "The driver has 2 more stops and he'll come back and drop him off." I thank her and hang up, so glad I didn't panic. I knew he was on the bus the whole time. Didn't I say he was on the bus?
"Did you fall asleep?" I ask Jeff as he disembarks the bus.
"I was playing my iPod," he answers sheepishly.
Playing his iPod. Of course. Perfectly reasonable excuse to miss his stop. Happens to me all the time. Which is why I never panicked, not once. Besides, Mrs. A was worried enough for the both of us.
I'd really hate to put her through that ordeal again, though, so the iPod will no longer be allowed on the bus. The end.
2011: Year in Review
I will admit that the frequency of my posts has diminished more than I'd like to admit, but I have no excuse to offer other than life. I'm busy with other stuff. But I would be remiss if I didn't offer my traditional Year In Review, so here it is. I can only hope it's better than last year's was.
JANUARY
Oh, January, what did you have to offer us last year? Snow. Cold. Seemingly endless winter days falling on the heals of the next. But G and I stayed warm in our new king size bed. Yes, it was time. Honestly, we had been sleeping on a queen size bed with a large dog and that's not so much an issue as the fact that the bed was pre wedding and from G's bachelor days.
Oh, how we love our new bed.
FEBRUARY
Another cold and endless month, even if it is the shortest. I remember lots and lots of snow. See, Sammie is barely a spec in all that snow.
MARCH
Slow-melting snow, but the prospect of spring! I was one of three to receive Londonderry's annual Volunteer of the Year Award, which was an honor. Here it is, displayed on our mantle. Charlie Brown is in awe.
Also in March, Aunt Dee came to visit. She had a business trip and extended her stay to visit with us. Seeing as my sisters rarely come home anymore, it was an unexpected and pleasant visit.
APRIL
Apparently it was a pretty insignificant month because I didn't blog during any of the 30 days. Either that, or I was too busy working in m garden.
You know what, I think I will go with the latter.
MAY
I have nothing. It got warmer, the garden grew, days got longer.
JUNE
I saw John Oates from the former Hall & Oates at Tupelo Hall. Met him personally, got his autograph. Very nice guy.
The school year wound down to an end with a flurry of activities. I like June, except for the day I got a dirty traffic ticket. I will either be ordered to pay it on January 6 or will be pardoned. I'll let you know.
JULY
Oh, what can I say about July? Mom visited while my cousin Gayle underwent heart surgery. My mom was the nanny to Gayle's baby girl. We did the beach, the garden blossomed, and I went to a couple of country concerts. No big vacation this year because of other obligations, but it was still a good month.
AUGUST
August was busy. More concerts, more summer outings, and the first day of school (first day for Chris as he entered 6th grade at the middle school), to name a few. I got the quilt that I had been working on completed and mailed to my sister in time for what would have been Lauren's 14th birthday. I am very thankful to CFA and KC for their help.
This was, by far, the biggest accomplishment of the year for me.
SEPTEMBER
Besides the plunge into soccer season again, the best part of this month was my sister's wedding in Tennessee. It was the first time my sisters, mom, stepdad and I had all been together since August of 2010, and for a celebration this time. That was a great weekend. Oh boy, can we tell you stories...
OCTOBER
More soccer tournaments, but Jeff and I got to visit an old friend/coworker of mine in New Jersey during Tommy's tournament, which was a lot of fun. It was Jeffrey's desire to get to see a real black sheep in person. He got his wish.
The year ended with a bizarre freak snowstorm none of us will soon forget. We lost power for 4 days. Trick-or-treating was postponed to the first weekend of November, and within a week the snow was mostly melted. I said it was bizarre.
NOVEMBER
I got a job! Well, not a full-time job, but a little one-day-a-week job to supplement my 10-hour-a-week job. I sit on the block every Thursday at the local auto auction. I have to say it is really quite interesting. I am still amazed at how fast those auctioneers can talk.
DECEMBER
It was questionable as to whether or not we'd actually have a white Christmas, believe it or not. Yeah, the October snow was long gone. But we did get a little dusting. We celebrated Christmas this year not at our house like we usually do, but at G's sister's instead, which was a nice change. And as is typical for me, the decor started coming down the day after. It's the clutter! I can't stand it! But on this last day of 2011, I do still have all of the Christmas cards up and on display. Until tomorrow.
What will 2012 bring? I hope for many things like everybody else, like getting fit again and finding a job that is more than 10 hours a week (although I hope to never give up my job at the church). But mostly I hope for more peace and love, and that starts at home. I'm on it.
JANUARY
Oh, January, what did you have to offer us last year? Snow. Cold. Seemingly endless winter days falling on the heals of the next. But G and I stayed warm in our new king size bed. Yes, it was time. Honestly, we had been sleeping on a queen size bed with a large dog and that's not so much an issue as the fact that the bed was pre wedding and from G's bachelor days.
Oh, how we love our new bed. FEBRUARY
Another cold and endless month, even if it is the shortest. I remember lots and lots of snow. See, Sammie is barely a spec in all that snow.
MARCH
Slow-melting snow, but the prospect of spring! I was one of three to receive Londonderry's annual Volunteer of the Year Award, which was an honor. Here it is, displayed on our mantle. Charlie Brown is in awe.
Also in March, Aunt Dee came to visit. She had a business trip and extended her stay to visit with us. Seeing as my sisters rarely come home anymore, it was an unexpected and pleasant visit.
APRIL
Apparently it was a pretty insignificant month because I didn't blog during any of the 30 days. Either that, or I was too busy working in m garden.
You know what, I think I will go with the latter.
MAY
I have nothing. It got warmer, the garden grew, days got longer.
JUNE
I saw John Oates from the former Hall & Oates at Tupelo Hall. Met him personally, got his autograph. Very nice guy.
The school year wound down to an end with a flurry of activities. I like June, except for the day I got a dirty traffic ticket. I will either be ordered to pay it on January 6 or will be pardoned. I'll let you know.
JULY
Oh, what can I say about July? Mom visited while my cousin Gayle underwent heart surgery. My mom was the nanny to Gayle's baby girl. We did the beach, the garden blossomed, and I went to a couple of country concerts. No big vacation this year because of other obligations, but it was still a good month.
AUGUST
August was busy. More concerts, more summer outings, and the first day of school (first day for Chris as he entered 6th grade at the middle school), to name a few. I got the quilt that I had been working on completed and mailed to my sister in time for what would have been Lauren's 14th birthday. I am very thankful to CFA and KC for their help.
This was, by far, the biggest accomplishment of the year for me.
SEPTEMBER
Besides the plunge into soccer season again, the best part of this month was my sister's wedding in Tennessee. It was the first time my sisters, mom, stepdad and I had all been together since August of 2010, and for a celebration this time. That was a great weekend. Oh boy, can we tell you stories...
OCTOBER
More soccer tournaments, but Jeff and I got to visit an old friend/coworker of mine in New Jersey during Tommy's tournament, which was a lot of fun. It was Jeffrey's desire to get to see a real black sheep in person. He got his wish.
The year ended with a bizarre freak snowstorm none of us will soon forget. We lost power for 4 days. Trick-or-treating was postponed to the first weekend of November, and within a week the snow was mostly melted. I said it was bizarre.
NOVEMBER
I got a job! Well, not a full-time job, but a little one-day-a-week job to supplement my 10-hour-a-week job. I sit on the block every Thursday at the local auto auction. I have to say it is really quite interesting. I am still amazed at how fast those auctioneers can talk.
DECEMBER
It was questionable as to whether or not we'd actually have a white Christmas, believe it or not. Yeah, the October snow was long gone. But we did get a little dusting. We celebrated Christmas this year not at our house like we usually do, but at G's sister's instead, which was a nice change. And as is typical for me, the decor started coming down the day after. It's the clutter! I can't stand it! But on this last day of 2011, I do still have all of the Christmas cards up and on display. Until tomorrow.
What will 2012 bring? I hope for many things like everybody else, like getting fit again and finding a job that is more than 10 hours a week (although I hope to never give up my job at the church). But mostly I hope for more peace and love, and that starts at home. I'm on it.
Court day!
I went to court this morning. It was the first time I had been in this courthouse, but it wasn't my last, as I had hoped it would be.
This was the follow up to the traffic ticket I got in June. I was prepared to fight it out with the prosecutor, hard evidence and all, but this wasn't the time, apparently. And how would I know that, being a non-frequent visitor to court?
After the prosecutor finally arrived late and requested that all attendees who were there from my town line up and check in with him individually, I was quick to scramble into the very long queue. I was 7th in line out of nearly 40. Lucky number 7.
I noticed how the individuals in front of me were quick to open their checkbooks as soon as they had the opportunity to make their traffic violations disappear. You see, the violation could be very quickly taken care of as long as the offender would pay its exact amount towards a charitable organization. "Special Olympics is one of our favorites," the prosecutor told one eager fellow.
When it was my turn, I stated my name, clarifying that I was not Peggy, who shared my last name and also had a court appearance that day. He quickly reviewed my file and stated not to my surprise, "Hmm. Cited for failure to use required turn signals. Wow, I've never seen one of these before."
Really? Well, apparently every other offender who got such a citation from Officer Blink decided to plead guilty and pay it. There is a first time for everything, yessir, and let me be the one to make it happen. The prosecutor was not in a position to just toss my ludicrous citation out. He gave me two choices: I could make a charitable donation in the amount of the fine or set a date for a court hearing.
I'll be returning to court on January 6.
This was the follow up to the traffic ticket I got in June. I was prepared to fight it out with the prosecutor, hard evidence and all, but this wasn't the time, apparently. And how would I know that, being a non-frequent visitor to court?
After the prosecutor finally arrived late and requested that all attendees who were there from my town line up and check in with him individually, I was quick to scramble into the very long queue. I was 7th in line out of nearly 40. Lucky number 7.
I noticed how the individuals in front of me were quick to open their checkbooks as soon as they had the opportunity to make their traffic violations disappear. You see, the violation could be very quickly taken care of as long as the offender would pay its exact amount towards a charitable organization. "Special Olympics is one of our favorites," the prosecutor told one eager fellow.
When it was my turn, I stated my name, clarifying that I was not Peggy, who shared my last name and also had a court appearance that day. He quickly reviewed my file and stated not to my surprise, "Hmm. Cited for failure to use required turn signals. Wow, I've never seen one of these before."
Really? Well, apparently every other offender who got such a citation from Officer Blink decided to plead guilty and pay it. There is a first time for everything, yessir, and let me be the one to make it happen. The prosecutor was not in a position to just toss my ludicrous citation out. He gave me two choices: I could make a charitable donation in the amount of the fine or set a date for a court hearing.
I'll be returning to court on January 6.
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