With Both Feet

The thing I really hate about September is how everything seems to go into overdrive.  I barely have a minute to appreciate the change of seasons and the beauty of the autumnal leaves because my whole life becomes consumed by the return to school and the four billion things that all have to be done right now lest we all perish in a horrific judgmental fire.  Which is why we have ten fire drills per week, I guess.

I might be exaggerating just a bit there.  But not by much.  We jump in with both feet and to heck with anything remotely resembling a "transition period."

Fortunately, I have a nice little blog to come home to.  It doesn't ask for much, only that I stop by once a week to give it a little attention.  The Wednesday Night Bullet Post seems to make it happy and it is a mighty fine thing to be able to say you spread a little joy around midweek.

Here's this week's bullet points:

*Today was Wear Full Shoes Instead Of Sandals For The First Time Since April day.

*I whined about the blisters on my heels all the way to my car this afternoon when school let out.

*The people still in sandals somehow looked very smug and superior to me, but I don't care.

*They'll get theirs any day now!

*We are almost finished with the school district achievement testing.

*My class usually gets tested last due to smaller numbers so we will probably still be doing that when next week rolls around.

*That is something of a problem given that we start state mandated achievement testing on Monday.

*That is the Very Big And Challenging Test That No One Likes And For Which Every Student Blames His Or Her Teacher.

*We, in turn, blame the administrators because proctoring and administering these things is a nightmare.

*I don't know who the administrators blame.  I assume they just wander around town pointing their fingers accusingly at anyone who dares to make eye contact when testing time rolls around...

*Achievement testing in the fall doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.  Kids haven't learned much in the way of new stuff yet.

*And they've managed to forget half of what they learned the previous year.

*Heck, I barely can recall what I taught them back then but that could be more of an age related thing on my end.

*The other thing I hate about going back to school is that it is time for my feet to go all puff-i-fied again.

*My feet are fine in the summer.

*The minute they see where are back at school, they suddenly go all third trimester on me.

*Stupid feet.  I've tried explaining to them that I am not standing or sitting for any more time than I did during the summer.  I'm careful about that.

*They just get excited or something and don't want to see reason.

*A couple of weeks ago, my phone rang after 8:00.

*My phone does not ring after 8:00.  Not on a school night.  Everyone knows about school nights in my world.

*School nights require the locating of matching shoes and shirts that do not have holes in unseemly places.

*That takes some time...

*Only emergency calls come after 8:00 on a school night and I feared the worst.  Especially when it turned out to be Mommy Sheep on the phone.

*I braced myself for the worst.  The last time I got one of these calls, I had to go out and buy a whole new funeral outfit since it turns out I don't have anything remotely mournful enough.

*And I can't wear that again because everyone has seen it and besides the seasons have changed.

*She was only calling to ask how I felt about Mustangs.

*I like Mustangs.  Both the horses and the cars.

*This wasn't about horses.

*For those who haven't caught on, my parents have a new car.

*For those who have caught on and are wondering about the details, they include, "cherry red," "2013" and "convertible."

*Yes.  It is true.  My parents are cooler than I will ever be.  Ever.  When they jump, they jump big.

*I drive a crossover station wagon.

*The kind you see soccer moms tooling around in...

*I don't hate.  Mommy and Daddy Sheep worked hard and deserve to enjoy life in a convertible.

*Plus they can drive it when they head south for the winter and that will be fun.

*Florida. Where, as Daddy Sheep puts it, you can't throw a rock without hitting an old fart in a sports car.

*::giggle-snort!::

*The home improvement frenzy here at the manse continues unabated.

*Except for the part where I have to go to school on my puffy feet and test kids.

*I'm not sure if I was motivated to do this too late or if the summer ended too soon...

*Last weekend, I painted an accent wall in the living room.

*Which sounds easy but it wasn't because I have a Very Complicated Kitty who stripped most of the wallpaper for me a while back.

*And more of the drywall than I care to mention.

*Repairs took a while.

*But the wall is now painted a lovely shade of Toasted Pumpernickel.

*The bathroom, if you will recall, was painted in Belgian Waffle.

*I told the people at the hardware store that I'm going with a Modern Carbs theme.

*Had I known I was going to suddenly feel a desire to do all this, I might have forced my summer-not-puffy-feet to move a little quicker.

*Weekends are getting a bit tiring for me.

*I am redecorating on a budget.  Something along the lines of...wait a minute...

*Carry the one...now subtract the other number...and...

*Oh, yeah.  That'd be a budge of "close to nothing."

*Hence, there has been a great deal of repurposing and recycling of stuff.

*Like those brass (ish) switchplate covers I thought were ever so sophisticated back in the 90's.

*And which now seem so very garish on my nice pumpernickel wall.

*I found a can of matte black spray paint in a clearance bin and figured the budget might stretch to cover it.

The need for a flash means the wall color isn't even close to what it is in real life.  But you get the idea.

*There wasn't a can of polyurethane on the clearance rack so I had to be careful with the screwdriver.

*And still managed to  put a little gouge in it.  I just squint when I look at it and then everything gets blurry enough to make it all look nice.

*I'm only ever going to invite very nearsighted people over from this point forward.  It will be fine.

*Reading hasn't been much of a priority since I decided to jump into the whole home improvement thing.

*And test kids until they cry.

*But I managed to find time to finally read The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.

*Somehow, I ended up reading one of the later books in the series years ago and I really wanted to go back and experience the first one.

*Yay for digital library loans!

*I also picked up my own copy of Taken (An Alex Verus Novel).

*Slow progress on that one, but not because I don't like it.  I do like it.  Love it, in fact.

*But that one is on my iPad and not the less expensive reader I can carry anywhere without fear of dropping it in the tub.

*I read about the trials of Alex Verus at bedtime and I'm tired from the testing, painting, foot massaging and being less cool than my parents.

*Tend to fall asleep before I get past three pages.

*Still, I highly recommend this series.  Great fun and a fabulous premise.

*I might even get this one finished sometime before Christmas break.

*When I can finally put my feet up and stop jumping around like a crazed grasshopper...


And that just about covers it.  If it doesn't, then it will have to do.  I haven't gotten to the point where I know what I'm wearing tomorrow and that has me just the slightest bit concerned.  It is also after 7:00 and I still haven't managed to cobble together some dinner.  If too much more time passes, I might have to settle for getting only one of those things done before bedtime and that isn't going to end well no matter which way I go.

One needs strength and appropriate footwear if one plans on continuing to jump...

SA