What a Week!

The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree. ~Thomas Campbell

First, on this Memorial Day Weekend, let me acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice many men and women have made serving our country in times of war. I truly appreciate the freedom we live in because of their efforts. I had the opportunity to visit the American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy, France three years ago this summer, and it was a truly an emotional experience to walk amongst those rows and rows of headstones. Next month, I will visit Pearl Harbor for the first time, and I expect it to be a very moving experience as well.

As for my week...

Wednesday night was Open House. The classroom was packed with students and their families. A couple of my "problem parents" were downright rude to me, and wanted to engage me in conversation about their children's particular issues right then and there. Just a little word of advice, Open House (and Back-to-School Night) are not the time to have a mini conference with your child's teacher. Do you really want everyone in the room to hear about your child's academic and/or behavior issues? Do you? The best thing to say to your child's teacher that night, even if you don't like him or her, is how nice the room looks and how hard everybody has worked to prepare for Open House. Say it with a smile and move on. But another one of my crazy parents was actually really nice and complimentary. I guess she was having a good day. Thank goodness, because she's one of the ones who yelled at me several months ago, and I get a knot in my stomach every time I see her. Sad to say, just like this school year in general, the difficult parents/students (because there are so many of them) have overshadowed the wonderful students and their equally wonderful parents in my perception of the evening. But it's done, and I've just got 14 days of school left.

We spent a very long day on a field trip at Knott's Berry Farm yesterday. The weather was unusual for this time of year, and so we were nearly shivering from the cold wind, and I had to put up my umbrella a couple of times. At the end of the day, our buses were 45 minutes late, and so we didn't get back to school until almost 5 o'clock. Not cool. Our tour guides had us out of the park by 3 o'clock, and the buses didn't arrive until 3:50. It is very hard to maintain control of 133 fourth graders on a curbside for that amount of time. By the time we did get back, it was raining steadily, and I had a headache. I am really glad that I don't have to do that field trip anymore.

Last night, I had an incredible massage. It was just the thing to end my demanding week. I felt like Jell-o when it was over and I slept very well last night. Seems like the more my husband travels, the more money I spend at my favorite day spa. When he's home, I am very well taken care of, but when he's gone I find my stress level increases. I think things get to me more when he's gone than when he's home. If he's not here, I just perseverate on my work days too much.

Today, I'm spending time with a friend. Tomorrow morning I'll pick Michael up at the airport. He wants to see a college baseball game tomorrow night. And on Monday, we'll head over to my parents' for a family barbecue. I hope the sun decides to shine.

Have a wonderful weekend!