Riley and the Rad Dude

Riley's teacher called me about the note. It turns out this is her first year teaching 3rd grade, and the homework assignments were not her own, but her "mentor" teacher. Setting aside the concern that this comes from her mentor, she will be giving her own homework assignments starting next week, and she assured me they will contain more active work than just copying spelling words. Plus, she made some homework this week optional, so it's made it a little easier.

Last night, I did my new parent tea at Riley's school, followed by a meeting at Sylvia's school. The new parent tea wasn't exactly what I was expecting. It was being hosted by the PTA, not the school, but the Principal was there, so I got some of my questions answered.

It turns out that it's illegal to make uniforms mandatory in public schools here in CA. Let's just contemplate that for a moment, shall we?

Moving on.

Things are going a little better. And I've learned, if I avoid morning news shows, it really helps my mood for the rest of the day. Call it a Palin-free zone.

Even more ironically, one of my best friends at work, who has asked to be referred to as RadDude here on the blog, came into work today in a very foul mood. Because he wasn't living in a Palin-free zone. It's funny because I'm usually the one ranting and raving, and while he agrees with me, he usually stays emotionally uninvolved. He was REALLY fired up today.

I've written about some very important friends in my life: Kori, Nancy, K, my sister, but I've only referred to RadDude in passing here before. But he is one of my rocks.

He started working in our department just a few months after me. We first bonded over the fact that our girls were around the same age. After his wife gave birth to twin boys, he could then relate to being outnumbered. RadDude loves the stories about my ex - he finds them so amusing. And, during all the drama that happened when my ex was living down here, he was the one I could always count on to make me laugh about it somehow. RadDude doesn't mind my man-hating bitch rants; he understands where they come from. I tease him that he makes me sick sometimes with his perfect little family and his perfect little life. Of course, I know it's not perfect, but pretty darn close! He does appreciate it, too. He loves his wife, loves his kids, coaches his daughter's soccer team, and cooks dinner and does the grocery shopping. He is a daily reminder that good ones still exist. He's also been a huge help to me in transitioning into my promotion. He knows his stuff, explains it in a way that makes sense, and really supports me.

But I probably most appreciate him when we have lunch together - which is every day that neither of us have plans. Well, we go to get lunch together and take it back to our desks. But while we're there, we make catty remarks about the others around us. More times than not, we come back, laughing and lamenting, "we're awful, awful people."

He makes fun of me for blogging and my bloggy friends, but he does get it, too.

Today, someone joked that he went somewhere without me. I said, "it better be to go get us Red Vines!" Sure enough, RadDude returned with Red Vines. Now, there's a friend.

RadDude is like the best big brother I could ever have.

Just a few housekeeping notes: sorry I haven't been around much lately. I'll catch up, I will. I'm getting my groove back. I think/hope.

And...drumroll, please...Friday is my 1-year blogiversary!! Starbucks gift cards can be sent all year long.

Oh, oh! That reminds me. I can't believe I almost forgot!

So today, Riley was in the local newspaper. Michael Phelps came to the Boys & Girls Club on Monday, and they had a picture in the paper with Riley. Someone at her school recognized her, but the copy was bad. So we went on a hunt tonight for it, and I could NOT find it. I went to two convenience stores, the grocery store, and then decided we'd check Starbucks before we gave up. We rummaged through all of the papers that were lying around from the day. And we found it! Yay! I told the girls, yet another reason for me to love Starbucks.

She's on the far left.