Weekend Wrap-Up

By the time I get used to 5-day workweeks again, it'll be time for the 3-day President's Day weekend!

We had our PTA meeting last week, and I'm excited that we're planning two fundraisers that actually aren't for our children. One will be a Hop for Haiti jump-a-thon, and the jog-a-thon will benefit Children's Hospital. I'm glad that we're still doing them, despite being told that the District's budget for the next school year is $6 million short, and more pink slips will be given. The CA PTA is planning a rally at the Capitol to coincide with this year's convention. I won't be going, and while I applaud their efforts, at the same time, I am growing more and more concerned about how much focus is being turned away from the actual education of our children.

The dreaded diorama is due, and Riley's initial excitement has completely worn off, especially after seeing some of her classmates turn them in early. She feels she can't compete with their work (and part of me wonders how much is actually their work and how much parental involvement some really had) and, given my dislike for the assignment in the first place, I'm finding it really hard to care.

The girls have spent most of Sunday afternoon writing a script. While it's not their school work, I'd rather support those efforts. They want to write, they want to create, and they are working together. Given how often 'sibling rivalry' can describe their relationship, I don't really want to interrupt their efforts right now.

Yesterday, we had our second family trip to DreamDinners. I was going to Whrrl it, but we ended up arriving late because when we went down to the apartment building's parking garage, we found it flooded!

They've been doing construction at the end of our street. Turns out the workers plugged up the drain, and all the rain we had on Friday was being housed by our garage!

A kind neighbor got the car out of the muck for us so we could even get to DreamDinners. The water is now almost completely gone, thank goodness!

Something else happened this week that I can't really talk about here, but I'd also feel remiss if I said nothing at all. A friendship came to a close. I know there are always at least 3 sides to every story, so I won't say that it was my fault or their fault or no one's, even. It just is. And it's sad, mostly because it feels inevitable, and I wish I could have thought of another way. I'm hoping that time will bring about some clarity to the issue for me, but right now, I'm just sad about it.

Sylvia also encountered some sadness this week. She experienced her first theatrical rejection. Her solo did not get picked for this year's talent show. I was really proud of how she took it. She said she went and cried in the girls' bathroom for a little while and she texted me with the news and a ":(", and then remembered all of the other things she'll get to perform. She had even told me after the call-back that she didn't do that well so I think she might have been a little prepared for it. She handled it like a pro.

Oh, and to end on something completely superficial (but fun), we went to lunch on Friday to celebrate a colleague's birthday, and who ends up sitting at the table next to us but Ben Stiller! The food was really good, too.