Sunday, October 20, 2013

Happy Birthday to Ollie

On September 24, Ollie turned two. In human years, that makes him about the same age as our 7th grade daughter. Thankfully, he doesn't behave like an adolescent. The little guy still has a lot of energy - he is a Cairn Terrier - but in general he minds his P's and Q's.


This morning we rolled out well before dawn to get the coed off to the airport for her return flight to college after a super short fall break. I'm the sort that can never fall back to sleep once I'm up, and so I decided to get a few things done at 5:00 am this morning after the husband and daughter hit the road in order for her to catch her plane. The first thing I did was load the dishwasher. Then I started on the pile of dirty clothes in front of the washing machine. Next, I sat down with my current seating charts and created new ones for the second nine weeks that kicks off tomorrow at school. I rearranged student desks Friday after dismissal, so it's fruit basket turnover at the start of every class tomorrow.

About the time the sun hit the horizon, I bathed the dog after I fed him and took him out for a little walk to take care of business. He's tolerant of a bath. In typical canine fashion, it's the bit after he's clean that is a real show. 


It's obviously a desperate situation. Must.remove.clean.smell. No matter how much he begs, I don't let him go outside off leash all day because that's just inviting a roll in the grass and dirt that will undo all of the shampoo applying, scrubbing, rinsing, drying and brushing I just accomplished. I'm a pro at ignoring his pleading looks while he longingly gazes out the back door.



Thursday Night Lights

If you're in high school, football games in Texas are usually played on Friday nights. However, if you're in middle school, then it's a Thursday afternoon ritual which kicks off at 4:30.

The 7th grader is a member of her school's pep squad. It's a combo cheer and dance group. Her older sister, the coed, was also a member of the team when she was in middle school. The coed was a great dancer, but because she's shy she never really seemed to enjoy it as much as I would have hoped. However, her little sister is really into the whole pep squad scene. 



My only complaint thus far is the danged placement of the football stands, making it kinda miserable for the spectators. In the five years since the coed was in middle school, I had forgotten this little fact. They face west straight into the sun and so we all need to slather on SPF 50 just to enjoy a little pigskin every week. It was especially fun in September when the temps were hovering around 100 while we sweated our butts off in the unrelenting heat. 




The coed flew home on Thursday for her very short fall break of three nights before she headed back to South Carolina this morning, but she arrived in time to see her sister perform. We're keeping the pep squad/team mom tradition alive and well in our house.