It's been a very long morning already--Reba had a doctor's appointment, so I had to get the kids to school, including one rather recalcitrant young lady who doesn't mind making everyone else late. Managed to get out of the driveway by 7:00, then dropped Middle Girl at Middle School, then Oldest at the high school, then Youngest at elementary school, and then it was over to Clay to take Boy for his orthodontist checkup.
Which had extra-special urgency this morning, of all mornings, because today is Earth Day. (Well, Earth Day, Observed. The people entrusted with wasting my money tell me that tomorrow is actually Earth Day.) Shiny Pretty Sparkly Earth Day! And it seems he and his cadre are wrapped up in some Commie feel-good envirowacko deal where they journey over to the elementary school (in school buses, of course, since it's too far to walk) to discuss with the littler children the virtues of environmentalistism. He even got a tee-shirt with the words "Green Team" emblazoned on the front, and "Staff" on the back. They're supposed to do demonstrations about pollution, and recycling, and reducing resource usage, and conservation, and all that there stuff. And give away plastic bags full of plastic gimcracks and geegaws to remind the littler kids to love the Earth.
Which is all well and good--I think people should reduce, reuse, and recycle. Saves more for me to use.
ANYway, he was very worried that he wouldn't make it before everyone left school, seeing as how his appointment was at 8:15. We did get to the office early, though, and sat around listening to the radio and waving at ourselves in the reflection on the window of the office. His wire doctor also got there early, so thankfully we were in and out by 8:00. I also found out it's time for Boy to have his real REAL braces put on--tops and bottoms. ::sigh:: Goodbye, money.
ON back to the middle school then, spewing a lovely trail of hydrocarbons all the way, ran in, checked him in, and saw that he had indeed made it back in time to leave with his class. Which is good, otherwise I would have had to make a special trip to take him over to the elementary school. Hooty the Owl would not have approved.
That done, I stopped and got some grease and carbohydrates at Sonic and headed off toward downtown, happily throwing wrappers out my window as I went so the prisoners would have something to do. (Not really.)
BUT, before work, a side trip over to the county hospital to drop off a volunteer application for Oldest. She's decided she wants to get some experience doing that, since she still thinks that she can make Cs in her science classes and go to med school. I do hope she finds something that suits her--she really wanted to work at Children's, but their program for the summer closed out taking applications in January, so she's now having to just see if there's anything else available. Or, rather, we're having to HELP her see if there's anything else available, because she's rather put-out that her first choice was so cruelly taken from her by others. SO, I picked her up a volunteer application from Cooper Green, and she did fill it out, and I did drop it off for her. (After getting severely turned around in the parking deck and wasting yet more gas and pumping yet more CO into the air.) Cooper Green is a rough place to work, even if you're getting paid. I know she won't like it, but she seems to think service means helping someone when and where YOU want to, rather than helping them in the way THEY need it. If she does get it, it might be a good eye-opener for her as to exactly how good she has it in life.
Or not.
Back out to the parking deck, then back across town to my lovely office, where the oceanlike tide of paperwork has finally ebbed.
HEY! PRETTY SHELLS!
Posted by Terry Oglesby at April 21, 2006 09:20 AM