Slow day for a Tuesday

DIBELS quotes for today:
"Felt is touched."
"North Avenue." (I assume as in beach?)

Wow, not much else to say today. The kids were no better or worse than usual today. Although, they did get in trouble with Ms. C. at the end of the day while I was in the office taking a phone call. The call was actually from my son's teacher. I just found out that the 8th grade trip, that I've been waiting to chaperone for two months now, is going to cost me $150!!! I had no idea that chaperones had to pay to join the trip. I'm really bummed. I already paid $260 in graduation fees for my son to go. When his teacher asked me to chaperone a couple of months ago, she never mentioned that it was going to cost anything. I mean, holy crap, $150!!?

Truthfully, the day is chock full of activities, so it's not that I think $150 is too much for what we're doing. It's just that's a lot of money to come up with in one day (at least for me). Here's the agenda for tomorrow. We are starting out at Medieval Times, which I'm very excited about since neither my son nor I have been there before. After that, we'll be heading downtown to the Freedom Museum. Then, we'll be heading over to Navy Pier to take an architectural tour of the city via the Chicago River. After the tour, we'll have about an hour and a half to just walk around and explore Navy Pier before heading over to Rainforest Cafe for an all-you-can-eat buffet of junk (french fries, chicken fingers, hamburgers, cookies and so on) that I'm sure will delight the children to no end! So, like I said, it's definitely worth the money.

Actually, I was surprised with a check this morning at school for $100, which I suppose I'll be putting toward the trip. The great thing about the check is that it was a reimbursement check. For school supplies I purchased. Back in DECEMBER!!!! I've been bugging the business manager for months for this money, so imagine my surprise when she told me it was finally here today. I suppose the fact that it came the very day I found out I had to pay is a sign that I should just go on the trip, huh? My son actually wants me to come, so I guess the decision has been made. I'm actually very touched that he wants me to be there. It helps that his friends think I'm "the coolest mom ever."

I just hope we have decent weather for the day, especially since we'll be out on a boat for 60 minutes. Just to give you an idea of what Chicago's schizophrenic weather has been doing, it was in the 80s yesterday for Memorial Day, and right now it's in the 40s. My heat just kicked on in the house!

OK, I'm off to bed. Despite having a rather quiet day at work, my afternoon was non-stop running. Straight from school to let the dog out, then to the store to shop for a graduation suit (Success! We bought one! Down-side: the ex meet us at the store and shopped with us. Up-side: he paid for everything!), then back home to get Buster because he had to go to the vet. After running to the vet, while making phone calls to see how late the tailor shop would be open, I walked in to hear, "Didn't you get my message?" WTF?! Apparently, they had him scheduled for a dental cleaning, which required me to drop him off the night before. But, he doesn't need a dental cleaning until November, and this was just supposed to be his bi-annual comprehensive exam. Luckily, the doctor said he could do it right then and there, as soon as he finished up with the patient he was with. Great! However, I had to get to the tailor before he closed at 7:00, and it was already 5:30. And, the vet's office closes at 6:30! Yikes!

So, I left Buster, rushed over to the tailor (a 20 minute drive despite speeding) then spent another 20 minutes getting measured, then 20 minutes back to the vet. I just made it at about 6:35! Good thing they love us over there!

While at the vet's picking up Buster, my brother called to see if I was coming to the bar. Hold on now, he actually was calling because he wanted to have dinner with me, not because he needed me to work. I love that guy. A friend of his brought him Chinese, which I adore, and he thought I'd like to come share it with him. Isn't he sweet? I'm just glad he didn't need me to come in, because I'm exhausted. And, on that note, I'm seriously going to bed now. Good night!!

Even if you're tired, it's a joy being with children. You have to give all the time, but you can't complain. It has its rewards. ---Tom Berenger

Obviously, Tom hasn't spent that much time in Englewood. OK, I'm being bitchy, I need to go to bed!