One of those Daze!

I think I left my head in bed this morning. We got Mike off on his field trip successfully this morning and the boys and I have not yet burned down the house. Gaudy came in the a.m. to help with the boys which freed me up for a run. Half way into my run, just huffing and puffing to make it to the top of one of the worst hills in Santa Elena, I wait to turn the corner, and what do I see pass me but a mid-size tourism bus with Mike and his 5th/6th graders waving like mad at me - I gathered all my energy to jump up and down and wave my arms...they were indeed off and I was just nearing my turn-around spot up ahead to head home. I had run my best time the afternoon before with Raul who pushed me again - but we were able to shave off 6 minutes from my previous run along side him. I keep telling him "hey, I'm twice your age", he just smiles and kicks up the pace!

John Gustavo has this fixation now with wanting to lock the front door when we leave (I never know where my keys are at the end of the day), so he secured the house and quickly shoved the keys in his back pocket as we headed for school. I made a mental note to ask him for them back when we reached our destination...didn't happen (but you probably knew where this was going anyway...right?). Before leaving school, I borrowed the face painting kits from the 1st grade teacher as we will use them for the May 2nd Pet Festival. So, with the kids delivered to Kinder, off I troted with my plastic box of paints and my empty milk-jug as I had planned to stop at the cheese factory on the way home for milk. I set the box aside, ordered up my milk and quickly departed for home. Three hours without the boys...didn't want to waste a minute! Reaching the pasture gate, I dug into my pockets only to realize...no keys, around I turned and headed back up the hill to fetch them. Back home, put the milk in the fridge, again, only to realize I had left the paint supplies at the Cheese Factory. Okay, you know the routine....off I headed to fetch the paints. So now my 9 KM run had turned into more of an 11K not to mention the final walk to retrieve the kids at the end of the school day.

With an hour still to myself, I ran to Casem Coop (the woman's cooperative) across from Stella's Bakery to purchase a wedding gift for my brother. A minute to hang some wet clothes and then off to get the kids. We ended up hanging around the school for 90 minutes, playing on the playground, watching Frisbee Tennis and chatting with other families. I met a family from Oakville (Toronto area) who were visiting and interested in getting some additional information about the school. We exchanged emails as I offered to enlighten him on our journey and the 'kid factor'....they had three!

Walking home, we met our friend Marie-Cecil who runs bare-foot. So, yes, off went John and Michael's shoes and socks -- they hobbled all the way home, but were proud of their accomplishments. A quick shower while I started dinner, the boys then, clean as a whistle, took Daisy on the leash out into the pasture in only their undies. Daisy managed to 'escape' with leash still on and John came screaming up through the pasture with wicked 'grass burns' on his tummy, not to mention him being dragged over these huge ant hills while still holding onto the leash. I refrained from smiling as I found this to be quite comical - we enjoyed a yummy dinner, watched a little Planet Earth and the house is now quiet. I just took banana bread out of the oven and will turn in shortly as one, if not both boys, will surely visit me in bed tonight.

Good Night All,
Signed: S