Get on the laundry train

I have not been in the writing mood lately, but yet life keeps tramping through with no signs of slowing even a little bit.

Saturday, we had Kathleen's birthday party. She's usually on top of it for MONTHS before the event, but with a new school life thrown into the mix, she's been preoccupied. So, we kind of threw it together, like I'm known to do anyway, passed out a bunch of fliers to friends at school and church and the neighborhood, and hoped for the best. She had six friends show up, enough to have two teams of kids for an awesome scavenger hunt. We couldn't find a second driver, so I drove the van with one team, and Keith drove the truck with another. Kathleen even let Kade and Konner join in -- with a little arm twisting, that is. We drove all around Newnan taking wacky pictures. It was too fun.

While we were traipsing around Newnan, Keri Lynn was off at a French Competition with several of her fellow French students, representing her high school. She won a blue ribbon, half surprising herself in the process. I get such a big kick out of my kid speaking French. Everyone else in our family has taken Spanish, so I can help as needed, but Keri Lynn is on her own with French. Obviously she's doing well enough. She's definitely found her pace in school. She works really hard and would really rather go back to homeschool, but in the meantime she keeps racking up A's. She was in class one day and went up to the board to answer a question, along with two other really smart kids in class. Someone called out, "Great, all the brainiacs are at the board." It surprised her to be described that way, but I think she's starting to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Next month, she and her family are invited to Honors Night at her high school, since she's in the top five percent of her class. Keith and I are deciding whether we'll bring the whole clan or not.

The little kids and Kathleen are in the midst of the dreaded CRCTs. That's Georgia's standardized testing that apparently determines if students are going to continue on to the next grade, or at least that's what the teachers are telling the students. My theory is that it's really a way to scare the kids into doing their best on the test so that the county can look really good and get more money. Good test scores mean good schools. Good schools bring in better teachers. Better teachers mean better students. Good students mean good money. It seems like the whole year has been pointing to this very week. There are a myriad of activities surrounding the testing and the CRCTs even has it's own cheer. Good grief!

Meanwhile, I think there's something wrong with my phone because I haven't been getting calls to substitute this whole week. I'll go back to work tomorrow and Friday, but that's only because I'm working for a TA that arranged for me to work for her. Have I called the sub procurement office to find out if I have any problems? No. Have I done laundry instead? Yes. Have I been doing laundry non-stop from about 8:00 am to dinner time for two days straight? Yes. I figure that's about 20 loads since Monday morning. That's right. Twenty. Two - zero. I'm still not done. Have I gotten behind with laundry? Yes. If I complain to my husband about it, will he remind me that I'm not the only one who should be doing laundry? You better believe it! I've been enjoying it, though. Really. I've read two books. The TV has been off. The house has been so quiet. Kody just sits on the couch in a curled up ball waiting for his day to start at 3:00 pm when the first round of kids comes home. I figure if I keep going with the laundry, I'll actually be caught up by tonight!

Off to change another load . . .