September 2015 Recap

September was the month of the Timber Trek.  Unfortunately, seeing as the world STILL hasn't decided to revolve around my family and our schedule, it was also the month of Audrey's major school fundraiser, Luke starting preschool, and more than a few meetings and appointments.  Let's just dive in, shall we?

Let's start with the fundraiser, which is NO JOKE in these parts.  Since I'm on the PTA Board, they asked us to play a pretty heavy role.  I counted money (by the way, the piggy bank contributions are super cute...until you're the one counting 183 pennies by hand), made signs, communicated with class parents, and helped set up, cheer on, and tear down the grand finale "Bull Run" ceremony.  It sounds like a lot, but it really only added up to about 5-6 hours of volunteering.  Basically I did as little as I could without getting kicked off the board.  (No, they wouldn't have really done that.  I don't think...)  I had to say no a lot because of everything I was doing with the Timber Trek.  And yet, no one died and the show went on.  Not only that, but the school raised $14,000 OVER their goal of $40k.  Powerful lesson learned:  Prioritize, do what you can, and don't feel guilty.

The first Saturday of the month, we sent the kids over to David's parents and had a fun date.  I had run 10 miles that morning so when we were planning and David suggested hiking or kayaking, I wasn't too enthusiastic about those ideas.  He, on the other hand, was pretty bored with my vote of lying around and ordering some pizza from a place we used to frequent that doesn't offer GF options.  We compromised and decided to drop the kids off and head up to Dahlonega.  We ate some delicious  BBQ on the square and then went tubing on the Chestatee River.  Tubing was a first for both of us and it was pretty fun!  You get to see the beautiful scenery that you do when kayaking, but without all the work.  We went down the river, got out and took a short walk back to the start, and did it again.  The water was chilly, but not as chilly as the Hooch (or as filled with E. Coli).  Afterward, we drove home, ordered pizza, and finished out the West Wing TV series we started in January.  Perfect compromise.

On Labor Day we drove out to my dad and stepmom's house and joined my brother, SIL, and nephews there.  We spent the morning hanging out and watching the cousins run around the backyard before eating lunch and heading home.  The next morning, Luke started PRESCHOOL!  How is that possible?!  I remember Audrey seeming so old when she started, but he seems so young!  That's the power of time-passed perspective, I guess.  The school allows the parents to go with them on the first morning and hang out for the first hour, so David and I walked him in together.  When it came time for us to leave, Luke was completely fine.  I was the one insisting we read just one more book.  David guided me out before I made a fool of myself and I held it together until the parking lot.  

Thursday, however, was much worse.  They let parents walk them in and drop them off on the second day and then carpool starts the second week (this is really a flawed plan on many levels, but they didn't ask me.)  Though he had a great first day, he did not want to go and had been crying off and on all morning.  I walked him in and he clung to me, tears silently streaming down his cheeks.  Just outside of his room he begged me to hold him and lo and behold, the tears started flowing from me.  Great.  I broke one of the covenant rules of motherhood:  You do not cry when leaving.  Especially if they are crying!  I walked in the class and the lead teacher (whom AJ had and I adore) took one look at us and scooped him up.  Another mom that I didn't know pulled me into a hug.  Sweet, but not helping me stop the tears, honey.  She set Luke down and he pulled my ear to him and whispered bravely through choked-back sobs, "Can you sit with me for just one minute, Mommy?"  I tried to keep him from seeing my face as we played alphabet alligators for a second.  He got into it within two minutes and was totally fine, so I made a quick break for it.  I called a couple of girlfriends and blubbered to them before distracting myself with a lovely dentist appointment.  When I got out, I checked my email and found a note from his amazing teacher assuring me that he was just fine.  God bless her.  From that day on, he did totally fine and has loved school, thank the Lord.  

What else this month?  

• Our small group started back.  With the exception of one new couple, it's the same group we've met with for the previous two semesters.  It's become such a great little community and it's so nice to have a room full of people that truly get your stage of life because they're in it too!

• Audrey started attending the "Good News Club" after school on Mondays (a Christian-based club sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship.  The children's pastor I used to be on staff with now runs the Georgia chapter.  He's good people.)  

• She had a check-up (yeah, that would be her six year that should've been in June) and got a good report.

• I had a dentist appointment and a dermatologist check-up and got a good report at both.  That rounds out my catch-up-on-doc-appointments flurry and I am officially clear of that until February, thank goodness.  

• I met Lara Lynn for a loooooong overdue dinner and it was so good to catch up I cannot even tell you.  We have already scheduled a dinner for early November and are really, really, really going to try to do bi-monthly dinners together, which works out great so maybe I can do the same with Lauren on the in-between months.  

• Both kids had school pictures.  Nothing like pressure to pick a perfect outfit and have a good hair day. 

• Audrey took her first standardized test.  She wasn't nervous at all, which is good since she'll have approx. 1 million more before graduating.  

• David went to D.C. for one night.  

• I had a room mom meeting for both Luke's class and Audrey's class.  Neither was overwhelming.  I'm sure I'll feel differently come the second week of December, but for now it feels manageable. 

• I got to chaperone my first elementary school field trip (AJ's to Fernbank) and I didn't lose a single kid!

• The kids had two birthday parties they attended for friends and had a blast!  Audrey's was especially cool because it was one of her closest little classmates and they went to Whole Foods kitchen and had a cooking party.  The best part?  This friend is gluten-free too so everything was safe for her.  So cool.  :)

I think that's pretty much the gist of the month.  

Oh yeah, except for that tiny thing called the Timber Trek.  Nearly a year in the making (I met with the board last October to propose the event and get their approval), we finally saw it to fruition this month.  It's been two weeks and I still don't think it's set in that it happened.  I will write a detailed post about it, but in short, it was a success.  Over 100 people came out in the drizzly early morning hours to participate and $2,500 was raised from race proceeds, direct donations, and post-race t-shirt sales.  AMAZING.  

More to come soon, I hope.  Happy Fall, Y'all!