Baby or No Baby?

My sister is pregnant. She has been for 9 months. Her due date is today. No baby. I never told her this (and probably shouldn't include this because she reads my blog), but I think a late first baby is standard in our family. I am the older sibling, and I was 2 weeks late. Samantha, my oldest, was 12 days late. I would never wish a late baby on anyone, mainly because of how stressful it is to see the due date quickly fall into the past. And the comments you get when you are out and about. "When are you due?" "Last week." "Oh, you poor thing! You must be frantic with worry!" Yeah, that always makes the expectant mom feel better (comment dripping with sarcasm). At least I have been there, and can support her and James until Ava does make her grand entrance. And, 19 years ago, inducement didn't happen until the baby was 2 weeks late. Now they don't wait so long.

On another note, when the baby does come, Mom and Dad will drive to Portland for a few days. My mom's sister, who usually comes to help with my grandma, won't be coming to town for this event. So, Sam, Tori, Kat and I will be in charge of Shorty (my pet name for gramma). For those of you who don't know, my gramma lives next door to me, and is 106 years old. No, that's not a typo. She was born in 1902. She is still alive, still sharp as a tack, and lives on her own. Sort of. Samantha lives in her basement. Sort of. It will only be for a few days, but there is a schedule involved. She must have dinner at a certain time, and then there is the ice cream. Every night, between 8 and 9 pm, it is ice cream time. And she's 106. Don't you dare deny her ice cream. And, with me working in American Falls (about 1/2 hour drive from where I live), I am a little nervous about getting her taken care of. The girls will have to step up and help some during the day. Plus, there is the nasty topic of what to do if she doesn't wake up. That is my one main fear. And the big fear is that one of the girls will have to deal with this, and I will be 1/2 hour away. But the office is on alert, and when Mom and Dad leave, my boss will know. I have already been told that accommodations will be made if I have to come in late or leave early. I love it when people understand the importance of family.

In closing (I always wanted to say that), Ava Lillian Willecke-Bell better show up soon, because I want to be an Auntie. By the way, she will have to pronounce it awntie not antie. With my name (Andrea) the hard A just sounds stupid.

Back to School, Part Deux

Got the girls registered for school tonight. 15 minutes for Kat, the 8th grader. 1 1/2 hours for Tori, the high school senior. And Tori's fees were almost 3 times Kat's. And we are not finished paying them yet. And there will be senior pictures, graduation announcements, cap and gown, all night party tickets. But I digress. I did not intend this blog to be a gripe about how much "free" public education costs. I intend to gripe about how hard it is to change a high school schedule.

Let me start by stating some things about the school district that my girls attend. The fees, for the most part, are not bad. Activity fee, senior dues, locker fee, yearbook, choir robe cleaning fee. All pretty much standard. The two fees that I have an issue with are the picture fee and the participation fee. When I was in school, you had your picture taken and it went into the yearbook. When Sammee (the 19 year old) started high school, there was a fee from $1 to $6 photo fee. I asked, and was told that it was to put the photo in the yearbook. Strange. We pay for the school pictures, then pay for them to go into the yearbook? Oh, yeah, and pay for the yearbook! At Tori's school, the photo fee for seniors is $12. Not only do they put the photo in the yearbook, but they make a giant class photo and put it on the wall in the high school. A cool tradition (even though my class is the only one missing). There are classes from the 1910's on the wall at school. But, please! $12 for a picture that I will pay hundreds for the sitting fee? Ack!!!

The other fee is slightly ridiculous. The participation fee is for athletes, cheerleaders, and any other group who might use a bus for travel. It was implemented after the war started in Iraq and gas prices started to rise. It's purpose is to offset the gas and maintenance on the buses. Okay. But, the other groups who get charged for this are drama, choir, band, debate, all classes. And most of the time if there is travelling involved, it is for a grade. When Sammee started high school, the fee was waived for low income families, which were families who received free or reduced lunch. I am a single mom, therefore lower income. Sammee's junior year, I was informed that the waiver was removed, and all students had to pay the full fee. By the way, over 50% of the students in our district received free or reduced lunch. So the district wasn't getting enough money in participation fees. Unfortunately for me, Sammee was in band, choir, debate, and drama. There is one fee for the first activity, and one for all the others. So 2 fees in all. But, those fees added up to almost $100. That's a lot of money for a single parent. If Tori would have been in Senior Choir, no fee. But Gate City Singers (the show choir) required the fee. Again, Ack!!!

Again, I digress. This blog is about scheduling conflicts. We register. Tori gets her schedule. She has Gate City. But no Senior Choir, which is a requirement to be in Gate City. So off we go to the counselor's office. And we wait. For almost 1/2 hour. The counselor will see us now. It's a simple request. Put Tori in Senior Choir. Oops, forgot about the wrinkle. She is in National Honor Society. She must take at least 2 AP classes to graduate with honors. She currently has AP Statistics and English 101. Senior Choir is 3rd hour. AP Stats is 1st hour. English 101 is offered 1st and 3rd hour. Issue. The counselor is new to high school, so she doesn't realize that one AP class can't just go away. We argue and argue. Then the counselor in charge of NHS comes in, says that Tori can take English 101 online. We free up 2nd hour for her so she can do it at school (the laptop is still dead, and it will be a couple of months before it will be replaced). AP Stats 1st hour, English 101 2nd, Senior Choir 3rd, and she was even able to throw in a pottery class. Tori is happy, I am exhausted, and the counselor probably never wants to see me again. Oh, well. We will be back next trimester.

This blog is probably the longest I have ever done, but I had a lot to say. I am just glad that everything ended on a semi-happy note. Only semi-happy because Tori was half an hour late to youth group. Luckily the school is across the street from the church. But, like I said, the girls are registered for school. Next step, school supplies and Sammee's sophmore year of college. I might need a series on those moments.

2 weeks until school!

It's August 10. School starts for all three girls in two weeks. Summer stock is over, church camp is over, DCLA happened, and the summer is winding down. Every year the summer seems to get shorter and shorter. Except last summer. Nothing makes time drag like being unemployed with a fresh Associate's Degree, and most companies laying off, not hiring. But i digress.

In reflecting on the summer, i noticed that Sammee has matured more this summer than any other year. The responsibilities she had at Idaho Summer Repertory really made her have to grow up and act like an adult. And i think the bug has bitten her. I told her at the beginning of the summer that she would either love it or hate it. No one walks away from a summer theatre season thinking, "Yeah, that was fun." It's either "when does next season start", or "I am NEVER doing that again!" She is talking about doing another summer stock. How has she matured, you ask? First, I didn't have to wake her up at all this summer. Then, when her car broke down, she negotiated with the mechanic to set up a payment plan. Then she followed through with the payments. She is already making sure that she has everything together for financial aid, and she has Federal jury duty in September, and is taking it seriously. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments!

Sam is not the only one who has matured. Tori changed a lot over the summer. Since coming back from DCLA, she has developed even more of a heart for service. She has even recruited 2 of her friends to help with children's ministry. She is also trying to figure out what to do after high school. And, next summer, she is determined to work at Idaho Summer Repertory. Theatre is not her first love, but she loves singing, dancing, and making people happy and entertaining them. Acts of service is her love language, after all. She was so excited to show her friends how many people serve God behind the scenes. It's not just the preacher, the praise team, and the band. It's the sound people, media people, the person who was at the door who said hi. There are lots of ways to serve without ever being noticed. See, even introverts can serve in ministry.

Kat is in a back and forth stage. She's 13, and is torn between doing what she knows is right, and pleasing her friends. Tori went through this, and so did Sam. Junior high is so hard. I am just waiting until she starts high school. Plus, junior highers tend to annoy me. I deal with high school age kids much easier. But I am trying. She will be fine, because she has a wonderful support system at church.

It's funny that I started my blog talking about how the girls are changing, and in the middle talked about serving in ministry. I tend to ramble most of the time. Maybe I should change my blog name to "I ramble, therefore I am."