For about 4 years now, the mayor and his wife have been remodeling the building next door to my office. They said they were going to open a bakery. They worked really hard. They preserved parts of the old bricks, they redid and cleared out and replaced. And for about 2 years it has been sitting there looking finished and beautiful, with everyone in town asking when they were going to open. Sometimes they even opened my office door to ask me when they would open. I had zero intel! Today was the grand opening. Of course, if there is a new bakery next door, you must go right? Plus I had the bus driver Christmas party and no time to make anything. So I bought a couple dozen and put them on a fancy plate. The cookies were excellent. Not only that but when they asked if I made them, I lied. Then one of the old men drivers asked me to marry him. So I had to backtrack real fast and tell him to go to the bakery for more. I will definitely be going back to the bakery! This is not going to end well for my wallet or my waist.
When I got off the bus this evening, Cameron was here. He and Preston went to the Eisenhower museum. Cameron stopped here. For whatever reason he bought me an Eisenhower flask. I said ok! I love this! I am taking this to the bus driver party and breaking it out during the dinner. I was allowed to bring my family to the bus driver party, so I talked Cameron into joining Jim and me. Madison was also there with the girls. It wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. I like most of my bus driving coworkers. Bus driving is weird, I see my coworkers every day but rarely talk to any of them, just wave as I pass them! There are a few who are flat weird. The weird ones are also the loud ones. Even Evelyn noticed! Seriously, I have friends who I can not seem to find enough time to get together with, so spending an evening with weird people to me is just not a priority. But it was fun seeing the girls and Madison there, and it was nice to have some time to catch up with Cameron. As I said, not as bad as I had anticipated.
The girls and I do goat and chicken chores at promptly 5:45 every school day morning. The time is also known at 0 dark thirty. Anyway I hate the cold, we each take a task so nobody is out there long, but I have to grumble under my breath about the cold anyhow. As we were finishing up, Saige started back to the house, Harper and I were making sure we didn’t lock Maude in the shed. I hear Saige saying mooooooommmmmmm what is thaaaaat? Moooommmm come here! And she is pointing to the sky. I told her it was Starlink as I had seen pictures if it before. But then it didn’t move, it just hung there for an abnormally long time. Of course I took a picture, had to show Jim! Later, as I was at work, a story popped up on my homepage saying that they lost control over Starlink and it was crashing back to earth. Gee thanks Elon. That’s just what we need.
Today was also the last day of school before Christmas break. And I know that educationally, they accomplish nothing on a week like this because the kids are just hyped, sugared and crazy. But the school feeds it too. They had crazy spirit week. Dress as a Christmas movie character? I had a kid in a full on Rudolph costume. Pj day always hypes them up. And today- today was “anything but a backpack” day. I had kids getting on the bus with coolers, suitcases, laundry baskets, Christmas bags, and my personal favorites - a soup pot and a traffic cone with the end taped up. Now, if this was any random day in any month except December, I would have thought it was fun. Added to trays of cookies, bags of gifts, boxes of chips and whatever else they were dragging in and all the class projects they were cleaning out- well let’s just say the bus ain’t that big. And to whoever decided that you should sell candy canes to already hopped up kids all week long? Yeah - I loathe you. Needless to say, I will be utilizing one of the upcoming 65 degree days to clean the bus before break ends. Also needless to say I am ready for the break. Need it. Am embracing it and rolling around in it. Give me the break.
Saige ended her short season wrestling with a league tournament at Osawatomie. Jim and I were late because we went first to Stony’s funeral and then had a tiny bit of car trouble on tbe way down. We ended up missing her first match. She said she lost but made it through the first period before getting pinned. We did get to watch her second match. She is starting to pick up the moves and counter moves, but it still requires more thought than muscle memory. People in this part of the country start their kids wrestling at age 3 or 4. (Not joking). By the time they reach junior high, they have already been on the mat 8-9 years. They have spent hours practicing and it shows. Saige is not a bad wrestler, but getting a lot more experience on the mats will definitely help her if she wants to continue .
Her team did win league champions.
I am unclear on of this is the beginning of a wrestling career, or the end of one. She seemed to like it and asked if she could do club wrestling. But when we told her it starts Monday, she sort of balked. Of course, we are all flat exhausted from the last couple of weeks, so we will see how she feels after the weekend! I am very proud of her for trying something new and seeing the season through. I am very proud of her team who worked really hard to win league. I actually really like wrestling and think it is a great sport to get involved in. We shall see what Saige thinks I guess!
