Hello Again!

Well. This is awkward.

How long's it been? 6 months or so?

OVER A YEAR YOU SAY!?

Well. I do apologize for my absence. And you see, I can't even promise how long I'll stick around this time. I'm very hard to pin down you know. Elusive. Mysterious.

 

In the grand scheme of life I am like that umbrella in the picture. Did you really expect me to say the figure of the person in the picture? How mysterious would I be if I were that predictable. 

Anyways, let's not spend time discussing our past year. Let's just say life has happened and is happening and will continue to happen. Let's just stick with the present. 

HAHA JK. 

Like I'm not going to gush about the most perfect baby that has ever been. 

 

 GUISE. She's not even a baby anymore. She's a rambunctious toddler. The time, it does fly. I am constantly amazed and awed by Noelle. She's SO SMART, so sweet, so funny, so sneaky, so caring, and so damn cute. I am a little more in love with her every day. Tom and I, we got hella lucky with her.

As for myself, I'm now officially going to school full time, working full time, and being a full time wife/mother. So I am busy. Really busy. 

That whole school thing, I'm finally doing at nearly 32 what I should have done at 18, and I'm in the Middle Grades Education program. Hopefully I'll be a middle school history teacher in not too many years. 

The work thing, I'm not loving, but I am loving the fact that it's work. And I'm getting paid. I am very very happy, with all the crap I've been through, to have a job at all. Especially one that allows so much flexibility. However, it's not all sunshine and roses, but when is it ever. 

I lost my grandfather in August and I've been doing an excellent job of pushing that thought to the back of my head. So I'm not quite ready to think about that and come to terms with it. Possibly because I'm afraid of all the tears and perhaps not being able to stop. It's not helping that my grandmother is having a lot of medical issues and is in and out of the hospital these recent months. So. Real shit is happening and I'm not cool with thinking about it. 

To summarize the past year: LIFE. IT HAPPENED. 

Overly concerned mother.

I always said I wasn't going to push my child too hard when it came to school. Obviously, I am going to insist she do well and I'm going to make her go to college, no choice in that, but where she wants to go, what she wants to do I am going to leave open to her to decide. I figured I'd be that laid back mom. The one that wants the best for her child and trusts her to make her own decisions. 

I always said that public schools were the way to go. I turn my nose up at private schools. My husband was a product of a tiny private school. He is STILL shell-shocked by the world sometimes. My BFF's husband was 1 of 4 people in his graduating class and he is afraid to leave the county, I kid you not. I want Noelle to know the world. To know and interact with different races, groups, cultures. 

That being said, I am hell bent on getting Noelle into a charter school. My husband's nephew and niece are in one and they started learning Spanish and Chinese in kindergarten. I mean, hell yes. It's like a public private school and I'm all over it. I've always heard that they are extremely hard to get into and competitive. I heard tales of lotteries and drawings and wait lists. 

So I just called a local charter school and had this conversation:

Me: Hi, I was just wondering how soon you needed to fill out the application to enroll your child.

Office administrator: As soon as possible. 

Me: Oh! Ok then, how do I go about sending in the application to you? I got one on your website.

Office administrator: *rattles off fax number* What grade will your child be entering this fall?

Me: Um, this fall? None. 

Office administrator: Excuse me? 

Me: None??

Office administrator: I don't understand ma'am. How old is your child?

Me: 7 months

Office administrator: *silence* 7 months?

Me: Yes....

Office administrator: BURST OF UNCONTROLLABLE LAUGHTER 

Me: **dies a little**

Office administrator: *In between laughter*- Call back in 5 years.

Me: But I heard it was really difficult to get in! I heard there was a lottery and waiting lists!

Office administrator: No wait list is that long.

So. I did that today. Guys, I just want my kid to be well educated.