Firsts and a Love Affair Reborn

The first day of school was met with a butterflies and a bit of nerves as last night we were scrambling to locate temporary lunch cards, bus tickets, and school schedules, not to mention coordinating of the first day of school 'outfits'. I remember the anticipation of heading off to a new year with sharpened pencils and a new backpack. Of course the transition to middle school and high school was nothing compared to how the girls transition. My biggest transition was simply moving to the second floor for middle school and then down another hallway for high school all the while knowing everyone in the building. Transitioning to middle school now means consolidating with another elementary meaning now you only know 1/2 of the kids, moving to an entirely different building, bus schedules, locker combinations, and moving room to room for classes. Transitioning to high school means again doubling the size of your class, navigating the halls filled with sophomore, juniors, and seniors, a MUCH larger building, and more responsibility. In fact when we attended freshman orientation we learned that the high school feeds 1800 people a day. So this day was truly a land mark in our house.

We recapped the day tonight over Almond Chicken Stir Fry. Madison had her first 'bus ride' as she has never ridden the bus to school before. At 3:15 I got a text messaging saying, 'I made it!' She reported that she made it to all of her classes, lunch, and remembered her locker combination. Kennedy's only mishap was not once, but twice couldn't find her locker. But all in all a successful first day.

Tonight negotiations are currently underway for borrowing this top and those pants. There is much importance placed on the outfit for the day. In fact, it usually gets tried on and modeled for approval.

Once I verified that all successfully made it to their designated landing spots for the day. I was off after work for my rekindled love affair. For the past month about every other day, I have been hitting the track. It is something I did years ago, as most days ended on the black oval where all of the stresses and frustrations of the day were left somewhere between the lanes of 1 through 8. So I have been diligently working at perfecting my 9 - 10 minute mile time. With tunes blaring in my ears, for an hour most nights I am able to leave the days stresses and frustrations as well as a few lost pounds somewhere between the lane 1 through 8.