in two weeks

In the past two weeks...
...I watched as Churchville Elementary transformed itself from a workzone to a bright-beautiful-brand-new-school ready for a new year...I unpacked boxes upon boxes filled with 13 years of teaching experiences...I realized waking up at 5:30 is not early enough to get my crazy crew ready in the morning...Joey spent fun-filled days with grandma, pop and puppies...I was the only one in my family to actually feel and acknowledge that we had an earthquake...we prepared for and Joe dealt with a surprisingly small amount of flooding from Hurricane Irene...Joey went fishing and kayaking with great-dad...we had our first "snow day" on the first day of school...Owen had two chemo treatments and one uber long MRI...after working off $210 of spring and summer chores to cover his last pair of broken glasses, Joey heartbreakingly found his latest pair puppy-chewed on the livingroom rug on the first day of school...I was dismayed and angered after reading #14 of the fine print on the insurance I bought when we purchased the glasses...Although Joey was miserable I still persuaded him to allow me to take a first day of school picture...Me-ma thankfully picked up the boys, entertained and fed them while I spent afternoons at PT...after weeks of therapy I finally went on a bike ride with my dad...I welcomed some wonderfully sweet sixth graders to a new year (they should stay sweet until at least December)...I gave birthday hugs to Alex...I created 4 bulletin boards (after teaching in a trailer for 5 years it was somewhat fun to do this again---I think my 6th grade teammates sometimes look at me funny)...I congratulated and shared a drink with Aimee after our first week back to school...I watched Owen delight in a Spiderman popicle, talked with some 11th graders that were once my students, and had to drag Joey away from the DJ after a fun Churchville back to school picnic...we finally had dinner with mom and dad at Cravings, a favorite summertime spot...I went to the teacher store 4 times...my students had "Mr. Mc" as their terrific-first-day teacher...I bought my last purchases at Borders :(...I used my Smartboard for the first time with some success...I drove an amazingly swank convertible...

I could probably fill a couple pages...it is been a crazy couple weeks.

Most importantly...
Both Owen and Joey enjoyed their first week of school and there are no complaints about having to go back in two days. Owen got through a hellish MRI day at Chop after waiting for 3 hours, he endured a four hour scan and came out smiling (we are still waiting for the results). Joey got a new pair of glasses and although the fine print clearly states pet damage is not covered I only had to pay $25 (I did not ask why). We are going to spend our last days of summer enjoying the pool (weather permitting) and gearing up for what will probably be another crazy couple weeks.