before and after

Early this week, we received my orientation package from my new school. In addition to my whirlwind social life, I have started preparing for school. I have a new sleep schedule to which I am adapting and it has not been easy for anyone. I am not napping now but I go to bed early . . . sometimes as early as 6:00pm. I start to fall apart around 4:00pm so my mom has moved my dinner to mid-afternoon so I have lots of healthy food in my tummy to make it through the night. This all means that 1) I sometimes don't see my dad in the evening and 2) my mom goes to bed when I do but wakes up for the day at 1:00am. Quitting the nap was my (BAD) idea but I will need to be well rested for a rigorous academic schedule. According to my school's policies, I must get at least 11 hours of sleep at night. And only have sweets twice a week . . . and definitely not before school. 

Before school starts, I have supplies to gather. I need an entire new wardrobe to fall into line with the dress code. And I desperately needed a haircut. Here is my golden mop of hair that I sported until this morning. 

And here is me afterward. The best part of getting my hair cut, other than looking so handsome, is playing with the toys at the barbershop. I arrive early and stay late. I learned today that I have the same barber as Lance Armstrong's kids.

More about school: my mom went to a meeting tonight to visit my classroom (it's beautifully bright and airy and there is a drinking glass with my name handwritten on it!) and meet my new teachers (well-versed in a variety of educational philosophies). I visit my school three times next week and then I start on August 29. I am so ready.

ER

This morning, we set out to enjoy story time at the Laura Bush library. A freak accident required a trip to the ER. 

After stories, songs, and crafts, we visited the room with the big blocks. I met some sweet girls and we built houses and forts. After we ceremoniously knocked down one construction, I was walking toward the bigger girl to ask her to help me rebuild it. I fell and bashed my head into the vertical divider underneath the bench she was sitting on. Blood sprayed everywhere. The girls' mom went to fetch me some ice - in the form of a delicious popsicle! The librarian also came to assist and to fill out an incident report. We called the doctor and we were told to go to the ER because of the possibility of a broken nose. (It's not.)

This is a photo of me in the ER. I told my tragic story repeatedly with perfect accuracy to a series of nurses and doctors. I followed their directions and let them look up my nose and in my eyes and check me for a concussion. I don't seem to have one but I am on bedrest today to prevent further bleeding and I cannot nap (ugh, I am sleepy!). I did not squirm during a series of x-rays. I suppose the doctors and nurses liked me best of all because I wanted to know how does this work, how does that work, and what is this, and can you show me what that does. I could be a doctor.

Best of all, they asked me if I wanted to watch cartoons. No, I wanted to see the races because I had caught a glimpse of them in the waiting room. And I was able to catch history in the making as Saudi Arabia had a woman competing in the 800m.

My dad is going to bring me home some popsicles.

hungry like a bear

We had yet another busy day as we inch toward the end of the summer. I am so ready for school to start. 

In the morning, we met my friends at the science center. (No, this bear is not one of my friends from school.) I have to wonder why I had never been there before; my dad is a self-proclaimed lover of all things science. And now I have somewhere new to take him! Luckily, it was a lovely cool (90 degrees) morning so I got some much-needed "fresh" air as I visited the (real) animals and played in the dino pit.  

In the evening, we went out for pizza.

You see, I have been rather bent out of shape since last Thursday. My mom had a lunch date with a friend and had leftover pizza. Not just any pizza but the greatest pizza in the world topped with green olives and onions. It was left in my dad's fridge at work for safekeeping since we had errands and he was supposed to bring it home that evening. It was all I could talk about all that afternoon. He forgot. I cried. And cried. I tried, in vain, to send him back to work to fetch it for me. Same thing on Friday. Really, my desire for pizza has consumed me.

This is a photo of me at the pizza shop cheering for the Olympic divers. (Yes, the tv ban was tossed aside during dinner simply because every wall in the restaurant is covered in televisions.) I was mostly worried about the divers afterward and whether or not they felt sad. Go Canada!

Tomorrow I start swim lessons again. I have decided that I would rather be a diver.

bush

This week, at the urging of my girlfriend, we made our first trip to story time at the Laura Bush library. Though you would never guess by looking at this photo, this was the grouchiest day of my life. I resisted going to story time but my mom knew better than to stay home with a fierce toddler. I fussed all the way there. When we arrived (late), I flopped down face first in the middle of the circle and tried to drum up some sympathy. Once I warmed up, I had a fantastic time. The stories were great. We sang songs. We did crafts and I participated eagerly even though I am not the artsy kind. We stayed at the library for a good long time afterward and read at least 100 books. We noted that this library has the finest collection of kids' books. And they are categorized according to topic. I told my mom I wanted to read about trucks (just for something new), and there they all were! easy. didn't even have to search through the card catalogue. After we read and read some more, we visited the family center; it is well-stocked with puzzles and huge soft blocks. I met a nice family and together we stacked blocks, knocked them over, stacked, knocked them over . . .

It was a dream come true. until I had to leave. My only disappointment was that I did not see George Bush at the library. maybe next time.

This photo was taken outside in the garden where there is a statue of Laura Bush reading.

Tomorrow we are taking my dad to the library so he can see why I love it so much. And we will present to my dad our case for paying $100 to have out-of-district membership. There is no better investment.

ice cream factory

Today we attended the ice cream workshop at Gorgeous Millie. Or, as I told my dad, I went to the ice cream factory. I had a grand time making the ice cream and an even better time playing. As usual, I was able to earn some one-on-one time with the instructor so I could tell her about my favorite flavor. She  had a multi-color set of measuring cups so it was important for her to know that my dad's favorite color is blue (probably not true) and that my best color is orange (also not entirely true). After the ice cream was ready, there were a variety of toppings to sprinkle on my sundae.

Here is a photo of me enjoying the fruits of my labor. Though I once loved ice cream more than anything, I am not terribly interested in it anymore. My mom once bought a less good flavor of Ben and Jerry's and that ruined my life. My mom loved the ice cream today. very creamy, she said.

When we got home, I had no interest in napping. But I had a raging sweet tooth so we had to make peanut butter cookies. Then I ruined my dinner because I ate 1/4 jar of organic (unsweetened) peanut butter - straight out of the jar.

more goodbyes

Today was the final day of the Gorgeous Millie summer term. Luckily for me, I will be attending a birthday party there tomorrow, another later in the summer, and we have signed up for an ice cream workshop on Tuesday. We already know how to make ice cream but it is an excuse to prolong the impending arrival of countless empty days.

We are scrambling to make some meaningful plans for August. We have our Monday playdates. Our week will now include a trip to story/craft time at the Laura Bush library. We have some other invitations that we need to accept. and quick! We also need to start resetting my internal clock so I can become a student who gets up early five mornings a week.

This photo is of me and the new love of my life. She was in my preschool class and she is the one who talked us into joining Gorgeous Millie (best decision ever). We both love puzzles and reading. We also like to hold hands.

You might wonder why I am wearing my pajamas - especially when I don't even sleep in them! Today was a special "pancakes and pajamas" party. And we got an e-mail late last night that there would also be treats from the Cupcake Bar.

This is what cupcake envy looks like. It did not matter that my mom did not restrict me to one cupcake and she let me pick the ones I wanted (one at a time, of course). I have an affinity for pink frosting (or butter, as I call it). But still I could not help but long for whatever cupcakes each of my friends had. Can I have a white one? I need a chocolate one. They were all deliciously moist cupcakes and somehow I managed to choke down four of them. My mom did too.

baking

This morning we woke up and baked banana bread. It isn't really baking weather but we turned the AC way cold and ignored the summer.

As usual, my job was to stir. The key to making the best and biggest loaf is not stirring very much (and always always always stir by hand but this rule applies to all baking). We put blueberries in our bread; I know when the stirring is done when all of the berries are hiding.

I could share my recipe, but I won't. My mom has recently but reluctantly shared her best recipes with Trinity: quiche, potato cheddar soup, and baked mashed potatoes.

After the loaf is tucked safely in the oven, my mom lets me lick the spatula. I would rather just eat the entire loaf raw.