Season's end

Summer is officially over in our house -- Megan started school again today. She put on her new outfit and shiny new black shoes this morning, packed her lunch and away we went. Even though she only attended this school for a couple of weeks in June, within five minutes of us walking into the school someone recognized her and seemed happy to see her. She had a great time, including going out to play in the rain without her nice new raincoat (sigh) and hanging around with the two boys she met in June who are just as crazy about Pokemon as she is.

We had a bit of drama this afternoon when I went to meet Megan after school. Some parents at the school who were tired of driving and carpooling up to North Vancouver twice a day decided to pool their resources and hire a school bus. We got emails with the schedule, assuring us that our kids could ride whenever they liked on a pay per ride basis. Today when I dropped her off, I spoke to the teacher responsible for collecting bus money and seeing that the bus kids got on the bus and mentioned which stop Megan would be getting off at. Well, I showed up at the bus stop and there was no Megan. The bus drove right past me without stopping, but at that time I wasn't sure that it was the right bus, and when fifteen minutes had gone by since the appointed bus stopping time and I had no idea where my kid was, I went into panic mode. I am so glad that I remembered the name of the bus company, because I was able to have Jeff look up their phone number, and they helped me find the bus driver and reunite me with my kid. Obviously there are a few snags to be worked out in this "ride when you want to" system - the driver had no idea anyone wanted to get off at the stop we chose, because apparently for the past week (when Megan was not in school so she could enjoy more time with our visitors) nobody has been using the stop. Hopefully things will go more smoothly from here.

While Megan was out I put my time to good use calling around to local preschools to find out who has space and would be a good fit for Calum. We have found one place that seems promising and have an appointment to check it out on Thursday morning! Calum's so excited, he wants to go to his school right now. When I explained that we need to go and visit and see if we like it, he insisted that "We like it already, Mommy!" I am dizzy at the prospect of two precious hours to myself four days a week... I honestly won't know what to do with myself until I get used to having regular time alone for the first time in nine years.

Calum's growing up so fast now. He slept in his very own new Big Boy bed for the first time on Saturday. We haven't gotten rid of the little toddler bed in our room yet, but he is very comfortable with this transition which seems like such a big deal to me.

We're off to visit friends in Seattle tomorrow and Wednesday, which should give us a nice break in the middle of yet another of Jeff's insane work weeks. He expects to leave the office "around midnight" tonight. Sigh.