END-OF-THE-YEAR MADNESS

Dearest Friends,

The final weeks before everyone headed off were a mad flurry! There were all the usual end of the year activities at the school -- the handing out of yearbooks, reading lists and summer assignments -- but with the added trauma of knowing that many of your best buddies and half the teachers would not be coming back.

Austin's teacher, Mrs. Poulin (right), with the help of Ms. Patti, takes the pre-K/K kids on a field trip.  From the looks of it, a rather smelly, noisy field trip.  Perhaps a fertilizer or cement factory?

Alexis' class, with their teacher Mrs. Nybakke

A photo-collage for the yearbook.  With a school this small, you could afford to give each child lots of space!

Lexi's official yearbook photo. Dig those ginormous earrings!

Summer assignments from Lexi's teacher, and then she has the nerve to say "RELAX"? I hope you can read the cartoon at the bottom (click on image to enlarge). Quite humorous, considering how everyone reads books now.

Then, of course, there were the going away parties for all those who were leaving for good. There were preparations to be made for our unexpected housing move; arrangements to be made with our staff; plans to be made for the Girl Scout troop that another mother and I had decided to start, and for which uniforms, books and badges needed to be purchased in the States; advice to be gathered from all the home-leave veterans, covering everything from what we should pack (Nothing! Take empty, lightweight rolling duffles!), to what we should bring back with us, and which airlines and routes were best. I had to finalize arrangements for the Disney trip and meeting up with my sister; change plans for meeting up with my hubby, and all our other friends and relatives, to allow more time in Odessa.  It looked like Theda would be needing our assistance, since John's father was on the verge of getting kicked out of rehab for refusing to cooperate with any of the therapists, in which case their house needed to be made wheelchair accessible, and we'd need to bring in some help for his poor mom.  Whew! We were exhausted before we ever left home!

The biggest Hash of the year -- the one that ended up at the river -- where all the kids and dads had a blast, and most of the moms stood on the banks, keeping an eye out for snakes and yelling "Whatever you do, don't get that water in your mouth or ears!" (deadly parasites, you know)  You can see how much attention they paid to us.