Ree. Dic. U. Lus.

Hayley's middle school is six minutes away. Three miles. Long enough to mandate a bus, right?

Well, it would have been in the olden days.

But those darned buses are just too expensive to run. The district can't afford it anymore, so they hefted the cost onto the parents.

Thoughtfully, they presented those parents with a choice:

Fork over $575 for a year of bus transportation for your kid ----- or ------ don't have bus transportation at all. 

And it wasn't an individual decision. The majority of the parents had to agree to pay for bus privileges. Naturally, most parents opted not to pay.

The school district axed the buses.

Here's what they didn't axe:

Long, long, long, long (and longer) lines of traffic.

Red lights.

Minimal parking.

Poor access to the school.

Angry parents.

Bored adolescents.

Wasted gas.

Wasted money on said gas.

Millions of pounds of CO2 released into the atmosphere.

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Emma's fifth grade class has 35 students. 

Her classroom is so jam packed with desks that there's barely enough room to walk between desks.

Floor space for circle time has been dismissed.

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Hayley's middle school classes have 45 kids!

Well, all except one: gym.

That one has 60.

Yes, you read that correctly. Sixty. 6-0.

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Thank the good Lord that my daughters are intelligent and choose to pay attention in class. And thank Him even more that I am able to stay at home and have the opportunity to supplement their education.

They're gonna need it.

For a girl who hates veggies...

I could live on zucchini bread alone.

I'm pretty sure the streets of Heaven are made of this stuff.

I adore my mother-in-law's recipe, but couldn't find it yesterday so I opted for one on AllRecipes.com. (http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/moms-zucchini-bread/Detail.aspx)  I added 2 T. of wheatgerm and substituted half the oil with applesauce. It's now even healthier.

What's not to love?

Next time, though, I'll slip in some whole wheat flour. And I'd really like to work on a sugar substitute.

I can't stand Splenda, so that's out. Stevia's good, but it's not a 1:1 ratio and I don't know what'll happen with the chemistry of the bread if I don't have the same numerical amount of sugar.

Any delicious thoughts on that one?

My tummy is now very full and I still have half a slice of the Heaven Bread here in front of me, begging to be eaten. Can I resist?

Success!

The First Day of School (I capitalized that since it's just as important as any ol' holiday) was successful on all accounts!

Hayley jumped in the car with joy when I picked her up. She chattered on about how cool her teachers are and how much she likes her classes. And just as I promised she would, she made a friend right away. I now know more about that friend than I do any of her classes! LOL

Emma is equally thrilled with her teacher, Mrs. H. She's already comfortable in class and refers to her classmates as her "friends". One of the girls is even moving to the street perpendicular to ours in two weeks. How cool is that! Em will finally have a friend in the neighborhood!

Now that's she at the top of the food chain, a Fifth Grader, Emma gets to learn a new instrument! She's chosen the flute. Okay by me. At least it'll be way smaller than her violin that's constantly sitting in various chairs around the house waiting to be sat upon. :)

Budget cuts have forced the music program to provide only one lesson a week. Doesn't seem quite worth it to me to pay $25/mo to rent an instrument for one (large) group lesson.

Hayley learned to play the trumpet when she was in fifth grade, but they had lessons three times a week. Even then, it was pathetic how little they learned by the end of the year.

Emma's waited so patiently for so long that I'm certainly not going to tell her she can't play. We'll just see how it goes and chalk up the rental fees to the quickly lengthening list of child-related expenses.

My free hours of blessed silence were equally successful...

I slept.

Today = A brand new box of Crayolas

Rife with possibility. Anything can be created. Anything can happen.

My wonderful and much-loved daughters are back at school. Thank the good Lord, we somehow made it through another summer. And I have survived, with only a couple gray hairs to show for it.

Now I sit here in the beautiful silence bathing in the possibilities of the day. Should I write? Or sleep? Take a long, long shower? (Don't call the San Diego water police on me, though!)

What about a pastry and coffee at Starbucks? Or perusing at the mall? Oooh! I could make some cards and listen to an audio book!

Maybe all of the above? Well, I only have 5 hours left so I'm going to have to make a choice...

Sleep sounds really, really good.

Considering that both girls slept with me in bed last night. Little sleep was had on my part.

Maybe a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and a few minutes of the Today Show will help me decide.

Hope all of you are having a day as wonderful and promising as mine!

Hip Hip Hooray! The start of another school year!

Hayley and Emma donned their extra cranky hats today since it's the last day of summer vacation.

But we made it a fun day anyway with swimming at the local pool and ice cream from Rite-Aid. Back at home, I let them veg in front of the tv (a huge treat since they don't usually get to watch tv during the day). They finished watching the ancient Michael Keaton/Gina Davis movie Beetlejuice, then played a couple rounds of Settlers of Catan.

Dinner, showers and reading completed our day. They're now tucked safely (if not happily) into bed.

Nonetheless, backpacks are filled, lunches prepped, French toast breakfast ingredients collected, new sneakers lined at the front door like little soldiers and first day of school clothes are quietly waiting on the tops of their dressers.

Off to bed for me in just a few minutes. Getting the kids up and out early means getting myself up and out early as well.

Operator? May I please have a 6am wake-up call?

I don't even mind the early rising since I will be privileged to have seven bicker-free hours all to myself!

***Update Update Update***

I'd barely finished typing this post when Emma came downstairs telling me that she's worried about her sissy. Awww! Hayley was sitting on the balcony sobbing. Poor angel isn't so nervous about starting a new school, but is just missing her friends from WA. My heart is breaking for her. I think I should staple a sign to my forehead: "World's Worst Mommy".

At any rate, both girls have cuddled up in my bed and hopefully, prayerfully, they'll fall asleep soon.