Stuffies, stuff and fluff

Amanda starts school on August 14. She's in 6th grade now, which is amazing. We were playing with her stuffed animals before bed tonight and I recognized so many that had been given to her over the years.

Priscilla, a white fluffy rabbit given to her around Easter from a shop in Granbury while I was on a ladies' retreat. I think she was 5.

Sully, that Monsters Inc. dude. Not very cuddly but very charming. An estranged friend gave that one to her.

Dory, a fish given to her by her uncle-in-law Gerry for her 9th birthday.

Lou, a Jack Russell terrier I gave her one Christmas. Named after her dad's nickname.

Thunderjam, Big J, Little E, Dove (a bear) and Bird (a donkey), and countless others of all shapes and sizes. There is even one in her collection, a small rainbow dinosaur, that I bought from a thrift store my first year in college. I saved it from a recent garage sale. It doesn't have a name. It's just jolly.

And Hartsy, so named for his paws around a big red heart. He's a bear I'd bought her from Walmart for Valentine's Day a long time ago. He's the most popular bear around, and I imagine if she had to save only one from her collection, he would be The Chosen.

The three of us did some school supplies shopping at Target tonight. We figured incorrectly when we totted up how many supplies she already had and we could just fill in the rest. It was still a lot of money. But we bought a lunchbox so cool that all three of us almost got one. Amazingly, Renee' said no, and she rarely says no to a Shopping Self-Indulgence at Target. (This indicates her true level of illness, and we do suspect that her boss gave her pneumonia. But we'll see if she can fight it off.)

I also wrote a real actual paper letter to Amanda's principal to tell him we are taking her out of Spanish Immersion. The commitment of 1st grade thru 5th had been fulfilled, and it wasn't my fault that they decided to tak on another year because her 4th grade teacher was a wash, and her fifth grade teacher had a baby mid-year. Plain and simple, Amanda's had trouble understanding the lessons, and by the time she finally has the instructions straight, everyone else has their classwork done. She always feels left behind, and none of us at home can understand her work enough to help her. My Spanish gets me through spelling words, but that's about it. Her principal has been badgering me to keep her in, but I'm realizing it's for political/admin reasons, certainly not for Amanda's welfare.

Well, I halfway cleaned the kitchen, halfway fed the dog, half put some stuff away. Tomorrow is Thurs and Mander is going to come to work with me. It should be a good day - she has some letters to write, and we'll work on the homework CDs. I think we're meeting up with Beendon for dinner. I need to let her know the winery won't work out because it closes at five. Unless I leave work at 330p, I'd never make 5p. But we can still get together because she is leaving for vacation soon and we're going to Austin this weekend.

It really bugs me that she can just pick up and GO like that. Just goes off, and leaves us here. That's ok, she'll be in the car with a toddler.