My children are brilliant

Where can I brag about them, if not in my blog?

We had two Parent-Teacher conferences tonight.

Our kindergarten is excelling, but I didn't need a conference to tell me that. She amazes me every day. She is reading very well and she loves it. I hope she always does.

Our 4th grader had a "Student Led" conference. She had to tell us all her grades and whether she was satisfied with each one. She was happy with all her A's & said she had earned them by "doing her best". She was unhappy with her one B (an 89!) & said it was b/c she was "just not good at science". She is a hard worker & I am pretty proud of her.

I am a happy mom today.

Annie, Jr.

Tonight the girls & I went to see Annie Jr. at Stage Door (http://www.thestagedoorinc.org/) in Yukon. It was fabulous. The 11 yo girl who played Annie was just terrific. I have to put in a plug for Joel & Luke S as well. They come from a family of great entertainers. It is clear that they love what they are doing and they sure are fun to watch.

The girls came out doing their "invitations" (Mattie's word for "imitations") of the orphan girl who says, "Oh my goodness". I was trying to get Sarah to act like Rooster's girlfriend (Rooster is the bad guy), but she said, "Why would I want to do that?" Why indeed.

It was a fun evening and now I'm even more behind on the things I was supposed to get done this week. Oh well. There's always Tomorrow. I love ya, Tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

While the hurricane was pounding the Gulf Region, we had our own little set of troubles. A car that wouldn't run (we got it home just before it died for good) and a truck that ran, but not great, not trustworthy at all.

So we fumed, and we prayed. And we prayed some more. And we calculated. And we took the car to the shop. And DH looked at newer trucks. And we budgeted. And we prayed some more. And we fretted that the mechanic was taking so long to find the problem with the car. And DH car shopped.

And last Tuesday, we sold our car to the mechanic, drove our broken down truck to the car lot (http://www.diffee.com/) and we left the car lot in a 2005 Ford Focus. We didn't pick up the Ford F-150 until Thursday.

On Saturday, while thousands of people were still waiting to be evacuated from New Orleans, and thousands of others were just getting back into their neighborhoods to survey the damage, we drove 400 miles to spend our weekend near DH's grandmother, who is turning 90 years old.

On Sunday, we attended the birthday party, and witnessed said grandmother riding on the back of a motorcycle, having just proclaimed, "You never know what I might be capable of."

May we all learn yet another lesson from this wise grandmother. Grandma E., we all love you! Happy birthday!!!

What can I say?

That hasn't already been said about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation?

Nothing at all.

I've given my cash donation, and it seems puny in light of the need.

So tonight the girls & I went to a shelter. At least it's a wannabe shelter. A local church has given their building to be used for that purpose. Tonight we went and sorted clothing for a couple hours. Just a small act. Hopefully it will benefit someone in need.

I know it helped us to get our minds off our own troubles and onto those who are really in trouble.

What will tomorrow bring?