Aaaahhh . . .

So much to do and so little time.  T minus 2 days before we leave for St. Louis and I'm probably more ill prepared than I've ever been in the past. Part of me just doesn't want to go and the other part is really looking forward to seeing my St. Louis friends, savoring a pumpkin muffin from the St. Louis Bread Company (aka Panera), and breathing in some cool, crisp Fall weather.  But the laundry and packing that needs to be done in a short time frame has kicked the stress level up a notch.  If only that thing called a "job" didn't suck up all my time.  But, alas, whenever I feel overwhelmed with too many things to do, I just head over to my friend Christy's blog and she keeps me in check. (Christy is one crazy, busy lady and she still finds time to run marathons.  She's amazing!)

When given the choice of staying or going, Eric elected to not go with us to St. Louis.  It was a difficult call for him because he enjoys seeing Peggy, but in the end, he just couldn't face the three days in the car (each way).  We decided to make the trip over three days instead of the usual two days. It's just getting too much for Jack to tolerate 12+ hour days in the car.  We'll spend more days on the road (6) than in St. Louis (4), but we're hoping it will be a more enjoyable tolerable trip doing it at a slower pace.  We'll see.

Last Sunday, Hilary turned 21 years old.  Seriously, how is it possible that she is 21 years old?! She was just a baby, darnit!

If you recall, when I decided to re-enroll Jack in school, I took the position that I would keep my expectations low.  I have not been disappointed.  The first quarter of school is finished and Jack has received ZERO hours of the OT, speech and life skills/academics set out in his IEP - an IEP that was signed in early August.   At the end of the day, whether or not Jack goes to "school" will have no impact on his future and, for this reason, I try not to get too upset with the lack of compliance by the school district.  But, it's this lack of compliance that caused me walk away from the hassle of it all three years ago.  And, it also comes down to what is right and what is wrong and the actions of the school district are just wrong.  I could file a complaint with the Department of Education, they'd find the school district to be out of compliance with the IEP and mandate that the missed hours be made up.  However, I've been there, done that and you see how much of an impact it had on the school.  At this point, I'm just not sure if I'm ready to play hardball or say WTF.

Adding insult to the injury, I received this in the mail today:

Jack's very first report card.  First of all -- I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Jack is in 7th grade!  I've never met the "Counselor" and I have no idea what "P" means.  "Pass"?  I really didn't need to receive this report card. It contains absolutely no meaningful information and it's just a reality check that makes me sad. Pfft...

Anyway .... I'll do my best to update our travels to St. Louis. Thanks for checking in.