Life is not fair.

Today my life was fair

....or it was spent at the fair,
I should say.
This week is our county fair
and I was asked to go help with the judging
of all that stuff in the buildings.
You know what stuff
I am talking about:

Artwork.
Quilts.
Jams.
Pickles.
Cakes.
Purses made out of turtle shells
(I am not kidding).
Embroidered toilet paper
(again, not kidding).

I didn't actually help with the judging.
The judges did the judging (how appropriate);
I helped with the paperwork and the displaying
and all that other stuff. I would probably still
be there helping right now if I hadn't had to leave to
get back to the kiddos so my father could leave and take
my drugged up mother to the doctor.
There was a lot left to do when I peeled out.

It was a very interesting morning.
I guess I enjoyed it.
It's just one of those things that isn't like a
woo-hoo party exciting time,
but you can enjoy it just because it's people working
together, kind of a community service sort of thing.
And probably the best part of it (for me)

was that school was being done

back here on the homestead
and I wasn't the one having to do it.
That is a great thrill for me.
A substitute teacher.
(My dad)


I think the kids like it too.
Haven't gotten to talk to my dad yet.
He ran out the door before I even got in it.
Hope that's because he was in a hurry

and not a sign of how the morning went for them.


I'm not trying to have a bad attitude about school
or act like I am doing anything anybody else isn't doing.
I'm sure every other homeschooling mom
knows what I am talking about.
It's just getting to that point
where we need a break.
But don't worry.
A break is coming.
This is week #8 of school.
We are doing the Quarterly thing this year,
which means after every nine weeks of school
we will get a break.
So one more week after this one
and we will have a week's break!
I think I am way more excited about it than the kids.
I two possible field trips are lining up for us.
I really need to do more field trips,
more fun stuff.


In other news:
Sweet T scored his first goals in soccer on Saturday.
He was so proud of himself. It's like he understands,
after dancing around that first game, what he needs
to do. And I think he will be the type to really
feed off of the cheers of the spectators.
You could just see his ego inflate at the sound
of the applause and people calling out his name.
We've got to get that skinny boy
some smaller shorts though.
He kept having to hike them up
as he ran down the field.
What can I say?
We seem to have a constant struggle with our
skinny boys and finding pants
that will stay up on them.
We are entering that time of year that I hate
in regards to clothing my boys.
Summer is great because I can easily find shorts
to fit them. It's this child who
needs a 10 or 12 in length and a 5 or 6 in the waist
that drives me crazy.
People tell me to get the slim pants,
like I wouldn't have thought of that.
Even the slim pants are not slim enough.
My brother had this same problem.
And I was always a skinny twig growing up too.
My, how things change.
Neither my brother or I have been
called skinny in recent days.

Speaking of my brother,
I got to go see him perform at a local restaurant
on Saturday night. Lloyd Dobbler had some NRA event
that night so I didn't have "a date" to go.
But my lovely ol' wonderful aunt from The Big City
decided to come and go so she and I went together.
She was my date.
We had a good time.
We ended up joining the other brother and his friends
anyway, but I kind of wish we hadn't. We didn't get
much of a chance to talk. I always feel like I never
get enough time to visit with that aunt.
She is such a joy to be with.
I always say that her visits are like
a visit from Santa Clause
--because who isn't happy
to see Santa Clause?
That's kind of the
reaction we have to her
coming, the same as you
would have to a visit
from Santa.
Especially my kids.
They get very excited
at the news of her visiting.
And she is the best
person with kids
--she just talks to them
differently than anyone else does
and they are drawn to her like a magnet.
We could sing
"you better not pout, you better not cry,
you better not shout, I'm telling you why,
your favorite aunt is coming to town..."
(did I get those lyrics right? Is it "shout"?)
And it's always like a celebration when she shows up.
We could set up a thing in the mall for people to come
and have their picture taken with her.
I wonder if she could drive reindeer.
I did see an old-fashioned wagon for sale
at the fair today.

Song-writing Brother
did a good job with his songs Saturday night.
It's not the kind of gig he loves, but it's one of those
things you do to put yourself out there. He prefers the
coffee shops, and that really is a better place to see him
if you are actually interested in hearing him and his work.
But he just improves all the time
and I expect to hear about somebody
buying his songs anytime now.

He has some very marketable stuff.

Much more marketable than, say,
a purse made out of
a large turtle shell.