Moving Forward...

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day. My father-in-law barbecued, so that kept us entertained most of the day.

Not much is new here. My followup appointment yesterday with my optometrist was encouraging. As you may recall, I went last week for an eye exam and he said my corneas looked very "rough" - usually a sign of very dry eyes. That was news to me, but I followed his directions and used the better over-the-counter eye drops made for severe dry eyes (Systane, TheraTears) and wore glasses only. He said my right eye is almost completely healed and my left looks much better. He says to continue with the glasses/eye drops for a few more days and go back on Friday. Although he didn't come right out and say it, I'm cautiously optimistic that I may be able to return to wearing contact lenses (although hopefully a different brand). I don't do well with glasses.

I received my blood test results in the mail this afternoon. The doctor who performed my physical last week said she'd call if there was anything suspicious; otherwise, she'd send a letter. My total cholesterol is up a bit. It's still the high end of normal though. I've not been exercising like I should, but I do eat a low fat diet (thanks to Weight Watchers). The Prevacid seems to be working on my acid reflux. She gave me an 8 week supply of samples. If it's cleared up by then, then I don't need to go back for another year ... unless I get sick, of course.

I'm gearing up to teach 7th grade CCD (Catholic Religion Class) this year. I teach Son #1's class. We start this Sunday evening.

Son #3 has had an interesting year with the school bus. He started kindergarten on Aug. 20th. We learned four days prior to the start of the school year that Mr. Doug will no longer be the bus driver on this route since he'll now be driving for a different school/age group. Mr. Doug was Son #1's bus driver when we moved to this area in 2001. He drove Son #1 from 1st through 3rd grades, then Son #2 from kindergarten through 3rd grade. (Our elementary school only goes up to 3rd grade. Middle School is 4th - 6th grades.) We'd exchange pleasantries.

He was around when I would waddle to the bus stop when I was pregnant with Son #3, and then got to know Son #3 when we'd go together to meet his big brothers at the bus stop. Son #3 was very much looking forward to riding Mr. Doug's bus. But nope. Instead he got a different bus driver who didn't seem to have great control over the kids on her bus (she'd have to get out of her seat after every stop to get everyone situated). Son #3 said she "yelled a lot."

Last week, we receive a note that they'll be another bus serving our neighborhood instead, effective Tuesday. Well, yesterday - Day #1 for the new (our 3rd) bus - did not get off to a great start. The driver was trying to maneuver a turn and accidentally scratched a parked vehicle. Our neighborhood streets are narrow with ditches on the sides of many roads so I can see where it could be difficult. This occurred at the bus stop two blocks from ours so we got to watch and wait...and wait... Finally my neighbor had enough and decided to drive her kids to school. She had an extra booster seat in her van so Son #3 rode with her (he's friends with her kids).

To the bus driver's credit, she stayed on the bus with the kids and called the authorities, the school board's hot line, etc. per protocol. She did manage to get the kids home in the afternoon despite the pouring rain. Son #3 says she yells, too. One of my concerns is that although the bus is called "206" and has a sign taped to the window to that effect, the bus itself is painted with a different number.

This morning, things went better if you can call it that. I was appalled when the bus pulled up to our stop that there were at least 4 kindergartners (I can tell by the mandatory kindergarten tote bags) STANDING in the aisle by the first row of seats, right behind the driver. Standing. The bus was no where filled to capacity so Son #3 and the kids at his stop had to squeeze past the standing kids to get an available seat. I asked the bus driver why there were kids standing and she said she was "going to assign seats." Fine. But that still didn't answer my question. Did I mention that - not be an age-ist - that she's about 25 years old? If that. How much experience driving a bus - loaded with 5 to 8 year olds - can she have?

The answer? None, apparently. But she did have 7 weeks of training, the assistant principal explained to my neighbor when she called the school to express her concern.

I'm thinking that Son #3 is going to become a car rider. Oy vey!