“I want to stuff sand through a fat hourglass and rip the pages from the calendar”

At this point in August I think most teachers would long for the opposite…a narrow opening for the sand to trickle through and those calendar pages lingering on for longer than 24 hours …

I feel that way about these days at my desk as I try to puzzle through the schedule and patch up all the summer doings….
This will be my last ( I’m fairly certain) opening of school and I’m not ready for that….
well, maybe I am, but not today.

This really IS the last big project! Absolutley.

We talked about schools in generally, families and how our children are navigating through their own lives. It heartened me to tackle the rest of this week. For those of us in the Northeast,  the February break seems more a necessity than the luxury it might appear. It always catches up with us in June- those of you who work through until April have an earlier end of year. However, Feb seems a particularly dismal time of year, and everyone- even parents- welcomes the break with a sigh of relief and a deep breath! Three more days. ( and this week  preceding break seems to be always peppered with the added spice of valentine’s day….. definitely a wild day in elementary school.)

On a personal note, we have just about completed our stark stripping away of ourselves in our home to peel away the personal and leave the bones for the buyers we hope will flock to purchase our well loved home. it will officially go on the market within the next week. We have painted, sanded, polished, stored, tossed and purchased to make the house as appealing as possible. Hopefully the right family will happen along quickly and appreciate the house for its qualities and once again create a warm and cozy home.

I needed spring today. I arrived at school at 7:00 to meet the custodian sprinkling sand on the accumulating snow. “We have a real problem. We have a water break in the recess area.” I headed into the office, put down my bag, put on my baseball cap and headed out again. Sure enough, we had a bubbling spring just under Florida on the playground map. Our own Bermuda triangle!

Soon the water dept was there shaking their heads and muttering. “Yup, you got a break.”

The Grounds guy talked to the Super  and they determined to have us stay in school for the duration. Meanwhile snow is collecting… parents are calling…”Is afternoon k cancelled? Will there be early dismissal? Is there school tomorrow? How are the roads?” (To the last one- seriously? how would we know? We’re stuck here at school!)

We had a ten minute warning for the water shut off. When they were about to shut off the water I announced that the bathrooms would be closed for a short time. If a student had a bathroom emergency they should go the nurse’s office. I dropped rapidly in the nurse’s book of favorites when ten kids immediately showed up at her door. Pardon me teachers- I am usually patient and so loving and supportive… BUT WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??? they just had ten minutes. How many’emergencies’ can you have in one minute?

Well-  you know what happens next. The first grader with a nervous stomach… WARNING!!!! do not read further if you have never been in a primary class-has an emergency of the #2 type all over one of the 2 bathrooms in the nurse’s office. Of course, she cannot flush. Enter our heroic custodian. One hour later I get a frantic call…. the bathroom ‘emergencies’ have accumulated a cesspool of ill health and unsanitary condition.

Now I personally escort those few who cannot wait to the various bathrooms, repeating over and over, “Do NOT flush.” Give them a squirt of the gallon size hand sanitizer I am carrying and move on to the next. “Do NOT flush.” Do not FLush” I may be saying it tonight in my sleep.

When the water was just about to come on we had directions to turn on all the cold water faucets to lessen the gurgling and spurting of our antique plumbing system. The clogging sink in the adult bathroom starts to overflow onto the floor.

The cafeteria manager finds me to tell me the bad news that the pizza delivery isn’t here. It’s 11:00. First and second graders come to lunch at 11:05!!! More panic.

We call Papa and they try to find the delivery guy. As I’m mentally trying to rearrange recess and lunch a cheer goes up as the pizza arrives.  The toilets are flushing…. the faucets are running… we have survived!

Today’s Slice WILL be about losing my beloved hydrangea border. We are in the process of selling our lovely house, home for 22 years. I’ve cleaned, tossed, organized, reorganized and  visualized. Yesterday the Stager visited. I said, “Be brutal. Be blunt. Tell me the truth.”

We poked our heads into the downstairs bath. She looked down at her shoes. I knew the truth before she – reluctantly, to her credit- nodded, “I think you need to take down the border.”

“I knew it,” I whined,”too many hydrangea.”

To make matters worse, she advised that I lose the floral border I love in the family room. “What if they only have blue furniture?”

Looks like I’ll be dragging the bucket of hot water and vinegar and the ladder into the bathroom this weekend and I’ll watch the blossoms curl onto the floor. Hope it’s worth it!

We’ve been savoring the warm ripe tomatoes with sliced mozzarella olive oil and basil from the garden. My brother and sister-in-law just headed back to California today. Bob’s been giving me lessons- at our senior ages, still the big brother- in the right olive oil, among many other things. I happened to choose light oil last time I stood in front of the ever-growing  varieties of oil. For luscious snacks like this, I should have cold pressed extra virgin oil! Who knew? The extra virgin means it comes first from the press. My sub standard light may have been a third or fourth press.. and all the flavor squeezed out already…..

So when I head to Market Basket this week I head for the olive oils and pick a dark green extra virgin cold pressed. Sounds like something at Starbucks. Maybe if I watched more cooking shows I’d know.

We had a great visit. Lobster and leftover lobster, mussels, lasagna… we ate like kings and finished off today with a lobster roll and mussels at the Dolphin. We had many destinations in mind, but in the end spent most of our time over coffee cups or wine glasses listening to family stories.

Tonight – the gym, and tomorrow- back to the salad bowl!

We all tromped down to the beach around 10:30 while the men fished and we chatted as the full moon lit the water. It was an incredible moon and one I’ll remember for a while. Friday we kayaked around the salt pond and spent some time on the beach. I always find my imagination runs wild and I concoct life stories for those around us.  I was entertained by the antics of the extended family camped out in front of us. The in- laws, the out-laws, the quiet woman, the chatty woman, the man who hid out in the tent……….

Friday we hiked the dunes and biked to the outer lighthouse. We stopped our bikes in the middle of the biggest hill on the island and walked the sacred labyrinth someone had carefully constructed. The view was incredible. We had a 360 view of the island, the water and Point Judith twelve miles away. We had a quiet interlude of walking with the most awesome view.  I sent my silent gratitude to whoever constructed and maintains that tiny piece of land.

The, off to the crest of the hill with much huffing and puffing. We enjoyed the rest of our day practicing for retirement – sitting and relaxing!