Last night I got a call from my son’s 2nd grade teacher, asking for a parent volunteer to come in this morning and help the kids make apple turnovers. I was just complaining to a friend the other day that I really want to help out in his classroom, and I’ve offered on several occasions, but I haven’t been contacted yet. So when I got the call, I jumped at the chance.
Of course, at nine o’clock at night, jumping at the chance involved a last-minute scramble for child-care and a quick rearrange of my plans for today.
‘Cause, have I mentioned the brunch I’m hosting tomorrow for TWENTY-FIVE women from my church? Suffice it to say, I had a few things on my agenda this morning. Things that did not involve a two-hour stint at my son’s school as the Turnover Lady.
But it was important to my son and to me that I be there. So we worked out the legistics.
Isn’t "legistics" a valid word? My spell checker doesn’t like it, and I can’t even find it at dictionary.com. Hmph.
So anyway. We worked out the details. There, take that Mr. Spell Check.
I had a great time, and my son was so excited to have me there. It’s always nice to be a fly on the wall, so to speak, in your child’s school and see the inner workings. So far I’ve always been pleased. This year he is blessed to have a wonderful teacher who has the experience of thirty years in the teaching profession but hasn’t yet begun to get burned out. You can see that she loves what she does, and the kids obviously adore her.
But one thing really stuck out at me while I was there, and that was the attire of the teachers. In stark contrast to the overdressed lady at the orthodontist office the other day, what I witnessed today was just as shocking to me, and yet at the other end of the wardrobe spectrum.
I saw more flip flops, blue jeans, and message t-shirts than I’ve seen in one place since I went to that Steve Miller Band concert back in college. And I’m not talking about the students. In fact, I daresay the students were better dressed than the teachers. When I was substitute teaching ten years ago, I know they weren’t dressing like this. And it’s not like this is a lower socio-economic area either. I knew that the teaching profession had gone casual in its dress code, and I’m glad for teachers to be comfortable, but at some point there’s a lack of respect for the position. And I daresay they’ve crossed that line.
I know, I know, enough with the judging of other people’s wardrobe choices this week. I probably ought to take a good look at the log in my eye. But I really was caught off guard by this.
Anyway, after I finished being Turnover Lady, I morphed back into Hostess-With-The-Mostest and ran to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute ingredients for the strata I’m making for tomorrow.
Then on my way to pick up my daughter at preschool, I noticed the McDonalds in the grocery store parking lot. Usually Mickey-D’s doesn’t appeal to me all that much, but I was starving, and for some reason old Ronald McDonald was calling my name. So I thought to myself, I’ll just pick up a Happy Meal for the baby so I don’t have to mess up the kitchen fixing her lunch. (C ate at school today — Oh, Lunch Bunch, How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.)
I got the Happy Meal for R and a cheeseburger for myself, paid the friendly clerk, and went on about my merry way. The fries were hot and fresh and salty and oh-so-yummy. (Shhhh. Don’t tell Dr. Weil.) The Coke was the perfect ratio of high fructose syrup and carbonation (Dr. Weil has fainted dead away by now). Coke lovers among us, have you noticed that there’s nothing quite like a McDonald’s Coca-Cola? How is it so much better than it is anywhere else??
When I reached the first stop-light, I unwrapped my cheeseburger, smiling in anticipation. I wiped the drool off my chin and took a bite.
It was a most disappointing bite. It was room temperature. It was dry. The cheese wasn’t even melted. It looked and tasted like it had been sitting around since yesterday. And it very well might have been, as this was only 11:30 in the morning. Am I mistaken, or do they not even serve their lunch menu until 11AM? I can’t imagine that a burger made within the last 30 minutes could be so stale and dissatisfactory.
I took another bite, for some reason expecting it to be better than the first. It was not.
Before I was tempted to finish it, I put it back in the bag, rolled the top down, and then as an added measure of insurance, I squeezed it and mashed it up until it no longer resembled a cheeseburger. Which is a good thing, because sure enough, a couple minutes later, I found myself reaching for the demolished cheeseburger, forgetting momentarily about its demise.
Could I possibly use more commas in one sentence?
At any rate, I would have probably finished the thing had I not killed it when I had the chance.
So after my unfortunate McDonalds experience, I returned home to unload groceries, arrange flowers, prepare a strata, set the table, and complete all the last minute household tasks that are required when one is hosting an event in one’s home.
And that is where I am at this very moment.
But I have one more thing to add. I’m going to my first Silpada party tonight. Yes, with an event in the morning. But I really need want a night out. (Hosting a brunch does not count., even if Hubs is taking the kids far far away for a couple of hours.) So I’m going to try to be all ready for tomorrow when I leave for the party tonight so I’m not up until 1am cleaning bathrooms and arranging flowers. Not that I would ever procrastinate such important tasks until the last minute like that.
Anyway, for those of you who don’t know and are too lazy to click on the link, Silpada is a company that sells their merchandise through home parties like Pampered Chef and Tupperware. Except it’s jewelry and not kitchen tools. And from what I understand, it’s not cheap jewelry either. At least, the prices aren’t cheap. I can’t speak to the quality of the products, although I’ll be sure to let you know tomorrow.
So my question to you is this. Can you or should you or do you justify spending money on pricey jewelry for yourself for no good reason? Or do you usually go to such an event prepared only to purchase Christmas gifts for women in your life? Or maybe you should look for a Christmas gift for yourself and make life easier on your husband buy purchasing it and giving it to him to give to you on December 25th.
And by "you" I really mean "me". In case you didn’t figure that out already.
Also. I’m not proof-reading. No time. So I apologize in advance for any typos or poorly formed sentences.
19 Responses
Set a budget, if you find something you love within the budget buy it. You will have occasion to wear it while hosting the brunch tomorrow. If you don’t find something you love at the very least you have had a night out with your friends and had fun “window shopping.”
Maaan! I wanted to be Debby the Human Spellchecker! You guys are too fast! I think the teachers at my kids’ school must have some kind of dress code, because they always look nicely put together.
Well, evidently I’m the onlyperson on EARTH who doesn’t know that legistics is logistics. Which explains why when I googled it, it said to me, “Do you mean logistics?” And I was thinking to myself, NO. I know logistics. I want legistics. Now as I think about it, that IS what I meant. Why do people pronounce it legistics???
Whatever.
Nicole, I did wonder if it was a casual Friday thing. I mean they were SO underdressed. When I taught eleventy-billion years ago, there was a pretty strict dress code, but it was private Christian school, and I expect they do have a stricter code than public.
And can I say that I cannot believe this rambly post that would bore a journal to tears ellicted this many comments. Or it is illicit?
Time to go to my party. Buh-Bye.
(I think it is “logistics”) 🙂
You are Beeeeesy seestah!! 🙂 Sounds like lots of fun, the Turnover thing… and I hate it when i get a dud cheeseburger!
Darn, someone beat to telling you it’s “logistics.” I wanted to be all proofy.
I am so sorry to hear about your cheeseburger. It breaks my heart. You go to all the trouble to be bad and it doesn’t pan out. And I have to agree with you re the Cokes at McDonald’s. Also good? Cokes in glass bottles.
I personally never buy for myself at those parties, but jewelry doesn’t do much for me. I suppose if there was something I felt I couldn’t live without, I would buy it and have hubby give it to me for Christmas.
boring, no?
If I go with the intention to buy someone a gift, I sometimes realize I am buying them something more so I can buy something and less because it’s something they would love.
Does that make sense? If I’m not making sense it’s simply because I keep thinking about the cheeseburger you squashed up. that makes my heart (and my stomach) hurt.
Have fun tonight and good luck tomorrow!
Can I just tell you that these comments are cracking me up? When I saw someone else pointed out the spelling for “logistics” I was all disappointed.
About the Coke – yes! I know what you’re talking about. Sorry for the disappointing cheeseburger. Hope you have fun at the party. Christmas is a great reason to buy something if you really like it…I always love making the gift-giving easy for my husband! 🙂 It’s a win-win!
It’s logistics, but who cares. You did a great job juggling stuff today. Apple turnovers–yum!
If I was going to a tupperware party or something like that, I would be much more likely to purchase something than at a jewelry party. I just can’t usually justify the expense for something for myself. I have bought jewelry from 2bellesandabead.com (home made jewelry by another blogger) and it is fantastically made. But with that I feel like I am helping support a regular person-ya know?
And yes, soda pop is way better from a fountain!
Were the teachers dressed more casually b/c it is Friday? At Princess’s school, the teachers wear jeans and school t-shirts on Fridays. But then I have seen them in the middle of the week wearing jeans and sports t-shirts. Maybe it was a special teacher incentive or something. Overall, I would say our teachers down here definitely are more casual than the teachers I had growing up.
So sad about the burger. I had McD’s today too. But I always get the McChicken sandwich–costs a buck and is delicious. And I am a big fan of McD’s Dr. Pepper, so much better than other places for some reason.
It should be legistics – ’cause of all the legwork. I gotta say that makes a lot more sense. 🙂
I love these rambling posts – it seems like the real you. 🙂
I was reading the volunteer handbook for my sons’ school (yes, after 5 years of volunteering there, they finally gave me one) and there was something in there about how the teacher’s wear “comfortable clothes” to make the teaching experience better for everyone. Or something like that. But yes, there are a lot of flip flops, jeans and tshirts. Mostly on Fridays, but yes. Although I do have to say that all the teachers usually wear the school tshirts and not “message shirts”.
Next: McDonald’s does have the best Cokes. A fountain coke on ice is much better than a Coke out of a can, it’s just a fact. And the best way to get a good burger is to special order it – that way they have to make it for you right then (for example – my favorite – Big Mac, no pickles. Always comes out yummy. Yes, I’m a pig.
As for the parties, I don’t usually go to parties where they sell stuff, I’m just not the selling-party-stuff type. I don’t know why, it’s not like some of them don’t have nice things, I know they do.
So, have fun tonight. Have a great weekend and I hope you find something nice for yourself! 🙂
It’s logistics 🙂
Sounds like fun! Good luck with the party!
There is a company called KuKoon that sells clothes at home parties. I learned about it at a festival I went to . Something told me not to do it and that it was expensive stuff. So I opted not to sign up. Although it sounded like fun. I didn’t want to be the one embarrassed when everyone who showed up couldn’t afford the stuff. LOL!
By the way . . . It’s “logistics” HEE HEE
Logistics. 🙂
And yes, I think you should buy what you want. If you leave it to others, you can perhaps be disappointed. I am lucky in that my hubs pays attn but if yours maybe does not pick up on hints, I say buy it.
I have to comment today.
Read this post we wrote about the McDonald’s soda fountains. It will answer all your questions.
https://charadam.blogspot.com/2007/06/mixology.html
Have fun tomorrow at your brunch, sounds yummy.
I also liked how you mashed up the cheeseburger so you would not finish it. That cracked me up!
Ohh, I am very curious about the quality, I’m going to one at the end of October. And you should totally get something for you if it is in the budget.
I too was just thinking about McDonalds. And lunc bunch starts for us on Monday. But perhaps I won’t be headed there after all..
I’ve been to a Silpada event, and the jewelry is lovely, though not necessarily to my taste. Well, some of it is, but…oh geez…does it even matter? lol
For things like this though, I usually talk to hubby, and decide on a spending limit beforehand, and stick to it. Doesn’t matter if I spend on myself or someone else. 🙂
I say go have fun trying it on at least…you might like it. 🙂
You had a really busy day! At least there was lunch bunch. I love the days preschool has it. Las week we even got a bonus with two days of Lunch Bunch. You can get so much more done with an extra two hours. I hope your brunch goes well.