school rules

you can't have a school without rules.
orie's pertend school is no different.

1. hands are for helping not hurting
2. no stealing unles* the teacher says so
3. just come in here if you are in my class
4. do what the teacher says
5. make evrything* fair
6. have fun!!

* huge props for only 2 misspelled words!!

my personal favorite is rule 2.  because if the teacher says so, stealing is a-okay.

i'm a roadie

hi.  my name is ashley.  i am a roadie.

this is what a roadie does.



as with most facets of my life, this one also comes with a funny story.
one of my own making.

i think i have made known the fact that i often overload. who knew that could happen on a tuesday night? last tuesday night, to be exact.

bradley dance class at 4.
edventure's hallowonka at 5:30.
kids head home with the other ashley lindler.
stop by first citizens customer appreciation oyster roast.
arrive VERY fashionably late (as in an hour & half late) at philharmonic meet & greet with other roadies.

did i mention it was raining?

the first bit of the night went great.  kids had fun.  sent them home with SIL (the other ashley lindler). drop in to see kevin. head on to koger center.

i find a park in a garage. they don't take plastic & i have one cash dollar to my name. i barter with the attendant.  well, i guess not barter.  i make fun of my ignorance & he feels sorry for me, therefor allowing me to enter for the cool price of $1.

whew. passed go.
now, on to meet the philharmonic.

i run across the street & go into the closest door i find. people are dressed in tights. i walk upstairs. more tights. finally, i grab a man in tights, ask him where the philharmonic might be, and he gives me a confused look telling me he is with the columbia city ballet & they are rehearsing for the upcoming performance of dracula (ballet with a bite).

ugh. i walk back out into the rain. go into the next open door i find. it is the USC school of music. i know this because while walking around each floor, all 4 or 5 of them, i found professor's offices, students practicing, a performance in progress... but no philharmonic or new audience roadshow. my attempts to get info from students came back null & void. all i received were shrugs.

i walk back outside into the rain.  again.  circle the kroger center.  walk across the street.  find parking garage attendant (who thinks i am a complete idiot to begin with, so why not solidify my case) & ask him where the philharmonic might be.  he has no clue.

this is when a blackberry would come in handy.   if i could just read the email sent telling where the roadshow was meeting.

call the other ashley lindler.  hear sugared up, screaming kids in background.  ignore that & pray they will be on passed out in bed by the time i return home.  get her to pull up my email.

the other ashley lindler:  it says you are meeting at the school of music at the koger center.

me:  yeah.  the one i just spent 30 minutes wandering through.  is there no more information?

the other ashley lindler:  no.  just that someone will meet you at the front door to show you where to go.

me:  that is what i get for being fashionably (now 2 hours) late, i guess.

never one to give up trying (actually, that is not true. i do tend to be a quitter, but just not on this particular endeavor) i walk back into the school of music, close my eyes, turn around 20 times & open the first door before me when i open my eyes again.

(cue the soundtrack of sopranos singing - played during all great revelations)

golden.  there they are.  the roadies.  the philharmonic.
i am tremendously late.  i am waterlogged.  i am out of breath.  

but, i am here. 

and that is when the director, Morihiko Nakahara, says 

well, if you guys don't have anymore questions, we will get out of here.  thanks for coming.  we will see you at the rehearsal.

note to self:  do not try to be fashionably late EVER again.  

holiday decorations

while driving home from kershaw today:

orie:  why do some people still have halloween decorations out in their yard?  it is november!

me:  i suppose they will switch them out with their thanksgiving decorations.  then they will put out Christmas, then valentine's...

orie:  no, martin luther king day comes before valentine's.

me:  really?  is that in january?

orie:  yes.

(he is a walking, talking calendar)

me:  so, how are they going to decorate their yards for MLK day?

orie:  i guess with pictures of his head hanging around.  or something.

me:  hmmm... i bet you can't find those holiday decorations at hobby lobby.

a pair

meet price, lou's future husband.

so says lou.  we have not yet asked price's opinion on the matter.

when asked tonight at bedtime why she loves him so, she thought a minute & then answered 'cause he's handsome.  and he wears costumes.

interesting standards, lou.  

nevertheless, your father & i approve.

school

orie is sitting out of traditional school today, but he is not letting a cough that sounds like a barking seal or sleep deprivation keep him from school altogether.

nope.  he is making his own school.

for the past few weeks, he has been teaching bradley & anna louise. it is random, but he hits the high spots. scripture memorization.  butterfly art.  letters & phonics.  math with glass beads.  and his new favorite, science.

recently, he has decided to open his classes up to more students.  the school has 10 slots available (9 when you factor in lou) & he has handpicked each friend who will be invited.  bradley is not on the class roster because she is opening up a competing school & will be holding class on the same date & time. 

you should hear the back seat arguments surrounding this bit of news.

bradley: i am going to invite madison to my school.

orie: mom!! she CAN'T invite madison!! madison is coming to MY school!

me:  bradley, you can invite your friends.  orie invites his friends.  please stop trying to upset your brother.

bradley laughs hysterically in the back of the van.  she truly knows how to rile him up & does it well.

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and that is what he has done today.  worked on lesson plans.  made name tags.  written out invitations.

i walked into his office (also known as his bedroom) a bit ago to find a book open to "how to draw snails".

me:  you might want to have a theme around your lessons. how are you planning to incorporate snails?

orie:  i know. i know. the lesson is on earth.

well, good to know he has all of that figured out.  he obviously does not need or want my opinion on the matter.

now, all he needs is a name.  

coming soon...

on, on PC

the lindlers are coming to cheer you on to victory!!





go blue hose!!

best laid plans

in an effort to describe the events of yesterday, the phrase best laid plans of mice and men came to mind.  but then i could not remember the end of the phrase.  and then i wondered what exactly it meant.  which led me into a google search, of course.

thank you, mr. google.

if you ever hear someone say, the best laid plans of mice and men are often led awry, you can tell them where the phrase originated.  no, it is not john steinbeck's novel of mice and men, but the title was inspired by this poem.

Robert Burns - To a Mouse

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie, O, what panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi' bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, Wi' murd'ring pattle!
I'm truly sorry Man's dominion 
Has broken Nature's social union, 
An' justifies that ill opinion, 
Which makes thee startle, 
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, 
An' fellow-mortal!
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve; 
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! 
A daimen-icker in a thrave 'S a sma' request: 
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave, 
An' never miss't!
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin! 
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin! 
An' naething, now, to big a new ane, 
O' foggage green! 
An' bleak December's winds ensuin, 
Baith snell an' keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an' wast, 
An' weary winter comin fast, 
An' cozie here, beneath the blast, 
Thou thought to dwell, 
Till crash! the cruel coulter past 
Out thro' thy cell.
That wee-bit heap o' leaves an' stibble, 
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble! 
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble, 
But house or hald. 
To thole the Winter's sleety dribble, 
An' cranreuch cauld!
But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, 
In proving foresight may be vain: 
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, 
Gang aft agley, 
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, 
For promis'd joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me! 
The present only toucheth thee: 
But Och! I backward cast my e'e, 
On prospects drear! 
An' forward, tho' I canna see, 
I guess an' fear!

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so, back to my best laid plans.

recently, i got a handy dandy agenda.  it has been the best thing ever.  i get super excited about filling it in & filling it UP.  seriously.  i am not a big fan of blank spaces in the planner.

always a surprise, i occasionally find myself in a bit of a predicament.  in my effort to fill in white space, i somehow (horror) overschedule.

take yesterday.

9am  lou to school - 9:15 bible study - 11:45 pick up lou - noon shandon market - 2:30 pick up orie & bradley - 4pm dental appointment (in kershaw!!) - 6pm ansel adams exhibit

i had been looking at that schedule a few days getting geared up.  

i can do it.  i can do it.  i can do it.

if i get sandra to ride with me to kershaw, take the kids to the park, get my teeth cleaned, pick up sandra & kids, head back to columbia, get ready for exhibit opening, go downtown...

and then i realized that it would never work.

i called doctor howell & rescheduled.  for the second time.

and why is that significant?

because the best laid plans of mice and men are often led astray.

i thought i had pared down my schedule to perfection.  all of the dominos were set to fall in place, creating the exact pattern i had created for myself.  

i did not factor in what happened next.

i got to lou's preschool early, ready to hit the second stop of the day, the shandon market.  she & i walk out of the school, hand in hand & with a skip in our step.  that is when i notice another mom staring off at my van.

i think you have a flat tire.

me, the eternal optimist, surely not.  i bet i am just parked in a divot or something.  

much to my chagrin, it was not a divot.  i had a flat.

that was noon.  at 4pm i was rolling again with my patched up tire.  yeah, would not have made it to that dental appointment anyways.

so, no matter how i schedule my days.  no matter how much white space i fill up in my planner.  no matter how organized i try to be with staying on task.  i am not truly in control of my days.

thanks, God, for the reminder.  i am so grateful that you have a hand in my life.  flat tires and all.  oh, and thank you for pope davis tire.  they are pretty fantastic.

reconnect

my summer vacations were always the same.  garden city.  marlin quay.  first week in august.  and the ferrells.

fran ferrell was the first friend i met at marlin quay.   from that moment on, we were beach buddies.  as soon as i woke up in the morning, i would run down the stairwell & knock on their back door.

our condo was 310.

their's was 109.

my family vacationed once a summer - maybe some weekends here & there.

the ferrells spent the entire summer at the marlin quay.  or so it seemed.

we went swimming.  and boating.  and shopping.  and movie watching.  and just sitting around & laughing.

and then it all ended.  fran got involved in the rodeo & they no longer summered at marlin quay.  they eventually sold the boat.  then the condo.  

and i was alone.

with my brother, of course.  

and my parents.

but i was a highschooler by now & wanted to frolick with friends.

we continued to write.  but as it always happens, the space between letters spread apart.  i graduated highschool, went to college & lost touch with the fran & the ferrells.  i thought of them often & would send the annual Christmas card.  they did the same.

enter the facebook connection.

gosh, can it be that easy to reconnect?

yes, it can!!

the kids & i will be heading up to NC this afternoon.  fran has a little country boy of her own these days, so i am excited to see how orie handles getting a little dirt under his nails.  john, her brother, might be taking us to an antique tractor show.  we will have dinner with the matriarch & partriarch of the family.  church on sunday.  and who knows what else is in store.

good times, i am sure.

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fran & i are not the only ones reconnecting this weekend.

kevin is hanging back & has requested some special one-on-one time with bradley.  they don't get enough of it.

she is super excited.  what she does not yet know is that kevin has plans to take her to the capital city club for dinner tonight.

oh.  my.  gracious.

she is going to be squealing with delight!!

i have suggested the ballet performance of the hunchback of notre dame afterwards.  i have a feeling that kevin will lean more towards where the wild things are.

whatever they do, i know it will be special.

wednesday night

6:30 came way too early this morning.  it was dark.  it was cold.  and i was tired.

i sat down, wrote out my day, and exhausted myself in the process.  man, this old girl is going to walk through the door at the end of the day, go straight to the bedroom & do a face plant on the mattress.  

and then i remembered, it is glee night.  

that face plant will have to wait an hour or so.  

monday nights i garner appreciation for that subset of people so nerdy smart they can't interact with the normals.  thursday nights  i cross reference my past bosses with michael scott.  and wednesdays are spent looking back on high school wondering why i never joined glee club.

oh yeah.  

we didn't have glee club.

and i can't sing.

oh, glee, thank you for being my rainbow at the end of this soon to be crazy, busy, exhausting day.  and bed, thank you for being there with cool sheets, awaiting my inevitable nose dive.  and kevin, thank you for being warm & snuggly & allowing me to pretzel myself around you until my sleeping position is just right.

hmmm... i may have just talked myself into early bedtime.  

as much as i heart glee, the promise of cool sheets & a warm husband is sounding much more enticing.

thank you, time warner cable, for DVR.

sleepy head

anna louise's room looks as if the clothes fairy came, waved her wand, and sprinkled down dresses, tights, leggings & shirts all over.

we have 2t summer. 2t winter. 3t summer. 3t winter. 4t summer. 4t winter.

but not in any particular order. just in one big pile. i take that back. lots & lots of piles that all run together making it seem like one big pile that encompasses the entire room.

the joys of hand-me-down clothes.

sorting.
purging.

trying on.
storing.
organizing.

will this fit next summer?  is this too short for the fall?  do i really want to see this outfit three years in a row?

it is a tedious job.  and a messy one.  at least the way i do it.  

in an effort to devote a larger chunk of time to the process, i put lou to sleep with bradley the past couple of nights.  my plan was to stay in lou's room into the wee hours of the night, plugging away at the great clothes switch out.

yeah.  that did not work out so great.

saturday night, they were talking, giggling, screaming, then crying.  i finally went upstairs, wedged myself between them, and waited for their bodies to quiet.  

my next memory is kevin yelling up the stairs ashley, it's almost 8 o'clock!!  

that would be am.

not exactly my intent when i snuggled up in the most comfortable bed in the house.*

i decided to make a go of it again last night.  i wore the stair carpeting bear with all of the trips up & down, demanding that the girls stop talking & go to sleep.  

there was quiet at 11.  

that would be pm.

on a positive note, lou can sleep in her room tonight without snuggling up with tulle skirts & fleece pants.  i have drawers organized with 3 seasons worth of clothes & a closet full of outfits for this fall & winter.  

on a not-so-positive note, the girly whining was pretty thick this morning.

i will probably be hearing about this at pickup today.  and i will probably be upping my volunteer hours in bradley's classroom to get back in good graces.  sorry, mrs. dail.

* if you ever visit our home, you must crawl into bradley's bed & bury yourself into the most luxurious combination of mattress & comforter.  if you get in the right position, it will be pretty difficult to pry yourself out.  it is that comfortable.  i would know.  it is my childhood bed/mattress/comforter combo.  and my mom wonders why i had trouble getting up in the mornings.