Ready for School

Summer is almost over.  School starts tomorrow.  I don't know if Haley is ready.

I think we are ready.  I have made sure that I have all of the things I need to make Haley's lunch.  The bus driver has called and let us know what time to expect the bus.  Haley has a new haircut and her nails have a fresh coat of Tree Farm Green.  I bought an extra package of Depends and a new wipe dispenser for the classroom.  Haley has plenty of clothes, so that is not a problem.

The problem is that I think we are really used to our current routine.

Haley really likes to get up first and dress herself.  She likes to spend the morning on her laptop.  She likes that I have been making her gluten-free pancakes for breakfast. 

I ask her if she is ready for school. 

She doesn't answer.

Usually any and all questions get "yeah" for an answer, whether it is an appropriate answer for the question or not.  This question does not get a "yeah."

The bus is coming.

I will set my alarm so that I will be up.  Haley will already be up.  Then I will have to direct her morning.  I will have to rush something that usually takes anywhere up to three hours into less than an hour.  I am not getting up any earlier than that. 

She will be getting on that bus in the morning.

John Deere Green

I painted Haley's nails before we went to Disneyland.  They were looking really good.  It had been awhile since I had painted them and I was impressed to find them grown out past the ends of her fingers.

When we got back from Disneyland that was no longer the case.

I looked at them a couple of days after we got home and was very disappointed to see that she had been chewing on them again.  The cuticles were red and ragged.  I said "Haley you need your nails fixed."  She left the room.

Pretty soon she came back with a bottle of fingernail polish.  She held it out to me and said "Tree Farm."  The polish was green.  I laughed.

"Is that Tree Farm green?" I asked.

She said "Yeah."

I actually think that she meant that she wanted her nails painted in preparation of our tree farm camping trip, but it worked.  The color was actually called "Green Tea" but it looked more like John Deere Green to me, which is appropriate, because when we are at the tree farm Haley will get to ride Grandpa's tractor.

She knows that is the case now, for sure.  She talked to Grandma and Grandpa on the phone the other night and they told her that she would be able to ride the tractor on the tree farm.

So here are Haley's Tree Farm/John Deere Green nails.

Home again, home again...

On our last day at the Disneyland Resort we slept in again and then had room service deliver our breakfast.  It was so good.  I just have to say that the Disneyland Resort knows how to cook bacon perfectly.  I ate bacon at almost every meal, it was great!

Everyone was packing up so Haley caught on really quick that we were going home.  She was so excited.  She started talking about our cat Shadow.  She wanted to see him.  She wanted to pet him.  She wanted to have a Shadow Lap.

The security line at the John Wayne Airport was much shorter than it had been at PDX.  As my family went through security I was concentrating on helping Haley take off her sandals and put them in a bin along with her purse and her jacket and then I did the same with my things. 

I turned around and looked ahead of us and realized that they had a full body scanner.  I watched as people put there arms up in the air as the scanner circled their bodies.  My Mom turned and gave me a look and I shrugged.  I thought of the different scenerios that could occur, none of them good. 

Haley and I walked closer. 

The TSO smiled and walked toward me and said "Will she be able to put her arms up like this?" and showed me what was expected.

I said "I don't really know, she might get upset." 

He told us to step out of the line and went to talk to the other officers.  It took them quite a while to discuss it and then he came back to us.  He removed a barrier that revealed the "old fashioned" scanner and then walked through it himself.  He motioned for us to follow him.  I told Haley to follow him and she did and then I joined them. 

I thanked him several times.  It was really nice to have him recognize and accommodate her limitations with such care and courtesy.  It actually brings tears to my eyes as I remember it.  My husband was at the end of the line waiting with our stuff.  I helped Haley get her shoes back on and we headed for our gate.

Haley is really a good traveller.  She took to flying like she had been doing it every day of her life.  She did much better than I did.  I had to really focus on not showing my discomfort because I didn't want her to sense that I felt anything was amiss.  I don't hate  flying, but I do get a little claustrophobic and I am never completely comfortable.  I usually spend most of any flight praying. 

Our flight back was good and we made it home without incident.  I didn't feel like cooking (or coming back to reality) yet so we went to Olive Garden for dinner.  We had a nice dinner and then finally returned home.  Haley immediately sat on the couch and asked for Shadow.  We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and petting our cat.

I had a great time in California and I think everyone in my family did as well.

I want to go back.