8/24/2006 09:01:00 PM

That was the last time I blogged about my kid entering middle school. Well… here we are again :-) Yesterday was Sammie’s orientation for middle school. Seems like she just left 6th grade, and now she starts 7th on Thursday. Oh… wait… she DID just end 6th grade. LAST FRIDAY!!!! Year-round school is just crazy!

What a difference between Sammie’s orientation and Alex’s last year. She was more relaxed. We were more relaxed. She was a dervish running from friend to friend trying to figure out who had what class. Alex held back and let people come to her… unless she could avoid them first :-) She got all of the classes she was hoping to get, and we’re excited to reap the benefits of Home Ec for sure!

We are all looking forward to what this year will hold. Sammie, who was born into and has been a part of a ‘pack’ of friends for EVER will now be in classes with new people and will have new opportunities to expand her circle of friends... and to start being identified as her own person. She’ll start participating in after school sports, learning to balance new homework requirements, and as of yesterday has started wearing make-up…

Alex will be Big Kid on Campus as an 8th grader, which is a pretty big thing at her school. She has the opportunity to start some new friendships as well, and offer some insight and guidance to her 7th grade friends. It’s all a good, good thing!

Now just pray that we all make it through day one, a VERY quick trip to Montana Friday – early Monday, and the quick turn around to get the kids to school before the end of first period on Monday. (How does this stuff always happen…??)

"I want the whole thing Jan. The house. The picket fence. The ketchup fights. The tickling. The gigling."

Isn't that really what we all want?

So...I'm not a baseball fan, but you can't seem to escape the chatter here in the Bay area. Did he roid? Does it matter? Do steroids improve your hand-eye coordination? Does it provide you vision and an ability to read pitches? Again...does it matter?

Questions that will plague Mr Bonds forever...what a shame.

A few years ago, my friend Kelly said that she was so glad to finally be at a stage of her life where she didn't ever have to be paranoid or worried in any way about being "caught" doing something. You don't have to worry about someone finding out that you lied if you always tell the truth. You don't have to worry about going to jail for stealing if you aren't a thief. You don't have to worry about drug tests if you don't use...it's a peaceful place to be. I agree :-)

So...here's to clean living.

Here's to America's game.

Here's to Barry Bonds...for better or worse...the Home Run King.