Nine days....and counting!
Just nine days left on the school bus ‘treadmill.’ We’re finishing the year with points for an extra degree of difficulty because we are dropping Chuck’s friend at the Jr. High, which is [more or less] on the way to the high school anyway. I did the pick-up drive one day last week. I had forgotten how loathsome the pick-up queue at the Jr. High is.....

This post was temporarily interrupted by a half inch spider that crawled across the screen.
It was successfully dispatched without harming the computer or launching the beast into my bowl of raisin bran.

This week is where we pick up the dreaded process of Martha’s becoming officially learning disabled. When she was in grade school, she was in the LD program for reading help. I think she forgot (or never knew) what a tangled web this can become. It all started with Martha having some trouble passing the short answer sections of World Civ tests. So she talked to her counselor who referred her to the LD department and their complement of resources. Rick went to the meeting with the counselor, LD specialist, social worker, school nurse, dean, school psychologist etc withouth me. He said something about me saying too much - OK, “shooting off my mouth” - at these meetings. This time I was spared the obligatory interview with the social worker in which I had to recreate every detail of my pregnancy and delivery. A good thing, too, since the details are becoming dim after 16 years. Everything was normal. She was born on a Sunday night. My second biggest baby (8lbs. 14 oz.)

Last week, Martha came home wanting to pull the plug on the whole process. “I wanted some help in World Civ and now I’m taking all sorts of psychological tests.” She was offended.
A)Is Superman real?. Didn’t know how to answer this one. Like, no, on one hand and yes on the other.
EEEK the spider is back!
Violate the trademark protection on Superman and you’ll have a whole lot of lawyers descending upon you to show how ‘real’ he is.
B)Do you hear voices? Couldn’t answer this one. Aunt Karen has said that she learned in law school that anyone who says they never hear voices is lying. It is a simple neurological phenomenon that makes us occassionally hear someone call our name when no one is there. I told Martha to say that St. Michael is telling her to restore the Dauphin to the throne of France. At the very least, she might get some remedial help in history. Martha informed me that these people have no sense of humor.
C)Do you feel like you have a tight band around your head? Well, duh, it’s called a headband.

A fortuitous migraine intervened before Martha had to complete the tests. Then Rick missed the scheduled call with the social worker. Bridget was on the phone and didn’t pick up the call-waiting beep. Ooops.

Nine more days...nine more days....nine more days.

Then the freedom of morning Mass without the cloud of road rage hanging over me.
Planning St. Benedict’s School summer session. We always do some school in the summer - just to keep our brains fresh and pliable. (The Latin flash cards have disappeared. Chuck and I spent most of yesterday organizing his room. Lots of fascinating things turned up. But no Latin flash cards. Better luck today.)