I have been caught up in the cyclone of TG this weekend, whirling from one activity to another, and trying to do my homework in between. Her schedule is exhausting, but I think it's pretty typical for a high school student these days. I don't remember being this busy, though.
Friday night was filled with the football game in Lexington, which is about two hours from here. To make up for not riding the bus with the band, I picked up the 50 pre-ordered Subway sandwiches and three bags of ice and delivered them to the high school as they were loading up their equipment and preparing to pull out. They didn't get back to the high school until about 1am.
The next day she had to be back up there at noon to prepare for a marching band competition in Pflugerville. I left the house around 2:30 to run errands on my way to Pflugerville for their performance at 4pm. They won first place in their division, including flag team! (Nevermind that they were the only band competing in their division (2A) and they don't have a flag team.) I had already written a note for her to ride home with me - the band was initially planning to stay until the end, not getting home until 11pm. Neither of us could take another late night like that. We laughed when we got to the van. Someone had left us a note...
I guess I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. I'm just too busy right now to care, especially when I know that with one trip down my road it'll be covered with dust again.There's no sign of rain in the forecast, though, so I'll probably break down and swing into the carwash on my way to work one day this week. Maybe.
Sunday we were on our way to the University of Texas campus about the time I would have been getting up for church. She was scheduled to attend an all-day Women in Engineering seminar.
TG doesn't get much experience driving on the freeway living out here in the boonies, so I let her drive, knowing there wouldn't be much traffic. There's this one road close to campus, Windsor, that scares me with its twists and turns and narrow lanes even when I'm driving, so you can see that my trust in her driving has grown tremendously. She did a great job...I only squealed and gasped a handful of times.
Except for one short meeting, parents would be on their own, so I packed a bagful of my homework and even optimistically tossed in The Other Boleyn Girl, planning to find a quiet picnic table somewhere and get caught up. The meeting lasted longer than I expected - right up until lunch. I walked to the Drag and ate at Potbelly Sandwiches, one of Daniel's favorite spots, wishing he could join me. He was off at the Austin City Limits Festival in Zilker Park, lucky kid. Figures...the one day I have to hang out at UT, he's not there.
But I enjoyed my day anyway. Walking around UT reminds me of walking around a little European town or something. I think if I had gone there way back when, I wouldn't have dropped out. After eating, I stopped at a little sidewalk art/jewelry market. I bought a ring made from a French coin - 10 francs - to inspire me as I write the screenplay for my great-great granddad's memoir (his grandfather escaped France during the Revolution.) At another booth I found THE EARRINGS I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR!! Sterling silver hoops on wires. Very simple, but I haven't found them anywhere else, and certainly not for $10.
I grabbed some iced coffee and strolled around campus, stopping outside of one of the libraries and actually doing some homework at a little iron table for a while. It was a gorgeous day. I visited the Catholic Youth Center, noting that it's right across the street Daniel's dorm and so he can't use the excuse that "it's too far to walk to Mass" this year.
I made my way back to the engineering side of campus, called my mom, and before I knew it, it was time to pick TG up and head home (after a quick stop at the mall, of course.)
The laundry stayed piled up and the house didn't get cleaned (or the van washed) - but that's okay - I was busy being Mom, spending time with my baby.
