First Day of School!

I can't believe it's here already - and we had a longer summer than usual! School is officially back in session around here. Dakota started 7th grade and Drake started 1st grade. Wow! Does that even seem possible? I didn't think so either.

You can't tell by their faces in the above pictures but they were both really excited. All I could get for the pictures were cheesy faces so I gave up.
We walked with Drake to class this morning to make sure he remembered where it was and because he had a backpack full of school supplies that probably weighed as much as he did. He was a little confused but figured it out. He told me about halfway to his class that I could just drop him off tomorrow - which of course horrified me because I would like to walk him to class every day of his entire life until he's at least 18 or so.

But anyway - I asked him if he was sure to which he replied, "Well, maybe you better walk me the rest of the week and then I'll do it." But who am I kidding - tomorrow will probably be the last day of walking to class together. I may be able to talk him into a few days here and there when I volunteer....maybe.

Then we were off to the middle school. Nathan(my cousin) rode with us. Today was his 1st day of 6th grade. He was not extremely thrilled with the idea - but I know he'll do fine. He was practically silent the whole way there - but it was probably because he couldn't get a word in edge wise. Dakota talked the ENTIRE way to Webster.

This is not really unusual for her - she does talk a lot - but it was all just anxious jibber. She didn't really have a topic or theme or for that matter anything really relevant to anything. She chased more rabbits than usual jumping from thought to thought. She kept telling Nathan all these things about middle school and I finally had to ask her to stop so he could form his own opinions. They weren't bad things to be telling him but I didn't want her overwhelming him before he even got there! Poor kid!

Now, for those of you who attended South Sumter Middle School you can imagine what being back on that campus is like. Last year I had lots of deja vu moments. There, of course, had been buildings built and additions made to the school - but for the most part the school looked the same.

I could remember practicing cheerleading here and there or Mrs. Dickerson's English class there. The office. The library. The band room. The cafeteria. The old lockers. Mrs. Jacobs room (she's still there, by the way - and, no, she hasn't mellowed). Mrs. Farmer's room. The Ag room. The old bus loop. I could even remember where we used to hang out in the mornings by the portables (even though the ones we had are not there) after getting off the bus.

But this year, this year was different. They tore down our old 6th grade building, along with the old lockers (which they hadn't been using for lockers in quite some time. It was used as a covered walkway to house book bags at lunch time) and they are going to build a brand new 2-story building there. So, there is a lot of construction going on that makes the place look totally different. So I didn't have as many deja vu moments this year.

However, when we pulled up to the drop-off loop this morning, Mrs. McKinney(Booth) was out there. She's been at the County office and in the north-end for several years now so I haven't figured out if she's back or not. But as we were pulling up I say to Dakota, "That lady right there is Ms. McKinney. Go tell her your mom was Tiffany Brown and that she says hi." Dakota: "Why? Will she be nice to me or something?" Me: "Yes. And she'll be surprised."

So, as Dakota is getting out of the car, Ms. McKinney comes over to greet her and Nathan. I leaned up in the seat so she could see me and I could say hi, myself. She's complimenting Dakota on her polka-dotted backpack and says a pleasant "hello" to me. I return it and ask how she is and it's at this point that I can see her face change and know she's recognized me. I think her exact expression was, "OH MY GOSH! Are you kidding me?"

I relayed to her the above conversation I had just had with Dakota and she says through her laughter, "Yeah, she'll be nice to you after she picks her jaw up off the ground!" Let's just say she was even more shocked when I informed her that Dakota was going to 7th grade, not 6th. She couldn't believe it and we both decided we weren't going to talk about it LOL!

But if she thinks that makes her feel old - her daughter Lacy teaches 8th grade at the middle school and their youngest daughter is a Freshman this year and that makes me feel old!

Well - I better try to get something accomplished today. It will be pick-up time before I know it. I can't wait to hear the first-day stories this afternoon!