School, Skunks, and Socks

Monday tends to be the day that I try to catch up on everything. I don't know about you, but it always seems that over the weekend things pile up at an alarming rate...

Today I went to the school system office to turn in our "Intent to Homeschool" form. I was a little bit nervous. Doing anything like that is always stressful to me, though I always make sure to have all the necessary paperwork, with every i dotted and every t crossed. I had filled out the form in my neatest possible manuscript, as though that would help convince them that I am capable of teaching my children at home.

When I had gathered all the paperwork, I managed to walk out the door, get into the van , and start the vehicle before I realized that I had not looked up the address of the school district office. That could be a problem. I went back inside. The kids of course yelled to their daddy, "Mommy's back."

I looked up the address, said goodbye again, and left. I got into the van for the second time and realized that I did not have proof of residence. The website didn't say that it was required, but I did not want to drive to the office only to discover that it was necessary. I got out of the van and went inside again. The girls yell, "Mommy's here again!"

After calling the office, I found out that I did not need proof of residence, just my high school diploma (which I already had, thankfully). I went outside again, only to discover that in all the going back and forth I had left my purse inside. I unlocked the door and went back inside yet again to get it. "Daddy, Mommy's still here!!" Finally I said goodbye, locked the door, and got into the van and left.

I did not mention that the landscapers were working in front of the condo just a couple of doors down this entire time. They must have thought I was crazy!!

When I walked up to the door of the county offices, there was a rather bizarre notice on the door, warning people to beware of rabid skunks. Yes...that's what it said. Evidently there have been several occurrences of this in the county. Strange! I have never seen a skunk that wasn't either dead on the side of the road or in the zoo. Nor do we have any pets who might be in danger of skunk attack, so I believe we are safe. However, if I happen to see one, I will do what people tend to do when they see a skunk, rabid or not. I will not try to hug it or pet it!

All went well at the school district office. The lady could not have been any nicer, and everything went smoothly. I was glad to return home with that task completed. When I walked in the door at home, I was reminded of how little I managed to accomplish in our house today! In addition to the usual mess and chaos, here are a few random observations about the state of things.

Out of the blue, virtually all the three-year old sized socks seem to have vanished. Where on earth are they?

While we're on the subject of socks, my husband's black socks have suddenly started leaving crazy amounts of lint on the carpet. And since we don't wear our shoes around inside the house, that means the lint is everywhere! Which leads me to my next thought...

The vacuum cleaner is not doing well. Each time I use it, a burning smell fills the room. Not good. Not good at all. I like to vacuum pretty often (especially considering the aforementioned sock fuzz), but I have the feeling that each time could be the vacuum cleaner's last. I vacuum a small amount and then give it a long cool down time, all the while praying for an extension on its life!

Speaking of burning smells, a very small piece of cheese fell in the oven yesterday, and I forgot to clean it up. When I turned on the oven today, it filled with dense smoke and a horrible odor. The smell in turn filled the kitchen, of course. I did open the windows and air it out, so the house does not smell like burned cheese, burning vacuum cleaner, or skunk. And for that I am very thankful!

So what did you do today?

- Erin