our last open house @ gray

We made our way through the halls of Wanda Gray for Open House tonight, the last one for our now fourth grade Wildcat (who, incidentally, is suffering the aftermath of "the worst haircut ever" given to him by a grumpy, listless stylist at Regis in the mall on Saturday--it really does look terrible, expecially up close where you can see every mark of the clippers, so good thing he's got that handsome face to ride this one out on...). 

 

Macauley showed us all around the place (again), with a quick stop in his classroom (in Big Cat Country), the library and the computer lab.  

 

 

 

Last stop, per tradition, was the gym...seems like just yesterday we were here for the first time with our little kindergartener...

 

The books of summer 2012

If I Stay (Gayle Forman)*
Revolution (Jennifer Donnelly)*
Heft (Liz Moore)
Before I Fall (Lauren Oliver)*
The Sky is Everywhere (Jandy Nelson)*
InZanesville (Jo Ann Beard)
Dreams of Joy (Lisa See)
Sea (Heidi Kling)*
The Chaperone (Laura Moriarty)
Tigers in Red Weather (Lisa Klaussmann)
The Late, Lamented Molly Marx (Sally Koslow)
Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)
Chasing Brooklyn (Lisa Schroeder)*

I read some books I really enjoyed this past summer (Heft, InZanesville, The Chaperone, Tigers in Red Weather) and some that were just okay.  The books with asterisks are on the Gateway Readers list that is a part of the curriculum for the freshman English class I am teaching this semester.  The YA lit angst throughout each of the selections was rather tiresome for me, but I did really enjoy Revolution. 

The weekend

What a nice holiday weekend...We had a good time in Kansas City, visiting Lane, doing some shopping and getting to spend some time with my parents.  I rode this double-decker carousel with Macauley at the Oak Park Mall.  He chose the dolphin and I took the seal.  We didn't get to do everything we wanted to, so another trip will be in the works.

Most exciting, though, was the news we got on the way up to KC Friday evening that Tyson had proposed to my middle sister Lindsay!  He surprised her on the dock at their lake house with a dance to their song (Zak Brown Band) and then popped the question.  They've been together four years now, and we're looking forward to them making it official.  She wants to have a destination wedding somewhere tropical and then have a reception in Springfield when they return.  So we're gone over 13 years since a wedding in our family (mine!), and now we will have 2 in the same year.  Lane declared the Slim Down of 2013 in light of these events.  Does that mean I don't need to start until 1 January?