A Busy Evening

I never really got to sit still very long last night.

I picked Sarah up from school, dropped her off, and went right home to change clothes. It was time for the parent/teacher conferences. I'm not sure why I go to those things all the time. She's a good student and brings home good grades. I guess part of me wants reassurance that things are going okay, and part of me wants (or doesn't want) to know if there's a problem that may not show up in the grades.

When I was young things were different in some ways (okay, lots of ways). For one thing, class sizes were smaller, and it afforded a teacher the opportunity to pay a little more attention to things, and notice when kid was having trouble. A good example would be a teacher noticing a student needed glasses. Given today's hectic teaching methods and curriculum, how long would a kid flounder before something was noticed and done about it?

I guess that's the main reason I go to the conferences. Another reason is also the fact that I'm the "removed" parent. If I didn't go, I would eventually be considered an uncaring parent. I guess that's probably the reason Teresa didn't go last night--She already was "hands-on" and knew what Sarah was and was not doing. I dropped by their house afterward and gave them all the papers I got from the conference.

After doing a stop at home and starting a fire in the wood stove, I sped down to Puyallup and did a surprise visit with Steve in the hospital. I got there at about 7:30, and his wife Maria and her oldest daughter were both there visiting as well. He was pretty groggy. Basically, they took his gall bladder. From everything they said, it was pretty bad off. Everybody hopes that his attacks of pain will be over now. After telling him I was only there to see if I could have all his "stuff" if he didn't make it, we all made smalltalk for a half hour or so and I sped off.

By the time I ended up sitting back down at the computer last night, I was getting droopy-eyed and ready to drop.