Successful "Cousin Day"

The girls' bio cousin (Cousin It) called today and needed a ride to work. It's an hour and a half process to leave here, go get her, take her to work, and get back home. However, she's an awesome kid who has grown up well in a whacked-out family. I'm glad to help her out whenever I can.

While I was out hauling Cousin It, the girls' other bio cousin and her daughters arrived to swim. We've been meaning to have them over all summer but never got around to it. Our summer is rapidly drawing to a close so today was the day. This is the cousin who is 7 years older than Alli and, even as a kid, knew my girls weren't being treated right by their parents. As a child, she did her best to make their lives a little brighter and I'm so glad we have been able to stay in contact with her and her own family. She has two daughters (ages 7 and 2) who are just beautiful. They all swam and we ordered pizza and watched the girls play with all our toys. The food was good and the conversation was nice. It was a nice afternoon and it was nice to make that bio/adoptive family connection a little stronger. She is a positive part of their past and I'm so glad she's a part of their futures, too. In fact, Beth went home with them to spend the night. I'm sure she's having a great time.

Tomorrow is my last free day. Thursday, I start in-service training. We have days and days of boring meetings when we really need to be getting our classrooms ready for the onslaught. I sit through these meetings every year, pretending to listen when I'm really busy thinking about what needs to be done in my room and makings lots of lists - shopping lists, to-do lists, lists of other things to makes lists of, etc.