Day to Day

I have an unexpected day off today.

Just as S was heading out the door for his van, my phone rang and it was Boss asking me if I wanted to forgo coming in today in exchange for a day over the holidays. I asked why, and he told me that it was storming pretty good in his area, and since he'd been watching the weather network, he thought today might just be a good day to stay home.

I hadn't really planned on working any time between Christmas and New Years, but I suspected that I might have found myself going in for a least one day as Boss is finalizing a budget for a new client, and there are usually a few things that I am required to do when presenting a budget for the first time. So, needless to say, I took the opportunity to stay home!

I have a ton of laundry that I need to work on, and now I can take the day to work on my Dad's album. Granddad's is finished, but I didn't make his as 'fancy' as I am my Dad's. Oh - final family count - 9 kids, 25 grand kids, 21 great grand kids. I have photos of everyone - including spouses - in the album except for 2. Given the sheer size of the family, I think that is a pretty good ratio.

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I believe I mentioned that S had to come home early on Wednesday due to a problem in the school yard at lunch. Well, when I got home from work yesterday, I had a little black storm cloud sitting in the living room. He was very upset that our Internet was down (we have it through satellite) and was to the point of almost hyperventilating.
I was pretty sure he was upset about more than just not having Internet, and it turned out my suspicions were correct. S was very upset because he had been given an in-school suspension yesterday, which meant he was required to spend the entire day in the office. No recesses - nothing. Having to sit for an entire day is torture for this boy.

I'm sort of torn about this. On one hand, I can understand that he needed to suffer the consequences of his actions, but on the other hand, it has been duly documented that taking away recess is not to be used as a form of punishment for S. Quite simply, he needs some down time to be able to run away and work off excess energy.
Part of me wants to phone the Principal and explain that he should have been given at least 10 minutes in the gym a couple times throughout the day, but another part says "Hey, he's going to be in high school next year and won't have recess anymore." Plus, it is the last day before Christmas break - the entire school will be in chaos.
Do you see the dilema?

I think I will leave it alone for today. I think what I will do is contact the Principal in the New Year and talk to her about the series of events and my concerns about the lack of 'free time' handed to S. If I give myself a bit of time, I won't appear an emotional, crazy person, and perhaps she will be more open to suggestions. See, I still don't really know this lady - I haven't had many dealings with her - fortunately!

Oh - and an A-man story to share.
On Wednesday, when I got home from work, I started dinner and while it was doing it's 20 minute simmer, the A-man and I went to have a hot tub. While we were in the tub, he asked if I would be able to take him to buy a Christmas present either that night or the next.
I asked if he could just wait until the weekend, when we had planned on taking the boys so that we could all finish up, and he told me that he had to have it for Friday because it was a gift for R - the girl he was supposed to have a date with.

Well, of course I couldn't say no to that, so I took him shopping last night. His original plan had been to buy her the newest Narnia movie, but when they only had that available in BluRay, he picked up a copy of Momma Mia - the movie he had planned on taking her to see.
I suggested that perhaps maybe a gift of a movie wasn't really all that personal, and maybe he should look around the store a little bit more to see if something else struck him. As we wandered the store, I pointed out a few things that were in his price range. We were heading back to the front of store when he told me that he thought she would really like the watch/bracelet thing I had pointed at, and that he would put the movie back and get her that instead.

On the way home, I asked if R knew that he was going to give her a present - my intention was to coach him on the way to react when giving a gift to someone that wasn't expecting it. He truly surprised me when he answered with "Oh, yeah, she knows. I asked her if she wanted one."

WHAT?!?

I laughed and made the comment that she was a girl after my own heart, because let's face it, if someone gives you the option of them getting you a gift, aren't you going to take it? Well, if you were 15??
From what I have been able to gather from the A-man, he is now 'unoffically' her boyfriend since she isn't allowed to date. He likes her, she likes him, but they can't go out together on dates. They never talk on the phone...I think this just means they hang out together at school and have acknowledged that they like each other.

Whatever it is, it's kind of cute to watch him entering this next phase of his life. I asked him why he didn't at least phone her sometimes, and his responding question reminded me so much of Hubby... "Well, if I phoned her, what would we talk about? I see her at school everyday."
He is such a guy.

Anyway, she will be opening a pretty little silver watch with a matching bracelet today. I hope she likes them.

S took my 'now famous' (his quote, not mine) cookie pizza to the school today and my karaoke machine. I hope he has a good day at the class party this morning and the dance this afternoon.

Hopefully the buses will be able to make it home after school.