Crafty Auntie is... crafty!!

[auntbijou]

And here are the promised photos of the bag I made to carry the Impertinent Daughter's bento!




As you can see, she gave it the Impertinent Seal of Approval by promptly doodling on it!

And here is a side view...



More doodling...

It isn't the prettiest or the most fashionable thing I've ever made, and you can tell I made it at the last minute. Most fortunately, there are no bloodstains on it from where I sewed my finger to it! I told my mother I don't know how she did it, sewing at night the way she did, because I was so darned tired there were times my eyes were crossing. But I got it done, and don't you know, when I told Miss Priss that I would make her one that looked a bit better, that stinker told me no, this was her bag and she didn't want another one??

What can I say?

For a bonus, here is the Impertinent One from her game last night. Doesn't it look like she's plotting evil?



She almost got a goal last night, and I was so excited, I completely forgot that I had the camera in my hands, and just... WATCHED!! It was AWESOME!!

Speaking of the game, you should all give the Impossible Son full kudos for our adventure yesterday! Yesterday afternoon was CRAZY!! For one thing, the Impertinent Daughter not only had the game yesterday, but she also had a U.I.L. choir competition yesterday afternoon at 3. U.I.L. at 3, soccer game at 5:30 with the team bus leaving the school at 4. When you look at that, it doesn't sound too stressful, right?

However, U.I.L. was in Kyle, which is about 20 some odd miles away from here. Then the soccer game was originally supposed to be in Buda, which is even further. Now you see my stress?

The choir teacher said they would be back between 3:45 and 4. Great. So I emailed the coach and told her what was going on, and asked about uniforms because... the kids are not allowed to take their uniforms home. Just their socks. Uniforms stay at school, which I understand. However, I'm also very familiar with bus fail. And I was fully prepared to either pick up the uniform, or my child, and have her dress in the car on the way to the game.

Now logic would say, "U.I.L. in Kyle, game in Buda, Kyle and Buda are close, why not have Miss Priss stay in Kyle, pick her up in Kyle and drive her to game in Buda?"

Well, because... we're dealing with a school that won't let kids have rubber bands, who won't let the girls wear shirts that show their collarbones, and will let boys wear capri pants but not shorts more than two inches below the knee. And a school district that decided last year to teach creationism intelligent design in science classes. Logic has nothing to do with it.

I was not allowed to go to the U.I.L. competition. Or to even park in the parking lot to wait. Not by U.I.L. authorities. By our school district.

The coach emailed back not to worry, that several girls on the team were in the choir and they planned to hold the bus until they returned from the competition and got changed into their uniforms. But that I should probably come wait at the school just in case, and Miss Priss could then change at the stadium.

So, I printed up directions to the middle school in Buda, made a snack for the Impossible Son and picked him up, then rushed to the store for a pick-me-up for Miss Priss, because I realized I had forgotten to get cash when I had run errands earlier in the day. Some schools charge to watch games, some don't, and I don't like being caught flat-footed! We stopped by the house on the way back long enough for Mr. Manzie to get a bathroom break and to grab his DS and a couple of games. Then we got to the school by 3:45... and waited.

Fortunately, the choir bus made it back in time, the girls got changed and onto the team bus... and this was where the adventure began. Because as the bus pulled out, I grabbed my map to be sure I had the route in my head and the Impossible Son burst out with, "Mom! Follow the bus!"

"Um, no," I said. "The bus is going to take all the back roads, and I'd rather hit the freeway."

"No, Mom! Follow the bus! It's important! It's like... I have this little voice in my head, and it's saying you have to follow the bus!!"

He was so insistent, he was nearly in tears.

So I followed the damn bus, and we went down all the back roads, some of which I was familiar with... and some I wasn't. For some reason, the sports buses are not allowed to take the freeway unless the game is in, say, Pflugerville or something.

Problem is, there are so many twists and turns, I'd lose sight of the bus, so we played a game, that the bus was a big yellow whale, and we were hunting it. "Do you see the whale, Mr. Jinks?" I'd ask in my best salty seafarer voice (which considering I sound like a thirteen year old girl was probably pretty sad).

"Aye, Capt'n Mama, she's just ahead, arrrrrr..." he'd say. "She's turnin'! She's turnin', Capt'n, look out!!"

It was actually quite funny listening to him talking like that, and his "Thar she blows!!" nearly made me drive off the road!

When we got to the stadium, my first thought was, "Wow, this is a really big middle school!" and then, "Geez, I knew their budget was bigger than ours, but that stadium... WOW!!"

Then I looked around, and realized my friend, E, whose daughter plays goalie, wasn't there. And this was ... odd... because she always gets to the games before me. So... I called her as we walked into the stadium. "Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm here," she said testily. "Where are you?"

I looked around, and didn't see her truck anywhere. "Are you in the little truck?" I asked, puzzled.

"No, I'm in the big one. Why?"

"I... don't see you."

"Oh, that's because I'm parked out front."

I looked out toward the highway, and the front of the school. Nope. "I don't see you."

"Where are you?" she asked, sounding concerned. "Are you lost?"

"Nope, unless the bus was lost."

"Well, it must be lost, because the bus isn't here yet."

"Yes, it is," I said, watching my son waving at his sister most enthusiastically, then watching her teammates do the, "That's your little brother? Awww, he's so CUTE!" dance. "We just got here. We're over by the stadium."

"There's a stadium here???" she said, sounding boggled, and confirming my suspicion.

"Just a sec," I said, and approached some boys that were walking toward me. "Is this Dahlstrom Middle School?"

They all blinked at me and got all concerned because they thought I was lost. "No!" they said, "this is Kyle High School, Dahlstrom's down the road, you take a left out of the parking lot and you go down about fifteen miles..."

I stopped him and said, "Thank you, but I think we're supposed to be here." I pointed my my daughter's team and said, "They're playing here, but I think all the other parents got sent to Dahlstrom."

And they said, "Oh... want us to go there and tell them to come here?"

"If you can do it without killing yourselves or scaring our parents, that would be great!" I said, and thanked them when they headed for their car. Then I got back to my friend and said, "We're at the high school."

I won't repeat what she said, but it was pretty colorful, and I might have learned a few new words, which is impressive, because I've got quite a vocabulary myself! Anyhow, what it boils down to is... the game venue was changed at about 11 a.m. yesterday, and theoretically, the girls all called their parents from school to let them know.

The reality is, only about four of the girls made the call, and only two of them got through to their parents.

If the Impossible Son hadn't insisted, I'd have been at Dahlstrom, too, wondering what the hell was going on!

I'm just glad next week's game is going to be a HOME game!!

Ay-yi-yi!!