Saved!

On August 23, 2010, my wildest fantasy will come true.

I will have 2 children in school.

little kid will only be there for 3 hours a day but I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT THOSE 3 HOURS. I get goose bumps just thinking about that. I can go to the pool and read a book! I can go to the beach without bringing 45 pounds of stuff and 3 bottles of sunscreen! When I expressed this joy to Mr. Ashley, I could tell it hadn't occurred to him that I may use this time for leisure. He looked apprehensive and maybe a little annoyed. "That's not fair," he said joking-but-not.

We tricked the Lutherans into taking little kid for their pre-k program. You may remember that the Jews taught Big Kid the foundation of almost everything he knows. They were awesome, but the Lutherans are very near our house and I think little kid could use a little Jesus in his life. The Lutherans seem very nice and they liked us very much. We were on our very best behavior. little kid did insist on bringing his vintage Transformer in and they all thought he was adorable with his cowboy boots and his toy. He also built an elaborate animal train out of Lego and plastic animals while we chatted. The director was impressed with his imaginative construction skills and hoped he would teach the other children. Ha! Wait until he's taking your stuff apart and teaching the other four year olds to curse, sucker!

But I didn't say that, of course. I agreed that he was VERY imaginative and VERY creative.

I may dance the entire half mile to the community pool each week day, starting August 23. My neighbors will watch me leap and pirouette and rumba down the sidewalk, with nothing but a towel and a book and the pool key. He's standing here breathing down my neck as I type this. He just honked my nose, even though that is expressly forbidden because I hate it more than anything. He's already reminded me twice that I'm not cleaning up if I'm on the computer and he just peered into my face and yelled "A POOL IS HEATED, YA KNOW!" He is telling me that we will talk about puppies on our way to the pool. I guess we're going soon.

153 days until freedom.