Journaling Through Johnson County

i have been away from johnson county for over 9 years.  returning here is an absolute hoot! people in johnson county are a special kind of special.  while they are a bit kinder than those in king george, not as deeply rooted in southern traditionalism as those in ms, they are a unique twist on the american dream.

i will not actually spend much time talking about people here in JC. rather, just our life here in JC.

like today.. here are some things that we learned about katie's first day of school. as my friend, erin, so observantly pointed out, it's great to have a kid old enough to tell you exactly what's going on at school as opposed to a teeny tiny one who isn't really sure themselves :)

katie drank nothing all day long. she knew milk and juice were options at lunch but did not see the juice. so she grabbed a milk (she hates milk) and tried it to no avail. puzzled, i asked, "katie, didn't you have a drinking fountain?" to which she replied, "mom, i was totally not even thinking about getting something to drink, i was way too overwhelmed!" today she went prepared with a water bottle and a juice box :)

katie was also asked by her teacher to sit on her "pockets".... katie, looking around totally confused, was prompted by her teacher pointing to her pants pockets, to sit on her bottom. while explaining to me and mark katie said, "it's way more appropriate to say "pockets" then bottom, booty, or butt!"

we were also informed by katie that she is the only kid in her class without a pet. we giggled together. no sympathy from this Mama and Daddy ;)

oh, i am sure i am leaving something out.
oh, yes: (this is her report, word for word)
she went to the bathroom twice but couldn't go b/c she was so dehydrated,
her locker number is 12 and things kind of fit tight,
she was afraid i was not going to pick her up b/c the van has been broken,
she brought homework home to ME and insisted i finish last night even though it was not due til friday  (sheesh, i can't get a break),
her tennis shoes made her feet sweat,
she has to shake her hands before she can dry them so the floor doesn't get wet,
they call her "Littlejohn" in the pick up line,
she LOVE, love, LOVES her teacher, who is having a baby in 3 weeks and his name is evan.
she met abby who helped her learn about school,
there are a million rules every where you go,
and to finish it off a great big hug and, "mom, i missed you SOOOO much today!" ( heart shatters!)

and that was just part of the first day of school.

more to come from JC i am sure :)
~s