Wizard of Oz

Stockton and Maysen both had their last final today. They are finished. Stockton is finished for about 2 1/2 years. Wow. Maysen called and talked to me after her final. I think we talked for about two hours. I'm so excited for them to come home tomorrow!

Jorja did okay at school today. Kind of. She crashed around seminary. She fell asleep and then had a really hard time in chemistry. She said she couldn't even think and begged me to check her out. I picked her up and took her to Zupas to get some food inside her. I bought her a big water bottle and told her to drink the entire thing. I dropped her off at school right as it ended. She needed to be there to set up for the Christmas dance. She definitely got some of her energy back though. She went to Arby's with student government after and seemed to have a great time. I have been so grateful for student government; being a part of it has been such a blessing in Jorja's life.

I went to Kanani's house tonight. The idea was I would stop by her pop up store and pick up a bib for Anne. I ended up talking to her for a long time. Then Darby got home. He asked to talk to me. He ran something downstairs from a girl answering him to the dance. I thought he was talking about Sweethearts, because a lot of people have already been asked. Nope. He asked a girl a few days ago to the dance Saturday. He said that he's learned that a lot of the times way cute girls don't get asked, and if you wait you will hear about it the week before. Haha. It made me laugh. Darby wanted to talk to me about gingerbread houses. Specifically the icing. We went to his kitchen so I could show him the best bowl/beater to use. It was funny because he had no idea that I showed his mom how to make the houses or that I gave her a mold the day before. He thought making gingerbread houses would be a fun date and was wanting to know the best way to make the icing. I ended up talking to Darby and Kanani for a long time. It was very interesting to hear what goes on in student government from Darby's perspective. While I was talking to them I glanced at the clock and saw it was almost 7:00. Yikes! Mike and I had a play at 7:00. I looked at my phone and saw that Mike had been texting and calling me. I had it on silent and hadn't noticed. I busted out of there so fast. When I got home Mike told me that play tickets were for 7:30. Thank heavens!

I was hoping Jorja would go to the play with us, but Madison was over. She was super sad and crying. She is dealing with some hard things with her family right now. Anyway, Jorja was out for the play. I had talked to Preston this morning and told him if Jorja was unable to go we would be taking him. I let him know he was up when I got home and ran downstairs to talk to Jorja. I guess Preston started crying to Mike and telling him he hated The Wizard of Oz. Oh geez. Mike and I ended up going by ourselves and letting the extra ticket go to waste. I am not a Wizard of Oz fan at all, but this play was fantastic. Lexi Walker was Dorothy and she was sooooo good. My favorite was probably the scarecrow. He was doing flips everywhere. Preston would have loved it. I had a great time alone with Mike though.

When Mike and I came home Madison was asleep in our bed. Jorja was watching The Grinch while writing Christmas cards. We woke Madison up and I drove her home. I really like that girl. I hope things with her family get better.

James and the Giant Peach

I woke up Jorja this morning, much to her delight. I wanted her to have enough time to do chores. While I was waiting for her to awake I looked through her phone. I read her conversation with Stockton. For some reason it cracked me up. She told him she was taking her makeup off. Stockton replied, "It's a makedown." I couldn't stop laughing. I don't know why, but it was so funny to me. Jorja took the phone away and texted Stockton about it. He wrote back, "Stephanie's log - Day 91 of Stockton at college: Mom's sadness has evolved into something much worse: boredom. Her sense of humor is weakening. Even the most mundane things are now funny. The days until Thanksgiving are few, but who knows if her sanity will remain intact" Hahahaha! Oh man! How did they expect me to stop laughing now?

Mike brought the ducks inside today. Their diapers are working great.

 Jorja misspelled 'quack'

Jorja's friend Lily came over this afternoon. They played with ducks. Then the three of us went to Taco Bell. Jorja was driving her bug. She turned right at the four way stop when she should have turned left. I did tell her to turn right, but I meant left. Anyway, she stalled the car four times in the intersection. Luckily she didn't panic. Finally she realized she had it in second gear instead of first. We found a street to turn around in. Jorja asked if I could drive the rest of the way because we were on a time crunch. We picked up some tacos and then went to the school musical.

Lily & Jorja

 Lily, Jorja, Stephanie

I tried to like the musical, I really did. Didn't work. I kept falling asleep. That is not unusual, I fall asleep in movies all the time. I just didn't like the play. I didn't like the movie either. The story is just so weird. Jorja loved seeing all of her friends though. That was really fun for her.

 Gavin & Jorja

 Gavin was a seagull ~ everyone on the ballroom team was

 Jorja & Sami

We dropped Lily off home and then I had Jorja drive the rest of the way. She did great until we had to turn by the fire station. For some reason she freaked herself out. She wasn't starting on a hill, but the hill nearby terrified her. Plus there was a car behind us. She started panicking. Her breathing started going out of control, she kept repeating, "I can't do this! I can't do this!" in a high pitched voice. I was worried she would keep spiraling. But she didn't. She got herself under control and did a perfect turn. She has done so much better at controlling her panic attacks. Now to get it under control when she was driving a stick, which already is out of her comfort zone. I am so proud of her.

While I was at the play, Mike spent the time taking down the fence that connects the two duck ponds. It is sure a lot more open now than it used to be! I think Waddluigi and Quackletta are going to love it. The small duck pond is their favorite.

Jorja drove the pilot down to work. This is the first time I have sent her by herself. She was so happy! Mike and I drove Jorja's bug to the Maxfield wedding. That was a long way away! Only a half an hour, but it seemed longer. It was nice though. Mike and I had a great time. We talked to the Dale and Catherine Johnson and Jacqui Scott in the line. That was fun. We sat next to Zane and Heidi Christensen. Ava was with them. I hadn't talked to Heidi in a long time. I mentioned to her that Hadley Kate told Jorja she needed to kiss a lot of boys so she could learn how to be a good kisser. That is what she learned from her! Kids these days.....

We stopped at Walmart on the way up to pick up my prescription. Mike picked up these duck beds while we were there. He was so excited to try them out.

Kiki & Quacky Chan

 They prefer to share right now

 Preston loved it

 He begged Mike to let the ducks sleep next to him.

That didn't last very long. I think they weren't a fan of the dark.

We brought them upstairs where they hung out until Jorja FINALLY got home! She worked until closing and they got out later than usual today. Mike tried to clip Kiki's nails so she would stop scratching Jorja. He did one clip and Kiki freaked out! Mike was worried he was hurting her, so he stopped. We will have to figure out how to file those things down because Jorja gets more and more scratched up every day.

Lunch Lady

Stockton had a friend on his Academic Decathlon team last year named Weston Smith. We, of course, think that is hilarious because they have a cousin named Weston Smith. Jorja likes to send Stockton pictures of her and Weston. Here are some I found on her phone. I don't know how he is actually a Smith when he looks so tall. At least I think that is Weston. What if they are all different people but because he is wearing glasses I think they are all the same?

Jorja & Weston

 Weston & Jorja

 Jorja got her pass to get into events at other schools for free.

 She also got to be a lunch lady today.

I dropped Jorja off at lacrosse practice after school. Two hours later Mike and I picked her up. We went straight to a play at the Hale Center Theater. It was The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was really good, but Jorja has a hard time sitting still for that long. Here she is at intermission.

Jorja

We had a late dinner at Village Inn after the play. Preston was asleep by the time we got home. What a sweet boy. I love him so much.