We picked up the van yesterday afternoon.

Yeah!

The funny thing about it is that I had to leave to pick up Amanda from school, call Andrew's school and tell him I'd be 30 minutes late and for him to sit in the library and do his homework, swing by the hospital and pick up Thomas and then go to the auto body shop.

We paid and then I tried to open up the side door...and it wouldn't open. It was open a teeny bit, but beyond that it was completely stuck. Thomas tried. The owner of the shop tried. Two more employees tried. They used such force that the van rocked back and forth. Time was ticking and they told us that they didn't know how the door got broken, but that they would hold onto it and fix it. Thomas needed to go back to work, but I needed to get Andrew before his school closed.

Thomas was freaking out that they had broken the door and I was freaking out about picking up Andrew. I opted to bring Aidan and Zoe in through the front seats and then come back this morning to have the van fixed. As we were doing this, an employee walked by, grabbed the door, reached down underneath it and popped it open. They had run the car through their car wash and the door was frozen shut.

Phew. Crisis averted.

I picked up Andrew, dropped him at home and got Amanda and Aidan's Kung Fun uniforms and then headed over to Kung Fu. While Amanda helped teach Aidan's class, Zoe got up and ran into the 3-5 year old class and started KICKING and PUNCHING.

We were all laughing, and the teacher told me to let her try it. Zoe kept trying to imitate the teacher saying "punch", "Kick" and tried the chinese numbers.
Obviously, she wasn't taking home any kung fu prizes, but it was so cute to see her follow the "big kids" down the mats and try and do a bounce kick with her hands in the air. Bummer that my camera was at home....bummer, bummer, bummer.

Have I mentioned lately how cute she is and how much I love her.

I'm really proud of Amanda too. She and I were talking about the little girl who is struggling so much because of having had leukemia and the bone marrow transplant. She is behind emotionally and her growth has been stunted. She looks like she is about 7 or 8 instead of 10. Her experience in school has been very unpleasant as well. Even though she didn't attend kindergarten or first grade because of her illness, she was promoted for social reasons...and the kids are horrible to her. Amanda offered to be her "big sister" and invited the girl to a movie on Sunday. She told me that she understands how this girl feels and that it isn't fair for people to tease her. "She can't help it that she got cancer, mom. Why are kids so mean? She just needs someone to give her some self-confidence." Amanda really does have a heart of gold.....even though she tries to hide it sometimes.

After Aidan's class was over, I ran to pick up Alex from KidStop while Amanda's class continued....then I drove back again and picked up Amanda. I bet I clocked 250-300 miles yesterday.....seriously....

We got home, had Schwan's pizza and salad and spent the evening winding down and getting ready for today.

This morning the kung fu teacher called.

"Kris," broken chinese "Your face looked so beautiful yesterday. I had to call you."

"Oh, ummm, thanks...Deema..."

"Your face looks different. happy. beautiful"

It almost would make a great lexapro commercial. But it bothers me....at a gut level....Seriously...it hasn't even been a week. I feel...a little ashamed that it makes such a big difference when it isn't even supposed to be working yet. :huh:

Kris