9.11.2006

Back To School

What a first week back. First of all, I'm back at the school where I've been for the last four years.

Last week started out pretty good. Friday, however, was a different story. I get to school and find that the street in front of the building has been taped off with police crime scene tape. At the other end of the block, there is a body under a bright yellow tarp. Apparently, this young man (24 years old) had been shot multiple times sometime late Thursday night or early Friday morning. He was not from our neighborhood and the police, at least as of Friday, have very little to go on. It's pretty sad and scary. School went on as planned, because it was determined early in the investigation (which began shortly after 6:00 Friday morning) that we were in no danger and that the only connection to our school was geography and chance. Kids were ushered into the building immediately upon arrival and a parent meeting was called at 9:00 for those interested, with the police in attendence to give accurate facts. News crews were camped out all day long across the street and classrooms along that side of the building (mine is not) had to keep their blinds closed all day and the rooms closest to the scene also had to keep their windows closed and paper was put over those windows to keep kids from peeking through the blinds.

One of the things that annoys me about what happened Friday is that some parents are viewing the tragedy as an extension of our school, despite the fact that the victim was not even remotely connected withour school and that the crime happened in the middle of the night. Grrr...

Hopefully this week will be more normal.

Owen turns 11 months old tomorrow. I can't believe it! THis is happening too fast for me. I realized the other week that I no longer have an infant, he's progressing onto the toddler stage. I miss my teeny tiny baby boy, but I love my big boy! We went to the Puyallup fair yesterday - Owen's first - and he got to ride the carousel and pet a goat and a sheep in the petting farm. He loved both. He wasn't too sure at first on the carousel, but once it got going, he held on and smiled through the whole ride! Yippee!!!

I'll tell you all something. This little boy of ours has an unbelieveable amount of energy. I get exhausted just watching him go. We're gonna have to get him into sports that require lots of running (soccer, football, basketball, etc.)