The Aerie
My twins had their "recognition" ceremony yesterday for leaving eighth grade. I'm dubious about such things, but at least the school was constrained by its administration from calling the process "graduation."
It's a good thing I declared June "F* It Month" at my present contractor. After they ate me alive in May, I decided that for the month of June, my needs are going to come before those of my client. So when it was time to go to graduation, I didn't beg off that I had to work... I went. I taped AND photographed, all at the same time.
The "recognition ceremony" was interesting. One of the most notable things was the proliferation of boobs. I was accustomed to seeing groups of gangly girls giggling all over the place: yesterday there were all these young women with boobs giggling all over the place. Eighth grade must be when all the hormones kick in.
There was a wild array of dress. One young woman showed up in a sequened blue evening gown. Others showed up in jeans and a T-shirt. And there was a proliferation of those awful Peasant Shirts. The boys likewise showed up in suits, jeans, a wide variety. However I don't believe I saw any shorts.
It was interesting to put faces to the names I've been hearnig about for so many years. My daughter's nemesis had been selected to perform "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," much to her consternation. I didn't say anything to my daughter, but sure enough the girl got up and did a poor job. Later I explained to my daughter the meaning of the word schadenfreude.
We said goodbye to grandmas and grandpa and had a break which I used to hit the gym - maintaining my unbroken string of visits this month. Then my wife wanted to take the kids to dinner at Figlios, a real grown-up restaurant.
Dinner was okay, but Figilios was crowded. The five of us go seated at a round table big enough for maybe three. It was so noisy that we had to shout at each other to be heard. Then I ordered something called a "Surf 'n Turf Tower," only to have it arrive on, well, a tower... who knew!? Three kebab skewers - one with vegetables, one with beef, and one with shrimp - hung from a two-foot high wrought-iron stand, topped with a plate full of garlic mashed potatoes. Three sauces in plastic cups were grouped around the base of the tower amidst a tangle of bitter lettuce.
It must have taken me ten minutes to take the tower apart and return the skewers, tower, and extra plates to the server so that I would have enough room on the table to eat. The food, when I got to it, was okay - the shrimp were forgettable, but the beef and vegetables were pretty good.
We cruised around Borders for a while to let dinner settle, but I resisted purchasing anything at Borders because I'm trying to preserve my custom for Uncle Hugo's, which is suffering badly as the roads all around it are torn up for construction. If you are in the mood to buy science fiction, please order from Uncle Hugo's and help save the US's oldest surviving science fiction bookstore...
Finally we went to Izzie's for Ice Cream, and afterwards home. By the time we were finished, I'd spent ten hours on the kids' "graduation" from 8th grade that I was supposed to spend working. Or writing my novel.
But whatever, it was fun. And I enjoy spending time with the family and kids. It's just disconcerting to think you're going to spend an hour videotaping a ceremony, and ten hours later discover that the whole day is passed.