It's back to me and my dog

Spring break is over!

Zippy and I returned the boys this weekend. Today, I woke up to silence, and then freaked that the boys were being too quiet. When I realized they weren't in the house, I then thought, "Oh, Laurie must have taken them to school today" before finally waking up enough to realize that my shift is over.

Don't get me wrong. I had fun with them, and Mackenzie. But man, that was so full-time. And I was really, really hands-on, so I'm still fairly exhausted.

They did a lot during spring break. As we took them to school Monday, we reviewed the list, which included Springtime Tallahassee, cutting trees, seeing a snake, collecting a snakeskin, walking Kocur, petting Kocur, playing with Kocur, spending time with Kocur, seeing Uncle Barry and Mackenzie, eating at several restaurants they don't have in Orlando, Aunt Terri and Payday, decorating and then ingesting cookies, Wild Adventures, specific things about WA, like that falcon ride, the snakes, and the snake that Wendy found, Wendy's house in general, which included a donkey, a devil horse and horseback riding, a visit to Clearwater to see Grandma Zippy play ball, various entertaining games with me and other random children that joined us, a long time at the Chick-Fil-A playground in Clearwater, arriving home and getting Easter candy, an egg hunt and finally, seeing a space shuttle launch close up while listening to their mom communicate to the shuttle and over the speakers.

The boys did a lot. No wonder I'm bushed.

Fortunately, the shuttle launch went up fantastically. Laurie somehow, without her even trying, landed us a primo pass. We watched the launch from about the distance she did. The same area where the press parked. It was amazing.

Prior to the launch, we even saw the space center in its orbit around, then the last pre-daylight launch went off without a hitch.

The drive back was nightmarish because it took three solid hours, but it's just like that. Small price to pay for one of the few remaining shuttle launches.

We sent the boys off to school and hit the road again. Kocur greeted me as soon as I got home and then I went to work my little two-hour shift. After, I greeted Kocur again. She missed me.

Kocur was all up close and personal last night, wanting to breathe in my face and pet me. She's still keeping a careful watch on my coming and going.

I did get my first Parks & Rec paycheck. It's only $157, but I feel rich. I guess the city pays twice a month, so the next check should have two weeks in it. I only have 10 hours during the week, so I hope I can pick up the Saturdays, too. There haven't been games the last two, so that works out since I haven't been available. Now I hope I can.

And now, it's back to the drafting table.