446...

Claude was going to be gone from Tuesday morning to Friday evening. I had, and still have, a lot of things I was looking forward to doing with this time. Alas, other wonderful things would fill this time. Some were standard things, others were unique adventures. Here's the story...

Tuesday the weather report was for good weather all day. I determined this would be the best day to take Papa for a ride. Claude has been asked to look at a potential route for die-hard bicyclists to take from Sadieville to Stamping Ground and back. Claude asked me to consider the roads Papa and I sometimes drive and give him some suggestions. So, my plan for this drive was to 'kill two birds with one stone'. That is a strange saying. We would criss-cross Scott County and take mileage measurements as we went. This kept us on all very, very back roads which Papa loves. I'm praying for no one to be on some of those roads as there is barely room to pass on many of them. 

After our nice ride, I went to Arby's for dinner. Then to Lexington to pick up our two pieces of art we had framed. Then back to Georgetown to clear our grocery list before returning to Sadieville. 

My alarm went off at 7am Wednesday morning. My destination was LaGrange. Bailey called me the week before and asked if I was 'available' April 26th and 27th between 10:30am and  11:30am each of those days. I told her that, if I could only do one day, it should be Thursday as I had stuff in the afternoon and evening every Wednesday. I asked her what she needed. She told me her class would be dissecting sharks and her teacher needed several parent helpers. Andie and Michael can't because of work. So Bailey was asking me to fill in for them. Now, I ask you, who doesn't want to dissect sharks with a bunch of 4th graders?? Really! I assured her I would be there both mornings. So much for clearing some things off my to do list.

I filled up with gas on my way out of town and made it in plenty of time to Bailey's school. I checked in at the office and then went to her classroom. They were watching their teacher give a presentation about what they would be doing. I was glad to see this before we actually got into the process. Other parents showed up by 10:30am and we were ready to begin this learning experience.

Bailey's classroom has about 8 tables with four kids to each table. All of these we covered with a plastic tablecloth. Each table had a disposable pan that contained a tape measure and a set of utensils to cut and explore the shark. The kids and parents were each given disposable gloves to wear during this exploration. The kids also each had a worksheet to be completed, front and back. They each chose an old pencil that could be thrown away when the project was completed. The cute thing was the toothpaste smeared under each child's nose. This was to help with the odor for shark and formaldehyde. We were ready.

Two of the fathers went into the hallway and brought in another disposable pan that contained one shark, one for each table. These were set on the tables and kids started to gag from the odor and queezy stomachs at the sight of a little dead shark in front of them. Not so with Miss B. She embraced this opportunity but she has a soft spot in her heart for all animals and it was evident as she checked out the shark for their table for the first time.

But, that didn't last forever. She was ready to play.

The first day was just to learn about the exterior of the shark. The worksheets had them measure the length, circumference in several places, place labels they had previously made on the right body parts, and weight of the shark compared to their weight. Then they were to just explore the outside of the shark and list any questions they had for the next day.

Once they were finished, the shark pan was put in a plastic bag and left in the washroom between two classrooms. The table cloths and plastic gloves were carefully removed and disposed of. The kids had another hour of class before their lunch time. I brought Bailey lunch so I went to the lobby and posted pictures on Facebook for family to see while I waited for Bailey. The cutest thing was watching the 2nd and 3rd graders coming to the bathroom before going to their lunch time. They had their noses pinched to block the smell and were trying hard not to gag. This is only amplified because others are doing it and it seems the right way to react. I was in stitches watching these cuties. My desire was to tell them that, in a few years, they would be the ones working with the sharks. 

Bailey enjoyed her lunch and it was nice to do that with her again. Then I was off to Georgetown. Papa and I would go to the nursing home. I would also teach Institute. Got home about 9pm. Spent the rest of my evening getting things ready for the next day.

Thursday, my alarm went off again at 7am. I filled up my car on the way to LaGrange for day two with the shark. Got checked in at the office and on to Bailey's classroom. When all was ready and instructions had been given to the kids that only the parent volunteers could use the scalpel and scissors, the kids could use all other instruments. The only thing they had to do was identify the inside body parts before having their own exploration of the inside of the shark. Again, Bailey was hands on.

We found the heart.

We extracted the eyeball for Bailey and Will. Bailey found a very hard white ball on the inside the size of a sweet pea. She had a medicine bottle she brought from home and that eyeball went in there. Then she cut off part of the bottom layer of teeth and put that in her medicine bottle. I know she also took a piece of the fin. 

Our table was the first to find the brain. This is not easy to get at. It is completely surrounded by bone and very hard cartilage. 

The kids really got into exploring with the shark. They were all over the bad smell and disgusting thought of a dead shark. I'm not sure what all they each learned but I know they had some kind of interesting learning curve with this experience. Bailey put something in my purse which I pretended not to notice. She likes to do these secret things.

We cleaned up the room and I was off to the Middle School to have lunch with Hayden. He was very happy to have me come to have lunch with him. I shared pictures of the shark experience. He shared pictures of their cats. We plotted my picking him up to take him to his track meet after school.

I left the school and headed directly to Walmart. You see, that pesky shark squirted some shark juice on my t-shirt while cutting him for the kids. I knew I smelled like formaldehyde and shark and it was not pleasant. I did go to Applebee's for Wanton Chicken Tacos for my dinner. When I went outside the wind had picked up and it was decidedly cooler. I did not have a jacket. When I checked the forecast before leaving Sadieville, I had no concerns about this. So, back to Walmart I went and found a thin, inexpensive sweatshirt that was perfect. Now I was ready to stay outside for Hayden's track meet in the evening. 

I had about a hour to myself at the Marx home. I changed clothes and felt much better not having so much of a shark experience odor about me. Then I left to pick up Hayden and take him for his track meet. When Andie got finished with her after school meetings, she picked up Bailey and joined us. Michael would also come after work. It would be a family affair.

Hayden ran in three races. The 400 which is one lap around the track. He would do two relay races: the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 400. I could not believe how long it takes to get through a track meet. We were there from 4:30pm to 8:30pm. There were still events going on after Hayden finished his last event and we left. That is a lot for a school night. 

Michael had a great suggestion for dinner. He led us to a place called Blaze Pizza. It was a fun experience as well. It is like the Chipotle of pizza. You choose what type of pizza you want and then go down a buffet line of toppings to get it put together. Then they cook it very quickly and, voila, you have pizza for everyone. We ordered one large Caesar salad to share. It was delicious. We must take Claude back there some time.

I also brought the souvenirs for everyone from China. After sharing those, I hit to road for Sadieville getting home at 11pm. Whew!!

Friday morning I slept in a bit. Then off to Lexington and back to Georgetown to visit Papa. Claude was to have been back to Lexington by 6pm. Turns out Pres. Trump was speaking in Atlanta and that backed up all the flights. He made it home closer to 9pm. But he was home and I was happy to have him back again.

Just out of curiosity, I set my trip meter in my car on Wednesday morning. From Wednesday morning when I left my home to Friday when Claude got home, I drove 446 miles. Yep, it was a very busy 3 days. And, those to do list items are still waiting for attention a little longer. But we built some good memories and that is way more important.