Big sistering

Thursday morning, Colin was up very early. I had to help him get a cough drop, then went back to sleep. Eric, on the other hand, didn't want to get up at all, and there were loads of trouble getting him dressed, fed, and out the door. The other kids had already started walking down the alley, and Eric just turned back towards us and stood there, after having trouble getting his glove on. I put on my flip flops and carried him down to Lydia, where he stopped again. Lydia picked him up, and went on her way. I wasn't sure that was going to work, so I followed them to the end of the alley and looked around the corner. They were all standing at the intersection. Then I saw Lydia pick Eric up again, and carry him across the street.

I went back home, but still had misgivings about the possibility that Eric would refuse to go on, so I put on some socks and real shoes, threw on my coat, and headed back out the door. I hurried all the way to Coe, but never saw them. Lydia told us later she had carried him part of the way and pushed him the rest. They didn't make it to his class line by the time the first bell rang, but got Eric through the door before it closed. After work and Spanish I told Lydia how much I appreciated her efforts, and gave her a new book as a token of that appreciation. She's reading it now. (Skunk and Badger #2: Egg Marks the Spot.)

We sent Colin to school because only the cough lingers from his illness stint. The school district policy has changed a little, so that if the children only present one symptom (including cough), then they can come back to school 24 hours after the fever is gone, without a test. I loaded him up with seven cough drops to use throughout the day. He told me he ate them all, but didn't need so many. 

Nicole was out and about this morning, so it was just me and my hiring committee packets after my morning meetings. I got through them in time to do a little regular work before the hiring committee meeting, then finally had some regular work time until a short information meeting at the end of the day. Meanwhile it was raining quite heavily outside, as though some atmospheric river were passing over us. The forecast is for a dry weekend, though.

Rachel reported that she had to go back to math class during the next period to finish her test, but she thought it went well. We made a deal that if her score was high enough she could earn a prize. I give it about even odds at this point. We should find out tomorrow. She was working on biology homework this evening and says it's her favorite class. She especially likes her teacher. Science classes have definitely not been her favorite in the past, so this is a nice change.

I baked a fantastic loaf of bread this morning. I don't know if the extra overnight rise time is something the other loaves have been missing, or if I just did a better job of shaping it tightly before putting it in the banneton, but it held its form better and then expanded more in the oven.

I still had leftover pizza to eat for lunch, but I sliced off the end to try it while it was still warm.