Today is Fred's birthday, but we're holding off the celebration for another couple of weeks. He is already in the process of sending stuff home as the end of the deployment starts to come into sight, so it didn't make much sense for me to send still MORE stuff in that direction.
I posted this song on his Facebook wall today, but I'll share it here as well:
I became aware of it for the first time when we were on vacation in Jamaica last year, and I always think of Fred when I hear it.
Other notable happenings of the day:
The kids had their first rehearsal for Bye Bye, Birdie and enjoyed themselves. I'm glad they get to share this experience this summer before Mike goes off to college.
While they were rehearsing, I went shopping. I absolutely SCORED on workout wear at TJMaxx--4 bottoms, 3 tops. I guess this means I have to keep going to the gym . . .
I also went to the fabric store, where I fell in love with the most amazing fabric. It's kind of a very short terry-cloth or velour knit, but it's as stable as a woven because it has an eyelet design sewn into it:
It was on sale for $3 a yard, so five yards of it followed me home, but I don't know what it wants to be. Any ideas? I see it as a skirt or sundress, but it's pretty heavy--those 5 yards weigh 5 pounds!
Vogue patterns were on sale for $4, so I grabbed this one:
Can you believe that the retail price for that pattern is $27.50? That's insane!
I also bought 2 Butterick patterns the other day:
and
So now I have 3 patterns with no fabric and 5 pounds/yards of fabric with no pattern.
I am friends with Mike and Annabelle's German teacher, so she invited me to go along on the German 2 and 3 classes' recent field trip to a local German restaurant. I can't say nein to German food, so I pedaled extra hard in spin class that morning and then climbed on the big yellow bus bound for the Schnitzel Barn. I had never been before, but it was pretty good for German food in the middle of America, and I would happily go again.
Today was the high school's annual "Fiesta Day," where the kids get dismissed from class in the morning for a talent show followed by several hours of fun and games throughout and around the school. Last year the weather was terrible and we had to have everything inside, but this year got lucky with beautiful (if a tad chilly) weather. I worked the cake walk, and by "worked" I mean "stood around chatting with my friends and eating junk food."
Mike and his best friend Mark both won trophies at the talent show:
Mike's performance:
Mark's performance:
Annabelle and Mike's beloved AP US History teacher twirled knives while the judges tabulated their votes:
Long-time readers of this blog may remember 3 years ago when Mike won a trophy at the FKHS talent show with his madd circus skillz:
The cast list is out for this summer's production of Bye Bye, Birdie, and it looks like I'll be a stage mother times two. Annabelle has been telling Mike for 2 years now that he is really missing out by not getting involved in the local youth theater program, and she finally wore him down. They both went to auditions Friday night and both got invited to callbacks on Sunday. Annabelle is going to be "Gloria Rasputin," a comedic, tap-dancing role, and Mike is going to be "Conrad Birdie," the Elvis-figure the show revolves around. This should be a fantastic summer!
I can't believe that in less than a month, Mike will be graduating from high school. I went today to pick up the tickets for graduation, and he needs to be getting his announcements in the mail in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, there is still a lot of paperwork to be done for his Air Force ROTC scholarship as well as finishing up other scholarship applications. He is already signed up for freshman orientation on June 1 to June 3. We chose that early time slot because Fred will be here on R&R, so he can go with us and finally see FSU for himself.
Now that Buddy the dog has a roof over his head and good food to eat, he's moving on up Mazlow's hierarchy of needs and starting a blog. He'll be self-actualized before we know it! You can check it out here.
Mike reports that prom was a blast, as was the after-party at the bowling alley. We're having yet another rainy, dreary day today though, and it looks like it'll be Wednesday before it gets pretty (and warm) again.
No, really, it is! In fact, here's the song to accompany tonight's post:
Here's tonight's weather forecast: "Damaging winds, large hail, and possibly a tornado with some storms." Now if that doesn't make you want to dress up in formal wear and head out for a night on the town, I just don't know what would.
Mike and his friends weren't going to let a little monsoon dampen (ha ha ha!) their plans though. They started off with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Louisville. Annabelle and I went up at 4 to reserve a table for 20 two hours later and had dinner while we waited. The kids started showing up in their fancy clothes at around 5:30, and I managed to snap one picture of Mike and his date Ashley before handing him the pager and heading for home:
Since I got home, I've been trolling around on Facebook looking for photos that friends have posted, and I found a few to borrow.
Here are Mike and his friends Ben and Mark looking sharp:
All the guys:
All the girls:
And Ashley and Mike in front of the fireplace:
I got a call a little while ago that they are on their way back to Fort Knox from Louisville. The prom runs from 8 until midnight, and then the post has thrown together an after-prom bash at the bowling alley that shook keep them busy until 3.
True, it's only in the mid-60s outside, but I had my last class for the semester last night, which makes today the first official day of summer for me! I'm using my new-found freedom to take care of a bunch of little tasks around the house that I've been neglecting lately (like feeding the kids, for example).
Annabelle and I have been watching Hoarders: Buried Alive lately. I'm finding it very inspiring for cleaning the house. I'm also getting into pre-move mode, where I want to go through everything and unload a ton of unnecessary junk. After 5 years in one place, we have a lot of that!
Tonight Mike is taking pictures at a track meet for the yearbook. Annabelle and I are going to have a "girls' night" with some friends down the street. I have made a Joghurtsahnetorte for the occasion. I feel like a domestic goddess.
I took a 2-month break from Pilates when it became too much to balance the commute to Louisville with homework and all the traveling we've been doing. I started back yesterday though, and it feels wonderful to be back. I'm going to try to make it up there twice a week through the summer. I'm also doing a spinning (as in biking) class twice a week here on post, and now that the weather is warming up, I'm putting a fair number of miles on the dog.
I will try to use some of my new leisure time to take better care of my blog!
For the past 6 weeks or so, my parents have been involved in high drama involving a dog named Buddy. Apparently Buddy used to live with a homeless man somewhere in the woods near their neighborhood. The homeless man died a year or so ago, and Buddy has been on his own ever since, except for a rather eclectic group of supporters who have been slipping him food and trying to catch him. Animal Control took up the case about the same time Mom and Dad got involved and issued an edict that he should not be fed, which drove Buddy's buddies underground. The time since then has been filled with high intrigue, involving lots of phone calls between sources and lots of quiet slipping into and out of a sinkhole. Abandoning him simply wasn't an option.
Mom got him to the point a couple weeks ago where he would take food from her hand:
Aside from that though, nobody has been able to get close to him until the other night when he sat down by my father and let Dad give him a hug! The next morning he was back to his usual touch-me-not stance, but then they wound up getting him into the fenced-in backyard of one of the supporters. They leashed him, took him to the vet, and took him home, where he promptly took up residence on their couch:
It sounds like Mike did Greece and Italy right. He didn't bring home a single euro, and he didn't get one minute more sleep than he actually needed while he was there. The trip was amazing, and I can't wait to see his pictures and share some of them here. He's off at the gym right now though, working off some of that Italian food, so I'll content myself with putting up the few random Fort Leavenworth photos that I have left from last week. Annabelle and I walked around the historical neighborhood on our last evening there.
This is another shot of the action that is behind the houses on Grant Avenue (pool, tennis courts, etc.). I love the idea of having all that LITERALLY in my backyard:
Annabelle was charmed by how they ran the sidewalk around this big ol' tree:
Quaint gazebo:
Adorable little chapel:
Finally, here are the pics that the housing office sent just to give us a feel for what the historical housing looks like. I can't stop looking at these homes:
Sorry I haven't checked in here since returning home. The past couple days have been a little rough. Annabelle had all 4 wisdom teeth removed Thursday morning and also had some work done to encourage a reluctant eye tooth to come on in. Life here is revolving around EZ Mac, applesauce, and Percoset (all for her).
The rest of our visit to Kansas was wonderful. Tuesday morning we had a tour of the high school, and it looks like they have a lot to offer in terms of classes and activities. Matters of fashion seem to be governed by plain old common sense, and Annabelle is excited about wearing jeans to school and even (gasp!) not tucking in her shirt. When we arrived at the school for our tour, we suspected that this might be a positive sign:
Other random happy things:
While we were in Kansas, we located our new Thai restaurant as well as our new coffee shop. Barista's Daily Grind is just outside the main gate to the post, in an adorable little building that looks like an elf house (drive-thru only):
Annabelle and I decided that the latte (sweetened with 4 packs of sugar) is absolutely perfect, especially since each cup is topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a chocolate-covered espresso bean:
There is fabulous shopping within a half-hour of post in 2 different directions. On Monday afternoon, we hopped across the river to Zona Rosa in Missouri. Then on our way home Tuesday afternoon, we stopped by The Legends in Kasas City for lunch. I got a kick out of this rather large turtle statue at The Legends:
And one more happy--Mike just updated his Facebook status to say: "Mike Taylor just landed in Chicago! I can sleep when I'm dead!" I think that means he had a good time?
Annabelle and I took a tour of a couple of empty houses on post this morning to get an idea of what our choices will be like come this summer. Basically, the big choice is new vs. old. New is . . . well, new of course. But they are also smaller--about 2100 square feet as opposed to 3,000 and up in the older homes. On the other hand, they come equipped with fenced-in backyards (I'm lookin' at YOU, Ginger!). The old homes are amazing--each one has its little quirks and differences, which adds to the charm. Of course, some of them also--don't laugh--have ghosts. Stop laughing!
Greetings from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas! We had an uneventful drive over yesterday. Google Maps tried to send us around St. Louis, but I figured driving through on a Sunday afternoon couldn't be too bad. I was right. As we approached the arch, Annabelle snapped a picture:
As I type this, Mike is somewhere in the air between Chicago and Munich. In another 14 hours or so, he'll be in Greece. He is going with a small group of friends from school (yeah, all girls):
He texted me from Chicago to say that he was the only one of his group to get upgraded to Economy Plus for the international flight, thus netting himself an extra 5 inches of legroom. If you check out this picture of him standing behind his fellow travelers (the girls plus 2 moms plus the tour leader), you can see why he is the one in most dire need of extra legroom:
Just before the gang went through security, Ashley, Anna, and Mike modeled their spiffy new backpacks that the tour company provided:
I don't know how much I'll be hearing from him this week, but I'll keep you posted.
Sorry I've been so quiet lately. I'm into the last 4 weeks of the semester, when everything seems to come crashing down, so mostly I'm focusing on schoolwork. In fact, yesterday I canceled my weekly Pilates class until the semester is over and skipped out on a coffee I had planned on going to. That freed up some extra time for taking care of stuff on the never-ending to-do list.
The kids' spring break starts this weekend. Mike leaves tomorrow with several of his classmates for a tour of Athens and Rome (and I don't mean the ones in Georgia). I'm jealous, as I adore Rome and have never been to Greece (aside from the 4 hours I spent on Patros between ferry trips back in college). I hope he has fun!
Annabelle and I are driving out to Kansas on Sunday to check out Fort Leavenworth. I figure we'll spend Monday looking around on post and Tuesday checking out the high school. Then we'll drive back here on Wednesday. On Thursday, Annabelle is having her wisdom teeth out and having a procedure (called an "exposure") done that will allow her orthodontist to encourage her reluctant eye tooth to grow in already. Not quite as fun as a trip to Rome and Greece, but she is really looking forward to having all her teeth for her sophomore picture next year.
The show was great! I was so proud of Annabelle--she really brought the funny tonight. I wasn't the only one who thought so either. She got a lot of laughs and applause from the audience at large. Here are a few pictures I took at the meet-n-greet after the play:
Annabelle's time has been consumed this week by the production of High School Musical that her musical theater class is putting on: a 4.5-hour dress rehearsal on Tuesday night and then 5 school shows spread over 3 days. Tonight is the one public performance, and I'm excited about seeing it. Annabelle plays student-pianist "Kelsi," composer of the musical that is the focus of the show.
I went to dress rehearsal and came away impressed as always at what a group of motivated kids (and a VERY motivated teacher) can do. Here are a few pics I snapped Tuesday night:
I also took a brief video clip. They were working out some issues with the microphones, but you can get an idea of the scale of the production:
Tonight was the night that FSU released admissions decisions for next fall. Mike is in! I think this is going to be the one. It has been a hard decision for him, because he has seen so many really amazing schools, each with something great to offer. There's a feeling at FSU though that makes it stand out. On both of our visits, things have just clicked. People have gone out of their way to be nice and helpful.
Speaking of Mike and school, this is a good time to share his senior picture, which we got just a couple weeks ago:
I can't believe he's really getting ready to leave for college!
OK, so maybe "springing" isn't an accurate description of what I'm doing. I sure could use the hour I lost this weekend, but I'm so happy to be back in Daylight Savings Time.
I'm getting ready for the final push of the semester with my classes. This is going to mean 2 fairly heavy-duty group projects plus keeping up with the regular readings and such. I registered this morning for fall. I'm just going to take one class (Metadata), as I figure I'll be busy enough just trying to get us settled into our new home in Kansas.
Oh, speaking of school! I got invited to join the honor society Phi Kappa Phi. My dad is also a member, which I guess means he and I are going to be brothers. I'm still trying to figure out if this makes me my own grandpa or not.
I hesitate to say anything, lest I should jinx it, but I think winter might be on its way out. I know we've still got some chilly days ahead of us, but tonight Annabelle and I walked the dog at around 6:30--it was still light out, and I wore sandals. Just a few weeks ago, it would have been pitch black at that hour, and I'd have likely been wearing snow boots.
The warmer weather definitely improves my mood and gives me more energy. I even made it to spinning class twice this week!
Spring fever might also explain why I have found myself so bored and frustrated with my hair the past few days. It just felt old and tired, and I wanted something NEW! So I took myself up to Louisville this afternoon and came home with a wash-and-wear 'do that's several inches shorter and feels several pounds lighter:
We had our swim banquet tonight. Swim season has really been a driving force in our family life for the past 4 years--seems we're always in the middle of the season or gearing up for the next one.
Here's this year's team posing for one last group shot underneath our spiffy new banner:
And Mike acting silly with his spirit scarf:
Mike's still not certain where he'll go to school next year, but one thing he does know--he wants to make a weekend trip back to Kentucky next February to cheer the Eagles on at Regionals!
I have some cool swim photos that the photographer from the post newspaper shared with us, and I'll try to get those uploaded tomorrow.
Mike and I spent last week traveling 2049 miles to check out 3 colleges. We got back last night, and I have been settling back into everyday life since then. I need to get back into blogging, but it just seems overwhelming when there's such a backlog of details to report. So I'm just going to jump back in by posting the pictures I took on our tours.
Monday was Auburn:
Tuesday was FSU:
And Wednesday was UCF:
We had a great trip, but I sure missed Annabelle. She and I have been making up for lost time. This afternoon we went shopping and then attended a performance of the University of Louisville symphony orchestra featuring Annabelle's bassoon teacher on the piano, playing a Rachmaninoff concerto. Now we're watching the Oscars. Check out Annabelle's predictions on her blog!
Wow, has it really been a week since I blogged last? I'm sorry about that. I keep meaning to toss something up here--I actually have some photos and video that I'm eager to share--but for some reason I just haven't gotten around to it.
I think I might have mentioned how miserable I was in school last semester? Well, I am the exact opposite of miserable this semester. I'm taking a marketing class and a management class, and they are just the perfect complement for one another. I am really enjoying them, but they're keeping me quite busy.
Oh, and speaking of school, remember how I blogged about that fabulous program set out by the Department of Defense to give military spouses $6000 to put towards education for portable careers? It's paying my tuition this year to the tune of about $2300, and I was looking forward to it doing likewise for my last 2 classes next year. Well, they shut it down, the bastards! I'm a little insulted by the fact that they couldn't be bothered to personally notify those of us already in the program but instead let us find out via the grapevine. Shame, shame, shame! It won't really change my course of action, as I maintain my freelance career to keep myself in tuition and Pilates and therefore already had the rest of my tuition money saved up. This is actually going to cause some spouses--including some friends of mine--to change their educational plans, and that just sucks.
We are getting ready to head out on Sunday for what I have termed the College Death-Tour from Hell. I'm looking forward to it, but it's gonna be intense: Auburn on Monday, Florida State on Tuesday, and University of Central Florida on Wednesday. We will semi-relax on Thursday and then drive back home on Friday and Saturday. Decisions will be made soon (I hope)! Within the past couple of weeks, Mike has gotten acceptances from Rollins and UCF and has been offered an Air Force ROTC scholarship as well. Nice to have options!
I just realized that I forgot to post a couple snow pics from last week when the kids got 2 snow days off from school. This does the best job of showing quantity:
And this probably does the best job of showing quality, as it was a very packable snow, and snowmen seemed to pop up in almost every yard:
Poor Ginger had trouble finding a potty spot:
It's still on the ground, and we're supposed to get MORE this weekend.
It was so exciting to be at State yesterday! The guys did their relay in 1:36.93, finishing in eighteenth place. This qualified them as second alternates, which earned them a trip back for finals today. Even though they did not wind up swimming today, it was cool to be invited back on official business.
Here is a picture of the boys the other night at their pasta dinner:
Tomorrow is the big day! The kids went up to UofL this evening for practice in the pool where the state competition will be held. I guess now they are at their pasta dinner, doing some last-minute carb-loading.
If you're interested in seeing the action, you can watch live video here. The boys start at 10 o'clock, and here is the lineup for Friday's events.
They're goin' to State, they're goin' to State! The boys' 200-yard freestyle relay is goin' to State!
Tonight has been just amazing. Mike's coaches and a few friends showed up at the house at around 9 tonight to deliver the good news. Oh, yeah, and to give him a mohawk:
Once Mike was properly styled, we all joined up with this merry band of barbers to shear Harrison:
Day 2 of Regionals was a real emotional roller-coaster, one that we'll be on through tomorrow night.
First the great news: Samantha Garrett qualified in 2 individual events for the State competition in Louisville next weekend, as did the girls' 200-yard freestyle relay. Go, lady Eagles!
After the girls' 200-yard relay locked in their ticket to State by finishing second in 1:50.94 (compared to the previous day's 1:53.81), there was a LOT of rejoicing at the spectator end of the pool. A circle of girls enveloped Coach Mason--who was completely overcome with emotion--in a giant hug:
Soon it was time for what we hoped would be a similar outcome for the boys' 200-yard freestyle relay. The boys had already taken a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay earlier in the afternoon, although they did drop their time from 1:52.51 to 1:50.51. The 200-yard freestyle relay was really their best chance at State, and it seemed certain that the girls' recent success in that event was a good omen.
They swam wonderfully, although at 1:37.63 they were just a smidge over the previous day's time of 1:36.87. You have to remember that all season, their eyes have been on breaking the 1:40 barrier, so this is just tremendous. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for one of the first 2 places, which would have meant a guaranteed trip to State, and they finished fourth.
As high as the Fort Knox fans had felt only moments before, that's how crushed the mood was after that relay. Mike didn't have too long to wallow in the misery though before it was time for his 100-yard breaststroke. He did amazing! Finished first in his heat for seventh place in our region with a time of 1:07.76 (down from 1:09.14 the day before, which was his first time ever going under 1:10):
Five minutes later, he was back in the pool with the 400-yard freestyle relay, which came in fourth with a time of 3:47.47, a full second off the previous day's 3:48.50.
The way that the competition is put together for State, the first 2 finishers from each of 5 regions in each event go. Then all remaining times across the state are ranked by speed, and the next 14 fastest competitors receive invitations as well. People who know what they are talking about in the world of swimming say that our boys have a chance of getting this call tomorrow night for their 200-yard freestyle relay.
And so we wait. Either the boys' season is over . . . or it isn't. Hard to know what to do or say. Mike has his gear packed and is ready to head out for 6 a.m. practice tomorrow so that if the call comes, he won't have missed a day of preparation. Oh, how I hope the call comes!
But whether they get a call or they don't, I wanted to take a moment to recognize what tremendous strides the team has made this year. I remember in Mike's sophomore year, his second year on the team, when the coach said at the end of the first day of Regionals that she thought we might have some kids qualified for the second day. Our reaction: "There's a SECOND day?!" Knox certainly hadn't made it that far in a number of years.
In 2007, Mike's first year swimming, neither team made the final rankings at the end of the meet. In 2008, our girls were in thirteenth place and our boys in fifteenth. In 2009, the girls were in tenth place and the boys were in twelfth. And this year, darned if both teams didn't finish sixth, putting the combined team in fourth place for the WHOLE FLIPPIN' MEET! They took runner-up in the team spirit category. And this Friday, Fort Knox will be represented at the State competition!
I guess it's true what they say: Knox does indeed rock the blocks!
Wow, the swim team did a fantastic job today! Kids were dropping crazy amounts of time, and if the bad weather holds off, quite a few of our swimmers will be back in the pool tomorrow for the second day. (If we get a snow cancellation, today's results will stand as the final results. Let's hope for decent weather so we can keep the season going as long as possible!)
Mike swam in one individual event (the 100-yard breaststroke) and 3 relays. He dropped about 3 and a half seconds from his time in that event, finishing in 1:09.14, which puts him in seventh place and in the consolation heat tomorrow:
The boys' 200-yard medley relay finished in fifth place in 1:52.51 (down from 1:58.09):
The boys' 200-yard freestyle relay finished in second place in 1:36.87 (down from 1:42.33):
And the boys' 400-yard freestyle relay came in fourth place in 3:48.50 (down from 3:59.02):
Keep fingers crossed for repeat performances tomorrow!
The past couple days have been absolutely CRAZY as I've been working like a mad woman to get us ready to take off to Versailles (rhymes with "fur whales") tomorrow for the regional swim competition. The only thing left on my to-do list for today though is to shower and pack, and neither of those should take long.
I just spent a little time playing with my new toy. I am going to be videotaping some of our swimmers' most competitive events tomorrow so that the kids who make finals will be able to review their performance and make any necessary adjustments. I decided that the time had come to get into the twenty-first century as far as camcorders go, so I dropped by the PX and grabbed a cute little Sony with a 60G built-in hard drive. Here is my first movie:
I can't believe another swim season is almost over. Wish Mike luck!
Normally I would try to have at least a cute picture to post for my birthday, but things are just crazy around here this week. It's all good stuff, but my schedule is a house of cards that threatens to come fluttering down when one thing changes (like getting snow on Saturday). I've had a nice day--got my new contacts, went to Pilates, took myself to lunch, and hit the grocery store before taking Annabelle shopping to complete her outfit for the dance and drop her off at her musical theater class. Fortunately I managed to finish the reading for one of my classes this week, which means I just have 2 papers to write, and maybe I can get them done tonight. Tomorrow will be busy getting us ready to go to Regionals on Friday.
So I'm here. I'm fine. I'm happy. I appreciate all the birthday wishes I've received. I could really just use an extra day in this week!
I have written here before about the school dress code. Like here, for example, and here and here and here. I thought I was done with the issue after last spring, when a watered-down version of the previous code was implemented that did away with some of the more moronic provisions, such as no capris for girls. Apparently I was wrong.
Thursday morning I was sound asleep when the phone rang at 8 a.m. and Annabelle's voice on the other end said: "Hi, Mom? Can you please come to the school and bring my black pants that aren't corduroy? Apparently I am wearing jeans." Jeans?! She was wearing the same gray cords that we shopped all over creation for back in the fall and that she has worn since that time without incident.
It seems that parents have been complaining when kids get caught for dress code infractions after having worn the offending item all day or--as in our case--for many days without issue. So a call went down on Thursday, telling the homeroom teachers that they should inspect the kids each morning and send all dress code infractions to the office ASAP. According to Annabelle, this was every girl except one in her homeroom.
By the time I got to the school, I was steaming mad. They called Annabelle down from Assignment School, where she was doing time with her fellow inmates, and I gave her the other pants. Then I went and had a chat with the principal.
It is important to note here that this is not the principal's policy. In fact, I would bet money that she is as tired of hearing about the dress code as I am of talking about it. But she let me vent, which I desperately needed. Her advice was that I should call and make an appointment to talk to somebody at the district office about it.
On my way home though, I thought, "Hell, nobody called and made an appointment for me to bring my daughter new pants! Sometimes life happens and you have to deal." So I drove over to the district office for a friendly visit.
I started with the superintendent of the Fort Knox schools, but ultimately wound up talking to his boss, the superintendent of the entire district, which also includes the schools at Fort Campbell. As he welcomed me into his office, he said, "Let me guess--your child got caught wearing jeans at school today!" I said yes and handed him the pants. A puzzled look came over his face, and he said, "But . . . these aren't jeans. Do we not allow corduroy?" I explained that the problem was not the fabric but rather that there were 2 rivets on each pocket and that the pockets were scooped out in the front rather than being set into the side seam. This explanation did not do much to reduce his look of confusion. He made a phone call to the school superintendent for clarification and came back explaining that he had not realized they were policing the kids for whether the pants were "jeans style" or not. All he cared about was that they were not "jeans," which to his way of thinking meant denim.
Friday afternoon, a new policy went out that states:
A trial period student dress code change for the rest of the school year will go into effect Monday, February 1. Beginning Monday, students may wear what is commonly called the jean-styled fitting pants in corduroy and other cotton fabrics, wool, and polyester/blended fabrics. Denim, spandex, and all other dress code policies remain unchanged and in effect. At the end of the school year, we will review outcomes and determine whether or not to make this one change permanent or not. Distractions and other ill effects are of major concern, but it is our belief this change will be well received and prove to be uncompromising.
And this morning, Annabelle's Facebook status was:
Annabelle Taylor is gonna wear her gray corduroy pants (yes, the ones with rivets) because I can :D
