1st day of school

Finally, the day has come.  It's the first day of school!  And it went smoothly.  Got up with my alarm at 6:40 (after staying up until like 1am watching Angel and taking a shower).  Meagan was up before I got out of the bathroom.  Brenna was already watching TV.  I had to wake Owen up (by smacking him on his forehead--it was all I could reach, lol).  They all got dressed and brushed their hair without me saying a thing.

I LOVE this picture of Meagan. It's edited but it turned out so great.

Meagan, 12 years old, 7th grade

Meagan left at around 7:10am to go hang with her friend until it was time to go to the bus.  Then we sat around until 8am when the other kids had to go to their bus stop.


The "little" kids.  Little--ha!  Look how tall Owen is compared to the girls.  Meagan is the same height as Brenna so he towers over his "big" sister, too.  In the pic: Jack (2), Brenna (4th), Nora (1st) and Owen (5th).


Owen, almost 11 (in Oct), 5th grade--his last year of elementary school


Brenna, 9 years old, 4th grade


Brenna just HAD to get this shirt for the first day of school. Only $16 at Kohl's but for us it was a lot of money. It looked really cute so I guess it was worth it.


Nora, 6 years old, 1st grade

I found this cute sundress at Kohl's for like $6. But the kids aren't allowed to wear tank tops or strappy shirts/dresses unless the straps/sleeves are 2" wide. So I made her this little shrug to go with it. I did the same thing last year, too, because she insisted on wearing a summer dress.




After the kids left to the bus stop at 8 (the bus doesn't come until like 8:20 but everyday they go out at 8 to hang with their friends) me, Patrick and Jack went to breakfast at Breakfast at Valeries.  I love that place.  It's an inconspicuous little place tucked into a strip mall.  You wouldn't know it was there except for the plain sign on the back of the building that you can see from the expressway.  The portions are huge and for cheap.  And everything is so yummy.  This place totally needs to be on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

I ordered 2 giant pancakes.  These things were at least 12" across and overflowed the place.  I age about maybe 1/3 of the platter (of each pancake stacked on top of each other).  That was for $4.75!  Then I had bacon on the side for another $4.50 or something.  I got 5 extra large slices.  Patrick got their huge biscuits and gravy platter for $7.95.  It had like 3 large biscuits split on a plate topped with a sausage patty that is like 6" wide and smothered in the gravy.  He can't even finish it.  All together our breakfast (including drinks) came to like $23 and we brought most of it home for the other kids to eat when they get home from school.

They only serve breakfast and lunch.  Last time we were there we had lunch.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger for $6.95.  The thing was HUGE.  I was so stuffed and it was so yummy.  And for 7 bucks!  Their plain cheeseburger is just $5, and it comes with a huge plate of fries.

It's noon now.  Three hours until Meagan gets home from school, the other kids get home about 45 minutes after that.

Oh, Meagan came in to my room last night and was all, "OMG DRAMA" in the way only a middle schooler can.  Apparently the boy she likes, Tanner, posted his schedule on facebook.  Her friend saw it and showed it to her.  And she has 6th period math class with him.  She's dying.  I thought it was pretty funny because girls used to worry about looking too smart in front of boys (not me, I couldn't care less) but she all upset because she sucks at math and she doesn't want to look stupid in front of him.  I told her to ask him to tutor her... problem solved.  She went beet red and started sputtering about how bad an idea that was. 

Ahh, the 7th grade.  How will she ever survive.

Oh, and the friend that showed her the schedule... she also likes this boy.  I'm waiting for the melodrama of fighting over this guy.  It'll happen eventually.

Stargate Atlantis fic: Roadtrip

I wrote this back in August for the weekly quick fic at writerverse but I never got around to editing it so, therefore, never published it and got no points for the challenge. :(
The other day I sat down and fixed it up but it took me another two days to finally edit my digital copy to post.

The prompt was roadtrip and this was the first thing that sprang to mind. It's nothing special.

Roadtrip
by jennickels (aka Jen Connelly)
Stargate Atlantis
team Sheppard
1076 words
rating: PG
WARNINGS:

The Atlantis jumpers are good for a great many things. Taking long flights between planets is not one of them. Now Rodney is stuck in the small compartment with his team with flashbacks to an ill-fated college roadtrip.

don't own... wish I did, but I don't. No infringement intended.

---

"I'd like to reiterate again what a colossally bad idea I think this is," Rodney told the others as the jumper headed into the wormhole. They exited the other side and immediately took to the air—rising into the atmosphere in seconds. "I don't do well on roadtrips," he continued, oblivious to his team's rolling eyes and pointed stares. "I get clostrophobic and there's the matter of snacks and bathroom breaks. And there's always one person that never shuts up. I remember this one time as an undergrad, I went with some other people in the dorm to a football game. Don't even ask why I was going. There was this girl—a blond, real sporty. Anyway, the drive was like three hours and it was hell. The driver refused to stop for any breaks other than his own and the music blasting..."


"McKay," Sheppard barked, interrupting Rodney's train of thought.

"Hmm?"

"We all know you think this is a bad idea. Your protest has been noted."

"Several times," Ronon muttered.

Rodney glared at them. "All I'm saying-"

"We get what your saying," Sheppard cut in. "Now can it."

With a huff, Rodney crossed his arms over his chest and stared out the window at the stars flying by. The seconds ticked by, eating at his patience. The puddle jumper was closing in on him. He was sure of it. It was definitely smaller. Ronon, sitting behind him, was practically breathing down his neck now. And Sheppard was chewing gum. Rodney hated that. Smack, smack, pop. Ugh.

His stomach growled causing Rodney to sit up straighter. "I could really go for a snack right about now."

Teyla and Ronon both sighed.

"It's only been twenty minutes," said Sheppard through gritted teeth.

"So."

"We are not having a snack right now. "

Rodney opened his mouth to protest.

"McKay," Sheppard warned.

Rodney crossed his arms again in a childish pout. "It's just like that college roadtrip all over again. Next you'll be telling me to hold it until the next exit."

"We're in space, there are no exits," Ronon said, with a grin on his face.

"Why would you wish to exit the jumper while we are in space?" Teyla asked with obvious confusion.

"I don't want to exit the jumper. I just want a snack. What's the big deal?"

Ronon coughed less than discreetly. "Show a little self control for once."

"Hey, I have plenty of self control. Just last week-"

"Rodney!" Sheppard shouted, his voice reverberating in the small space.

Rodney frowned at him. "Why do you keep yelling at me? He started it." The vein on Sheppard's temple started to twitch. Rodney continued to pout.

Again, time seemed to slow. And the jumper grew smaller. And his stomach growled louder. Tick, tick, tick. Well, there really wasn't a clock ticking but the sound got into Rodney's head anyway, slowly driving him mad. He lot out a rather dramatic sigh.

Then another sensation nudged him for attention. He shifted position to try and ease the irritation, but his bladder wanted none of that. He tried to ignore it, setting his mind to figuring out the equation he had been working on before this little trip. But that only worked for a couple minutes. He squirmed more, little grunts and sighs escaping.

He glanced over at Sheppard. He had his hands wrapped tightly around the controls, his knuckles turning white. And he'd stopped chewing his gum. Instead his jaw was set and taught. Teyla looked like she was in some kind of meditative trance. He didn't dare look back at Ronon, he could hear the man grinding his teeth which never boded well.

Another minute ticked by until Rodney couldn't stand it any more. "I have to pee," he announced loudly.

Sheppard let out a long breath. "For god's sake, Rodney, hold it."

"I can't."

"What are you? Two?"

"I have a small bladder."

Ronon snorted. "That's not all."

Rodney launched to his feet. "What's that supposed to mean." Ronon just shrugged.

The shouting seemed to bring Teyla out of her trance. "Rodney," she said in her indulging, sweet voice, "maybe you should sit back down and relax."

"I can't relax when I have to pee and I have an oaf sitting behind me breathing into my ear."

Ronon was on his feet now, too. "Oaf? Maybe you should have went before we left."

"This is exactly like that roadtrip. Complete with the control freak driver and a mouth-breathing-"

"I don't-"

"ENOUGH!" Sheppard shouted over the two. "Don't make me turn this thing around."

"And you," Rodney yelled, turning his attention to the colonel. "Did you even think before you stuck that piece of gum into your mouth. My god, I can't take it any more with the smacking and chomping and popping." He continued to rant for several more moments until Sheppard interrupted again.

"McKay, sit down and shut up or so help me god I will pull this thing over at the first moon I see and leave your whining ass there."

Ronon chuckled, stretching his lanky frame out, a smug look on his face.

"You, too."

"Ha!" Rodney resisted the urge to stick his tongue out.

"Knock it off."

"I think we all need to calm down," Teyla said softly.

Sheppard tensed. "Everyone just shut up already."

The jumper grew eerily quiet.

Sheppard glanced up at Rodney and sighed. "Fine. Rodney, why don't you go get a snack. I think they're in a box in the back somewhere."

Rodney couldn't stop the triumphant look that overtook his face. He didn't even care about the glare Ronon was giving him.

In the back he immediately scanned for the container holding their food supplies, finding it near the rear hatch. He dropped to his knees to open when the door to the cockpit suddenly slammed shut. Momentarily startled, it was a few seconds before Rodney was on his feet, pounding on the door.

It was another five minutes before he realized they weren't going to open the door. Rodney dropped onto the bench next to the open case and grabbed a granola bar from the top.

This was exactly like that trip in college, he thought. At least getting locked in the cargo hold was better than being left at a rest stop in the middle on nowhere and having to call his dad for cab money. Rodney really, really hated roadtrips. They always ended badly.