Too cool for school

Or rather, Julia School is too cool for the adults in her life. Like John. Or Uncle Dan. Normally she is thrilled to be in their presence, but apparently school is her turf. John occasionally substitutes at Charlottesville Catholic School. Uncle Dan was visiting because he was the priest for a review board that visited the school this week. I get a call later that afternoon from Uncle Dan on his way back to Norfolk...

Jujube snubbed me!

What? (Smile on my face) Don't feel bad. She does that to John too.

She snubbed me. To my face. She did not have any room in her life for me. When we finished the meeting, I asked where the Kindergarten classes were and they said they were eating lunch at the time, so this woman showed me to the cafeteria. I saw Jujube eating with her friends and tapped her on the back. She turned around said, "Hi, Uncle Dan." (like oh, it's you) and went right back to eating. The little girl sitting beside her asked Julia, who is that? And she said, "That's my Uncle Dan. You call him Father."

From then on all the little children were up in Uncle Fr. Dan's grill chattin' it up almost climbing into his lap, but Jujube remained uninterested with her back turned to the whole scene. When it was time to leave Uncle Dan said, "So I guess you have recess next."

With a sigh and a roll of her eyes she replied, "We have recess EVERY day, Uncle Dan."

For the record, I did have a talk with Jujube about not ignoring people, especially the ones who love her the most, but deep down I was tickled.

It was such a great day hearing that story and spending the day setting up a surprise gift for MFS. Now I rarely get to surprise MFS. He handles the finances, so expenses never get past him. But this year I got the idea to spruce up his office. The office is quite large, but the walls are quite sad. I wanted artwork and photos that would inspire him throughout his day. With the help of his assistant, Laura and maintenance crew we found a day that he would be out of the office. We moved some furniture around and decorated the walls. Beside the TIME Magazine cover with Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, this was my favorite piece, a Melkite icon of the Holy Family. It was a huge success and in his words, "I LOVE IT. Every minute of it."