First, if any of those of you who donated money yesterday so we could go to Chick-Fil-A are reading this: thank you, thank you, thank you.

Second…I seem to be terrible at writing thank you notes…the physical kind. I have some around from three years ago that have never been delivered, and many others that I just never got around to writing. This is particularly bad, because I live Southish, where Southern hospitality includes thank you cards. (We sendom sent them or got them in NY.) So, I fear my friends think me unbelievably crass and rude.

Very sorry! The gratitude is there in my heart!

But, whether or not it makes up for dissing my friends with no cards, there is one kind of thanking I've been reasonably good at, and that is thanking teachers and bus drivers.

Every Christmas and end of the year, I make sure all the teachers and bus drivers get a little gift, if only flowers or cookies. This may sound simple, but keep in mind, several of my children are in special ed programs…that means two or three teachers per class and a driver and an attendent per bus. And none of them used to go to the same school…occasionally, I had five bus people to give gifts to and seven or eight teachers. More now that they've reached middle school and high school!

That is a lot of cookies.

Ping-Ping helped this year. She made presents for her teachers herself.

Today is the last day of Summer School. It is the Cherubim's last day with two children he has been in classes with since Kindergarten. They are going to one middle school. He is going to another. It is also the last day with the Summer School teacher, who also happened to be his second and third grade teacher. We will miss them.

There is a teacher, two assistants, and a bus driver. Flowers were given to all.