I used to love writing stuff out by hand because I have really nice handwriting (disproving the belief that left-handed people have crappy chicken scratch).

I just jotted down a few ideas to put into an entry tomorrow before I forget all the stuff I wanted to include, and holy crap my wrist hurts – after only a page and a half of writing in a notebook. I’m so used to typing that any mildly extensive writing is a strain!

It’s kind of pathetic, really.

I love this edible schoolyard project. If I get myself involved with the parent committee at Hayley’s school, I wonder if I can propose this for a future school year.

Today I took some garbage downstairs, and on my way back up I checked the mail. There was something addressed to both George and me and I didn’t know what it was until I noticed the name of Hayley’s elementary school in the corner. I opened it up and it was a confirmation of the date and time for the parent-teacher meeting at the school.

It will cover information such as which bus she’ll be on and what time her pick-up and drop-off will be as well as letting us know which beginner session she’ll be in; the Kindergarten class goes all day but for the first week they go on a rotational schedule to help them adapt. We’ll find out which days she’ll be going and which time periods. It also had a reminder of the cost for school fees and a mention of answering any questions we might have.

And suddenly it hit me. She starts school at the end of next month. In the month of August we have to buy her a couple of pairs of pants and maybe one skirt or tunic in the school colors and several shirts (the shirts are white so the more we get the better I think – white is not the best color for young kids who are messy eaters!). We have to get her some new shoes. We have to get all her school supplies as listed on the paper we got when we registered her (nothing crazy, just a change of old clothes in case of accidents, tissues, a smock, etc.). We haven’t gotten any of these things because for some reason we just felt like we still had a long time and all of a sudden it’s looming RIGHT THERE. Hayley thinks it’s “forever” until school starts. It’s not.

She starts school on either August 30th or August 31st, depending on her starting schedule. On one of those mornings, I will walk down to the street with her, hold her hand on the sidewalk and then put her on the bus with a backpack on her back and a lunch box in her hand. I will kiss her goodbye and I will damn well wave excitedly with a big smile on my face as my little girl heads off to school like she’s been dreaming of for about a year. I will smile and wave until she can’t see me anymore.

And then I will run back up the stairs, throw myself on my bed and cry my eyes out.

(I fully admit to crying while writing this.)

When I participated in Blogathon over the weekend, it had been three years since the last time and I forgot how much of a toll it takes. I finished my 24 hours of posting at 9 am on Sunday, and got to bed by 10 am. I wasn’t able to sleep very well at first because Breanna kept running in to see me, but eventually she was ready for a nap herself – no kidding, since she had been up from 4:15 am until 6:30 am herself. We both slept way too late, until 4:45 Sunday afternoon and I spent the rest of the day feeling extremely groggy.

I made the simplest supper in the world since I was lethargic – baked beans and toast, gourmet chef I am! – and managed to wake up a bit by cleaning up the kitchen. Breanna’s sleep schedule was off and she ended up not falling asleep until she literally passed out mid-conversation about Elmo at about 10 pm. I came out to the living room and found George and Hayley had pulled out the couch and were watching Night at the Museum. I was so ready for bed but I was also nauseous from being hungry – the beans had been the only thing I had eaten since my 5 am chocolate bar. I made a light snack of cheese and crackers and had a cup of tea. I was in bed by 10:30 and I think I was likely asleep by 10:31. I didn’t wake up until 4 when I had to turn off the A/C which was spitting ice into the bedroom, and then I was back to sleep until 8:30 Monday morning.

I was still really out of it for most of yesterday, going through the motions and doing all of my work on auto-pilot and sluggishly doing housework. I got a second wind after I put the kids to bed and stayed up until a little past midnight. You’d think I would have gone to bed earlier, but really that just basically reset my inner clock to “normal”. You know, whatever normal means.

I don’t regret it though. I’m glad it only happens once a year because I don’t think I would be up for it more often than that. Also, next year I might seriously consider doing a group effort instead so as to balance it out better. I know I would have enjoyed writing over at PotterThon, for instance (no, no spoilers over there).

I’m just glad that I feel reasonably awake today though.

Remember back when people were still shocked at the idea of people meeting others on the Internet? Now it’s not that uncommon. This local Montreal guy was on Canada AM this morning talking about how he quit his job, launched a website about his search for love, and traveled around the world seeking the woman who would be his perfect girlfriend/wife – and he found her! Cuteness.

Funniest knit sweater ever. Too bad it’s in the Star Trek Colour Of Death. That poor model never had a chance. (Thank you for the snort Amy.)

Dear Blogathon 2007,

It’s been grand. I started off feeling sluggish but writing decent posts. Eventually I started using lots of pictures and my writing became what you would expect from someone who has gotten no sleep since waking up at 7 am on Saturday morning.

I had fun reading blogs and commenting and reading comments here. I hit a wall and attacked it with caffeine. I got a little loopy and laughed too hard at lolcats. I passed the funny point and turned into exhausted zombie woman. I also reached that point where I found my body would twitch randomly, probably from my brain trying to keep my body from falling into a coma-like sleep.

Now it’s over. I am proud of myself for completing another Blogathon. I will probably do it again next year. But I am happy that it’s over now.

See you next year, Blogathon.

Yours,
Sherry

You can still sponsor me if you’re so inclined, even though I am now finally DONE. Once again, I appreciate the support of each of you, whether it was financial support via pledges or moral support. Both were necessary for me to get through this very long night. Amazing how the last 6-8 hours are longer than the first 16-18 hours.

And with that, all I have left to say is this.

Good night.

I have company again.

Hayley woke up and came to join me in the living room at 8:05 today. She seemed confused that Breanna was sleeping on cushions on the floor and that I was still up without going to sleep yet.

That’s okay, lots of stuff feels confusing to me right now too. Like what my name is and who these kids are.

I’ve passed the euphoric and silly state. Now I’m just a zombie. I’ve been trying to get up to walk around for ten minutes now and I can’t seem to will my body into actually moving. How the hell do doctors pull these double shifts with little to no sleep and still manage to perform surgery? I don’t know if I could be trusted with a butter knife to spread peanut butter on toast, let alone surgery.

I am so overwhelmed by the generosity of my sponsors. So far I have a total pledge amount of $1477.30. I can’t believe it.

As you likely know, I write over at PittWatch where I report news and share photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It was Angelina Jolie who really made me sit up and pay attention to the UNHCR several years ago, made me realize what the organization does for refugees, and it’s because of her that I’m doing Blogathon for the UNHCR. Because of that, I nervously posted about it over on PittWatch, worried I’d get blasted for putting something like that on a celebrity fan site. Instead, I got encouragement in comments over there, emails, and comments here. And with the incredible number of readers over there, my pledge total shot almost five times higher than I had three years ago. I could not have asked for this and am thrilled beyond belief.

Thank you for your pledges, and thank you for the comments, everyone.

I have one hour left. The support has helped me get through 23 hours, and it will help me through this last one.

Now I’m going to force myself to get up and walk around a bit.

In no particular order:

1. I kept Caillou on for a full 30 minutes after Breanna fell asleep before I realized I was listening to Caillou whine for no good reason.

2. I went to go pee and stood in the hall for at least a minute before I remembered what I wanted to do and where.

3. I’ve started the unreasonable panic thing. It happened last time I did the Blogathon too. It’s when I post my entry and less than two minutes later I totally panic that I haven’t posted an entry yet, only to realize that yes I did. I then repeat this several times until the next post is due.

4. I came really close to being teary-eyed over how beautiful it is outside with the clouds and the sun and the colors out there. Jeez.

5. I want to put a movie on to keep myself awake but it’s too much effort despite the fact that the DVD player is three feet away from me and the movie I want to see is within three steps from where I’m sitting.

6. I’m wondering if I can pass the last hour and a half watching YouTube videos because it wouldn’t require me to get up.

How’s everyone else doing? Still hanging in there? We’ve almost made it!