Something Winned This Way Comes

Victory is ours. Sweet, sweet victory. Okay. Maybe I'm overdoing it. But the Newmentia Unofficial Sciency Conglomerate faired well today. See what I did there? They went to the science FAIR at the local junior college, and returned with ribbons. Every. Single. Entrant.

WooHoo! We took ten pupils. Seven projects. And brought home four 1st Places and two 2nd Places and one Honorable Mention. We are the champions, my friends. The champions, and the runner-ups, and the also-rans.

The Pony and I arrived about 10 minutes after they opened the doors. We always do. The Pony likes to get set up early, before the rush of buses. Besides, we go straight there, and not to Newmentia first, because I have colleagues who are selfless and volunteer to make sure my kids get on the bus. After all, we have to hitch a ride with Basementia, because we don't have enough kids for a whole bus all our own. So kudos to my colleagues, the wind beneath my wings, the net beneath my high-wire act, the alibi for my lawsuit.

Thanks to my colleagues as well for picking up lunch and bringing it back, so we were not buffeted by the tide of hungry hungry teenos who rushed the snack bar for sustenance. Those kids can move! Usually, we teachers have Subway. And my mom (HI MOM) always picked up Little Caesar's and brought it out to the college for The Pony, and for #1 when he was still fairing. Mom attended some of the fairs, and more recently wanted updates throughout the morning by phone as to whether my boys had been asked to return to the floor after lunch. That meant they had won their category, and were in the running for Best in Fair. In all but a couple of years, that answer was yes. She was always excited for them, and Sis and I recently found a bunch of clippings from the local paper in Mom's safe, with the articles about the winners, and my boys' names circled. Uh huh. That's what was valuable to Mom. Today was another first...the first science fair without her updates and lunch.

So anyway, I started out talking about today's lunch, which was Chinese, and not very pleasing for me, because 3/4 of my cashew chicken was broccoli stems. Broccoli stems cut across, so they were flat discs with scalloped edges. Tasty enough if you have a few. Not pleasant if you can't find the chicken and the cashews for all the broccoli stems. The Pony had sweet&sour chicken, which I ordered without vegetables, or as he used to call them, vinchtables. He said his food was fine. When he had slowed down his consumption, I asked if he was going to eat the rest. Nope. So I told him to ask our other kids if anyone wanted it. Yep. You can never go wrong offering leftover food to teenage boys. Even if another teenage boy has been double-dipping in the red sauce. I stopped short of offering my tray full of broccoli stems. No need to insult them. Even though one was drinking two packets of soy sauce as I had The Pony throw away my Styrofoam container.

Yes, a good day was had by all. The only complaint (who are we kidding, I mean the only complaint I care to type up here) is that for some reason the facility staff forgot that the building was air-conditioned. We were frying in that field house. I felt like Elaine trying to sleep on the fold-out sofa in the spare room of Jerry's parents on a visit to Del Boca Vista, that time Jerry took the astronaut pen from Jack Klompus. At least I didn't have a bar in my back. Or the pointy knees of adolescents.

Time to go clear a space on the mantle for The Pony's blue ribbon.