The Tempest is Raging

With my hours and hours of free time this year, I have done a lot more volunteering for the PTA. This has been all fine and dandy, fairly low-key, just a little extra time up at school. Until now.

I said I would be in charge of the art show.

It's coming up in two weeks. And today I was told (in so many words) that we were way behind in the preparation. (And why wasn't this pointed out to me earlier during the several meetings I have had with the art teacher and other PTAers who have done the art show previously?) So any free time I may have had during the next few school days has now been filled with art show work sessions.

But there is one bright spot in the middle of all these ravaging storms. Between the hurricane of one-a-day work sessions and the all-day tornado set up in two weeks, Melissa and I are heading to Washington D.C.

I will not think of the art show. Mounting art work on butcher paper. The logistics of hanging said butcher paper from the ceilings in the school. The enthusiastic art teacher who keeps trying to change things and wants to spend hundreds of dollars on food. Other moms who profess to be so willing to help yet just "can't commit" when asked to come in on a specific date.

None of it.

I will think of attending the temple. Navigating the Metro to get downtown. Maybe catching the tail end of the cherry blossoms. The Lincoln Memorial. The Jefferson Memorial. The Washington Memorial. More memorials. And maybe some museums. Finding tasty restaurants to eat at. Stopping at the Pittsburgh IKEA on the way home (is that OK, Miss?).

It will be a passing oasis, a fleeting haven, a momentary escape. But just what I need to recover from one set of storms before tackling the next round of downpours.

I can't wait.