“Cottonwood Hotel” is now on page 183. If I can manage page 200 by Monday, I’ll be thrilled. We’ll see.

I’m beginning to realize where Jack Ryland comes from. I’ve seen a lot of him in my daughter lately. While she doesn’t deal with ADHD, she does struggle to maintain focus on some things, such as… math. Poor kid had to retake it during summer school. Poor Mom and Dad, had to pay for it! Anyway, it wasn’t going well at first. So, I started going to class with her. I know how to keep  her on track, and it worked, and she passed. Yay for us. But that’s not all that happened.

The rest of the students in the class were boys. I think for a bunch of boys stuck in summer school, most of whom are from the tougher side of Katy, they were amazingly well-behaved.

On the way home one day, I found out why.

Em– “Did you see Isaac after class?”

Me– “Who’s Isaac?”

Em– “Isaac, he was the one the teacher kept calling down (I have no idea what that means, but apparently it’s bad). After class he was about to cry, he just knows he’s going to be in trouble.”

Me– “Sorry, I was paying attention to what you were doing. I have no idea. You know how incredibly observant I am. I didn’t see anyone acting up.”

Em– “That’s because you’re there. Usually they’re throwing scissors, you wouldn’t believe how bad!”

Me– “And… what does that have to do with me?”

Em– “They’re all scared of you.”

Me– “Because… I ignore them completely? Or they think I’m armed.”

Em– “I told them you’re in charge of grading conduct. They’re all scared to death, and poor Isaac was saying after class, ‘your mom’s gonna give me an F minus, minus!”

At least the teacher benefited from my notoriety. If only she knew.

I managed not to laugh. Until later. Then, I did! She’s hilarious. And… she reminds me of Jack sometimes. Brad and I have our work cut out for us.

Now, back to writing! Page 200, here I come.