putting grant #1 under my belt...

...because I'm done. And submitted. And it feels good.

So now we sit and wait. If I don't get it I will be disappointed. And looking for work. But it won't be as scary next time. I know what to do. And it was exciting.

So exciting that I wanted the girls to join in on the fun by accompanying me to campus Friday to pick up letters of support and get signatures before passing them off to the selection committee.

So please, picture a commuter campus, on a mountain, with lots of young students rushing to class, having to move out of the way of a relatively old woman and her two toddlers, on a very long double stroller, pushing her way up hill through the masses. Not another stroller or toddler in sight.

Skateboards passed us. And Millie thought it most funny to yell out, "Wouldn't it be funny if that building had a bum?" for all to hear. (Clin humor. I don't get it, but 2 and 4 year olds love it.)

3 letter stops later, we make it to the performing arts building, which has no elevator - and thus we abandoned the stroller for stairs. By then, the only words coming out of the small mouths were: I'm hungry. But this was not for lack of food. It was boredom.

Bored? How? We were enjoying nature (snow), and stopped to pick up every leaf in our path (millions), and then there was always the view of the concrete as I focused on pushing our mass up the mountain.

Final stop - copy center for scans and copies of all signatures. Which is where the screaming began. (In my soul.) And then the run to return to the car, where I was sure that a ticket awaited us, because the hike took much longer than the 36 minutes available in the meter.

Hallelujah - no ticket, turned on Lion King and the hungry screams turned to whimpers as we drove to the library for final submission.

And I like to think that the experience was liberating. Because I accomplished it with 2 toddlers in tow. And perhaps they internalized the importance of education in the journey.

But really, they probably only internalized the suckers, dried apples/pears, m&m's, gummy bears, chicken nuggets, and frosties that got them (me) through.