Seven thirty alarm

Two years on with grandchildren and I find life not too much changed except I bought a second alarm clock.  These children came from a home where survival skills were required, so they still get themselves up, fed and out the door in the morning. They don’t need the grownups around.

I used to do other things in summers and afternoons, now I ferry children. I used to do nothing at night, except make a ten mile round trip twice a month on county roads to attend Board of Trustee meetings. Now I have bright new eyes that see lane lines, and I make night runs ferrying children. All I needed was a second alarm.

Changing the alarm setting on a digital clock is the pits. Changing the hour setting is bad, but clicking through the numbers of the minutes makes me frantic. Sometimes I don’t release the trigger soon enough and have the whole job to do over again. When the once this week or month or year event has come and gone, the alarm time needs reset.

I bought a second alarm clock to set at seven thirty for Sunday mornings. I have enough time to eat my breakfast before we leave to take Hamilton to church at eight fifteen. I seldom leave home without breakfast, but seven thirty even worked to eat and leave ten minutes sooner, with Emily too, to drop her at the farm after I dropped Hamilton at church.

The children respect grandma’s seven thirty alarm. If there is a weekend event they plan carefully to schedule it around that alarm, or the regular, eight o’clock alarm. They are good, respectful children. I love them for that.

Emily and Angela, the Arsenic in Rice team, were sent on to regionals, as you may recall. They are tomorrow, at the University of Akron. I had to tinker with the seven thirty alarm in February, to get the team to the STEM judging at Kent State before sunrise. I wondered and waited to hear about the Northeastern Ohio event.

Emily is quite pumped for this event, and I’m sure Angela is, too.  Emily hopes they will make super judging and be sent on to the state event. Recalling the many weaknesses of their original presentation I inquired into the nature of her hopes and was assured the two of them have made substantial changes to their original presentation. I wonder if they got more test strips from the lab, as the judges seemed to have been impressed by seeing the strips indicate arsenic in water.

And what time must we leave, I asked? They have to be at the university at seven. However, Grandma need not mess with the seven thirty alarm; Angela’s father will pick up Emily on the way.

A windy Friday afternoon.