Walk three feet, write a check. Walk three more feet, write another check.

We just got back from Erin's school orientation. It was nothing like the stories I've heard of orientation days at public schools around here, so that's definitely a plus. There were not that many people, so the crowds weren't too bad, which was good since the area everything was going on in was about the size of my living room, so there really couldn't be many people.

We didn't find out much information, although I did manage to figure out who Erin's teacher is, and get a look at him. We didn't get to talk to him or anything, though. Everyone was really busy trying to move furniture and stuff into the school, so nobody had any time to really do anything but process the families through as quickly as possible. Basically, the two bits of information I got today were that we pick up Erin at 2:15 each afternoon (they dismiss each class at a different time, so there won't be terribly long lines at pick-up... not that there would anyhow in a school of roughly 150 kids), and that she's in Mr. M's class. That's more than we knew two hours ago, so I can't complain!

I had to laugh about how the whole thing went, though. We went to this 5 second long meeting with the principal, where she told us that half the kids would be in Mr. M's class, and the other half would be in Mrs. F's class, and what time each class picks up. Then we all had to file through this big line where there was a table every couple feet. At each one, we had to pay for something else! It was like, reach the first table, write a check. Wait for the line to move, then stop at the next table, and write another check. Continue all the way to the door. It was pretty funny. The sign out front says "FREE TUITION!!" but man, tuition is about all that's free at this school! It's ok, though. There is absolutely nothing we wouldn't come up with the money for if it meant our kids got what they needed. Plus, it's still cheaper than the $12k a year private school that rejected us! It was just funny, though. Basically, our orientation was a receiving line through stations where we had to make a rapid succession of "donations". (That part still cracks me up. They're called donations, but it would probably get ugly if we decided not to pay them!)

So yeah, with our bank account sufficiently gasping for breath, we're ready for the school year to start on Tuesday! We also found out that they're not doing violin rental through the school this year, so we've got to go around to the various music stores around town, and get a violin for Erin so that she's ready to start lessons probably next week (although we didn't get a definitive answer on that yet).

And here I was hoping for an extra few hundred in my Scottrade account this month! Delusional am I!!