jane's joint: Saints Out

My dad used to say that, as a parent, the days are long but the years fly by. And fly they do.

When did this

and this

become this?

When did this?

And this

Become this?

When did this

and this

Become this?

And when did this

and especially this

Become this?

Dylan is going to high school.

After 14 years, our family has graduated out of St. Joan of Arc School. St. Joan of Arc is a tiny parish tucked into "Skevanston" - that random pocket in which Skokie and Evanston overlap. It's a special place: many of my friends who live in the neighborhood attended SJA themselves, and now send their kids there as the new generation of SJA 'saints'. It's not a perfect place - Corey's class had too few girls and we found Noah to be way too out of the box to follow the in-the-box Catholic school model, but St. Joan of Arc one of the most nurturing, genuine, old-fashioned pockets of love and faith-filled community I've encountered in my adult life.

And Dylan hit the jackpot here. His class held a wonderful group of sporty boys who laugh a lot, play hard and are unfailingly polite. Last week his class of 27 graduated after a solid week of activities and celebrations, culminating in a wonderful class banquet during which we watched a video filled with memories of all those years. It was emotional, to see his and his friends' lives encapsulated that way. St. Joan's is a tiny school so after 8 years plus pre-school, these kids are ready to roll. And so are the parents. When the kids were little I was hyper-involved and so glad to have a place to meet other parents, compare stories, commiserate, and share the sometimes crushing work of raising a pack of little people. I chaperoned a million field trips, volunteered endless lunch duties and showed up for every prayer service and music program. I served on the school board for three years and helped form the marketing materials they still use today. But then I went back to work and Corey graduated and Noah moved to another school, and independence was foisted on Dylan a lot earlier than it was with the first two. Dylan has been so well supported, by my many friends who gave him endless rides home once I went to work full time, by the teachers and parish priest who know his name and by the many friends who I know watched out for him as he biked by on his way to school.

And now it's over. The class will split - some will go to ETHS, some to Loyola, some to Ignatius and Niles West. But my hope, and my belief, is that their time at SJA has given them the foundation and tools they need to take the next stage by storm. Thanks for the memories, SJA.
Saints, Out.
Go Wildkits!

And look - a recipe!!! It's a good one - Dylan asked, after trying it, can you make this more often?

Shrimp Orzo Pesto

Dice a red bell pepper

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil and add the pepper and 2 tsp capers and sautee for 5 min

Meanwhile, cook a box of orzo and drain, then add 4TBSP olive oil and 4 tsp pesto - mix well

the recipe called for sauteeing the shrimp but I like to roast it - toss with olive oil salt and pepper and roast at 425 for 8 minutes for med-large shrimp