| Tuesday, August 29, 2006 |
| I learned something today |
I feel pretty silly saying this, but I never realized that the entire state of TX is also in the Central time zone. (I live in NW FL-the very tip of which is also in the Central time zone-no, really-look it up!) I mean, I know that there are 4 time zones in the continental US, but I guess I just figured that TX is so far away... You know, now that I think about it, I bet it comes from crossing the line around the Suwanee river so many times in my life. The time zone change is really close-I'm always amazed to hear about people that have never crossed one. Nearly every vacation I take (apparently heading east, LOL) involves a time change...I suppose that I figured an equal amount of travel in the opposite direction would do the same. (shrug) Who knows?
Anyway, the whole "what time is it in TX" question sprang from tracking Resa's plane. Her flight from Osaka to Dallas is supposed to arrive around 4 PM, and I thought I'd be smart and find out what time that was here. Heh. Imagine my surprise. While we're talking about time zones and crossing them, wrap your brains around this one: Resa's flight from Japan left at 5:30 PM 8/29. Her flight will land in Dallas at 4:00 PM 8/29. :) And they say you can't time travel! |
posted by Jen @ 9:17 AM  |
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| Monday, August 28, 2006 |
| My back, my car, my son, and my sister |
I went back to the doc today. The steroids and muscle relaxers worked...for a while. It's been two weeks since my appointment, and my back is hurting again. It's just as bad as it was when I went the first time. He said the swelling/inflammation is worse than last time, and wanted to add therapy to the scrips he gave me this time, but I asked if we could wait on that. This week is already full-to-overflowing. I left with some Celebrex samples, a scrip for Lortab, and directions to stay off my feet. I told TJ that unless I learn to levitate, I'll have a hard time following that order. I'm all floaty from my first dose of meds, and am flopped in bed about to fall asleep. The good news is that my back doesn't hurt right now. :)
On another note, we didn't make it out car shopping today. By the time I got back from the doc, picking up Cam, and picking up my scrips, I was done. Done with the heat, done with sitting in the van, and done not being at home. Done. It's fine, though. I'm ok with that.
Cam is doing really well at school. His teacher loves him. He's doing well at day care-his teachers there think he's awesome. The new woman at the counter thinks he's the sweetest child ever. "He's so polite, and is the most considerate child I think I've ever met!" He has them fooled. LOL
Resa called about an hour and a half ago. She was up and getting ready to head to the airport in Seoul! She'll be here in less than 24 hours now. :) I'm very excited, and I know she was. Cam talked to her for a few minutes-he's getting pretty excited, too. I think I'm going to go crash in a drug-induced sleep. See y'all tomorrow! |
| posted by Jen @ 7:56 PM |
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| Letting go |
There are two little boys around Cam's age in our neighborhood now. That's a good thing and a bad thing. He is very much an only child...he's always been content to wander around the yards, talking to himself and playing. Until now. Raymond lives across the street. I still don't know the other little boy's name-his folks just moved in this past weekend. Anyway, the past few weeks Cam and Ray have been playing up a storm between our house and his. Now this new kid has moved in the neighborhood, and he likes to play up at the park.
In all honesty, the park is all of a block away; it's well within shouting distance, though there is no line-of-sight. The first time he asked to go by himself I was aghast. What?! Alone?!! To the PARK?!?! My first instinct was something like, "KIDNAPPED!! He'll be kidnapped and I'll never see him again. Say NO! No, wait; say HELL no!" For those of you that haven't followed my blogs in the past, I suffer from "worst-case scenario" thinking. It's funny...after the fact. But in all seriousness...he's 7. He'll be with 2 other boys. He'll be fine. Right? ...sigh...
When my sisters and I were kids (not that we had a normal childhood-let me make that disclaimer right up front), we were not allowed out of sight of the house. Period. It wasn't until middle school that I was considered responsible enough to walk my younger sisters to the local elementary school (all on back roads and a half mile from the house). We rode bikes up and down our block. Yes, the block-not the street. One block. Of course, once I turned 16 I also wasn't allowed to drive if it was raining. Or really if it looked like it might rain. Or if my Mom thought it might rain...at all...in the near future. Do you see the line I'm trying to walk here? It's much thinner than it looked when I was the kid.
There's been talk on the Mommy group about being dropped off at the mall at age 10...I honestly can't comprehend that. I remember going to a sleep over in middle school and her Mom took us to the mall...she didn't LEAVE the mall, though. I'm pretty sure she hovered nearby the whole time. I remember going to dinner at The Olive Garden with Jen Geer...we were in college. I am pretty sure now that it was the first time I ate somewhere that was NOT fast food without an "adult" present. How sheltered was I? Cripes.
So as I type this, my child is a block away from me. Out of my sight, out of my reach, and on his own...at least for a little while. I'm reminded of Val's post about Jacelyn's first day of pre-K...I want to know what he's doing, who he's talking to, and what they're discussing. Not necessarily because I'm worried he'll be kidnapped (well, maybe a little) but because I want to know that I've given him the skills to cope, interact, and make good decisions. Like not getting in the car with some guy that offers candy or a puppy. ...sigh...
The Mommy group has also been talking about when it's appropriate to give a child a cell phone. The general consensus is that the child has to be old enough to appreciate that it's not a toy, he has to have decent phone manners (I know some adults that would flunk that test), and be in situations that he does not have access to an adult with a phone. I'm ready for Cam to have a cell phone now...in fact, next time he wants to go to the park I may give him mine. Well..except that we don't have a house phone and I don't know how I could call him every 15 minutes to make sure he's (not been kidnapped) ok and that nobody's picking on him and that he hasn't fallen off his bike and scraped his knee... Gah. This is harder than I expected it to be! What on Earth am I going to do when he goes to college?! |
| posted by Jen @ 5:40 PM |
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| You have no idea |
Really. My baby sister comes into town for a few weeks, and you'd think the Pope was coming for a visit. I mean, I have family coming in from South Florida, there are cook outs planned, fish frys...it takes an enormous effort to get my family as mobilized as they are right now. You'd think she's been out of the country for years or something...
Heh...Honestly, though, she arrives tomorrow night. Here's the plan: remind Val (psst, Val!) to ask someone else to put Jacelyn to bed, pick her up and take her to the airport with me. We'll collect our prodigal sister (and her luggage, assuming the luggage gods to do not demand sacrifice along the way) and depart immediately for....Chick Fil A. Heh! She's also requested that we stop at a Church's so she can get some okra. Then we head home so she can sleep, if she doesn't doze off in the car.
So there the plan for tomorrow. Today, however...I have to teach this morning, work a little, then I have a doctor's appointment at 2:50 for my back and then at some point during the course of the day TJ and I will head out car shopping. Yes, car shopping. I've already poured through cars.com and autotrader.com and every website of every local dealer. I'm nearly burned out already. I'll let you know how that goes. :) |
| posted by Jen @ 6:32 AM |
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| Saturday, August 26, 2006 |
| Van-capades |
So it rained this morning-I mean really rained, and for about an hour solid. I got in the van to come to work this morning and as soon as I opened the door, I knew it had leaked again. Something jams up at the dash where the windshield meets the engine compartment and all the water that's supposed to be diverted to parts unknown outside my vehicle pours inside. It goes behind the glove compartment and pours down into the foot well on the passenger side. You know what? All these issues I've had with the van have been on the passenger side...hmm...
Anyway, I got Cam in the van after much instruction NOT to put his Gameboy on the floor and listening to his comments about the bad smell (the windows had been rolled up tight...just use your imagination). It only took SIX tries to crank it up this morning - wow, huh? Then without thinking, I turned the wipers on to get the water of the windshield. Yeah-I won't even go into that little episode. Just imagine what I've already described, only with more creative cussing involved. I finally get them to STOP, and put the van in reverse. I backed out of the driveway, put it in drive, and touched the accelerator. Water comes GUSHING out from behind the glove box again - easily a gallon of water. Cam goes, "Mom, it's leaking again!" Yes, my dear...I know.
Bear in mind that it's still very overcast, and the parking lot at work is wide open to the elements. I can't very well leave the windows up - the whole interior would be covered in mold by the time I got out. I can't leave the windows down and hope it won't rain - that's not the way my life has gone recently. I parked in the garage (on the bottom level) and left the windows open. I'm halfway hoping it will be stolen...imagine how many problems that will solve! |
| posted by Jen @ 10:30 AM |
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| Birthday Calculator |
Thanks to Maevyn for this - and this time I mean it as it's not a quiz. :)
26 July 1975
Your date of conception was on or about 2 November 1974 which was a Saturday. You were born on a Saturday under the astrological sign Leo. Your Life path number is 1.
Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.
The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2442619.5.
The golden number for 1975 is 19.
The epact number for 1975 is 17.
The year 1975 was not a leap year.
Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/11/1975 and ending 1/30/1976.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rabbit.
Your Native American Zodiac sign is Salmon; your plant is Raspberry.
You were born in the Egyptian month of Paopy, the second month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).
Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 18 Av 5735.The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 30 March 1975.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 4 May 1975.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 12 February 1975.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 18 May 1975.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 25 May 1975.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 6 September 1975.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 27 March 1975.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 11 February 1975.
As of 8/26/2006 9:59:59 AM EDT
You are 31 years old.
You are 373 months old.
You are 1,622 weeks old.
You are 11,354 days old.
You are 272,505 hours old.
You are 16,350,359 minutes old.
You are 981,021,599 seconds old.
Celebrities who share your birthday:
| Kate Beckinsale (1973) | Sandra Bullock (1964) | Kevin Spacey (1959) | | Dorothy Hamill (1956) | Roger Taylor (1949) | Helen Mirren (1946) | | Mick Jagger (1943) | Stanley Kubrick (1928) | Blake Edwards (1922) | | Jason Robards, Jr. (1922) | Vivian Vance (1912) | Gracie Allen (1902) | | Aldous Huxley (1894) | Carl Jung (1875) | George Bernard Shaw (1856) |
Top songs of 1975
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.44383561643836 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)
There are 334 days till your next birthday on which your cake will have 32 candles.
Those 32 candles produce 32 BTUs, or 8,064 calories of heat (that's only 8.0640 food Calories!).
You can boil 3.66 US ounces of water with that many candles.
In 1975 there were approximately 3.1 million births in the US.
In 1975 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile.
In 1975 in the US there were approximately 2,152,662 marriages (10.1%) and 1,036,000 divorces (4.9%)
In 1975 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.
In 1975 the population of Australia was approximately 13,968,881.
In 1975 there were approximately 233,012 births in Australia.
In 1975 in Australia there were approximately 103,973 marriages and 24,307 divorces.
In 1975 in Australia there were approximately 109,021 deaths.
Your birthstone is Ruby
The Mystical properties of Ruby
Ruby is said to open one's heart to love.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)
Carnelian
Your birth tree is Cypress, the Faithfulness
Strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give, happy,content,optimistic, needs enough money and acknowledgment, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered,unruly, pedantic and careless.
There are 121 days till Christmas 2006!
There are 134 days till Orthodox Christmas!
The moon's phase on the day you were born was waning gibbous.
Copyright © 2006 Paul R. Sadowski (http://www.paulsadowski.com) |
| posted by Jen @ 9:06 AM |
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| Friday, August 25, 2006 |
| My Friday |
So. Here we are at Friday. It started out innocently enough, though a bit too early for my taste. Don't forget that we had a game the night before. I get up, get dressed, and go in to get my breakfast. My back? Still hurting.
I read the news and the comics (not necessarily in that order), and then hear Cam's alarm go off. Then I hear Cam go off, "Nnnnnnnnnnooo! No no no no NO!" Heh, I'm with ya, buddy. I get him up and going telling poo jokes (because there's very little in life that is funnier to a 7 year old than poo), and head to the kitchen to fix his breakfast. I go back down the hall to make sure he's out of bed and at least BEGINNING to get dressed, and once I get about halfway down the hall I hear him, dissolved in giggles. I step into the room and see him stepping off the last step of his ladder (bunk beds), bent in half, laughing. "What on Earth is so funny?" "Oh, I farted....it was disgusting!" Yeah. That's a prime way to start the day. BTW, Billy told me before I left that he heard the fart in question, and it was, indeed, quite disgusting. :)
So I get Cam to the bus and head off to school. We watched the video of the show from the previous night, and then afterward we mostly complained about how tired we all were. Group gripe. Oh, and played some scales, too, but cripes...it was a late night! I finished up there and headed to work. I zipped in and out, and hustled up to Hooters to meet TJ for lunch. This is where things went downhill, and FAST!
A little background for you-my van? On it's last leg. Half a leg, really. One of my students is the daughter of a local mechanic. He found out my van was screwing up and insisted that I bring it in to him. He looked it over, patched up a leak and said that I needed to start saving for a new car-he can temp fix it, but it's gonna break for good before long. All righty then! So in the months since then, it's become more...shall we say...quirky. Either the starter or the ignition or something in that general vicinity is going bad, because it doesn't like to start on the first (second, or even the third) try all the time. It's usually first thing in the morning, but not limited to then. Then there are the wipers. For as long as I've owned the van, every now and then turning a corner will turn on the wipers. No big deal, really. The go up, down, and stop. Usually. Lately, they've taken to coming on when I open the door to get in...before I put the key in the ignition. Then a few days ago it was misting...I turned them on to just swipe once and all hell broke loose...the wipers went to warp speed, and I was turning onto Gulf Beach Hwy before I had them under control again. File that away for future reference.
TJ comes into Hooters and tells me that my passenger rear tire is nearly flat. Frequent fliers here on my blog may recall this as the one that I spent 5+ hours at Wal Mart getting fixed on the first day of school. Bastards!!! We have a tasty lunch, and he walks me out to the van. He has to head out and do some errands, so I decide to hit up the Tom Thumb on Airport to fill up the tire-he can take care of it when he gets home. Riiiiiiight.
I pull into the Tom Thumb, park, get out and push the "push button to start" on the air machine. It growls into life, and immediately dies when I take my finger off the button. Uhh....maybe it's just a really quiet machine? Riiiiight. The machine is broken. I radio TJ and relay the news. He says he'll meet me in about 15 minutes. 10 minutes later, he radios to tell me that he can't meet me as (wait for it.....wait for it....) his battery died. I drive up Airport, turn onto Davis, and meet HIM at the Nextel store...limping along on a nearly flat tire the whole way. Well, fat lot of good that did, as I don't have jumper cables. Well, NOW what?
Billy! Billy's off! We call Billy. He agrees to meet us at the Wal Mart on Creighton (going to get the tire fixed). He'll drive TJ back to the Tahoe, jump it off, follow him to drop it off at the shop, and all will be well. Riiiiight. We get to Wal Mart and check the van in. We walk around...I complain that my back hurts. Billy gets there, and the van hasn't even been brought in the shop. Any of this sound familiar? Billy and TJ leave to go get the Tahoe and take it to the shop. I go get Angels and Demons by Dan Brown to read while I wait, wishing the whole time I had thought to bring my muscle relaxers with me.
About an hour to ninety minutes later, they page TJ. The guy says that the tire isn't fixable-there's a nail that's right on the edge and it can't be fixed. He filled the tire up with air, and it was safe to drive on but WOULD go flat again. ...sigh... TJ says to drive it home and we'll figure it out later. I'm desperate to get home and take something for my back. I'm driving down "W" Street when once again, my wipers went nuts. The rubber would have melted if they went any faster. I actually ended up pulling over into Bobe's parking lot and turning the car OFF. Did that stop the wipers? Nooooooo. I took the key out...they were unimpressed. I radio TJ again to let him know...ugh. It was a mess. They actually stopped when I cranked the van again. Dawn says my van is possessed. I'm beginning to agree.
Then I realize that it's almost 3, and TJ and Billy had just dropped the Tahoe off at teh shop and still had to drive out to Gulf Breeze and Midway....there was no way they'd get back in time to get Cam. I knew there was no way that I would get back out of the house once I walked in the door, so I just drove (limped?) out to the day care to bring him home. I'm ready for an uneventful evening on the heating pad and some nice, deep sleep. Wish me luck! |
| posted by Jen @ 6:17 PM |
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| Thursday |
Thursday was a busy day for me. It started out pretty slow, but starting around 4 was just jam-packed with too much crap to do. Cam's school orientation was at 5, and we had a football game. Yes, a varsity game on Thursday. I think it had something to do with rescheduling it away from Fall Break, but don't quote me. I detest Thursday night games...they throw everything off.
I spent about 15 minutes in Cam's classroom, and then had to book it to MY school for the game. They had already blocked off the driveway and I had to use the classic, "I'm with the band!" line to get in without paying. Yeah. So I get in there, and my boss is uber-stressed, the parents are running around like crazy people, and the kids? They're sitting quietly in their seats, ready to go.
I was styling in my new khakis (whoo hoo for 16s!) and my oh-so-fashionable band shirt. As for shoes (I know you're all on the edge of your seat waiting for this), I decided to go with my hiking boots, as they're designed for comfort when you're on your feet for extended periods of time. Right? Well. It was a good plan, but didn't necessarily go off the way I hoped.
As for the football part of the evening, we schmeared Tate's team 41-0. Woot! The band part? We had a better crowd response than Tate did, though it was our home crowd so take that with a grain of salt. Oh, and I'm biased. :) The kids did SO well, and I was so proud of them when they marched off the field. They behaved perfectly through the whole evening, and had a great time, to boot. It was hot and humid...so humid, in fact, that the concert bass drum was sweating by the time we got out to the stands. I'll be putting my hair up next time. Yuck.
My back started aching just after halftime...though I have a sneaking suspicion that that's actually about when the adrenaline and/or endorphins wore off. By the time I left the school, it was hurting. It nearly brought me to my knees once I got out of the car at home. I scooted in the house like an old lady and took a muscle relaxer. I took a shower and then slept on the heating pad. Granted, I only slept for like 4 hours because it was a THURSDAY GAME and I had to be up at 5:30 the next morning. Bah. The rest of that day is for another post, though. Be back with that in a bit! |
| posted by Jen @ 4:41 PM |
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| I know why I blog |
| It's cheaper than therapy. Thanks to all of you, my armchair-psychiatrists and counselors, for reading, laughing, commenting and generally helping out. Today was a long and mostly crappy day...I have much to say, and will try to break it up into separate blogs so as not to overwhelm you, my dear readers. Read on, if you dare! |
| posted by Jen @ 4:38 PM |
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| Thursday, August 24, 2006 |
| I bought a pair of pants today |
| I was ready to be all depressed, because that's how clothes shopping usually goes. I took 2 pair of sorta-khakis to try on, sizes 15 and 17. I was optimistic. The 15? Heh...no. The 17s fit, but looked really dumb, so I started over. Turns out those were JUNIOR sizes, so I didn't feel quite as bad. Shopping is all very psychological these days. :) I found some REAL khakis and took back a pair of 16s and a pair of 18s...I tried on the 18s first, and they fit, but were loose enough to make me wonder how the 16s would go. They fit even better! Whoo hoo! Interestingly enough, I have no idea what shoes I'll wear tonight, but that's another battle. Hooray for 16s! |
| posted by Jen @ 4:12 PM |
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| Wednesday, August 23, 2006 |
| 6 days left... |
| ...till Resa gets here! Even Cam is getting excited. He seems to think that you'll be picking him up from school or something-I honestly don't know WHERE he got that from and will work on fixing that particular notion. There's no reason to sit in an absurdly long line in the heat in a car with no AC for nearly an hour. Anyway, just thought I'd pop in to say whoo hoo! Tomorrow's going to be a loooooong day...I have work, then Cam's orientation, and then our first football game. The kids got on the field for the first time this afternoon because they couldn't get it painted until some time today. They'll do fine, but they need some extra time. I'm going to bed...gonna hang out with the heating pad for a while. Night! |
| posted by Jen @ 7:56 PM |
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| Four things |
We can all thank Maevyn for this...once again. I never should have lost her birthday card and mailed it out late.....
Four jobs I wish I had the capabilities of:
1. Marine Biologist...I'd have taught this instead of music if things had not gone the way they did. I didn't like my teacher in high school, but I loved what she did. Plus I'd love to be able to dive and say that it was work-related. Simple things.
2. Artist. Every bit of my creative ability is music-related. I can't draw a straight line, much less anything any more difficult. Decoupage was nearly beyond me, but Resa helped me out...remember that table? LOL
3. Interior Designer: I think this one goes back to my art-deficiency. I can tell you what matches, but beyond that...feh. I'd love to be able to turn a hum-drum room into something that a person would love to show off.
4. Pilot: I suppose this has something to do with freedom and controlling your destiny and other such psychobabble. I dunno...I just think it would be fun.
Four names I wish I had other than my own:
1. Anything
2. Other
3. Than
4. Jennifer
(is that cheating? oh well...LOL)
Four of my favorite actresses:
1. Dame Maggie Smith (I have yet to find a role she's played that I don't love)
2. Angelina Jolie ...don't ask
3. Sandra Bullock..."Hope Floats" makes me cry and laugh and for chrissakes...she kisses Harry Connick Jr.!!!
4. Kirstie Alley (not for her acting skills, per se, but just because I think she's a hoot)
Four songs I could listen to over and over again:
1. "The Rise and Fall of Rome" oh, wait...I have to listen to that one over and over again....
2. "Hotel California" ...I have to turn it up so I can't hear myself sing...
3. "Angel" by Aerosmith ....sigh...
4. "Bolero" by Ravel
Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Ghosthunters (nerd alert!)
2. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (I heart Cheese!)
3. Good Eats
4. Various History Channel shows
Four places I would like to go on vacation:
1. South Korea to visit my baby sis
2. Scotland
3. Kenya
4. India
Four of my favorite cuisines:
1. Japanese (sushi)
2. Chinese (at least the Americanized version of it)
3. Italian
4. Good ol' Southern cookin'
Four places I wish I was right now:
1. Napping in bed.
2. Camping without a care in the world...including bugs, thanks much
3. Relaxing on the beach
4. Anyplace cooler than NW Florida!!
Now comes the part that will win friends and influence people...I'm supposed to name 7 people to tag with this quiz, but I'm thinking I'll only do 4...it sticks with the theme better, and that's 3 fewer people to hate me for tagging them with another quiz. :)
Four people I tag to take this quiz:
1. Kas
2. D2
3. Cassi
4. TX Jen
Enjoy, ladies!! |
| posted by Jen @ 11:56 AM |
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| Monday, August 21, 2006 |
| I feel like poo |
| I have a cold. My throat is raw and my nose is doing that irritating "stopped up and yet drippy all at the same time" thing. Every time I even think about looking down, my nose leaks like someone turned on a faucet. I went to weigh in tonight at Weight Watchers and had to set my purse on the floor when I stepped on the scale. Ugh...I had to pinch my nose when I bent over to pick it up so I wouldn't drip on the floor. Gross much? I had planned to go get my birthday piercing last night, but figured that there was not much sense in puncturing a hole in my body while it's not necessarily well in the first place. Blah-I'm chewing some gum so I don't taste the nose spray I just used (I can't taste my dinner but I can taste the friggin nose spray-please explain that one to me) and very nearly shot the gum across the room in a sneezing fit. Yuck. I'm going to bed...night! |
| posted by Jen @ 7:36 PM |
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| Friday, August 18, 2006 |
| I blog too much |
But that's not going to stop me. :) I was just talking to D2 and remembered something funny I wanted to mention here. Cam's teacher wants all the students to read for 20 minutes every night. Last night we were reading a book about dinosaurs, and Cam asked where the dinosaurs came from. Here's a snippet of the conversation:
"Well, they come from eggs."
"No, I mean ALL of them. Where do they all come from?"
"Um, eggs, really. It's sort of like chickens...only bigger."
"Mom, I mean like the first dinosaur-who laid HIS egg?"
"..."
(he peered over the bunk at me-I was sitting in his desk chair trying to simplify the concept of evolution to attempt to explain it to a 2nd grader)
"Ok, well, back before there were dinosaurs there were only animals in the water...they started out very tiny, but over a very long time they started to change. Some turned into fish, and some turned into other animals that learned how to walk."
(my phone rings)
I run to answer the phone...it's my Grandma Morton. Which, for those of you that know my Grandma Morton, is very, VERY funny. She's a devoutly religious lady, and always has been. Grandpa has been a deacon of the church for...well, for so long I can't figure it out. Let's just go with for EVER. I finished talking to her and told Kas that the timing was impressive...I figure Grandma's Spidey Sense was tingling and she knew someone was up to some heretical nonsense and she set out to nip that in the bud. I bow to her - that woman is good. |
| posted by Jen @ 5:16 PM |
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| Some thoughts on education |
My Mommy group has been discussing the ups and downs of public education in this area for a while. As many of you know, this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I figure that I'm relatively qualified to respond knowingly (I was going to say 'intelligently' but thought better of that word...LOL) to the subject as I grew up in the local public school system, graduated here, attended college as an education major, and now have a child of my own in the system. An educational "circle of life," if I may. I can see pretty much any angle involved; student, teacher, and parent. I don't count admin-I have a teacher's opinion of school admin, and since my Grandma taught me not to say anything if I can't say something nice, I'll be quiet. :)
A comment was made saying that previous generations received vastly superior educations compared to what is available these days. I had to disagree. Here's what I said:
Education has changed enormously over the years. When my Dad started grade school he was left-handed. That didn't matter, as everyone that went through his particular school was taught to write right-handed, regardless of their natural inclination. That was policy then. My Grandma was taught a different curriculum than the boys her age...because girls just didn't need to know the same things and weren't cut out for advanced maths and sciences. When my Great-grandmother was school age, she only went to school when she wasn't working crops. The generation before that didn't even really GO to school...according to census info, her father wasn't literate. It's very difficult to compare the quality of an education between the different generations as the basic needs and requirements have changed so drastically over the years.
I have students in 11th grade taking college pre-cal. My son is more computer literate than my mother-in-law. As times change, the needs change...the big push for standardized testing right now is a result of all the technological advances of the past 50 years...particularly the Space Race. Honest! I'm not making this up-I took a class on Education! When the Soviets shot up Sputnik, the US was caught with their pants down. "Quick-we need more scientists! What do you mean, we don't have any more scientists? Where are all our young men and women that want to be scientists? Um...what do you mean, nobody wants to be a scientist?" At that time, there was emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetic. Get 'em literate, and get 'em out the door. Next! That sparked education reform-they squashed more science and math in. On top of that, advances in technology are making some subjects and methods obsolete...don't even attempt to take a Stats class without a graphing calculator-it can't be done. And I dare you to show up to engineering classes with a T-square...you'll be laughed out of the room!
The "civilized" parts of the world (and I use that term quite loosely) are becoming entirely dependant on technology. Just think back to the days and weeks after Ivan...no power, no AC, no lights, no computer.... Ahh, but I got online. Yessirree, I didn't let a little thing like catastrophic destruction get in the way of my internet fix! We charged TJ's laptop in the car, then used a dial-up connection to check email and see what was going on in the outside world. To maintain that sort of fanaticism (not that everyone's an addict like me...well, some of you are...and you KNOW who you are), you have to push the kids in school TODAY to be the next Bill Gates (heh, ok, bad example) or to create the next Google or MySpace. Plus, you just don't want to be the stupidest industrialized country in the world. How would that look on your report card?
I have tremendous issues with basing a school and/or a student's educational success on a standardized test score. All that test score provides is a measure of how well that student took that test on that day at that time. There are 40 ba-jillion different factors in play at any given time while that child is testing...did he sleep well the night before? Did she eat breakfast? Did her father beat her last night? Did he hit his head on the bus before school? Did her boyfriend break up with her and she'll never ever ever ever ever ever love anyone else for the rest of her life-for real? I won't even go into the "teaching the test" spiel or how much stress this puts on the students and even on the teachers. And now they're talking about basing a teacher's pay on his or her students' test scores...how's that for genius? Don't like your teacher? Tank the test. You can always take it again later.
The best way to ensure the quality of your child's education is to be involved every step of the way. Know his or her teacher. Know how he or she reacts with the teacher. Know what days the class goes to music or PE...know when they're having Open House. Join the PTA even if you can't attend meetings or volunteer. Send notes to his/her teacher-you'll get one back! Make sure your child knows that you are taking this education very seriously and that you expect him or her to do the same. Stay involved! Find out what other avenues are open...tutoring (usually provided free at public schools-ask around), counseling, various other assessments...if you don't ask, you won't know! The folks in the admin usually mean well, but they're being run ragged trying to maintain an old building full of hundreds of children...they don't have time to offer up everything available. Go in with a plate of cookies or a fruit tray-you'll get lots of attention that way. :)
I'm a product of the local public school system...Edgewater and Navy Point Elementaries, Warrington Middle School, and Escambia High. I took honors classes throughout, and graduated with nearly a semester of college already under my belt. Besides frequently being long-winded, I turned out pretty normal. :) The school systems really do mean well-nobody goes into teaching for the money, BELIEVE me. They do it for the kids. They are just limited as to how they can do it. If you want to change THAT, run for office. :) The local school board, state school board, or even on the national level. Call your representatives on every level and let them know what you think. I was a thorn in Gary Bergosh's side this past year...he probably has my email address blocked. He's running for a seat on a bench somewhere this year...if I could vote "HELL NO" against him I would. :) But that's just me. Anyway, that's my rant...I have to teach in the morning so I need to get my stuff together. See y'all later!
Anyway...I hated to not share such charming material with those of you not on the group. :) Lucky dogs! And just so you know, I got my sample ballot in the mail today...I get to vote for whomever is running against Bergosh! Whee! |
| posted by Jen @ 4:07 PM |
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| Bwa ha ha!! |
Go now and read the following link:
Joel Stein: Elmo Is an Evildoer - Los Angeles Times
I'll wait until you're finished.....la la dee da... There, all done?
I'm not sure why I find that so incredibly funny....it may be that I was, like so many other people my age, raised on Sesame Street. It may be that I hoped desperately that my son would find it as fun and entertaining as I did...we spent hours upon hours watching Sesame Street when he was younger. He never took to it the way I did, and to be frank, I found it more annoying than anything else. Remember back when Snuffleupagus could only be seen by Big Bird? And those psychedelic counting cartoons.
I laughed at that article from the first paragraph ("Elmo is an annoying tool.") through to the bitter end. Bleach, indeed... I had tears rolling down my cheeks, and made haste to email, IM, and blog a link to the piece. That, my friends, was funny. To me, anyway. :) |
| posted by Jen @ 3:52 PM |
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| Wednesday, August 16, 2006 |
| Have you ever... |
| ...hung up the phone with someone that particularly annoyed you and then flipped off the phone? I've done that twice today. |
| posted by Jen @ 1:19 PM |
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| An update on Cam |
Last night was great-I'm not sure when he fell asleep, but the music seemed to do the trick. It would have been perfect except for the power surge/outage we had around 9. It shut down the computer and the network temporarily...once the router and such came up I figured there was no sense in going in to boot up his computer-he was already asleep.
As for school today, he was teary-eyed again this morning, but again it was once he got to the bus. TJ took him to the bus for me-I had to get to school early myself-and he told TJ he was upset because he was tired. ...sigh... Cassi brought up a good point last night-she suggested maybe a bully. I dunno. His teacher called last night to talk to me and never said anything about that. I may send in a note or give her a call about it. I may check with the teachers at after-school care, too, but I really don't think it's an issue there.
As for the talk with his teacher, she said that she could tell he is an only child. That alarmed me slightly, but she said that she was an only child, too, and that he reminds her of herself at that age. She always wanted to get everything right the first time, and no mistakes were allowed. She reassured him that he's doing a great job and is not going to fail miserably at anything in 2nd grade. She told him that if he was so worried all the time he wouldn't be able to help her do (some little project-I can't remember what it was) and he straightened right up. As long as he has a task, I suppose he's fine.
She rearranged some of the kids yesterday to get them set up the way she wants them, and Cam got upset about it...not like freaking out or yelling or anything, but stressed. All this time TJ and I have been picking out the physical characteristics that Cam inherited from us...now it seems the mental ones are peeking through. I thought for sure that wouldn't come out until he was a teenager...isn't THAT when kids are supposed to go crazy? This wasn't covered in my owner's manual! |
| posted by Jen @ 10:47 AM |
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| I get it...it's funny. |
| Soooo. My back has really started to feel better the past few days-it's great! I woke up this morning, however, and felt like I was back at square one. Pain, pain, pain, and yes, more pain. I got to school this morning and set up the bandroom and made copies of stands music; the whole time the pain just got worse. What the hell?! By the time I left to go to work I realized that the pain wasn't so much in my back as in my guts. Which made me think, "Wait, I started the green pills Sunday...oh crap, it's CRAMPS!" How's that for irony, boys and girls? I finally begin to rid myself of the dreadful lower back pain, only to develop cramps that have me doing Lamaze breathing to cope. Ha ha...very funny. |
| posted by Jen @ 10:32 AM |
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| Tuesday, August 15, 2006 |
| My little worry wart |
So Cam is having some stress issues at school. He insists that he loves his teacher, which I believe. He insists that he's doing fine behavior-wise, which I also believe-I've seen his citizenship report. He has plenty of friends there AND at after-school care. I'm afraid he has a taste of my "worst case scenario" thinking AND a taste of my nervous stomach.
On school nights, his bedtime is 8. At 7:30 he decides whether he'll keep playing for 15 minutes with 15 minutes of story time (the adult reads to him-he has 20 minutes of required reading that he does when he gets home) or if he wants to go to bed and watch TV for 30 minutes. Two nights ago he chose TV...the sleep timer was programmed to go off at 8. At 9 he comes out complaining that he doesn't feel well. Same thing at 9:30. TJ bundles him off to bed again, reads a short bedtime story, and he finally falls asleep around 10. Just guess who was a grumpy butthead the next morning?
Last night, he chose TV again. Once again, at 9 he came out, complaining of a stomach ache. He was a little green around the gills. I sent him back to his room, we rearranged his bed, turned on the fan, and I read a little bit to him. I fished out the other half to my "blankie" (which is really a sheet, but that's beside the point) and gave that to Cam. He has his blankets scrunched down in the crack between his bed frame (he has a bunk bed) and the mattress, filling the gap so he can't see down (...or is it so nothing can see UP?) through it. Well, having the other half of MY blankie was the magic touch last night, and he drifted off pretty quick.
This morning, he got up really well-no grumbling or anything. He got ready at his usual "if I were going any slower I'd be moving backwards" speed, and we were out the door. By the time I dropped him off at the bus, his eyes were shiny. He walked to the bus, then turned around real quick and was trying REALLY hard not to cry to ask what I'd said (I hadn't said anything). He blew me a kiss and climbed on the bus.
Barb called later (my MIL and his bus driver, conveniently) to say that he was in tears by the time he got to school. He just kept saying that his stomach hurt. She walked him to class, and had a word with his teacher. She pulled him to the side to talk to him, and asked him what was up. She said that she figured he was fine, and that he was just nervous. She told him he was doing fine and there was nothing for him to worry about...calm down and chill out, and everything will be fine. He was still a little teary-eyed and SHE ended up a little teary-eyed...it turns out that a close friend passed away the day before, so she was a little upset herself. She said he hugged her a little and made HER feel better. She's decided that once school is out she will have to take him home with her. TJ and I both agree that she'll bring him back pretty quick, too.
So...anyone have any ideas for de-stressing a 7 year old? I don't want him to be the only kid in 2nd grade with an ulcer. So far we've eliminated TV from the before-bed routine, as well as Xbox. It gets him really, REALLY wound up. So tonight he hung out with us at the table (he was drawing an owl) and watched TV a little. He took his bath, and then we went to his room to read for a while. He wanted music (I think he was stalling) so I turned on the Media Player on his computer to a new age station and left. He has the fan on, the music on, and the other half of the all-powerful blankie. I just checked on him and he's snoring. Shoo! I'm still open to any pointers anyone may have. Well, besides "Give that boy a little brother or sister!" Um, no. :) |
| posted by Jen @ 10:11 PM |
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| The countdown begins... |
12 days till my prodigal sister returns from the Far East...here's a smattering of the fun things we plan to do while she's in the country:
- She's going to take me, Val, and Dad to a Korean restaurant here in town...and order for us.
- Go out for Chinese food...the AMERICAN version of Chinese food.
- Go to Grandma's for a fish fry.
- A cook-out at my house.
- Go to McGuire's.
- Go to Lambert's (in Foley)
- Go to Chick Fil A
- Visit the beach
- Shop in Foley
- Shop in enormous bookstores full of books in English
- Wander the aisles of Wal Mart
- Family pictures
- Learn to roll sushi (whoo hoo!)
That's not everything, but it'll give you an idea of what's to be expected. As of now she doesn't know her flight numbers or times or even exactly which airport she'll be flying into, but hey...us Tucker girls don't let a little thing like lack of information slow us down, no sir. Hurry and get here, Resa!! |
| posted by Jen @ 12:42 PM |
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| Monday, August 14, 2006 |
| By the way... |
| ...I'm feeling a little better. I think the steroids have kicked in, and the muscle relaxers are working, and life is becoming good once more. It's good, too, because I have a ridiculously busy week planned. :) |
| posted by Jen @ 7:56 PM |
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| Flashback! |
| Here's an old-school movie for you...I found it at Wal Mart today. Jen and I were just talking about it a few days ago and I had to buy it. "Alice In Wonderland" This one came out in 1985 (eep! I'm old!) and has a ga-zillion different stars in it. Carol Channing stands out in my mind as the White Queen: "Jam tomorrow, Jam yesterday, but never ever jam tooooday..." Or something like that, anyway... Another thing I remember about this movie? The Jabberwocky...this particular one gave me nightmares for weeks. I can't wait to watch it! |
| posted by Jen @ 7:45 PM |
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| Friday, August 11, 2006 |
| Make it better! |
| I went to the doctor today for my back. He poked and prodded me, then had me lay back while he moved my legs all around. He says nothing is broken (which I knew-a broken bone hurts WAY more than what I'm hurting right now) but that he can feel some inflammation. It's my lower back, so pretty much any kind of movement will set it off. He brought up the irony in the situation...I've lost over 50 pounds and NOW I get a back ache...yeah yeah, I've heard it already. He knows I'm teaching and we're in the middle of the busy part of the year so he's going to treat it aggressively. I walked out with 2 scrips; one for an oral steroid treatment and another for muscle relaxers, and I'm to come home from school and get off my feet. He told me to be sure I'm at home near the bed when I take the muscle relaxers...that is fine and dandy with me as I've slept like CRAP the past week or so. I'm going to fill the prescriptions and do NOTHING for a while. See y'all later! |
| posted by Jen @ 12:52 PM |
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| Thursday, August 10, 2006 |
| Here I am again... |
Cam managed to stay out of trouble today-he was very happy to inform me that he did NOT have to move his clip. He's just getting out of the bath and is about to do his nightly 20 minutes of reading, so this will probably be a blog interrupted at some point in the near future. That's ok, though. Dear lord, this child is a source of endless amusement. He came in, fresh out of the tub and in a voice just dripping with pride says, "Look! I can fit two fingers in my belly button!" He points two fingers like a gun, and jabs them into his navel. ...sigh... This is the child that will support me in my old age. Good thing I have that 401k....
I keep meaning to tell you about MY first day of school experience...and then finding something else to do. Funny. Here's the tale of my first day of school this year:
I get up and get ready, get Cam up and ready, and we head out the door to go to the bus stop. Barb calls to say that she'll be a little later than expected because there were no other buses in line for gas so she was going to stop. No problem-I ran into the Tom Thumb to get a Diet Coke (aka "Nectar of the Gods"). When I stepped out of the store, I saw my back passenger tire was a little low...hey, no prob, right? Tom Thumb has free water and air! I pulled over to the air pump, checked with Barb to make sure I had time, and checked my tire pressure. It was like 15 psi. Doh! I put the air hose on and hummed to myself for a while...checked the pressure again...wait, the hell? It was like 12. Um...shouldn't it be going UP? I put the hose back on for a little while, and checked again-it was still going down. I stopped right there, called my boss at school to let him know I was going to the Wal Mart down the street to get my tire fixed and would be late.
I dropped Cam off at the bus and pulled into Wal Mart at 7:20....I pulled around to the side of the building to see that I would EIGHTH in line at the Tire & Lube place...great. I was processed (according to my ticket) at 7:28. That's AM, folks. Turns out that all the cars in front of me-except one-were there for tire work. I walked into Wal Mart with cash in my purse, some spendable money in my bank account, AND with a birthday gift card. I wandered around, but couldn't find anything that particularly jumped out at me. I tried, too! I looked in the books, I looked in the school supplies, I looked in the movies and music, and I looked in the shoe department. I found my Dad on one of these sweeps through the store. He was painting.
About an hour and a half later I wandered back to the Tire center, and peeked into the bay to see if they'd started on my van. Ha! I saw a green van, but it was far too clean to be mine. I looked out in the lot and saw my dirty van sitting there. ...sigh... I sat down in the waiting room there, and...well, waited. I played solitaire on my PDA for at least 15 minutes. I lost every game, for those of you keeping score. I put that away and tried to still look busy enough that the older lady in there with me wouldn't try to talk. We wouldn't have been able to hear each other over the two enormous soda machines and the coffee pot in there anyway. She was 2 cars ahead of me, and had about 1/100 the patience. She got up to ask the poor lady at the counter how long it would be every 10 minutes or so. She was a short little lady...probably in her mid-to-late 60s. She kept kneeling on the chairs looking out into the bay to see what was taking so damn long, and she looked like a kid peeking out the window of the house for the ice cream truck.
I sat in the waiting room for a total of about 25 minutes. Out of boredom, I did another lap around the store, studiously ignoring the grocery side. As hard as it was to find something on the GM side, I knew I would have no trouble finding something to buy on the food side. I double-checked the shoe aisle, the toy section, and school supplies again. I actually entered the craft section, but emerged unscathed and untethered by yet another project I'll start wholeheartedly and then leave to fret about, unfinished forever. Ahem, I digress. I ran into Dad again and we chatted for a bit. I poked through the Electronics section again, and found a great shoulder bag for my laptop. Ha! FOUND something!
Around 10:30 I wandered back to the Tire place, and realized with much dismay that the older, impatient lady was STILL there, and my van was STILL parked in the lot. Damn it, people! I sat for a little while, but got tired of the woman griping so I left. I went back to the book section, determined to find something that would keep me occupied for at least another hour. Those of you that don't know me, here's a little info about my reading habits... I'll read nearly anything. I don't read much sci-fi or medical drama, but I will when I have to. My favorite author is Stephen King...I made the horrific mistake of reading It on a Girl Scout camp out in 6th grade. I'm 31 years old and will swear on a stack of Bibles that to this date it is STILL the scariest book I have ever in my life read. Horrifying!! The movie sucked, so please do not base your opinion of the story on that crapfest. Tim Curry (Pennywise the Clown....shudder) was the best part of that movie-everyone else pretty much sucked. Ahem...digressed again. Anyway, I love me some Stephen King. I enjoy Ann Rice, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Agatha Christie-she was an amazing author. Thanks to a local used bookstore I've started reading some Dorothy Gillman books, the Ms. Polifax series. Lillian Jackson Braun's Cat Who series is nice, too. They're cute and short-I can polish one off in about 3 hours. Oh, that's another thing. If I'm enjoying a book, I tend to devour it more than read it. I love to re-read a book, too. I know a lot of people that find a book quite useless once they've already read it. Not me! I love books.
Anyway, I went in with an open mind. ANYTHING to look busy and keep my mind off this wait. I came out with Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris. I'd never heard of her or of the book, but really-I didn't care. It kept me quite occupied until they released my van at 12:14. That's PM, folks. They fixed my tire in 4.5 hours. Whoo hoo! Nobody should have to stay in a Wal Mart that long, folks, unless he or she is getting paid. I finished the book later that evening and am thinking about a book review...if I can keep my eyes open long enough to type more. I've already written a book today, so I may hold off on the review until tomorrow.
I left there and just went to work...it was too late to go to school. I went up for rehearsal that afternoon, though. I made everyone ooh and aah over my new tire, too. The flat repair was like $12...but that's 4.5 hours I'll never get back!! My time is worth more than that, thanks. At least I got a computer bag and a new book out of it, though. Hopefully the rest of the school year will be a little less interesting. |
| posted by Jen @ 7:24 PM |
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| Such is life |
I've been sporting an achy back for nearly a week now. I'm not entirely sure what caused it but I do know that I'd love for it to go away. It's wearing me out! I'm tired from my day, and even MORE tired from being sore all day. Then it aches at night...bah. I'm just getting old. My warranty has worn out.
On a lighter note, Resa has announced the dates for her vacation. She'll be flying out on the one year anniversary of Katrina, and flying home to Korea on the anniversary of Sept. 11th. Nice symbolism, eh? Given the events of the past 24 hours you can be sure that I won't be happy until I see her walk through the gate of the airport here and until she calls once she gets home. But that's just me. I worry. :)
She called this morning and we talked for about 40 minutes...we cheered each other up and both feel better having used the valuable international call minutes. We decided that *I* will host a cook-out dinner sort of thing here at my house while she's here in hopes that there won't be one elsewhere in the family...and that's all I'm going to say about that. :) There was also much laughter about her welcoming committee at the airport...whether it will be actual family members, or paid actors impersonating said family members. Heh....
I'm gonna cut this short for now...I'm thinking about doing a book review here shortly on a book I picked up out of sheer desperation earlier this week. We'll see. :) Have a lovely day! |
| posted by Jen @ 10:50 AM |
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| Wednesday, August 09, 2006 |
| 4 down, 10 to go! |
First days of school, that is. Cam has survived another "first day of school," as have I. My experience wasn't nearly as much fun as Cam's, but that's another story. His Grandma bought him a pair of Skechers (I'm so tragically unhip that I misspelled that...thank goodness Google's spell check knew what I meant!) and he was stylin' in an outfit Aunt Val got him...blue cammo shorts and a t-shirt. This was the first year that I didn't physically drop him off at his classroom, which is the main reason, I think, that neither of us ended up in tears at any point. I drove him to the bus stop, where I had to ask for a hug good-bye. Barb called later to let me know that he did fine at school, too; he left without giving HER a hug, too, so she just followed him to his classroom. LOL She dropped off some extra school supplies she bought for the teacher, and then got her hug.
It turns out that a friend's son, Orin, is in Cam's class, too. They've known each other since they were like two...this is the first time they've been in the same class, though. Sunny (Orin's Mom) volunteers at the school a lot, and has been updating me with interesting stories of my child's school-time behaviour. Interesting little tidbits that I would certainly otherwise never know...
For instance, on the first day all the kids that came to Orientation brought a "coat of arms" that they'd worked on over the weekend. It was divided into 4 parts, and they were to put a picture of 4 different things that are important to them on it. One of Cam's quadrants had a picture of a cat. Mrs. Peake asked Cam what his cats' names were, and he named them off, "Brutus, Calli, Chakra, and Samhain ("SOW-when", for those of you uninitiated with that specific word). She said, "Um, Sow-what?" I can see Sunny's eyebrow raise at this point, and she was ready to step in if need be. Cam repeated the name, and then Mrs. Peake goes, "Oh, well that is a beautiful name!" and moved on to the next child. Heh! Then later they were talking about things that are black and white...she asked if anyone could think of anything, and Cam's hand shoots up. He volunteers, "A Yin and Yang!" Mrs. Peake was once again caught off guard. She was looking for a piano, but she agreed that a Yin Yang does indeed have both black and white on it.
Today, however, Cam was no longer the cute, not-quite-Christian kid in the class. Nope. He has the distinct "honor" of being the first child in his class to move his clip from "Have a Nice Day" to "Warning" to whatever the next step is-I can't remember. They get two verbal warnings before she lowers their Citizenship grade...he was one step away from that. Good job, eh? He wasn't being outright BAD, but he wasn't following directions. He was paying attention with his eyes, but not his hands and feet. More than once. ...sigh...
He and I talked about it tonight, and he's now fully aware that if, lord and lady help him, I should get a phone call from his teacher, he will have effectively kissed his Xbox good-bye. He looked quite alarmed, actually, so I'm pretty sure this is a lesson that he won't forget...at least I hope. |
| posted by Jen @ 12:45 PM |
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| Wednesday, August 02, 2006 |
| A picture... |
...that I'm not entirely proud of, but it shows my hair cut. I look a bit like I've been sucking on lemons-I'm not sure why. Oh, yeah, I hate having my picture taken! :) Here I am, and if you look really, really REALLY close you can see some of my purple streaks. Maybe. For those of you that I saw Saturday night, do notice that I'm wearing the shirt that matches my hair. LOL Yes, that's the color purple I have, but it's nearly impossible to see in this particular pic. Y'all will just have to trust me. |
| posted by Jen @ 6:45 AM |
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| Tuesday, August 01, 2006 |
| Sunday Sunday Sunday |
I've been trying to decide whether or not to blog about Sunday...I want to, but don't want to say anything derogatory about my family experience. "Blerg" would sum it up nicely, without insulting anyone in particular. I'll leave out the bits that might offend, and will regale you all with the tale of my morning and early afternoon.
My Sunday morning began at 6:30, when my child, the love of my life, BLASTS into my room at mach 9. The door doesn't just open-it EXPLODES. Cam says, "MOM!" That in itself is nothing new-he says that a lot. The tone of voice, however, was very, VERY alarming. It wasn't so much a "Good Morning, Mom!" or a "Gee, it's early and I need to come in your room but I don't want to wake you" or even a "Hey, I may have spilled something and need help cleaning it up" kind of voice. No...it was full on, 911 freak-out voice. I thought the house was on fire, or he'd lost a limb, or someone was laying dead in the living room... I went from dead asleep to wide-the-hell awake in like .02 seconds...nearly gave myself emotional whiplash. Anyway, back to my son and his grand, important announcement...which was:
"My underwear got wet in the bathroom! I have to change!"
Uh. Wha? This comment makes sense now, yes. However, at 6:30 in the morning with his grand entrance I sat there waiting for him to finish up with something like, "...and the house is burning down around us!" But the rest of the comment never came. He put his underwear in the hamper, and calmly left the room. I sat there, bolt upright in bed, trying to process what had just happened. My thoughts were something like this, "......his underwear....wait. Why did he...um...do I need to DO something?" I sat there for a moment, wearing what I'm SURE was a less-than-intelligent expression...one that nobody saw because my husband? Dead to the world. He didn't even ROLL OVER when Cam's sonic boom came through.
I sat there stupidly for a few more moments, then decided I ought to get up and make sure everything was ok. I stepped out into the kitchen, very cautious, in the event there was a dead body or large fire or anything else horrible I'd just imagined. Everything was quite normal. I peered around the corner to see Cam sitting on the couch, Indian style, playing his Gameboy. He didn't even look up. I said, "Cam?" He says, "Yeah?" (without looking up). "Um. Are you ok?" He pauses his game, and looks at me like I'd just farted in church. (That was for you, Val.) "I'm fine." (pause) I ask, "Do I need to get your underwear?" He looks at me like he's becoming concerned for my mental health and says, "Um, no. I got some.....thanks?" and then goes back to his game. So to continue the theme, I stood there stupidly for a while. I wandered back to bed, where I was unable to fall back asleep. Go figure.
I lazed around the rest of the morning, and then hung out at an ass-kicking cookout till I had to leave for my family birthday party. That is the part that I will skip here, because while I know the folks I would tell you about are not Internet savvy, I know it would come back to bite me in the ass somehow. That's the story of my life. I'll sum it up by saying this: I came home and got down a glass, filled it with shredded ice, then 2 oz of Baileys and 2 oz of Butterscotch Schnapps. I downed that, and then had at least one glass of wine-there may have been more but I don't remember. I also had some of Kas' Death by Chocolate. Emotional eating AND drinking in one evening! It was a long, long day. I'm very glad it's over. I emailed Resa the details...she keeps telling me how much she misses home, so I keep emailing her reminders of why she moved so far away in the first place. :) Little ray of sunshine....that's me! |
| posted by Jen @ 8:15 PM |
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