Part of a School Project

Just thought I'd share. :)

Making Changes...Making Improvements

 We breathe, therefore we live, therefore we evolve. Right? Oh. And we're open-minded which also allows for change.

Today marks the first day of graduate school for me. It's also the first day of the Mister's next to last semester in graduate school. I also made a hair color change. It's also a Monday and raining like cats and dogs. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Today, I had to take a 200 question assessment of my IT skills. I had 1 hour and 20 minutes to take the assessment and I needed a 90 to test out of the first three "sessions" or weeks of my class. The test came with a disclaimer that it is hard and even IT professionals have a hard time scoring a 90. Needless to say, I didn't. I didn't expect to. Some of the questions were about things I had never even heard of. Some of them were statistical-type questions that I couldn't even begin to guess the answers. So, I have to partake in the first three weeks of class. I have to say, I'm not that disappointed. After all, I paid for an entire semester and I also paid for the book. Skipping three weeks might be easier, but I wouldn't have gotten a refund for those weeks. Anyway, the test gave me a pretty good reality check into the differences between an underdrad and graduate class. I can't remember ever having such an extensive test the very first day of any of my other classes. I'm taking a total of seven credits this spring semester; two full classes and a one credit, required "introductory-type" class. Blah blah.

So, back to the title of changes.

With both the Mister and my classes starting today, we've decided to implement a new homework routine. Out of the four of us, the Youngest child is the only one with good homework habits. The Mister and I both leave everything for the last minute and the Oldest child...is a whole other story. This means that we all need a more structured and stringent homework routine. Like it or not.

Lastly, I colored my hair yesterday. I remember saying when I was an ignorant teenager, that I would grow old gracefully. The reality is, I am unable to embrace gray hair. I only have a few, but they're stupid and grow right where my hair meets me forehead and where I part my hair. So, they stick up and an old lady palm tree. I usually just pull them out but I figure this is only a short term solution unless I'd rather be bald at some point. I decided to color my hair to cover up my troupe of grays and I went with a darker color. Naturally, my hair is a mousy yuck color between true blonde and true brunette. I nudged my color fully into the brunette camp. I have to say that I am very pleased with this change. I like the darker color. Normally when I decided to color my hair, I go much lighter into the blonde arena. I like the brunette better. It's shiny and glossy and more natural looking than bottle-blonde.

Now, I have to go because it's homework time. Then I get to make dinner. Chicago dogs are on the menu. I figured we needed something fun to ease the pain of enforced homework time, lol.

I Fought the Pillow and the Pillow Won

Brace yourselves for a post of randomness.

The Mister and I gave up on the new pillows last night. We tried to like them. We really did. My face is broken out from where I slept with my hands next to my face trying to get comfortable. The Mister had a sore neck from the pillow. Prior to last night, I don't remember the last time I had gotten a good night's sleep. The dumb things had to go.

I'm taking a week off from Facebook. My blog posts, tweets, and a few other things may post to my timeline, but I won't actually be checking Facebook until next Wednesday, March 20th. Constantly biting my tongue, reading hypocritical posts by a bunch of drama queens was getting to me. When a website is getting to you, it's time to step back and get some perspective. Ya know? Even now, I want to make a list of all the dumb things people post on Facebook that annoy the crap out of me but I'm exercising restraint and not adding more drama to the drama pie.

AND!!!!! I completed my final two classes of my bachelor's degree on Sunday. If you've known me a while or been with my blog from the beginning, you know that this has been a long road with many obstacles. Between moving (I've lived in five different houses in three different states since I started classes), recruiting duty, working, and raising teenagers, it's been a challenge. All that just makes the final result all the sweeter though. I've earned this degree and I'm proud of myself. If I can do it, anybody can. Your excuses for not going back to school no longer apply. ;)

What's next...Because of the current limbo we're in, I have to hold off on making plans for the future. The Mister has submitted his last reenlistment package but because of all the budget cuts, drawbacks, and the fact that his MOS (his job withing the Marine Corps) is already overpopulated, getting it approved isn't guaranteed. If it gets approved, we'll be moving to Florida in June. I may apply to grad school. I will definitely be looking to get a job there. If it doesn't get approved, I will definitely be getting a job, grad school won't be an option, and we have no idea where we'll be living. Not in San Diego though. I have no desire to be "California poor". So you see? Until we know one way or the other, my hands are pretty much tied. We'll know in less than 30 days. Our government is abysmal. Just saying.

Lastly, are you aware of Ulta's 21 days of Beauty?  I LOVE this. There are some really good deals to get in on. Well, if you're into makeup and such. You can also get a coupon for $3.50 off $10 or more.

First Day of School 2012 Edition

Today was the first day of 7th grade and the first day of 10th grade for my daughters. It was a day that we were all dreading for different reasons.

The Youngest child is afraid she'll get a mean PE teacher, lol. She didn't really care for her PE teacher last year and is hoping that she gets a new one this year. She also agonized over which new ensemble she had would have the honor of being her back to school outfit. Other than that, she was excited to start back to school. She loves her new clothes, shoes, backpack, and school supplies. It's just the way that it should be for a kid her age.

The Oldest isn't looking forward to anything this year. Again, par for the course for someone her age. She isn't happy unless she has something to complain about so she should, in theory, be ecstatic to go back to school. She hates math specifically and really isn't looking forward to any of her new classes this year. There's also this girl that's been a thorn in her side since last year that she's not looking forward to dealing with this year. Normally, I chalk this kind of thing up to normal girl teenagery-type angst. But I've seen this girl in action. She copies the Oldest child's hair for cripe's sake and spreads rumors about her too. If she, the Oldest, doesn't end up suspended from school for fighting this year, I'll be amazed. Not that I condone violence or fighting and there will a punishment at home in store for her should she resort to violence. But some people don't learn lessons until they're slapped in the face with them...literally.

As for me, I'm not the type of mom that looks forward to the first day of school like an oasis in the desert like most parents do. Having a kid with learning disabilities makes school and homework a challenge beyond the norm. It's just easier having her home. Secondly, I really dislike dealing with the traffic three times a day. It was a nightmare at the Youngest child's school this morning and we even left early in anticipation of the back to school rush. ::sigh::

Other than the traffic though, today has gone off without a hitch so far (knock wood). I still have to pick them up and stuff. But I made them both the breakfast of their choice. Well, mostly. I served up scrambled eggs to the Oldest because she's not a morning person and I thought the extra protein would help her through her day. She is, after all, used to sleeping in until noon or later. She also had toast and Ovaltine. The Youngest had a waffle, banana, and a glass of Ovaltine. I felt very soccer mom-ish this morning, lol.

I found out today that my class that was supposed to start on the 10th is cancelled due to low enrollment. I was switched out to the October 22nd session which is when my other fall semester class is starting. I was hoping to have a staggered schedule this semester but no luck. At this point, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that neither of my classes are cancelled because the October 22nd start date is the last of the fall semester and I've already bought my books. I only have four classes left for pete's sake. Let me get it done!!!

Tomorrow is a run day for the Oldest and I. It's one more thing for which I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Having to get up an hour early to go running before school will take a lot of willpower on both our parts.

First Week of School

This school year has been the biggest adjustment. Both kids are at new schools...again, this year with one starting junior high and the other high school. I'm so tired that I don't know if I'm coming or going. This is what our day looked like yesterday:

6:20am - The Mister, the oldest child, and I get up.

6:20 - 6:45 - Getting ready for school, filling out paperwork for the oldest child, The Mister leaves for work.

7:15 - I leave to drive the oldest to school. Traffic is backed up 2 blocks because some genius city planner thought it'd be a good idea to build a high school on the corner of 2 of the 3 busiest streets in town and right on the way of morning commuters on the way to 2 different freeways.

7:30 - I get home and put my phone in the youngest child's room so that the alarm I have set will wake her up while I hit the shower.

7:30 - 8:30 - The youngest child and I are getting ready for the day.

8:30 - I head out to drive the youngest to school. That's right. I get the privilege of driving both kids to and from school this year.

8:45 - We get to the middle school and I have to park to go into the office to pay for the youngest's PE clothes. I pay, say goodbye, and drive home.

9:00 - about noonish - I go on a cleaning spree cuz I'm back to wearing the hat of SAHM (and that's all I have to say about that at this point in time) so I figure I should clean. Plus, I have maintenance coming at some point in the day to fix the 1/2 bath toilet that's been broken for about a month.
Some point during the morning, the Mister comes home from work to work out in the garage. This is what he does all day yesterday.

1:00 pm - I go a round with the oldest child on the phone (Going a round with her at least once a day is par for the course. No biggie.) as she calls me from school (Wednesday is early release day for her) to tell me she's walking to her old junior high to "see people". I tell her that's fine but that she needs to be home before 5 to eat, hydrate, and rest before band practice later on that night.

1 pm- I'm mopping the kitchen. Maintenance guy has come and gone and fixed the toilet half way telling me that it will hold "for a while". The Mister is still in the garage working out.

2'ish - I finally sit down for a minute.

3:10 pm -  The oldest calls and asks me to pick up her and her friend at Jack in the Box. I tell her to be ready to go cuz I have to leave soon to pick up her sister.

3:20 - On the way home from Jack in the Box, my reminder alarm goes off telling me it's time to leave to pick up the youngest. At this point, I'm speeding to get home so that I can drop off my cargo and get to the middle school on time.

3:25 - 4:05 - Picking up the youngest child. Which, btw, traffic is only backed up about half a block at her school. The parking lot, however, is a nightmare. I have to fight cars coming from three different directions and kids crossing two different ways in the parking lot just to get back to the street. It sucks and I hate it.

4:10 - 5pm. - The Mister is done working out and is now hiding out upstairs to get away from the VERY loud teenager and her friend and I join him when the youngest starts adding her voice to the fray.

5 pm - All 5 of us load up in the car to drop the oldest and her friend off at the high school for band practice. Then the three of us go to Target to get the youngest a lock for her locker and juice boxes for her lunch. She has decided she doesn't want to buy lunch this year. We'll see how long that lasts.

6'ish pm - We get home and I put a pork tenderloin in the over for dinner.

6:22 pm - The power goes off. Lucky for us, at this point in the day, it's only about 90 degrees outside and not the 100 it was earlier that day. Ha ha. My tenderloin still has about 10 more minutes to cook, at least, and none of the sides have been cooked yet. So, dinner is a bust and we hit the Arby's.

7:25 - We're home and I get a text from the oldest asking me to bring her a folder she forgot.

7:30 - 8:15 pm - I sit in the car wondering where in the heck the oldest is, playing solitaire on my phone, and listening to music. Loudly. In our texting, she didn't bother to mention that I could bring the folder when I came to pick her up from practice. I thought she needed it immediately. So I sat in my car for 45 minutes for no good reason. We go another round on the way home.

The rest of the night until 9:30, we complain about how hot it is in the house and that it's still too hot outside to open the windows. I'm thankful that we bought our emergency lantern in NC for our hurricane supplies even though it was never used for that purpose. No power on a hot night is no fun. We decide to go to bed cuz what the heck else are ya gonna do??

11 pm - I have finally just dozed off when I hear knocking at the door. It's the maintenance guys. They need us to move our car that's parked at the curb because the cause of the power outage is in our front yard. The electrical box thingy blew. Oil was all over the place. It has to be replaced. Blah blah. So the Mister moves the car, we go back to bed, and power comes back on about 1 am. The AC has never been more appreciated than in that moment.

Every day from now on will be a variation of this with the exception of losing our power for 7 hours...hopefully. I don't know how long I'm going to last having to drive both kids to and from school every day. In theory, the oldest can walk. The high school isn't so far but when it's 100 degrees outside, I don't like her having to walk. And she's just plain bitchy when I make her walk to school and I don't know if it's easier just to drive her so I don't have to listen to it or if I should make her walk. The youngest, however, her school is way too far away for walking to be an option. I hate traffic. It stresses me in a non-normal way. I need pills. I swear. How many days left in the school year???

I Guess This Is Something Else I Shouldn’t Have Said

We had a bit of a thing happen today. I’ll explain.

Last year when we took our OBX vacation, I wrote a letter of explanation to the oldest child’s school two weeks beforehand to let them know she would be absent and to request that her work be sent home with her so she could do it while we were gone. They didn’t give her her homework but let her do it when we got back. Whatever. But when we did get back, I fielded a couple calls from the school explaining to me the importance of students attending school. I was miffed but I let it go. I take my kids’ educations very seriously and don’t just arbitrarily let them miss school. Besides, we visited a lot of historic places which provided a hands on learning experience AND the kids only missed 4 days of school because of Veteran’s Day.

This year, I was better informed having read the student handbook that the kids get from the school district. Turns out that if you take your kids on an trip which has “educational opportunities” that the absence is excused as long as you send in your letter five days prior to the absence. I did so this year and even quoted the paragraph out of the handbook to cover my butt, not wanting a repeat of last year’s phone calls. Again. They did not send the oldest child’s school work with her but I didn’t receive any phone calls this year. I figured everything was good.

Yesterday, the oldest brought home her 4 1/2 week grades. NOT GOOD! She was missing a lot of assignments. She is now grounded. GROUNDED. She tried blaming our vacation on the missed work but I wasn’t buying it. One of her progress reports (they are sent separately from each of her teachers) had a hand written note at the bottom that said that it’s necessary for her to attend school in order to maintain her grades. That was it. The final straw that broke the camel’s back. I’m sick and tired of them riding their high horse and judging me because I choose to take my child on a family vacation. This year, she only missed 3 1/2 days because of the weather and Veteran’s Day. If they had sent her work with us, I can guarantee you it would have been completed and turned in when we got back. So, I write this teacher a letter explaining how I followed procedure according to the handbook, blah, blah, blah. My tone was a bit snarky but not overtly disrespectful. I was careful. I signed it with both my phone number and e-mail address at the bottom. She replied by e-mail, cleared things up, and the oldest is still VERY GROUNDED.

However, we find out that her teacher, upon reading my letter, yelled at her in front of the entire class. Maybe I was snarkier than I remember being. I am not happy about it though. She shouldn’t have taken out whatever feelings she had about my letter on the oldest let alone in front of the entire class. It’s immature and unprofessional. Sometimes I just really don’t get people.

Oh well. Only three months to go and I’ll get to deal with a whole new school, new teachers, and new snarkiness.

Random Floating Thoughts

I have all this stuff floating around in my head so I’m gonna write about it and get it all out.

The other night, the Mister and I were going to bed and we were locking up the house for the night. We turned  out all the lights in the living room and were walking to our bedroom in the dark. Weird thing about is that while I was walking in complete, pitch black dark, the Mister said he could see well enough from the light coming in the windows to make out shadows of where stuff was. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how very bad my night vision is. I knew it wasn’t 100% but I didn’t know it was that bad. I guess it’s no wonder why I hate driving at  night.

The oldest child had a dance performance at her school last night. She did really great!! I am, of course, the proud parent. I’m going to put up video on my other blog which is private. I’m not comfortable putting video of my kids and other people’s kids on the Internet for all to see. If you’d like to view the video, leave a comment and let me know. I will need your e-mail address to send you an invite.

Something else I just realized is that we will be moving, actually on the road moving, in just over three months. The movers will be here around the 1st of March. I’m not sleeping again and since I’m not worried about anything else, I can only guess that I’m worrying about moving. I’ve also had the worst indigestion. Yes, yes. I know I’ve moved before and will make it through this one, but moving cross country with such little time to get ready is, I think, a perfectly legitimate reason to be stressed out. I’ve also never moved when I was both working and going to school. I’m also concerned about where we will live in California. I think it’s the thought of having to move back into base housing after living like regular people for six years that has me worried the most.

Another realization…I’m getting burned out on social networking. Maybe it’s just a phase and I’ll get back into it.

I’m tired of hearing about Tiger Woods. Move on. Next subject.

Yesterday, it was in the 50’s, today it’s in the 70’s (as I type it’s 72 with a heat index of 77) and tomorrow’s highs will only be in the 50’s again. Totally weird weather.

I’m still rereading the In Death books. Not counting the novellas, I’m on book 20 of 28. The last book, Kindred in Death just came out last month and I haven’t read it yet. I’m excited to get to it. I annoy myself though. Having reread the series as many times as I have, I can pick out a lot of mistakes that Robb made in the story line. Why do I have to be so nitpicky?

Finals on Monday were a nightmare. I took 17th and 18th Century British Literature and Concepts in Marketing this semester. I enjoyed both classes and learned a lot. I don’t know why my exams kicked me this year. I don’t have my grades yet. I probably won’t be posting about them either, lol.

I feel much better now. Don’t forget to let me know if you want to see the dance video and click on through to see my new blog template if you haven’t already!

OBX Vacation Countdown

We leave for the Outer Banks on Saturday. The kids started packing last week they’re so excited, lol. I have the carpet cleaners coming tomorrow and then my own marathon of house cleaning, getting two weeks worth of homework done in one week, and packing will be on. I have my major marketing project due the day we’re supposed to get back from vacation and I don’t want it hanging over my head while we’re there. I’m going to do my best to get it done this week. I have to come up with a marketing plan for a product or company. After much indecision, I have my product picked out and just have to do a bit of research. Considering all of the consumer goods and services out there, it was hard to decide.

Anyway, I have tons of work to catch up on today and school work to get done and homeschooling to conduct. I’m grabbing breakfast for some energy and hitting the grindstone.

NaBloPoMo 2009, post 2 of 30.

Another Day of Firsts

Today was the first time the oldest child was allowed to wear makeup to school. Nothing too dramatic. Luckily for me, she seems to lean more towards the conservative side rather than the clown school side. She’s also the same way when it comes to her clothes. I’m keeping all my appendages crossed that she stays this way. I consider myself really lucky that I don’t have to fight with her about how she dresses and stuff.

Today was the first day that I’ve ever homeschooled a child. It went really well. Way better than her first day of school last year when she came home crying. We covered reading, spelling, math, and science today. I had a lot of misgivings about this undertaking but I honestly and truly think it’s the best thing for her. It’s only the first day so there’s still obstacles to overcome but we can’t do any worse at educating the youngest than public schools have done. This I know without a doubt.

Today was the first time that I’ve ever smashed a cell phone into a bazillion pieces. Well, to be more precise, a Marine Corps six ton did the job but either way, my BlackBerry is still dust in the road. I’d rather not say how it happened because I come off really bad in this story so don’t ask, heheh. I got REALLY lucky in that my line was eligible for Verizon’s new every two so I have a brand new BlackBerry Storm and I LOVE it. I’m sad that all of my contacts, saved e-mails, and pictures on my other phone are lost, but I have a new gadget so I’ll survive the loss.

Today is the first day that I’ve ever had the Uh Huh Hers on my iPod. I just downloaded their Common Reaction album from iTunes and I have to say that I think I’ll really love it. It reminds me a lot of the 80’s electronic pop kind of music. It’s also very much chic music too. They sound great and I love the  upbeat-ness to all their songs. It’s gonna sound pretty great at top volume in my car tomorrow, heheh.

Today was the first time I’ve ever run over two curbs in one outing. I don’t know what was wrong with me but those curbs kept jumping out in my way.

Now, I’m off to bed. Today is NOT the first time that I’ve ever hated getting up at 6:30 in the morning making it so I have to go to bed early at night just to get through the day. I’m so not a morning person.

I Need Feedback

I have an issue and I need to know if I’m making a big deal out of nothing. Please, if you decide to leave a comment at all, be honest and don’t worry about telling me to lighten up.

The youngest came home from school today and told me that if she doesn't  bring  something to her classroom Valentines Day party that she won’t be allowed to participate. Now, I have no problem whatsoever buying chips, cookies, plates, cups, or whatever they need for the party. I always contribute something. I do  have  a problem with them saying that it’s mandatory or my child won't be allowed to participate in the party at all. The way I see it, she’ll be punished  if I don’t buy something for their party. Oh. And they forgot to print up letters to send home to the parents so all we get is word of mouth notice two days before said party. Whatever. The dumb letter wouldn’t have been spelled correctly anyway. Hmm. Anyway. At first I didn’t believe her and I thought that maybe she just didn’t understand what her teacher had said. So, I asked two other kids that are neighbors of ours and are in my daughters class  what their teacher had said about the party and whether or not their parents had gotten letters. They confirmed what my daughter told me and one of the older siblings who is now in junior high said that the same thing happened when this woman was her teacher and that she was just mean, lol.

Is this right? Do you think that the children should be obligated to bring something to the party in order to be allowed to join in the fun with the rest of their classmates? And what about the parents that can’t afford to send anything in? Are they to be punished because rather than buying  conversation hearts for the party they bought milk in stead?? That last part is a bit dramatic but you get my point. I’m sure that there are parents out there that can’t afford to buy extras for a frivolous party.

I don’t remember it being like that when I was in school. AND, I know for a fact that it wasn’t like that at any of the other schools my kids have  attended. I’m pretty angry and I really think I’m going to say something to the school. Classroom parties are supposed to be fun, not a way for the teachers to punish the kids.

Thoughts??

11 Days to Go

Things are progressing with the house in Vermont. I would go into detail, but it’s pretty boring if you’re not living it. Bottom line, they have until Nov 7th to pay November’s rent and the $700+ late water/sewer bill or they will be served with an eviction notice. I’m not holding my breath.

In other news…

Geez. I have very little “other” news. Between the Vermont issues, work, and the kids, I do very little else. In the 20 minutes of spare time I get a day (this is the time I sit in the carpool lane of the oldest child’s school waiting for her to get out. I deliberately leave that early so that I have that quiet time in the car. Pathetic, right?) I’ve been reading a certain book. I would tell you all about it, but it’s not time yet. No, it’s not a book telling me how to best take over the world. That one is in my TBR pile. ;)

School continues to be a drag. Big. Giganto. Un-fun. Drag. I have my Lit midterm this week which means the semester is half over thank GOODNESS! Weirdly enough, I’m just chock full of weirdness, I’m looking forward to next semester. I’m taking marketing and finance classes. One is a basic marketing class that’s a pre req for a upper level class I’ll take the next semester. The other is a finance class for entrepreneurs. I never saw myself heading in this direction before, but my work has opened new doors for me that I want to pursue. I half-wish that it wasn’t too late to change majors. But I’m so burned out that switching would be a very bad idea. Bad, bad, bad. I’d never make it.

And I’m tired and starting to ramble. Gonna hit the sheets.

11 days until we leave on our vacation.

My Productive Weekend

I actually got stuff done this weekend. I was amazed at myself.

I finally got the garage cleaned out. It was still full of our boxes from moving. I know. How lazy that it took us a month to go through the stuff. It also got me to thinking that if we could live without all those things for a month, do we really need them at all? The answer if probably no but we still unpacked the boxes anyway. My car is now parked in the garage! I wish I had taken before and after pictures because it really was an amazing amount of work and I did it mostly by myself. The house has suffered as a result of cleaning out the garage though. The crud had to go somewhere, lol.

My school work is also suffering. I find myself remarkably unenthusiastic about taking classes this semester. Both of my classes are on subjects that I was really looking forward to studying, but I have to force myself to do my reading and assignments each week leaving most of it until the last minute. I’m pretty sure that my job has a lot to do with it. When I started college, it was so that I could get a good job. I hadn’t worked since I was pregnant with the oldest child and I didn’t think that I had any marketable skills. Plus, I wanted the satisfaction of knowing I had my BA. That last part is still true. However, it turns out that I do have marketable skills, I’m good at what I do, and it’s an actual long term career and not just a job. This makes it very hard to want to continue with school. It would be really easy to take a very extended break. Don’t worry though. I have no plans on doing so. I’m smart enough to know that I can demand more money with a BA and it’s also something to fall back on should my current business fall through or if I get bored with it. I need some MOTIVATION though!!

I know there was more about my weekend that I wanted to talk about, but I’m really tired and drawing a blank. I may be back later on today, heheh.

Oh Boy!! TGIF!

 

I have mixed feelings about my weekend. On the one hand, I’m looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday. Ahhh! I get excited just thinking about it. On the other hand, I have to go to a baby shower tomorrow night. No offense, but I hate baby showers. I hate bridal showers too. And weddings for that matter. Graduation parties too. And school fund raisers. Basically, if you’re sniffing around for money or a gift, just let me write you a dang check or have something delivered. I hate structured parties with retarded (and yes, they are retarded no matter how nifty, creative, and cool you think you are) games. I hated my own showers and parties and I was the one on the receiving end!! If I could figure out a tactful and nice way of getting out of going, I would. In a heartbeat. Ugh.

Speaking of school fund raisers, I HATE THEM. I hated them when I was in school too. Both of my kids are supposed to be selling CRAP for the fall fundraisers but neither one of them are. I think they (fundraisers) are disgusting. The incentive for the youngest child to sell is a type of build a bear party. You have to have something like 25 orders to be able to attend. I think that is so mean. And the other smaller “prizes” are cheap plastic CRAP that would get broken in a day. It’s impossible to sell that CRAP when you live in a neighborhood with 50 MILLION other kids selling the same CRAP and your family lives 900 miles away. Like I said before, if they want my money so badly, I would just rather write them a check and save myself the grief of having their CRAP sitting around my house just so that I have to realize when I move again how much useless CRAP I’ve accumulated. Do you know how many kitschy Christmas ornaments and wrapping paper I’ve ordered from these things? OH! And how many orders I’ve paid for out of my own pocket when the kids sold the CRAP long distance to our family and they never sent the checks for their CRAP??? Do you also realize how little of the profits actually go to the school?? If I were to write a $50 check to the school instead of for their fundraising CRAP, they’d get to keep the entire 50 bucks instead of just a small percentage. I’d venture to say that I’m not the only parent that feels this way not that you would ever hear them say that they agree out loud. Noooo! You have to support the school and be a “joiner”. Whatever. I’ve never been and never will be a “joiner”. That’s my term for the people that have to be in on everything. The ones that are on the PTA (or PTO depending on where you live), the HOA, neighborhood watch, they throw huge elaborate parties for their kids trying to outdo the other parties their kids attended, they’re key wives (Marine Corps thing), they go to every Marine Corps Ball and every “family” function, etc. You know who you are. I’ve always wondered about them. What is missing or wrong with their family lives that they have to occupy every available minute with outside activities. I am also brave enough to say out loud that I think that it is this obsessive need to stay so incredibly busy that you don’t have quality alone time with your family that is the root of what is wrong with kids these days. The oldest child told us the other day that the kids in a certain class at her school were so mean and out of control that they made their teacher cry. 6th graders. That’s not to mention the kid that was arrested the very first day of school and the two other kids that were suspended the first day of school. Or the fact that school uniforms are a necessity at the elementary level. I can’t be the only one that sees a pattern here.

BWAHAHAHA!!! This was supposed to be a happy post about the weekend. I have no idea where all that other stuff came from. I suppose it’s been bugging me all week and I have truly been dreading this baby shower. Even so, I’m not even in a pissy mood. Hard to tell, I know, but I was giggling the whole time I was typing the above paragraph (with the exception of the last part). I figure I’m going to piss some people off and that always brightens my mood, heheh. AND! I’m having a good day so far. I updated RA which was long over due and I have my day of work all planned out. The sun is shining and it’s a breezy and beautiful day. I’m gonna grab breakfast now and get to work.

Less Than Stellar Beginning

Being Lazy:  The first week of class was a bit hairy which is really sad. I didn’t have anything big due this week but I was still doing everything last minute. Not a good beginning in the least. Do I have a good excuse? Hmm. Umm. Let’s see. Err. Nope, not really. Yeah, I was busy with the kids’ homework, my work, we’re still only about half way unpacked, I had to sweat over my bills a couple times this week, I finally finished RA’s book for August and started September’s, and my mail is still screwed up but all of that didn’t consume all of my time. What did then?? SPORE!! and THE SIMS 2 APARTMENT LIFE!! Quite possibly the worst time ever to buy new games is the first week of the semester, BWAHAHAHA!! So, don’t let my whining sway you to feeling sorry for me. I made my own bed.

Reading:  Weirdly enough, I was reading Rebecca Stott’s Ghostwalk, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Beowulf all last week. Do you know how odd it was to go from one to the other? They are three totally different works. Different times, different characters, different themes. The most shocking thing was that of the three, Beowulf is my favorite. Luckily I got to read it in translation and not in the Old English style, heheh.

The Weekend:  The Mister had to work both Saturday and Sunday as I mentioned last week. We did our best not to let it spoil the entire weekend. When he got home Saturday, we stopped in at our neighborhood block party. I say, “block party” and shake my head. There weren’t that many people there and those that were, were mostly old people. No offense to old people. They had a “band” that played gospel music and I guess it would be called bluegrass? Totally not my cup of tea in the least. The only good thing about it was that we got to meet the other Ohio State fans in the neighborhood. They have an OSU garden gnome in their front yard, heheh.

After putting in an appearance, we went to Jacksonville so that I could buy stuff for the bathrooms at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Yay! I love buying bathroom stuff. I got new towels, shower curtains, and floor mats for both bathrooms. I also got some accessory/deco stuff for the hall/girls’ bathroom. Both look very nice if I do say so myself. We also checked out new DVD players at Best Buy because ours isn’t working properly. I’m not sure if it’s broke or just needs cleaned.

Gas Prices, Again:  OH!! And I totally almost forgot to mention the gas craziness here. After Ike, our gas prices went up to $4.34 from $3.66 overnight. One gas station still had gas at $3.66 and cars were lined up into the street. We went in for gas and they were out of regular and the mid-grade so we had to get premium at $3.90 which was still cheaper than the cheap gas everywhere else. People were blowing their horns and behaving like lunatics while we were there. I saw online this morning a couple different news articles about how people were filing gouging complaints about the prices. It’s just craziness. Is it like that everywhere? I talked to my mom in Ohio who was shocked at our prices.

Okay. I figure that’s enough for one day, lol. I gotta see how my civilization in Spore is doing before it’s time for bed.

Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Tornado Warning…

We’re done painting!!! I’ll be able to take pictures of all the rooms today when I go back to the house and take the tape off. I don’t care if I ever see a paintbrush again in my life. I was so frantic to get the painting done yesterday that I didn’t even stop to look outside when they issued a tornado warning on the radio. I figured that our county is so big, what are the chances the tornado was in my neighborhood. I was right.

We started moving stuff over to the house for real last night. Our current house actually looks like we’re moving now. It’s encouraging to see.

In other news…

I have something funny to relate. The Mister came home from work yesterday with a proposal. His Gunny found out that I am majoring in English yesterday. The Mister said that when he heard that, his eyes got all big and he said that I just have to come in and teach a basic grammar class to some of their Marines. Oh my gosh, lol. My first reaction was heck no! I would probably be too nervous to actually be of any good. Then, the Mister showed me a paper that one of the Marines wrote on leadership. After reading it, I told him I would think about it. The poor guy had a run on sentence that was eight typed lines long and fraught with punctuation, capitalization. and structural errors. It wouldn’t be until October at the earliest so I have time to consider. And to defend myself, my grammatical skills are a lot stronger than I demonstrate here. ;)

And in youngest child news…

She had another bad day yesterday. Two out of three days. Having your kid come home crying and hating school is so very stressful. She was assigned a punishment that the Mister said is considered hazing in the Marine Corps. So, my third grader is allowed to do this, but a Marine isn't? Makes sense to me. I never pictured myself as one of those loud, obnoxious parents, but if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. I'm going in to her old school today and I'm going to take a copy of her records to the new school myself to see if that helps the situation any. Maybe if they have a better idea of what is going on, things will get better. I talked to her current teacher, but the chaos before class on the first day kept me from being very detailed. Something has to change and soon.

Being a Conservationist

The youngest’s second day of school was better than the first. No tears yesterday. I hope that it was just first day jitters that caused her to have a bad day because if it wasn’t, we’re in for a world of headaches this year.

I’m almost done painting. It’s taking me a little longer than I first estimated. I wanted to be completely done by Tuesday but the FROG has a little more work to be done it it. The MIster and the girls helped me paint last night which made me wish that I had had them for the entire time I was painting and not just for one room. It goes so much faster with four people than just one. I should have my "after" pictures to post tonight or tomorrow.

I finally got around to going to the utility company yesterday. (I’m sorry I didn’t make it Monday Addie!) It was such a ridiculous experience. I had to fill out an application and then they ran my credit which really bugs me because I hate having my credit ran for frivolous reasons. Then, they took me back into a room to tell me that my credit was good with them and that they didn’t need any additional deposit. And I’m thinking when she told me this, "Damn straight lady!! You're not getting another dime of my money for a deposit!" They already have $400 and I think that's way more than enough if I have good credit with them. I felt like I was applying for a home loan or something for all the trouble it was especially seeing as how I've had an account with them since Feb '07. We are now paying utilities at two houses and no, we're not made of money. Finances are going to be interesting for the next month or so. Anyone want to send me Labor Day gifts in the form of cash??? ;)

I also forwarded our mail, changed the address on some other bills, sent out a "new address" e-mail (if you didn't get one and want one, let me know.) made the oldest child a doctor's appointment, and took over another load of totes to the new house yesterday.

Furthermore, from now on, it's going to take me 1 hour and 15 minutes to pick my kids up from school. I have to leave at 2:30 to pick up the oldest child and the youngest child's bus doesn't drop her until 3:45. Over an HOUR!!! The carpool lane at the oldest child's school is ridiculously long. Getting there a half hour early doesn't even put me at the front of the line. I need to remember to bring a book from now on.

Lastly, I've been running approximately 1/4 tank of gas out of my SUV (Okay, It's technically a crossover, but we quibble.) every day since we began living in two residences. Take that and shove it up your green butts.

Oh! One last thing. I went to bed at 9:30 last night, was asleep by TEN!!, and got a full EIGHT hours sleep last night. Ahhh! I don't remember the last time I got more than 4 before last night. And 6 am is for the BIRDS!!

But, My Teacher Hates Me!!

The oldest child had a fabulous first day. She didn’t get lost and one of her friends from elementary school is in almost all of her classes including band. What more can you ask for? Picking her up from school was a bit interesting. I got there 20 minutes early and the carpool lane was up and down both sides of the road. Cars as far as you could see. We didn’t even start moving until about 3:05 and by then I was beginning to panic that I was going to miss the youngest getting off her bus. Turns out there was nothing to worry about because her bus didn’t even leave the school until 3:15 and didn’t arrive until about 3:45. So much for 3:15.

When the youngest got off of the bus and I asked her about her day, she said she had a bad day. When I asked her why, she said because she kept getting lost, lol, so I told her it would get better with time. As we were walking back to the house, two middle school aged girls were walking behind us talking about missing elementary school. One said that she hated Mrs. So and So because she was so mean. The other girl agreed with her. Turns out that Mrs. So and So is the youngest’s teacher. When I asked her if the teacher was indeed mean, the youngest was pretty adamant that she was. I just chalked it up to kids talking. When you’re nervous and having a rough day, everyone seems like they’re mean.

As the night progressed, the youngest was acting more whiny than she usually does. She actually cried because she forgot her iPod at home when we went to the new house which isn’t like her at all. The Mister and I figured that she was just overly tired not being used to getting up at 6 am. (I’m not either. I HATE 6 am. 6 am should ROT!) When we got home and we were all sitting together in the living room, the dam broke. The youngest said that she got in trouble for not paying attention in school and then she proceeded to bawl. I almost started crying myself. I felt so bad for her because she had obviously held that in all day. I don’t remember having bad first days of school the entire time I went let alone in elementary school. She cried again this morning when I got her up for school because she really didn’t want to go back. I know I’m the mom and partial to my kids but I hate Mrs. So and So too. How can you make a kid hate school on the very first day? Especially since I took the woman aside and explained the child’s issues to her and she knew she was starting at a new school. I’m crying too, lol. Not a good way to start the day.

Speaking of which…We were running late this morning because I’m dumb. We were trying to leave but Hannah wouldn’t come inside. She does that, the little bugger. And if you try and go out to get her, she runs and my yard is too big to chase a dog that doesn’t want to be caught. So, we had to leave her outside. I knew when we left that she would jump the gate but I didn’t have a choice. As it was, when we got there, the bus was already there and she barely made it. When the youngest got on the bus, the oldest and I decided to run home real fast and see if we could get Hannah to come in the house. As we pulled down our street, we saw two women holding their dogs while another manic dog was jumping all over them. Who’s dog would that have been??? MINE!!! The little shit (sorry) jumped the gate like I knew she would and was jumping all over the neighbors and their dogs. After I profusely apologized, we loaded her up in the car and rushed the oldest to school. Until we get moved, Hannah doesn’t go out in the morning unless she’s on a leash.

Now I’m off to paint some more. Fun fun. I’m going to need a vacation when all of this is done.

Back to School

Today was the first day of school for my girls. Since they were both starting new schools, I had two very nervous kids on my hands this morning. Okay. I was nervous for them too, lol. I must’ve looked it because on the way out of the youngest child’s school one of the teachers stopped me and told me everything would be okay.

We have a bit of a scheduling snafu where the kids are concerned. Mornings aren’t going to be a big deal but afternoons are hairy. I have to pick the oldest child up at 3:00. The youngest child’s bus drops her off at 3:15. As long as the oldest leaves the school and is outside promptly at 3, we’ll be fine. But if she behaves like any other middle school girl, her sister is going to be stuck waiting for us at the bus stop. It won’t be a problem once they get used to the new neighborhood but until then, the youngest has no idea how to get to her house from the bus stop, lol.

So anyway, I just got home from painting at the new house. I only got the youngest’s room painted and it took me FOREVER! I had to tape the windows, doorways, and chair rail and then it was a lot of up and down off the ladder. The sad thing is that I only had to paint half the room since the bottom half is wallpaper. However, I LOVE the color. It’s such a nice, soothing pink. Very girly but then, so is she. She picked the color by herself and did a very nice job of it.

I took the dogs with me today for the first time. They seem to like the new house and yard. We had a funny while there too. They followed me upstairs to the office. When Bailey reached the top of the stairs and turned around, she saw herself in the mirrored closet doors. When she went to greet the “other” dog, she banged her head into the mirror. Hannah attempted to do the same thing but she just bumped her nose. I about died laughing.

I’m off for a shower before I have to run all over creation to pick my kids up from school.

Where Was I?

My kids finally arrived home safe and sound Friday night. They grew so much in just a month’s time. I was really glad that I didn’t give in to my shopping impulse and buy them school clothes while they were gone because stuff definitely wouldn’t have fit and I hate returning things. They also came home with about four extra bags and a box that my mom shipped from Ohio, lol. We did take them shopping for back to school stuff over the weekend though because North Carolina was having a tax free holiday. Anyway, My husband’s mother and her husband left Monday morning. We were really grateful to them for saving us a trip to Ohio.

I’ve spent the rest of this week trying to catch up on work and sleep. My house is a disaster and I’ve only packed three boxes so far. But, we have groceries in the house again which has been really nice. Eating out and eating on the fly gets old. We haven’t eaten out since Friday.

The Mister goes on leave today for the rest of the week. He has finals Thursday and Friday. Our fall semester doesn’t start until 9/8 (the Mister’s birthday, heheh) so he’ll have an entire month off of school which will be a nice break for him.

Speaking of school, I received an e-mail from my Medieval and Renaissance Literature professor on Monday. This e-mail contained a tentative syllabus and some other information about the class. He recommends that we buy our text book as soon as possible and get started with the reading as, “English has changed quite a bit over the centuries, as have conventions of literary discourse, so the reading we’ll be doing will rarely qualify as “light.”” Direct quote from the e-mail, lol. A recommendation that we start reading the material an entire month+ ahead of time worries me a bit but not overmuch. I’m only taking this and my religious studies class so I think I’ll be okay.

Speaking of religion, see my next post…if you dare.

P.S.

I forgot to mention that we got a new TV the other day. Best Buy was having a doozie of a sale and we couldn’t pass it up. The Mister and I had agreed on no large purchases until we get moved (one less thing for us to pack up and ding in the moving truck) but this was too good of a deal. No more YELLOW screen. YAY!

School’s Out

Today is the last day of school for my kids and it’s a half day at that. On the one hand, I’m SO glad homework is done for the next couple months. On the other, now I have to find things to entertain them until they go to Ohio. Then, I have to deal with the inevitable drama that will ensue among the various members of our family while they’re in Ohio. The bickering over who gets the girls when and for how long. It’s pathetic, really. Then they wonder why we don’t send them every year. Whatever.

Going along with my school theme for today, I registered for fall classes. I’m taking;

• Medieval Renaissance British Literature
• 17-18th Century British Literature
• American Women Writers Since 1900
• The Religious Quest

I am looking forward to all four classes but especially the medieval and religious classes. The Mister is taking the religious quest class too. We both have such strong opinions about religion that I’m sure there are going to be epic battles and loud arguments next semester, lmao. I’m very excited!

Off topic now because you knew it was inevitable…

My friend found out that she’s having a boy yesterday. This is the same friend that I posted about some of the crazy names they were coming up with. I would tell you what they decided on, but I don’t post my own kids’ names so I can’t. Rest assured, it’s a doozy.

Lastly, here are some pictures of a lizard that I took on my front porch yesterday. Isn’t he cute?