Good News

I forgot to mention in the craziness that has been this week that Savannah has been invited to attend an academic camp because of her score on the ACT.  She is not going to the camp.  Even if we could afford it, she is not the type of girl who would be okay with spending three weeks of her summer far away from home (not at this stage anyway). However, the really cool fact that jumped out of the camp catalog is that she scored in the top 15%, and this is the reason for her invitation.  Keep up the great work, my girl!


As for the craziness of this week.  I had to work until 6:00p.m. (I am normally off work at 2:00p.m.) two nights, and Andy had to work third shift two nights.  Today is my only day off this weekend, and we are facing baseball, track, and football all in one day.  I am, however, determined to get to the mall for the Yankee candles and tarts that are on sale for a dollar.

I waited for years, and it was destroyed in, hmmm, about six weeks.

I bought two of the eight chairs intended to go around our new table.  Today, Shiloh decided to taste one of them and left it irreparably damaged. That chair has been in the dining room for six weeks or so.  Shiloh left it alone until today. UGH! 

 In my effort to use polyurethane to protect the table from my careless kids and rowdy dog, we got several white streaks on the table.  I am hoping that I don't have to completely strip it to fix it.  However, as this week is unfolding, I am not holding out much hope on that one.  I give up.  

My intention was to buy three more chairs tomorrow.  I will probably still do so, but it stinks to be two away from having enough for the family instead of one away.  I am reconsidering and thinking that an iron outdoor table should actually be our dining room table.  

She looks innocent, but...well....NOT!

All the Way to Mexico

I am so proud of Wyatt for his initiative and determination to complete his homework.  Yesterday, I reminded him that he had planned to complete three pages of his homework packet for the week.  His response:
Let's go all the way, Baby!  All the way to Mexico!
How's that for enthusiasm!?

Mom

Mom's marker was placed a few weeks ago.  I have not been there to see it.  I actually have not been to the cemetery since the day of her funeral.  Tessa snapped this picture when she visited yesterday.


The marker looks nice.  Mom would not have liked having "Elizabeth" on it, but we were not allowed to change that since it is a veteran's cemetery.  


We plan to visit today.  I doubt I will visit often as that is just not what we do.  I would have visited sooner except that it is a two hour round trip, so I have to have both the time and money to cover the cost of gas to do so.  I have had neither in the past few weeks, so it appears that today is the day.  I am guessing that I am not allowed to take flowers, so I won't be doing that.


Update on March 21:  Savannah and I did make our way to the cemetery where we learned quite a bit about a Veteran's cemetery.  The marker will be shared by Mom and Dad.  It will be replaced when Dad dies, and Mom's information will be inscribed on the back with a location number above it.  We can take flowers, so maybe I will do that next time.  I noticed that one of the markers was inscribed with "I thank God for the journey" which I think would have been fitting for Mom, but I am fine with the marker as it is.
I also noticed that the servicemen with high awards had those noted on the markers.  I don't know if the family has to notify the cemetery of that information or if they just do that.  I am pretty sure that my dad was awarded a silver star.


This thought occurred to me several weeks ago.  My grandma has outlived a daughter-in-law and both of her own daughters.  All twelve of Grandma's grandchildren have lost their moms to cancer.


On an unrelated note: my e-mail address list was lost in all the data on our old computer.  E-mail me so that I will have your address again.

Teacher Bashing - the state of American educators

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-3-2011/crisis-in-the-dairyland---for-richer-and-poorer---teachers-and-wall-street

This clip from The Daily Show is fueled by sarcasm and humor, but the real news clips are telling.  I watched this with a co-worker today, and her response to it was that teachers are hated by the press.  Yes, we have become the bad guys because we live high on the hog with our huge salaries and medical benefits.  As this battle continues to be waged in Wisconsin, I am baffled by the cries that teachers make too much money.  I get the need to balance the budget but to argue that people who are required to have master's degrees (and no, tax dollars did not pay for my master's degree nor for the 30 hours of graduate work I did beyond that degree) make too much money when compared to corporate employees with the same degrees puzzles me.  We have no 401K with a company match on our donations, no stock options, and the retirement fund that everyone is shouting about comes at a price of 10% off the top of my paycheck in my state.  I have put that money in the state fund for almost 18 years now with the constant threat that it will not be there for me when I have put in the years required to retire.  What little bit I have been able to stash away in a TSA will not pay three months worth of bills in our current economy.  I am not a fan of John Stewart nor of The Daily Show, but I think he nailed it on this one.


The real problem, folks, is not corporate America, nor teachers.  The real problem is that the family is broken in America, and laws continue to be passed that keep it broken.  When we start fixing our own homes, the rest of this mess will settle itself.  We need to quit ignoring the elephant in the room and start encouraging people to fight for the family.  Our children are suffering because of this.  They pay the price and will continue to do so.

Andy Gets His Christmas Present

You may recall that my Christmas gift to Andy was to be a weekend get-away.  The weather and life circumstances threw some kinks into that plan.  On Friday I took a personal day, and Andy and I left town.

Getting out of town was a feat in itself.  With four kids it felt like we were responsible for planning a three-ring circus.  Both Wyatt and Savannah had invitations to spend Friday night with friends.  Julia had gymnastics, and someone had to get them home from school.  Kudos to Tessa and Jonathan for running the circus.  I almost left out Shiloh who also needed to make it to her weekend destination.

We finally hit the road about two hours later than planned.  The weather was perfect.  We arrived at our cabin on Friday night, and unloaded before heading out to eat.  We enjoyed a meal at a little grill and cafe where we had eaten before.  Much of the trip reminded me of Mom as I have only been to this particular place four times.  We were last there with the family for a vacation, and Mom and I once went by ourselves for a women's conference.

Andy and I last enjoyed a weekend to ourselves four years ago.  That time, it was my Christmas present, and Andy planned a much better surprise for me.  He had the trip booked when I opened the gift on Christmas morning.  I could not do that for Andy. Mom was sick, and things were up in the air.  All of our days off school from the end of January until April were depleted to make up snow days, so I had no idea when I could take a three day weekend.  On our last get-away I was also really sick.  I got sick early in December that year and was sick until the end of February.  We enjoyed our time away at the end of January, but I was in so much pain that we were really limited in what could do especially in a location with sub zero temperatures at that time of year.  When Andy planned that trip, I was already sick, and he had no idea that it would hang on so long.  

On Saturday, we enjoyed a hike to a nice waterfall and ran into some friends along the way.  That was a nice treat. We treated ourselves to ice cream after our two mile hike.  We relaxed, read, watched TV, played pool and wished that we could do this longer.  Andy wants to rent a cabin for a week and go by himself to finish his book.  He also wants the two of us to get away by ourselves in the fall when the leaves are changing. That all sounds nice but is pretty unrealistic from a budget perspective.

We climbed down this and then had to get back up.  

our home away from home

I tried to take a bubble bath, but the bubbles were out of control.  This is the tub after the water drained out.

sunset

our home away from home

sunset

We found this tree in the closet, so we pulled it out since it was  our Christmas treat.

the kind of goofy picture you get when you take it yourself

Upon our return home, we found Julia to be missing her two front teeth...one of my favorite times of childhood.  Julia only had four teeth when we met her at a year old. I am surprised that she lost these teeth so early.  She looks so different.

The Question that Cannot be Answered

I was driving Julia home from school today when an ad for John Piper's new book came on the radio.  Piper spoke briefly in the ad about how he spent 90 minutes in Heaven, and while he has already written a book on that, his new book is about the joy that motivates him daily.  Julia said, "Wait a minute!  How is he talking on the radio if he is in Heaven?"  I explained that he died for 90 minutes when he was in a car wreck, but he came back to life.


Julia's response: Why didn't God do that for Grandma?

Inspirational

If you aren't following Katie or haven't checked in with her lately, you must read her latest post.  She is living the adventure.


www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

Distinguished...that's my girl!

Savannah earned a distinguished (the highest rating) at her district competition playing the bells on Saturday.  WooHoo! 


While she hated missing school this week with some special events taking place, Savannah is grateful that she was not suffering from strep throat on Saturday for her performance.  After three days off of school, both girls get to return tomorrow as they will have had enough time on the antibiotics for strep.  Lovely, isn't it?  I returned to work today after getting Tara to watch them on her birthday.  Happy Birthday, Tara.