August 30, 2009

How moms get stuff done

My teacher-husband, unlike the rest of the world, has off all summer. The first week of June we put together a list of the things that really needed to get done over the break. Today when I pulled in the driveway the giant tree branch that was on "the list" scraped along the windshield again, and I couldn't take it anymore.

I know the reasons he will give for not doing it - we don't have a chainsaw, or a ladder tall enough, the neighbor said he would help but wasn't home this week, and we should really wait until the right time in the growing season - yada yada yada.

Yeah, no. I have done everything on "the list" this summer - like painting the upstairs, cleaning the carpets, and building shelving in my daughter's closet. Did I mention he was off work all summer? My first thought was to just leave it, switch so his car is on that side of the garage and let him stand out there in November sawing away with frozen hands while I waved from the window with a hot cup of coffee. I just don't have the patience to play games.

Instead, armed with a handsaw from the toolbox downstairs, I pulled the van (the mom ladder - also useful for getting little rubber balls out of the rain gutter) onto the grass right next to the tree, and started working. An hour later, I can walk to the mailbox without ducking under the tree.

You want stuff done, ask a pissed off mom.

August 29, 2009

How predictable....

My kids went for school physicals a few weeks back, and after being measured my oldest stepped off the scale and asked, "Am I still five-foot-eight'?"

It just reminded me how it is to be a teenager - from day to day, nothing - not even your height - is a given.

August 24, 2009

The future of education....

If my husband's new school "spirit wear" is any indication of the state of our educational system, we are in serious trouble. Today at the in-service they handed out t-shirts that represent the new school philosophy of being not just a teacher - but a hero - to kids. The teachers all have to wear them tomorrow to the district meeting.

Saving and changing lives? Right after we feed them all breakfast and buy them pencils. The concept is great, but maybe a little reality check is in order. Especially since today, before school even started, a teacher's car was broken into and the GPS unit stolen right from the school parking lot!

My husband says, "Better a hero than a baby-sitter, at least."

August 23, 2009

New math













  • 2 parents
  • 6 children
  • 12 grand-children
  • 24 great grand children
  • 1 family reunion

August 22, 2009

You don't know what you don't know....

I thought I knew some parenting things - then I went to a workshop on drugs. Thank God I have good kids because there's a whole crap load of stuff hidden right in front of us. All of these t-shirts are a reference to pot, and I probably passed kids wearing them in the hallways.

Kids are mixing cough syrup and alcohol cocktails that go by names like: green lizard, purple monster, sweaty Italian, and orange crush (never would have caught that).
Powerful drug substances can be made from morning glory, saliva, nutmeg, and coffee. Yeah, coffee - boiled down, mixed with ammonia. It's some scary shit.

Get educated:
www.erowid.org
www.whenjustsaynodoesntwork.com.





August 12, 2009

Time to get back to work (almost) ...

Last week we took the very first family vacation ever that did not include visiting relatives for a funeral, wedding, or reunion in a state that touches ours (that's this weekend).

We spent a week in New York City visiting museums when it was raining, wandering Time Square when it wasn't, and eating pizza and Jamba Juice. I don't usually post pictures of my kids, but this is one of my favorites from the trip - my three daughters on the ferry leaving Ellis Island.