So this comes on the heels of an email war between Dad and Mikki over some columnist's complaint about bias in the MSM (mainstream media)...Mikki, just quit reading now b/c I'm about to dog your parent network, the All Barack Channel.
Usually I don't want network news, save for Fox News Channel. And honestly--I rarely watch that anymore b/c I find the current state of our country's leadership too depressing. I tend to get my news fix online these days! Today while I was getting dinner on the table, ABC Evening News w/Charlie Gibson was on. I like Charlie Gibson. I liked Peter Jennings, too. But what caught my attention this evening was a story about today's Supreme Court ruling that SPED students do not have to first attend public school before their area school district pays for their private school tuition. This merely enforces a federal law that requires public school districts to provide services for SPED students from ages 3-21. If the district can't provide the necessary services adequately, they pay someone who can. For example, my school district has a fabulous preschool program. SPED students attend at no cost. Students not on an IEP pay tuition. It's a GREAT program! Chase loved it and Cass will start next year. However, our neighboring districts don't offer preschool. Their pre-K SPED students recieve services at a private preschool with a similiar set up to my district's. What bothered me was the reporter's repetitive use of "taxpayer dollars" in describing the ruling. As if using taxpayer dollars to pay for SPED was a new, unfortunate thing. The ruling was 6 to 3--that's a pretty clear majority! But more importantly, taxpayer dollars have been funding SPED student tuition at private schools since the federal law madating services was enacted.
The story made it seeem as though parents were milking the taxpayers for a high-dollar education when in reality some private schools provide services to SPED students that public schools just can't provide, thereby providing a quality of education the public schools can't provide. This horror at "taxpayer dollars" funding private school education was downright laughable to me, well, it would have been if it hadn't pissed me off so much!
I guess it was a nice reminder why I hate the MSM...
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
We had a great time w/my sister this weekend! Chase and Hayden got along for once and I think he was rather helpful with the "babies." We introduced my sister's family to Papa Murphy's pizza on Friday night (she seriously ate half the cinnamon wheel by herself) and grilled Saturday night. The kids had a ball on the bounce house and in the backyard, it was better than going out! We let Jamie deal with the kids Saturday for a bit while we sat on the deck and chatted...surprisingly, he didn't make an appointment this week at the dr to get snipped, but I think I've almost got him convinced!
VBS kicked off Sunday. I'm leading Chase's group and he loves it! We're having a great time and God is doing great things in our little church. Chase is also attending VBS during the day at his BFFL Peter's church, so it's his double dose of Jesus week. He's loving it!
Jamie just pulled into the driveway, I'm going to throw dinner on the table.
VBS kicked off Sunday. I'm leading Chase's group and he loves it! We're having a great time and God is doing great things in our little church. Chase is also attending VBS during the day at his BFFL Peter's church, so it's his double dose of Jesus week. He's loving it!
Jamie just pulled into the driveway, I'm going to throw dinner on the table.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
More shameless parental bragging...(at least I warned you)
So Jamie and I are officially parents of a second-grader. How did that happen? Today Chase got a great report card (which I won't bother to explain b/c I HATE the lack of letter grades the district gives the lower grades. HATE IT!) and we will greatly miss Mrs. Duemler. She was exactly who Chase needed this year and I will be forever grateful to her for her role in shaping him into the mature little man he's becoming.
For a type A, results-oriented person like myself, the day to day grind of SAH and raising a family is tough. You don't see results right away. My perfectionist, pessimistic tendencies tend to focus on what needs to be fixed...which means I often feel like I'm treading water (or worse, sinking on bad days). There is no place I'd rather be than home with the kids, but it isn't always a walk in the park. Cassie hitting the terrible twos with a vengance has further shaken my confidence. My EASY baby isn't easy right now!
And yet, the last few weeks, I'm also getting this incredible feedback about Chase: "he's a joy to have in class," he got a citizenship award from the recess paras today b/c he's "always so well behaved and good at recess." They're not my awards or accomplishments, they're his. And yet I can't help but think, "Thank God! I'm doing something right here!" I am so proud of my little man, truly he is the best of his father and his mother and I am so grateful for that.
Time to clean, my sister is bringing the kids for the weekend tomorrow...I'm hoping the visit will be exactly what I need to convince Jamie he needs to get fixed.
For a type A, results-oriented person like myself, the day to day grind of SAH and raising a family is tough. You don't see results right away. My perfectionist, pessimistic tendencies tend to focus on what needs to be fixed...which means I often feel like I'm treading water (or worse, sinking on bad days). There is no place I'd rather be than home with the kids, but it isn't always a walk in the park. Cassie hitting the terrible twos with a vengance has further shaken my confidence. My EASY baby isn't easy right now!
And yet, the last few weeks, I'm also getting this incredible feedback about Chase: "he's a joy to have in class," he got a citizenship award from the recess paras today b/c he's "always so well behaved and good at recess." They're not my awards or accomplishments, they're his. And yet I can't help but think, "Thank God! I'm doing something right here!" I am so proud of my little man, truly he is the best of his father and his mother and I am so grateful for that.
Time to clean, my sister is bringing the kids for the weekend tomorrow...I'm hoping the visit will be exactly what I need to convince Jamie he needs to get fixed.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I'm fighting a losing battle w/a migraine today. The excedrin migraine I took when I realized the flashing lights I saw were, in fact, in my head and not a malfunction of my light fixtures, has dulled it to a low roar, but not quelled the nausea. So I feel slightly vomity and achey. I did walk Shermy down to his BFF Diesel's house, which means I got 20 minute walk in and I rearranged the basement (again) this morning, so I'm not going to feel guilty about the basket of clean laundry that will NOT get put away this afternoon while Cass naps. I've got my hands full trying to keep my lunch down.
In light of that...I'm just going to post something I read on FB this morning for your viewing pleasure.
Letter from a White Collar Auto Worker
I sat quietly for 8 years and listened to my liberal friends criticize the president I voted for. Even though I thought he did a great job and still do. I felt everyone is entitled to their own opinion even if I disagree with it. Now that we have a president I didn't vote for, I felt I was also entitled to criticize. But I have since learned many of you don't think I have that right.
I thought the war in Iraq was justified, you didn't.
I thought water boarding was an effective interrogation technique, you didn't
I thought we should drill for oil in ANWR, you didn't.
I could go on and on but you get the idea. Since I have no experience in these areas maybe you are right and I am wrong. I don't think so, but I am willing to concede that point.
I do however feel I am qualified to discuss the automobile business after 35 years of working in this industry.
Today 789 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers across the country just went out of business. At an average of 50 employees at each store that is almost 40,000 people now without jobs. In most smaller towns they are one of the larger employers so it will also affect the other local businesses as well. GM is due to announce their list tomorrow which will bring the ranks of the unemployed dealer personnel up to about 150,000. These dealers are heavily involved in community activities, contribute to charities and pay taxes. So this loss will affect everyone even if you aren't in the automobile business.
Why is this happening? It is because of our current admistration's complete lack of understanding of what it takes to run a car company or any other company as far as that goes. You have all heard the comments he has made in the press.
"They are not building the small fuel efficient cars the public want".
Contrary to what some people may think the overwhelming majority of the buying public wants large SUV's, Pickup trucks and large comfortable cars. That is why we along with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Porsche and many others were building them. The production cost of a small econobox is very nearly the same as the cost to produce large SUV but the profit potential is much larger on the SUV. Remember the car company exists to make a profit. The only time small car sales ever increase is when there is an unexpected rise in the price of fuel which we can't control.
"Detroit needs to build more Hybrid and Electric cars"
With today's technology it cost almost ten times as much to build a hybrid or electric car than its gasoline powered counterpart. Every Hybrid sold by us or the imports is sold at a substantial loss.
"Detroit needs to improve their quality in order to sell cars"
The quality of American made cars has improved drastically over the past few years. This year our warranty cost per vehicle has dropped 28% from just last year. In the past five years we have dropped this cost over 50%. What we have not corrected is the perceived quality difference. As an example Chrysler builds the Mitsubishi Raider pickup and the new Volkswagen Routan Mini-van. The only difference between these and the ones our dealers sell is cosmetic exterior trim. Otherwise they are exactly the same and come off the same assembly line. But because they are sold under an "Import" brand they are somehow better.
"We aren't making any real progress on fuel economy. The Model T got 20 MPG."
If you applied today’s government regulations for emissions and safety to a Model T it would probably get about 3 MPG and have a serious lack of performance. Every time some environmentalist decides our emission levels need to improve it adds cost to the vehicle, the needed components add weight to the car which effects fuel economy and adds complexity to the vehicle which makes it more difficult to diagnose and repair. Safety features also add complexity and weight with similar effects. Am I against safety and emission improvements? Of course not. But the cost has to be weighed against the gain.
"They need to get their production cost in line with the imports"
Imports definitely have a cost advantage when it comes to labor costs. As China, India and Korea begin to increase their production expect to see an even more drastic labor cost discrepancy. It is difficult to compete with a Chinese worker making pennies a day. We have also been compared to the transplant manufactures who also have a lower labor cost. This is for two reasons. One, they have a younger work force. They have no retiree benefits to pay. With a younger work force their health care costs are substantially less.
Number two they are all located in right to work states with no union to contend with. The UAW whose members were instrumental in electing Mr. Obama to office have caused wages to increase to unreasonable levels. These are unskilled typically uneducated workers drawing wages approaching that of many lawyers and doctors. They have currently accepted wage concessions but in five or ten years if the domestic auto industry recovers they will threaten a strike and we will be back to a noncompetive wage level once again.
"The government will back your warranty if you purchase a new car from Chrysler or GM from this day forward"
This has to be the most idiotic statement I have ever heard a government official make. If the auto company goes bankrupt where are you going to get parts to repair their cars? If the auto company goes under the dealers will cease to exist, so who will make the repairs? Do I just take it to my local congressman for repair? Independent repair shops are not in the least bit qualified to work on today’s complex vehicles. A Toyota tech is no more qualified to work on a Chrysler than a Chrysler tech is to work on a Toyota. Thanks to government regulations today’s cars are using much more sophisticated computer technology that the typical space shuttle mission. No one want to buy a car from a bankrupt car company as proven by our drastic drop in sales after we were forced to file chapter 11. The Obama administration forced the bankruptcy filing so I blame him directly for our drop in sales.
I could go on and on with this but one thing disturbs me about our left leaning media. No one has talked about why car sales are down. Very little is mentioned about it not only being the domestic car companies with dropping sales. The imports are also losing money at a record pace. If we do not survive bankruptcy some of them may also fail. Why, because we use many of the same suppliers. The company that makes our seat covers or wheels also makes them for Ford GM Toyota Honda and others. Without our business they will fail. If the wheel manufacturer fails Toyota won't have wheels for its US plants. Hard to sell a car without wheels.
The primary reason for low car sales is the failures in the banking industry. Currently if you have less than a perfect credit score or are able to pay cash you can't get a loan to buy a car. That means very few people have the ability to buy a new car domestic or import.
When Wall Street needed a bail out this administration handed over hundreds of billions of dollars no questions asked. Very little accountability was established. When the automakers asked for a small percentage of that amount just to survive until the economy recovered they were treated worse than criminals. The CEO's were lamblasted for taking corporate jets to Washington. Anyone who has ever dealt with an irate and unstable car owner as I have knows this was done for security reasons. The same reason Obama doesn't fly commercial airlines. Our corporate rules forbid executives at that level from flying commercial. Even the lower level executives that are allowed to fly commercially aren't allowed to have two VP's or Business Center Managers flying on the same airplane just in case it went down. The criticized the CEO's for their salaries. Why is it OK for a movie star or professional athlete that contributes nothing more to society than a little entertainment to draw multi-million dollar wages but not for a CEO of a multibillion dollar company to do the same? Did you notice all three CEO's returned to Washington in cars? They still aren't allowed to fly commercial.
When GM and Chrysler returned to Washington with a workable solution that included building more money losing hybrid and electric vehicles it wasn't good enough. Mr. Obama decided to flex his muscles. This is a man who along with his entire staff has never ran a company big or small that now thinks he knows what is best for GM and Chrysler. He forced the head of GM who had 30 years experience in this business to step down and Chrysler to file for bankruptcy. Both of these decisions are moronic.
I started in this business in 1975 with the idea that if I worked hard and did a good job I would be rewarded with a pension and healthcare upon retirement. Now both of those are in jeopardy because of our current president. This administration is spending money like drunken sailors in a whore house. Our grandchildren will still be paying on this debt until they are old and grey like me.
I hope and pray that the American voters will wake up and put a stop to this nonsense, even though it may already be too late.
If you want to disagree with me on this that is your right. If you want to discuss it further that's OK too. If you want to just delete it without reading it, shame on you. But do not dare tell me I do not have the right to this opinion!
In light of that...I'm just going to post something I read on FB this morning for your viewing pleasure.
Letter from a White Collar Auto Worker
I sat quietly for 8 years and listened to my liberal friends criticize the president I voted for. Even though I thought he did a great job and still do. I felt everyone is entitled to their own opinion even if I disagree with it. Now that we have a president I didn't vote for, I felt I was also entitled to criticize. But I have since learned many of you don't think I have that right.
I thought the war in Iraq was justified, you didn't.
I thought water boarding was an effective interrogation technique, you didn't
I thought we should drill for oil in ANWR, you didn't.
I could go on and on but you get the idea. Since I have no experience in these areas maybe you are right and I am wrong. I don't think so, but I am willing to concede that point.
I do however feel I am qualified to discuss the automobile business after 35 years of working in this industry.
Today 789 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers across the country just went out of business. At an average of 50 employees at each store that is almost 40,000 people now without jobs. In most smaller towns they are one of the larger employers so it will also affect the other local businesses as well. GM is due to announce their list tomorrow which will bring the ranks of the unemployed dealer personnel up to about 150,000. These dealers are heavily involved in community activities, contribute to charities and pay taxes. So this loss will affect everyone even if you aren't in the automobile business.
Why is this happening? It is because of our current admistration's complete lack of understanding of what it takes to run a car company or any other company as far as that goes. You have all heard the comments he has made in the press.
"They are not building the small fuel efficient cars the public want".
Contrary to what some people may think the overwhelming majority of the buying public wants large SUV's, Pickup trucks and large comfortable cars. That is why we along with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Porsche and many others were building them. The production cost of a small econobox is very nearly the same as the cost to produce large SUV but the profit potential is much larger on the SUV. Remember the car company exists to make a profit. The only time small car sales ever increase is when there is an unexpected rise in the price of fuel which we can't control.
"Detroit needs to build more Hybrid and Electric cars"
With today's technology it cost almost ten times as much to build a hybrid or electric car than its gasoline powered counterpart. Every Hybrid sold by us or the imports is sold at a substantial loss.
"Detroit needs to improve their quality in order to sell cars"
The quality of American made cars has improved drastically over the past few years. This year our warranty cost per vehicle has dropped 28% from just last year. In the past five years we have dropped this cost over 50%. What we have not corrected is the perceived quality difference. As an example Chrysler builds the Mitsubishi Raider pickup and the new Volkswagen Routan Mini-van. The only difference between these and the ones our dealers sell is cosmetic exterior trim. Otherwise they are exactly the same and come off the same assembly line. But because they are sold under an "Import" brand they are somehow better.
"We aren't making any real progress on fuel economy. The Model T got 20 MPG."
If you applied today’s government regulations for emissions and safety to a Model T it would probably get about 3 MPG and have a serious lack of performance. Every time some environmentalist decides our emission levels need to improve it adds cost to the vehicle, the needed components add weight to the car which effects fuel economy and adds complexity to the vehicle which makes it more difficult to diagnose and repair. Safety features also add complexity and weight with similar effects. Am I against safety and emission improvements? Of course not. But the cost has to be weighed against the gain.
"They need to get their production cost in line with the imports"
Imports definitely have a cost advantage when it comes to labor costs. As China, India and Korea begin to increase their production expect to see an even more drastic labor cost discrepancy. It is difficult to compete with a Chinese worker making pennies a day. We have also been compared to the transplant manufactures who also have a lower labor cost. This is for two reasons. One, they have a younger work force. They have no retiree benefits to pay. With a younger work force their health care costs are substantially less.
Number two they are all located in right to work states with no union to contend with. The UAW whose members were instrumental in electing Mr. Obama to office have caused wages to increase to unreasonable levels. These are unskilled typically uneducated workers drawing wages approaching that of many lawyers and doctors. They have currently accepted wage concessions but in five or ten years if the domestic auto industry recovers they will threaten a strike and we will be back to a noncompetive wage level once again.
"The government will back your warranty if you purchase a new car from Chrysler or GM from this day forward"
This has to be the most idiotic statement I have ever heard a government official make. If the auto company goes bankrupt where are you going to get parts to repair their cars? If the auto company goes under the dealers will cease to exist, so who will make the repairs? Do I just take it to my local congressman for repair? Independent repair shops are not in the least bit qualified to work on today’s complex vehicles. A Toyota tech is no more qualified to work on a Chrysler than a Chrysler tech is to work on a Toyota. Thanks to government regulations today’s cars are using much more sophisticated computer technology that the typical space shuttle mission. No one want to buy a car from a bankrupt car company as proven by our drastic drop in sales after we were forced to file chapter 11. The Obama administration forced the bankruptcy filing so I blame him directly for our drop in sales.
I could go on and on with this but one thing disturbs me about our left leaning media. No one has talked about why car sales are down. Very little is mentioned about it not only being the domestic car companies with dropping sales. The imports are also losing money at a record pace. If we do not survive bankruptcy some of them may also fail. Why, because we use many of the same suppliers. The company that makes our seat covers or wheels also makes them for Ford GM Toyota Honda and others. Without our business they will fail. If the wheel manufacturer fails Toyota won't have wheels for its US plants. Hard to sell a car without wheels.
The primary reason for low car sales is the failures in the banking industry. Currently if you have less than a perfect credit score or are able to pay cash you can't get a loan to buy a car. That means very few people have the ability to buy a new car domestic or import.
When Wall Street needed a bail out this administration handed over hundreds of billions of dollars no questions asked. Very little accountability was established. When the automakers asked for a small percentage of that amount just to survive until the economy recovered they were treated worse than criminals. The CEO's were lamblasted for taking corporate jets to Washington. Anyone who has ever dealt with an irate and unstable car owner as I have knows this was done for security reasons. The same reason Obama doesn't fly commercial airlines. Our corporate rules forbid executives at that level from flying commercial. Even the lower level executives that are allowed to fly commercially aren't allowed to have two VP's or Business Center Managers flying on the same airplane just in case it went down. The criticized the CEO's for their salaries. Why is it OK for a movie star or professional athlete that contributes nothing more to society than a little entertainment to draw multi-million dollar wages but not for a CEO of a multibillion dollar company to do the same? Did you notice all three CEO's returned to Washington in cars? They still aren't allowed to fly commercial.
When GM and Chrysler returned to Washington with a workable solution that included building more money losing hybrid and electric vehicles it wasn't good enough. Mr. Obama decided to flex his muscles. This is a man who along with his entire staff has never ran a company big or small that now thinks he knows what is best for GM and Chrysler. He forced the head of GM who had 30 years experience in this business to step down and Chrysler to file for bankruptcy. Both of these decisions are moronic.
I started in this business in 1975 with the idea that if I worked hard and did a good job I would be rewarded with a pension and healthcare upon retirement. Now both of those are in jeopardy because of our current president. This administration is spending money like drunken sailors in a whore house. Our grandchildren will still be paying on this debt until they are old and grey like me.
I hope and pray that the American voters will wake up and put a stop to this nonsense, even though it may already be too late.
If you want to disagree with me on this that is your right. If you want to discuss it further that's OK too. If you want to just delete it without reading it, shame on you. But do not dare tell me I do not have the right to this opinion!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Warning--I'm totally bragging about my perfect kids here
Lots going on in the Tennyson household these days. Chase went into the gifted program at his school last week. His school "clusters" the gifted kids and the cluster was in Chase's class this year, so many of his friends are already in the program. He was so excited to join them! Jamie and I have enough perspective, I think, to realize this doesn't mean he's going to cure cancer after a free ride to Harvard or something ridiculous like that...but we're grateful he has something to further develop his special talents and abilities. I don't feel like I can say we're proud of him b/c he didn't do anything special--it's just how God made him, KWIM? But he's over the moon about it and we're thrilled for him!
We are SO proud of him for getting the Presidential Fitness Award at school this week though! I heard he's only one of seven first graders (out of over 120) to get this award--he had to do something like 36 crunches in a minute, a bunch of push ups, run a 9 minute mile...I remember doing the test in school every year (and hating every second of it) and it was HARD! So when he brought the badge and certificate home I was like, "Chase! You're an ATHELETE! My baby's a jock!"
Of course Jamie is trying to take ALL the credit for the whole gifted athlete thing (and I quote, "Christi, I WAS a scholar athlete in college")...blah, blah DNA. Let's see, he works 90 hours a week while I'm home w/the kids--um, yeah. Who's the smart one? Landscaping under the deck completely kicked his ass this afternoon. I landscaped out front last month w/o missing a beat and shoveled my share of the ton of rocks under the deck today and was doing tricep dips and walking instead of sacked out afterwards. So yeah...I don't think he gets to claim ALL the genetic credit for our little athlete. Seriously though, since I'm obviously a late bloomer on the whole fitness thing--I was so proud of Chase for that award. If only he'd gotten one when Bush's siggy was on it instead of Obama's...SIGH. It's like the damn thing is mocking me on my fridge.
Cassie is talking up a storm, but no one understands her but me. Apparently every word sounds the same. She's learning letters which completely freaks me out--I just don't know what is developmentally appropriate at this point b/c of Chase's speech delay and wide range of normal for this age. I'm sure she's age-appropriate, but I know Jamie is looking forward to the day he doesn't need a translator (that would be me, and to a lesser extend, Chase) to talk to his daughter. Whatev. She is so stinking cute. I know I said I was going to keep her hair in a bob as long as I had to do it but her hair is so long and thick and so freaking adorable in pigtails. So I'm growing it out and trimming the bangs myself. With safety scissors. Just in case. She is obsessed with singing and dancing right now. She loves to dance. We've got another year until we can do dance class for her, so I signed her up for The Little Gym. We start next week and I'm really looking forward to that.
Both kids have been loving the pool on the rare days that it hasn't rained this week! Chasing Cass has been a little easier this year, she isn't quite as fearless as Chase was and seems to get that she can't just take off after him into the deep. I'm debating about signing them up for joint private lessons this summer...Chase needs to work on proper swimming (as opposed to his dog paddle), but I'm not sure Cass is really old enough. I'll talk to the lifeguards about it when school is out and we're there every day!
I'm still on the pred and claviwhatever. It sucks but I know this too shall pass. I'm trying to take advantage of the manic pred behavior. Seriously, I've never been this caught up on laundry and household chores before--I'm like Martha Stewart on Ritalin. And that bitchy. Not a good thing.
Off to bed. I'm subbing for Sunday School tomorrow at church, we've got a youth group outing to the Butterfly House after service, then we've got Cub Scout graduation...it's going to be a crazy busy day! I'm hoping Cass enjoys her first visit to the Butterfly House...I've kind of made them her thing since my mom loved them so much.
We are SO proud of him for getting the Presidential Fitness Award at school this week though! I heard he's only one of seven first graders (out of over 120) to get this award--he had to do something like 36 crunches in a minute, a bunch of push ups, run a 9 minute mile...I remember doing the test in school every year (and hating every second of it) and it was HARD! So when he brought the badge and certificate home I was like, "Chase! You're an ATHELETE! My baby's a jock!"
Of course Jamie is trying to take ALL the credit for the whole gifted athlete thing (and I quote, "Christi, I WAS a scholar athlete in college")...blah, blah DNA. Let's see, he works 90 hours a week while I'm home w/the kids--um, yeah. Who's the smart one? Landscaping under the deck completely kicked his ass this afternoon. I landscaped out front last month w/o missing a beat and shoveled my share of the ton of rocks under the deck today and was doing tricep dips and walking instead of sacked out afterwards. So yeah...I don't think he gets to claim ALL the genetic credit for our little athlete. Seriously though, since I'm obviously a late bloomer on the whole fitness thing--I was so proud of Chase for that award. If only he'd gotten one when Bush's siggy was on it instead of Obama's...SIGH. It's like the damn thing is mocking me on my fridge.
Cassie is talking up a storm, but no one understands her but me. Apparently every word sounds the same. She's learning letters which completely freaks me out--I just don't know what is developmentally appropriate at this point b/c of Chase's speech delay and wide range of normal for this age. I'm sure she's age-appropriate, but I know Jamie is looking forward to the day he doesn't need a translator (that would be me, and to a lesser extend, Chase) to talk to his daughter. Whatev. She is so stinking cute. I know I said I was going to keep her hair in a bob as long as I had to do it but her hair is so long and thick and so freaking adorable in pigtails. So I'm growing it out and trimming the bangs myself. With safety scissors. Just in case. She is obsessed with singing and dancing right now. She loves to dance. We've got another year until we can do dance class for her, so I signed her up for The Little Gym. We start next week and I'm really looking forward to that.
Both kids have been loving the pool on the rare days that it hasn't rained this week! Chasing Cass has been a little easier this year, she isn't quite as fearless as Chase was and seems to get that she can't just take off after him into the deep. I'm debating about signing them up for joint private lessons this summer...Chase needs to work on proper swimming (as opposed to his dog paddle), but I'm not sure Cass is really old enough. I'll talk to the lifeguards about it when school is out and we're there every day!
I'm still on the pred and claviwhatever. It sucks but I know this too shall pass. I'm trying to take advantage of the manic pred behavior. Seriously, I've never been this caught up on laundry and household chores before--I'm like Martha Stewart on Ritalin. And that bitchy. Not a good thing.
Off to bed. I'm subbing for Sunday School tomorrow at church, we've got a youth group outing to the Butterfly House after service, then we've got Cub Scout graduation...it's going to be a crazy busy day! I'm hoping Cass enjoys her first visit to the Butterfly House...I've kind of made them her thing since my mom loved them so much.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Slacker
That's me. I apologize. I've been in sinus infection hell. I finally broke down and went to an ENT on Monday. I'm on prednisone and clavi-something for three weeks, then I have a CT scan and allergy testing a week after that. Thank God I talked Jamie into the low deductible health plan this year b/c this is going to be expensive... On the bright side, I feel like myself again for the first time in a long time. The house is clean, the laundry is caught up, and I've even got a bit of time for a quick blog! We've been functioning in "survival mode" for far too long around here.
I can't believe in a few short weeks, Chase will be a second grader! He's doing GREAT in school and loves to read. As much as he looks like Jamie, he is so like his mother in temperment. Scary!
The princess is rapidly approaching "the terrible twos" and has this lovely new quirk in which she throws herself face-first, spread eagle on the floor when angry. She doesn't cry or scream, just flings herself rather dramatically onto the floor. Honestly? I'm okay with it. At least she's not screaming...
Shermy has mellowed into the calmest, most lovable thing. Even my Dad (who was not a fan of us having a dog that outweighed both kids put together) has come around, he brings him tennis balls now when he comes over!
Life is good.
I can't believe in a few short weeks, Chase will be a second grader! He's doing GREAT in school and loves to read. As much as he looks like Jamie, he is so like his mother in temperment. Scary!
The princess is rapidly approaching "the terrible twos" and has this lovely new quirk in which she throws herself face-first, spread eagle on the floor when angry. She doesn't cry or scream, just flings herself rather dramatically onto the floor. Honestly? I'm okay with it. At least she's not screaming...
Shermy has mellowed into the calmest, most lovable thing. Even my Dad (who was not a fan of us having a dog that outweighed both kids put together) has come around, he brings him tennis balls now when he comes over!
Life is good.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
reinforcements
You haven't lived until you've coughed so hard you puked. IDK what this is, but I'm no longer amused by the swine flu jokes coming my way. Jamie just called me from LaGuardia and I don't know that I've EVER looked forward to having him home so much! The laundry may get finished, the dog may get walked, and I'm definitely going straight to bed. I feel YUCKY.
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