Today the doorbell rang and there was Violet's best friend, Red, with a sandwich baggie of snails. Apparently Violet and Red had made arrangements for Violet to adopt some of the baby snails that were growing in Red's fish tank. I think Red bought them on purpose and they had babies. I told them they had to wait for Mr. Incredible to put them in Violet's tank.
When Mr. I got off the phone they put 3 snails in the big tank, and one in Violet's tank with her 2 goldfish, Peanut and Almond. I didn't want to take responsibility. When I was the girls' age we had a infestation of snails in our fish tank. We couldn't get rid of the buggers. When these 4 innocent looking little snails do the same thing, I want no part of it.
The girls didn't believe me when I told them the snails grew to 5 feet tall and ate our cat. Geesh, preteens these days, can't put anything past them.
We saw the geese on our walk tonight. Violet was bouncing around. She hadn't gotten outside enough. So the three of us put on our shoes, grabbed our umbrellas and went to walk through the subdivision. It has rained on and off all day, so we zig zagged a lot in case it started up again, like it is now complete with thunder and lightning.
I'm back, had to run off to close the windows for about the zillionith time today. I'm also now on battery power.
Anyway, there's a pond at the back of our subdivision (like every other subdivision in America), and when we went past it we had to walk in the street. There were 8 adult geese and countless goslings, mostly teenagers. They had taken over the sidewalk and grass near the pond. They were hissing up a storm at us and another family that was out walking. They did not like us. Mr. I. said they were especially hissing at my tie dye colored shirt, but I think they were equal opportunity hissers.
In other news.
We had an e-mail from our Girl Scout council just before Memorial Day. (I don't think I've gotten around to blogging about this, if I did sorry, skip to the end of the post and read backward till you get to the end of this.) We are changing to Little Brownie Bakers for our cookie sale next year. Most of the legacy councils were with ABC, like us, but they opted to go with Little Brownie.
I'm not so upset that we are changing. In fact, I'm kind of excited to try their cookies. Change can be good. I'm game to try it. But I am upset that the e-mail said the decision was made by a "volunteer-staff team". I am on the product sales committee from our legacy council and wasn't asked to participate. Neither were any of my fellow committee members (the e-mails began flying shortly after the e-mail blast went out). Our queries to council about who the volunteers on the "team" were and why we weren't able to participate have gone unanswered. One of my committee friends has been a GS volunteer for over 40 years and has been on the volunteer product sales committee since it was formed. Heck, she was a volunteer when most of us (including council staff) were Brownies making our first s'mores. She's not a happy camper.
It was a real slap in the face not just to have been left of our the decision process but to have found out such major news via an e-mail blast to all parents and volunteers in the new mega-council. If it had just been a staff decision, we would have been disappointed, but to specifically say volunteers were involved is just a slap in the face.
Chalk up another one to mega-councils sticking it to the volunteers. The sad part is that it isn't surprising and I'm sure no one reading this who is involved in Girl Scouting anywhere is shocked. Screwing volunteers has become the new normal.
Guess there isn't any other news, so if you skipped ahead, you just saved yourself some time. The current rain storm seems to have already passed so I'm back to reopen windows. At least I am getting my exercise in!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Thomas Jefferson Education
Lately I have had an interest in the Thomas Jefferson Education method of homeschooling. Okay, I'm going to stop all the die hard Thomas Jefferson Educators right now. I haven't read the books yet. Just some articles. I've talked to a friend who is really into it. I don't know much about it yet, but intend to learn. If I say something wrong, do not jump down my throat. Your comment will not get posted. But if you wish to encourage me to learn more, please do so.
Can you say Freakmom is a little sensitive? What I can I say, I'm tired of people who don't give others a chance. I don't like being told I'm wrong all the time. Even when I am. I'm learning. I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong. But if you'll notice I don't usually go pointing out when you are wrong. Unless of course you are Mr. Incredible. I tell him all the time.
Sorry, I don't know where that all came from. I must have some repressed hostilities. Funny, I thought all my hostilities were pretty much out in the open.
So anyway, the books arrived today and I'm about to go start reading them. I've browsed through my friend's copies in the past. I like the idea of studying the classics. I've always considered our homeschool loosely classical. Not "The Well Trained Mind" classical, although I love that book. While we think the classics should be read and Latin and logic should be studied, Violet has subscriptions to several Archie Comics series and I read fluff novels every chance I get.
Boy, Freakmom sure is digressing tonight.
I am thinking about taking this class in the fall: Classic Moms. It sounds like fun. I like the on your own pace and the fact that if I don't do all the reading I can hide behind the internet. A couple of local friends are considering it as well. I told them they could pretend not to know me online if I fall behind and turn out to be the class classical dunce.
I think I need something just for me. This sounds promising. It sounds fun. We'll see. If it doesn't work, I'll be posting here in a few months about my next great idea for something just for me.
If you look over the link and decide you are interested, let me know. You can pretend not to know me too so I don't embarrass you if you want. I don't mind. I may pretend I don't know me too.
Can you say Freakmom is a little sensitive? What I can I say, I'm tired of people who don't give others a chance. I don't like being told I'm wrong all the time. Even when I am. I'm learning. I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong. But if you'll notice I don't usually go pointing out when you are wrong. Unless of course you are Mr. Incredible. I tell him all the time.
Sorry, I don't know where that all came from. I must have some repressed hostilities. Funny, I thought all my hostilities were pretty much out in the open.
So anyway, the books arrived today and I'm about to go start reading them. I've browsed through my friend's copies in the past. I like the idea of studying the classics. I've always considered our homeschool loosely classical. Not "The Well Trained Mind" classical, although I love that book. While we think the classics should be read and Latin and logic should be studied, Violet has subscriptions to several Archie Comics series and I read fluff novels every chance I get.
Boy, Freakmom sure is digressing tonight.
I am thinking about taking this class in the fall: Classic Moms. It sounds like fun. I like the on your own pace and the fact that if I don't do all the reading I can hide behind the internet. A couple of local friends are considering it as well. I told them they could pretend not to know me online if I fall behind and turn out to be the class classical dunce.
I think I need something just for me. This sounds promising. It sounds fun. We'll see. If it doesn't work, I'll be posting here in a few months about my next great idea for something just for me.
If you look over the link and decide you are interested, let me know. You can pretend not to know me too so I don't embarrass you if you want. I don't mind. I may pretend I don't know me too.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
I'm in love
Our town just got the best new business ever: our very own thrift store! I've had to go to other towns for my bargain fix, now I can stop in anytime I'm in town. It is maybe 5 minutes away. This could be dangerous.
It is more upscale than a lot of Salvation Army and Goodwill stores I've been in. Not to be a snob, but it is really nice not to have to sort through the "junk" to find the "good" stuff. It is clean. There's carpeting on the floor. The merchandise is in good shape. Ok, so the prices are maybe 25% more than in Salvation Army (maybe 50% on a few things), but the clothing was all stain free and things weren't broken. And by higher prices, I'm talking $1 each for the 2 shirts I bought Violet instead of 25 or 50 cents.
Violet and I stopped in and spent an hour browsing around. We had a blast. Besides her shirts, we each bought a dressy scarf ($1 each), a sock monkey (a present for my mom - what can I say, we're freaks), some knick knacks for my desk at work (I want my desk to look lived in, but I don't want to take anything and leave it there that really means anything to me), brand new slippers for Violet ($3), and a couple of knick-knacky things Violet picked out. Everything totaled less than $20. We're going back soon. I need a few more items to wear for work, you can bet I'm looking there first. In fact, we decided whenever we need anything, we're looking there first!
I'm so excited!!!
It is more upscale than a lot of Salvation Army and Goodwill stores I've been in. Not to be a snob, but it is really nice not to have to sort through the "junk" to find the "good" stuff. It is clean. There's carpeting on the floor. The merchandise is in good shape. Ok, so the prices are maybe 25% more than in Salvation Army (maybe 50% on a few things), but the clothing was all stain free and things weren't broken. And by higher prices, I'm talking $1 each for the 2 shirts I bought Violet instead of 25 or 50 cents.
Violet and I stopped in and spent an hour browsing around. We had a blast. Besides her shirts, we each bought a dressy scarf ($1 each), a sock monkey (a present for my mom - what can I say, we're freaks), some knick knacks for my desk at work (I want my desk to look lived in, but I don't want to take anything and leave it there that really means anything to me), brand new slippers for Violet ($3), and a couple of knick-knacky things Violet picked out. Everything totaled less than $20. We're going back soon. I need a few more items to wear for work, you can bet I'm looking there first. In fact, we decided whenever we need anything, we're looking there first!
I'm so excited!!!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Long Weekend
We jam packed stuff into this weekend. I am beat.
We took the day off on Friday and went to a shopping mall about 45 minutes away. Violet had a $5 off any purchase coupon for Build-a-Bear and it is the closest one. She picked out an outfit and paid the difference. We had lunch at Rain Forest Cafe. I bought a blazer to wear when I speak in late June at an event for work. We also found some more shorts and a swimsuit for Violet. It was quite a day and we were beat when we got home.
On Saturday, Violet and Mr. Incredible went to a family picnic/birthday party. They picked up Mr. I's Dad on the way and he spent the night here Saturday night. He had been in the area for a few days and it was the only time Mr. I got to see him. He headed home to Wisconsin the next morning.
Where was I, you ask? Why didn't I go to the party? Because I stayed home and worked. I had gotten a huge project on Friday that had to be done by Tuesday morning. I thought about it a long time and figured that I had to miss out on something if I was going to finish. I decided that was what I would rather miss out on over spending time with just Violet and Mr. I. They did bring me home a goodie bag of cookies from the party, that was nice. I finished the project, plus did some extra work to help get me started for the week.
Sunday we went to see the Kane County Cougars, a Class A minor league baseball team, play the Clinton Lumber Kings. Our Cougars lost. It wasn't even a very good game. But it was fun, it always is at the Cougars. Ozzie, their mascot was entertaining the crowd, with special guest Birdzerk. It was Girl Scout night, so there were lots of girls in the stands. We couldn't get any of our Girl Scout friends to go with us, but their loss, we had fun. Didn't get home until after 10:30. We stayed for fireworks and to run the bases.
Side note, whoever thought up "run the bases" was a crowd control genius. Many of us lined up to go out on the field to run around the bases. It took just a couple of minutes for our run, 15 or 20 minutes to wait our turn. Meanwhile, other fans trickled out of the stadium and parking lot.
Another side note, I run like Kermit the Frog. Carrying a little pink purse. I'll probably be on You-Tube next week. Watch for me.
Today was our day off. I am so glad I got all the work done on Saturday (I'd rather have not had to work then either, but it was good for the old paycheck). I did an extra long workout with Wii Fit. I started some pre-reading for 6th grade next year (I'm reading ahead in science, history and mythology and making notes of extra activities we can do to spice up the reading - more about that in another post).
Violet and Mr. I installed his new rain barrel. We did a little bit of yard work and house work. And we grilled out. It was a nice day. Even the rain we had this morning really didn't interfere with anything we were doing.
Hope you all had a safe and good long weekend as well!
We took the day off on Friday and went to a shopping mall about 45 minutes away. Violet had a $5 off any purchase coupon for Build-a-Bear and it is the closest one. She picked out an outfit and paid the difference. We had lunch at Rain Forest Cafe. I bought a blazer to wear when I speak in late June at an event for work. We also found some more shorts and a swimsuit for Violet. It was quite a day and we were beat when we got home.
On Saturday, Violet and Mr. Incredible went to a family picnic/birthday party. They picked up Mr. I's Dad on the way and he spent the night here Saturday night. He had been in the area for a few days and it was the only time Mr. I got to see him. He headed home to Wisconsin the next morning.
Where was I, you ask? Why didn't I go to the party? Because I stayed home and worked. I had gotten a huge project on Friday that had to be done by Tuesday morning. I thought about it a long time and figured that I had to miss out on something if I was going to finish. I decided that was what I would rather miss out on over spending time with just Violet and Mr. I. They did bring me home a goodie bag of cookies from the party, that was nice. I finished the project, plus did some extra work to help get me started for the week.
Sunday we went to see the Kane County Cougars, a Class A minor league baseball team, play the Clinton Lumber Kings. Our Cougars lost. It wasn't even a very good game. But it was fun, it always is at the Cougars. Ozzie, their mascot was entertaining the crowd, with special guest Birdzerk. It was Girl Scout night, so there were lots of girls in the stands. We couldn't get any of our Girl Scout friends to go with us, but their loss, we had fun. Didn't get home until after 10:30. We stayed for fireworks and to run the bases.
Side note, whoever thought up "run the bases" was a crowd control genius. Many of us lined up to go out on the field to run around the bases. It took just a couple of minutes for our run, 15 or 20 minutes to wait our turn. Meanwhile, other fans trickled out of the stadium and parking lot.
Another side note, I run like Kermit the Frog. Carrying a little pink purse. I'll probably be on You-Tube next week. Watch for me.
Today was our day off. I am so glad I got all the work done on Saturday (I'd rather have not had to work then either, but it was good for the old paycheck). I did an extra long workout with Wii Fit. I started some pre-reading for 6th grade next year (I'm reading ahead in science, history and mythology and making notes of extra activities we can do to spice up the reading - more about that in another post).
Violet and Mr. I installed his new rain barrel. We did a little bit of yard work and house work. And we grilled out. It was a nice day. Even the rain we had this morning really didn't interfere with anything we were doing.
Hope you all had a safe and good long weekend as well!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Company picnic activity ideas needed
You might remember last year I ran a craft project for kids at my company picnic. We did the faux tie dye with Sharpie markers and alcohol. It was a big success.
The company picnic is coming up again this summer, and I'd like to do another craft or maybe an activity. I'm looking to my wise and clever blog readers for ideas to float past the picnic committee. Do you have any ideas that would be:
1. Easy enough for pretty little kids, we had some as young as 3 and 4 participating last year (with lots of parent and/or grandparent help)
2. Not terribly messy, there isn't running water in the picnic shelter
3. Doesn't involve too much paint or glue, or if it does is fairly fast drying. The picnic isn't that long and I doubt my coworkers will be thrilled at having to transport dripping projects home in their fancy cars
I thought of maybe sand art, you know where you fill the bottles with colored sand. One person requested a repeat of last year's project, but that sounds boring. I want to look back through her blog posts, but I know Ami does some cool things with stomp rockets. That could be fun.
If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them!
The company picnic is coming up again this summer, and I'd like to do another craft or maybe an activity. I'm looking to my wise and clever blog readers for ideas to float past the picnic committee. Do you have any ideas that would be:
1. Easy enough for pretty little kids, we had some as young as 3 and 4 participating last year (with lots of parent and/or grandparent help)
2. Not terribly messy, there isn't running water in the picnic shelter
3. Doesn't involve too much paint or glue, or if it does is fairly fast drying. The picnic isn't that long and I doubt my coworkers will be thrilled at having to transport dripping projects home in their fancy cars
I thought of maybe sand art, you know where you fill the bottles with colored sand. One person requested a repeat of last year's project, but that sounds boring. I want to look back through her blog posts, but I know Ami does some cool things with stomp rockets. That could be fun.
If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Oh, the ups and downs
Let me preface this with 2 things. One, I fully realize that what I am about to post as "downs" are not really "downs." Unfortunates if that. Things could be worse. A lot worse. I do know that. I just like to complain. Second, the usual, sorry I haven't been here. Man, I don't know where the days and weeks go. Let's get to the updating:
An up: we had our last day of 5th grade last week! Violet learned a lot this year and really started to show some independence. We have a lot of fun things planned for next year...I can't wait to start doing some pre-reading and planning.
A down: the state didn't come through for the funding for the program that does interlibrary loan. The funding ends June 1st, but our library system has pooled together to extend it until September 15th. No one knows what will happen after that. It has a lot of us homeschoolers biting our nails. We'll have to make some real changes in our library habits if that happens. I'm afraid we may even have to start making more use of e-books. Shudder!
An up: I saved $94 tonight. Well, sort of. I bought an open swim/lap swim punch pass at Violet's swim club. They had them on sale half price. We can go 12 times, for $50. (12 punches, one punch for the both of us when we go). If we paid the walk in off the street price of $6 each, 12 visits would cost $144. Now we just have to go. The pass expires in one year. I think we can do it.
A down: our Girl Scout camp family weekend got canceled due to low registration. We could have switched (maybe, if they were actually running) to one of 2 other mom and me sessions. But one was the awful camp we went to last summer. The other one, just didn't thrill me as much as the one we signed up for either. And since I had to convince Violet to go with me in the first place, I figured changing to a session she hadn't agreed to wasn't very fair. I'm much more bummed than she is.
And yes, we could just go camping. But that isn't the same thing at all. At family weekend we sleep on cots in platform tents. Camping, we have to pitch our tent and sleep on the ground - don't get me started about the rain. At Girl Scout camp, most of our meals are in the dining hall and all are planned by someone else. Camping, we have to plan, purchase, transport and cook all our own food. At GS camp, there are lots of cool activities all being run by counselors: archery, swimming, a corn maze, arts and crafts, tie dying, hiking, and much more. Camping: I have to plan and carry out the activities and there certainly won't be archery. Anyway, you get the idea. GS camp is all the fun of the great outdoors, and none of the work. That's what I had signed on for.
An up: busy season at work is ending, but it looks like I'll be keeping my hours at a decent level. Thank you health care reform. It is a consultant's friend. Not my friend personally, but that is for another blog.
A down: I might have to work on Saturday (Memorial Day weekend) but won't know until Friday. There's a big deadline on June 1st. If the department goes in the office to work, I have to go in. They'll decide at the last minute.
Now that you are all dizzy from the roller coaster, I'll end here and promise (yet again) to not be so long before I return.
An up: we had our last day of 5th grade last week! Violet learned a lot this year and really started to show some independence. We have a lot of fun things planned for next year...I can't wait to start doing some pre-reading and planning.
A down: the state didn't come through for the funding for the program that does interlibrary loan. The funding ends June 1st, but our library system has pooled together to extend it until September 15th. No one knows what will happen after that. It has a lot of us homeschoolers biting our nails. We'll have to make some real changes in our library habits if that happens. I'm afraid we may even have to start making more use of e-books. Shudder!
An up: I saved $94 tonight. Well, sort of. I bought an open swim/lap swim punch pass at Violet's swim club. They had them on sale half price. We can go 12 times, for $50. (12 punches, one punch for the both of us when we go). If we paid the walk in off the street price of $6 each, 12 visits would cost $144. Now we just have to go. The pass expires in one year. I think we can do it.
A down: our Girl Scout camp family weekend got canceled due to low registration. We could have switched (maybe, if they were actually running) to one of 2 other mom and me sessions. But one was the awful camp we went to last summer. The other one, just didn't thrill me as much as the one we signed up for either. And since I had to convince Violet to go with me in the first place, I figured changing to a session she hadn't agreed to wasn't very fair. I'm much more bummed than she is.
And yes, we could just go camping. But that isn't the same thing at all. At family weekend we sleep on cots in platform tents. Camping, we have to pitch our tent and sleep on the ground - don't get me started about the rain. At Girl Scout camp, most of our meals are in the dining hall and all are planned by someone else. Camping, we have to plan, purchase, transport and cook all our own food. At GS camp, there are lots of cool activities all being run by counselors: archery, swimming, a corn maze, arts and crafts, tie dying, hiking, and much more. Camping: I have to plan and carry out the activities and there certainly won't be archery. Anyway, you get the idea. GS camp is all the fun of the great outdoors, and none of the work. That's what I had signed on for.
An up: busy season at work is ending, but it looks like I'll be keeping my hours at a decent level. Thank you health care reform. It is a consultant's friend. Not my friend personally, but that is for another blog.
A down: I might have to work on Saturday (Memorial Day weekend) but won't know until Friday. There's a big deadline on June 1st. If the department goes in the office to work, I have to go in. They'll decide at the last minute.
Now that you are all dizzy from the roller coaster, I'll end here and promise (yet again) to not be so long before I return.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Hey There
Just a real quick post to say "hey" everyone! I'm still here. We have 2 and a half weeks of school left. I went to a training for Girl Scouts tonight for our new registration procedures. I think the bigwig lady was from another planet, but was good and didn't say anything. I think my membership director (a Council staffer) was disappointed I didn't act up. :grin:
The weather has been nice.
Today the tore up the road in front of our house. That promises to be annoying for the next week or more. They replaced some chunks of sidewalk in front of our house. Needless to say we aren't getting a lot done for all the watching of the workers we're doing. The homeschool family across the street has been watching it all too. They've actually ventured out into the street on their bikes during the process. Violet and I just watch from the window. Different styles I guess.
Gotta go tuck Violet in. Hope you are all well. I've been trying to be better about visiting your blogs, even if I don't comment. Miss you all!
The weather has been nice.
Today the tore up the road in front of our house. That promises to be annoying for the next week or more. They replaced some chunks of sidewalk in front of our house. Needless to say we aren't getting a lot done for all the watching of the workers we're doing. The homeschool family across the street has been watching it all too. They've actually ventured out into the street on their bikes during the process. Violet and I just watch from the window. Different styles I guess.
Gotta go tuck Violet in. Hope you are all well. I've been trying to be better about visiting your blogs, even if I don't comment. Miss you all!
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