I LOVE Julia Cameron!!!

Posted on January 15, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

Do you know her???  Are you familiar with her work???  She wrote The Artist’s Way and so many other books…wonderful books!   I can’t wait to dig in further!  I wish I’d had this book last semester…I would have incorporated it into one of my classes!  This particular book is all about recovering creativity!  She is amazing and I’m diggin it!  I’m going to process through her exercises and see just what happens…care to join me?  It’s not just for writers…it is for EVERYONE…everyone who is interested and has about an hour a day that is:)

peace out! (I realized this weekend that when my sweet baby girl says this it actually sounds a bit like, “piss out” but I know she wouldn’t say that!)

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I think this could be a problem…

Posted on January 13, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

If only I was so attached to going to the gym!  I didn’t write yesterday morning and I really missed it!  Initially just sidetracked, and then a plan formed for a little something different – it was a really bad idea guys…

I thought I might try a bit of form writing…play around a bit…take an innocent rhyme structure and reconfigure with some news nonsense and see if that little recipe ends up a witty little political satire piece…I now know that I don’t have the stomach for it…or maybe it was just the subject matter…

What kept coming back to me was that I saw Larry Flynt as well as the Girls Gone Wild fella, whoever he may be, talking about needing a bailout package…what???  Medicaid doesn’t pay for my great aunt’s hearing aids, and these guys think the government should support their habit, I mean business??  That is so very crazy!!!  SOOO, I kept thinking about this and all of a sudden this child’s rhyme came into my head and I wondered what sort of a combination I could come up with…the problem is I really don’t know much about Mr. Hustler.  I need to do some research!  I was getting pretty excited about this…my own little writing assignment!  If you’re not a writer, or a reader, or a person who gets excited about playing with words, just bear with me or click the little X for your own comfort:)

So, I googled Mr. Flynt and printed out his little Wickapedia bio as well as information about one of his many first amendment lawsuits…this one involving the Reverend Jerry…so I had this set aside for a moment to plow in and pull key pieces and crop to fit the cute little structure I had in mind.  People, I did get through his short bio and as I was reading I just kept thinking that this is not true and he paid someone to make up this history…when I was finished, I didn’t even move to the first amendment information, because what I read was so distasteful that I just really felt I needed a shower!  Oh, I also read the little history of Hustler magazine which described reoccurring segments which only hacked me off further!  This guy is a real piece of work!  Mind you, I am NOT judging him, I am just curious and unfamiliar with a lot of his experiences and choices!  If this were a tell all, I could list all sorts of nonsense I’ve gotten myself into so you would realize I AM NOT terribly easily shocked, I don’t think so anyway…hmmm…more to think about.

What I decided I should not think about any further, not even enough to whip up a witty political sattire bit, was information regarding Mr. Flynt.  Playing with words regarding him just felt wrong…I might even go so far as to say dirty…

SO – no political satire today – just a list of things that bug me:

dry cake

flat soda

toes touching me

ciao ciao!

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Being a foster mom…

Posted on January 11, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

A student of mine and future friend I believe were talking in class about the issue of abortion…how perhaps opposing sides are having the wrong conversation…who isn’t in favor of life???  Who IS in favor of abortion???  What we might need is the right kind of support, information, and conversation when or perhaps before hard decisions have to be made…I would like to think that everyone is understanding of free will and choice…but many think theirs is the path for everyone…so I’m not sure where to go on that note…

It all does connect here…believe it or not…for me. 

We experienced two success stories as far as I am concerned…at first I received several calls that didn’t turn into placements, which was a bit unnerving and frustrating.  When we finally got the boys and then their sister 6 months later, it was pretty clear at the family visits that this was not going to resolve itself with a family reuniting.  The success here was that the court and system worked and did the right thing and we have three amazing children.  The challenge came when, after having 9 children taken from her, their 42 year old mother got pregnant again…which is how we met Saige…their baby sister.  We had her for 24 hours before she became very ill very suddenly and died.  There was drug use during pregnancy, so that might have been the root cause.  Knowing this little girl for 24 hours was a pretty amazing, heartwrenching experience…but I surely don’t regret it.

A few  months later we got a call about a baby girl that needed a place to go.  She was still at the hospital…only a few days old.  I went to to get her and rocked her in the hospital nursery while they got all the paperwork in order.  The OB told me that surely this little girl would be ours to adopt, because her family wasn’t any good…all messed up on drugs.  It was such a strange thing to go to the same hospital where I lost a baby in 24 hours and bring one home that I didn’t even know  existed the day before.  She was the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen!  I was terrified!  The loss of life kind of messes with your head.  But…this time I got to watch those wrinkled, little curled up legs smooth out, fill out, and stretch.  I also got to watch a mother very scared that her children had been taken do everything in her power as quickly as possible to get her children back.  The OB was wrong…this little girl had a family who loved her and was willing to do what was necessary.  It was very gratifying to know that for the first 6 months of her life…every developmental, emotional, and physical need was met and cherished.  Pretty wonderful to be able to do that for a child you know you are going to send out into the world…what we gave her couldn’t be taken away.  We were lucky in that when she did go home, and we offered to remain a part of her life, we became godparents and now see her most weekends.  It is not perfect, but we take what we can get.  We have also gained friends in her family.  My hope is that she will have the best of everything…a mother who looks just like her, and our love and stability when she needs us.

A really hard moment came when a social worker called and wanted to know our status, because there was a little boy at the hospital who needed somewhere to go…just a few days old in this world.  Saying no was just so hard…but my three children here need all I have to give…and our weekend angel needs us too.  My hope is that just through sharing what we’ve been through there will be more people willing to take a chance…to help send the message that there is not a population of disposable children just taking up space…they need us and we needed them too.  I hate to think about someone convincing my baby’s other mama to end his life.  My wish was that she would have had the support and love for him( probably by having more love and support for herself)  to give him up before he experienced abuse and neglect at her hands…

When Mr.Z and I were trying to have our own, fertility drugs and all…I wish I could have known that I would feel no disconnect in my heart that the blood of my children is not my own…that I do not yearn to feel another life within me.  This is just my truth and would not begin to make assumptions for others and their necessary path.   While we were trying…my oldest daughter was born, only 4 pounds…and was shuffled around at 9 months while her mother was in jail…she was in that environment until she and her siblings were taken when she was 3 years old.  I can’t believe they would have remained if there was a line of foster families waiting.  The reality of licensed foster care is quite distateful.  CNN came from a foster home where children were beat with a buckle, chain smoking polluted the home and everything in it…and the children who rotated through the rooms were a source of income.  I’ve not closed our door forever…and I love to think that it might be possible to go to the hospital and volunteer to just rock the babies born addicted…those who don’t have family and friends clammoring and the nursery window to see them.

I come by this rightly…this blessing…one grandma fostered babies until they had a home, or while their mother decided what to do…and the other never knew a stranger…welcomed everyone to her table and left her door unlocked long after it was safe to do so.  My Mom has gone and visited new mothers…just to visit – as a volunteer from the hospital, and Dad was the subject of a letter a neighbor wrote about the good sameritan, and appreciated by so many more for his nurturing and giving of self.  The odd thing is that I feel really selfish and it is not seen that way from the outside…I’ve received SO MUCH joy from each experience…I guess that’s what I wanted to share…while there is a great risk, there is so much joy to be experienced.

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I need to put myself in time out…

Posted on January 10, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

MC

I just sputter…I laugh verging on that scary crazy laugh…and I stare and try to process…is he serious???  He is doing this intentionally I think…how can that be because he is only 5???  He’s pushing Mommy round the bend!!!  Not sure how to describe it, so I’ll just scribe the last 10 minutes…

MC: Mommy?

me: yes?

MC:Mommy?

me:  yes?

(repeat 5 more times – no lie!)

Me: (finally) WHAT MC???

MC: why are you so cranky…now I forgot!

me: okay, well let me know when you remember…

MC:Mommy?

me:YEEESSSSSS?

(we have an intermission, because apparently the little vignette is still going on and now I have to fall of my chair and laugh or cry!!!)

(okay – I’m back)

MC: can you help me find my grumble grumble

me: your what?

MC: my bhnmmm

me: one more time

MC: MY BOAT MOMMY MY INVISIBLE BOAT!!! CAN YOU HELP ME FIND IT!!!  I JUST KNOW SOMEONE WILL RUN INTO IT!

me: OH, your boat..well, how big is it?

MC: as big as your Land Rover…

me: okay, well where did you park it?

MC: on the street

me: oh no!  Invisible boats always get hit on the street!  You should move it!(why did I say this???)

MC: I know!  I can’t find my invisible keys

me: oh jeesh MC, I have trouble with real keys…

(seriously – Mr.Z needs help finding keys A LOT, and NOW I have to look for invisible keys???)

MC:  please help me find them…

me: well, let’s see…where do you think you left them?

MC: IF I KNEW THAT…(his dad says that too!)

me: okay, okay…are these invisible invisible, or can we really see them?

MC: Jeez Mommy!  If we couldn’t see them, how could we find them?!  It is the boat that is invisible!  The keys for the invisible boat ARE NOT invisible!

MC: and did you make me toast?  you said you would make me toast?

me: Do you want me to make toast or look for keys?

MC: grumble grumble!

(later)

me: MC, the toast is ready

MC: I can’t eat until I find my keys!  The boat will get crashed into! (Jesus, Mary, AND JOSEPH!!!)

me:whatever – the toast is here and I have to get back to writing and cleaning before the cable guy gets here –

(later)

MC:What is this???  This is not the toast you made for CNN and BB!  This is burnt!  It is hard and brown!

me:no, that is the cinnamon…the toast CNN and BB had was just like that!

MC: takes a bite and wails, then tosses it to the table…see??hard!  runs out of room crying…room door slammed

and so it goes…MC has now fed said burnt toast to the dogs and was trying to make his own when he was escorted from the kitchen where he could wait until he was ready to silently eat the peanut butter sandwich waiting on the table…we eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches around here…it is the alternative when you don’t like the special of the day!

He also let me know that because I burnt his toast I DO have to help him find his keys…by the by…the lab just ate half his peanut butter sandwich, which I’m sure will send him round the bend again:)  ahhhh weeeellll!

Is it wrong to hide from a 5 year old, you know…if you don’t really leave the house and leave them alone?  All sharp things are up high…

He is so wonderful and brilliant that he just stresses himelf out every 3 seconds or so…like a grouchy old man

hmmmm 

a few minutes from now Mr.Z will be back from the gym with CNN and BB and wonder why I couldn’t just do what his brilliant little guy asked and help him find his keys and buy a new toast for crying out loud!  that toaster is terrible!

And they wonder why I daydream and “check out”!

“here we go loop de loo….here we go loop de lie…Mommy goes round the bend…all on a Saturday night!!!”

The music is about to get good and loud – I’ll rock ’em all out of here:) (my children and Mr.Z are forever telling me to turn down the music…can you believe that???)

heh heh heh

p.s. ( he just noticed the missing sandwich half and life is a bowl of rotten bananas for another minute…I’m off to the stereo:) )

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I have a problem…and I’m not afraid to admit it!

Posted on January 9, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

Here it is: I AM A TERRIBLE CAR PURCHASER!  AND MY MR.Z IS JUST AS TERRIBLE, or perhaps just BAD but somehow TERRIBLE with my influence!  I don’t know how it happened…I didn’t grow up in that kind of family…they were very loyal to the cars that they owned and stayed with them until the very end.  They made a commitment and kept it.

Here is my tell all about my relationship with cars…I’m naming names people!

My first driving experience alone was an old Oldsmobile station wagon I think…thinking back, that could have been a fun car if I redid the interior and painted it orange!  Why didn’t I save my hard earned dollars for a Maaco paint job instead of silly clothes!  I guess it did have problems…it would do this backfiring thing that was SO embarassing!  After it would backfire and people would jump and look, I would kind of have to floor it so it wouldn’t die…well one morning I nearly ran over a senior because I had to floor it…I did yell for her to look out – then “SORRY!”.  Not long after my friend and I laughed all the way home on a flat tire(can you say CLUELESS??), wondering why the steering wheel was shaking like that – Dad found another car for me…

Then, Dad found a great little pea green Maverick with only 700 miles on it…no kidding!  I had no idea what a great little car I had – it still smelled new inside!  I beat that little car all to hell!  I think once I even put power steering fluid in the oil spot – how did my dad stay sane???  The stereo was loud enough and the back seat held all the shoes I didn’t want to wear in the summertime…I drove that car until it was time for student teaching in Houston…just wasn’t safe enough to make it all that way…

The Caprice that I borrowed in Houston doesn’t really count because I borrowed it from my wonderful parents so I could go far far away to student teach.  The notable mention of this car was that it was my safe haven on rainy days while I drove around to escape some pretty bitter women I lived with:)

My first car purchase was a wonderful decision…the only exception!  My white little Honda Civic…great little car that served me well!  That little car drove South to Texas and North to Iowa many many times.  I traded it for my first bad decision…

The Infiniti QX4…people, this was a beautiful SUV..pearly winter white…tan leather interior, blue lights on the dash – whoooeee I did love it…nice to drive…however, the leg room left something to be desired, the payment was someone’s rent, the gas was, well, bad…and when you looked around inside…after awhile you began to realize that you might as well have been driving a sedan!  As soon as I realized this, my QX4 had to go…a year hadn’t even passed!  Can you say upside down???  I didn’t care – wanted out – found a sucker!  He had what I decided I wanted!  a ….

Black Passat turbo wagon!  Oh did I love this car!!!  So amazing to drive!  I would be driving it today, or another one just like it, if my children hadn’t had this habit of slapping at each other when they were close together, and if there hadn’t been an issue with three car seats across not fitting quite right…couldn’t it have been a bit bigger???  So when the undercarriage cover fell off when I was driving, I took this as a sign that it was time to bite the bullet and buy a minivan(I did not have to bite this bullet!  I could have gotten a VOLVO VOLVO wagon – as opposed to a FORD VOLVO wagon and driven the wheels off!).  So I did…

The blue Town and Country 2003 was great except for the breaks squeaking and the funny electrical panel messages…this was a used car and they couldn’t seem to fix it, so I didn’t want to get stuck with a lemon AND the only way I could get all the money back that we paid for it was to buy a new van from them – twice the price of this one!!  An accountant I am not, stubborn I am…get the $2,000 difference back while spending double, or eat it and look elsewhere hmmmm oh yeah!  let’s spend double and feel bitter!  Great decision yoga girl:)

So the 2006 Town and Country came to pass and we still have it…it is a fine van and no complaints really.  I just don’t like the price tag of a brand new vehicle. 

When I write it all out, it doesn’t seem like that many…I guess it is because at the same time, my Mr.Z went through a:

old blue Toyota, burgundy newer Toyota, newer still Ford F150, OLD BMW, newer blue jetta, newer still white GMC mowing truck, an Impala lease, and now the Rover Discovery beast that just screams, “Hey – we didn’t read the reviews and like to throw our money to Aristocrat Land Rover for fun”.  It is fun to drive though and the novelty of two sun roofs is worth something, right?

All this just does not sit well with my groovy yoga chic minimalist home grown peaceful being…hmmmm

ride on:)

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Are you really going to eat that? Do you know what is IN that?

Posted on January 8, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

I have this idea in my head of how I would like my world to be…food has plenty to do with this idea – perhaps that is an issue I should look into:)  Not really, though…I enjoy creating and being creative so I can do this with food and spices…and I am all about nurturing and welcoming and this is how you care for people…you feed them!  Mr.  Z tells this funny story about his dad, who always wanted to feed you at least a little something…Mr.Z and his friend stopped by his parents’ home and his dad was on his way out to play tennis, so he tossed a Lean Cuisine out for the friend and said, “here you go!  Have some lunch, I gotta run!”.  Oh, Dr.Z:)  You can’t help but love the man, don’t even try!

Back to my world…I just love the idea of creating all of what we consume…not like I’m going to grind the wheat into flour for the cake like that industrious little red hen(she ate that whole cake herself! – never mind if you don’t know the story – short version is her friends were lazy and she held a grudge – guess she didn’t have her little WWJD bracelet now, did she???), but I would love to grow much more of what we eat (since the kids are really not big on vegetables).  Have you ever tasted a raspberry that was warm from the sun (not the back of your car warm)?  It’s nice…really nice.  This is why I need a little berry patch on the side of our property!  and a raised vegetable garden…and I’ll add to my herbs on the deck!  Last year I experimented and I really liked it…all the plants on the deck were herbs…is lavender an herb…I don’t think so…anyway!  Several different varieties of lavender, and eucalyptus, patchouli(okay a few were not herbs – but useful, you know?), sage, basil, rosemary, mint…it was wonderful!  And out front I had a trailing rosemary until I killed it!  When MC would have to take a break, I would just pull of a leaf for him to chill out and smell(or tear up…whatever) – pretty cool!  I could probably get some seedlings going now!  And add to the legal herbs under my grow lights!

So I’ve gotten a little side tracked – imagine that!  What I would like to STOP doing is eating out in general…fast food eating…chain restaurant eating…save it for the good stuff once in awhile…say, The Justus Drugstore, a restaurant…now THAT is an awesome establishment and the chef and his partner are brilliant artists in so many mediums and just so enjoyable to talk with!  I know there are other places like this…that focus on local seasonal food…that sort of thing.  This can be hard since Houlihan’s is around the corner and I do enjoy a bit of what they offer!  Moderation I guess…

What I have noticed, regarding my wee picky ones, is that when they make it, and serve it, they are so proud of it and eat better…I’d like to have them branch out from hot dogs, cheeseburgers, cheese slices, and ritz crackers with peanut butter…and corn and potatoes ARE NOT the only acceptable vegetables! 

I just read an article about aprons in the paper… maybe I should whip one up…I do love to sew – but THAT is another story for another day!

I wish you an amazing day where you consume wonderful things made with care and love just for you!

bon appetit!

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I’m over the, umm, vampire thing…

Posted on January 7, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

This has been on my mind…wasn’t really brave enough to share…but here I go!

I was lured into reading Twilight  by Stephanie Meyer(young adult vampire love story made into a movie in case you missed it somehow) by a friend who knew exactly what she was doing.   She had read the whole series of 4 books in a matter of days and knew just how it would play out once I was pulled into the first exciting adventure.  So my poor babies were neglected as I devoured the books as fast as I could, though I bet not fast enough for my friend waiting to read the next one, as she had been lured in as well!  The first was by far the best, but I was not let down by my time invested in the others (pretty quick reads).  I was a little amused over all the fuss and draw for such an age range but all for anything that gets people reading – I did start my career as a reading teacher, and one of my favorite classes to teach is children’s literature, so…

What had me really drawn was this “vote for abstinence on a technicality” through the plot…if you didn’t read and aren’t interested in reading, there is no sex for this teen couple because the vampire is so drawn to literally eat her up, he doesn’t want to crush her delicate human skeleton accidentally in the throes of passion.  So whatever, but as a result, what Stephanie Meyer creates is this slow burn of physical draw between the two characters sharing perhaps an option to jumping in and quickly dousing the flames.  I like that she shares this magnetic pull for the young adult audience so captivatingly – I’ve not read another author who does the same so well.  So you go Stephanie girl!

Now here is the part that makes me chuckle.  Before I read the books, when I heard all the buzz even, I just wasn’t interested in reading about vampires.   I never read Anne Rice or any other vampire novelist…sci-fi and gore is really not my thing.  However, I thought after reading this series that perhaps I had misjudged.  Readers, based on my endeavors since noted series reading, I’ve not misjudged, missed the boat in this genre subset, or even misrepresented my opinion.  In my post series reading quest, I thought I would branch out on some vampire novelists (WHYWHY WHY???)  so I did a search for vampires and yes a bit of romance and holy crap!  The first that I started to read was way to entrenched in the realm without pulling me along…way to many assumptions and I just wasn’t drawn in…nothing explicit or shocking, but there was some misinformation…as in vampires being poisoned by the sun and having to drink a tonic that will eventually poison them and everyone knowsthat the sun just makes vampires sparkle like diamonds…Stephanie said so!  So I tossed that tosser aside and plunged into the next trial – I should have known by the title and I really must not have been paying attention..really even to embarrassed to tell you the title or much about the plot – well, okay – just a bit…turns out this little author decided to have her “undead” be a little worker for Lucifer of which there are several categories, his being the seducer, and, well, he pleasures evil humans to their death…nuts and nonsense I just stopped reading because I was laughing too hard to see the print…are you kidding me???  What are they paid for this???  NO MORE VAMPIRES FOR ME!

BB said…

too good not to share…yesterday in the Rover beast, here’s the way it went:

BB: Mommy, I have a pwobwem…

Me: what’s wrong?

BB: by nose is too cwose to by mowf when I hab a code and I snees ad it needs to stop now.

and at bedtime

BB: Mommy, take off your rings…they scratch me up!

Me: I can’t they’re my wedding rings and they are just stuck there!

BB: did you just get them?

Me: nope…got them a LONG time ago

BB: tell me about it – how daddy rescued you from the dragon

Me:what?? what dragon?

BB: you know, you were there…you’re the princess…what did the dragon look like?

ME:well….(what???)what did Daddy tell you he looked like?

BB:he didn’t remember…YOU tell me…was he mean?

Me:What do you think happened…

BB: I think you and daddy went for a walk and then the dragon came up and was breathing fire and then daddy chased him away and then you got married and then you saw the dragon again and what happened next???

Me: you mean with the dragon?

BB:yeah!

Me: well, I guess he wore himself out because he didn’t even have enough fire left to cook a meatball!(thank you Robert Muench!!)

BB: not enough to cook a meatball? to cook a meatball??giggle giggle

Me: you like that?

BB: oh yeah!  then what

Me: well, then after we got married we rode away in a carriage drawn by horses on a beautiful fall day and went to our party!(at least that part is true!)

BB:oh…okay…night mommy.

swear to you this is all gospel out of my BB’s mouth – where does he get this stuff???

Go on and have yourself a happily ever after today…it’s apparently in the air and applicable to us all:)

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Good thing I didn’t close the paper!

Posted on January 6, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

Reading the newspaper is a struggle for me…

Sitting uninterrupted only happens at this time in the wee hours and there are just so many great things to choose from for my golden moments:)  Then, if I do choose to take a peek and perhaps leave some for later, someone ends up whapping someone else with left paper.  Finally, when I read the paper I hear about much serious lack of impulse control…teen kills mom and brothers…teen killed in domestic violence…and on and on… sometimes I find that one of my former students is the victim or even the perpetrator…

 Today I was about to close the paper(not today’s paper…the Sunday paper- I’m a little behind), but I am SO GLAD I didn’t, because you know who I found reader?  I found Sister Berta and Operation Breakthrough tucked in the pages of the Local section like a little gift just waiting to be enjoyed.  Her message might be hard for some to hear and read, but not me…her words bring memories of joy and warmth and feelings of hope.  She is one of the co-founders of Operation Breakthrough and just an amazing renegade nun who has adopted several children and is going strong in her 70s I believe…supporting an organization that serves over 600 children and families every day.  She was on a panel and spoke in front of Michelle Obama when she was in town, and after President Elect Obama won the election, Michelle called Sister Berta and invited her to lunch at the White House!  She talked about how you could live your life in Kansas City and never see children in poverty…she suggests that if you look for someone/s who need you, your time and effort will be so very evident.

If you google it, you can find their webpage and see what’s going on and what you can do.  They have a lot of grants, MANY supporters, and just what they need usually has a way of finding their door.  What I didn’t see when I was there visiting on two separate occasions, was a lobby packed with volunteers waiting to spend time with a child…just one child to hug on and read to and play with…don’t get me wrong…they have SO MANY volunteers.  I just wish that they had this huge problem with the line of people and coordinating all the individuals who just want to give their time each week for an hour hugging on a child who’s soul can so easily be fed.  If little kids freak you out, or work hours are frustrating…they also have an afterschool program for kids that I understand is quite overcrowded and underfunded.  Some time there would be amazing as well.  They are located on Troost North of Linwood(Costco street) I believe.  It is such a beautiful place.  The first time I went I was so taken with the photos of the children on the walls…I was sad that I was visiting by the baby rooms at lunchtime because it was clear visitors for snuggling would be a burden and an unwelcome interruption…ah well, maybe next time…and the next time I got to go out on the playground and this cute little girl grabbed my hand and shook her beads in the direction we were supposed to start walking and so we went!  It was a blast and so many of their teachers just dig what they do!  If you’re not a kid person at all, go take some surprise to the teachers and tell them how they rock!  The best thing anyone ever did for me while I was in the classroom was surprise me midday with a Starbuck’s latte – it was awesome!  I wonder if a school has ever had a chair massousse in the teacher’s lounge for a day…that would be cool…any of you certified??? 

Funny, the power of a random act of kindness – I guess I might be stuck here because I received an incredibly thoughtful package in the mail yesterday that just took my breath away…ANYHOO!

More craziness to come, I assure you…when Sister Berta showed up in front of me I just had to share her and Operation Breakthrough with you…

Time to wake up the crew, so peace will temporarily be out and and partially clothed child chasing shall commence!

Let the games begin!

🙂

Posted in education, Family, Random | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

On the road again…

Posted on January 5, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

Here we are…the dawn of a new day…my dog “the pug” as the boys call her snoring away…and it is time for CNN and MC to head back to school.  The winter break wasn’t as long and awful as I was worried it would be!  There were no play dates or big adventures, except when they all took their matresses off their beds and lined them up down the hallway…I guess that was kind of an adventure…total blast all day…I was thinking, “what a cool mom I am…my mom never would have let me do this!” and then I realized, “what a boring kid I was, I never would have thought to do this…my kids are awesome!”. 

Anyhoo, it all went really pretty well(except for this moment where I just happened to have been distracted and was still in my robe at 11 which freaked me out a bit and I had to let the dogs out to do the pee pee and while they were out and roaming over near our neighbors, our neighbor came home and I didn’t want a crazy dog scene and I sure didn’t want to say have a great lunch in my ROBE, so I motioned the lab in the house and he came in – I know Mr.Z’s dog listens better than mine, but people the pug is deaf now and when she could hear she didn’t listen so whatever – I was trying to get her and CNN shouts that I need to come quick and pull the boys apart because they are fighting and biting…so I leave my deaf pug dog to fend for herself with the neighbor and put the boys in their rooms grumbling about the stupidity of biting over a shirt(they are only 14 months apart and I fear this deal might just get worse) and then jump into some clothes and go out to grab the deaf pug…only I don’t see her…anywhere…so I head to the back and just as I’m on my way down the hill I notice her little self POOPING in front of said neighbor’s bushes…ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  so I scoop up my damn deaf pug and take her home and get a bag and tromp back out threatening the boys about moving or hurting each other and go get the poop and get back in just in time to fall in a chair and shake my head!).  So yeah, just one adventure or two really…

So today we’ll begin the driving adventures again…MWF drop off in the am, pick up at lunch, and pick up at 3..TR two am drop offs, two lunch pick ups, and a pick up at three…with all this driving I do love the Rover beast when it is working…it’s fun to drive, creaking and all so we just turn up the radio and move on down the road.  There has only been a child left behind once and it wasn’t my pick up day –  that’s all I’m sayin…

I’ve accidentally done a lot of test driving this fall…let’s see…each time there is an oil change or repair…so there have been 3 mercedes, 1 ford Flex (decked out!  people stared and the kids had a blast – this one was for a week when my neighbor and also my insurance agent backed into me in the Rover beast), 1 jag(MC asked if we could keep it – the kid knows his cars), and 1 Dodge van…it got to the point that the kindergarten moms would just shake their heads and laugh when I’d poke my head out of yet another car that was not familiar!

Time to switch gears and get the kids stuff all lined up I guess(I know…many of you non procrastinators did that two days ago – there is comfort for me in knowing that if I did it two days ago someone would have moved it by now!)…I did make some serious laundry progress when my name wasn’t bellered as I stepped into the laundry room – every trip down takes about three tries because there’s some emergency somewhere!

May your commutes today be accident free, coffee spill free, and full of mind blowing music!

just peace

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ENOUGH! She said to herself in a very uppity tone…

Posted on January 4, 2009 by attraversiamodarmaz

Here I am…coffee in hand…a VERY late start to the day for me (good reason, BB has a nasty cold and if I get up…he gets up – out of our bed YES – don’t even start – I KNOW – he DID have a crappy first few months of life and I’m glad to say I’ve kinda spoiled the shit out of him ever since – not in a bad way though) MOVING ON – it is Sunday AGAIN and AGAIN I have most of a house to clean and a pile of laundry to do.  We just have so much fun around here – watch the kids play a game, play a game, snuggle, nap, argue, referee, argue…and so it goes – who has time to leave all the fun and have a beautiful abode???  I do LOVE it when everything is just so…it just doesn’t stay that way – I leave a room and someone sneaks in after and tears it all up!  I don’t mind my laundry room…especially since I set up the grow lights and am saving my herbs through the winter…legal herbs friends!  

I would like to think I have developed and improved in so many ways through the years, but this one thing…I think it has always been…I’m sure someone saw me not turn homework in because really…did it matter…was it authentic or meaningful…like I could be motivated by a mere grading system – that’s 38 year old Darma talkin – teen me was pretty nervous about it if I didn’t have time to finish 10 minutes before class.  College me really did sleep with text books under my pillow – I thought what the hell, I’m not a non-believer, I’ll give it a shot.  This might be why after two rounds of Biology 109 Dad and I had a face off about a D being a passing grade!  I do shudder!  I didn’t really figure out how to be a successful student until my masters and by then I had been teaching for 6 years!  A hypocrite for 6 years!  It did get better – the teaching…not really the procrastinating.

I wouldn’t be so up in arms with myself if it was just causing headaches for me (or even Mr.Z), but when my kindergartener has to work on the whole packet of homework for the month in a power session – we need to make some changes! (forget about the fact that I so believe that homework for kindergarteners is dumb as sin and worksheets aren’t worth the paper they were printed on – it should be a daily experience connected to the class experience that is an authentic connection to the child and their home).  This is me stopping and I don’t say all this at PTA meetings because I don’t want my children to be at the bottom of every teacher’s list.  I shut up and give awesome gifts.  When craziness here allows I’ll just take it up with the school board.

You see me wander?  No wonder nothing gets done!  Do you do this?  Is it just me?  Where is the gene that I missed?

Well, if you don’t hear about the laundry tomorrow, it might mean I didn’t quite get to it again and I don’t want my mama to read and *sigh*.

Happy Sunday – enjoy doin that thing you do…

peace out (I’m over the cow hunk)

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