My heart hurts when the kids come home with their friendship dramas. I guess I should get a thicker skin, because this will only go on for forever. But, what do you do with the autistic child (of any form) who just doesn't understand alot of social skills, nuances, and aspects, yet he WANTS friends? And friends usually think he is weird................
He is weird, and it's heartbreaking.
All three boys, and one of our girls when she was here, go thru the "nobody wants to be my friend. I have no friends." I can honestly say that is false for all those children.
Perhaps they want something different, or situations hurt their feelings, and/or they feel disappointment. I've expressed many times this week to come home and tell me how they FEEL, not to just scream, shove a brother, and say "people treat me like dirt!"
Could they be more specific please?
So I tell them to tell me what is going on and tell me how they feel. They I ask them, "so what are you going to do about that?" I want them to first look inside them self for alternatives and solutions. Then we can talk about lots of options, including ones I throw out there.
What I really loathe is the drama queen routine. sigh. Any suggestions? This really only goes on currently with the 11yr old & almost 10yr old. Could be kids at school, could be neighborhood kids. What I really dislike about our neighborhood kids for the most part is that they are spoiled rotten little rich kids. We live in a neighborhood where the homes are $500K thru a million dollars. Pretty nice. Most of these people do things like shove tons of gifts and monetary extravagance at their kids. Hmmm, wonder how their kids will like it when they want to move out of mom & pops, and discover the world does not hand them a silver platter. We insist on the kids pitching in, rare trips, and we do not keep up with the latest gadgets and electronics. Apparently in most circles, this is extremely important. We are trying to drive home the point that kids who are nice & share something in common with you are going to make the best friends. We've noticed that the kids who are filthy stinking rich and spoiled are not really nice for the most part. We don't like their parents (typically) and we do not have the same values. We live in the Pac NW, and one of these families will take their kids to DisneyLand just because it's someones birthday. Ah, my kids have been once. ONCE! And that's probably the only trip they will get there on my dime! I'm not being stingy. I feel we have good financial grounding and we are realistic. At the same time we are saving for retirement and the future.
So, what else can I do to help with the friendship dramas that will go on until they move out? Diana, perhaps you can write a post about this? You always have such great insight....................
Showing posts with label SimpleLiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SimpleLiving. Show all posts
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Working Mama Debate
Yesterday on Laura's blog, I found a link to Jeanette's blog (post now removed, but still on Laura's blog in entirety). Click on either name to get to their blog. The posts were quite something, not to mention the comments. WOW! What a debate! It's as old as dirt. I frankly have so much to say on the topic, I did not post a comment on Jeanette's blog. **And while we are at it, my respect and admiration goes to single working moms. You wear all the hats in the family.**
1. Let's take religion out of the equation for a moment. Yes, alot of what guides and directs us is thru our belief system. However, how can one say that being a Christian (or not, as Jeanette was accused of) clearly dictates if a woman works outside the home? Does the bible state if we should breastfeed? Eat organically? Those are rhetorical of course, but other topics people really get hot over.
2. Can we not be kind to others when stating our opinions? I think the crisis here is women who cannot support other women. We don't have to agree with them, but can we not be compassionate & graceful thru adversity? Truly in our day in age, high cost of living, stress, lack of extended family support, you'd think women could at least support women.
3. It's not a crime/sin to have a child, adopted or bio, in daycare. I'm a SAHM and I can see that one pretty clearly.
4. What's up with all the anonymous commenters on this topic? Personally I'm glad people came out of hibernation to comment, but can't people use their blog ID and feel bold enough to post their true feelings?
5. Honestly, I do not know many women who can afford to work AND put their child in daycare. I know countless women thru church, biblestudy, MOPS, etc., who are like "I choose to be a SAHM." Really? I know these women don't have marketable skills and/or a college degree. They truly cannot afford to pay for daycare after one child (if even for one). This is not a put down to those women. I'm just saying, I see these women patting them self needlessly on the back, alluding to what they allegedly gave up (all this free flowing cash) to be a SAHM, when that's just not the true picture. In real life*, I only know one professional woman in addition to myself who chose to put their career aside to be a SAHM. ONE. I am an accountant, and my friend is a lawyer. Now that is giving up a great career to be a SAHM! I'm not patting myself on the back. Just stating the situation. *Thru yahoo groups & blogs, I've met countless professional women who put their career aside to be with their children.
6. That being said, there ARE many things we SAHM's give up. I don't have to rant about it though. Conversely, there are many things working moms give up too. Life is hard, and no one said it would be fair!
7. Where are the women who choose to work and have the balls to just come out and say "Yea, I work outside the home. I want to. It's a choice I make. I feel like it." I know you are out there. I know personally there are many women who want a career, the professional environment, the socializing, strong work ethic, 401K, and sense of accomplishment that a career provides. It's not wrong to have those desires. They are positive dynamics and I commend that.
8. Jeanette's original blog post is about ex-orphan kids being left in daycare. Somewhere the argument went sideways and all the SAHM's and working moms came out with gloves on. Our original international adoption agency had a policy to only approve adoptions to families with a stay at home parent (they did approve single parents). I personally feel that it is highly beneficial to do this for kids with any special need. I think most people would agree with that. Again though, it's not a crime to put a child in daycare. A child who is here in the US, with a loving family, is far better off than in an institution!! Praise God these children have been adopted and have a forever family!
9. I think there are exceptions to any situation. When we had the girls with us, the older girl had so many behavioral, sexual, and safety problems, I literally could not do anything other than watch her like a hawk 24/7. In the evening when my DH came home, he watched her like a hawk so I could get the home front taken care of. This truly impacted the other children in the home. They had nearly zilch quality time with me. During the day they were at school; in the evening I was running errands, cleaning the house, cooking, getting to doctor appts, etc. At this point, it became necessity to put the adopted child in daycare 4hrs a week so I could have some uninterrupted time caring for my family. She is a highly traumatized and disturbed child. Be that as it may, I could not sacrifice the other children in the home & the care for them and our family, to watch one child 24/7. So, daycare came into the equation 4 hours a week. I have no regrets about that.
10. Final point. I do not want this to come down as harsh. The truth is, we all make our own choices. Working moms and SAHM moms all have bills to pay. Mainly I hear from working moms that "we have bills to pay." Well, that's true, but it's true for all of us. And yes, I live in a Seattle suburb, one of the most expensive areas in the country. Yes, gas prices have gone thru the roof. yes. yes. yes. I know there are countless families who have financial hardships, out of their control, and they are stuck with the bill: medical costs, a legal fiasco, a natural disaster, whatnot. Honestly though, when people say "we have bills to pay", well, who created those bills? Usually the person who the bill comes to. Usually it's an intentional purchase, and not a natural disaster or crisis generating the bills. I'm NOT saying it's wrong to have bills, to make purchases, to make choices. But that is what this all comes down to: MONEY!
My husband and I are both financial professionals with great financial expertise. So, we know enough to know that we all have options. Alot of people, if they are truly interested, could go to one income by doing the following:
Pay by cash only. No cash? No purchase.
Go to one car. Take a bus. Ride a bike.
Bring a sack lunch to work, and no lattes, soft drinks, cigarettes, beer.
Shop at Value Village. Most of my families material possessions are from VV. Artwork, kitchen gadgets, mine & DH clothing, household decor, tools, the kids church clothes, shower curtains. You name it, and thrift stores carry it. I have never bought underwear there. I do draw the line at that.
This would be hard, but if you want to cut back, sell the house & buy a smaller one. Yes the economy sucks, as it does for EVERYONE! It just is. As a couple, we seriously know if my husband lost a job, was disabled, we'd sell the house & buy a tiny one. It just is.
Check out Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, Dr. Phil, Oprah, Google, and look up Money, Debt, Finances, Debt-free, etc. Too many good nuggets there (free!) to help. I'm totally serious.
No expensive vacations. No eating out. Cut the kids back to one sport/extra circular activity per year (or none). It will not kill them. They can ride a bike, play outside, and find something to do for free.
Buy what's on sale each week at the grocery store & live off of that. Buy meat in bulk or thru a grower/supplier and utilize that freezer. We have half a pig coming in October. YUMMY!
Give up expensive hobbies.
Give up professional services & take care of things yourself (ie..hair color, manicures, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house.)
Take an evening and/or weekend job. Both of you.
Give up the subscriptions & annual fees: magazines, athletic tickets, the golf club.
Buy drugstore toiletries & essentials, use some generic here and there, and skip the mall.
There are countless ideas and options, which I do not have the time to get into here. We've implemented many in our personal life.
When times are tough, we realize there is truly little we HAVE to have. There is little we need. We have to have shelter, food, water, and clothes on our back. None of these have to be fancy or designer. It's not about what we deserve, it's about getting our needs met. True needs. Not wants.
The bottom line is, there are also MANY families doing all these financial tips & then some, who are still in dire financial straights. I applaud you. I respect you. I know you are working your fingers to the bone, you are dogass tired, and you are frayed. You are in pain, and to add insult to injury, some SAHM's are attacking you. I think this is the crisis. This is the tragedy. You are doing all you can, and your efforts will eventually pay off. You will get out of debt. You only answer to yourself and God. You will be blessed for your efforts.
As women, please support each other. Notice I have not attacked anyone here, or any side. These are observations, with a little financial education thrown in there, because yes, I am a financial professional. Not tooting my horn. I have two college degrees in business & accounting, as does my spouse.
If anyone has any questions about finance, please write. I welcome any and all comments here, and encourage it. I truly want to see women supporting women. We all need it. Desperately. Laura & Jeanette, I believe you are both Christians! As women we need to take a stand and not be on a high horse. Last time I checked, none of us is a moral/religious professional; we have not cornered the market on that and no one is entitled to get on a high horse over it all. I'm sure Dobson or Beth Moore could post on all this with far more tact than I've recently seen in Bloggerland. We all have our opinions, and we can all have a blog. That is obvious. Personally, I would prefer to discuss topics, not wage an emotional war against others. I hope I have been atleast a tad helpful here sharing my feelings.
The most noble calling is to be a mother. And there are lots of ways to be a mother.
1. Let's take religion out of the equation for a moment. Yes, alot of what guides and directs us is thru our belief system. However, how can one say that being a Christian (or not, as Jeanette was accused of) clearly dictates if a woman works outside the home? Does the bible state if we should breastfeed? Eat organically? Those are rhetorical of course, but other topics people really get hot over.
2. Can we not be kind to others when stating our opinions? I think the crisis here is women who cannot support other women. We don't have to agree with them, but can we not be compassionate & graceful thru adversity? Truly in our day in age, high cost of living, stress, lack of extended family support, you'd think women could at least support women.
3. It's not a crime/sin to have a child, adopted or bio, in daycare. I'm a SAHM and I can see that one pretty clearly.
4. What's up with all the anonymous commenters on this topic? Personally I'm glad people came out of hibernation to comment, but can't people use their blog ID and feel bold enough to post their true feelings?
5. Honestly, I do not know many women who can afford to work AND put their child in daycare. I know countless women thru church, biblestudy, MOPS, etc., who are like "I choose to be a SAHM." Really? I know these women don't have marketable skills and/or a college degree. They truly cannot afford to pay for daycare after one child (if even for one). This is not a put down to those women. I'm just saying, I see these women patting them self needlessly on the back, alluding to what they allegedly gave up (all this free flowing cash) to be a SAHM, when that's just not the true picture. In real life*, I only know one professional woman in addition to myself who chose to put their career aside to be a SAHM. ONE. I am an accountant, and my friend is a lawyer. Now that is giving up a great career to be a SAHM! I'm not patting myself on the back. Just stating the situation. *Thru yahoo groups & blogs, I've met countless professional women who put their career aside to be with their children.
6. That being said, there ARE many things we SAHM's give up. I don't have to rant about it though. Conversely, there are many things working moms give up too. Life is hard, and no one said it would be fair!
7. Where are the women who choose to work and have the balls to just come out and say "Yea, I work outside the home. I want to. It's a choice I make. I feel like it." I know you are out there. I know personally there are many women who want a career, the professional environment, the socializing, strong work ethic, 401K, and sense of accomplishment that a career provides. It's not wrong to have those desires. They are positive dynamics and I commend that.
8. Jeanette's original blog post is about ex-orphan kids being left in daycare. Somewhere the argument went sideways and all the SAHM's and working moms came out with gloves on. Our original international adoption agency had a policy to only approve adoptions to families with a stay at home parent (they did approve single parents). I personally feel that it is highly beneficial to do this for kids with any special need. I think most people would agree with that. Again though, it's not a crime to put a child in daycare. A child who is here in the US, with a loving family, is far better off than in an institution!! Praise God these children have been adopted and have a forever family!
9. I think there are exceptions to any situation. When we had the girls with us, the older girl had so many behavioral, sexual, and safety problems, I literally could not do anything other than watch her like a hawk 24/7. In the evening when my DH came home, he watched her like a hawk so I could get the home front taken care of. This truly impacted the other children in the home. They had nearly zilch quality time with me. During the day they were at school; in the evening I was running errands, cleaning the house, cooking, getting to doctor appts, etc. At this point, it became necessity to put the adopted child in daycare 4hrs a week so I could have some uninterrupted time caring for my family. She is a highly traumatized and disturbed child. Be that as it may, I could not sacrifice the other children in the home & the care for them and our family, to watch one child 24/7. So, daycare came into the equation 4 hours a week. I have no regrets about that.
10. Final point. I do not want this to come down as harsh. The truth is, we all make our own choices. Working moms and SAHM moms all have bills to pay. Mainly I hear from working moms that "we have bills to pay." Well, that's true, but it's true for all of us. And yes, I live in a Seattle suburb, one of the most expensive areas in the country. Yes, gas prices have gone thru the roof. yes. yes. yes. I know there are countless families who have financial hardships, out of their control, and they are stuck with the bill: medical costs, a legal fiasco, a natural disaster, whatnot. Honestly though, when people say "we have bills to pay", well, who created those bills? Usually the person who the bill comes to. Usually it's an intentional purchase, and not a natural disaster or crisis generating the bills. I'm NOT saying it's wrong to have bills, to make purchases, to make choices. But that is what this all comes down to: MONEY!
My husband and I are both financial professionals with great financial expertise. So, we know enough to know that we all have options. Alot of people, if they are truly interested, could go to one income by doing the following:
Pay by cash only. No cash? No purchase.
Go to one car. Take a bus. Ride a bike.
Bring a sack lunch to work, and no lattes, soft drinks, cigarettes, beer.
Shop at Value Village. Most of my families material possessions are from VV. Artwork, kitchen gadgets, mine & DH clothing, household decor, tools, the kids church clothes, shower curtains. You name it, and thrift stores carry it. I have never bought underwear there. I do draw the line at that.
This would be hard, but if you want to cut back, sell the house & buy a smaller one. Yes the economy sucks, as it does for EVERYONE! It just is. As a couple, we seriously know if my husband lost a job, was disabled, we'd sell the house & buy a tiny one. It just is.
Check out Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, Dr. Phil, Oprah, Google, and look up Money, Debt, Finances, Debt-free, etc. Too many good nuggets there (free!) to help. I'm totally serious.
No expensive vacations. No eating out. Cut the kids back to one sport/extra circular activity per year (or none). It will not kill them. They can ride a bike, play outside, and find something to do for free.
Buy what's on sale each week at the grocery store & live off of that. Buy meat in bulk or thru a grower/supplier and utilize that freezer. We have half a pig coming in October. YUMMY!
Give up expensive hobbies.
Give up professional services & take care of things yourself (ie..hair color, manicures, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house.)
Take an evening and/or weekend job. Both of you.
Give up the subscriptions & annual fees: magazines, athletic tickets, the golf club.
Buy drugstore toiletries & essentials, use some generic here and there, and skip the mall.
There are countless ideas and options, which I do not have the time to get into here. We've implemented many in our personal life.
When times are tough, we realize there is truly little we HAVE to have. There is little we need. We have to have shelter, food, water, and clothes on our back. None of these have to be fancy or designer. It's not about what we deserve, it's about getting our needs met. True needs. Not wants.
The bottom line is, there are also MANY families doing all these financial tips & then some, who are still in dire financial straights. I applaud you. I respect you. I know you are working your fingers to the bone, you are dogass tired, and you are frayed. You are in pain, and to add insult to injury, some SAHM's are attacking you. I think this is the crisis. This is the tragedy. You are doing all you can, and your efforts will eventually pay off. You will get out of debt. You only answer to yourself and God. You will be blessed for your efforts.
As women, please support each other. Notice I have not attacked anyone here, or any side. These are observations, with a little financial education thrown in there, because yes, I am a financial professional. Not tooting my horn. I have two college degrees in business & accounting, as does my spouse.
If anyone has any questions about finance, please write. I welcome any and all comments here, and encourage it. I truly want to see women supporting women. We all need it. Desperately. Laura & Jeanette, I believe you are both Christians! As women we need to take a stand and not be on a high horse. Last time I checked, none of us is a moral/religious professional; we have not cornered the market on that and no one is entitled to get on a high horse over it all. I'm sure Dobson or Beth Moore could post on all this with far more tact than I've recently seen in Bloggerland. We all have our opinions, and we can all have a blog. That is obvious. Personally, I would prefer to discuss topics, not wage an emotional war against others. I hope I have been atleast a tad helpful here sharing my feelings.
The most noble calling is to be a mother. And there are lots of ways to be a mother.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Where's Waldo?
So, where's Esther been? all over the place..................
A couple weeks ago I went to my 20yr high school reunion. Absolutely a hoot! Nice to reconnect with folks and catch up. Fortunately I was having a good hair day. This was a gift since earlier in the day, the dog ate one of my sandals I was going to wear that night. ARGH! Fortuneatly I found another acceptable pair at the last minute. In my closet, of all places. Who knew? Maybe time to clean the closet?
My DSL line came back up the day we left town (again). After dealing with 17 employees, Verizon figured out the problem was on their end. Sigh....
My DSL line came back up the day we left town (again). After dealing with 17 employees, Verizon figured out the problem was on their end. Sigh....
The puppy saw the vet for the umpteenth time today. She is still not well on her own. Sigh. We are going "antibiotic-free" for now, to see where that leads us. If she goes down hill, the vet wants to do a surgical procedure and send some workup to a lab. That doesn't sound fun. Or cheap.
The two older boys are getting braces this week. Not fun or cheap either. We are paying upfront so we will at least get a 5% discount. I'll be grateful and not look a gift horse in the mouth.
I took the younger two boys out of town to visit a relative for four days. I managed the trailer at an RV park, all by myself. Thank you very much. We biked, BBQ'd, swam, and hit the local beaches and river. Very fun. After four days, we started out for a one hr trip to hit our second destination, where we would meet up with the rest of the family. Turned into an 8 hr trip due to a broken ferry boat. In the future I will NOT incorporate any ferry into our travel plans, if time management is a big factor. We then camped for four days as an entire family. And there is a first time for everything. I've never personally been in trouble or reprimanded on a trip, by any local employees. I went berry picking for a few hours, leaving the trusty husband & kids at the campsite. While I was gone, they were swinging in the trees. I don't know why. A park employee scolded them, said it's not allowed, or they'd have to leave. nice.
Here's another nice camping story for you. Back at family bible camp in July, after five days, I used the toilet for #1, flushed, and it over flowed. Full tank. I told my DH to come help me (we have several children, their friend, etc., with us. Seriously, he looked at me, said "whenever", and walked away. I thought about killing him. But couldn't dwell on that long, seeing as I had pee to clean. I scooped out cup full after cup full of urine and kept tossing in the dirt. Gross. And I was pissed at my DH for more than 24 hrs. Well, on this trip this last week, I awoke one morning to a strange clanking sound in the bathroom of the trailer. I asked DH what the noise was. He said "I went #2, flushed, and it over flowed. Flooded. I'm using a cup to scoop up all the poop and toss it." I have not laughed so hard to myself in I don't know how long. What goes around comes around. Payback is a bitch. I laughed so hard to myself, I just may have peed my pants a little.
I took the younger two boys out of town to visit a relative for four days. I managed the trailer at an RV park, all by myself. Thank you very much. We biked, BBQ'd, swam, and hit the local beaches and river. Very fun. After four days, we started out for a one hr trip to hit our second destination, where we would meet up with the rest of the family. Turned into an 8 hr trip due to a broken ferry boat. In the future I will NOT incorporate any ferry into our travel plans, if time management is a big factor. We then camped for four days as an entire family. And there is a first time for everything. I've never personally been in trouble or reprimanded on a trip, by any local employees. I went berry picking for a few hours, leaving the trusty husband & kids at the campsite. While I was gone, they were swinging in the trees. I don't know why. A park employee scolded them, said it's not allowed, or they'd have to leave. nice.
Here's another nice camping story for you. Back at family bible camp in July, after five days, I used the toilet for #1, flushed, and it over flowed. Full tank. I told my DH to come help me (we have several children, their friend, etc., with us. Seriously, he looked at me, said "whenever", and walked away. I thought about killing him. But couldn't dwell on that long, seeing as I had pee to clean. I scooped out cup full after cup full of urine and kept tossing in the dirt. Gross. And I was pissed at my DH for more than 24 hrs. Well, on this trip this last week, I awoke one morning to a strange clanking sound in the bathroom of the trailer. I asked DH what the noise was. He said "I went #2, flushed, and it over flowed. Flooded. I'm using a cup to scoop up all the poop and toss it." I have not laughed so hard to myself in I don't know how long. What goes around comes around. Payback is a bitch. I laughed so hard to myself, I just may have peed my pants a little.
Final camping thoughts. I must rethink our multi week road trip next year. The day I took the trailer down, drove for 8hrs (ferry was out for the day; I had to drive the long way around), plus put the tent trailer back up again...............
This left me beyond exhausted. I'm still having hip & sciatic pain. We will do the trip, but I will only travel a long distance where there is a shared driver (DH). I will take the kids separately by myself, to a nice long trip in, oh, Oregon. One state away. And stay there for a week or two. Quite manageable.
I deleted the knitting blog. I really don't have time for a second blog at the moment. I'll post some random craft pics over here occasionally.
My garden is coming in really well. Really late, but it's coming in. I need to learn how to do a "hot water bath" in lieu of pressure canning. I will have alot of pumpkin to can this year.
Since April, I've been looking for a job with two local school districts. Other than the one interview I had, I have not been called about a thing. Nada. Zilch. I've stopped by the HR depts, called every few weeks, and nothing happens. Getting rather sick of that. So yesterday I called one of the districts to ask what was up. Do they only hire from within? Are they laying off? Am I over-qualified? Are they NOT hiring highly qualified people? etc. etc. The HR director got a good laugh, said they aren't hiring much. Mostly people from within are taking on second jobs, which doesn't leave any room for new hires. The economy sucks and all. The other school district is not hiring, and they actually just laid off several employees in positions I applied for. That's not going anywhere productive for me.
During my daily perusal of jobs on the school district site, I noticed a listing for as Aspergers Assistant in a program called "Connections". Um, my kid has Aspergers; why hasn't anyone told me about this program? So I called Special Needs supervisor in the district. She said kids on an IEP are put into the program, per a referral from the school psychologist. My son sees the school psychologist, and attends two groups weekly that they hold for kids with social/behavioral/developmental needs. I asked if an IEP is driven by the parents? staff? She said it's driven by parents. Why do I need to be the last to know this? So I put in a call to the Aspergers teacher, and our school psychologist to see if our son can attend either the part-time or full day program. I'm not sure how it all works. At least the district will provide transportation since it's not at our designated school. Will keep updating.......
Our oldest son has been to a religious bible camp. Rather a revival. He came home the day I left for a trip without him. While gone, he tried quite hard to convince my DH that we go to the wrong kind of church (community bible church) and that we need to go to the church that sponsors the camp (baptist). My DH gave him ample opportunity to discuss, and we will not be changing churches. However, we told him we are more than happy for him to attend jr high bible study & jr high youth group there. And to boot, one of the leaders lives five minutes from us and is providing transportation! woo hoo! DH looked up our church beliefs on line, along with the baptist church. They have the same beliefs and mission statements. So, he showed our son why we are not changing churches. I will say though that I'm enjoying the new religious child. The Lord is in his heart, and he truly seems like a different kid. He offers to help around the house, is not fighting with siblings, has been affectionate, and is reading his bible daily. AMEN!
Back to the job front, by the time yesterdays conversations took place, I was getting rather sick of our school district. And the thought of working for one. It's never been my ambition to work for a school district. The hours of work was the big huge plus for me. So I got to thinking and decided: I'm going back to college fall quarter, getting my accounting skills updated (Excel & some accounting software), and applying for accounting work after the first of the year.
Then I thought, aren't there any accounting temp jobs where I could still be a SAHM in the summer? Ah, yes. There are! BINGO! So I called one of these services today (Robert Haff Account Temps---an intl organization), and told them all this, and they said:
"sign with us. You can take the computer courses thru us for free. Then you can start working as a temp for us. Since you have a bachelors degree in accounting, you will see that since you've been out of work, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) has not changed greatly. You just have to update your computer skills. Pleasure talking with you."
It was as easy as that.
I'm unofficially hired, and bringing in my tax & employee info on 9/4. That day I will start three online courses with them. And we're off and running..................
I'm still a little shell shocked it was that easy.
I deleted the knitting blog. I really don't have time for a second blog at the moment. I'll post some random craft pics over here occasionally.
My garden is coming in really well. Really late, but it's coming in. I need to learn how to do a "hot water bath" in lieu of pressure canning. I will have alot of pumpkin to can this year.
Since April, I've been looking for a job with two local school districts. Other than the one interview I had, I have not been called about a thing. Nada. Zilch. I've stopped by the HR depts, called every few weeks, and nothing happens. Getting rather sick of that. So yesterday I called one of the districts to ask what was up. Do they only hire from within? Are they laying off? Am I over-qualified? Are they NOT hiring highly qualified people? etc. etc. The HR director got a good laugh, said they aren't hiring much. Mostly people from within are taking on second jobs, which doesn't leave any room for new hires. The economy sucks and all. The other school district is not hiring, and they actually just laid off several employees in positions I applied for. That's not going anywhere productive for me.
During my daily perusal of jobs on the school district site, I noticed a listing for as Aspergers Assistant in a program called "Connections". Um, my kid has Aspergers; why hasn't anyone told me about this program? So I called Special Needs supervisor in the district. She said kids on an IEP are put into the program, per a referral from the school psychologist. My son sees the school psychologist, and attends two groups weekly that they hold for kids with social/behavioral/developmental needs. I asked if an IEP is driven by the parents? staff? She said it's driven by parents. Why do I need to be the last to know this? So I put in a call to the Aspergers teacher, and our school psychologist to see if our son can attend either the part-time or full day program. I'm not sure how it all works. At least the district will provide transportation since it's not at our designated school. Will keep updating.......
Our oldest son has been to a religious bible camp. Rather a revival. He came home the day I left for a trip without him. While gone, he tried quite hard to convince my DH that we go to the wrong kind of church (community bible church) and that we need to go to the church that sponsors the camp (baptist). My DH gave him ample opportunity to discuss, and we will not be changing churches. However, we told him we are more than happy for him to attend jr high bible study & jr high youth group there. And to boot, one of the leaders lives five minutes from us and is providing transportation! woo hoo! DH looked up our church beliefs on line, along with the baptist church. They have the same beliefs and mission statements. So, he showed our son why we are not changing churches. I will say though that I'm enjoying the new religious child. The Lord is in his heart, and he truly seems like a different kid. He offers to help around the house, is not fighting with siblings, has been affectionate, and is reading his bible daily. AMEN!
Back to the job front, by the time yesterdays conversations took place, I was getting rather sick of our school district. And the thought of working for one. It's never been my ambition to work for a school district. The hours of work was the big huge plus for me. So I got to thinking and decided: I'm going back to college fall quarter, getting my accounting skills updated (Excel & some accounting software), and applying for accounting work after the first of the year.
Then I thought, aren't there any accounting temp jobs where I could still be a SAHM in the summer? Ah, yes. There are! BINGO! So I called one of these services today (Robert Haff Account Temps---an intl organization), and told them all this, and they said:
"sign with us. You can take the computer courses thru us for free. Then you can start working as a temp for us. Since you have a bachelors degree in accounting, you will see that since you've been out of work, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) has not changed greatly. You just have to update your computer skills. Pleasure talking with you."
It was as easy as that.
I'm unofficially hired, and bringing in my tax & employee info on 9/4. That day I will start three online courses with them. And we're off and running..................
I'm still a little shell shocked it was that easy.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Ocean, Restriction, and the Grocery Bill
Just back in from a four day vacation to the ocean. I'd love to post photos from a sandcastle competition, but I can't. The dog ate my USB cable. I'll have to buy one tomorrow.
Wednesday we are leaving for another great trip, five days. My husband could not get the time of work, but he'll join us Friday. My oldest son is staying home with dad Wed-Fri am. He's on restriction. Sad, but it came to that. Two of his friends were invited months ago on this trip. So I called their moms, told them my son will be missing the first two days of the trip. Do their boys still want to go with me & two little brothers, or wait until Friday for my oldest son & DH to go? The boys want to go with me Wednesday. My oldest son is furious. Guess I can't be Satan's Spawn if two teenage boys still want to go camping with me & two little brothers.
I came across THIS great article on saving money at the grocery store. However, I don't think cheese is a cheap snack (one of their suggestions), and I just can't stomach making 2-3 dinners a week where the main course if beans. Sorry.
Wednesday we are leaving for another great trip, five days. My husband could not get the time of work, but he'll join us Friday. My oldest son is staying home with dad Wed-Fri am. He's on restriction. Sad, but it came to that. Two of his friends were invited months ago on this trip. So I called their moms, told them my son will be missing the first two days of the trip. Do their boys still want to go with me & two little brothers, or wait until Friday for my oldest son & DH to go? The boys want to go with me Wednesday. My oldest son is furious. Guess I can't be Satan's Spawn if two teenage boys still want to go camping with me & two little brothers.
I came across THIS great article on saving money at the grocery store. However, I don't think cheese is a cheap snack (one of their suggestions), and I just can't stomach making 2-3 dinners a week where the main course if beans. Sorry.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A Day in the Life
Life has been interesting, with many ups and downs. I enjoy being with my children, but our oldest sure makes it hard! I think the hardest part is I usually feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Living with any teenager is difficult at best I'm sure, but living with one who is bipolar is at a whole nother level.
VBS is still going well. My 13yr old stated that a kid in his class ate a whole container of Playdoh this morning. Yummy. The boys each gave $5 of their own money towards VBS missions. Then yesterday I found out our 13yr old has been stealing from me. Always keeps me on my toes.
In craft news, I am having so much fun with the knitting and my knitting group, I'm thinking about starting a craft blog. Could be a "knitting blog" with other crafts touched on too. I'm a total craft junky.
Today the puppy hunted and caught a baby rabbit. Ate it half to death. One of the boys came in screaming about it, I investigated, and almost vomited and nearly fainted. The dog was quite disappointed when I took her new "toy" and threw it in the bushes. EWWWWWWWWW! She is a hunting dog, so I will need to expect this. Hopefully she'll be catching mice, seeing as that's a problem our neighborhood has out here in the country. Living in the sticks has it's perks ;o)
The best news of the day is I relocated my best friend. Sounds odd, eh? Well, in 2006 she moved to Boston with her family. A couple months ago I rather fell off the face of the earth with all the turmoil going on at home. I called her last week saying we want to visit her next summer on our road trip. What did I find? Her phone number is disconnected. ARgh! I dug up her cell number, and fortuneately it's still hers! I left a couple voice mails. Today she called, stating they moved to Pennsylvania a month ago, and just got their moving truck Monday. Anyway, I panicked there for a few days, thinking "how dumb am I to not have called/written her for a few months?! This is the best friend I've ever had! I'm such a loser for neglecting her! Maybe she's mad at me? Maybe the got divorced? Maybe they're dead?..............."
My best friend, I'll call her "P", is alive and well, and recovering from her husband getting laid off, and dealing with two moves (they lived in a hotel for a few weeks). We are SO excited to be able to see them next summer!!
Let's see. What else is new. My husband has a genius idea. His annual raise/review is coming up. He is going to ask that instead of a raise, he be given:
1. a gas card for his vehicle (he is currently using about $100/week on gas)
2. more vacation time annually (currently has 2 weeks per year)
3. a 4-5 week stretch of time off work next summer to do the whole big huge ginormous cross country road trip with the whole family. He will propose taking a laptop & working a couple hours every day or two on the road. He is the CFO of a large corporation, and the president of the company does this 1-2 days a week.
In retirement news, we have made a decision. I have a wonderfully wise aunt, who is smart on about any topic you can think of. So I've been asking her advise about retirement, and investment property. We have not been able to decide where we want to retire (does anyone know what they want to do in 20-30 years?). She said, among many things, that we should just buy something now, anywhere, and sell it in 20-30 years if that's not where we want to be. Gee, why didn't we think of that?
So we are on the hunt for a lot, or cabin on a lot. We want to be on a lake or river, within 2-3 hrs of our home so we may use this as vacation/holiday property.
Does anyone else think about retirement?? Any tips you want to share?
VBS is still going well. My 13yr old stated that a kid in his class ate a whole container of Playdoh this morning. Yummy. The boys each gave $5 of their own money towards VBS missions. Then yesterday I found out our 13yr old has been stealing from me. Always keeps me on my toes.
In craft news, I am having so much fun with the knitting and my knitting group, I'm thinking about starting a craft blog. Could be a "knitting blog" with other crafts touched on too. I'm a total craft junky.
Today the puppy hunted and caught a baby rabbit. Ate it half to death. One of the boys came in screaming about it, I investigated, and almost vomited and nearly fainted. The dog was quite disappointed when I took her new "toy" and threw it in the bushes. EWWWWWWWWW! She is a hunting dog, so I will need to expect this. Hopefully she'll be catching mice, seeing as that's a problem our neighborhood has out here in the country. Living in the sticks has it's perks ;o)
The best news of the day is I relocated my best friend. Sounds odd, eh? Well, in 2006 she moved to Boston with her family. A couple months ago I rather fell off the face of the earth with all the turmoil going on at home. I called her last week saying we want to visit her next summer on our road trip. What did I find? Her phone number is disconnected. ARgh! I dug up her cell number, and fortuneately it's still hers! I left a couple voice mails. Today she called, stating they moved to Pennsylvania a month ago, and just got their moving truck Monday. Anyway, I panicked there for a few days, thinking "how dumb am I to not have called/written her for a few months?! This is the best friend I've ever had! I'm such a loser for neglecting her! Maybe she's mad at me? Maybe the got divorced? Maybe they're dead?..............."
My best friend, I'll call her "P", is alive and well, and recovering from her husband getting laid off, and dealing with two moves (they lived in a hotel for a few weeks). We are SO excited to be able to see them next summer!!
Let's see. What else is new. My husband has a genius idea. His annual raise/review is coming up. He is going to ask that instead of a raise, he be given:
1. a gas card for his vehicle (he is currently using about $100/week on gas)
2. more vacation time annually (currently has 2 weeks per year)
3. a 4-5 week stretch of time off work next summer to do the whole big huge ginormous cross country road trip with the whole family. He will propose taking a laptop & working a couple hours every day or two on the road. He is the CFO of a large corporation, and the president of the company does this 1-2 days a week.
In retirement news, we have made a decision. I have a wonderfully wise aunt, who is smart on about any topic you can think of. So I've been asking her advise about retirement, and investment property. We have not been able to decide where we want to retire (does anyone know what they want to do in 20-30 years?). She said, among many things, that we should just buy something now, anywhere, and sell it in 20-30 years if that's not where we want to be. Gee, why didn't we think of that?
So we are on the hunt for a lot, or cabin on a lot. We want to be on a lake or river, within 2-3 hrs of our home so we may use this as vacation/holiday property.
Does anyone else think about retirement?? Any tips you want to share?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Puppy, Joanna Mei, a Haircut, and a Funny VBS Story
Thank you for the questions & comments about the puppy. She cracks us up. To answer questions, yes she is an English Springer Spaniel. I washed off the light layer of vaseline from the top bar (the only locale I put the vaseline) of the babygate before returning. Vaseline comes off plastic quite easily with soap & water. Couldn't tell vaseline had ever been rubbed there.
Please go congratulate my friends (in real life as well), Don & Be. Today they met Joanna Mei in China. She has been the daughter in their hearts for months, they've waited years, and today they are united forever. Congratulations my friends, congratulations!!
With the economy in the tubes, even Gene Juarez is trying to help the consumer. Check out these great coupons you may use all summer: LINK.
I went in yesterday for a haircut, showed them the web page I printed out, and they said to come back and use the same printout again all summer. I've always loved their customer service. My hair was getting long, long layers past my shoulders. It was making me look like a basset hound, unless I put it in an updo. I got a Hillary Swank cut & style, and love it. Highly recommend it. My nasty layers are gone now, all that damaged hair from the "highlighting gone wrong" escapade. I look like this:
For the funny VBS story. I help at VBS pretty much every year the last ten years. This year our 13yr old is old enough to help, and he wanted to. So I dropped him off today, told him who to look for, and drove off. Our youngest attended VBS, so he was there as well. I picked them up three hours later to hear from our oldest (who helped with the kindergartners all morning):
1. "You would not believe how irresponsible and impulsive those kids are!" (I tried to not pee my pants. Maybe I did a little).....
2. "younger brothers class was the first and only class to do shaving cream art. They got the shaving cream out, and sprayed themselves & others instead of doing art. A kid (who we know) came up to me and sprayed me with it!" ...................ya think....................
3. "Mom, you should really help this year with VBS. It's really fun! There was this one class with two teachers & fifty kids. They could really use some help." uh-huh........................
I have helped for 10 years with VBS, Sunday school, and our local school district in the classrooms. This year I took the year off. Volunteering to be continued.........
Please go congratulate my friends (in real life as well), Don & Be. Today they met Joanna Mei in China. She has been the daughter in their hearts for months, they've waited years, and today they are united forever. Congratulations my friends, congratulations!!
With the economy in the tubes, even Gene Juarez is trying to help the consumer. Check out these great coupons you may use all summer: LINK.
I went in yesterday for a haircut, showed them the web page I printed out, and they said to come back and use the same printout again all summer. I've always loved their customer service. My hair was getting long, long layers past my shoulders. It was making me look like a basset hound, unless I put it in an updo. I got a Hillary Swank cut & style, and love it. Highly recommend it. My nasty layers are gone now, all that damaged hair from the "highlighting gone wrong" escapade. I look like this:
For the funny VBS story. I help at VBS pretty much every year the last ten years. This year our 13yr old is old enough to help, and he wanted to. So I dropped him off today, told him who to look for, and drove off. Our youngest attended VBS, so he was there as well. I picked them up three hours later to hear from our oldest (who helped with the kindergartners all morning):1. "You would not believe how irresponsible and impulsive those kids are!" (I tried to not pee my pants. Maybe I did a little).....
2. "younger brothers class was the first and only class to do shaving cream art. They got the shaving cream out, and sprayed themselves & others instead of doing art. A kid (who we know) came up to me and sprayed me with it!" ...................ya think....................
3. "Mom, you should really help this year with VBS. It's really fun! There was this one class with two teachers & fifty kids. They could really use some help." uh-huh........................
I have helped for 10 years with VBS, Sunday school, and our local school district in the classrooms. This year I took the year off. Volunteering to be continued.........
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Hurt
The last few days I've planned a multi-week roadtrip for me and the kids for next year. Going from the Pacific NW to TX. I was even thinking of including the East Coast since I'm not working. What a fabulous time that would be, take a month or so, visit friends and relatives, quality activities, seeing the great sites of our lovely country, catching up on some US history, and lastly, keeping the kids out of trouble.
My oldest son called my husband today at work (I was out of earshot). He told my husband, he doesn't want to hurt my feelings but he doesn't want to go on the trip.
I'm very hurt. I would kill for a mother who wants to spend time with her kids. My mom always tried to get away from us and get out of anything humanly possible.
I will probably go on the trip. Any of the boys who want to join me are welcome. I planned on using a pop-up tent & van, staying in national & state parks. This was after I realized my van gets twice as good gas mileage over our SUV hauling a trailer. Two friends in Tx are set for us to visit, and another in UT. And I'm waiting on hearing from others in CA & NC.
Ya know, my dad never tried to come over to the female side of things either. He mostly sat around drunk, or went off on some anger binge, when I was growing up. He left the home each day to work & cheat on my mom.
Further more, a 13yr old doesn't always know what's best for him. He would like to sit around, pick his nose, eat junk food, watch tv, whoop up on his brothers, and play the wii all summer. But you and I know that leads to him being ultra aggressive, frustrated, angry, and hostile. He'd probably love it if I go to work full time & not be around anyone. He wants to run his own life (which is normal for a teenager). However, he has alot of issues, which I'm trying to deal with in a positive way. I'm trying to find quality family activities to do, that are relatively cheap per day. I don't think you can get much cheaper than camping.
Sigh.
From, a frustrated mom...................
My oldest son called my husband today at work (I was out of earshot). He told my husband, he doesn't want to hurt my feelings but he doesn't want to go on the trip.
I'm very hurt. I would kill for a mother who wants to spend time with her kids. My mom always tried to get away from us and get out of anything humanly possible.
I will probably go on the trip. Any of the boys who want to join me are welcome. I planned on using a pop-up tent & van, staying in national & state parks. This was after I realized my van gets twice as good gas mileage over our SUV hauling a trailer. Two friends in Tx are set for us to visit, and another in UT. And I'm waiting on hearing from others in CA & NC.
Ya know, my dad never tried to come over to the female side of things either. He mostly sat around drunk, or went off on some anger binge, when I was growing up. He left the home each day to work & cheat on my mom.
Further more, a 13yr old doesn't always know what's best for him. He would like to sit around, pick his nose, eat junk food, watch tv, whoop up on his brothers, and play the wii all summer. But you and I know that leads to him being ultra aggressive, frustrated, angry, and hostile. He'd probably love it if I go to work full time & not be around anyone. He wants to run his own life (which is normal for a teenager). However, he has alot of issues, which I'm trying to deal with in a positive way. I'm trying to find quality family activities to do, that are relatively cheap per day. I don't think you can get much cheaper than camping.
Sigh.
From, a frustrated mom...................
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Lots of Random Updates
Big surprise. I did not get the job (ROFL). The good news is, I now have experience with the school district HR dept, and the testing. So we'll see if I get called about a part time job (that's all that I applied for).
My garden is still being eaten by local critters. We are putting up a wire fence this weekend.
Tonight we are off to buy a puppy. An English Springer Spaniel. It's a surprise for the boys.
I am halfway done with a knitted afghan, started Saturday.
My oldest son is in wrestling camp this week. He said a kid hurt his head yesterday halfway thru practice, and had to leave. Today I told him to NOT Hurt His Head Please!!
Yesterday I asked him what he learned from camp. He said "I learned that I know nothing." Guess it's really militant. They work out for six hours, with a lunch break in the middle. I pack him a lunch the size of the wrestler on The Breakfast Club.
My younger two are still in swimming and loving it. I've been sitting with a lady, and she told me today her son has Aspergers. Hey, so do I! So, we are looking around for a support group. She is also looking for a therapist for her son, so I'm bringing her the info tomorrow on the psychiatrist our son has seen, wonderful guy.
I thought of a new consequence for when the kids are being annoying, stealing, lying, etc. I tell them, "since I don't trust you, you have to sit by me for X amount of time. And watch Lifetime Movie Network with me." They would rather be stabbed in the eye with a fork. We've only had one kid in LMN timeout with me this week.
I went to the orthopedic surgeon about my hip. He thinks the problem is a Lower Back bulging disc, or a torn ligament in the ball & joint of the hip. So I'm off to have an MRI Thursday, and surgery consult Monday. If they can't find the problem thru the MRI, he said the best he can do is refer me for steroid injections for pain management. I'm rolling my eyes. Not pretty. Today I went to my Bowen Therapy appt, and she said she hopes it's a bulging disc that they find. She said there is a specialize type of Bowen therapy that can shrink the disc. Can't hurt to try?
We went camping this weekend, and had a blast. So did the mosquitoes, as they ate us alive. Us and everyone else in the park.
How come we have record high weather the years I'm pregnant, and record lows the year I planted my first garden? If I don't see some produce soon, I'm buying more berries. The shrub berries are doing well, and too high for rabbits to get to. I could add boysenberries & currants.
Today or tomorrow I'm making the first round of this years jam. Flavor of the day? Grape. Yummy.
And for some more good news, my alcoholic friend has not sought out contact with me in over a month. Last time she called, she was trying to defend her husband. I cut her off with "This is the same shit, different verse, every year. Don't want to hear it." Did the trick! She has probably found someone else to complain to, who will enable her. Better them than me!
Final good news for the day, I have now ended the dieting slump, and lost 2.5 more pounds. So that's 17.5 for the year. I was at a plateau for months! yuck! I need to update my weightloss ticker....
My garden is still being eaten by local critters. We are putting up a wire fence this weekend.
Tonight we are off to buy a puppy. An English Springer Spaniel. It's a surprise for the boys.
I am halfway done with a knitted afghan, started Saturday.
My oldest son is in wrestling camp this week. He said a kid hurt his head yesterday halfway thru practice, and had to leave. Today I told him to NOT Hurt His Head Please!!
Yesterday I asked him what he learned from camp. He said "I learned that I know nothing." Guess it's really militant. They work out for six hours, with a lunch break in the middle. I pack him a lunch the size of the wrestler on The Breakfast Club.
My younger two are still in swimming and loving it. I've been sitting with a lady, and she told me today her son has Aspergers. Hey, so do I! So, we are looking around for a support group. She is also looking for a therapist for her son, so I'm bringing her the info tomorrow on the psychiatrist our son has seen, wonderful guy.
I thought of a new consequence for when the kids are being annoying, stealing, lying, etc. I tell them, "since I don't trust you, you have to sit by me for X amount of time. And watch Lifetime Movie Network with me." They would rather be stabbed in the eye with a fork. We've only had one kid in LMN timeout with me this week.
I went to the orthopedic surgeon about my hip. He thinks the problem is a Lower Back bulging disc, or a torn ligament in the ball & joint of the hip. So I'm off to have an MRI Thursday, and surgery consult Monday. If they can't find the problem thru the MRI, he said the best he can do is refer me for steroid injections for pain management. I'm rolling my eyes. Not pretty. Today I went to my Bowen Therapy appt, and she said she hopes it's a bulging disc that they find. She said there is a specialize type of Bowen therapy that can shrink the disc. Can't hurt to try?
We went camping this weekend, and had a blast. So did the mosquitoes, as they ate us alive. Us and everyone else in the park.
How come we have record high weather the years I'm pregnant, and record lows the year I planted my first garden? If I don't see some produce soon, I'm buying more berries. The shrub berries are doing well, and too high for rabbits to get to. I could add boysenberries & currants.
Today or tomorrow I'm making the first round of this years jam. Flavor of the day? Grape. Yummy.
And for some more good news, my alcoholic friend has not sought out contact with me in over a month. Last time she called, she was trying to defend her husband. I cut her off with "This is the same shit, different verse, every year. Don't want to hear it." Did the trick! She has probably found someone else to complain to, who will enable her. Better them than me!
Final good news for the day, I have now ended the dieting slump, and lost 2.5 more pounds. So that's 17.5 for the year. I was at a plateau for months! yuck! I need to update my weightloss ticker....
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Happy Summer
Ah happy summer! Today is our first full day off of school. Summer vacation, here we come. 
To start our vacation, we took the boys out to Red Robin yesterday. At which time our oldest son told us more horrors about the bus driver. Sigh. I immediately called the district, and insisted that something be done about this driver. Suffice it to say, her motto is "What happens on the bus, stays on the bus." ARGH! Well, our son said he didn't tell us, because he didn't want me getting involved. Well, I told him that it is normally true that I like our children to solve their own problems before getting adults involved. HOWEVER, and that's a big HOWEVER, when an adult asks children to keep secrets, and especially when that adult is an authority figure, it's probably the sign to TELL AN ADULT. Period. So, our son has learned a valuable lesson here, without suffering any damage (luckily). I hope the bus driver is fired, now that I know what's been going on all year. I can't believe kids stick together in a pack, for a BUS DRIVER!! Geez.
Moving on, We are in swimming lessons every morning, for the next six weeks. Our oldest is going to wrestling camp next week (day camp). We are camping this weekend, and really looking forward to it. Albeit, we popped up the trailer to trial run it last weekend, and it flooded. So, we will be going sans water. But hey, there will be electricity (microwave, heat, AC, lights). Then on the 23rd I will take it in for service. Additionally, we will be doing alot of bike riding this summer. We live on acreage, in a development that goes for miles of rolling hills. Everyone is on acreage. We rode for 90 minutes last night, thru only part of the development, only one loop. Tomorrow we can go a different loop. Our oldest son has informed me that we are training for a bike race that is next February. Uh, OK.
Today was my first job interview. I was surprised to realize how naive I was. I was actually shocked that they had a panel waiting to interview me, in a large conference room. Hmmm, is that how they do interviews now? I've never been interviewed by a table full of people. Guess it's a good idea when hiring the Principal's assistant. Guess I'd be working with alot of people, variables, and need to use alot of skills. Anyway, I think the interview went well. I ran many of the questions and answers by my husband. He liked my responses. Here's some of the questions:
1. It's 10:30am, and a blizzard is starting (happens every year). What do you do, and how do you notify the parents and arrange for transportation?
2. No one is around you. A crazy ranting teenage girl goes psycho on you, demanding her cell phone back (which you don't have, by the way)?
3. Someone tells you confidential info, that they should not share with you. What do you do?
I thought this was well thought out, and good interviewing material. There were dozens of questions, but I think you get the point. They interviewed "several" people yesterday, today, and will tomorrow as well. They said they'd let me know within two weeks.
And for the most fun part of my summer (I think), I've joined a Knitting Circle that meets once a week. WAY more fun than I ever imagined. I made a scarf, and now I'm onto hats, afghans, and fancier scarves. I had NO idea how many possibilities there are with yarn. Who knew?
Finally, I'll sign off with the fact that it was reported on the news that Strawberries are not growing here yet, due to the record cold spring (still snowing on April 21). So, OK, I'm not feeling so bad that my plants have only produced 2 berries. Onward................
To start our vacation, we took the boys out to Red Robin yesterday. At which time our oldest son told us more horrors about the bus driver. Sigh. I immediately called the district, and insisted that something be done about this driver. Suffice it to say, her motto is "What happens on the bus, stays on the bus." ARGH! Well, our son said he didn't tell us, because he didn't want me getting involved. Well, I told him that it is normally true that I like our children to solve their own problems before getting adults involved. HOWEVER, and that's a big HOWEVER, when an adult asks children to keep secrets, and especially when that adult is an authority figure, it's probably the sign to TELL AN ADULT. Period. So, our son has learned a valuable lesson here, without suffering any damage (luckily). I hope the bus driver is fired, now that I know what's been going on all year. I can't believe kids stick together in a pack, for a BUS DRIVER!! Geez.
Moving on, We are in swimming lessons every morning, for the next six weeks. Our oldest is going to wrestling camp next week (day camp). We are camping this weekend, and really looking forward to it. Albeit, we popped up the trailer to trial run it last weekend, and it flooded. So, we will be going sans water. But hey, there will be electricity (microwave, heat, AC, lights). Then on the 23rd I will take it in for service. Additionally, we will be doing alot of bike riding this summer. We live on acreage, in a development that goes for miles of rolling hills. Everyone is on acreage. We rode for 90 minutes last night, thru only part of the development, only one loop. Tomorrow we can go a different loop. Our oldest son has informed me that we are training for a bike race that is next February. Uh, OK.
Today was my first job interview. I was surprised to realize how naive I was. I was actually shocked that they had a panel waiting to interview me, in a large conference room. Hmmm, is that how they do interviews now? I've never been interviewed by a table full of people. Guess it's a good idea when hiring the Principal's assistant. Guess I'd be working with alot of people, variables, and need to use alot of skills. Anyway, I think the interview went well. I ran many of the questions and answers by my husband. He liked my responses. Here's some of the questions:
1. It's 10:30am, and a blizzard is starting (happens every year). What do you do, and how do you notify the parents and arrange for transportation?
2. No one is around you. A crazy ranting teenage girl goes psycho on you, demanding her cell phone back (which you don't have, by the way)?
3. Someone tells you confidential info, that they should not share with you. What do you do?
I thought this was well thought out, and good interviewing material. There were dozens of questions, but I think you get the point. They interviewed "several" people yesterday, today, and will tomorrow as well. They said they'd let me know within two weeks.
And for the most fun part of my summer (I think), I've joined a Knitting Circle that meets once a week. WAY more fun than I ever imagined. I made a scarf, and now I'm onto hats, afghans, and fancier scarves. I had NO idea how many possibilities there are with yarn. Who knew?
Finally, I'll sign off with the fact that it was reported on the news that Strawberries are not growing here yet, due to the record cold spring (still snowing on April 21). So, OK, I'm not feeling so bad that my plants have only produced 2 berries. Onward................
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tailbone, a Garden, and Haiti
A little over a month ago, I started Bowen Therapy (clickable). Initially I went in because my face has been twitching on the left side, my neck hurts (from an old car accident) and the pain in my Congenital Hip (clickable) has radiated down thru my butt, and up into my shoulder. So I felt some medical help was in order. I've done PT for years for the hip, and not had it get worse like this before. So I thought I'd try something new.
And, ta da. I love it. In addition to the above issues, the therapist discovered I broke my tailbone at some point, seeing as it's drug way off to the left. That is actually giving me the pain below my hip (sorts of a sciatic feeling).
How could I not know when I broke my tailbone? I wondered for weeks how this happened. I had severe complications with my third childbirth, so the therapist assumed it happened then. Yesterday I remembered taking a huge spill on the wet garage floor in 2003. It hurt for months. I thought it was just bruised........
That must have been when I broke it. I'm just used to sucking it up over injuries, and never even went to the doctor. Probably would have helped to see the PCP.
Bowen Therapy feels like a cross between gentle massage & chiropractic treatment. A session can run from an hour to two hours. They work on you a little, then you rest quite a while. And you go round and round like that.
I don't want to give up in defeat in trying to run. Running is so great for my keeping my depression at bay, and I like burning a large amount of calories in a short amount of time. I do not aspire to be a long distance runner. I would however like to run 20-30 minutes. Really if I could run 20 minutes, I'd be thrilled. Currently I'm up to running 13 minutes during a 40+ minute walk/run workout.
So, I'm not sure where I go with the tail bone thing. It broke & healed incorrectly. I have no idea what you do with that other than to change positions when my rear end is sore? We're dealing with alot of issues, and some of them affect others. So hopefully in the long run, it will all be much better.
And for the Garden. This year, early in May, I put in my first garden. Fruits and veggies. A 1050 sq ft garden. 30 ft x 35 ft. WOW! I'll eventually get around to posting pictures. Here's what's in it:
Row 1: raspberries & loganberries
Row 2: blueberries & marionberries
Row 3: watermelon, cantaloupe, and rhubarb
Row 4: cucumbers, large pumpkins, & zucchini
Row 5: leaf lettuce, spinach mustard, sugar pumpkins (for baked goods)
Row 6: bon lettuce, carrots, gourds
Row 7: beans (ground growing)
Row 8: strawberries (& they already have fruit!)
The next week, I wanted to add more, but was out of space. We only rototilled the 30 x 35 ft section. So I decided to add another row between rows 1 & 2. The berries have about 10-12 feet between rows, so for 2-3 years I can plant between them, as the berries are short for now.
So in what I call Row 1a I have planted tomatoes, peppers, and green onions. On the side of our house I ripped out a climbing rose bush, and added two kiwi plants (15' ones)
Today it's been three weeks. So I'm off to fertilize and thin out some plants. I have found some really great gardening books thru the library. A couple of them I like so much that I'm going to buy them used thru Amazon.
The only thing I don't like about gardening is the fact that the deer eat my rose bushes. I have tried everything known to man at this point. Human hair, soap, chemicals. Nothing works. Apparently the deer are hungry. So I've taken down a few rose bushes, and kept just the four right next to our house. The deer are afraid to be so bold as to eat off the house. Roses are my favorite (they are even in my blog header), so I decided roses will just have to be fenced. We have a fenced patio that runs the length of our home. Next year I'm starting a deck rose garden, seeing as that's the only way I'll get to enjoy it. I've seen miniature roses. Now I'm wondering if there are tree roses/shrubs that the retailers sell around here. That will be perfect for the patio next year.
Onto the Haiti topic. My husband and I discussed this trip before I signed up. After I signed up I asked him how he felt about it. He said "just don't pick up some highly unusual tropical third world virus that will take looking up someone like Dr. House at Princeton to get you well." Always has a sense of humor, eh?
And, ta da. I love it. In addition to the above issues, the therapist discovered I broke my tailbone at some point, seeing as it's drug way off to the left. That is actually giving me the pain below my hip (sorts of a sciatic feeling).
How could I not know when I broke my tailbone? I wondered for weeks how this happened. I had severe complications with my third childbirth, so the therapist assumed it happened then. Yesterday I remembered taking a huge spill on the wet garage floor in 2003. It hurt for months. I thought it was just bruised........
That must have been when I broke it. I'm just used to sucking it up over injuries, and never even went to the doctor. Probably would have helped to see the PCP.
Bowen Therapy feels like a cross between gentle massage & chiropractic treatment. A session can run from an hour to two hours. They work on you a little, then you rest quite a while. And you go round and round like that.
I don't want to give up in defeat in trying to run. Running is so great for my keeping my depression at bay, and I like burning a large amount of calories in a short amount of time. I do not aspire to be a long distance runner. I would however like to run 20-30 minutes. Really if I could run 20 minutes, I'd be thrilled. Currently I'm up to running 13 minutes during a 40+ minute walk/run workout.
So, I'm not sure where I go with the tail bone thing. It broke & healed incorrectly. I have no idea what you do with that other than to change positions when my rear end is sore? We're dealing with alot of issues, and some of them affect others. So hopefully in the long run, it will all be much better.
And for the Garden. This year, early in May, I put in my first garden. Fruits and veggies. A 1050 sq ft garden. 30 ft x 35 ft. WOW! I'll eventually get around to posting pictures. Here's what's in it:
Row 1: raspberries & loganberries
Row 2: blueberries & marionberries
Row 3: watermelon, cantaloupe, and rhubarb
Row 4: cucumbers, large pumpkins, & zucchini
Row 5: leaf lettuce, spinach mustard, sugar pumpkins (for baked goods)
Row 6: bon lettuce, carrots, gourds
Row 7: beans (ground growing)
Row 8: strawberries (& they already have fruit!)
The next week, I wanted to add more, but was out of space. We only rototilled the 30 x 35 ft section. So I decided to add another row between rows 1 & 2. The berries have about 10-12 feet between rows, so for 2-3 years I can plant between them, as the berries are short for now.
So in what I call Row 1a I have planted tomatoes, peppers, and green onions. On the side of our house I ripped out a climbing rose bush, and added two kiwi plants (15' ones)
Today it's been three weeks. So I'm off to fertilize and thin out some plants. I have found some really great gardening books thru the library. A couple of them I like so much that I'm going to buy them used thru Amazon.
The only thing I don't like about gardening is the fact that the deer eat my rose bushes. I have tried everything known to man at this point. Human hair, soap, chemicals. Nothing works. Apparently the deer are hungry. So I've taken down a few rose bushes, and kept just the four right next to our house. The deer are afraid to be so bold as to eat off the house. Roses are my favorite (they are even in my blog header), so I decided roses will just have to be fenced. We have a fenced patio that runs the length of our home. Next year I'm starting a deck rose garden, seeing as that's the only way I'll get to enjoy it. I've seen miniature roses. Now I'm wondering if there are tree roses/shrubs that the retailers sell around here. That will be perfect for the patio next year.
Onto the Haiti topic. My husband and I discussed this trip before I signed up. After I signed up I asked him how he felt about it. He said "just don't pick up some highly unusual tropical third world virus that will take looking up someone like Dr. House at Princeton to get you well." Always has a sense of humor, eh?
Monday, May 12, 2008
Product Review and Comment by my Kid
I would like to highly recommend Crocs. I bought a pair of Crocs Mary Janes at Disney. They seriously saved my feet. At Disney World, they have these in Women's sizes, so I acquired a pale pink pair with hot pink straps. COMFY!!
Also I would like to highly recommend Revlon Color Stay Active foundation. Stays on all day, waterproof, and has sunscreen. Can't beat that! My face burns easily, yet did not on this trip. WooHoo!!
Last but not least, I got sick of my highlights in my hair. I do not want to pay $75+ to keep them up. I colored my hair with Loreal Color Spa. Thank you Lauri for the recommendation. I love this product!! My hair is silky soft, and the color is great. I tried to match my dark brown hair with one of their two dark brown colors. A DEAD match. Couldn't have been better. Since it washes out in less than a month, I'm going to go a shade lighter next time, and a shade lighter than that the time after that. Play around a little. My hair naturally gets lighter in the summer, so I thought this would be a good time to experiment. And if I don't like it? No problem, color gone in less than a month.
Onto my kid. My youngest child saw me making a latte. He asked "why are you putting WINE in your coffee?"
Ah, son, that would be sugar-free syrup flavoring.
Bleack. Wine in coffee? That will be a pretty sad day if I'm putting wine in coffee. What would that be called? Winoffee? Maybe I would fit in HERE.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
HUH?
The new job lasted 1.5 days. I quit.
In the interview process, the two owners told me multiple times that free services and discounted services was part of the deal. I worked 1.5 days and found out this is just not true. I have better things to do with my Saturday every week than work for minimum wage, on the busiest spa/salon day of the week, managing the place. Give me a break. Hope things work out for them (lol)......................
So let's see. I've been feeling depressed the last couple days, and nearly couldn't bring myself to even meet with a friend last night. Then I read a blog yesterday about a couple losing their child, and I thought, I really need to get out of the house. So I drug my butt out to dinner with a friend. I told my husband I'm really glad I did that. Seeing my friend made me realize there is always someone out there who has it worse!! My girlfriend has been in multiple car accidents in the last year, had a tumor removed from her back, endured a couple back surgeries, can barely walk, and she is in too much pain to have sex for the last year. I asked how that's working for her husband. She said he drinks alot.....too much, and it's a problem.
Glad I'm not them!
I've also been trying to figure out where to go with my blog, now that the girls are gone. Any suggestions? Anything you'd like to know about? Seriously I feel like my life is so boring, it's not worth blogging about. Let's see: we cleaned out the shed & garage this weekend, I put in some laundry this am, ya know, boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been interested in reading a bunch of new blogs on simple living, frugality, and the like. I'm really interested. I found a great homemade recipe for a deep conditioner. Now that my hair is highlighted, it's as dry as straw. yuck. So, this recipe is 2T olive oil, 2 tsp honey. Heat it, rub it thru hair, and leave on for 20+ minutes, preferably with saran wrap or hot towel around the head. This did help my hair. Although, now I have an ant problem in my bathroom from where I rinsed my hair in the sink. Guess they like the honey? I've washed the sink twice, and still have an ant or two this am. Hopefully they'll go picnic somewhere else soon.
Also I tried the detergent recipe. It works like magic! I did find the ingredients at Fred Meyer, thanks Nancy for the tip.
In the interview process, the two owners told me multiple times that free services and discounted services was part of the deal. I worked 1.5 days and found out this is just not true. I have better things to do with my Saturday every week than work for minimum wage, on the busiest spa/salon day of the week, managing the place. Give me a break. Hope things work out for them (lol)......................
So let's see. I've been feeling depressed the last couple days, and nearly couldn't bring myself to even meet with a friend last night. Then I read a blog yesterday about a couple losing their child, and I thought, I really need to get out of the house. So I drug my butt out to dinner with a friend. I told my husband I'm really glad I did that. Seeing my friend made me realize there is always someone out there who has it worse!! My girlfriend has been in multiple car accidents in the last year, had a tumor removed from her back, endured a couple back surgeries, can barely walk, and she is in too much pain to have sex for the last year. I asked how that's working for her husband. She said he drinks alot.....too much, and it's a problem.
Glad I'm not them!
I've also been trying to figure out where to go with my blog, now that the girls are gone. Any suggestions? Anything you'd like to know about? Seriously I feel like my life is so boring, it's not worth blogging about. Let's see: we cleaned out the shed & garage this weekend, I put in some laundry this am, ya know, boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been interested in reading a bunch of new blogs on simple living, frugality, and the like. I'm really interested. I found a great homemade recipe for a deep conditioner. Now that my hair is highlighted, it's as dry as straw. yuck. So, this recipe is 2T olive oil, 2 tsp honey. Heat it, rub it thru hair, and leave on for 20+ minutes, preferably with saran wrap or hot towel around the head. This did help my hair. Although, now I have an ant problem in my bathroom from where I rinsed my hair in the sink. Guess they like the honey? I've washed the sink twice, and still have an ant or two this am. Hopefully they'll go picnic somewhere else soon.
Also I tried the detergent recipe. It works like magic! I did find the ingredients at Fred Meyer, thanks Nancy for the tip.
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