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The Things They Come Up With..

3:55 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
I was at the Starbucks in our local grocery store the other day with J-man. He'd endured our weekly shopping trip on the brink of starvation so I promised him something to eat and a hot chocolate. I asked him to go find us a seat and I would meet him there once I picked up our order. When I found him, he had chosen a seat at the bar table with those really high stools. He had his hair spiked and looked all grown up reading the newspaper some other patron had left behind. I pulled up the seat next to him and we started to eat.

A few minutes later we heard "Conceited?! I can't believe you just called me conceited!!!" then "Hey John! This girl just called me conceited can you believe that??" This continuted for the next five minutes or so...the boy being an obnoxious teenager (he turned out to be a worker bee on break) saying other things like "Dude I'm going to throw this jar for the poor at your head." and " Man, I can't believe she called me conceited!" flirting with this girl and showing off, not really caring who was around to hear it.

People began to turn and look. Throwing disgusted looks his way. The girl was obviously embarrassed, sucked down the rest of her lunch and went back to work. I looked at J-man all prepared to give him some motherly talk that included some semblance of "If I ever see you acting like that you'll be grounded for a million years" or " That was completely inappropriate behavior" when he stopped me in my tracks by sighing heavily, shaking his head and saying


Okay Happy? Not So Much..

7:40 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
Okay...so I'm bored hearing myself talk about all this school crap as I'm sure you were reading it...I decided not to bore you with the letter. BUT if you so choose to read it, it was a good one and you can find it here. For the summation of said letter, suffice it to say, I wrote it..it got to the right people at the right time and for the life of me I can't figure out why I'm so passionate about this. This is not the end, but right now I have to concentrate on planning and school and this takes a lot out of me.

Education. My passion is Education. Of me, of my kids, of your kids. I will never "get over it". It's who I am. Could I have made more of a difference if I had taken the committee position? Maybe. Have I always wanted my kids to go to an ethnically diverse school with a melting pot of nationalities, abilities, strengths and weaknesses ? Yes. All of this is happening for a reason and I know I've done everything I possibly could at this point to make sure that the right people know what is going on.

Will I move? Maybe. Depends on how the next year goes. Will I home school? Never. As a matter of fact I plan to move into the Pre-K class room next year as will Little Man and I don't even want him in my class. To me the parent/child and the teacher/student relationships are very different. I don't have the patience nor the discipline to homeschool. I admire those who do...you are stronger people than I .

I do and will spend a lot of time on my knees praying that I will progress in the right direction for all of these things though. Sometimes you just have to give it up, ya know?'

Thanks for the ear. Peace

Karma or Dharma? Part II...

10:15 AM Edit This 0 Comments »
Okay...so you have the history. We are now at the beginning of this school year. I am PTO President, have started a new job, have two children in school instead of one and the Hubs has started his new job with lots o' travelling involved. Way to jump in with both feet right?

My responsibilities include being a liason between the parents and the Administration, bringing enrichment programs into the school, such as SOL (Standards of Learning) based shows like The Maryland Science Center or Barefoot Puppets or Touched By the Sea. We also use the money to purchase educational materials for our kids like The Handwriting Without Tears Series. Not such a big deal right?

Right...for the most part. The exception, of course, had to come this year with the turmoil of combining two schools then separating them again. When it came time to decide which kids would go to what school, the County needed a committee to help make these initial decisions and lay the ground work for the coming year. Who was the first person my principal called?

Me. "Will this take a lot of time?" I asked. "Yes. Evening's mostly." she responded.

Did I accept? Nope. Should I have? Hmmmmm....There inlies the Dharma.

My neighbor, did however, accept what turned out to be a very pivital role in our community.

In a nutshell, our county is longer than it is wide. The Northern end has all of the (what I like to call) the "old money horse farms" in it, a lot of single homes with acreage (the ding-dang woods) with a few neighborhoods dispersed throughout with lots an acre or bigger (this is where I live). The first in this list, generally send their children to the private schools in the area. They usually take no interest in the public school system and usually abstain or vote "No" on the Bonds and Referendum's that would benefit our schools ( and yes, I have asked at least 5 families..who have either agreed or know of those who feel this way). What does this mean for us? No money.

The Central part of the County contains the most families. It's what I call Suburbia. Neighborhoods with houses on a 1/2 acre or less surrounding one town. This is where our High school is located and currently operating at 203% capacity (do we need a new highschool? Me thinks YES!!) This is also where the ONLY SCHOOL IN THE COUNTY holds our special needs population. They have 5 elementary schools, all of which are overcrowded or on the verge of being so.
The Southern end of the County is holding it's own as of now, as they have their own highschool and are slow growing.

The charge of the committee was to alleviate some the overcrowding in the Central Schools and fill up the Northern Schools, leaving all with room for growth. Sound easy? Ha! The Central Schools opted for trailers...all will be opening at 98% capacity or higher!

That leaves us at 70% and 72% capacity...again, no money. Money comes from this state based on per child basis. And this is what made me so angry a week or so ago.

We will be opening up next year, bare bones and under staffed. I had a conversation with the Principal at the height of my emotional state...probably not the best idea...but I was nice.

I started firing questions...and I got a lot of "should's" and "hopefully's". When she told me her staffing requests were turned down her exacts words were "I couldn't talk to anyone for 3 days because I was so upset."

THREE DAYS??? Three days that parents could've been contacting our county chairman, writing letters to the Superintendent, and/or making phone calls. As it stood now, I had Friday, Sat and Sun to calm down because Monday I was writing a letter to our county representative on the School Board seeing as how Tuesday he was presenting our budget requests for next year to the Board of Supervisors.

Some of the major issues...We currently have 5 Kindergarden classes and 6 1st grade classes. The K classes have between 21 and 25 children in them with 2 teachers (an aide and a teacher) when those kids move to 1st grade that 6th class alleviates the numbers leaving each class between 14 and 19 children. When we move into the new school...we will have 2 classes of each grade level. Worst case scenario 25-30 student capacity in the K classes..what happens when they move to 1st grade? Same numbers minus a second teacher. Not good.

*Our "town" has a high percentage of ESL and low income families, they will ALL be at our school now because of the redistricting decisions (here's where the Karma comes in..explanation to follow in a later post;0). This means, more paperwork for things like free and reduced lunch and simple clothing needs. Every ESL student needs an IEP (Individualized Education Program) which requires Principal involvements at the parent meetings (also we only have a part time Special Education Teacher to service not only these students but also the other students with learning and emotional disabilities) and time involved for an already overworked principal. We do not have enough students to justify an Assitant Principal ( the magic number is 300 we will have 230 with a projected 290 in the next 2-5 years IF the new developement goes in in town IF the water problem gets fixed..if ..if...if...!!!. ) So the Secretary ends up doing a lot of the paperwork, she is also answering the phones, dealing with general office stuff and disciplining children who are "sent to the Principal's office" for whatever reason, but she can't be there because she's doing the work of 10 people. Often the school nurse is answering the phone, doing lunch duty or covering other "duties" of our Secretary.

Okay off my soapbox now...more condensed version of issues in my letter to the District Chairman.


Tomorrow" The Letter "and the results of one voice ;0)

Part 2 Will Come on Friday...

12:00 AM Edit This 0 Comments »

Karma or Dharma? Part 1..A History Lesson

12:45 AM Edit This 0 Comments »
I'm so mad I could puke. Here's the short of the long story. When we moved here (4 years ago) our elementary school's were a small K-1 and a larger 2-5. I loved this idea...individual attention, small town environment with a county funded education. Great!

Great until they decided that the building the k-1 was housed in was/should be/will be condemned. The toilets constantly backed up and overflowed into the school because of the water situation, the foundation was separating from the building, the school had no central air and limited heat that constantly broke down and forced early or daily school closings, and the roof leaked. To name a few. It came down to fix it or close.

In 2000, about a year before we moved here, the citizens of this community, voiced strong support for keeping the school open. An alternate water source was found, thanks to a local benefactor, who purchased five acres of land contiguous to the school with a working well; they offered an easement to that water as long as the building is operated as a public school. Following further study the School Board voted in April 2001 to renovate our school and reconfigure it to a kindergarten through fifth-grade school.

Renovations were scheduled to begin in 2004, but a significant increase in estimated cost placed the school's future on the discussion table again ( this is where I came in...my son, then, in Kindergarten, now 1st grade) Due to health and safety concerns specifically related to the water system, students and staff were temporarily housed at the current 2-5 school for school years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. (Our current status)

From June to September 2004 the community (specifically this older group "Friend's of Our School" former students and teachers of said school back in the mid-late 60's) fervently expressed their desire to preserve the school as a neighborhood school and as a part of the African American heritage in the Northern part of the county and urged the School Board to renovate the school and open it as a kindergarten through fifth-grade school .

Finally, the County agreed to do something about it. This local group fought tooth and nail to keep the school open as a school and not an administration building or tear it down and build a new one. This was ONLY a fight based on the historical fact this was the only school left standing in the state that first opened its doors to the African American students in 1963, replacing a number of dated and smaller community schools throughout the area. In 1969, when schools in our county were integrated, the school opened its doors to children of all races. This group wanted to preserve the history of the building, as it should, and keep the school open. Done.

Now that renovations are due to be completed next Fall, we are struggling with where to put the kids, where to put the teachers and where the $ is going to come from to pay for all the programming that will bring our newly renovated school into the present and up to par with the others in the county.

And that my friends, will be tomorrow's addition.

Okay...if you've made it this far...thanks. Til tomorrow then.
3:16 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
This was too funny not to share...although lots of toilet humor involved...more serious stuff tomorrow. It can wait and I need to cool down ;0) Happy Monday...

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Another Little Guy-ism...

10:18 AM Edit This 0 Comments »
"One porkypind went into another porkypind and one came out. He touched him and said "friend-friend".

Translation: One porcupine said to the other porcupine..."Friends?" "Friends."

Guess you had to be there ;0)


...my little guy is sick. His brains are running out of every oraface on his face. He looks like Wolverine tried to attack him from the 3 huge scratches that run under his left ear but he still makes me laugh and is so darn cute I can't stop watching him. This was our conversation last night.

"But I don't like to sleep by myself."
"Honey, you're sick. You don't want to give your cold to J-man do you?"
"But I don't want to sleep by myself. Will you sleep with me?"
"For a little while.."
"Not with Daddy?"
"No. I'm going to sleep with Daddy in our bed."
"Can I sleep with you and Daddy?"
"No, sweetie, you're sick remember?"
"No I'm not. I went to the Dr. and he's said I'm awesome! I'm not sick anymore. No boogers are coming out of my nose. They all went back in."

*stiffled giggle*

"Really? Well, Mommy thinks you need one more night of you sleeping in your own bed just to be safe. Plus, you have all your friends here to keep you company tonight..Santa Bear, Froggie, Bunny, Melanie Bear, Pat the Patrol truck, Blanky, Thomas Blanky...etc."

"Yeah but none of those are talking friends!"

Thursday 13- Last Edition

3:13 PM Edit This 0 Comments »

How Smart Are You?

6:19 AM Edit This 0 Comments » I haven't done a little test in a while and this one makes me look really smart...so give a try and let me know how you do!

New Team...Go Steelers!

4:36 PM Edit This 0 Comments » Okay so let's try this again...Go Steelers! Actually if I had to pick a team, they would be mine. I just thought I'd route for the underdog this go around. That would've been a good Superbowl..the Skins and the Steelers. Oh well... the weekend was fun though painful.

I ended up at a brand new roller rink...yeah you heard me. I went roller skating this weekend and landed square on my pah-tooty! Actually I was on inline skates and my brake stop caught on the front of my other skate...over compensated and landed ...BOOOM! Somehow the ground seemed a lot farther away than it used too ;0)

J-man was thouroughly embarrassed, tears and all his first couple go arounds...then he decided to suck it up and listen to me.

"Hanging onto me throws you off balance and don't try to walk. It puts your heel first and then your foot will slide right out from under you."

By George I think he's got it!! 4 hours later he was playing games and having a blast...still falling but hopping right back up and moving on. They turned the lights off and the disco ball on and we skated in circles for hours. We played 4 corners and I won a Pepsi! The little skater "Staff" guy kept following me around...I think he was crushin'! Whoohoo I still got it baby! (No, he didn't see me land on my a$$! Nuff said!)

The wind that night was fierce and we were bombarded by ice pellets...two days earlier it was almost 70 degrees. Go figure!

We're going to try ice skating next weekend...Hopefully they have butt protection there.

Have you ever been this tired?
 My butt just can't stay in one place for very long...we're off to visit friends this weekend. Back on Monday!! Rest easy everyone...and GO SKINS!!

I feel Old...

7:05 AM Edit This 0 Comments »

I feel old...

1:33 PM Edit This 0 Comments » We have been studying about dinosaurs in the Class of the Small Ones. They have been carefully paper macheing and painting and glittering their very precious dinosaurs eggs (due to hatch tomorrow) layers upon layers of glop over a two week period...just waiting for the big day. We've learned about carnivores and omnivores and fossils; that no people really even existed in the time of the dinosaurs and what extinct means. We've sung songs about dinosaurs, made jello eggs with dinos in the middle, and made dinosaurs out of playdough. But mostly, we've read and looked at a ton of stories and books that really bring to life what dinosaurs were about and how long ago they really lived. So today I couldn't help but bust out when one of my kids had this conversation with me.

"Wouldn't it be cool if you could really have a dinosaur as a pet and he could play baseball with you?" I asked.

"Well we really couldn't because dinorsaurs aren't alive anymore." said Wes.

"No, you're right Wes. The dinosaurs are extinct now."

"Yeah, they lived a super long, long time ago....back in the 80's."

*sigh* Did I mention my 20 year High School Reunion is in September. AAACK!!

It's a Bouncing Baby Blogger Party!!

And YOU'RE invited!!! Our lovely guest of honor Angie is having a BOY!! And we are officially havin' a partay!! Please feel free to hop amongst the hostesses and play games, drink punch, have cake and be merry! Mistress Mary is taking guesses for weight, length and date, gifts may be brought to Momma K's house if you so desire, and please don't forget to drop in on our guest of honor! She's home and ready for company. But first , come play a baby shower game...yeah, yeah we all loathe them but secretly you know you want to!!

Is it pink?
Or is it blue?
Can you guess,
Which has the poo? 

Don't forget to go visit the other hostesses of the party...

Thanks for comin' and Happy Baby Angie!!! We love you!


1:28 AM Edit This 0 Comments »
We're outta here til Sunday. Celebrating the last of Christmas with the Sis and bro in law.

Just got home from seeing Brokeback Mountain...EXCELLLLLENT FLICK broke my hear though. Worth every penny. I'm moving to Wyoming now.


Thursday Thirteen # 4


From the Mouth of a Six Year Old...

6:38 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
"Mom? What happened to all the reading material that was in the bathroom?"


It Never Pays to Gossip..

3:59 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
I don't normally gossip. Here's why. (btw..the people I'm talking about have no clue about my bl** or anyone that reads it. so I don't consider this gossip.)

Before Christmas, I was shopping, of course, at Target. I happened upon an aquaintance that is nice enough, but whom I have found to be an unreliable "friend" we'll call her Dee...Dee starts to make idol chit chat about the holidays, our kids (they are in the same class) and other surface conversation. I said goodbye and thought that was that.


"Hey so what do you think about your neighbors?"
"Umm...which ones? " Fish...fish...fish..
"You know I saw him with his trainer at the hair salon."
"Yeah, are they getting a divorce? What all is happening over there? You know I never talk to her anymore...she's such a bitch. I just don't agree with her parenting skills, her kids are really rotten and I guess he didn't care much for her either! LOL!"

Okay, yeah, now I'm really going to rat out my neighbor who IS going through a rather rough time with her thank-God-they're separated, soon to be divorced dog of a spouse (but let me tell you what I really think ;0))

Blah..blah...blah... at this point I just shut her out..I don't want to hear what she has to say..although the info she just gave me was correct, I didn't know anything about it at the time and it was all hearsay. Not something you want to bring up in casual conversation. Rumors had been spreading like wildfire, but my neighbor hadn't actually spoken to me personally about anything and I've learned my lesson about hearsay. Her husband, in a nutshell, cheated on her after 14 years and 4 kids, with multiple women AND took about $300, ooo of her money and gambled it away unbeknownst to her.

This, however, is not my story. Yesterday, this neighbor, whom I have not yet told about my particular conversation with Dee. Says to me "So I heard you had a conversation with Dee about Greg?"

"uhhh...ummm..." What the heck do I say??? "Yes?"
"Well what exactly did she say?"

At this point I'm racking my brain over "How did she find out? What the heck did I say? What did she say?" I can't remember?

I ended up telling her exactly what she needed to know with a little prompting, "Did Dee actually see Greg with his trainer outside the hair salon?"
"Great thanks. Legally, this really helps me out."

Oh crap! What the heck did I just do? Legal help? I know she's a lawyer but I so don't want to get into the "He said, she said" crap. I don't want to be involved!!! Who the hell told her????

She leaves, happy as a clam, I sit there for the rest of the evening racking my brain out over who the heck told her, because I didn't tell anyone! Or did I ?
Moment of clarity hits.... I told ONE person in a momentary lapse of judgement and regretted it the minute it popped out of my mouth to the point of "SWEAR-to me-you-won't-say-anything-to-anyone-because-I-don't-want-her-to-hear-about-this-from-me-it's-none-of-my-business" spiel.

I SAID this to her. "Please don't tell anyone. I'm not really sure if it's true and I'd hate for her to find out from me if it is, at least through someone else. I'll tell her when I see her again." I remember it all very clearly now.


She not only told someone, but it was the someone that I wanted to tell myself. My bad...I should've done it earlier and didn't. I shouldn't have said anything to Joan and I did...she's forever using me to gang up on her husband or whomever using things I've told her in confidence...I KNOW THIS!! Why am I surprised?? I'm not. I could just kick myself for not paying attention.

This is why it doesn't pay to gossip...it not only hurts people I care about and it ALWAYS gets me in trouble!


10:55 AM Edit This 0 Comments » Click Here for your New Year's Greeting ;)