New beginnings

The new school year has begun. Summer just flew by. Zoe started fourth grade at a brand new school. We're working with her to get on track with her homework and staying on schedule. She is trying her best, but some days are tough.

Here’s a photo of Zoe on her first day of school. My sister Leesa sent her a box full of new clothes from Old Navy. Thanks, Leesa!

Owen started Pre-K this year. It's a dual-language program with half the day in English, and half in Spanish. I hope he absorbs the Spanish like a sponge. I think its essential to know Spanish, and that it is much easier to learn it when you are young.

We've been struggling to stay on schedule. We are not morning people and Zoe’s school bus is at 7:05! Due to first the Olympics, and now the Presidential party politics we’ve been sleep deprived. As responsible parents, we have to make things work. You do what it takes.


Bob was in Denver visiting his sister Amy just days before the DNC. He snagged me a few Democratic momentos. I'm a proud Democrat and I am hopeful for a new administration next year. Just think of the new beginnings we can celebrate together.

Inflation

Hey, I was interviewed last week because the cost of school lunch is going up by ten cents. Sadly, I end up sounding rather pompous. Here's the full story.

I can handle this minor increase of ten cents. It's just one of the many costs of having children. You are obliged to buy or make their lunch.

I think about the women who work to prepare these meals. To me, they are heroic. I could not cope with 600 children every day. I do hope that these workers are given an increase so that they can feed their children. On July 1, the minimum wage in North Carolina increased to $6.55 per hour. Let's hope that these working women earn more than the minimum wage.

When I grew up, one of six children, our family was eligible for reduced-fee school lunch. They were horrible lunches. We were served mystery meat, hot dogs and beans, sloppy joes and canned corn, and fish sticks with tater tots on Fridays. Remember Regan's draconian cuts in food stamps and school lunch programs? Remember, catsup as a vegetable?

Today, we know better. Now, kids are given options, with fresh vegtables and fruits. They don't always select the healthy stuff, but at least it's a choice.

Now, don't get me started on the price of gas.

Happy New Year to all

First, we want to wish our friends and family a very Happy New Year. 2008 is going to be a great year. I'm sure of it.

We had quiet holidays spending time with the kids and resting. We snuck in some work too. We caught up with a stuff in the house. Since Bob is self-employed he has lots of trouble slowing down.

Bob worked too much and we squabbled about it. The kids alternated between being very demanding or becoming zombies by television. We rented DVDs and tried to fit in some time outside when it wasn't raining. We limit them to 1/2 hour or less a day with more on the weekends. It's just not feasible on a very wet long winter break.

We did more cooking and eating than usual. We made some treats and some traditions. We made Latkes to instill the tradition even though neither of my kids like them. We made cookies and brownies--big surprise--they do like them. I made a few experimental journeys in the kitchen. Thanks to Cooks Illustrated, I learned how to make French Onion Soup from scratch and Almost No-Knead Bread. The soup was amazing and I will make it again. The bread was still too much fuss for me. Since bakeries with good bread abound, it is better to leave bread to the professionals.

We caught up on some reading and crafting. The kids did some painting with watercolors and of course I knit. I'm catching up on several projects and trying to resist starting new ones. Even so, I started a simple Aran vest for Owen. I'm nearly done with the back. And, Zoe is really enjoying the Harry Potter books. She is deep into book five.

Bob & I celebrated the anniversary of our marriage in style with two kids in tow at a local fish restaurant. No, it was not romantic, but at least we were together. We will have many more with just the two of us. Our kids will have their own agendas. For now it's the awesome foursome.

Of course there were some missing things, first we missed all of you. And, we wished for snow. Even though we desperately need the rain here, we were sad that it didn't snow.

Tomorrow is both the first day of school for Zoe (third grade!) and our wedding anniversary (15 years!). Zoe is excited about school. We all went to school on "meet the teacher" night last week. I've heard good things about her teacher. The word on the street is good. We are breathing a sigh of relief. That will be a huge improvement over last year.

We spent the weekend getting better organized. We put away old toys. It's a huge uphill battle at our house. We have too much stuff and more shows up every day.

We went to Target and bought some cube shelves and canvas bins to hold the zillions of Lego's and train tracks. We picked out some new clothes and school supplies. We're ready for what we need, but we're not quite mentally ready. The temps are still in the high 90s. We're still in shorts and t-shits. We want to languish a bit more at least until after Labor Day.

Alas, we don't get to determine the school schedule. It's going to rough getting up at 6 AM again. We got off schedule in June, and have not been able to get back on track yet. It takes more discipline than I can muster. I think it has to do with not getting enough vacation time. We're worn out and just plain tired.

As the kids get older, it will get better. Middle school starts an hour later than elementary school. High school start an hour later than middle school. Until then, I will get up earlier and be better prepared. We have at least ten more years of this, so we have to make peace with it. But, I do reserve the right to complain about it.

Carrboro Elementary School Fair

Zoe and Owen became tigers at the school fair. We had a fun time, but the weather was not good.

Owen is difficult to manage at things like this. He runs off and gets lost in the crowd. We lost him at least eight times.

We spent the whole day and a lot of money to support our school. I took pictures for the school newsletter, The Carrboro Chalkboard. You can download a PDF from the school website. I'm pretty happy with the results.

T.V. time

 

There is an ongoing struggle between the parents and the kids in our home. The struggle can get pretty ugly at times. They want more T.V. time, and we want them to have less. As you can see from these pictures, they are transfixed by T.V.

We do place strict limits on T.V. time because these kids would watch T.V. all day if we let them. We try to limit them to a half an hour a day on school nights. In fact, there's lots of nights with none because we run out of time.

It's a bit of a struggle with the adults too. I enjoy many programs. Bob doesn't watch ANY. So, I'm the bad influence on the kids. Lately we've been watching a stunning series on the Discovery channel. Planet Earth show. For years, I've enjoyed watching the PBS Nature show. As he passes by, Bob just groans, "Oh, no, more sea otters!"

On the weekends, I have started a tradition of Saturday movie night. I enjoy movies and want to have some fun traditions with my kids. Since most of the movies are animation or other mind-numbing, rated-G ilk, I get in some reading or take up my knitting.

We've recently started using REDBOX $1 per night DVD rentals. So easy, cheap and good, I dropped Netflicks. As we say in Boston, they are wicked pissa.

So, we rent a movie, we make popcorn, and we have some T.V. time.

You like pencils and so do I

I found a scrap of paper at the bottom of Zoe's backpack. It lists some of the nice things that her classmates wrote about her:
"You are a great student. You often carry the ball outside for us. You are very cool. You have cool imaginary friends. You have a great imagination. You are nice. You are open-minded and a lot of fun. You like to share. You do your best. I like your clothes. You like pencils and so do I."

101st post

My last post was my 100th post. I meant to mark the occasion but I couldn't come up with anything clever. Then a lot of time lapsed. And, now I'm ranting again.

The reasons are many, and typical. My doctor had me worried for three weeks about some blood work. I had some nasty, brutal dental work with more to come. I got stressed out from that and then got sick. I enrolled in yet another computer class (Dreamweaver). My new job is harder. The book club I joined is reading interesting books that I feel compelled to read.

My kids are being extra difficult. Owen is screaming all the time. He's waking up screaming about missing blankets and scary monsters in his room. Zoe is having trouble with school. She avoids and deliberately looses her homework every week.

I had to go on a stressful, freezing business trip to New York City. The average temp was 12 degrees with a terrible wind bring it to -12 degrees. Even though I'm from Boston, I can't remember ever being so cold. And, my return flight was a nightmare. The plane was broken, and we had to get off, wait, wait, wait and wait. Then rush to another airport and try to get home. That flight was full, and then delayed. Are you surprised to learn that I threw up on the plane, and in the parking garage, and again in my car? (Their barf bags do work surprisingly well.)

And, my husband is working too much, and traveling more. Oy vey!

Of course, the things that I drop are exercising, sleeping, blogging, and knitting...not necessarily in that order. Just all the things that I do to help me relax.

Improving health and school starting

I was surprised this morning when my wedding band just fell off my hand. It's gotten looser. I guess I've lost a few pounds. That's a good thing.

My skin problems are almost cleared up. I'm still on some drugs and a bit itchy and spotted. My dermatologist doesn't want to see me for two weeks. I am very sick of going to the doctor. My primary care doctor was sorry for all I'd been through. She should be since she didn't manage my case very well.

Today I'm appreciating all the free time I have. I was spending at least an hour a day putting on ointments and creams, taking pills, bandaging, cleaning and soaking. I have a bit more time to blog.

Other important events: Miss Z. is back at school. She's excited and already loves her teacher. There are only 18 kids in her class. We went to meet her teacher and feel good about everything.

We had a busy Labor Day weekend. We had a rain storm and power failure on Thursday. Owen was very freaked out about the lights going on and off for a couple minutes. He kept asking, "What happened?" We had a meeting with Zoe's teacher Friday afternoon, a visitor from Boston came over for dinner on Friday night. We did a bunch of errands and house clean up on Saturday. I made three batches of brownies, and 36 deviled eggs for two parties on Sunday. We had our annual block party in the afternoon and a knitting group get together on Sunday night at my house. My knitting buddies came over to watch the Spike Lee HBO movie, When the Levees Broke. Then on Monday, we had a day-long play date with two kids and their mom stayed for dinner. Whew! I'm a bit tired.

On Labor Day, Zoe woke up early and came into our room. She wanted to know what Labor Day was. After my coffee, I explained to her the significance of the day with a bit of pinko, commie, lefty, May-Day spin on it all. I guess my Marxist Economics class was useful for something.

My brilliant daughter

This week Zoe performed at The ArtsCenter. She's been going there for summer camp.

Hubby went and video tapped it. I was in the clouds of happiness seeing her on stage!! I am so grateful everyday for her being a great kid and that we live in such a nice community where the arts are encouraged.

Go to Zoe Marta's blog. Enjoy!