Not So Bloggy

Haven't been feeling very bloggy this month at all, not that there hasn't been things going on; quite the contrary, there's been plenty. Ben and Ethan have been into writing letters lately (however I'm still trying to get them to understand how to address them properly), recently after a disappointing candy experience Ben actually sat down a wrote a letter to the Spangler Candy Co. that makes Dum Dum suckers to express his disappointment in the lack of chewy chocolaty center to his lollipop. Low and behold he received a sizable box in the mail with not just a sucker but a whole bag of them with a nice response explaining that sometimes things get through quality control at the end and the beginning of the runs and the suckers don't get filled properly. Needless to say Ben was beyond excited and promptly sat down to write a thank you letter to the company for their attention to customer satisfaction.

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Ethan's latest shot in the arm was being accepted to the Safety Patrol! He works during the 4th grade recess to make sure everyone stays safe on the playground. The first day he had a few of his peers giving him grief but the teachers and principal backed him up and dealt with the defenders and it hasn't happened since. I'm very proud of him for getting all the paperwork filled out and turned in on time and for taking his responsibilities seriously. Anyone considered has to have good grades and no disciplinary infractions.

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Had several substitute jobs over the past few weeks and have now been in every building at least once. One thing that I have observed as consistent in any building or grade is that the productivity significantly decreases after lunch and each hour after until final bell. My remembrance of school was that most kids were pretty concerned about their grade and giving a good performance but the overall attitude lately is pretty noncommittal, they don't really care if they get an A, an E, or even finish the work. I'm still trying to understand how they handle the learning "impaired" in the upper grades, mainstreaming them into the regular classroom makes for an extremely disjointed day. I also recently learned that our teachers, principals, nor administration have any say in the curriculum the district uses, it's all state mandated. Yuck! Takes all the creativity out of being a teacher....plus one size does not fit all, compared to the educational strides being made in China we're moving toward the demeanor of a third world nation. Sad. Ethan and I had a discussion about homeschooling again. I'm torn. There are things I like and dislike about public and home school. I wish I could take the best pieces of both to make a well-rounded experience for the boys. Fox will be making the move to high school next year will probably duel enroll the whole way through with the goal of obtaining a business associates along with his high school diploma, plus he'll take advantage of the ed-tech program as well.

Last weekend the kids learned how to make ravioli from scratch with my Dad. It was quite the process but with all the helping hands we got quite a few made just a few hours. They tasted great but I'm thankful for frozen ravioli, cuz it's a lot of work to make it like they did in the old country. We went out in the afternoon to see the Megamind movie which was cute; evil becomes good and good becomes evil.

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Alex got registered for the Winter semester at Mott. She was a bit shocked when I supported her taking non-core classes but I'm glad to have her in something that will be more interesting. She got lucky and has the majority of her classes on Monday and Wednesday out at the Flint campus which is where most of the music and theater classes are and will taking Intro Acting, Intro Screenwriting, a Beginning Guitar class, and Keyboard I (piano with the teacher we used to go to for private lessons). Then she's got Ethics one night at Lapeer with the same prof she had for Intro Philosophy.

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Ethan has been doing well with his guitar lessons and I've been working on getting my string fingers back also, working through my classical guitar book. It takes a while to get those callouses back, but they fade surprisingly fast. Soon Alex, E and I will be able to work on some selections together. I also purchased some painting supplies and am looking forward to some cathartic creating. Plus I've been given an assignment by the counselor to "write it out" and purge all the feelings about mother's illness, death, and family. This is something that's been in my mind to do but I haven't put it into action yet. She wants me to get cracking on it tout suite so we can analyze and emulsify. I may not be doing much else over the next few weeks.

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The concert for the Lapeer County Community Chorus is next week already; then Star of Wonder program shortly after that (I'll begin painting shirts tomorrow) and finally the NB Schools program. Choice Time Choir has been challenging time wise because they cancel it for assemblies sometimes without notice. I only get them for a half hour a week as it is! Thankfully they're a great bunch and pick up songs very quickly. Next year however I think we'll morph to an after school practice with the upper elementary and the middle school together....

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Looking forward to Turkey Day with the out-laws. Rob will be heading off to Manitoba shortly afterward and the rest of us will hold down the fort and wait for the snow to fall.

No No November

Feeling obligated to update but not really inspired; it's been an odd week with much going on yet nothing at all. Sports have finally concluded for the fall season with a final make-up soccer game Tuesday (man, it gets cold when that sun goes down). Halloween was decent, we just went around up in North Branch, the first time we've done that in many years since we used to go to mom's house in Grosse Pointe for the last five. Rob and I worked the Haunted House, he in the parking lot and I taking tickets and psyching people out at the door before they entered. There were about 175 people that came through which was their biggest night of the month. I was interested to learn he runs it as a fundraiser for athletic, community, and church groups; those who come volunteer get to take a decent portion of the night's proceeds. Nice.


Also dealt with a stomach flu which had me down for a few days, the worst of it only lasted 24 hours but it takes several days until you're on solid ground again. Ben stayed home yesterday with it. I did manage to eek in a sub job at the high school on Wednesday for one of the science teachers, Intro Macrobiology classes and an Environmental Science class. Went well, pretty mellow with only one extremely immature bunch right after lunch. Go figure. This is the same group from the nightmare English classes I had last year.


Alex's financial aid finally got straightened out and logged on her account so Fall is now paid for in full and she is released to register for the Winter semester. She is finally getting a clue that she should have thought things out better during her senior year and has been flip flopping in what she really wants to do. Everything she's been bringing up now are things I'd mentioned to her before but she didn't want to deal with it. During our chats I explained that part of the whole college experience is testing out different things to find out what you want to do, and not knowing exactly what your total focus should but is not unusual and it is certainly not to late to get on the right track. Since she registered at the final hour for Fall classes at Mott she got the bottom of the barrel choices and has really been dreading it. For winter she is going to take more art and creative based classes which hopefully will spark her enthusiasm again. But of course you're never going to love every class you're required to take. Serious topics of late include transferring to U of M Flint for next year, she had already been accepted but didn't pursue it fully originally since she kept a primary focus on Grand Valley. She's also mentioned cosmotology school but although I haven't completely condemed it I gently tried to tell her I didn't think it would be satisfying to her long term. Getting back into some music or writing classes will make a world of difference in her outlook as well as being involved in a dramatic production somewhere. If the class schedule works out she's talked about auditioning for 'Mousetrap' at the Pix, that would be cool.


Haven't taken many pictures of late but here's a blast from the past picture. This is me with the Farrah hair, oh yeah '80s baby, and my little brother, with a colleague of my dad's checking out some crazy aparatus in the electronics lab at Henry Ford Community College.

Finally I'll leave with a 3 Things Meme

3 things I love: the smell of lilacs, walking the dog, my kids/hubby

3 things I loathe: doing dishes, doing laundry, stupidity

3 places I'd like to visit: Europe, Australia, South America

3 places I wouldn't want to be: the Middle East, jail, hell

3 items I wish I had: an awesome laptop, blackberry, better stereo

3 accomplishments I strive for: inner peace, income that more than meets our needs, caring & responsible kids