Taking the Scenic Route

Zach’s first day as a Graduate Teaching Assistant today.  He said it went well, but it felt really strange to be the one at the front of the room with people coming to him for questions and raising their hands for him to call on.  It looks like he is basically going to be a massively underpaid teacher this semester since he is supposed to lecture and not just answer questions.  He will be great at it.  One of the classes he is a student in has only 8 people in it right now. 

Zane went to his art class today.  Big surprise, he had problems staying in his seat.  He was the youngest person in the class it seems, and there are only 4 kids.  This will be interesting.  Today they did playdoh for a while and then watercolors.  The brushes they gave them were the really small brushes though and Zane was having problems since it doesn’t hold much paint.  I guess I need to give him smaller brushes at home so he can get used to that…I always give him those fat “kid friendly” brushes.  He did do really well with the playdoh though.  He is doing better at waiting his turn to use things too instead of just grabbing them…that is good. 

I am just exhausted, so I really don’t feel like writing any more.  It was a good day though.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/04.09/ChildrenNeedTou.html

My birthday celebration was really nice today.  Mom & Dad took us all out to Carrabas.  Yummy!  Zane traced the mazes, drew a little, and talked about the pictures in his books.  It was a really nice meal with good conversation.

Joy was even able to make it.  I was so relieved to see her doing better.  She still has a number of weeks on the antibiotic before she knows whether she will need open heart surgery again, but at least she isn’t going downhill at this point.  They even gave me a birthday gift…some really nice photo frames.  It is something I never buy for myself but I really could use since I like taking pictures. 

We all went to Sams afterward and talked while they shopped.  Zane was talking up a storm and regaling my mom with “Wheels on the Bus” among other things.  It was really sweet. 

No posting of pictures yet.  Dh is reformatting his computer and they are on his second hard drive, which is not connected to his system right now, so it depends on how long it takes for that process to complete itself.

Funny Zane thing:  He has a little kitchen thing from Fee and there is a little table that attaches to the “kitchen” part of it.  It has one leg and normally stays up because it is hooked to the other part.  Zane brought it from his room and is trying to set it up in the living room, sans kitchen part, and it is fun to watch him as he tries to lean it against various things seeing if it will stay upright….that little mind is really working right now.  As I type, he has it leaned against the wall and is headed to the kitchen, so I better see what he is wanting to do with his table.  lol.

how sad is this. lol.

so, you think I got any bonus points for taking a “how nerdy are you” quiz at 2:30 in the morning?

I am so horrified I can’t even think reasonably.  I was reading around my AP blogrings and came across this gem:  ***edited out ****

How can somebody who is a part of a Christian AP and an AP blog ring advocate Cry It Out.  There was even one horrifying comment about children crying because of their “sinful nature”.   I literally saw red and nearly puked when I read this.  Our main job as Christain parents to the very young child is to demonstrate God’s love to them, demonstrate how the Ultimate Parent loves and cares for our every need unconditionally.  He does not say “I will only love you when you are complient”, he hears our laments, our worries, our concerns and COMFORTS us.  He NEVER leaves us alone to “cry it out” because it is inconvient to Him.  AAAARRRRGGGG! 

It can never be “for the good of the family” if it means one family member will feel unloved and abandoned. I can’t even put what I really think of this woman because it would be so acid-filled and just thinking about the horror of what she is so smuggly doing makes me think some less-than-Christian thoughts about her.  And the comments..wuh…how aweful and moronic.  That poor, poor child.  This really ruined my evening.

eta:  I apologize because I should not have gotten so angry.  It is none of my business how she choses to raise her child.  I strongly believe that CIO is wrong, and there are numerous studies that have born that out, but it is not my business if somebody chooses to parent a different way than I do.  I should certainly have been nicer, even in my comments above.  I removed the link, but left the other comments unaltered.  Again, I should not have lashed out like that and I realize that now.

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meee-eeee, happy birthday to me.   

Now, when I get pregnant, I will be “of advanced maternal age”

Well, I have obviously been neglecting my blog for a while.  Seems like we have been terribly busy.   Zach’s last day at Boeing was yesterday.  He got a card signed by all his coworkers saying how much they are going to miss him and his manager seemed like he was almost in tears saying good-bye to him and kept reminding him that he could use him as a reference and that he could always come back.  It is just a shame there were no benefits to that job, it would have certainly made a difference if he had been a permament employee with the better pay and benefits.

On Tuesday classes start.  He got the key to his office and the building this week.  It is sort of strange to have the keys to a campus building.  We talk to the HR department on Monday and find out if there are any benefits like health insurance.  I hope so, but I am not counting on it.  It looks like you have to be assigned to teaching a certain amount of hours (which nobody is assigned to btw) to get those benefits.

We have enrolled Zane into two classes at the Y for the winter I session.  One is the tumble tots class that he went to early last fall (for walking – 3yo) and the other is a new arts class.  We haven’t been to the arts class yet due to the ice storms and then just plain forgetting about it last Tuesday because we were running around at the college all day.  The tumble tots class went better than it did last fall.  It is very clear his receptive language skills are much more in line with were they should be. 

Speaking of language skills, when we took the tree down this week we realized the immense strides his verbal ability has taken since we put the tree up.  It is just astonishing.  His interest in books has just blossomed too.  He liked looking at books by himself before, but wasn’t all that interested in having them read to him very often and I felt like I was giving a recitation to a not-so-attentive audience when I sat and read to him.  Now he runs and gets books (all the time saying “book, book, book” as he brings it to me) and insists I read to him.  He responds to what I reading, and just gets totally into it.  We got him “Harold and the Purple Crayon” on Tuesday and I think I about have it memorized now from him requesting it so many times.  He is also REALLY liking his Maisy books, his Thomas (“tos-mos”) books, and “My many colored days” by Dr. Suess.  (although he doesn’t like the “purple day”, and his favorite is “orange day” and the “weeeeeee” on the yellow day. lol  That might be because his mama spent too many years in forensics and theater and is *slightly* expressive.)

I am gonna go…speaking of books, I just got a request for “Maisy goes shopping”.  lol.  We will celebrate my birthday tomorrow and I will try to post some pictures from this last week with the birthday pictures.

You might be a right wing Republican if …

• you have bumper stickers that read “nuke his ass” next to “I support life.”

• you believe less ozone is better for a quicker tan.

• you support the AK-47’s becoming legal. “It’ll keep them doughnut eating cops on their toes.”

• you think acid rain helps cleans your driveway.

• you believe “smok ‘em out” is written in foreign policy.

• your rifle gets more fondling than your wife.

• you think no child left behind is a new bus service to the KKK rally.

• you use “uh” as the seventh vowel.

• you think Bush is the closest thing to God because of his ability to cause an apocalypse.

• you think David Duke is from Hazzard County.

• you are encouraged by Bush’s C+ average scholastic history. “Gee, even you could rule the free world.”

• you think ‘Hail to the Chief’ would sound better being played on a steel guitar.

• you confuse Stephanopoulos with Snuffagolpolus.

• you believe Jesse Jackson is the anti-Christ and Jerry Falwell should be referred to “his popeness.”

• you are certain Bush has created jobs because you have three to pay for your heat bill.

• you think “Dueling Banjos” should be the prelude for every press conference.

• you thought “need some wood” in the debates promoted Viagra.

• you believe the Iraqi elections will be fair just like ours.

• you are against gay marriage but have no problem marrying your cousin.

• you believe it was Clinton’s fault for leaving to much money to play with.

• you think Colin Powell should be replaced by Cooter.

• you think Martin Luther King is the guy who built your street.

• you blame Clinton for having jobs to lose.

• you hate Michael Moore so much your thermostats read in Celsius.

• you think mercury in your fish adds flavor.

• you think the Republican Party likes you for more than your money.
  

The Republican National Committee announced that the Republican Party is changing its emblem from an elephant to a condom.  The Nation Chairman explained that the condom more clearly reflects the party’s stance today, because a condom accepts inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you  a sence of security while you are being screwed.

Overnight forcast is “freezing fog”.  That’s a new one.  Dh is going to attempt to go to work tomorrow. (technically, later today)  The school systems are all closed, as are many businesses, but the University is going to be open, so he is planning on trying tomorrow.  He has been off since Dec. 23 and money is a little tighter than tight right now.  The best paycheck possible next week is around $80, and that is only if he can make it tomorrow.  We haven’t been able to pay our car tags yet, so that money is still in our account, otherwise it would be REALLY tight.  (we have tried to get car tags several times, but they have been closed for holidays, then audits, then the weather made it too dangerous even if they were open, and I don’t think they were).  Luckily, dh went downtown to get the “your headlights broken and if you don’t get it fixed in 10 days it will be $65 fine” ticket taken care of.  It would really stink to have a bench warrent out for a broken headlight.  lol.  At least it was just a warning so it was a big hassle, but no fine since we got it taken care of in time.

It looks like another big winter storm is due in the middle of next week.   It is good he knows he has another job to go to, because it feels pretty weird to not go to work for almost a week due to weather.  Technically, he is excused if there is a travel warning out, but who knows how that actually plays itself out.  Some companies mean it when they say that, some don’t.  Some bosses have lived with crummy, old cars, and some have no concept that you are putting your life at risk trying to get to work in your POS car while they are able to get there with their shiny new 4 wheel drive pickup trucks.  The last week was expected to be fairly busy too since people tend to forget their passwords and such over holiday break.

Irony – he really needs to get there so he can give his 10 day notice that he is quitting.  lol.

Man, cold weather sucks sometimes.  Zach spent an hour trying to get IN to our cars.  Both were frozen shut and both are really old, so you don’t want to just start tugging on the handles (especially the ponitiac) because they will just break off.  He finally got into the Olds, but it wouldn’t even turn over.  The cold killed the battery.  So, he went out again trying to get in to the Pontiac.  It took a while, but he finally got the front passenger door open and it did turn over.  So, now he is trying to clear the ice off the windows.  It will be a while. 

This is one of the only situations I am glad we aren’t home owners because we don’t have to deal with cleaning up tons of branches, plus, since we are in higher density housing, we got electricity turned back on a LOT sooner than most people.  They expect it to be another 10 days for a lot of people.  The more rural you are, the longer it will take.  My folks didn’t loose theirs this time and have had my Grandma over since hers got knocked out.  Of course, the more rural you are, the more likely you are to be prepared for a lack of electricity.

A few Ice Storm pictures.  It isn’t as dramatic as some of the local areas because we aren’t wide open to the north.  As the ice accumulated on the branches, the branches kept drooping lower and lower, changing the angle that new ice formed, so we ended up with almost curly icicles.

This sign isn’t really that close to the tree, but the tree is so weighted down with ice that it is spreading out, with branches almost touching the ground.

A foot outside our door.  The wall to our apartment building is just to the left of what is shown.

And finally, warm insides, Zane watches his train