Halloween saftey...check the candy

As always, check your and your kids' Halloween candy before eating. Specifically, throw out all chocolate coins.

As has been recently reported throughout the internet, and today in the LA times, chocolate candy, specifically chocolate coins, have been imported through Canada from China; most were sold under the brand "Pirate's Gold," and were sold at Costco and have since been recalled. Those coins may contain melamine, the dangerous toxin linked to the recent infant deaths in China.

Be extra cautious when you are eating, and handing out the treats this week.

How a pair of socks= a melt down

I had a bit of a melt down today. After not sleeping the last two nights, feeling the stress of the current job situations with Bryan's job loss and my "situation that will not be named" at school, plus managing other activities with friends, family and church and of course the regular mundane household chores and the responsibilities and expectations that come with parenting a developing and stubborn toddler, I suddenly felt very overwhelmed.

I wanted someone to talk to, but I didn't want to stress him out any further than he already is. I just needed to vent and to hear that voice of reason and humor that I could always count on in times of stress; I wanted to talk to my mom. But I couldn't talk to her of course, (I had to remind myself,) she died two years ago. So I swallowed down my emotions and I pushed through the day. It was only a matter of time before it all boiled over.

It was laundry that finally pushed me over the edge. We were getting ready to go to an engagement party this afternoon and I was trying to find something to wear- not fancy, just clean and acceptable for public viewing. I couldn't find anything, all my clothing it seemed was either dirty, missing or suddenly didn't fit even if it had fit just a week prior.

My body had all of a sudden taken on a life of its own and I subsequently became the stereotype in every sketch comedy and stand-up routine about women and wives, stomping around half-dressed declaring I had "nothing to wear," breathing expletives in my closet at nobody in particular and shoving clothes from the clean-clothing basket into my drawers.

It came to a head when I found Bryan's socks on my dresser, again. (Bryan had already put his clothes away.) This was the third or fourth time in the last few months that this particular pair of socks had appeared in my pile of clothing, or on top of my dresser even though it was obviously not mine. He walked in during my tirade and I tossed them at him, "these are YOUR Socks!!!" I shouted.

"Okay..why are you yelling at me?"

"Because!" Cue tears.... "This is the third time," sniff, "I have had to give them to you in the last month; how hard is it to put your own socks away..." sniff, sniff "can't you tell what your own socks look like!?!"

He looked at me incredulously, as if I had just fallen off the crazy train. And no, it is not that time of the month, in case you are wondering.

The stress of his job loss and my work "situation" had been eating at me all weekend; I had been walking around with it brewing inside. I was feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and now suddenly overcome with the deep and gut-wrenching desire to talk to my mother.
I became simultaneously frustrated and mournful and so I responded as any responsible adult would do, I threw a temper tantrum about a pair of socks, because I'm cool like that.

I apologized to my husband and explained I was just feeling overwhelmed about my school situation and his job situation and how suddenly today, I was missing my mother. He told me he understood and that he too he was freaking out and that I had apparently acted the way he is feeling, so no harm, no foul.

Good times.

Why "Weekend Update" makes me laugh.

Last night before the regular live broadcast of SNL, they aired two episodes of SNL's "Weekend Update, Thursday edition," which I had missed previously. They were discussing the third debate in an installment called "We liked it..." Amy Poehler's dry wit made me almost spray my beverage out my nose:

POEHLER - "I liked how they talked about education because I think teachers are underpaid. But you know who's not underpaid? Plumbers. Plumbers are doing just fine. They are recession-proof. You might not buy a new car when the economy is down, but if your toilet's backed up, you're calling a plumber. America will put up with a lot of things but we will not settle for being ankle-deep in our own poop."

POEHLER - "You know what (else) I like? I like how in two debates John McCain has compared Obama to Herbert Hoover. Aw snap! Way to connect with the youth of the country with a Hoover reference! You got him good. But why stop there? Hey young people, what about William Ayers? That guy is a regular Emma Goldman. You know, the anarchist who incited violence in the early 1900's?

Oh you don't know?

That's because your teachers get paid worse than plumbers."

Like I said, soda almost came out my nose.

A million things

I have about one million thoughts running through my brain right now. At the top of the playlist are, trying to help Bryan find a new career path, looking for a vehicle as with the loss of his job also goes his field car. (But that's really minor.)

I'm dealing with an issue @ work which I can't really discuss, but is of the variety that will probably give me an ulcer. Right now, it is keeping me from sleeping and I need to be up @ 7:00am so I can make it to church to be on the worship team.

I am being observed by my principal on Monday and I don't feel comfortable with my lesson plan as I'm new to this curriculum.
I will have no time to work on school stuff tomorrow and I have a parent meeting Monday morning before school.

Finally, Evie has developed a nasty habit of hitting lately. Mostly in self- defense @ pre-school, against another child who bites (nice eh?) But it is always a proud moment to walk in to pick up your child to find her in the circle with the kids, sitting in a high chair with a toy train (all the other kids are playing on the floor)...."She was having hard hands,." the teacher tells me.

I'm so proud.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Severance, anticipated

Many have asked today if we are being affected by the white collar job cuts @ Chrysler, which were announced this morning; the answer is yes. As the economy has continued to dwindle, the automotive industry has floundered. We have anticipated with apprehension that eventually a re-structuring of some kind would come our way; the announcement came today.

If you are the praying kind, please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we negotiate unknown waters in the weeks and months to come as my husband and family begin a new chapter as he searches for a new direction.

Field Trip

I'm going on a field trip tomorrow (Thursday) to the Pacific Science Center; I'm going with the entire 7th grade. We are going to learn about hominids and dinosaurs and various other very old and dead things that I'm sure will astound and amaze their young minds.

My job will be to make sure nobody runs away, breaks anything important, or gets abducted.

Please pray for me.

Infection

Evie has an ear infection in both ears. Again.
In case you're wondering, she's had an new ear infection every six weeks for the last year.

Yes, she qualifies for tubes.

No, she's not old enough to get them.

You would think she would be used to the doctor and the little flashlight, but no, she acted like they were killing her. She screamed and squirmed through the examination as if they were stabbing her in the head with sharp knives; all they did was shine a small light in her ears.

The tears really flowed when the nurse had the audacity to walk back into the room; in her hand she held a small syringe of pink cherry-flavored medicine. This was all it took for the screaming to hit a new decibel.

I took the syringe and squirted the goop in her mouth during one of her screams, it only took about two seconds for the screaming to stop, as she started smacking her lips together--she remembered she likes cherry-flavored medicine and she opened up again to drink up the rest. All was well until the nurse reached out to take the empty syringe from me.

More screaming, and glaring, just for good measure.

My girl, she's got a flair for the dramatic. I blame my mother.

Why

Click here if you want to understand one of the many reasons why we are pro-choice.

The only person left watching ER

I think I'm one of the only people still watching ER. And as the last living ER fan, I must say, this year is a doozie, what with all the cast members dying off and/or leaving to go off and live new story lines.

Every week, another cast member goes away, and I suppose as it is the end of the series, they have to tie up all the loose ends, but really, this is getting ridiculous.

A beautiful family

My sister sent me a new family photo. I cannot handle the cuteness of her kids...

A conversation with my sister, Sara

Sara: "Hey, did you get my email?"

Me: "Yeah, I saw you emailed me pictures, but I haven't had a chance to look at them yet..."

...in the background I hear screeching....

Me: "What is that?"

Sara: "Oh, Skylend is just running around naked.

Me: "Ah."

Sara: (to my nephew) "Do you want to say hi to Aunt Stephie?"

Him: (shouting across the room) "Hi Aunnn Stufeeee!"

Meanwhile, Evie has caught wind that I'm one the phone and walks up to me

Evie: "Hi?"

Me: (to my sister) "Do you mind if she says hi?"

Sara: "Sure."

Evie now has the phone in her hand, and is walking around with it propped between her chin and her shoulder

Sara: "Hi Evie, how are you?"

Evie: "Hellooooo"

Sara: "Well helloo, there."

Evie: "eyabba grreaberabba drabb dada mamma dog uppie"

Sara: "Really?"

Evie: "Ya"

I am now holding another phone, so my sister and I can still talk while she and Evie "chat," I can hear my nephew in the background; my sister is trying to convince him to go potty, he is not interested. Evie continues to jabber on, so Sara says something to her, and Skylend hears her name..suddenly he shouts:

"Hi EEEVIEEE"

Evie hears him, and says "Hi" back. Both children are now on speaker phone, an almost three year-old and a 16 month-old, both on speaker phone, having a long-distance telephone conversation with each other through their mothers.

It goes something like this:

Skylend: "Hi Eeeevieee!!!"

Evie: "Hi!! (giggle)

Skylend: "Hi Eeeeviee"

Evie: "Hi!!! (giggle)

Repeat.

My sister and continue to try to talk over the top of them until we get so tired of the continued greetings that we decide the conversation has dissolved to ridiculousness and we bid each other a good evening. Both children dissolve into tears as we have cut off their communication, and their phone priveleges.

Just another day in the infirmary

I have the sickness, Bryan has the sickness and Evie has the sickness.

We aren't sure if it was the small runny-nosed children in the pre-school or the taller, dirty-handed children of the middle school who infected our house, but our entire family in enjoying fevers, chills, deep, hacking coughs, runny noses, muscle aches and a general feeling of crappiness.

Bryan is working from home today, thankfully, so he is able to stay and supervise the many hours of sleeping and water drinking done by Evie.

I still have to go in work, but it's a half day, so I don't have to go in until noon for an afternoon of marathon meetings.

This morning, I spent laying down, my little girl sleeping across my chest, her arm splayed across my face. I didn't mind the arm, she rarely sits still long enough to get a hug, so any opportunity to cuddle with her, I will take without complaint.

Her nose makes a very sad little gurggly sound with every breath, but she seems more interested in sleeping than clearing her sinuses. I do go at her with the little suckie bulb every once in a while, but we try to keep it to a minimum so as to allow her to sleep.

I am taking cold medicine and cough suppressant like a pharmacist with a drug problem and have consumed the contents of an entire half-gallon of orange juice in the past 24 hours. As for my husband, well I have seen him do very little for his symptoms, although suggestions have been made and medications provided. I can only do so much, people.

Bossy's Poverty Party

Bossy is having a Poverty Party...what is it? Well, as the world is coming to an end, so-to-speak, it's a good time for us to reevaluate our own situations and come up with positive solutions for our financial futures. A communal accountability group, as well as a place to share and discuss our ideas and solutions.


What are we doing? Well as we will be in student loan hock until Evie is old and gray, thanks to me, we are doing everything we can to make sure that and the house are the only things we have to pay for; a lofty goal to be sure.

As some of you know, we had a major house/closet/garage purge earlier this year, where I sold a great deal of stuff on Craigslist...close to $2000 worth of stuff to be exact.

We are back to the ole' spending freeze; only buying what we absolutely need. No movies, no coffee, no toys, no treats of any kind, except for special, pre-arranged occasions.

We are making meals/menus out of what we already have on hand. We go through the freezer and pantry, and make a menu for the upcoming week, out of the food/supplies we already have in stock. Our grocery bill has been reduced dramatically this way. It also helps with the "what are we having for dinner?" issue, when we already have a list to choose from. We don't have a specific daily menu, as-in, "we are having lasagna on Monday," since our work schedules are both pretty crazy and we never quite know who will be home first, but we at least know from the list what our options are, and what meat to defrost etc.

I also have a mini-fridge at school and keep staple food in my desk/fridge (string cheese, rice cakes, peanut butter, etc.) for the days I forget to bring a lunch from home; I never buy a lunch.

We only use one car on the weekends, and I carpool with a co-worker at least two days a week (my teaching schedule is pretty varied, so it's hard to be consistent.)

Our next goal is to become coupon-clippers, although it seems pretty daunting, we are assured it can be very cost-effective.

As we continue to try to come up with ways to save, I'll be posting here on our blog. I also have a link to Bossy's poverty party on my website, to the right.

Every. Single. Day.

I'd like to think of myself as an organized kind of person, especially when teaching. Everything is labeled, everything is clear. We have gone over procedures, expectations etc. time and time again. We have practiced what to do, we have ACTED IT OUT. Yet, somehow, the following scenes seem to happen every day.

Scene #1-
Student (entering the class): "What are we doing today Mrs. Scott?"

Me: "What is written up on the board, under 'agenda for the day?'"

Student: "Oh, yeah, I forgot to read that."

Me: "Hmmm...indeed."


Scene #2-
Student, (walking in the door, before the bell rings):
"Mrs. Scott, do I need my book today?"

Me: "You tell me."

Student: "I don't know."

Me: "What is written on that sign, under the words 'classroom expectations?'"

Student: "Ummm....bring your book to class, every day."

Me: (smiling) "Ah ha!!!"


Scene #3-
Me: "When everyone is quiet, I will explain the directions to you..."

Student: "what are we supposed to do?"

Me: "I'm waiting for people to stop talking..."

Student: ..."but Mrs. Scott, do I need my pencil!?!"

Me: [standing quietly] "...as soon as you all stop, and give me your full attention, (and I will know I have your attention when your mouths are closed and I can see your lovely eyes,) I will tell you what you need to do next..."

Student in the back: "Do we need our books?"

Church is EXHAUSTING!

Taken on my Verizon wireless BlackBerry

Through the magic of photoshop....

This photo:

(Evie looking away, my face covered, dogs looking forward)

Plus this photo:

(Evie smiling, my face uncovered, Dogs showing us their butts)

Eqauls:
A family photo with the dogs...

(Everyone smiling, Everyone facing forward)

The annual family photo session @ the lake

We were up at the lake last weekend...it has taken me a week to get the time to upload the photos to my computer.

As we have for the last four years, we took our annual "Scott family photo," which will be sent out as our Christmas card.

Every year, taking this photo becomes more difficult as the dogs continue to insist on being in the shot, and well, as she gets older, our daughter becomes less and less patient with sitting still.

All the while, I have set up my "professional" camera on a tripod, adjusted for the light etc., and have my dear friend standing on a beach, holding the remote trigger, and I keep telling her,

"Every time Evie looks your way, push the button!"

So she is bouncing around on the beach, making faces and singing songs, trying to get Evie to look her way, the dogs are getting excited and start running around like idiot, all the while, we are trying to get them to leave us alone so we can get a shot without them, and get Evie to stop squirming.


What's wrong with this? You have two different dog parts behind us: Portia's ear behind me, Puck's butt behind Bryan.


So close...then Puck took off


This may be it...


Or this close-up

A New Level of Discourse

Perhaps it is because I am a teacher, but I am having a very difficult time listening to certain political candidates speak, especially when they degrade our language in an attempt to be more "likeable." (Don't worry, I am not about to discuss political issues...)
To me, the offices of President and Vice President are offices of distinction; the people serving in those offices therfore should be accomplished, learned individuals, able to sit comfortably as equals with foreign heads of state and dignitaries.
He or she should have an aura about him or herself, a certain level of intelligence and understanding that can only be obtained through rigorous study and experience.
Not because it is pompous or arrorgant, but because it is necessary when communicating effectively as a diplomat and as the leader of the free world.
There is a time and a place to be "folksy," but the American presidency is not it, certainly not now.
Degrading our language to seem more likeable only makes you seem uneducated, which to me, is not an esteemable quality for a position of leadership.
But maybe I'm just being an elitst.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Prost!

It's that time again, although nearly over in Munich, Oktoberfest begins this weekend, here in Washington. As he can think of no better way to celebrate his birthday then to go to a festival where they celebrate the drinking of German Beer and the eating of large grilled sausages, we are making our annual "birthday" pilgrimage over the mountains to the Bavarian village nestled in the Cascades, where they hold a month-long Oktoberfest festival every weekend.

Happy Birthday Bryan!

31 years old today...we have a wonderful life because we have you to love.



Now come home! There are presents to open and Oktoberfest to celebrate.

We love you.