What do you get when...

You cross 90 degree heat with bored boys?

Remember that house...

I told you about?

Two Weeks from today...

I am starting to see just how much we have to do... but how much we don't have to do. Make sense?

I have a pile of stuff to get rid of. I can post it on Freecycle, or just drop it off at the thrift store. Once that is done, there isn't much to do. Just in a holding pattern now. I don't recommend it. Really.

We are going to Midland Tuesday to sign the lease. I know I will sleep better once that is done.

My mom is coming up for the Tuesday and Wednesday before we move. We are going to take her up to see the Midland (and the apartment) on Tuesday, and then she is going to go to Christian's CAP meeting with us. On Wednesday she will go to "Spork Fest" with us. She is going to bring my dining room table and chairs and the drop-leaf table with her. The dining room table and chairs were my great-grandmas wedding present waaaaay back in 1915, and the drop-leaf table was my other great grandmas table from her kitchen. The table and chairs need to be repaired, but the drop-leaf is going to be my scrapbooking table. Woo hoo! I will finally have a space big enough for my stuff. As soon as I get my "big comfy reading chair" for my bedroom, I will be all set.

Four Borrowed Boys

Ok, that sounds like the title to a strange movie about kidnapping and the Russian slave trade, so let me rephrase that.

Four friends of my children are spending the night. D brought some music that he made and was dancing to it. M looked at him with a straight face and said "I don't ever want to see you do that again!"

D laughed the hardest.

Tip of the day

If I don't answer the phone saying "Thanks for calling DOC..." then you didn't reach DOC. Do not try to make an appointment with me. We aren't accepting new patients. Sheesh.

Hey Carin

Here is an article about the guy in Arizona I was telling you about.

$1 Million For Your Vote?, Arizona Ballot Measure Would Give Prize To One Voter After Each Election - CBS News

We already have enough uneducated voters. Do we really need people to vote just for the chance to win money?

Hey, it looks like Kelly McDonald agrees with me.

"I'm not sure I want people who are voting just because they have a 1 in 12 million chance of winning," McDonald said.

Ayup

I just left the house I would buy if we weren't moving. Seriously. It has everything I want... brick house with ivy growing up the side? Check. Hardwood floors? Check. Livable basement? Check. Really cool colors on the walls so I don't have to paint? check. Fireplace? Check. Tree lined street in an old neighborhood? Check...

The only problem is that the house is in Detroit and in 16 days I will be in Midland. Damn it.

Floorplan

I found our floorplan online. Of course it is too small to see anything...


Living Room: 17'5" x 12'
Dining Room: 8'6" x 9'6"
Master Bedroom: 10'6" x 18'4"
Bedroom 1: 11'8" x 9'
Bedroom 2: 10' x 9'
Garage: 22'x 11'

Twenty days and counting

I have been working on the new budget. So far so good.

The phone "issue" is solved... Vonage isn't available where we are moving. (We could get it but not have a local number.) I ended up finding this company. We are going to take them up on their $199 "All-Inclusive Annual Edition" which will save us $150 a year over Vonage.

As for cell phones, I think once our T-Mobile contracts are up we will switch. T-Mobile doesn't have local numbers... but at least closer than Vonage! We could get a Saginaw number, but it is $15 per number to change them. Kinda sucks. We are looking at Nation 1350 w/Rollover. It seems to be the best (read: cheapest) plan.

I am planning to get a part time job once we get settled, so we can pay off the van and my stupid student loan. I swear it seems like that thing is never going to be paid off!

So enough boring bill/debt talk.

We are down to twenty days till we move. Sometimes I think we are ready and other times I think we will never be ready!

My mom is planning to come up sometime this week or next to drive to the new place and see what it is like.

Other than that not much going on here.

Grandma is home!

My grandma is back at the nursing home.

First she was talking about dead people. Then she insisted that Christian was there and had helped her earlier. I told my mom that at least she is hallucinating people that are alive, just in the wrong state. She just needs to move her hallucinations geographical and she will be fine. Sigh.

At least they have an alarm on her so that she can't get out of bed and hurt herself anymore.

But at least she is home.

Remind you of anything?

Found this on Carin's blog and thought it was something worth getting pissed off about.

Iran eyes badges for Jews - Law would require non-Muslim insignia

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."

Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments."

The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," said Rabbi Hier. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."

Bernie Farber, the chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said he was "stunned" by the measure. "We thought this had gone the way of the dodo bird, but clearly in Iran everything old and bad is new again," he said. "It's state-sponsored religious discrimination."

Ali Behroozian, an Iranian exile living in Toronto, said the law could come into force as early as next year.

It would make religious minorities immediately identifiable and allow Muslims to avoid contact with non-Muslims.

Mr. Behroozian said it will make life even more difficult for Iran's small pockets of Jewish, Christian and other religious minorities -- the country is overwhelmingly Shi'ite Muslim. "They have all been persecuted for a while, but these new dress rules are going to make things worse for them," he said.

The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was revived at the behest of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa refused to comment on the measures. "This is nothing to do with anything here," said a press secretary who identified himself as Mr. Gharmani.

"We are not here to answer such questions."

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has written to Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, protesting the Iranian law and calling on the international community to bring pressure on Iran to drop the measure.

"The world should not ignore this," said Rabbi Hier. "The world ignored Hitler for many years -- he was dismissed as a demagogue, they said he'd never come to power -- and we were all wrong."

Mr. Farber said Canada and other nations should take action to isolate Mr. Ahmadinejad in light of the new law, which he called "chilling," and his previous string of anti-Semitic statements.

"There are some very frightening parallels here," he said. "It's time to start considering how we're going to deal with this person."

Mr. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly described the Holocaust as a myth and earlier this year announced Iran would host a conference to re-examine the history of the Nazis' "Final Solution."

He has caused international outrage by publicly calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons, but Tehran believed by Western nations to be developing its own nuclear military capability, in defiance of international protocols and peace treaties.

The United States, France and Israel accuse Iran of using a civilian nuclear program to secretly build a weapon. Iran denies this, saying its program is confined to generating electricity.

My aunt talked to the Neurosurgeon yesterday.
Good News - My grandma will live. This isn't something that will kill her.

Bad news - She has brain damage. He said it will take six months or more before they know if it is permanent or not.

Right now the plan is to just get her physically back to where she was and then just deal with the brain damage as best they can.

This is so hard.

Another grandma update

My grandma is back in the hospital. It isn't looking good. Between the head injury and the sedation, she isn't the same. She keeps trying to pull her IV out and get out of bed so they have her sedated and tied down. She is being nasty to everyone, and insists that her mom (who dies when I was 11) and her son (who died when my mom was pregnant with me) are in the room. Her brother, who died 10 years ago is also paying her visits.

The Doctors have said that at this point it is up to her. She can either fight and live, or give up and die. Considering that she has been telling people to "leave me alone and just let me die", I don't think this is going to end well.

One of the hardest decisions I have had to make was whether or not to take the boys to Ohio to see her. We decided not to. I want their last memory of her to be a happy one, not of her the way she is now.

Sometimes being the grown up really sucks.

ROFL

I found this at thetruthaboutcredit.com and had to share!

When credit card companies try to collect from you by taking you to court, they rely on your signature on the application as proof that you agreed to their contractual terms. First of all you didn't see the terms before you supplied your signature, and second they can't be sure it really is your signature. They didn't make sure it was.

John Hargrave at Zug.com decided to test the signature security on credit cards. You might find this shocking. If that isn't enough, he did it again, which was even more shocking than the first.

Think the credit card companies are worried about fraudulent charges? Think again.

By the way, if you would like to stop receiving credit card applications, you can.
kutv.com - New Way To Opt Out Of Credit Card Junk Mail

Spontaneous Anality

That is how Colleen described her and I.

For example: Last year when our OM team was headed to states we forgot to make name tags for them. Two days before competition we realized we had forgotten them, and spent four (yes, 4) hours working on them. We remade quite a few of them because they were crocked, or the color looked funny, or whatever.

That's me. The "Spontaneously anal, arrogant, opinionated, person who would rather mess up her kid's lives myself than let some one else do it."

Say what?

Today was grocery shopping day. As I walked up to the doors at Aldi I realized that I didn't have a quarter to get a cart... only two dimes and a nickel. Two women were walking up from the bus stop and I asked one if she had a quarter I could buy.

The look on her face was priceless.

"What did you say??? Say that again."

Me, not realizing what she thought I meant said "You know, a quarter. I only have two dimes and a nickel."

Now, I realize that I live in a bigger city, but really. Do we really live in a world where people just walk up to each other outside the grocery store and ask for drugs?? Don't answer that.

Grandma Update

Even though there has been no change, they have moved her to the step-down ICU. Instead of releasing her Saturday they say she will be there at least a week.

On a side note, my grandpa isn't doing well with her not there. She spends his nights puttering around her bed/side of the room, straightening her things.

We aren't able to call her without first making sure my mom or aunt will be there, because she can't answer the phone by herself. My mom said she is "out of it" anyway.

It is times like this that I really feel guilty for living so far away from my family.

Dealing With Criticism

My husband's family are the most intelligent people on earth. They know everything about everything, so, therefore, are never wrong... about anything. They know what is best for my children, and no one, especially "the likes of me" can tell them differently. (Please read with tongue planted firmly in cheek.)

As soon as you announce to the world that you are going to homeschool, you are opening yourself up for criticism. How do you deal with it? How do you explain that homeschooling will work, and it is what is best for your family?

This may come as a shock to you, and might just be controversial enough to ban me from homeschooling message boards all over the Internet, but I am here to say, once and for all... you don't have to argue with anyone! You don't have to answer to anyone (except maybe your local school district, depending on your state laws.)

Ok... so you don't have to argue, or explain. But in the real world, your mother in law is still going to bombard you with (at the least) questions and (worst case scenario) criticism. At the grocery store, you will get looks, and comments like "Schools out today?" You will soon find that criticism comes from different directions, in different forms, that require different responses from you. (Although, in any case, the best way to handle criticism is to listen politely and avoid defensive reactions.)

What should you do about critical or skeptical family members? It is important to keep in mind that most family members are critical or skeptical simply out of a loving concern for your child. Take the time to educate your family about homeschooling. Give them the statistics. Tell them what a day is like. Ask them to come and observe you for a day. All of these things will go a long way toward reassuring family about your homeschooling decision. But remember... don't argue or make excuses. Your lack of confidence in your decision is just the fuel their misguided fire needs.

What should you do about critical or skeptical strangers? An important thing to keep in mind when dealing with strangers is that the "Schools out today?" comment is probably not meant to criticize or put you on the defensive. Most likely, it is just an honest attempt at conversation, in an otherwise awkward situation. (Standing in the grocery line can seem like an eternity when staring at the back of someone's head.) Focus on the issues and don't acknowledge sarcasm. Don't overreact. Toss a few statistics their way, and it is usually enough. You will probably not change their minds, so trying only sets you up for failure.

Homeschoolers no longer need be afraid of getting into trouble for teaching their kids at home. We can be proud of our decision to homeschool and secure in that decision.

If all else fails, wait until your then 11 year old corrects the then graduating high school senior on a science related topic, at the then graduating high school senior's graduation party. No one will question you again!

My Grandma

My grandma is in the hospital, in ICU. They found her on the floor, unconsious, so they called an ambulance.

She has bellding on the brain and they thought they were going to have to do surgery to relieve it, but the last set of tests indicated that no surgery is needed at this time.

What they *think* happened is that she fell, and because of a blood thinner her blood didn't clot. So instead of a bruise, it turned into bleeding. They counteracted the blood thinner and now have to watch her heart.

As of yesterday it looks like she is going to be able to move to a step-down ICU today, and if all goes well, be able to come home Saturday or Sunday.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Are you tired of posts about my upcoming move yet?

Cleaned out most of the garage yesterday. Wanna see all of the crap I am getting rid of?






Let me just say that it is pretty embarrassing that I have that much crap in the garage to begin with, but maybe even more embarrassing that those are just the "Get rid of" piles! Ok, so the "keep" pile was stuff like the grill, totes of seasonal decorations, and furniture I just don't have room for here, but still!

This week was going to be the week that I had people start taking the flowers and plants, but it is supposed to rain through Mother's Day, so it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

I posted a list of stuff on Freecycle so hopefully those things will be gone soon, so I can post more.

Freecyle is a great thing, but geeze!Some of the things people ask for on there are insane! One woman asked for a Motorola Razor. I have seen people ask for cars "Must be in good condition and no more than 5 years old." Are you freaking kidding me?

Well, I can assure you that neither a Motorola Razor nor a "in good condition and no more than 5 years old" car were posted be moi! I do however have a half used roll of nylon window screening if you are so inclined.

Anytime someone gets whiney around here we tell them "There's no crying in baseball!" (Which by the way is AFI's # 54 on the list of 100 greatest movie quotes of all time.)

I needed to remind myself of that today.

Make a nifty sign for yourself.

Viva Le Liberation!

Cheesy title, I know, but packing to move has been so liberating!

See, I inherited 99% of the crap I own. Most of it doesn't fit my tastes, but I have felt a sense of obligation to keep it, because it belonged to dead family members. (Mostly my dad.) Well, not any more. Of course I can run to the closest West Elm, Hive, or even Ikea and replace everything I own, but I can start by getting rid of a lot of the excess. Because of this, I am going to have to send a van load of stuff down to my mom and brother. I have a doll house for my nieces, furniture for my mom... just a bunch of crap that I really don't want to have to move.

The window AC was sold yesterday and I have a list of other stuff to be posted on Craigslist and freecycle.

The big stuff, so far:
Buffet and hutch - sold for what I paid for it
Treadmill - Sold for half of what I paid for it 4 years ago
Window AC - Sold for half of what I paid for it 5 years ago
Van loads of stuff to the thrift store - probably 3 or 4, mostly stuff from the garage that wasn't being used anyway

Yesterday I went through the Christmas decorations tote and one with other household decorations crap, and condensed quite a bit. There was something broken in the house tote, but mostly everything weathered the "Marty will pack it" storm well. What part of "irreplaceable custom decorative glass" makes someone want to toss something into a tote without bubble wrap and then toss it around the garage like a freakin' football??

Ahem. Anyway... Today is swapping summer for winter clothes and working on more stuff from the garage. The biggest headache is going to be the garage, so I am trying to get as much done before we actually go out there and clean it out tomorrow.

Anyway, another day in the moving saga is in front of us. I just keep telling myself that in a month it is only going to get worse, but at least I will have a whirlpool to relax in.

Ayup!

Someone asked on TWTM board why we homeschool. Virginia Dawn had the best answer, and really sums up why we homeschool. I might just have to steal this.

Because I'm arrogant, opinionated, and I'd rather mess up my kid's lives myself than let some one else do it.

The park across the street from our new place

Plymouth Park - Midland Amusement/Water Parks, Parks/Preserves - Travel Michigan

Shhhh... Don't tell the boys

Midland, Michigan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 41,685.

Clinton Charter Township, Michigan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Charter Township of Clinton, usually referred to as Clinton Township, is a charter township located in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township had a total population of 95,648.

Yes, that's right. I am moving to a town that has less than half the people the town we currently live in does. Never mind the 5 million or so people that make up "Metro Detroit."

Metro Detroit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint Combined Metropolitan Statistical Area has about 5,516,124 inhabitants and is the eighth largest metropolitan area in the United States (Note: this does not include population figures for Windsor, Ontario or other nearby Canadian cities, although these may be informally included in Metro Detroit by some sources. If Windsor is included, the population would climb to about 6,200,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area.)

Holy crap

The job that Marty lost recently was at TGI Friday's in Farmington Hills. On the news just now we heard that an employee was stabbed there today. Marty is on the phone now trying to find out the details.

What we do know is that two female employees were fighting and one called some friends. The friends went to the restaurant and entered the kitchen and stabbed a cook. Thank god Marty wasn't there. He would have jumped in the middle of it when the fighting stopped.

Update: We know who was involved. The guy that was stabbed is in the hospital and will be ok. The girl that called her friends took off with them, and no one has heard if they have been caught.

WE GOT OUR APARTMENT!!!!!!

Ahem... sorry I yelled. Here are some pictures from their "model." It is the two bedroom, so it is smaller than ours, but you get the idea.

The front - we are the last building on the cul-de-sac (So we would be the one all the way to the right.)

The back (We are on the bottom)

Part of the Living Room

Part of the Kitchen (But our counter thing isn't as open... there is a side wall, but the counter is still there so we can put stools there if we want to. Make sense?)

The Dining Room

The most important part!

The Whirlpool