To Do Tomorrow:

Updated so I know what I still have to do.

I am posting this here so that I will be shamed into doing it. Most of these things won't take very long, which is part of the reason I keep forgetting to do them. (I always remember the big things, rarely the small ones.)

1. Take D home - Done!
2. Finish organizing scrapbooking area- Oy. This is going to take a while. Still working on it, though.
3. Post more crap stuff on Freecycle- Done!
4. Finish tool box -Done!
5. Find/buy/make/steal a wreath for the door- Looked in six different stores and didn't find one I like (that wasn't $50!) I think I am going to have to make one.
6. Menu plan- Done!
7. Grocery shop - Done!
8. Pay rent- Done!
9. Run the box that we forgot to Goodwill - Done!
10. Buy sand for and make 4 draft stopper things (front, patio, laundry room and garage doors)- Sand bought, but it needs to dry so I will finish ASAP.
11. Store summer clothes, pull out winter ones
12. Make pumpkin fudge- Decided to make pumpkin oatmeal cookies instead. Will do Sunday.
13. Buy *another* food thermometer (and hide it)- Mine found its way back home.

I'm sure there is more, but this will have to do for now.

Bathroom Cabinet

Before - What a mess! When I unpacked I just tossed everything for the bathroom into a dishpan and tossed it under my sink. I never got around to "fixing" it. I finally did today, for the Holiday Grand Plan.


After - Less of a mess! It took all of five minutes to do this... the majority of the time was spent walking the stuff that didn't belong there to its proper place!

Another rainy day

So far the water hasn't gone off, so we decided to stay home. I am getting caught up on grading and the boys are working on school work. We will head to the library after school.

It is cold and rainy so I think once we get back from the library I am going to curl up on the couch and watch some of the shows I have recorded. Then I am going to work more on organizing my bathroom. There really isn't much under the sink, I am just making it a lot more difficult than it needs to be, I'm sure.

The boys think my grading scale is too hard. I'm not sure it is... it seemed fair to me.

93-100% = A
85-92% = B
77-84% = C
70-76% = D
69% and below = F

What prompted this discussion is that some of Alex's quizzes are only 10 questions, so it is really easy to get a "low" grade. If he misses 3, he has a low D. I told him that missing 3 out of 10 tells me that he didn't understand it, so he shouldn't get a higher grade.

Grades

This is the first year that we are giving grades, and we only do it for a few subjects. So far, they are:
Math (all 3)
History (Just Christian)
Biology (Just Christian)
Grammar (Alex and Christian)
Geography (Just Christian)
Reading Comp. (Just Alex)

Everything else we just "teach to mastery."

Since the local schools are giving progress reports, I decided that I am going to give the boys theirs. The grades won't be a huge surprise, because they ask every. single. day.

So far:
Christian
Math - 97%
History - 99%
Biology - 97%
Grammar (Review) - 87%
Geography - 92%

Alex
Math (Review) - 96%
Grammar- 80%

Ethan
Math - 97%

Tomorrow Alex has a test in reading comprehension. Then I will have another grade for him. I have a feeling he will do well... if he doesn't, his friend D can't come up on Thursday. He is currently reviewing the book, for the 4th time.

School has been so different here. I don't know if it is because we have more room to spread out, or if it is because we are all just generally *happy* here, or what. When I say "School time!" they grab their books and get started. When they are done with a subject, they move on to the next one. Instead of having 2-3 good (read- no fighting) days a week (like in Detroit) we are lucky to have 1 bad day a month.

We were having a problem with Christian taking hours to do one lesson but that is much better. I finally realized that he was having trouble managing his time, so we started hyper-managing school time for him. It seems to be teaching him how to manage his time better. I am going to give it until the end of the week and then back off a tiny bit, eventually getting to the point that he manages his time on his own.

We had this problem in Detroit and I really thought it was just him being lazy. Once I realized that he just really didn't know how to manage time, we came up with a plan. (Imagine that! My kid doesn't know how to manage time. I was shocked!)

The hyper-managing Christian's time plan

1. Set the expectation at the beginning of each subject.
2. Set the timer. (He gets a set amount of time, depending on the subject.)
3. Christian will write any "homework" on an index card and post it on the bulletin board.
4. Follow up at the end of class.
1. a. What homework needs to be done?
2. b. Did Christian write assignment on index card?
5. Christian will have 1 hour of free time. At the end of free time he will show mom or dad his assignment cards, and begin working on his homework. No computer, PS2, TV or phone privileges until homework is done. Christian can listen to a radio while working on his homework. Christian can only leave his room (or the dining room table) to use the rest room and for dinner until his homework is done.

H2O-no

We aren't going to have water tomorrow. They are replacing the water pipes, so at least it is for a good reason.

So, how do four people survive from 9am-4pm without water? They pack up school books and head to the library, of course!

I'm not worried about lunch (I made extra dinner tonight so we can just heat and eat) or cleaning (I *think* I can last a day without doing laundry... maybe) but the lack of, um, facilities is what concerns me. So, I can either pack up and go to the library or just toss everyone into the van and head to Marty's work, Super Wal-Mart or some other public place every so often. That almost seems easier than packing up school, doesn't it?

Another productive day

I have managed to clean up my Yahoo groups and email so far. I belonged to over 20 groups that I never received email from, so I left them. I also had a bunch of email in my "Inbox" waiting for my reply, so I took care of those. I found an email in there that was from last November! What is wrong with me??

I am going to work on my bathroom today. I need to either buy some storage containers (like those drawer things) or figure something else out. I have a bunch of stuff in the garage waiting to be Freecycled, so I might just find what I need out there.

Don't mind these boring posts... they are for a group I am in.)
The new shoe rack at the bottom of the coat closet. We used to just toss shoes into an old wooden crate at the bottom of the closet. (Which explains the scuff marks on the wall.) Now, if we only had smell-o-blog you could fully appreciate a closet full of boys shoes.

Hooks for my purse, the camera and keys.









The new old homeschool cabinet. We still use the book shelf we were using, but now we have a place for library books and other "stuff." Christian helped me finish the shelves and painting (the inside) and Alex & Ethan helped me put the back on. Another project checked off the list!

Freecycle sucks!

At least in this city it does.

The emails come sporadically, at best. I have posted to offer things, and my posts are approved days after I post them, if at all.

Example: On Sept. 21st I posted offering a bench. After the bench was picked up I posted that it had been taken. The post still hasn’t gone through and I am still getting emails about it. I posted it again, on the 23rd in case the first one didn’t make it and the second one hasn’t been approved.

On the 23rd I posted offering a lawnmower and weedeater. The post still hasn’t been approved.

But yet some whacknut can post 3 times in 6 days asking for a crib and it is approved. WTF??


On the 24th I sent an email to the group owner, thanking them for taking on such a HUGE task, and offering to help moderate the group. I haven’t heard back. (I know it has only been one day, so I am still waiting. The last time I emailed the group owner I never heard back, so I'm not holding my breath.)

If you go back through the posts you can see the date they were sent, and the actual date they were sent through. Sometimes there is a gap of a week or more... but other posts are put through, that are sent later.

I know it isn't just me that is pissed, because a post slipped through that was supposed to be just for the group owner, saying "Will you finally post this "Picked up" notice?! I am tired of getting emails about this because you can't be bothered to approve the messages!"

I am so done with this group. I am going to just start taking stuff to Goodwill.

Edited to add: They don't suck anymore. I had emailed the person in charge of my state and she is going to join the group and see what's going on. Viva la Freecycle!

A productive, rainy day

I am doing the Holiday Grand Plan again this year. I am in denial about the fact that Christmas is so close, so I didn't bother to check the start date until this Friday, and found out it started August 27. Oops!

Luckily, we did a major declutter before we moved, so we were able to catch up today. It was mostly moving the couch out and vacuuming under it and under the couch cushions (which we do every few weeks anyway) and washing the windows.

I bought a shoe rack and some hooks for the coat closet. Now my purse and the camera are on a coat hook and there are cup hooks for keys. I hate things just being tossed on the book shelf right by the door, so hopefully this will stop it. Or else. lol

Christian finished putting the blue cabinet that I want to use for homeschool stuff back together, and then I helped him paint the inside. I think it will only need one coat, so after a few days of curing I will finally have the cabinet!

I have been Freecycling like crazy. We don't have much "extra" stuff left, but it is all going! I got rid of a rustic antique bench that I had, and today I posted (among other things) a lawn mower and weed eater. I also took a bunch of my fall decorations to the office. What she doesn't want she is going to offer to the many residents that hang out there, and what they don't want I will Freecycle. We *finally* got our garage door opener installed (it only took the guy 3 months!) so now we want to park in there!

Tomorrow I finish organizing under my bathroom sink, and my bedroom closet.

Another exciting day here in Mid-Michigan!

Moronic neighbors... the gift that keeps giving

Apparently waking us up in the middle of the night isn't enough. Now they have to puke over their balcony - all over our patio and yard.

It is bad enough that these 19 year old kids come home shit-face and stumble up the stairs, but now they are sharing their good times with us. Nice.

I went to the office again. The manager wasn't there (it was after 5) but the "office lady" was and she said that the manager is pissed. She has already talked to the parents and clearly that isn't helping. I have to go back tomorrow when they open and talk to her.

I knew it was going to rain tonight so I took pictures of it. Probably in the list of the top 3 strangest things I have taken a picture of.

The van

Had to take the van to the shop today. Water pump and motor for the passenger window. $350 total. Thank god for zero deductible warranties. Probably the only thing we did right when we bought the van.

We also got an estimate for the brakes (front and back, pads and rotors) and a tune up. We also want to replace the tires... all before winter.

Brakes- $250
Tune up- $120-300, depending on what needs done
Tires- I don't even want to know. We only need two, because about 6 months ago we had the back ones replaced.

We really like this shop, so I think we are going to stick with them. It was a small, family owned place. It helped that it backed up to a corn field, too. For some reason I trust people that live by corn.

Small town + loud noise = late night action

Sometimes living in a small town isn't so bad.

After multiple attempts by me and the apartment manager to get the college kids upstairs to realize that they are being too loud, I finally had to call the police last night.

At around 12:30 I heard the noise starting to escalate, so I talked to the girl that lives there. She apologized profusely and said she would take care of it. By 12:45 it was so loud it woke a kid up. The last time I talked to the apartment manager she said that she couldn't do much more without as police report, so the next time they get loud to call, so I did.

The police came out and basically ripped the kid that answered the door a new one. He told him that this isn't a dorm, and that if it is their friends they need to learn to control them. It is their responsibility to make sure it is quiet.

The good/funny thing is that one of the officers that came out used to live here. When the kid told him that they were all students the officer said "And *Apartment manager* let you live here?" He told him that if he has to come out again he will either issue a citation or take him to jail.

After the police left the kid and I stood there and talked for about 1/2 an hour. I told him that I am sure they aren't loud because they are rude, or being jerks, but that I was sure they just didn't realize how much sound carried. I told him that I appreciate that they smoke in their garage, so that the smoke doesn't filter down into my apartment, but that when they are in there smoking they need to realize that the loud talking, laughing and screaming echoes down the cul-de-sac.

I also mentioned to him that I remember what it is like to be 19 and in your own place for the first time. I told him he is lucky that he lives above us, because most of the people around here not only don't remember what it was like to be 19, but have kids that don't remember what it was like to be 19. I put up with a lot more than they would have before I complained to the manager.

Anyway, he agreed to keep it down, and said that he would make sure that his roommates lived by the dorm rule of 11pm being quiet time.

I guess it pays to live in a town where nothing goes on and the cops take care of business!

My day in court - or How to waste a perfectly good day

One of our favorite TV shows is Monk. In a recent episode Monk's therapist, Dr. Kroger, retires after a death in his office. Monk is upset, and ends up going through the five stages of grief in rapid succession, over and over. That's kind of what like today felt like, but instead of the five stages of grief, it was like the stages of "What the heck is going on?" - "Why the heck am I here?" and "He said what?"

In no particular order:

Boredom:
1. I had to leave my house early... 5:30 am early. I got there at 7:45, checked in at 8 and sat in the waiting room until 10:30. Thank god I had a book.

Anger:
1. He ended up taking the plea bargain, so I wasn't needed. My big court adventure was me raising my hand when the judge asked if there were any witnesses.
2. I found out that he tried to deny even being at the scene of the crime. When the police officer told him there was not only witnesses but a video surveillance tape, he admitted being there... but denied doing anything.
3. He tried to blame it all on medication he is taking... for Crohne's Disease.
4. I found out that they will pay you per mile that you traveled to appear. Cool. But they said they were only going to pay me travel time from my old address, 10 miles away. Not for the 230 (yes, 230) miles I actually traveled. I don't think so. Needless to say, they will be paying me for my real mileage.

Confusion:
1. Boy, they are really good at keeping you in the dark until the last second. We almost missed the whole thing, because no one bothered to tell us that it was our turn to go in. The police officer came to talk to us and the victim mentioned that she wanted to watch the hearing and the officer told us to go ahead and go in.
2. How in the hell can someone plea to a lesser charge when there are witnesses and a video tape of the crime?
3. What are the chances that both women that sit next to me and start talking to me both have the exact same, uncommon name? Today the answer was 100%. Ok, one woman was the victim of the crime I witnessed, but the other woman was there to fight a traffic violation. She saw the magistrate, came out and told me the result and left. An hour or so later, after the victim and I were talking, they call her name. When she gets to the window, they want to know when she is going to pay her fine.

Fear:
1. I was nervous. Really, really nervous. I have never been to court before (other than to watch) and didn't know what to expect.

Sickness:
1. When I am nervous I make myself sick. Like "doubling over with horrid stomach cramps and if I move I will vomit" sick. It's a gift, I know. I am available for parties.
2. Another thing that happens when I am nervous is that I can't sleep. I managed to get 3 hours last night. Being that tired makes the whole cramps/vomiting thing even worse.

Sympathy:
1. Yeah, ok. I felt sorry for the guy. I was the first person there, and he was the third. I sat there and watched him and you could tell that he was scared. When the Judge asked his lawyer to make a statement before sentencing, he said that he was disabled for a while, just got back to work, has a wife and kids, etc. I felt for him. Good people make bad mistakes. This one was a big one, but I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and think that he really isn't the type of person who goes around always threatening to kill people, throwing shopping carts into vehicles and screaming until he can't catch his breath... all over a parking spot.

The victim kept saying "Maybe he didn't see me. Maybe he didn't know I was waiting for that spot." and the Police Officer told her that it didn't matter. He committed a crime and in the eyes of the law the reason was unimportant.

Gratitude:
1. Thank god it is over. Thank god he made restitution, so now she can fix her car.
2. When I got home I found out that Marty and the boys had done a whole days worth of school, started dinner and had plans to play a quiet board game so that I could take a nap.

It was a friendly game of basketball... they swear

Alex's head: 1
Ethan's chin: 0

Imagine what it would look like if he had been mad at him.

Guilt pt. 2

I talked to my brother about the whole feeling guilty thing. He was really cool about it. He said "Well, the next time we visit we will just have to have a pool birthday party for her." When I mentioned that we didn't want her to look back and see that we weren't there and think it was because we loved Syd more (or whatever) he jokingly said he would PhotoShop us into some pictures. He gets it.

My brother and I both have money issues. Not issues like we don't have any... issues like it is a hugely emotional part of our lives. We weren't raised to understand or appreciate money. The only thing we were taught is that you wait until the shut off notice comes and then call. They will give you more time.

Now, before anyone things I am bashing my parents, let me explain. My dad was sick. Very sick. In the late 70's he had major, groundbreaking surgery. They told my mom that if he was lucky enough to survive the surgery (only about 20% chance, they said) he would be lucky to live 5 years.

My dad loved to travel. My mom wanted to make sure that he got to as much as he could before he died. We traveled a lot. Weekend trips here, week long trips there, even day trips over there.

I don't know what I would have done if I were in my moms position, but I do know that no matter what decision she made it would have left my brother and with some pretty warped views on money.

My sister in law is the reason my brother doesn't have the warped views any more. Me busting my ass to make sure I change things is the reason I don't. (Although I am sure some people will look at how cheap, controlling and micro-managing we are with money and say we still have warped views... just warped differently.)

So he gets it. I still feel bad, but at least I know the bills are paid, the "sinking funds" are funded and my niece is so young hopefully she won't remember.

Confirmation that I am as boring as we all know I am...

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Dixie

5% Yankee

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Genesis

I asked the following question of my used to be local homeschool group.

Is there such a thing as "Bible for Dummies" or a Cliff notes type book that I can use to have a proper discussion with Christian?

He (we) will be reading Genesis - Job as part of our history starting next week, and I don’t know how to approach the discussion. I want it to be like any other book discussion, not a religious study (if that makes sense.) We are using these books from the Bible as historic documents, as part of our Western canon/great books study.

Also... what version of the Bible would be best? I have a King James Version, and that is the one on Harold Bloom’s Western canon list, but I wondered if that is the best choice?

I am agnostic. I am raising my children to believe *whatever* they want to believe, and to understand and appreciate that everyone has their own belief system (because even a lack of "beliefs" is a belief system) and that they need to respect people whether they agree with their beliefs or not.

When it came time to sit down and pick from the 9th grade list in TWTM, the first thing I chose was the Bible portion. Two reasons:

1. It was an easy choice.

2. Whether or not you think the Bible is "the word of God" you have to acknowledge the Bible as a historic document.

So Monday with Cliff Notes in hand, we are starting Genesis. I am planning to take two weeks to get to Job.

I got a lot of good answers and even a few really interesting off list conversations. I'm glad I asked.

Guilt

I am feeling so guilt that I can't go to Ohio this weekend. My niece, Shelby, turned one on the 14th and her birthday party is Sunday. We had planned to go and started setting money aside for it. Then I got a subpoena.

It is never fun to see your name and the word subpoena on the same piece of paper. This was my first time and it still gives me the creeps. I couldn't imagine if it said defendant instead of witness.

So now the money I set aside for Ohio has to go to drive my nosy, had to stop and see who the jackhole was screaming "I'm going to f-ing kill you!" at butt to Detroit to testify. I have to be there at least one day, and when I called they said it could take up to a week. Do they know I am driving 2 1/2 hours each way, each day? Ugh.

So now I feel guilty.

It would be very easy to fall into the old habit of "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" - or in this case, robbing the Christmas account, Winter coat envelope or other "sinking fund" (or worse, the debt snowball!)- to pay for gas, but I can't. I feel like if I do that it would undermine all of the hard work I have put into breaking out of the cycle Marty and I were both raised in, and are trying to make sure our kids don't continue. We are trying to change our family tree, and in the process I feel like we are breaking a branch. Ok, bad analogy but you get the point.

I am listening to Dave Ramsey right now because I know if anyone would kick me in the butt and tell me to get over it, it would be Dave Ramsey. Or Marie. Marie doesn't have her own nationally syndicated talk show (yet) so I'm listening to Dave.

In case you are wondering, the person he was screaming at was as 80+ year old woman who he thought had taken his parking spot. Right before he picked up a cart and was aiming to throw it at her until he saw that people were watching, and that I was on the phone with 911 giving them a description of him and his vehicle.

TGIF

Ethan is having a meltdown over math. WTF? Isn't that Alex's job?

Alex suddenly "forgot" his basic multiplication facts. That was until he started earning computer time for his grade. Monday: 33%, took an hour. Today: 97% and finished in about 4 minutes.

Ethan handed me his math paper to grade. 30 problems of simple multiplication. (On Friday we review.) He missed 3, two because his handwriting sucks. He just had a 20 minute "I hate school!" "I hate math!" "I hate *fill in the blank*!" meltdown. This is going to be a fun day.

Math Woes

Please tell me that the math fight will eventually end. Please tell me that the end won't involve me being carted away in a straight jacket, or handcuffs.

I thought we were done with it. Math was being done first thing in the morning, efficiently and correctly. No fights, no arguments, no resistance. It was an expected part of the day.

Then we came to something that he didn't understand. He just couldn't progress. Come to find out that is caused by not remembering a basic skill that I know he knew. If his older brother didn't do the same thing I would have thought he bluffed his way through the mastery of the basic skill. It seems my children have "use it or lose it" math brains. They get that from me.

So now we are back to the daily math frustration. It isn't really a fight or battle, because math is still an expected part of the day, but now we have to listen to 20 minutes of "I can't do it!" followed by "I just don't understand math!" and finally the brand of circular illogical reasoning that only this child can come up with.

Wish me luck.

Is that a word??

Alex and Ethan read the same spine for science. Alex has decided that he is the most "scientifical" (his word, not mine) of all of us so he has volunteered to read the spine aloud to Ethan. Not sure what being scientifical has to do with reading but I wasn't about to say no!

I am more historical so I get to read history. I think he just wanted a new way to call me old.

*He said it as a joke. He knows that scientifical isn't a real word. I hope.

A qucik update

The boys are back from Ohio. They spent a week there, hanging out at Marty's dad's place at the lake, my mom's house and my brother's house. They had a great time, but are glad to be home.

Nothing exciting or even notable happened while they were gone. Marty and I got a glimpse into our life 7-8 years down the road and it was... strange. I'm sure that once it is our life "forever" and not just a week, it will be less boring.

I am looking at doing before and after school care. The good part is that the pay around here is really good. A woman I know was telling me that she made $365 a week for two kids. The bad part is that most of the people around here expect a nanny instead of just a place for their kids to hang out and do homework until they get home from work. I am going to look into it and see what I can find out.

I had to complain about the people upstairs again. One of the girls flicked a lit cigarette over the balcony, into the yard right in front of our patio. I was not happy. I talked to her and explained that I understand that she probably just didn't realize that people use the yard, blah, blah, blah... She apologized and it hasn't happened since. The problem is that once the other two roommates got here all hell broke lose. They are loud, obnoxious and just damn rude.

I guess they don't realize that when they say "Oh, she thinks we are making too much noise??" (The manager has talked to them about the noise) and then STOMP LOUDLY and then laugh that I can hear them. Oh to be 19 and stupid again.

The last straw was when they did it is 2:43 am in the bedroom right above ours. It was not the first time it happened. The manager was pretty pissed when I told her about it the next morning. She said she will send them a letter letting them know that this was their one chance and the next time she will call the police and their co-signers, and that she can and will evict them if they don't stop. Remind me not to piss her off.

As a side note, the manager said "You pay too much money to have to deal with that." She is the third employee here that has said that to me, so I am beginning to think we didn't comparison shop enough.

Anyway, since the letter it has been a lot better. They are still loud during the day but I can live with that. It is the middle of the night crap that I won't tolerate.