This week I joined a gym again. I have been going in the wrong direction weight wise, and don't want to see it get out of control. It's not that I'm fat. It's that I recognize the signs of getting to a place where I will be fat. Scientific or not, I believe there is a muscle / fat ratio point of no return. Since I don't lift weights anymore, my resting metabolism has declined, so I just put on another pound every couple of months, and as I put on more fat the ratio becomes even worse. It's not that I'm working toward being fat with bad behavior such as overeating. It's more like I'm standing still on an escalator going the wrong direction. So like most things in life, when you aren't moving forward, life is just moving you toward a weekend watching a Surreal Life reruns marathon.
Oh Surreal Life, I can't stand to watch, but I can't look away, especially when it's Ron Jeremy, who I never heard of before Surreal Life, yet find fascinating, in a huh? mesmerising kind of way. Sorry, I digress.
Today, I played tennis against a person for a little while, and then a machine for an hour. Then I rode bikes with my little daughter, and then she wanted to jog. I think Boo outran me. She informed me that one day she is going to be much faster than me. "It is certain." I said.
I'm supposed to do a step class tomorrow. I wonder how sore I'm going to be? The agony of regaining lost ground in old age.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
This is the country!
I can't let the children outside to play anymore! Nope, although I live in a gated community safe from strangers for the most part, there have been several rattle snake sightings, and now mountain lions! Yes, they follow the deer down from the lakes.
To top things off, we were watching TV with a door open the other night, and a bat flew into the house. Thinking quickly, I threw the laundry basket over my head, and screamed at my husband to go and get it.
I ran to the computer to look up what one is supposed to do in this situation, in addition to screaming. I had that covered. All the articles said that bats were good because they eat mosquitos. Is that like saying that mice are good, because they pick up food crumbs, so you don't get ants? I did my part by yelling to my husband again, get rid of it, but don't hurt it.
Fortunately after about an hour of chasing it off of our 20 ft. ceilings with a huge pole it grabbed the pole and we took it outside. I mean he took outside while I supervised from under the laundry basket, peaking from behind our bedroom door.
Did I mention the wolf spiders?
To top things off, we were watching TV with a door open the other night, and a bat flew into the house. Thinking quickly, I threw the laundry basket over my head, and screamed at my husband to go and get it.
I ran to the computer to look up what one is supposed to do in this situation, in addition to screaming. I had that covered. All the articles said that bats were good because they eat mosquitos. Is that like saying that mice are good, because they pick up food crumbs, so you don't get ants? I did my part by yelling to my husband again, get rid of it, but don't hurt it.
Fortunately after about an hour of chasing it off of our 20 ft. ceilings with a huge pole it grabbed the pole and we took it outside. I mean he took outside while I supervised from under the laundry basket, peaking from behind our bedroom door.
Did I mention the wolf spiders?
Saturday, June 23, 2007
About School
After John Stossel's report on schools last year, I was pretty determined not to just settle for the school Boo was drafted into because we live within the boundaries. I began to research schools within about a 50-mile radius.
There was one thing that was troubling me about my neighborhood school. We relocated, Taz, my step-daughter about two years ago from another school to the school in my neighborhood, and although API scores and test scores were similarly high in both Taz's schools, I could see that the workload was much less at the new school. The skill building seemed to be less, and something was missing.
After studying my local school and several of the charter schools, I narrowed my choice to three schools, the local school, a charter school that emphasized an international curriculum, and a school that seemed to focus on character building along with strong academics.
The school with the international curriculum selected only by lottery, and we weren't lucky, so that ruled out that school as an option. Then I had the two other schools to pick from. The character-building school worked on a first come first serve basis, so I applied very early and we got in, but I still wasn't quite sure.
Here was my list of pluses and minuses for the schools:
Local School
PLUSES
1. It's close to home.
2. Friends would be close.
3. High API score and test scores.
MINUSES
1. Only 3 hours a day doesn't seem long enough.
2. Much focus on wearing the right label clothes.
3. No diversity. In fact, I've witnessed some racism.
4. It's overcrowded.
5. I am guessing maybe they teach to the tests, and do much red shirting, because Boo was red shirted out at a pre-kindergarten screening offered by the school, even though she can read and do some basic math. Her fine motor skills were behind, and when offered help, she told a teacher, "No, I can do it myself." The teacher said that she should spend another year in preschool. (I'd still send her to this school if I thought it was the best one.)
6. The school's main entrance is off a major highway, and there is often no parking except on the highway, so for many occasions, children have to be walked down by speeding traffic to the school.
The Charter School
PLUSES
1. School is 6 hours a day.
2. Children wear uniforms.
3. It's a diverse environment.
4. School focuses on building socially aware leaders.
5. School requires parent involvement.
6. The curriculum is individualized. The school takes every child of qualifying age, and if the child falls behind, tutoring is built into the program, and if a child is ahead, they move the child forward in those subjects.
7. The teachers start talking about the child's college path in kindergarten.
8. I get a great feeling every time I walk into this school, and meet the people running it.
MINUSES
1. It's a longer drive by about 30 minutes each way.
2. School friends won't be as close.
3. We will be the minority, as most of the students are children of color, and we are not. Should this matter?
4. Lower API and test scores, although climbing rapidly in the 4 years the school has existed.
5. People tell me the school is in the "worst neighborhood" in town. (I've never felt unsafe there.)
Well that's how it stacks up. I was a little uncertain before parent orientation the other day, but I thought the principal was great, and in my gut, I feel like this school is the act to beat. What would you do?
There was one thing that was troubling me about my neighborhood school. We relocated, Taz, my step-daughter about two years ago from another school to the school in my neighborhood, and although API scores and test scores were similarly high in both Taz's schools, I could see that the workload was much less at the new school. The skill building seemed to be less, and something was missing.
After studying my local school and several of the charter schools, I narrowed my choice to three schools, the local school, a charter school that emphasized an international curriculum, and a school that seemed to focus on character building along with strong academics.
The school with the international curriculum selected only by lottery, and we weren't lucky, so that ruled out that school as an option. Then I had the two other schools to pick from. The character-building school worked on a first come first serve basis, so I applied very early and we got in, but I still wasn't quite sure.
Here was my list of pluses and minuses for the schools:
Local School
PLUSES
1. It's close to home.
2. Friends would be close.
3. High API score and test scores.
MINUSES
1. Only 3 hours a day doesn't seem long enough.
2. Much focus on wearing the right label clothes.
3. No diversity. In fact, I've witnessed some racism.
4. It's overcrowded.
5. I am guessing maybe they teach to the tests, and do much red shirting, because Boo was red shirted out at a pre-kindergarten screening offered by the school, even though she can read and do some basic math. Her fine motor skills were behind, and when offered help, she told a teacher, "No, I can do it myself." The teacher said that she should spend another year in preschool. (I'd still send her to this school if I thought it was the best one.)
6. The school's main entrance is off a major highway, and there is often no parking except on the highway, so for many occasions, children have to be walked down by speeding traffic to the school.
The Charter School
PLUSES
1. School is 6 hours a day.
2. Children wear uniforms.
3. It's a diverse environment.
4. School focuses on building socially aware leaders.
5. School requires parent involvement.
6. The curriculum is individualized. The school takes every child of qualifying age, and if the child falls behind, tutoring is built into the program, and if a child is ahead, they move the child forward in those subjects.
7. The teachers start talking about the child's college path in kindergarten.
8. I get a great feeling every time I walk into this school, and meet the people running it.
MINUSES
1. It's a longer drive by about 30 minutes each way.
2. School friends won't be as close.
3. We will be the minority, as most of the students are children of color, and we are not. Should this matter?
4. Lower API and test scores, although climbing rapidly in the 4 years the school has existed.
5. People tell me the school is in the "worst neighborhood" in town. (I've never felt unsafe there.)
Well that's how it stacks up. I was a little uncertain before parent orientation the other day, but I thought the principal was great, and in my gut, I feel like this school is the act to beat. What would you do?
Days of Summer
Today we found a flower farm where we could have a picnic lunch. Boo, JJ, and I packed brown bags filled with peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches, plums, and crackers. We went out to the flower farm where we ate lunch under the oak trees, and read from David Shannon's Pirates Don't Change Diapers. Then there was a little tram taking people on a tour of the ranch, so we hopped on board. It was hot, and we finished off the trip by buying ice cream at the local gift shop.
This is the last summer before Boo starts year-around school. It's always in the back of my mind. Is she ready? Should we be having more fun? Is she ready? Am I ready?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Boo, Gwen, and I
Boo and I went to see Gwen Stefani last night. She liked the beginning very much, but I knew it was over toward the end when she stuffed the ear plugs up her nose and fell asleep.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Camping
We went camping last weekend. Boo loved it!!!!!!!!!! Little Miss I'm Too Hot, Too Cold, This is Too Itchy, really took to the outdoors. I was shocked. I thought she would complain the entire time. Instead she turned into Adventure Girl. She wanted to climb trees, rocks, and jump into the swimming hole. I was also surprised that she liked the more subtle things, like she noticed the smell of the pine trees, and loved cooking in the outdoors. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and she acted like a very big girl, escorting her brother to the bathrooms, and trying to take care of him. We'll probably go again. She said that she wants to go everytime she doesn't have school the next day.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Housewife of a Super Hero
Oh you may think it would be fun to live with a super hero, but let me tell you it's not. They never get tired, so they can't understand why you ever need a nap. They have super vision, so they can see any spot you missed dusting from 14 feet away, and their super hearing detects that the television was left on upstairs from the driveway. Their super human strength often means they break the dishes, and their is just no empathy for us mortals. They don't understand how everyone can get in their way, because they have one important crisis after another to resolve. Yes, it's tough being the housewife of a super hero.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Miss Darla
Boo is very discouraged to discover that her preschool teacher isn't going to be her kindergarten teacher. Poor little Boo. Because of the song, Beautiful Flower, I had to explain what the word brilliant meant. I told her it is when someone is so smart, they light up the room. I didn't really know if it sunk in, but later I heard her describing her kindergarten teacher, Miss Darla, as brilliant.
P.S. ...Talent...
Right after I posted my blog about America not having talent, I found two more ridiculous talent shows. One was about impersonators of people who have talent, and the other was called Sons of Hollywood. It's a new reality show about people related to people with talent. That being said my guilty pleasure is going to be Last Comic Standing. I'm also looking for a good book club.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The Joy of Mid-Season Replacements
They've started, the mid-season replacements which seem to be an endless string of mindless reality competition shows. There is America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, American Inventor, and probably a few other American Idol rip-offs. I don't think the producers understand the public. They think we sit through hours of brainless talentless auditions to watch the mentally ill get ridiculed. The truth is we endure the pain because the last couple of shows are pretty good every season, and there is nothing else on except movies we've already seen. I'm going to do something creative with my TV like turn it into a gold fish tank, or maybe move it outside and make a cushion for it. I can use it as an ottoman, while I sit on the porch, and watch the planes go by at night, because there is nothing to watch on TV. I've come to one conclusion. America doesn't have talent!
Monday, June 4, 2007
How do I get my children to sleep?
I'm tired. My children won't sleep at night I would love to tell you that they need their sleep, and so I am on a noble quest, to help them. The truth is, I need to help me get some sleep, because they DON'T need their sleep. They are just fine without naps, and they don't want to go to bed at night either. Me, on the other hand, I am desperate for sleep, and I'm CRANKY. I guess in way it would be better for them, because then I would be a little more fun.
I tried baths, and routines, and punishment, and rewards. I can't find the magic formula yet. I don't think all of this trying matters much, because they just aren't tired. Yesterday, they were up at 7 am. They went for two walks, played all day, went swimming a couple of hours, and still at 8 could have played all night. I'm zzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz.
I tried baths, and routines, and punishment, and rewards. I can't find the magic formula yet. I don't think all of this trying matters much, because they just aren't tired. Yesterday, they were up at 7 am. They went for two walks, played all day, went swimming a couple of hours, and still at 8 could have played all night. I'm zzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz.
Friday, June 1, 2007
What's the Word?
I was at lunch with my folks today, and I was saying how my kids are too old for a stroller, but too difficult to control some of the places we go, so what I need is one of those wagons. However, they are too expensive! Not more than 5 minutes later we were driving home, and I passed one for sale at a yard sale. First of all, who ever heard of a yard sale on a Friday? Anyway, she sold it to me for $15! What's the word for when something like that happens? Synchronicity!
Beautiful Flower
Yesterday was Boo's graduation from preschool. I made her a CD from iTunes of the single Beautiful Flower for her grad present. That was the song that was on Oprah last week. It was written for Oprah's girl's school in Africa.
We then left on a nine-hour drive to grandma's house. She kept asking to hear HER song. The lyrics tell her that she is "more beautiful than a flower, more valuable than a diamond... when the radio tells you to shake your money maker, shake your head and say you're a leader ... you can heal the world with your mind ... you are brilliant" I had to explain what brilliant was.
At one point, listening to the song, I heard her say to her brother, "I am a leader." After JJ had a great time changing the words, so that every time India Arie sang, "girl", he said, "boy," we passed some flowers off the highway. JJ said to Boo, "That's you, you're beautiful."
We then left on a nine-hour drive to grandma's house. She kept asking to hear HER song. The lyrics tell her that she is "more beautiful than a flower, more valuable than a diamond... when the radio tells you to shake your money maker, shake your head and say you're a leader ... you can heal the world with your mind ... you are brilliant" I had to explain what brilliant was.
At one point, listening to the song, I heard her say to her brother, "I am a leader." After JJ had a great time changing the words, so that every time India Arie sang, "girl", he said, "boy," we passed some flowers off the highway. JJ said to Boo, "That's you, you're beautiful."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)