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MOM-OF-SIX's Recent Blog Entries
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Tuesday, November 23, 2010
I have to do spark people from the iPad, which is slow compared to our computer. Hubby will eventually get me set up on my own system, so I won't be at the mercy of the viruses the kids keep infecting our computer with.
I'm waiting until after Thanksgiving to deal with the school. The next move is to start organizing the parents and going to school board meetings.
Some good news at the doctor's office. I only use the scales at my doctors' offices and my thyroid doc made me come in for an appointment. No more refills till I see him. The scale read 170.1! I'm almost to the 160s!
Of course, I was a little disappointed. Why couldn't say 169.9? My oldest son pointed out that I should have taken off my shoes, but I always weigh with my shoes on and want to compare apples to apples.
So, going in to the holidays, I'm almost to another mini-goal. That should help keep me motivated for a while. My eating has been great! It's been harder to get my workouts done, but I managed two last week. None so far this week, but I should be able to squeeze two in as well. I have to be realistic. This is the busiest time of the year and I really want to enjoy it! My hubby made sure I had some fun on Saturday. He let the kids get down the gingerbread house kits and left me in charge. What a messy, fun, creative project! We all had a blast!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
What a week! Patrick is still coughing, which tells me his asthma is not under good control. He does albuterol via a nebulizer every three hours while awake, and he still coughs and is tight. The family doctor has been great, but feels he should see a specialist. The specialist I have already been to, may be able to get Pat in, but I have my doubts about this guy. He totally ignored the history I gave to both his nurse and resident and had me treating Pat's sinuses instead. I have no idea if I can get into someone new, and am waiting for a call-back from a friend to get a name.
In the middle of all this, I went to an elementary school meeting regarding core curriculum. I understand that the state is in the process of defining more specifically per grade what needs to be taught. Our principal is using this as an opportunity to bring in a crazy new math system and having the teachers build a curriculum from scratch. This is elementary school. The kids need to learn the basics. Curricula already exist that can be purchased and at the current time our teachers are writing their own math problems. He projects it will take two years to outline math! Right now, our kids are getting ONE word problem a day. He's excited that the kids are allowed to figure it all out on their own and they have to show different "strategies" to solve this ONE math problem.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!
This is why so many people homeschool. The support network is not here in my small town to be able to manage homeschooling and keep my sanity. So, I've got a battle on my hands. I have already started organizing other outraged parents and I'm doing my research to back us up. The principal claims that textbooks are not research based. His program, he believes is. I've checked it out. The program in which he believes used it's own tests to "prove" that it was "superior". ITBS scores did NOT support this and showed the massive limitations of this other program. We parents want to get back to basics. In fact, that's what I would like to call this movement, "Back to Basics". The series that I am supporting, Saxon, has been used in school districts AND there is proof that it works! Having one series school wide provides the continuity both within each grade and between grades that the principal is trying to achieve. Providing the teachers with excellent resources decreases prep time. Right now the teachers are just piecing everything together, essentially, recreating the wheel. We're talking elementary school math. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc... are all the same as they were 50 years ago and every "new" math system introduced since the 1950s has failed miserably to those that stress the basics. There also seems to be assistance to help with the cost of bringing Saxon into the school system.
I feel I have just saved the principal two years of work on recreating the wheel.
So, lots of stresses this week, stresses that will continue for a while. That will cut into my sparking time. I just thought I would let you all know why I may be MIA for a while.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Mondays... How can one day be so routinely bad?
Patrick, my asthmatic, woke up having trouble breathing. His nebulizer wasn't clearing him out, so another trip to the doctor (we went on Friday-but our regular family doc wasn't there). I decided also to have a chat with the "specialist" who told me last month that Pat doesn't appear to have asthma. Dealing with that office really messed up my mood. Thankfully, our regular family doc was wonderful.
The checkbook... I had neurotically kept track of the checkbook all last week. Hubby had made an unexpected trip to Sam's, nine days before his paycheck. It appeared that we made it. I got online to check our accounts. The mortgages were coming out like expected, however, where's the paycheck? Hubby's employer had some kind of mix up, and the check SHOULD get deposited Tuesday. My mortgages came out yesterday. I had to spend part of my day on hold, then dealing with the bank's customer service to see what we could do. I got it all figured out, assuming the paycheck comes today. STRESSFUL!
The kitchen... I worked all weekend, noon to 10:30 pm, and I commute. That makes for a long time away from home. I looked at the kitchen Sunday night as I came in. You're kidding me! The counters were full of dirty dishes, pots, pans and baking sheets. My Monday work was all lined up.
On the way home from the doctor's office, I decided to stop at the school to get some of Patrick's school work. I park in the middle of the lot. What I thought was dirt around the area that I parked, ended up being the squashed remains of some critter, fangs and snout still intact, the rest was extremely gross and stinky. "REALLY!?! Kid's get back in the car! Don't step on anything!"
All this, and the usual Monday morning: "Mom! Where's my...?" or "I don't have jeans." Yesterday was tough. I was unable to get a workout done. I managed to not blow up too badly at anyone, and was even patient with the bank guy. It helped that he sounded like he was from our country. He actually understood what I was saying and was very helpful. I used the time on hold to just put up my feet and relax a little.
So, today... I plan to watch "Toy Story Three" with the twins and Patrick. I'm going to get the hugs I so desperately need. I WILL work out! I will just keep plugging away at all the "mom stuff" I do every day. Monday is gone and done.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Today started out with me wondering, "How on earth am I going to get through today?". I had a horrible night sleep, tossing and turning since 4am. The kids were slow to get out the door for school, and hubby is on a business trip. I try to not let myself get overwhelmed, but it's hard with so little sleep.
A short rest (I don't nap well), some coffee and a workout have helped. Now I look outside, and it's raining. Believe it or not, I'm relieved. When the kids come home, they will have to stay inside. I usually let them play outside as much as possible, which has left many areas of our house messy. Yes, because of the rain, it will be chore day for them! This will hopefully relieve some of my overwhelmed feelings. My messy house stresses me out, and working part time, I don't have as much time as I'd like to take care of the house.
So bring on the rain! Let's get this mess cleaned up, kids!
Monday, November 08, 2010
Time change, yuk! That has really thrown me off. I was actually on a streak of sleeping well until Saturday nights time change. Now, I'm in a funky mood. It doesn't help that everything is still broken around here. Or that I told hubby to watch his spending on Friday. I was okay with charging some tires at Sams. Charging postpones the payment until his paycheck. My paycheck is this weeks money, not nearly as much. He couldn't charge groceries, that wasn't allowed with this charge card, so he BOUGHT them, a bunch of them.
Yikes! Now, I have to be neurotic about the checkbook until next Monday, his paycheck. Guess what! The computer is still massively infected with some virus. He'll put some kind of temporary fix on tonight, so I can catch up.
I'm typing on the iPad right now, which is better than nothing, but still more frustrating than a keyboard.
In addition, the water softener isn't working, and that's affecting the dishwasher. One thing after another, everything is breaking.
You guessed it, I'm in a bad mood. It's Monday and I'm tired and grumpy. For some reason, habit I guess, I still got on spark people. I'm caught up on tracking and have
posted a few comments. I've even read a positive blog post.
Wow! I feel a little better already. Maybe I can get a few things done around here today. I will get on that elliptical! It seems funny to me how just logging on to spark people helps me get motivated for my day.
Thanks spark people!
Things don't seem so bad anymore. I think I can get a few things done today
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