Filed under: public school
The school Doodles goes to is on the block schedule where they have 4 classes for the fall semester and 4 classes for the spring semester, like they do in college. So, that means that her first semester of public school indoctrination is coming to an end and she is experiencing final exams for the first time in her life. She seems a bit worried about them which I guess is a good thing. She’s going into them with straight A’s, and I’m very proud (and relieved) by that. However, the finals are worth 10 or 20% depending on the class, so there is still plenty of room to blow it. There are a few things that amazed me about this whole final exam thing. First, she had a final for PE class. Yep, you read that correctly. Not only was there a final, but they had to do a PowerPoint presentation, make a posterboard, and give an oral presentation! For PE! I couldn’t believe it. For world geography, the coach that teaches the class pretty much gave them a list of questions to be sure they knew the answers to and gave them each 3 pieces of paper that they can use to make up cheat sheets. I don’t know why she is worried about that test. And finally for speech, they have been able to earn stickers throughout the semester which could be used towards a speech pass (automatic 100% on speech without doing it) or towards answers on the final. She has 2 stickers, one of which she is planning on using for what I think is a ridiculous question from the study guide the teacher gave them – it had to do with what movies/actors won Academy Awards over the years. This is a speech class, not a film class. The teacher for honors English gave them no clue what might be on the test except to say that it will be in a format like the SAT (which doesn’t mean much to a bunch of 9th graders) and has done no review. It should be interesting to see how it all turns out.
UPDATE: The grades are posted and she got 100% on 3 of the 4 finals and kept her straight A’s. I’m so proud of her.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I know, I left you hanging on the whole kitchen remodel thing. I would tell you all about it, but I don’t have the after pictures taken yet nor do I have any of the before pictures put on my computer yet. I’m a little slow at things like that. So today, we are going to go on to something that doesn’t require pictures although if I had one of me pulling my hair out, it would be appropriate. We decided back at the beginning of September to refinance the house. The rates were low, we could knock it down to a 15 year mortgage without increasing our payments, and we could even take some money out to pay for the new kitchen counters. It sounded like a great idea. In order to try to make things easier, we chose to go with the company that held our mortgage. It was Chase Bank because they ended up with the Washington Mutual mortgages with all of the bank buyouts that have been going on. What we found was that it made no difference that we already had our mortgage with them. They told us that it would take about 45 days before we could close vs. the two weeks it took us to get the original mortgage. We had to jump through all the hoops and the entire process was harder than when we initially bought the house 11 years ago with a lower income and only 10% down. Some of this is to blame on the government, of course, but the people at Chase are a bunch of idiots who aren’t allowed to think for themselves. Perhaps one of the first letters of explanantion we had to write should have been enough to make us run in the opposite direction, but we had plopped down $750 and didn’t want to lose it. I received an e-mail from them wanting a letter explaining why they ran a credit report on us in early September. Hello? How do you respond to that without being excessively snarky. I wanted to write something along the lines of :
Dear Idiots:
Why the hell do you think you ran a credit report on us the day we applied to refinance our mortgage with your bank?
Sincerely,
Your Latest Victims
I didn’t think that would be the wisest move though considering they held our financial security in their hands at the moment, so I went with something slightly more subtle, I merely stated that it was self-evident that they ran a credit report on us as we were applying to refinance with them. This letter was followed up with many more requests from them for things like why our street name is different than it was on the original mortgage (the city changed the name) to why Boxman’s W-2 didn’t have the same employer name as what was listed as his employer (his company was bought out). We were suddenly required to get flood insurance, something we did not need previously thanks to FEMA being in cahoots with the insurance companies who are trying to recoup losses from Katrina. The flood insurance thing was taken care of back in October, as far as I knew. But somehow, the day before we were supposed to close, Chase said they didn’t have our flood insurance information and blamed it all on our insurance company. Yep. They had the information for 6 weeks, and just discovered that they were missing something. And then they didn’t tell us that the closing was cancelled for the Friday it was scheduled. Boxman got on the phone the next Monday trying to talk to the bosses and the bosses’ bosses of all those involved – our interest rate lock in was expiring and they weren’t getting the job done. They apparently decided to look at one copy of the credit report that day and wanted to know why Boxman’s last employer was still showing that he was employed by them. Excuse me? You’ve had the credit report for 3 months, you’ve had copies of our tax returns and W-2’s for the past few years, you’ve made us write multiple letters concerning his employment, and you are now asking for yet another letter stating he hasn’t been employed by this company for 3 years? You crazy chickens. I guess all of the phone calls to the bosses’ bosses’ bosses worked though, a notary from the title company showed up at our house at 6pm the day that the interest rate lock in expired and we signed away everything. I hate how Louisiana makes me sign my first, middle, maiden, last name, especially since that is not my legal name. We were amazed at the one paper we signed regarding the interest rate lock in – miraculously, the expiration date had changed even though it was still a 90 day lock in. I will never get a mortgage with Chase again.
Filed under: kitchen remodel
We have lived in this house for over 11 years and have basically done nothing to the inside besides paint the kids’ bedrooms. I think that says more about the design choices originally made than anything else – the house still looks pretty good. There isn’t really anything too ugly or tacky about the house. Sure, there is wallpaper where I prefer there weren’t, but it isn’t some big florally pattern or anything that makes you cringe when you enter the room. Despite the fact that our laminate counter tops are still in good condition and are a neutral beige speckled pattern, I am tired of them and want granite. It’s taken me a while, but I have finally convinced Boxman to spend some of his hard earned money on the kitchen. I think what helped most was going to visit our friends in Dallas who have done lots of remodeling and have a beautiful house. Thanks Shawn and Serena. So, here is where we stand right now -
Granite: After losing the granite I fell in love with because it took Boxman too long to decide if he liked it enough (someone else bought it the day before we went to buy it and to order more would cost nearly twice as much), we’ve decided on Juperana Carajas
Little did we realize that picking the granite was not going to be the only hard decision.
Sink: When I saw some copper sinks on-line, I decided that’s what we needed and it was a pretty easy sell to Boxman. We went ahead and ordered this one but might have to cancel that order and switch to a smaller one as the granite people weren’t too sure when they were making the templates this morning if this sink would fit with a faucet. Apparently, our cabinet isn’t standard.
The question then is, do we want to be even more different (which would cost less), buy a single well sink, or spend more to get a similar one that would probably fit better? Of course, over time they would all develop a lovely patina. Which one do you like?
Faucet: Who knew what a hard decision it would be to pick out a faucet? Let me just say that Home Depot and Lowes really didn’t have any good options for us. We were hoping for a pullout sprayer and a soap dispenser. Both of these have a matching soap dispenser available. The only one we found with a pullout spray that we liked is brand new and won’t be available until November. I searched on-line and found this one we liked, but I thought it was a little expensive. Bwhahaha.
Then we came across this one at a local store that had lovely knobs to match for the cabinets (yes, we have to replace them too – I’m not going to do this halfway, you know). How cute would that be with the copper sink? But is it worth paying significantly more for?
So what do you think?
Backsplash: This could be an easy thing, or it could be a bit harder. Apparently around here, 4×4 tumbled stone is the popular choice. I don’t like popular choices. Unfortunately, most of the ones I like are about $35/sq. foot. We don’t have that many square feet, but ouch. I think I’ll summarize the current options another day.
Filed under: public school
So we happen to live in a district that requires school uniforms in the public school. I have issues with that, but that’s another post at another time. I had to take Doodles shopping for the dreaded uniforms. As someone who had to wear hand-me-downs and garage sale finds for most of my childhood, I wanted to make sure that Doodles had clothes that would help her fit in rather than stand out. One of her best friends had already endured her freshman year at high school and knew which clothes would be acceptable both by the administration and by the students, so we dragged her along on our shopping expedition. First we ventured to the mall where we could hit up Aeropostale, PacSun, and American Eagle. We ended up buying all of the pants and shirts from Aeropostale as they were on sale and were popular with the kids. I took advantage of the opportunity to quiz her friend on everything school related that I could think of. I’m not sure if she was annoyed or amused by my questions, but I ended up with a better understanding of high school life. We also had to go buy a $50 pair of canvas Converse sneakers because apparently that’s the thing here. I couldn’t figure out when Converse got so popular or worse yet, so expensive. Yikes. Belts were also on our shopping list as they are required to wear a belt with anything that has belt loops. Doodles picked out a couple of ugly ones that were on sale. I did refuse to buy her the $35 backpack that she was admiring. She had a couple of perfectly fine, nearly new, non-embarrassing backpacks at home that she could use or she could pay for that herself. Of course the week before school started, her Godmother e-mailed her asking if there was anything she wanted/needed for school yet so she suckered her into buying it for her. Spoiled brat.
Filed under: homeschool
I maybe should just change the name of my blog since I’m sure I will be focusing way too much on public school for now, but I’m not going to. Today, I decided to write about getting Doodles signed up for school. It really caused me a lot of stress, but ended up being no big deal.
This was a very stressful summer for me trying to make sure Doodles was thoroughly prepared so as not to embarrass me or add to the negative stereotype some people have of homeschoolers. So, I had her review algebra to make sure she could pass the test that they would give her in order for her to get credit. She didn’t work at it as hard as I would have liked, but eventually I told her it was enough and we went to meet with a man from the school district who would determine if she could go to 9th grade. She had taken the Iowa Test back in January, so we were hoping that would be sufficient and they wouldn’t make her take another test. The man from the school told me to bring that in along with the curriculum we had been using, especially her algebra book. We packed up a rolling back pack with as much as we could fit in it and ventured to the district office. I was prepared to present our philosophy and the materials we used to him. I was prepared for a fight. Not only were we homeschoolers, but Doodles is actually too young for 9th grade by one month, so I was unsure of how they would handle things. We trudged nervously into the building, were led to his office, and I pulled out her Iowa Test results. He took one look at them, made a phone call, barely flipped through her algebra book, and told me he didn’t really need to see the curriculum we used. What? He then started telling us all about the school, almost trying to sell us on it, and told us she would need to take the algebra test if we wanted to get credit for it instead of her taking it over. That was it, in and out in 15 minutes. She went the following week for the algebra test and he was not surprised at all that she passed it just fine. He called the freshman counselor to let her know that Doodles would be coming in to sign up for classes. We went to the school and filled out the many forms they require and after an hour wait, we were finally able to meet with the counselor. Not once did anyone mention her birthday; I was very relieved. She helped get Doodles signed up for the required classes, which included the 3 honors classes that are available to freshman, which left her with 2 electives to take. Because we were so late in signing her up, the electives left were what amounts to a computer keyboarding class, home ec, and speech. The computer class is required sometime during the 4 years so she went ahead and signed up for it. I was pulling for speech while she was wanting to take the easy way out with home ec. In the end, I coerced her into the speech. So her first semester consists of world geography, honors English, speech, and p.e. Her second semester will be honors geometry, honors physical science, computer keyboarding, and health/careers. I must admit, getting her signed up was far easier than I imagined, and much easier than the school uniform shopping that came next.
No, this isn’t one of those posts making a big deal about nothing. I’m not making a big deal about anything. Well maybe I am, but my life really will never be the same. Doodles, after homeschooling through 8th grade, started high school this week. This is a life changing event. We won’t be able to take trips in the middle of the school year just because Boxman is traveling and we want to go with him or because it’s the best time of the year to travel. We won’t have the time to sit and read together. And I’m quite certain that I won’t be able to talk her into chanting Latin declensions and congugations with us anymore. We won’t sleep in on a rainy morning just because we can. Lunch time won’t be filled with the laughter of a brother and sister playing, or the yelling of them fighting. Our school room, although overflowing with books, will be lacking something (or someone) special. And although I kept telling her that I was going to cry the other day as she got on the bus for the first day of school, I didn’t. Until now.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I went to the doctor today because I was having some tooth pain which I was sure was caused by a sinus infection. There are lots of things I don’t like about my doctor, but the one thing I do like is she actually tries to talk to you to see what’s going on in your life. So, when she asked me how I was doing, the only answer I could come up with was, “Amazingly well.” It hasn’t been the best 8 months of my life. My uncle died of lung cancer. My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. My grandma (their mother) died two days after my dad’s surgery. I had to drive with Doodles to Iowa and back for the funeral that I knew my dad couldn’t be at. I was diagnosed with an ulcer (no surprise there). My sister-in-law had her baby at 27 weeks. My nephew then had to undergo 2 surgeries on his brain. Boxman traveled for basically 3 months straight. I have been getting Doodles ready to go to high school after homeschooling her for 8 years which has left me worrying about a variety of things ranging from testing out of algebra to buying the right school uniforms. Those are just the highlights. There was a time I don’t think I could have handled all that in such a short amount of time. Anxiety would have kicked in. I would have crawled into the hermit hole and hid out until I was ready to deal with the world. This time, I just kept going. And I’m doing amazingly well.
Filed under: family
I’m choosing today to write again after a bit of a hiatus for a reason. It’s Fathers’ Day and I’m happy to say that my father seems to be doing well. I stopped writing for a while because all I wanted to write about was my dad but I didn’t want to write about what he was going through. It scared me and I had a hard time saying it out loud so there was no way I was actually going to write it. Back in February, my dad called me to tell me that he was having a biopsy because his PSA blood test was high. I’m grateful that he got tested like he’s supposed to. The biopsy came back positive for cancer. Yep, the C word. I remember the phone call – I was planning on calling him that day to check on him anyway. It was a hard conversation as my uncle, his brother, had just died from cancer back in November. The word scared the crap out of me. I wanted to burst into tears but felt like I had to be strong on that phone call. He was very matter of fact about it all. I was googling prostate cancer while I was on the phone with him. I was relieved at the information I was finding on-line as most of it said that prostate cancer is highly curable when caught early. I couldn’t help but worry though. Some people do die from it and I didn’t want my dad to die from it. I kept thinking positive and prayed every day for him. He opted to have surgery to remove it and scheduled it for the day after Buster’s birthday. He had the surgery as scheduled, came out of it fine although he was quite goofy when I talked to him that evening. Biopsies of nearby lymph nodes came out negative, however some of the cancer cells were on the outside of the prostate. Another PSA test showed that it hadn’t spread (as of yet). It’s been over 2 months since the surgery and he seems to be healing fine although he still has some progress to make.
On this Fathers’ Day, I’m especially grateful to have my dad to honor.
I’m also very grateful for my husband, the father of our children, who supported me through this and loves our children tremendously.
Dads Rock.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m at the dentist office for the second time this week. Typically, it’s a relatively calm place with the occasional cry of a toddler or a happy squeal of a child playing while waiting for his turn. Today seems to be a day of extremes. Soon after we arrived, a little girl was called back. She quickly turned around and ran back to the play area in the waiting room. As her mother carried her back, she was wailing loudly. I’m not sure if she was crying because she was scared or because she wanted to keep playing, but the crying lasted a long time. Soon after that, a woman came in with her daughter who looks to be around 8. This child had a huge smile on her face and seemed excited to be here. It didn’t take long to realize that this was a special child. As she danced around the waiting room making noises, I couldn’t help but smile at the joy she had. I kept thinking how happy her family must be to have that joy around them all of the time. I wanted to say something to her mother about how she brought some happiness to my day today, but was afraid the right words would escape me so I sat there watching the girl, taking in the happy noises that were coming from her, and smiled. I’m grateful for that little girl today.
Filed under: family
Am I still allowed to call him my baby boy? He turned 11 today and is proudly claiming himself to be a tween. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing. I do know that it’s a little easier to accept my 2nd born turning 11 than it was my first. What seems really odd is that I can’t figure out where the past 4 years or so have gone. How did he get from being the cute little 7 year old to the big boy he is now? I can’t quite call him a young man yet because he still looks like a kid – still small, the cute face that younger kids have, the cute little booty, you know what I mean. But the future is looking me in the eye when I glance at Doodles who is only 2 1/2 years older than he is. And I mean glancing me in the eye because she is nearly as tall as I am. There seems to be a huge difference between the two of them and it saddens me to think that in a couple of years, he won’t look like the cute little boy. He’ll take on a new body of a gangly teenage boy. He might even start to get body hair. Eww. And undoubtedly, his behavior and attitude will change with him as he grows, tests limits, and learns how to be an adult. So, I’m going to savor these childhood days when he wakes up before me and comes to snuggle with me in my bed. I’m going to appreciate all the times he tells me how much he loves me with no shame or embarrassment about saying it. I’m going to get on the floor and play Bionicles or Playmobil with him. I’m going to enjoy the time in everyway I can because I know in the not too distant future, those days will fewer and far between. And I’m going to come back and read this post every so often to remind myself because it’s so easy to get caught up in the things that don’t matter.
Happy Birthday Buster.
