Only in California!
They've shut down a section of road to make a safe path for a salamander crossing. Yes. For a salamander to cross the road.
Here is a link to a news report explaining why the salamanders needed to shut down a road. It's so obvious! They are endangered! Save the Salamanders!
The last ballet class was very entertaining. You get what you get with a three-year old! Next Monday we don't have class since it will be Thanksgiving week; I am glad we don't go back for two weeks!
Since there are 20 three and four year old ballerinas and class is only 30 minutes long, all the parents stay. The class is in a gym and there are folding chairs along the wall for the parental audience. There are usually about 30 parents and people who stay and watch, most with cameras. The teacher can then have the parents help a bit if their child needs it. Sometimes a shoe comes untied or someone has to go potty, things like that happen.
Monday, Libby was fussing and crying and wanting to go with all the ballerinas. So the teacher asks me to leave. Is that embarrassing enough? No.
Gracie gets a bloody nose! The teacher announces, "Who is the mom for this ballerina?" I have to deal with that in front of everyone. I grabbed kleenex and baby wipes and my hand sanitizer, and I make sure to get her super clean and germ free cuz they have to hold hands.
This happens three times cuz it just wouldn't quit bleeding. It wasn't bad, just bad enough. And Libby continues to throw fits which causes the teacher to once again say, "Whoever has the unhappy baby, could you step out? Thank you!" Of course, I can't because I have a bloody ballerina to deal with.
And then Gracie sneezed and used her hand to wipe her nose and then yells to the crowd, "MOM! I got a booger!" She has to scan the line of parents because she knows I was jostling Libby on my hip and pacing behind the row of seated quiet parents trying to quiet little sis. Gracie is holding up this HUGE booger blood clot for the world to see. And Libby is still crying.
The teacher is getting so annoyed with my kids but she laughs along with everyone else. She wants me to hover over Gracie and take the baby out. I can't do both! Every time I left with Libby I left Gracie's kleenex and purell for her hands just sitting near her on the table that held the cd player, then the teacher would say "you left all your stuff here". Yes, in case Gracie needs it!
I was never so happy to see ballet class end! That was a very long 30 minute ballet class!
It's easy. Go to the college where my husband works. They dish 'em out like candy. I'm so annoyed.
I try not to vent a lot and turn my blog into a stomping ground of things that frustrate me, but seriously, this university "policy" is on my nerves. They don't really have a "policy" its more of a "the way things are" type of thing. Unwritten, non verbalized way of how it works.
And this is how I understand that it works: The University has an excellent graduate program for excellent students who excel in everything they do. Excellent!
Except that excellence is just code for "we give them all As". Key word: Give.
My husband teaches students who already have been through middle school, high school, junior college, university undergrad school; they have Bachelor's degrees, job experience and proved themselves worthy of being admitted to the Master's program. Impressive, eh? Yeah, I thought so too. Until... I saw some of their work. And I saw my husband making squishy faces while reading their papers they turned in to him. And I realized that their written academic presentations were not much better than the essays he brings home from his middle school. These people are in the masters program? How did they get there? Shoot, how did they get out of the 8th grade?
The end of this term, my husband sat with a huge stack of final projects in front of him and he was scowling. He looked over and said to me, "these are all crap!" All but two got an A. I don't get it. I don't know how or why, but it happens that way. It just irritates me so much. I worked so hard for my grades and they weren't As all the time.
Not all students come out of class with an A. Some get an A-. OOooooOOOOooo, poor students! Apparently, A- is cause for academic review or something, and a B is just insultingly bad, and I'm sure the university doesn't want to waste a lot of time with those "bad" students. Just nudge them over the line. I wish I knew how they decide that everyone gets an A and how an A- is cause for review. I know if the teacher gives out too many "bad grades" he gets his ass chewed. Then his boss does.
Now that I know all this, I know where I'm going to get my master's degree. Yes, to the excellent school for excellent students who do nothing but excel in every excellent class. Then they go on to get excellent jobs with excellent salaries because they are so excellently excellent and win the job with that excellent transcript. And if I don't get a masters at this excellent school, I might end up working for one of these jerks who just purchased their degree. So, that's what I'll do. Can't beat 'em, join 'em! Buy a degree! Who has time to earn one?
Boy, I'm gonna catch hell for writing this, but I'm gonna hit publish post anyway.
Hello, Mary's Blog Fans. Mary's husband here. I'm taking over the keys to the blog today. I noticed this new TV show "V" is a remake of an 80s show by the same name. Remember that one? This one seems the same with updates. Here are my thoughts on the new V show and my predictions:
It is all pretty predictable--and that Nazi-like allegory is still there. The son of the main character is signed up to be part of the "Hitler Youth" and I'm sure will eventually sell out his own mother to the "V's"
In fact, Here's how the rest of the series will go:
* The son will develop a romantic (albeit one-sided) relationship with the hot little blonde V as he continues to lie to his mom about being involved.
* As she leads him on, he begins to rise up in the ranks and gains more V trust.
* Eventually, the hot little blonde V will start to show some feelings for him, and reveal the truth of her reptilian heart, OR, she will go all psycho on his arse and reveal how she used him like the tool he is--THEN reveal her reptilian side. Either way, THAT is when this tool will realize Mom was right all along.
* Meanwhile, the younger priest will become more involved in the underground resistance--helping to lead it and gaining intel from the FBI agent. Also-- The priest will at some point end up killing his older Priest mentor--who is actually a V himself.
* The turning point will be when a large portion of the population realizes the true intent of the V's (to turn us into soylent green), and a V revolt erupts. That revolt willl involve the internet and hackers (because using the internet can solve anything) taking over tv stations for a worlwide broadcast of some video evidence that the V's are lying about who and what they are and why they are here. That might be the black guy ripping the human skin off his reptilian arm live on camera.
* By now, the jilted son has switched sides and provides valuable intel about the V embassy so the resistance can blow it up, which they do almost simultaneous to the "Here is the Real V" tv broadcast. Result: chaos and mass anti-V sentiment ending with multiple attacks against V's, (with lots of scenes of 15 year old cars getting blown up) and prompting the V's to use their superior weaponry in defense.
* Season-ending cliff-hanger scene will be of the cute bitch V leader with a nasty pissed off Nancy-Pelosi looking expression (or maybe Hillary) telling the weaselly reporter that if the humans want war, the V's will bring it.
...and there will be no season 2
That's what we just had for dinner. Rice, Sauce and Chicken Nuts.
I told Gracie that we are having Chicken Nuggets and she replied, "Chicken Nuts! I don't like Chicken Nuts!". She ate plenty of them though, so she does like Chicken Nuts!
Actually, I served up some General Tso's Heat and Eat Chicken Nuggets. It comes with some spicy sauce and says right on the box: "Just Add Rice". Coupled with Minute Rice, it's a quick and easy convenient dinner. Not gourmet, but we don't eat it very often. Not that we eat gourmet very often either... I think we should have General Tso's Chicken Nuts more often now that Gracie is a big fan.
Of course, now, I will always think of them as Chicken Nuts.
I cut up piles of jeans! Old jeans that didn't fit anyone, worn out jeans, stained jeans, maternity jeans, baby denim dresses, you name it, I chopped it into squares 6"x6". I couldn't really make the squares bigger because the girls are too skinny to wear jeans that have legs wide enough to cut larger than 6" across. Took me about a month to cut all the denim that we had that was worthy of going into a quilt (meaning it was not worthy to wear!).
Here is a 9-patch block laid out. Dark, light, dark, light, dark, light... and so it goes. Square #7 is where I will lay and "interesting" square in the block. Plenty of those!
So far I have four 9-patch blocks done. I am identifying them by the shade of the center square and as you can see I have one dark and three light. I will alternate the dark, light, dark, light so that the pattern is consistent. But, for today, I just laid out the blocks that I have done to show you, and it happens to be that I have one more light than dark so the pattern is a bit off in this layout. No worries, I won't sew them together like that! I am happy with almost all of my corners!
I have a king size red flannel bedsheet that I will use for the backing, and I will put jeans pockets in the bordering blocks. My husband has been asking me to make a denim jeans quilt for years; it isn't my favorite fabric and I've always thought a jeans quilt would be too bulky, boring and ugly. I'm happy to say, it's a fun project and I look forward to taking this quilt camping!
It's coming along! A big warm denim quilt for the hubby will soon be a reality! And since it will be made out of the family's old jeans, it will have some extra coziness to it!
Here I was worrying about swine when I should have been worrying about fowl! Turns out, Libby's illness this week was not swine flu, it was Chicken Pox.
Libby had her 12 mth vaccinations last month. 15 days later (last Sunday) she developed a fever and began her fever and flu-like symptoms. Friday she was splotchy and polka dotty. Saturday was more of the same. Her irritability increased, separation anxiety heightened and she wasn't happy. Saturday her skin looked a lot better, clingy as velcro with static. Now it's Sunday morning, we shall see how she is today. Hopefully, her skin will be cleared up and back to normal, but it could still take a day or two.
Not to be left out of all the attention, Gracie says she has a frog in her throat. Ribbit!
