The Big 4 0

Kevin made my favorite - German Chocolate Cake!!
At La Hacienda with 15 of my friends for a "Girls Night Out"

I now have nearly 2 weeks under my belt of being 40. This was the hardest one yet. I really got into a funk....Can't explain it really - just struck me like no other. I really had a great day. Just mid way through I hit an emotional wall and fell apart. But I'm all better now! I apparently have moved on.....! And that's a good thing. Still seems weird to say 40. I'm 40. I'll have to practice that. NOT! I remember when I was in the 5th grade we had a new student - my friend Cherilyn - anyway she told us her parents were in there 20's - I don't remember now how old they were - but I do remember thinking how young they were and that my parents were so much older. When I do the math now, my parents would have only been 35 and 38. And now I realize they really weren't that much older than my friends parents - silly me. I remember trying to figure out how old you'd be in the year 2000 - I was the ancient age of 33. I wish I were 33 today! But since that's not going to happen - and I'm not much for lying - even about my age, I guess I'll have to work on embracing 40.

Clean your Room

I was lurking on one of my favorite blogs and came across this news tidbit. This is seriously not funny - just so there is no misunderstanding. It just made me think about my efforts this weekend to get my daughter to clean her room. This girl can come up with an excuse faster than you can sneeze. She asks to take a break about every 5 minutes. It got to the point were I was actually offering her $20.00 to clean her room - to which she said "I'll pay you $10.00 to clean if for me"..... Her dad and grandfather were not helping my situation - of course egging her on. I'd like to think she didn't really have any idea what she was saying to me..... We talked last night before she went to bed about the fact that she basically spent a good portion of the weekend (a 4 day weekend at that) in her room "cleaning" it - or in my opinion "not" cleaning it. I couldn't help but laugh when she smiled up at me and said "But mom, aren't you glad you can at least see the floor now?". A true Pollyanna moment..... In this same conversation she reminded me that I have piles on my floor too! Gotta love it.

Nothing like being slapped in the face with reality. In my bedroom it's probably a stack of books, no stacks in the living room, bathrooms, dining room - and then there is the family room. In here is a whole lot of filing..... I'm in the process of cleaning out the drawers. And I'm also working on our taxes, reimbursed medical expenses and then the school work I just can't seem to part with. I have big Rubbermaid tubs in the basement that I put the kids school work into but always seem to have a basket full that needs to go down there. And on top of that I have an extra filing cabinet and big plastic container that has Omega Nu stuff in it. Neither which go with my decor. I'm not counting the days when my presidency is over - I'm counting the days until the filing cabinet goes! And let's not even discuss the desk.....Someone once told me that a clean desk is the sign of a blank mind - apparently I took that to heart! But I do know where everything is on it. Ask me for anything and I will find it for you! Maybe I'm waiting for someone to offer me $20.00 to clean it.....

Bidwell Mansion

Today I went on a Field Trip with my daughter to the Bidwell Mansion. I have to say it's my favorite so far this year! Our tour guide, Amber did a great job taking us into the past. She really told the stories of John and Annie Bidwell as if she had been there. It was a delight! I had taken this tour years ago. I can't even remember when I did it it was so long ago. We got the school tour - the "3rd grade tour", so we were not able to go to the third floor nor to all of the rooms that you get with the other tour. But again a great tour all the same.

The one thing I enjoyed the most were the photos throughout the rooms of the rooms themselves. Bummer though they didn't have the actual dates of when the photos were taken. I love looking at old photos. It was fun imaging living at the mansion. It's a great home with so many details. It's amazing how old it really is.... I was just telling my parents that I wanted to go to the Chico Museum as I have not done that. Chico really does have a great historical past. Another fun thing I want to do - and hopefully I'll do it this year! I'd like to go the the Patrick Ranch and see the Bee threshing. Sounds like a good thing to do this summer with the kids. This will be my first summer not working in 5 years! We should pick a historical thing to do each week. I'm already looking forward to it....!

Days Later and still a little?...

For some reason I haven't been able to let this one go. Maybe some relief is in sight. I ran over to Trader Joe's the other night to get some last minute things for dinner preparation. You see I can do that! And I love it. It's sooooo close to my house! We use to have a Lucky's store which turned into an Albertson's - which then closed as there is another one further down the road. When we first moved here there was also a little Holiday Market where In Motion Fitness is now. I have missed the little stores, I knew them like the back of my hand and could run in and get something quickly. And now I have Trader Joe's - though I did see the other day that they've put up a "Grocery Store Outlet" sign on the old Lucky's building..... We'll see. We have one of those south of town. I've been there once in 12 years! So anyway, back to what I was saying...

I came out of Trader Joe's and I was putting my grocery bag into the trunk when this man on a bike came walking between my car and another. He's smoking a cigarette. I don't really remember what he was wearing, doesn't matter. So he says to me "Excuse me ma'am, can you spare some change". And I smiled and shook my head and said "No". Before I could finish what I was going to say he was onto the next person. I was actually going to add "Sorry" into my response. So he's dismissal of me caused me to turn around and look at him more closely. And I have to tell you this guy was on a really nice bike. Huh? I'm sure I've been approached by this guy before in this same parking lot. So I must of had a bewildered look on my face because the next thing I knew a woman walking by said to me "Don't feel bad, he just did the same thing to me, and honestly if he spent the time he spends begging looking for a job he wouldn't be in this position". To which I replied, "I was just checking out his really nice bike". So she continued on to her car and I got into my car. I kept replaying the encounter over in my head, not really understanding why it was affecting me. I just kept going back to the bike. It made me think of the time a few years back when Kevin was doing the annual food basket deliveries for the Salvation Army - something he does every year. He was helping this lady out to her car with this box of food and she stops at a brand new Ford Excursion. It seemed so out of place. Could be she was borrowing the car? Maybe he was borrowing the bike. For me I am not comfortable giving people on the street "spare" change. I'm very uncomfortable with the begging. Even though I'm an ENFJ (Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judging-Myers-Briggs Type) or as my family refers to me an Extrovert. The only one in our family of 5. Anyway, I'm really only comfortable in my environment - I'm somewhat shy towards people before I get to know them. So I don't want to be approached by people on the streets. They are invading my space and I didn't invite them! We have had conversations in the car about people begging on the street corners. My kids have lots of questions about them. They read the signs and want to know what it means. There is a couple that stands at the intersection of Cohasset and Pillsbury, a corner that we frequent often. And this couple has been there for a while. And the kids have a million questions about them as we wait for the light to change. I answer honestly from my prospective - because I've never had a conversation with them personally. What would I know - I've never been in there situation - heck I don't even know what there situation is. But for me I choose not to give that way. They stand there with stone cold looks on there faces and won't make eye contact with you. It's sad, I get it - but isn't there something they can do? I'm also thankful I have tinted windows! I do wonder how they can stand there for hours at a time. And why isn't one of them out looking for a job while the other is begging? I did work for a (horrible) woman once - oops! Did I say horrible?... Anyway, we were coming back from lunch one time and she made this big to do about giving to this man standing on the side of the road. It was so much more about making herself look good then it was about giving - it totally turned me off! We have chosen our charity causes and stick to them. Plus with school and Kevin involved in Kiwanis and myself with Omega Nu - we are tapped! These days everyone wants your money! So I guess what I wanted to say was that a) I don't like when people beg - I don't let my kids beg, I certainly don't want an adult begging b) I don't need anyone knowing that I gave, nor do I need to be thanked, acknowledged or what not. I give because it's the right thing to do and it brings me joy. Period. I wish I could say end of story - but it brings up a whole new post idea. Maybe tomorrow!

Nothing Nice to Say

I was having a conversation the other day with my parents and my dad mentioned that I hadn't posted in a while. And the first response I could come up with was "I guess I have nothing nice to say". How sad is that.... Last week I was embroiled in the trenches of banking. Which apparently put me in a pretty bad mood. It was one of those double edged sword moments. We got a call Monday (1/22/07) telling us that they suspected fraudulent activity on Kevin's debit card - he still had his card in his possession too. And that was good and all. But here we are now over 3 weeks later and it seems to be getting worse by the day. I called the bank a week ago and advised them that the card they reissued was attached to my account. Not a good thing! Kevin has an account that his payroll goes into and I have the joint account that I use for groceries and household things. Sadly, not much in there. And certainly not enough to cover my spending and Kevin's too. So imagine my surprise when I looked up my account this morning online and saw all of Kevin's activity this weekend pulled from my account! Yikes! I was too angry to call myself. I had just had this conversation with the bank last week when the first transaction hit. And he we are 6 days later and nothing! I guess I shouldn't say nothing - they did reverse the fees they charged me when they returned the check Kevin had written me on the same day we got the original phone call! And I thought I was frustrated then. I thought I might blow a gasket this morning. Talk about incompetency. Last week when I called I was thinking, here I am the customer, why do I have to do her work for her! I really wanted to say - !@#$%^&*()_+. But I didn't..... And I'm making Kevin call today - and I'm biting my tongue!

Have we Gone to Far?

Interesting article - but give me a break. I say this after I spent some time this afternoon at Cash & Carry - getting ingredients for my Mocha making. Working on some new recipes!....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16827665/wid/11915773?GT1=8921#storyContinued

I had a thought about getting a job as a barista - you know just a part-time gig. Get the recipes down and then be on my merry way.... I think I could get down the coffee art thing too....! Check this out http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonx/sets/48921/

Teaching to a Test

Well I just couldn't resist this morning. I was reading my niece's blog and the comment from my Aunt Kitty really stirred me up! She was right on in her response. I love her lurking - but I'm hoping she'll blog someday too. I love her stories...

So her comment was "As long as our schools have to "teach to a test" (No child left behind)I am afraid life skills and Yoga will be relagated as an extra curricular activity. So many young people are ill prepared for life after school. Change is in the wind, though, if other young people think as you do. Fixing our education system should start with your generation demanding it."

If you know me you'll know that I am very passionate about my children's school and their education. I had the good fortune to enroll my daughter into preschool at Chico Country Day School. I didn't know much about schools at the time, but knew the teachers from a Mother's group I was in. That winter I received a notice in Karlee's cubby that Chico Unified School District was holding a Kindergarten Workshop at CSUC. At the time I taught "Great, some direction". Not. This was rooms full of people - no direction. No instructions. Nothing. It was literally wall to wall people. I came back with some literature and read through it. Our neighborhood school was a year-round school. I knew right away that was not for us. We like spending our summers at the cabin. So that was out. So I decided to enroll Karlee into Chico Country Day School. They are a charter school. Which at the time they were 1 of 2. I had heard both good and bad - about the same for all the other schools I'd inquired about. They had a different teaching method (ITI, integrated thematic instruction) then all the others. CCDS was in the middle as far as test scores. Much higher than our neighborhood school. And they were around the corner from our house. This was our pick. They had a lottery system. So our daughters name was (literally) put into a jar with about 100 others. They held the drawing in there multipurpose room - which was shabby to say the least. But sitting there you could see how much care and effort they had and were putting into there school. This school had taken over an old commercial space that once held a motorcycle shop and turned it into a school. Now back to the drawing. When Karlee was entering Kindergarten, two classes had 10 boys and 10 girls each. That's 40 total. They no longer do that as someone cried foul and it's now discrimination to divide the classes that way - go figure! So Kyle in first grade has only 18 other boys out of 60 kids. With 3 classes that is only about 6 boys per class - now I find that discriminatory! Anyway then you take away the spots for siblings, employees children, retention and two extra spots in case they hire someone that needs the spot. That year the only thing available was 6 girl spots and 8 boy spots - I did say there were about 100 names in the jar right. The drawing begins, people are sitting there on pins and needles hoping they hear their child's name - it was so tense (now I can't help but laugh about it). And then the second name was drawn and it was our Karlee. Oh my gosh, I burst into tears. Crazy huh? Well not for the other 86 people on the waiting list.... Fortunately, I only had to do that the first year and then Kyle was in automatically.

So what got to me this morning was the "teach to the test" comment. I know I'm dragging alone here. Sorry! That's it - that is what I love about our school! We do not teach to the test. Here is some info on the ITI Method. Now what I love about this ITI method is that they learn by seeing, doing, touching, hearing, building, and even gardening. Yes they do have to include the standards, but it's how they teach that is different. At our school we have Lifelong Guidelines and Life Skills. This is introduced at the Preschool level and continued on throughout the years. We have even adapted them at home. And definitely the thing that stays with me is the community feel we have at our school. Every Friday we have an "All School Sing" where the entire school comes to the multipurpose room and sings together. This is where kids are also awarded "Life Skill Awards". If you've been seen demonstrating a Life Skill you are awarded a certificate. It's really great to see the kids come together, everyone is treated equally. You see a lot of the older kids encouraging the younger kids on the playground. Each day the entire school recites the pledge of allegiance in front of the flag together. Since my daughter was in 1st grade, I've done that with them nearly each day. Even Kyle could recite the pledge before he could write his name... These are all good touchy, feel things. But the bottom line is our test scores are flying off the charts. Here are the most current records (API). When we first started at CCDS it was about 7 years old and was about 7th in standings out of 14. We are now 2nd in the district. Each year it seems our test scores have gone up double digits, last year we went up 58 points. We are also in our new site as the district accepted (after much debate) our Prop. 39 request and put us in a school site after some shuffling and school closures. It has seemed over the years that the Charter School up rise has caused so much negativity - but why take away such a great thing. I read our newsletter last week and we will finish the year with a $100,000 surplus, and a balanced budget. How many other schools can say that? Our school ROCKS! But then again, I'm really passionate about it. As I'm sure other people are about there school's as well. You've got to find what's right for you and give it all you've got because that's what will matter most. We have some great leaders at our school and we are very fortunate that we can govern ourselves. Yes we have to answer to the district and they pretty much treat us like the redheaded step child. There loss is our gain! But how can you argue with our great success! Well long winded, but I think I got it all out there. Trying to do too much today in between writing....