Say What?

I was just checking out facebook.  One of the kids I'm "friends" with (she's 16) was having a conversation with a friend via status posts.  They were talking about getting to heaven, and she wrote,"no dude, i'm meating jesus at the golden gates".  It was all I could do not to post:  You're throwing meat at Jesus in San Fransisco?  I crack myself up! 

Good-bye Old Friend

The prince has had this piggy bank since he was a baby.  Grandma bought it for him.  She also bought a cute pink one just like it for the princess, and I know Mark and Amanda also each got one.  Last week the prince brought home 2 HUGE stereo speakers he found at a garage sale.  (Yep.  They work!)  But there was no room in his bedroom for 2 HUGE stereo speakers.  After some prompting from the king, the prince agreed to clear out some things to make room for the speakers.  The piggy bank rested on the night stand, which was a casualty of the room overhaul.  Everything in/on the night stand had to go...including the piggy bank.  So the prince emptied it out, put his change in another container that wasn't going and quickly passed it on to our neighbor boy, Conner, who was thrilled by this cool piggy bank.  As an added bonus, the princess gave her pink piggy bank to Conner's little sister.  The piggy banks will live to save more pennies!  But it true-princely fashion, it was hard for him to let go.

"Snarky"

For Shelley:

Snarky:  Adjective (of a person, words, or a mood) Critical, cutting, testy.

See photo below:

(WAIT!  Did I really just post this?  I look like I have had a stroke!)

Suspicious

Call me suspicious, but I have my reasons, and I think this one is valid.  

First the back story--which is sort of funny in a sad way:

Someone sees one of our 7th graders smoking cigarettes before school and reports it to the principal.  He calls the boy into the office and says, "I know what you did.  Give it up."  So the boy takes off his right shoe and pulls out a bag of marijuana from the toe of the shoe.  Before the principal can say a word the kid takes off his other shoe and pulls a pipe out of that toe.  The boy thinks he's done because that's why he thinks he was called in.  The principal says, "Now the cigarettes."  The kid was really bummed to have to give those up too!  (And yes, he was expelled.)

But here's where I'm suspicious.  Now every time I see a kid limping down the hall I wonder if he/she has a pot pipe in his/her toe!

Limericks

Each year the 8th graders are required to write a poem about leaving our K-8 school. The students vote on the best poems to narrow it down, and then faculty vote on two poems to be read at graduation. My 8th graders were whining about this assignment.  I told them that writing poetry was EASY! They suggested I do the assignment myself, and so I did! I busted out 4 poems in no time. I'm posting the 2 limericks because they were the "best" (funniest). I hope the Nobel laureate people don't come calling. I'm too busy mocking 8th graders to go on a poetry tour.

Limerick #1  

We are done with school at Lockwood

Please don't mistake it for "the Hood"

Books and pens we had

Now we leave feeling sad

We're proud to say we're from "the Wood"

Limerick #2

There once was a girl in the 8th grade

In leaving Lockwood she had it made

But high school was a fright

Her old teachers were right

To go back she would gladly trade

I've become "Snarky"

"Snarky" is my new, favorite word.  I'm living it.

Yesterday the school counselor called my room asking me to send one of my 8th graders down to the office.  I told the boy to head down there, and he asked, "Where's her office."  I have no idea why she requested a visit with him, but the fact that he doesn't even know where her office is tells me a lot.  (She's tucked back behind the main office so if you aren't looking for her, you'll never find her.)  None of this is blog worthy except for the next part of the story.  When he asked where her office was one overly-eager student's hand shot up, and he practically jumped out of his seat yelling, "Can I show him?  Can I?  Can I show him?"  I'd expect that from a 1st grader, but an 8th grader???  Being my usual "snarky" self, I told him no.  I was pretty sure he could find his way to the office all by himself! 

While we're on the topic of the office, I got to work the other day and headed to the lounge to drop off my lunch.  The lounge is also tucked back behind the office and next door to the counselor's office.  Kids aren't usually allowed back there, but staff kids are often back there with parents for a minute or two.  As I came out of there, a 6th grade boy was standing in the doorway with his mouth hanging open.  He wasn't a staff kid, and I have no idea why he was back there, though I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be.  He looked at me and said, "Wow.  It's really nice in there!"  It's a small room with a frig, a sink, a table, and a computer desk.  But he'd never seen it before so I guess it was impressive!  I often tell kids we have a hot tub in there.  Some even believe me until they see for themselves!  Is that "snarky"?

The Longest Day

Today is the longest day as we wait for Shelley and Becky to arrive.  The house is clean, the frig is full--oh wait, no it's not.  Not sure what they'll eat most of the time they are here, but I do have a plan for dinner tonight!  And so we wait...for them to get here.  It's much worse to wait in the summer when we're sitting around the house waiting.  Today we'll be at work/school so the wait will go more quickly...I hope!  Hurry up and get here, but drive carefully!

Who Wants Ice Cream?

The prince has a friend whose family owns an ice cream truck.  Today he helped her out.  The weather was great, and I'm sure he got a free sample or two!

"Hunger Games" Movie Review

Karen asked me to review this movie before she forks over $10!  Do it!  Fork it over.  In much the same way that "The Help" movie followed the book as well as a movie can, so does this movie.  Peeta is not a great actor, but Gale is BEAUTIFUL!!!  And I found the "behind the scenes at the games" fascinating.  The book doesn't really touch on it, but the movie did a good job of adding it in and making it true to the story.  It's a good movie.

Then and Now

The princess has to submit 2 photos of herself for a graduation video.  She chose these two.  I ask you, could that toddler be any cuter?  Minnie hat askew, pinwheel in her hand, waiting in line for Splash Mountain at Disneyland (not knowing she's too short for Splash Mountain).  Holy cow, she's a cutie!

And she's still pretty cute!

Gotta Love

Gotta love a 90* day in April.  It was so nice yesterday...until the wind picked up in the evening.  But even then, after it calmed down again, it was 77* at 8:00.  The best part about 90* in April is that it still cools down in the evening enough that no air conditioner was needed.  The bad thing about 90* in April is that it means watering the grass.  Still, I'll take it.  And it'll be back in the 50*s by the weekend, which I'll also take.  It is only April, after all!

True Dat!

Double Birthday Delight!

Two awesome nephews--one great birthday!

Happy Birthday Matt!

Happy Birthday Jared!

Enjoy your day, and Matt, it's always been so nice

of you to share your birthday with Jared!

Jared, say "thanks" to your brother.

Love you both!

Go Falcons!

What's better than having one cheerleader in the house?

Having TWO!

Congratulations beautiful children!

Happy Birthday to the Beckinator!

 Happy Birthday Dear Sweet Becky!

Enjoy all that the upcoming year will bring.

I know it will be full of delights and surprises.

We Love you!

"I Can Do That"

Remember that dance scene from Dirty Dancing when Jennifer Grey flies into Patrick Swayze's arms?  The prince and his cheer partner figured out how to do that at cheer last night!



AB

I grew up watching American Bandstand.  This is a sad day.

School Board follow up

I am nothing if not nosey.  Yesterday I did some sleuthing and found out why the board had a change of heart (read the post below first, if you haven't already).  As they went to that final break, one of the board members went to each of the others and said something along these lines:  I firmly believe that, in light of the vastly changing climate of education right now, we need someone who will be able to lead us in, not afraid to change of growth.  This can't be just about the budget. 

Three were swayed.  One wasn't.  The last member was still torn.  The teacher getting up and reminding them that the current superintended had not had experience swayed the last. 

I talked to the man who was the lone hold-out last night.  He said he mind was made up at 7:15, and he wouldn't be swayed. 

So now you know.

What just happened?

Last night I attended our school superintended interviews, and I still have no idea what happened!  So as cryptically as possible, I'll tell the story.

Candidate #1--Early 40's, very well-spoken, interviewed well, medium amount of experience

Candidate #2--Early 40's, not as well-spoken, less experience, but I know him personally, and know him to be a great guy

Candidate #3--Late 50's, did not interview well, tons of experience and even Superintendent of the Year in his state recently

After the interviews there was a time of public comment, (In a school of 1200+ kids there were about 15 of us there and 14 were faculty, which I find sad, but maybe the public just believes the school board is doing such a good job that they don't need to be there.  And our school board is good/well-trained/educated.) and through public comment it was clear that the public had no interest in #3.

The board then began to discuss the candidates.  I was pleased to find out that we would be able to stay.  After discussion by all board members (there are 7 board members) of all 3 candidates, we took a break.  The pizza had been delivered!  When they reconvened, the mediator they had hired, (Our board is smart, as I mentioned, and hired someone from our state education department to oversee the process in the hopes of having the best outcome possible.  Money well-spent, in my opinion, as this person paced all events and checked all references--digging deep with references.) read the reference checks on all three candidates.  After more discussion, #2 was eliminated due to lack of experience.

There was another break.

Then there was more discussion and community input.  The board was having a very difficult time deciding between the two which the mediator reminded them was a good thing.  She said some boards don't really have any candidates they like.  Still it was clear the board was leaning toward #3 with all of his budgeting experience.  It was also clear that the staff liked #1 with his knowledge of the extremely changing education climate.  I felt sure they were going to hire #3 (which would not be the end of the world.), and the business manager, who would be working most closely with him, wanted #3.

So they took another break.  This break probably lasted 15 minutes.  (The others had been shorter.)  School board members spoke with each other and staff members during that time.  When they reconvened, a teacher stood up and reminded the board that our current superintended had been a principal at our school before moving into the superintended position and had no previous experience in that area, though she did have training.  She has done an amazing job for our district for many years.

After very little discussion, one of the board members made a motion to hire #1.  WHAT????  That was NOT the way they were leaning!  The motion was seconded and after a brief (2 people spoke) discussion, they voted, and he was hired.  Again, WHAT???  Don't get me wrong, I was happy with the choice, but I really want to know what happened in those last few minutes to change several minds.

To our board's credit, in a show of support they voted unanimously to hire him though it was clear that at least 2 of them were not happy with the choice.  They then spent a few minutes fine-tuning the contract they were going to offer.  The mediator asked it they would like to offer moving expenses, as is typical.  He lives in the area but will be required to move to our district as part of his contract.  Someone said, "I've got a truck.  I'll help him move."  That was the lightest moment of the night!  It was decided not to give him moving money.

Then the mediator called him, offered him the position, and he accepted.

The process took about 5 hours though countless hours went into the process before last night.  It will be interesting to be a part of the changes coming up!  Buckle your seat belt, we might be in for a bumpy ride (though I don't think so as I know our current superintendent will leave as much work as possible done before he gets here). 

And really, I just want to know what changed the board's mind.  WHAT JUST HAPPENED???

Happy Birthday Liz!

Happy Birthday Liz!

May your day be as beautiful as you are.

Oh, and get some homework done!

Enjoy!

I hope Matthew cooks dinner for you.

Did I sign up for this?

Our school is hiring a new superintendent.  Last week I got a call telling me a committee that was going to do informal interview with the 3 remaining candidates had a member drop out, and would I take her place.  "All you have to do is submit potential questions.  We will submit them to the lawyer and narrow the questions down to 4.  Then we will do 15 minute interviews with each person.  That's it."

Well that sounded easy enough.  I got some input from others in my position at school and submitted some questions.  The questions were dissected and this involved about 40 emails to keep up with over 3 days.  Seriously?  Seriously.  Way too many people wanted to be the boss.

But that was eventually taken care of and today were the interviews.  They were quick.  Each lasted about 15 minutes.  (We asked all candidates the same 4 questions.)  I didn't take notes because I thought this was a "get a feel for" interview.  Nope.  I wasn't told that afterward we'd sit for an hour picking apart each candidate, have to rank them, and that those rankings would be sent to the school board.  WHAT THE HECK???

But it was interesting.  Two of the candidates are younger and one is pushing retirement.  There is a very real difference in the philosophy of the older gentleman.  I don't know if that's good or bad...it just is.  And all three guys had hair.  Just sayin'...

I hadn't planned to go to the formal interviews tomorrow night, but now I think I will.  They are open to the public.  :)

Margarita In A Bucket

In case you hadn't figure it out, I attend a book club.  I love our book club.  We read things we wouldn't otherwise read, talk about the book, connect with friends, and snack!  (If the book was bad then snacking is sometimes the best part of book club!)

Yesterday was book club.  It went great.  At the end of the meeting I agreed to host the next club get-together (we alternate houses).  The event will be in May...on the day the princess leaves for DC.  When I mentioned this last night she quickly--and loudly--said, "WHAT?  I'm going to miss the margaritas?"

I feel I must clarify!  Yes, there are usually adult beverages at book club.  But no, there are rarely margaritas at book club.  Silly girl!  But she thinks there are!  And then I realized why.  Sometimes, okay probably every time I host book club, I buy the "Margarita in a Bucket" from Walmart.  Have you seen that?  You add alcohol to it and put it in the freezer.  It will get slushy that way.  OR, IN OUR CASE, you don't put it in the freezer.  You just put it on the counter with lots of ice and add the tequila if you want it. 

This is the way it's done at my house!  I SWEAR.  The princess does not go around our house on book club day getting toasted!  No alcohol for her.  Sheesh!

Bird's Nest Breakfast Cup

The princess made these for us for breakfast today.  They are somewhat time consuming, but quite tasty.

1 24 oz. bag of shredded hash browns
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbs oil
1/3 cup shredded cheddar
Bacon bits or 8=10 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled
Eggs
Extra shredded cheddar
Muffin tin

1. Take your bag of hash browns and mix in the salt, pepper, oil and 1/3 cup shredded cheese.
2. Divide amongst the cups in your muffin tin, making sure to grease tin beforehand.
3. Bake hash browns at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until toasty.
4. Once they're finished, take them out and lower the temp of the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Crack an egg into each of the cups
6. Top with bacon and a sprinkle of extra cheese
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-16 minutes (or until the eggs are as firm as you like them).
8. Slide a knife along the edges to remove from pan when cooled.

We used cupcake wrappers in an attempt to minimize mess.  It was still messy but at least they didn't stick to the tin. 

She broke the yolk of each egg.

Both cooking times had to be increased by several minutes at our altitude--or maybe it was our oven.

We froze some of them and will see if they still taste good after freezing.  If so that would be GREAT for plan-ahead cooking.

The Scorpion

This is called "The Scorpion".  It's a cheer pose (also a yoga position though in yoga it looks different).  Many cheerleaders can do this pose but a lot don't touch their heads.  She should be more erect, but still, it's impressive!  And it looks painful.  All I can think is, "Oh, in your later years your hips are going to ache, and you won't know why!"

"House Rules" by Rachel Sontag

I gave "House Rules" 3 stars.  After reading the "Hunger Games" series full of child violence, I was hesitant to read this book, also about child abuse, but I'm glad I did.  It's a good book.  Sontag is telling her own, true story about growing up with an emotionally abusive dad and an equally abusive mom, in that Mom was never able to leave Dad to get her girls away from Dad.  This book is part of Sontag's healing, and she is an excellent story-teller.  I was hooked through almost the entire book.  I recommend this book.

Though it's not my intent to quote my personal "best line" from each book I read, I do want to share this line from this book.  If you have grown up with a sibling you know that, even if you were sitting in the same room, being a part of the same event, you sometimes have a very different memory of the event than your sibling.  Sontag says this of that kind of experience:  Jenny's (her sister) experience was different from mine.  Her version of the story is her own, but of all the people in my life her version is the closest to mine.

I like that.

Saturday Funnies

Good Luck Becky!

Wishing this little Pookinator good luck with her knee surgery today.

It'll be worth it to wear heals again!

Love you!

Mom Guilt

Mom's carry enough guilt getting by from day to day.  We do not need strangers adding to our load.  And that's what happened the other day when I was surfing the net.  I saw an article of the top 10 places every kid should see.  I consider my kids pretty well traveled for where we live.  If we lived on the east coast maybe they would have been to Europe by now, but since it's now about $600 to fly from here to Florida, I think that's out of the question.  They have been out of the country several times and traveled as far south as Belize.  They have passports.  They have photo albums filled with their grand adventures. 

I should have left well enough alone.  But I was curious, so I clicked on the link to the story to see if they had been to ANY of the top 10 places.  Yikes!  Apparently I'm sorely lacking as a parent.  But here is the list anyway, and my attempt at making myself feel better by listing places they have been that are sort of like the places on the list!  Enjoy, and try not to feel guilty if your kids haven't been to any of these places either!

Budget Travel

10 Places Every Kid Should See 

1.      The Field Museum—Chicago, IL--sorry,  Museum of the Rockies is going to have to do.

2.   Sea World--the list said San Antonio.  Mine have been to San Diego--twice--so I'm going to count that as a YES!

3.   Hawaii Volcanoes National Park—not gonna happen.

4.   US Space and Rocket Center—Well, we planned to see Cape Canaveral (which must be similar to this place) on a trip to FL once, but the tour was cancelled.  We tried.

5.   Carlsbad Caverns—we went spelunking in South Dakota when the kids were little.  As the prince said, while we were underground, “This is the worst place on Earth.”  No need to repeat that adventure.

6.    Golden Gate Bridge—their mom was there recently.  Close enough.

7.   Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art—the fact that both kids will have traveled from MT to NYC at age 14 is going to have to suffice.  Given all they see in that city, if they miss the MET, that’s okay.

8.   National Museum of American History—sorry, the Smithsonian is going to have to be okay as a replacement.

9.   Arches National Park in UT.  The fact that they’ve been to Utah repeatedly but never to this park has to count for something.  The other great thing is that they’ve been to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, which looks a lot like the photos of Arches, so I’m calling that a “close enough”.

       10. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute—okay, sorry.  I’ve got nothin’ on this one.

That was close!

With only a week to spare, the prince managed to finally do his taxes yesterday.  What with his busy social life and all, it's hard to find the extra hour to fill out the forms.  He can do the EZ form for both federal and state, and he's even getting a small refund on both, so I'm not sure what the hold-up was really, other than that he must be Mr. Moneybags and not need the money!

Blogger Update

For those of you out there wondering if you should update to the new blogger, I vote yes.  It's quite user-friendly, and I'm not having the trouble with positioning things that I was having before.  Plus downloading photos is easier and gives you better/easier sizing options.  Go for it!

"Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

I am reluctantly giving "Mockingjay" 3 stars.  It might only be worth 2 stars, but I really think it's probably about as good as the other 2 in the series.  I think I'm tired of reading them, and that might be coloring my rating.  This book is more of what the first two are about, but this time, instead of sending children in to kill each other in a game, the "kids" (who are now in their late teens) are part of a revolution to overthrow the government that promotes the games.  All three books were slow starters and much better reads the 2nd half of the book.  All three books are full of violence.  All three books are full of death.  But finally, in the third book, there is also hope. 

I also found my favorite line of the series in book three.  When talking about a post-revolution time of agreement among mankind, the character said, "...collective thinking is usually short-lived.  We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction."    I'm afraid that is true, even outside of fiction.

Now I really must go see the movie...

Happy Easter

He is risen.

Photos from AZ

The Skabelunds headed home from AZ yesterday.  I think they had a great time.  I am jealous!

They got to see Alabama in concert.

Silly me, I thought they retired.

Randy Owen is still yummy!

The sisty had a  birthday.



Which was celebrated more than once--

as all birthdays should be!

And there was time for catching rays.  I post this to point out my brother's arm.  It looks mighty tan there!  He's lucky.  He got our dad's ability to tan well.  Check out the birthday girl (in the chair) with her white legs.  That's the way I tan too.  No fair!  The brother is very lucky!

Photos of the princess!

 I like to call this one "Don't Jump!"

but it should really probably be

"Getting Ready For Take-Off."

I love this one.

She took it of herself.



Recent photos of the prince!

Clearly the photos taken on the phone aren't posting well.
Wondering what the center photo is?  It's the prince and his friend, making Ramen.  Nate is stirring it with a knife.  Silly boys!
Bottom photo is from the cheer dinner.

For MB

Maybe the new baby will need this!

Salutatorian!

On Wednesday the princess learned that she will be the salutatorian for her graduating class.  Two of her friends will share valedictorian, and all three girls will get to give a speech.  In addition, yesterday we got a letter informing us that she had been selected for the Jr. National Honor Society.  She will be inducted on a Thursday evening and then gets to skip school on Friday.  We are very proud of her!

Thanks to Christian for the awesome sign!

Mentoring

On Wednesday the prince and his fellow cheer friends came to the middle school to answer questions about high school and give out information about cheer tryouts.  They got to join in a game of soccer and even did a happy birthday cheer for the school secretary.  Great job guys!  (Sorry for the blurry photo.  That's the best my phone camera could manage.)

Roofing Update

Good news! The roofers only took 3 days to complete our roof. They worked the latest on the first day, were done before 5:00 on the second, and were long-gone by the time I got home on the 3rd. Woot! It looks good (what do I know?), and they cleaned up all their messes and even put the bbq back! And best of all, so far, no flat tires! Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

This Girl!

I can not even begin to tell you how much we will miss this girl. When school resumes next Tuesday she's going to "city" school. We've been riding together twice/day for 2 years, and I thought we had one more year together, but she decided to go to "city" school. I don't blame her. She'll have a great time, meet lots of new friends, and have an easier transition to high school because of it. Still, I'm really, really going to miss her. She makes me happy. But we wish her all the best in her new adventure.

In honor of Miss Christian, I've written a poem (not everyone gets a poem because I'm really not good at them, though you'll be shocked by that when you read this masterpiece, but she is special so she gets a poem).

Ode to Dido (pronounced "deedoe"--don't ask)

Who marches to the beat of her own drummer?

Dido

Who sometimes gets in the car smelling of whatever was cooked for breakfast at her house?

Dido

Who has fashion sense galore?

Dido

Who never complains that, even though her legs are longer, she always has to sit in the backseat?

Dido

Who believes in herself and doesn't care if you do?

Dido

Who never complained when I missed the turn to her house and had to take the long way because I forgot she was in the car?

Dido

Who joins youth group on campus and the "green" club because they're fun? (And not just because there might be donuts!)

Dido

Who traveled the globe with us last summer and never complained about the long car trip or having to get up early or being squished in the backseat with the cousins all the way back from Denver?

Dido

Who makes me laugh at her stories about her brother?

Dido

Who had to get out and push when the car got stuck one time?

Dido

Who's going to miss her bunches and bunches?

WE DO!

Best of luck Christian. If you ever need a ride on the Laggebus, give me a call.

44

44 (No! That's not my age. I wish!) That's the number of posts I did last month. I thought that had to be a record. It seemed like so much. So I checked. Nope. I've posted 44 in a month more than once before, and a couple of years ago I even posted more than 40 in several different months. So maybe I'll shoot for 50, but not this month. I don't think there will be enough to warrant 50 this month. But May is looking exceptionally busy...2 concerts, track meets, 2 recitals, a trip to DC and NYNY, 2 birthdays, 2 graduations...yep, May might do it!

NOISY!

About this time every morning I wish I could call in sick and just go back to bed. Today I will happily go to work because the roofers are here! It's only been 22 months since the tornado that caused enough damage to warrant a new roof. We're nothing if not speedy! Obviously we weren't leaking and didn't have major holes or it would have been done sooner. First the king had to fight with the insurance company for an extended period of time, then the roofer lost most of his employees to the Bakken, but at long-last they showed up yesterday. And there were lots of them. And there was big equipment in my driveway forcing me to park on the street. And they were really, REALLY noisy! Really! There was a lot of loud banging, pounding, hammering and what not. It took me quite awhile to figure out that someone wasn't knocking on my door with each rapid series of bangs. The really loud booms did not confuse me! But the most surprising noise was the pinging that took place for awhile. Lots of it. Often really quickly. Turns out they use a magnet to pick up the nails/screws that were littering the yard/driveway. I kind of liked that noise. We are hoping they are done by Friday if the weather holds. I am hoping I don't get any flat tires. (You know how that goes for me.) And I'm thinking I might have to go clean the basement after work today to put a cushion between me and the noise!

"Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

I have given "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins 3 stars. This is the second book in "The Hunger Games" trilogy. This was a page turner, and I would have given it 4 stars were it not for the fact that the theme is the same: children killing children for government entertainment. But there's an up-rising on the horizon. I'll start book 3 tonight!

Happy Birthday Shelley!

This year's April birthday are lucky! They get two photos! Just because all the April birthdays happened to travel with us in February so I have lots of photos of them! :)

Happy birthday little sisty. Here's hoping you have a wonderful day (in Sunny AZ) and year.