DDA Chapter 22

[Glynis]

My parents just sent me this email, and being the first week of school for many, I thought I'd share.

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:
"Let me see if I've got this right.
You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.
You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.
You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.
You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.
You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.
You want me to do all this and then you tell me. .. . I CAN'T PRAY?"

I totally love this! I had to send it to my family email list. We have 5 teachers who will really appreciate it!

 

[Glynis]

Welcome home, Deb! Glad you had a good time! Sounds like the boys did ok while you and Chris were gone. That's always good news!

Anne Marie - I'm so glad you are feeling comfortable in your new town.

Kristine - I hope Jackie had a better second day. It will probably be rough for the first few weeks, but as things settle down, she'll be ok. Katie is in roughly the same situation. She is only in one class with her best friend, and even that friendship is in jeopardy because of Katie's accelerated classes. Oh, the teen age girl drama!

Theresa - I have no advice for you, just know that I'm praying for you!

 

[mommykds]

Amy,
My mom was released yesterday from the hospital. She had accute renal failure but that was due to a distented bladder. I contacted a social worker in NY who organized a visting nurse service for her. Right now she is on outpatient dialisis. Our long term plan will for us to move her here as she will need more & more help/care going forward. Thanks for asking.

 

[tmfranlk]

Welcome home, Deb! Sounds like a great trip and I'm totally jealous. Glad the boys did well too.

Theresa - Continued prayers and hugs galore. I think the search things listed so far are your best bets as well as contacting women's centers.

Kristine - Hope everyone comes home happy today. I'm sure Jackie will settle in soon.

 

[my3princes]

I hope you both have a wonderful day!



I actually typed up the papers for my sister in law and she took them to the court herself and anly had to pay the filing fees, her's was uncontested and they had no children though.

Welcome home Deb! Where did you stay?

Heidi -

We stayed at Temptation Resort. It was an adult only resort and certainly not for the prudish They had lots of adult themed games around the pool and they were pretty funny to watch. Lots of entertainment and with swim up pool bars there wasn't much need to leave the pool. We did enjoy some horseshoes on the beach and booked a scuba trip one day. Now I can cross that off my bucket list. We definitely want to get scuba certified very soon. It was breathtaking. We played tequila volleyball, beach volleyball and water polo. They had twister games on the deck. Lots to do. The food was much better than cruiseship food and there were 5 restaurants to choose from.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DS had a good day. Not that his day was bad yesterday. No homework. He did say they sent home a big stack of enrollment papers - stuff to verify that we live in the zone for the school, etc.

He hasn't had that meningitis vaccine yet. I called the pediatrician today and the nurse said he can come in next week for the vaccine and his Flu Mist. I wonder if vaccine records are part of that paperwork he brought home?

 

[tmfranlk]

Nothing like a very unproductive day to follow a productive one. Kind of takes away from the productivity high. Just didn't get moving this morning to actually accomplish anything. We did have a nice park day though - more people than usual and Terra seemed make a few new friends. I think I'm settling in with the moms a little better too, which is nice. Now I've got to figure out some dinner quickly though. I've got a meeting tonight and Terra just changed her mind about going with me, which alters the dinner plans. Ah well, probably for the better anyway.

 

[mommykds]

Deb,
Welcome home! Sounds like heaven!

Theresa,
Nothing to add to everyones suggestions except.

Kristine,
Hope all your kids had a good day...sending extra for Jackie.

 

[my3princes]

What website do you guys use to make your cool musical slide shows?

 

[KristineN]

Christopher had a great day.

Kirsten had a great day.

Still bad for Jackie <sigh>.....in attempting to make things better...I will try picking her up after school (she is going nuts over the pm bus) and I need to talk to the counselor tomorrow. She is the only girl in 1 class....and it is causing MAJOR trauma.
​

 

[Tammi67]

Christopher had a great day.

Kirsten had a great day.​

Still bad for Jackie <sigh>.....in attempting to make things better...I will try picking her up after school (she is going nuts over the pm bus) and I need to talk to the counselor tomorrow. She is the only girl in 1 class....and it is causing MAJOR trauma.​

What class?

 

[Tammi67]

Deb - welcome home.

Anne Marie - I'm glad to hear that your mom is doing better.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Deb and Chris-welcome back!!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Happy Birthday Lindsay!!!

Happy Birthday Janet!!!

After going through all my emails this morning I am going to email Abi's math teacher...I think Abi's tummy troubles from last night and this morning were from anxiety of a) the folder being lost and b)talking to the teacher...who is also her CorePlus (homeroom) teacher.

Poor Abi! Hope things weren't as bad as she feared today!

Well today was the first day I had to see our new town without the kids...I ran some errands & puttered around town. Also got to do alittle exploring. I am so happy that we have so much close to us but the town still feels spread out. I am not used to how nice the driving is here...people let you pass & they are so polite at the stop signs...it is so good for the blood pressure! NY was never like that, we had traffic everywhere & heaven forbid you pause at a stoplight for more than 1 second after it turned green!

Polite drivers sounds like a nice change!

Hello, DDA!

Matthew is off at college.

We're back and we had a

Fabulous
Wonderful
Amazing
Perfect
Couldn't have been better

Vacation

The weather was phenominal, travel was completely on time with no hickups, the resort was gorgeous, the food was better than cruise ship food, alcohol was included. We would go again without a second thought. The kids did very well with my parents and apparently behaved perfectly. My mother wasn't worn out this time and has actually commented several times since we've been back that her house is entirely too quiet

I'm going to try to put together a slide show, but probably won't do a trip report.

Welcome home!

Christopher had a great day.

Kirsten had a great day.

Still bad for Jackie <sigh>.....in attempting to make things better...I will try picking her up after school (she is going nuts over the pm bus) and I need to talk to the counselor tomorrow. She is the only girl in 1 class....and it is causing MAJOR trauma.
​

Poor Jackie! Hope things improve soon!

 

[KristineN]

graphic arts

What class?

 

[Glynis]

graphic arts

Yikes! I hope you can work things out so she is more comfortable. Sorry about the bus situation.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I took the afternoon off so we could try to make some decisions on the car and furniture. I'm hoping to make up the time the rest of the week rather than use vacation time.

DH drove both the 4cyl and 6 cyl Venza. He said the 4cyl was fine but admitted the 6cyl was "nicer". I decided I better drive the 4cyl again to see if I could live with that. I found it very loud. No wonder DH didn't have an issue with it. He can't hear anything! I really don't think I can live with that for the next 10 years-which is how long we've kept our last 3 vehicles. The 4 cyl does get 2 mile more per gallon but with the driving we do that is less than $2/week and the 6cyl will get better mileage than my AWD Sienna and will become my primary commuting car. It also gets better mileage than DH's old car. Now the problem will be actually finding the vehicle I want. I want the 6cyl but not AWD and not the $8,000 to $10,000 of "extras" most come with. I will say the rear view camera was really cool though.

Now we have to decide what to do with the old Sienna.....

We also went to the furniture store and showed DH & Joe the bed. I think we've made the decision on what to get but I find online that the place where I bought the kids cribs and dressers they have now sells this line. We had very good service from them so I want to check the price with them but they are closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays. The store we went to today said it would be an 8 week delivery. We did purchase a matress set that Joe picked out. We can pick that up on Saturday so he can sleep on the matress & boxspring on the floor for a few weeks til we get the wooden bed. I think he'll be a lot happier on that then he is in Emma's youth bed. I get to hear about how much he hates every night and sometimes in the middle of the night.

DH said today his cell phone died yesterday so now I've got to take care of that too. He is long overdue for a replacement. He doesn't like change.....

 

[mommykds]

Good first day of school here. Even Katie liked it!

 

[Steffy]

Happy Birthday Janet!!

Happy Birthday Lindsay!!!

 

[PNO4TE]

home, Deb and Chris! Sounds like you had a wonderful time!