I Love Working At 11 PM on Sat Nite!!

NOT. >:o

Tired....

..... Going to bed! It's been a busy week. Goodnight!

OS Post

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Oops!

Posted on Open Salon and forgot about blogspot. Oh well, I haven't gone to bed yet so this still counts for Wed. It's my resolution so I make the rules. Score!

Nothing To Talk About

Today was super busy but for some reason I have nothing interesting to discuss. Makes you wonder why we run around like chickens with our heads cut off. What is the point if nothing interesting comes out of it?

Random Fever of Doom

Caitlin has had a fever since Thursday night! I think it's finally gone now and she's most likely headed back to school in the morning. She was bored out of her mind today... she needs mental stimulation!!

OS Post

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This Blog Post Is Being Pre-Empted By A Sick Child

:( ......

Open Salon - Again!

I posted on Open Salon again today! Here are links to the posts I've done over the last few days:

Fiction Friday

Arguments on Open Salon

Apple, Desk, Rainbow

Posted on Open Salon Again

It's awesome how having the day off of work means you have time to blog.... :)

It's an Open Salon Kind of Day

I posted on Open Salon today and got an Editors' Pick! :)

TV!!!!!

The girls are away at a last-minute sleepover, I have the day off tomorrow, and the TV is calling my name. Later peeps!!!

Redbox Anxiety

Today my mom told me that she was afraid to use the Redbox machine in the grocery store because it was too confusing and she might make a mistake. Really. I think an intervention is needed.

The Game Of Life - WTF??

After returning from our honeymoon almost 12 years ago, my new husband and I ventured out to Toys R Us to purchase some board games. We got Life, a chess/checkers combo set and some other game, maybe Monopoly. I guess we thought we were going to sit around playing board games together, potentially even participating in other cute, lovey-dovey newlywed-type adventures such as going on daytrips, decorating our new abode and cooking healthy meals as a pair!! However, we had apparently been spending too much time on another type of newlywed activity because there were most likely actually three of us in the Toys R Us that evening, if you catch my drift. Unaware of the situation at hand, we returned to our townhouse, cracked open the game of Life and played it. Little did we know that the real game of Life had something else up its sleeve. Maybe a couple of weeks later, I found myself venturing to Target in search of a different type of product, one that could detect trace levels of human chorionic gonadotropin in a woman's urine. Fast forward to our first anniversary - we had a three-month-old daughter and of course the board games were rapidly collecting dust in the closet in favor of more important pursuits, such as sleeping and maintaining an acceptable level of sanity.

Today, our first daughter is about to turn 11, and her younger sister is 8. Unfortunately, we haven't been very good about playing board games with our girls, and as such the game of Life has been in a near-constant state of hibernation since 1999. This afternoon, the 8 year old said she wanted to play it, so we hauled it out of the closet. I couldn't remember the rules at all, so I had to bust open the directions and refresh my memory. We distributed the money, put the little pegs in our little plastic cars, and off we went around the game board. I was delighted when C opted to attend "college" and announced that she wanted to be the banker for the game. I must be doing something right after all!

By this time, the almost-11-year-old, N, had returned from her friend's house and was watching us play. C went around the board quickly and ended up at the end of the path where the players "retire," but not before getting married, having a set of twins and purchasing a house complete with a homeowners' insurance policy. I realized I wasn't sure how to actually win the game, so I consulted the rules again. The last sentence of the rule pamphlet stated:

"The player with the highest dollar amount wins!"

REALLY?

For some reason, that totally pissed me off. Maybe I'm PMS-ing. I'm sure as hell not pregnant again, because I'm an Essure Woman. So in this game you can become independent, raise a family, and have a rewarding career, but you can only be the winner if you have the most money? What a crock! Apparently I had neglected to be annoyed by the objective of this game the last time I played it in 1999, maybe because my husband and I were too busy putting same-sex pegs into the front seats of the plastic cars and giggling like Beavis and Butthead. I felt like telling the kids that this game is jacked up, but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to tell them that happiness is priceless and can't be obtained via money and "stuff." I wanted to tell them that the pompous douchebags retiring to "Millionaire Estates" could actually be soul-lacking shells of humanity rotting away in a pristine, gated community. I wanted to tell them that money is important, but that in the end, it probably doesn't help you "win" much of anything.

Fortunately for everyone involved, I never actually went off on this tirade. N and I played the game together after C and I finished our round, and we all had fun together, which is the most important thing. Now if you'll excuse me, N and C are upstairs trying to kill each other. The real game of LIFE is calling.

Family Fun

Today the four of us went to Jennifer and Jeremy's house for a casual gathering with their kids, my mom, my sister and some other family members. I love how all the kids get along with each other and keep each other entertained! I also love not having to cook or clean. A win-win situation! :) A great time was had by all. The only thing that could have been better was the weather. J & J have such a beautiful yard but it was disgusting, soggy and rainy ALL DAY. Oh well, maybe next time.....

Lost My Post - Dang It!!

I was typing a post on my crackberry (highly annoying as it is) and I lost it. I'm not typing it again!! How irritating...

Staff Basketball Was A Success!

The Staff Basketball game was awesome, as always. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves, even though the crowd wasn't as large as it has been in the past. I think a lot of kids had sports practices and had to miss the game. :( Anyway - it was fun but I'm glad it's over! Having to manage all the money at such a large event is a pretty big chore, but it's great to know that my efforts with the PTA are helping the school. That's what matters!

Treasurerly Duties

Getting ready for Staff B-Ball game tomorrow and have to count a ton of checks that came in from various initiatives going on at the school. Don't have time to write much!! :)

Hurry, Spring Break!

Next week is Spring Break and I can't wait. I'm only off work 2 of the 5 days, but it will still feel like a vacation because I won't have to get the kids up for school, I won't have to deal with checking their homework, there won't be any traffic, etc. For one of my "real" vacation days, I plan to take the girls bike riding in Alexandria and maybe see Mount Vernon too. Hopefully the weather will cooperate :)

zzzzzzzzz

OK, I'm starting to feel really old. I think like half of my posts over the last month have talked about how sleep is awesome. Maybe it's because I always do my blog entries right before bed. I need to write when I'm feeling awake and refreshed, not when I'm thinking about how I can't wait to finish my blog entry so I can hit the pillow face-first. I'll try to work on that!

This Blog Entry Has Been Pre-Empted By Real Life

I wanted to write a meaningful entry today! And I was going to! Really! But I think a good night's sleep is more important. I'm ditching work in favor of sleep so staying up late to do a big blog entry doesn't really make sense now, does it? Poopy!

Awesome Saturday

Two soccer wins and a three hour nap adds up to a perfect rainy weekend day! Caitlin's team, the Cheetahs, won 3-1 and Nicole's team, the Pumas, won 1-0. Both girls played really well which was great to see. The cold, rainy, dreary day put Nicole and I right to sleep afterwards. Ahhhhhh! Bliss!!

Mmmmmmm....Sleep......

Said in a Homer Simpson-type for sure! I am really getting spoiled with being able to sleep in on the weekends. And I like being spoiled. Sleep, here I come!!

Up Late Working Again

Enough said.... ick

Top 10 Reasons To Comply With Furlough

From my furlough tshirt I got during the last furlough ca. 1995:

10: Getting paid anyway
9: Spend more quality time at Happy Hour
8: Good excuse for credit companies
7: Don't have to fight rush-hour traffic
6: Nice weather
5: Don't have a "Get out of jail free" card
4: Beat the Christmas rush to the stores
3: Sick of ARA food service
2: Wanted to spend more time at home
1: Can't afford fine for going back to work

Job Security Is Overrated

It's great to be employed, but sometimes I wish they would just lay me off! I'm so sick of work right now!

Cherry Blossoms - A Photo Essay

Day Trip Tomorrow!

I'm taking the girls to see the cherry blossoms tomorrow - they have a day off of school for the teachers to get the report cards done. I can't believe the third quarter is over already!! Only nine more weeks left in the school year - amazing! I'll report back on our adventure in tomorrow's blog post. :)

ALL Parents Are Working Parents!

The other day I was reading this article about half-day vs. full-day kindergarten in my 'hood. Of course, the complete essence of an internet news piece cannot be fully derived without reading the accompanying feedback posted by individuals that are seemingly devoid of reading comprehension skills. So, I scrolled down to the comments section to take a peek. And there it was:

"While I am sure full-day kindergarten is a good idea in some respects, I don't think the children are short-changed in any way with half day. I wonder if this is more about convenience for working parents?"

Oh no she didn't!

Someone else decided to weigh in on the matter:

"I have to agree with you that full day kindergarten is probably more of a convenience for working parents. I am not a parent and don't speak for working parents, but I am dating one, so I see how his experiences are. It's better to put them in an all day school than worry about school AND finding a daycare that transports. That's my piece on the topic."

Really?

The article is supposed to be about the education of children, not about what the childrens' parents do for a living. Of course, people are all too ready to jump to meaningless conclusions about the "real" reasons behind various issues, although in this case I have to give these commenters credit for not using the term "Working Mothers," which really tans my hide. ALL mothers work and ALL fathers work, some just don't get paid for what they do. I have worked outside the home (for pay!) since my children were born, but of course I have done my fair share of "volunteer labor" also. I dare say all of the following constitute WORK:

* changing diapers and clothes

* cleaning up a child's mess, only to have the child make another mess 10 minutes later

* cooking healthy meals that your child will actually eat

* taking care of a sick child (diarrhea and vomit earn extra points)

* keeping a child entertained without electronic devices

* trying to figure out why the hell your kid won't stop crying

* reading the same story and/or listening to the same song 700 times in one day

* etc. etc. etc........

For the record, both of my kids went to private full-day kindergarten. Logistical issues (read: childcare-related) did play a role in the decision, but I would be in favor of full-day kindergarten regardless of my "work" situation. To me, half-day kindergarten is a kind of ancient relic dating back to the days when kindergarten might have been a child's first experience away from home for a sustained period of time. These days, many kids under the age of 5 are in preschool, daycare, play groups and other organized forms of social and educational activity, usually on a regular basis. Due to this trend, most children already know their ABCs, 123s, colors, shapes and even how to read basic words or do simple math problems long before darkening the door of a kindergarten classroom. Children are now expected to know how to read before leaving kindergarten. Teaching someone to read is not a quick task, so a longer school day is probably more useful to the teacher and the child.

I guess since I am a "working parent," I have a subconscious reason to favor dumping my kids in full-time school while I shirk my parenting responsibilities at my place of employment. Sorry, but that's crap. People need to stop trying to find hidden agendas behind an issue and stay on topic. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some volunteer work to complete in the kitchen!

Tired!!

OK, that does it! I've been up working until midnight for the last 4 nights straight, so I'm ready to sleep in tomorrow. Too bad I have to work this weekend too! At least I have Monday off - sort of. I know work will be calling me! I hate quarter end close!!