Since this is the last full week of summer vacation for the girls, I'm taking the week off from blogging. I'm hoping to get out of the house with them for some wandering out in one of the many canyons, and then come the end of the week, start of the weekend it will be time to finish off the last of the back to school stuff shopping.
I hope that everyone has a great week, and see you probably come Sunday. Everyone enjoy time spent with family this week.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sleepy Time
I'm running behind with my Feline & Furball Friday with Feathers post here this week. However it worked out that I was finally able to get a picture of Eclipse here again. I know she is sleeping, but she is only sleeping because I have been so busy around here this week. She is my designated sleeper this week. Plus she is just so darn cute curled up into her just about perfect little kitty ball.
Don't forget to head over to visit Steve and Pickle and all of the other wonderful felines, and furballs.
http://sometimesphotoblog.com/2008/07/25/feline-and-furball-with-feathers-friday-3/
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Mommy Happy Dance Time
Oh thank goodness the 2008-2009 school registration is done! I lost six plus hours of my life at the high school between three days out there, but it is done. Middle school took me a whole 20 minutes to get done, which then allowed me time to finally get a couple of other errands run today. I'm going to bake a "Thank You" buttermilk pie for Army Guy's supervisor for allowing him to take this morning to go with me and help get our Sweetpea done. If nothing else Army Guy kept me from wanting to take a heavy book and beat someone for their new "streamlined" process.
What is wrong with the new process? Well for the last three years they have had stations set up through out the school which made for a very nice natural flow from place to place. There was also the option of picking your plan for registration, not a set plan. This year they crammed everything into the same space with no markings, and you had to follow their card which just really lead to some major back ups. When you have to guess which line you are standing in because there is nothing that tells you it tends to get irritating really quick. Add to this the fact that instead of having staff working the tables they had students working the tables that didn't really know just what or how things worked, the lines slow to less than a crawl. Then you have the fee line which added a whole different level of frustration for parents and students. No more writing of one check for all of the fees, it is one check for EACH of the different fees. So class fee's are a check, yearbook is a check, parking passes, sports fees, clubs, books, the list can go on and on and I think you get the point. That is a lot of separate checks to write out, which also slowed the fee line down to less than a crawl. The book line which has always been the worst line of registration anyway, was made even worse by being packed into a space that was less than a third of the size it should be. Add on to that the fact that the counseling department is working with only two people in at any given time, you are spending a very long time at the high school standing around waiting.
Now I know that this week has got to be a logistical nightmare for the school. I mean getting over 3000 students registered, there isn't really any good way for this to work quickly. However, the last three years of going there just barely add up to what I did in three days. The good news, or maybe bad news for the administration, was that there was a table set up during all of this just for parents to give their thoughts on the new process. I'm not really sure but I think after spending a good two to three hours standing in line waiting, there might not be a lot of very nice things to be read. My hope is that everyone managed to maintain their adult status while filling on the paper, but even I have to admit that it was a very difficult thing to do.
Once again I will say it is done, and the start of the new school year is now steam rolling up on us here in Arizona. Next step of this process is the last of the shopping. You know shoes, supplies, hair cuts for the two that didn't go the route of major make over already. Oh yeah, and my fight to get Little Bug her immunizations that she needs. That should be another very interesting journey for me here. I'm not sure how I got so lucky to have the child that the immunization clinic doesn't want to give shots to. Wait it is due to the Epilepsy and the fact that they want a doctor to sign permission for them to do it and the doctors think signing is just not needed and they should just do it! Little Bug isn't upset about not being able to get those shots, but since this year there actually are a couple that she should have done I would like for someone to do something!
Alright this bit to long rant about life is over here for the day. I hope that everyone is having a good week and that when your back to school registration time rolls around that is is a smooth process.
What is wrong with the new process? Well for the last three years they have had stations set up through out the school which made for a very nice natural flow from place to place. There was also the option of picking your plan for registration, not a set plan. This year they crammed everything into the same space with no markings, and you had to follow their card which just really lead to some major back ups. When you have to guess which line you are standing in because there is nothing that tells you it tends to get irritating really quick. Add to this the fact that instead of having staff working the tables they had students working the tables that didn't really know just what or how things worked, the lines slow to less than a crawl. Then you have the fee line which added a whole different level of frustration for parents and students. No more writing of one check for all of the fees, it is one check for EACH of the different fees. So class fee's are a check, yearbook is a check, parking passes, sports fees, clubs, books, the list can go on and on and I think you get the point. That is a lot of separate checks to write out, which also slowed the fee line down to less than a crawl. The book line which has always been the worst line of registration anyway, was made even worse by being packed into a space that was less than a third of the size it should be. Add on to that the fact that the counseling department is working with only two people in at any given time, you are spending a very long time at the high school standing around waiting.
Now I know that this week has got to be a logistical nightmare for the school. I mean getting over 3000 students registered, there isn't really any good way for this to work quickly. However, the last three years of going there just barely add up to what I did in three days. The good news, or maybe bad news for the administration, was that there was a table set up during all of this just for parents to give their thoughts on the new process. I'm not really sure but I think after spending a good two to three hours standing in line waiting, there might not be a lot of very nice things to be read. My hope is that everyone managed to maintain their adult status while filling on the paper, but even I have to admit that it was a very difficult thing to do.
Once again I will say it is done, and the start of the new school year is now steam rolling up on us here in Arizona. Next step of this process is the last of the shopping. You know shoes, supplies, hair cuts for the two that didn't go the route of major make over already. Oh yeah, and my fight to get Little Bug her immunizations that she needs. That should be another very interesting journey for me here. I'm not sure how I got so lucky to have the child that the immunization clinic doesn't want to give shots to. Wait it is due to the Epilepsy and the fact that they want a doctor to sign permission for them to do it and the doctors think signing is just not needed and they should just do it! Little Bug isn't upset about not being able to get those shots, but since this year there actually are a couple that she should have done I would like for someone to do something!
Alright this bit to long rant about life is over here for the day. I hope that everyone is having a good week and that when your back to school registration time rolls around that is is a smooth process.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Let the Junior year begin!
We have hit a bit of a hiccup getting Sweetpea registered for her junior year of high school. A two and a half hour wait to see a counselor to get her schedule fixed and we missed being able to get the rest of registration done because they shut that down at 2:00 this afternoon. Oh do I ever have some major complaints about the high school and their registration this year, but I will just save that for another day. Today was about Sweetpea, her new look, and the compliments that were given to her today. Until we hit our major snag with the day, I can not remember a school year that Sweetpea was looking forward to as much as this one. My new little Miss Chatty was bubbling all the way to the school and right up to the time that we realized that there was an issue we had to deal with. She got hugs from friends that at first didn't even recognize her at first, and enjoyed telling everyone about her make over that she did for herself. Sweetpea was the shinning star today, and for that there really are no words that can come close to describing just how happy she was.
Tomorrow we will make yet another trip out to the school and see if we can get her actual registration done. If I should happen to end up spending yet another 2 plus hours there this week though it may not be such a nice entry that I make. Note to school administrators if the system isn't broken, don't bother trying to fix it by doing some "streamlining" because there is nothing streamlined about your new system. Another idea...how about getting a full staff of counselors in to work on the scheduling issues that seem to be the standard for this year?
Alright that is enough of a rant for one day. I hope that everyone is having a good week and not stuck standing in a line that never moves at your local high school.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Ready or not she is a Senior!!
In just a couple of hours Binky Sue and I will be out at the high school doing her registration for the 2008-2009 school year. I know in May on the last day of school when she came home and yelled "I'm a SENIOR!" there was a bit of reality that started to set in for both of us. Today however it will be time to deal with that reality as we get her registered for her last year of high school. The last summer vacation of her childhood is drawing to a close and finding neither one of us ready for this. Alright so she might be a little more ready than her Mom for this one but not by much. Binky Sue is ready for a very lite class load this year though. For the first three years she has taken such a full load of classes that I'm surprised the little girls didn't crack under the stress of it all. This year will be her two final major credit classes, two easy electives and school day that will end around noon or so. I know that Binky Sue plans on looking for a job as the school year gets started because she wanted this last summer vacation of just being a kid to enjoy. The plans of taking SAT's and ACT's is already in motion, and the looking at schools for after high school has begun.
I know she hasn't been a little girl for good while now, but she is my baby girl and I'm not so sure that I'm ready for this. I think because she is the one that is going to start the chain reaction of big changes. Binky Sue graduates May of 2009, Army Guy plans on retiring come October of 2009, and then Sweetpea graduates May of 2010. I'm finding it a little difficult to believe that so many years have passed so quickly. I will get a little bit of a breather for Little Bug which will be a good thing.
I really do know that it is time for all of this to start happening, and there is a very tiny piece of me that is ready and can not wait to see paths that my first baby girl chooses to take with her life, but there is an even bigger part of Mommy that is screaming "NO! It can't be time yet!" It should be interesting to see if I can get that Mommy part of me silenced because ready or not her senior year gets started today.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sibling Sunday
We are nearing the end of another Sunday here, and there are children that are not all that happy about what this week brings. Tomorrow starts the back to school registration, and leaves only 15 more days of summer vacation. It is amazing how very quickly this summer has flown by and none of the girls are really ready for it to come to an end just yet. Heck I'm not sure I'm ready for this summer to end yet.
I hope that everyone has had a great weekend and that there is a good week waiting for all of us. Hopefully one that doesn't leave me standing in the book line for to very long on Monday and then again on Tuesday.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Simple Saturday
Oh how I wish the skies would clear up here this weekend. Of course on the days that we had clear skies and no rain I had a several other errands that had to done instead of being able to grab the camera and get out to the canyon areas. Just how it seems to work during monsoon time here. I need to remember to stop trying to plan the trip out and just last minute grab stuff, kids, and go!
Update for my scorpion post yesterday, the desert hairy scorpion seems to have moved someplace else. I did a search of the patio area yesterday and turned up nothing. Which is probably a really good thing since I probably would have started screaming like the girl I am. If we get enough of a break weather wise this weekend there are some chores to work on outside and very careful look out will be done for the critter. I would rather find it this weekend than have it show up again Monday, Tuesday time when Army Guy is going to be gone on a trip to Fort Bliss again. Then again, that will probably be exactly when the scary thing makes its return, because that is just how things tend to go when Army Guy is gone.
Anyway, I hope that everyone has a great weekend and if you have clear skies you can get out and enjoy some beauty the world has to offer.
Friday, July 18, 2008
I taut I taw a puddy tat
I did! I did! Look I finally have a return of a feline for Friday! I knew that Angel and Eclipse were still a part of this house. Alright so Eclipse isn't in the picture but one of the two is a pretty good thing. By the way don't worry about little bird Puff. Puff has made it very clear to all of the other animals in this house that if you get to close war will be declared. Puff maybe very young and very little, but there is a ton of attitude in that little birdie body. Angel seemed content to just sit close and watch Puff for a few minutes till Puff started moving closer the the bars.
It is time for Feline and Furball Friday over with Steve and Pickle so if you want to play along just post your own and leave a link in comments. I will post the link over to them as soon as they post for this week. I hope that everyone has a great weekend.
Link to Steve and Pickle: http://sometimesphotoblog.com/2008/07/18/feline-and-furball-with-feathers-friday-2/
Early Friday morning freak out
So far there are no pictures for this post, and if I can not find away to get past my early morning freak out there will never be pictures on this blog again! Last night while dogs were being taken outside, Sweetpea spotted a scorpion on the back patio. Of course being Mom I played all calm about it so I could calm girls down, and yes as I looked out the back windows I spotted it too. I was calm though, after all we live in Arizona and this is just yet another of the many creepy crawling things that live here. We identified which type it was with a quick search online and talked about remembering to pay attention when outside here during the summer. Girls calmed down, they talked about their hopes that I would be able to get a picture of it and then the discussion was over. To bad I woke up this morning dreaming about having a scorpion crawling on me! Now my fears have me not wanting to put my feet down on the floor and I keep looking all around me to make sure that the thing on the patio didn't make it's way into the house over night! Even better for adding to the fear here this morning is the fact that I am going to have to take the dogs out in just a little bit here. I don't want to go outside, I don't even want to look out the windows this morning to the outside. For as calm as I was with the girls last night, I'm more freaked out this morning than they were. My skin is crawling and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to ever move from where I'm sitting right now. I'm sure Army Guy will get a real laugh out of this one, and I'm thinking that walking around wearing a pair of his boots may be in order for my day.
Alright, now I'm going to try to find my happy place that doesn't allow creepy crawling things so I can get going with my day here. I mean I really can not sit here all day with my feet up off of the floor. Oh it is going to be such a very long day. Look out though if I can get past this freak out and back to a calm, brave place there may be pictures of this thing.
Alright, now I'm going to try to find my happy place that doesn't allow creepy crawling things so I can get going with my day here. I mean I really can not sit here all day with my feet up off of the floor. Oh it is going to be such a very long day. Look out though if I can get past this freak out and back to a calm, brave place there may be pictures of this thing.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
My confession...I have a list making addiction
I'm sitting here doing my morning routine of drinking coffee, reading news, switching to reading blogs because...well just because. I also am working on making lists. As I'm working on those many lists of mine the idea hits me to take a picture and post about my list making addiction. I know that I am not the only person with this addiction, but I would like to know just who else out there shares this problem with me. I'm afraid there isn't much hope for me with this one. Even if there was a 12 step program for it I just can not give up my list making. I have to have them or I think my life would come to a halt, or at the very least I wouldn't know what in the world I was doing on any given day. The real signs that you are addicted to list making is when you set up an excel spread sheet on your computer for you grocery shopping lists. Of course it is broken down into categories...baking good, canned goods, meats, etc. Another great sign of a bad addiction is when you monitor your post-it note levels, index card levels, and notebook paper levels, and have a panic attack about the fact that they are getting to low. Hello if you only have one pad of post-it notes left you could be facing a great list shortage! Go ahead and laugh at me this morning, but it is because of working on a school supply list this morning that I actually did look at my list making supplies and have a bit of a panic till I found the unopened package of post-it notes.
So the question of the day is are you a list maker? Do you find yourself writing down the things you need to buy, things you need to do, people you need to call? Do you have an area on your desk set aside for all your supplies for making those lists? Come on people I need to see some confessions here because I really need to know that I'm not the only one.
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