Monday, November 30, 2009

A Stick A Butta, A Quart A Milk and A Loaf A Bread

Well, really just the milk. You would think by the number of times I have recited this Fat Albert quote I might have learned something. If you can't learn from Fat Albert you better pray for School House Rock. I really thought I did learn but I seem to have spaced out some apparently relatively simple information.
This is how it went down.
There was no organic fat free milk left at Target which went right up my ... my something or other. I was suitably annoyed by this and figured I would leave there and go straight to the grocery store and just get it. But in the twelve hours I had been in Target grocery shopping it had started freezing rain. My fingers were already tingling because they had lost all the blood in them and I was in the need of some hot water. The grocery store was going to have to wait.

Fast forward to after picking up Saige (twice) at lip sync practice. Don't even get me started on how many required practices there are for lip sync, that's a whole other blog post.
We still needed milk. We decided to go to Swiss Farms, Swiss Farms is a drive through market. It is genius. So we get to the drive through and the guy comes out all friendly.
"Would you like to see the specials?" Swiss Farm guy asks.
"No thanks. Do you have fat free organic milk?" I ask.
"I've got organic milk and I've got fat free milk but I don't have organic fat free milk," he says.
"Okay, just give me the small container of fat free," I say.
"We have it in a quart and a gallon," he says.
"Okay great, give me the small one," I repeat.
"The quart or the gallon?" he says again. (What is up with this guy???)
"Whichever one is smaller," I say stupidly.
"The quart?" he asks while he looks at me like I have three heads.
"I guess so," my fingers are cold. Just give me the god damn milk. God.
Saige groans in the back seat, "He's gonna think you're an idiot!" she says.
"I think that ship has sailed, Baby," I say.
"How could you not know which is smaller?" she looks at me like she can't believe it.
"I don't know. I told him I wanted the littler one. I don't know why he had to keep questioning me!"
"God Mom."
Right?
At least I'm not Darrin.

Hide, Seek, and Some Housewives

This weeks Sunday adventure was a delicious home made dinner of sushi and pizza with the gorgeous Asude, her very sportsy husband Jason and lovely daughter Jade.

There was a big game of hide and seek going on. I love to watch games from the outside. Each kid was so different in the game to see what part of people's personality comes out. Jade was the seeker a lot, she was good natured about it and didn't cheat when she was counting, she over looked some of the really sneaky spots in the beginning but never gave up and eventually would find them. Saige was a really good hider. She was barely ever the seeker. She would find the most clever spots and then move after the seeker had been in that room. Wiley little rascal. Now Chase, Chase was a good hider on his own but after he saw Saige's spots he would give them a try. He sometimes counted a little to quickly and in the end, when Jade couldn't find Saige he made sure she did. Hmmm... personality or sibling rivalry? Or just pesky little brother?

Every Sunday night Chase and I snuggle up and watch Desperate Housewives together. He really likes that show! He knows all the plot lines and the characters. Every once in a while we might miss a part and he has questions. This is what watching tv with him is like.
"Why are they both in Jail?"
"Who do you think attacked Julie?"
"Can you flip someone like that?"
"Wasn't she married to him?"
"He's depressed."
"Will they be friends again?"
"Look! she has a mini cooper. You love mini coopers."

And so on and on.

If there is a tv show that I like to watch, it is my habit to dvr it and then start watching it twenty minutes in so I don't have to watch any commercials. Last night we started from the beginning. We had to watch all the commercials. I swear to God this is true. Chase says, "I like to watch with the commercials." "You do?" I asked him, "Why?" He said, "It gives us some time during the show to discuss what is happening. Okay, let's go over what we know. Susan found out about Bree and her ex husband. Lynette is going to sue her boss, Julie doesn't want to date that boy because she was with his dad and Mike is really mad at the red haired lady."

Twist, how many homeschooling credits do I get for this?

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Reasons To Be Thankful

It's the day before Thanksgiving. Everyone I know is scurrying around like little mice getting their Thanksgiving dinners ready.
I am thankful I have never made a Thanksgiving dinner in my life.
I am thankful that both my children are sleeping soundly on their first day off from school for Thanksgiving vacation.
I am thankful I get to see my brother Chris tomorrow.
I am thankful I get to see one of my best friends on the whole earth, Suzy this weekend.
I am thankful that my gorgeous daughter is finally realizing how amazing she is.
I am thankful for my adorable, "yes man" son. Eddie Haskal, Baby.
I am thankful for Lisa's enthusiasm over everything.
I am thankful for the Rodin statue.
I am thankful for my yoga girls, young and not so old.
I am thankful I talk to BA daily even though she's in Istanbul.
I am thankful for my Friday night dates with Asude.
I am thankful for charms, markers, pastels, and paints.
I am thankful for LYTB.
I am thankful for Billy's 11 point word in Boggle.
I am thankful for Hennyson and his dislike for self help.
I am thankful my dog hasn't had a seizure today.
I am thankful for Christina and her stories.
I am thankful for tattoo's and piercings.
I am thankful for the indians.
I am thankful for my Sima.
I am thankful Christy liked Sue and I.
I am thankful there is not a dead giraffe in my house.
I am thankful that someone invented handstands.
I am thankful for hair dye and those who apply it correctly, Rachie.
I am thankful that Saige is Saige. Sooo Saige.
I am thankful that I'm left handed (it makes me better than all the right handed people and the Catholics -:))
I am thankful for Twist even though she won't just drop back already.
I am thankful for feather trees.
I am thankful for the entire state of Colorado.
I am thankful for picking four winners.
I am thankful for Pinochle.
I am thankful that Mike the IT guy hasn't broken my toaster.
I am thankful for music.
I am thankful for coffee.
I am thankful for my Mommy.
I am thankful for Kas.
I am thankful that Micker follows me everywhere.
I am thankful for the pretty tree that blooms out my window in Spring.
I am thankful for Spring.
I am thankful for my sweet Lucy.
I am thankful I saw Amy order three desserts.
I am thankful for the Lincoln Tunnel (even when it's hard to get to)
I am thankful for Kathy and her red wagon and her song comments.
I am thankful for Brother John. I hope he has a nice Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for the sun.
I am thankful for the Perfect Petal and it's pretty things.
I am thankful that Ba and Lale dance to Imagine every night.
I am thankful for Balderdash.
I am thankful that Ashie has a boyfriend.
I am thankful I knew Mom Mom.
I am thankful I can PLAY with Lisa and Christina daily.
I am thankful for the color hot pink.
I am thankful for stickers. I like them.
I am thankful for my fairy God children.
I am thankful for my son's laugh.
I am thankful for my chiropractor.
I am thankful for Turkey. The country and the bird.
I am thankful for Winston.
I am thankful for hummus.
I am thankful for Sue's boots and the wonderful Roanne.
I am thankful that the Amish like volleyball.
I am thankful for the smell of lavender.
I am thankful for my Love books.
I am thankful for free street parking in NYC.
I am thankful for NYC.
I am thankful for my kids report cards.
I am thankful for this chair. It's all I need.
I am thankful that the bartender from Teca did Lisa's laundry.
I am thankful for calla lilies.
I am thankful for my Pixie girls.
I am thankful for Target.
I am thankful I still have my dad's baby ring.
I am thankful I live close enough to drive to all my brother's houses.
I am thankful for my cousins.
I am thankful for friendly squirrels.
I am thankful for my western Kirsten Hood(lum).
I am thankful for my summer with Smash.
I am thankful I just remember it's Paige's b day in a couple days.
I am thankful for Paige.
I am thankful for Lisa's ability to focus.
I am thankful for running.
I am thankful for Katzy.
I am thankful for Lipsky.
I am thankful for shiny objects.
I am thankful for warm weather in November.
I am thankful for Boggle and all those who play it.
I am thankful for heated seats.
I am thankful fringe.
I am thankful for Itunes.
I am thankful for the gym.
I am thankful for YOU.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Tim Burton and Rodin




His latest work, Alice in Wonderland. I can't wait for this.

I have been so excited to see the Tim Burton exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. I tend to get a little obsessive about things. I think Tim Burton is a genius. I love how twisted he seems. Right up my alley. I saw this advertised in a Metropolitan Home magazine and have been plotting and planning to see it ever since. At first I was going to go up one weekend in December when I have about a million (yes Billy, a million) other things to do but then I saw it opened the day my Mom and I were taking the kids up. I was so happy for all of us!

Well...hmm... opening day at MOMA in New York City on a Sunday during holiday season. Perhaps I should of said to myself, "Self, not a good idea." I didn't though. I do like I always do and riled them all up with all my enthusiasm and forged ahead. We waited in a relatively long line to get the tickets. It was crowded even in the lobby. Still, we were there. We got the tickets and made our way up to the entrance of the exhibit. It was super cool. There was a big timeline of all that Tim had done. Even movies that never came to fruition. Then there was a big mouth that you got to walk through to enter the exhibition. That is if you wanted to wait for an hour and half. Opening day. Duh.

Not so much.

My kids had been great for the ride up. They didn't bicker during the Empire State building. They were excellent through the sighting of the almost Amish but really Hasidic Jews, a long wait for lunch, an almost stolen (left in the car) wallet, a line at the entrance, now we are pushing hour six into our adventure day, I didn't see an a long wait in a very long line in our future.


Oh well, easy come, easy go. We were there. We decided to look around. Our first stop was to some modern sculptures. We happened upon one looked like a great big purple cat play place. Chase said to me, "Mom, you know what I hate? I hate when something is really expensive and important and it looks like you made it yourself."
It made me start to laugh. Moma is not the Met. Modern art is so subjective. I know it bothers people at times. Big blue stripes on paper or paint spilled on newspaper. It makes me happy, just cause it's up there. It makes me think about what simple things can look like together. I find it very powerful, even when when it seems silly. Somehow it made it to the walls of the museum that holds great works of art.
I completely get what Chase meant. I'm so glad he had that thought. I'm so glad he was paying attention. Clever boy. That alone was worth the trip.

Until the fifth floor.

The fifth floor is filled with Picasso and Van Gogh, you can see The Starry Night there, You can see Salvador Dali's The Persistance of Memory is there. There are Chagall's and Rousseau's, Mattise's and Marcel Duchamp's To Be Looked at (from the Other Side of the Glass) with One Eye, Close to, for Almost an Hour. The whole place makes my heart beat faster and I was so excited for my kids to see it, even if it will take more than once for it sink in. You gotta start somewhere.

All of the sudden Chase says very seriously, "Hey look. That looks like Uncle Mark."
Rodin's tall gay guy with the good hair (not the real name)
I almost fell on the floor laughing.
I still laugh every time I look at this picture.


Seriously, this will make me laugh for years. Look how perfect his hair is. Totally looks like Uncle Mark! He probably smells good too. Saige has informed me that gay men smell better cause they "care."



"Mom, can we come back before the exhibit is over to see it?" Saige said.
There were a lot of things that made it worth the trip. :)

Thanks Mom :)
http://abduzeedo.com/tim-burton-retrospective-moma

Sunday Adventure New York Part One


This weeks adventure is a trip to New York to see my brother Mark. Yay. I love a trip to New York to see my brother Mark. Sometimes I sing that to myself cause it makes me so happy (I'm singing that too, but at least I'm not whistling it, right? Right.)
Our original plan is for Saige, Chase, my Mom and I to go up, go to the Toys R Us in Times Square, then to MOMA for the new Tim Burton exhibit, then to lunch. Mark will be meeting us at the museum because clever Grinch that he is thinks the Toys R Us at Christmas time might not be quite as much fun as it sounds.

I scurry around Sunday morning getting ready, as Chase lies on the couch like an Egyptian king he says, "I think I would rather go to the top of the Empire state building. I don't care about the toy store."
Well, this is interesting. My Mom and I look at each other and discuss if we had ever gone there before. I am thinking I did once in college with a boyfriend that lived right outside of the city but other than that, no. My Mom thinks she has never been there. We both find this a lovely turn of events since the whole toy store thing was to please my precious angel although to me it sounded like a little bit of hell right here on earth.

It was a fun ride up. Saige listened to her Ipod while Chase chatted away. As we were driving through the Lincoln Tunnel Chase said, "This is a long tunnel." I agreed and said, "I love the Lincoln Tunnel. Once you are through it's like you are entering a different world. It's how you go from here to there. Just like the wardrobe in Narnia."
"I was going to say that! I was just about to. Just like the wardrobe! Cause you can't see anything as you go through here except the walls," he says so excitedly it makes me smile at the similarities of the two of us. As he is pushing into the pre-teen years sometimes those likenesses are hard to see. I love these little reminders. Like last week while we were waiting for Saige to get out of an appointment and had a fifteen minute discussion on words we loved the sounds of. His favorite was indigenous. I find that freakishly delightful.

We go into the city and find free Sunday street parking which to me is a tell tale sign of a great day to be had. We are walking down 34th street as the guys who sell you on the virtual helicopter tour and the no wait access to the top start talking to us. Like the stellar consumers we are, we buy right into it. We get our tickets and up we go.
The virtual helicopter tour is pretty cool. Kevin Bacon guides us through New York City. It was great fun. Then we went up up up to the top of the world.



I believe It is a beautiful day in New York City.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I'm Not Sure What To Do With This

When one odd thing happens it's kind of like, I don't know, a happening? Then something similar goes on and you scratch your head and wonder and then, three times a charm...
It all started with my daughter who is a couple weeks shy of 12. She came home last week and said, "One of my teacher's said it was okay to say faggot."
What?
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.
"Well, she said it just means gay or retarded," she told me as she shook her head in disbelief.

I did not know what to make of this. I found it unsettling and bizarre. Who says that? I don't think saying it's okay cause it means retarded is even remotely all right to say. I didn't really know what to do though. Saige knew it was crazy. That's why she told me. I just said, "That's insane." She agreed with me.

Then she came home and told me they had someone who worked in the school come in a read a poem in their class. She said, "It was very inappropriate."
Here we go again. "Inappropriate how?" I ask.
"Well, it went something like, when the sun goes down and the moon goes up, don't be distressed, I'm up your dress," she said.
"What?" I ask again.
"I know," she says. "My teacher told him it wasn't okay to say to us." (I believe that was the same teacher that uses questionable words in every day conversation but, apparently this is where the line is drawn.)

Then today. Chase comes home. "A teacher yelled at me," he informs Saige and I.
"Why? What'd you do?" Saige asks him.
"I was talking in line. He told me to stop and I said sorry," Chase said.
"That's it?" I asked.
"No! After I said sorry he said, 'Sorry doesn't matter. Sorry doesn't do anything. What if someone killed the president? Do you think they could just say sorry and he would magically come back to life?'" Chase tells us.

I'm sorry. That borders on psycho talk to me. Comparing a ten year old chatting in the recess line and an assassination of a world leader is not really apples to apples.

I'm not sure what is the appropriate thing to do, or do I just shake my head, reassure my children that all of it is just weird and not remotely sane. I was relieved that in every situation my kids knew it was not okay. There are a lot of things that happen daily that I'm sure they don't tell me. These stuck out enough that I heard about them.
These are the things they're learning during the school day?
Huh...

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Grass is A Lovely Shade of Green

Some things just aren't meant to be. I think sometimes you have to accept that and move on. Like for instance, missing a flight. That doesn't suck to much, right? There is nothing like being at the airport on a rainy morning at the crack of dawn and them telling you that are twenty minutes to late to get your luggage on a plane.

What would one do were this to happen to them I wonder? Wanna know what I did? I started to cry. Yup, right there. And then I convinced myself that I had lost my keys. I'm sorry, I had to self park for the first time in forty years. How ridiculous is that? I had never driven myself to the airport alone before in my entire life.

First time for everything.

I am an over packer too. I have roughly four outfits per day, which include but are not limited to, workout clothes, day clothes, dinner clothes and sleeping clothes. Four days times four outfits per day plus options is a big bag. And also as any woman knows, you can go away for a day or a month and you still need all the daily essentials. There is no way around that. I can't just use any old lame hair dryer. And this face isn't going to get washed magically by itself. I'm not Samantha from Bewitched for Gods sake. I need my stuff. So, not only did I self park but I also had to lug the hugest duffle bag in all the land by myself, with my laptop bag, a huge coat (who am I rachel?) and a purse. It's no wonder i couldn't find those keys!

So then what happens? The ticket guy consoles me. I get some looks of concern from strangers and I get out my cell phone and call my friend Lisa, crying to her. As she is figuring out how to get me new keys, I find mine! I dry my tears. I accept the fact that instead of flying directly to Denver I will be taking a little foray to Phoenix. Which is nice I guess cause I will see a sunny day after a yucky, rainy, morning.

I sit next to a girl on the plane who not only drove herself to the airport but also never saw the shuttle from long term parking to the terminal. She was going away for a week and had two suitcases, her laptop, purse and a coat. She WALKED from long term parking to the terminal in a rainy windstorm at 6.30am.

Dude, it could always be worse.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

On Sunday's I get to hang out with my children. My kids are extremely social and busy and whether they are with me for the weekend or their father they are always between parties and playdates and sleepovers and my very own personal time is usually when I am putting their laundry in their room or when I am making them some sort of meal.
I like time with just them. I try to think of things to entice them into hanging out with me and only me for a while. Once we get passed the part where they bicker about something the three of us have a good time.
Yesterdays adventure was taking the hour drive to see my oldest brother and his family. They are great fun. They also live an hour from here in Amish country. They are not Amish though. Not that I know of at least. :)
So we drive through farm lands and by horse and buggies and we see all sorts of sights. I have the annoying tendency of liking to stop the car on road trips. I like to take pictures of nonsense. It is one of my favorite things to do. My daughter is the exact same way. She is delighted by our road trips sights. Funny signs, interesting looking people, any boring, old, kind of animal that is close enough to the road for us to get a picture. It takes my son a little bit of time to warm up to this. He pretends like he doesn't at first and he thinks we are offending people by taking pictures of their every day life. While I guess in the abstract :) this could be true it is certainly not our intention. We are just fascinated by shiny objects or little tiny horses or people with lives different than ours.

" Saige!, get out the camera!! Look! The Amish, they are playing some sort of Amish game!"
"Oh my God Mom, don't even take their picture. They are not zoo animals," Chase says.
Luckily Saige already has the camera turned on and the window down. She is ready to go.
"I know they're not zoo animals, but they are playing some sort of Amish game and I think we should record it so we can refer back to when you are studying the Amish," I reply like the concerned parent that I am.

"That's not an Amish game! That's volleyball!" Chase yells at us.
Well yes it is. Hmm... I don't care. You just don't see that everyday.

"Pull over Mom! Look! Another little tiny horse," Saige says excitedly.
'I yuv yittle tiny horsies!" I say like an idiot.
"Oh great. Just what I wanted to do today, take pictures of farm animals," Chase says.
"Technically it is Saige taking the pictures, if you want to use exact words Greg Brady," I say.
I just got an eye roll for that one.
"LOOK! An amish tree!" Saige says.

"Why are the people Amish?" Saige asks.
"Cause they are," I reply smartly.
"Do you think they are nice to their horses?" she asks.
"I sure hope so."
"They just all look so...so," she starts.
"So what?" I ask.
"So miserable."
Because there is clearly something wrong with me and my sense of humor this struck me so funny that I started laughing until there were tears streaming down my face.
"What's so funny?" Chase demands.
"Mom! Mom! Look!!" he says.
"What is it?"
"Did you see how big that horse's butt was? It was huge!" he says amazed."You should take a picture of that."

Riki tiki tembo is finally on board.
And Saige already has the camera out.

...From the Tree.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Labels

My friend called me a dork today.
I really don't think it was called for.
I will be the first to tell you about my nerd like habits.
-I have had every new Harry Potter book in the first 24 hours it is out and have read it in a couple days. Even though my children are not that interested.
-I like Neil Diamond. Not every day. Not a whole album, but if Sweet Caroline comes on I will not be changing the station. And don't even get me started on my love for Gordon Lightfoot. Seriously, I will say, I wouldn't be caught dead with a Journey song on my IPod, but that's just me.
-I do Sudoku, or play Sudoku or whatever it is called when you hang with your Japanese friend Suduko. I thoroughly enjoy a brand new Sudoku book and a freshly sharpened pencil. Yes, I use a pencil.
-Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer still makes me cry when those other reindeers won't let him play any games with them. And I just don't understand why the little people have to be make fun of the dentist. Fake wooden Holiday characters can be mean.

See, I will admit if I am a nerd.

So say, you were to call me and tell me that you played Boggle on your phone until you got a headache (cause that's not dorky at all!). Is it so wrong for me to ask, "Was it regular Boggle or Mastermind Boggle?" I think that's a valid question! I also think I could kick his ass at either! (I have also been labeled competitive on occasion) which I'm not! I just like to win. Duh.

I did enjoy that he knew exactly that Mastermind Boggle was the supersize board that won't allow any pathetic three letter words!
You gotta be a total dork to know that.
Right?
Amulet Hit.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Where the Wild Things Are

If you are planning on seeing the movie Where the Wild Things Are, you might not want to read this. Or you might. I'm not sure. So I will just tell you. I am going to talk about it. Not only talk about it but explain the whole movie. So don't read it maybe.

I saw this tonight. I started crying at the beginning of the movie and cried until well after I got home.

This movie is not just a short book about a little boy being sent to bed without his supper and going to an imaginary land. This movie was about divorce and the breakdown of a family. It was very sad.

At the beginning you saw Max watch his Mom on a date in his house. He wanted her attention and she was giving it to a man that wasn't his father. He is angry and acts out, she gets upset with him. So he runs away to the Land of the Wild Things.

When he got there the main Wild Thing, Carol, (James Gandolfini) was breaking down the houses because his friend, K.W. was gone. Destroying them one after another. Max was happy to join him in his quest to ruin everything until the rest of the Wild Things got angry at him for destroying what they worked so hard to build.

He almost got eaten by the wild thing family until he promised the monsters that he had special powers and that he alone could make them happy. He could build a place for them where no sadness and no loneliness got in. That was their main concern, to keep out the loneliness. So they made him king.

He is then immersed in their family which is having a breakdown of it's own. Each wild thing seemed to be a part of his psyche at some point. There was the part that was scared and alone. There was that part that was confused and broken. There was the part that was angry and destructive. There was the part that was loving and only wanted everyone to be happy. There was the part that felt invisible and helpless. And there was the wild thing that just didn't say anything at all.

There was Max. He was all the wild things wrapped up in one little boy.

Max led them in a plan to build the perfect place to live. The place where they could live safe from the outside world. The place where no one could get in that they didn't want. But then he found himself letting others in. Carol's
feelings got hurt. He lost his temper. He stormed off.

He got angry when he found out that Max couldn't save him and that he really wasn't a king. He was just a little boy. He chase's him through the woods until Max is saved by K.W. He climbs through her mouth and waits inside her while she and Carol yell at each other. He listens to them argue. He can barely breathe. When he gets out he talks to K.W. She is so sad. Carol said mean things. Max said, "It's just cause he is scared. He didn't mean it." K.W. says, "It's just so hard to begin with. Why does he have to make it worse?"

I guess it's just life.

I have not read any review on this movie. At the end I did see that it was directed by Spike Jonze and the screenplay was by Dave Eggers, who wrote "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius." I thought that was interesting because they are both so current and edgy.

I guess this movie could have gone a whole different way. It could have been a little boy with some sort of ADD or ADHD or just hopped up on to many lollipops and to much caffeine. He could have gone to the land of the wild things and had some zany adventures and then realized that he really did miss his family and gone home.
It could have gone like that.
It didn't though.
I think this was better. It's not a movie I would take a small child to see but in reality divorce and loneliness and all those other emotions are part of life. I think it could give people who might be going through anything like this a different view. It could possibly help. I think some people might be upset by it not being a sugary sweet adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book. I myself, thought it was helpful.

I will say, if you are the product of divorce or are going through a divorce or know anyone that has or is. You should see this movie.
It might even change how you think.

Even when it appears we are acting like monsters, we are actually just human, sometimes scared, sometimes lonely, sometimes lost, but really just human after all.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Who Looks Out For Your Children?

I'm a bit confused about something. This is nothing new. Sometimes I say to some, "Wait, wait, wait. Listen to me. Um, I don't know." So honestly, that could be considered confused. Or just that I have so much on my mind I can't get it out quick enough. Thank God for my patient Friends.
I am thankful for all my friends.
Today Dear DiaryBlog I am going to be thankful for my very dear friend Lisa Samuel.
Did you know she is running for school board in West Chester?
Well she is.
It is one of those things I was confused about why she would want to do at first. It's not an easy thing to do. It's a lot of time and a lot of commitment and a lot of being nice to people who aren't all that nice to begin with. Lisa is a worker though. She gives her time to everything. She organizes things, volunteers, makes dinners, helps out everyone. To the point that it actually exhausts me. She is always willing to do more.
School board seemed slightly insane to me. Until I listened to what she had to say. She told me about the deficit in the budget and what some wanted to cut. She talked about how there are people who believe our kids should be going to school all year round. She told me about the people who believed creationism should be taught in our public school classrooms. She talked about the costs of everything. She knows a lot. It still was only slightly interesting to me.
The other night she had to make a speech. I went just to support her. Cause she's my friend. It was enlightening.
I'm sure it's obvious by my flashing Obama banner on the side bar of my blog that I lean to the left. I am pro choice. I am against war. I didn't like Jorge Busha. I do not believe that religion should be in the schools. In other words, I am for all that is good and right in the world. Duh.
So going to the debate night was very eye opening. I listened to the eight candidates talk. A lot of politics has to do with charisma. That's a given right? People need to connect with someone. If the People care enough to vote for school board that is. If you have kids that are school aged and you have ever complained or questioned anything, I hope your voting where ever you live. Take five minutes to learn who your candidates are. Vote for someone. You are your child's main advocate. If you spend the time driving them to sports and doing homework and going to their conferences and choosing Jif cause you care, the least you can do is decide who you think is best to make the big decisions for you and your children concerning their education.
Allah or Buddha or God or the Sun might do it most of the time but I'm quite sure none of them could care less if your children are bussed both ways to kindergarten.
The video below show cases one of our slightly charismatic candidates. All that nonsense in the video goes on in our sweet little town. The town we live. The town our children live in. The Pro War folks have invited known "criminals," (and that's the FBI's word, not mine) into our town. They have decided that because they are "For War" that they are "Against Peace."
I'm sorry. That's weird. And scary. And doesn't belong here or anywhere for that matter.
I'm sure it goes in your town too. Check it out.
Vote.
Do it for your kids.
On Tuesday, if you live in West Chester Area School District please vote for Lisa Samuel.