Now with its own blog!
I had been debating if I needed to get a more expensive tea that I like less in order to have fair trade tea. I think fair trade is far more important than organic when it comes to foreign produce and of course tea doesn't grow here.
Castro's celebration of getting off the Federal List of schools that need to be improved.
My daughter joined after the school was already off the list, but the video shows the great spirit of the school and why we love it so much.
I love Free Rice. Maybe it's because I achieved the maximum score of 50 and gave 570 grains of rice to UNICEF.
When I think about it, 570 grains is a pittance, but I loved playing the game. It filled me with nerdy joy, and I even learned a couple words too. I believe this is the first time my large vocabulary has directly resulted in doing good. I'm working on doing it both more indirectly, but today with both kids home from school on holiday is not a writing day for me.
The standard advice is to pay $1 to get the Direct Marketing Association to remove your address online.
But then all the rest of the advice I read involves writing. Not so! You can do a lot of online.
To remove your name from random offers of credit and insurance for five years or permanently. If you want it to be permanent, you have to sign and mail something in, but that's one time.
A company or charity that you have already done business with is free to send you mail at any time and also to sell your name unless you tell them otherwise. But do you need to write? No! Go to the organization's web site and scroll down to the bottom of their site. Usually in tiny letters at the bottom, you'll see a Privacy link. That link will reveal pages of legalese and usually an email address where you can email to be taken off their mail list.
For organizations I like, I say email only. For organizations that I don't like, take me off your lists. For all organizations, put me on your do not call list and do not share my information with any other organization even affiliates of your organization.
This takes about five minutes to ten minutes per organization depending on how hard their web site is to navigate and how fast you type. However IME each organization sends a piece of email once a month. So it's time saved in the end. Also you're saving trees in that the company is not printing paper to send to you and the US mail is not transporting that mail to you.
Both feet off the ground.
Running running away
I've worked very hard for this day
that he can run away from me.
Some day I hope both kids will run faster than me
leaving me behind.
But I hope they will still return
at least for holidays.
We love the special preschool he's in and adore his special ed teacher and like the other kids. And our son's already making measurable progress after only a month in. He's started to climb stairs without holding onto a rail. I thought he couldn't get more confident but I think I was judging him as a two-year old and he's three. He asserts himself more with words. He used to be quiet around other kids which I stupidly accepted as "just being a boy." Well he's not quiet anymore. And he was never quiet at home. This preschool is definitely the right fit for him.
The school district... Well. It's only two years. And we can work with them as long as we don't look too carefully at the whole thing. One the plus side they're organized in careful segments....
Anyway if I had to choose I'd choose this way. Because we're not moving anytime soon. Our older daughter loves her elementary school. And our school district special ed people are disorganized but so far warm and friendly.
Pencils were by far the most popular. "Cool! Pencils! I need them for school." exclaimed one boy. We bought 3 dozen Halloween pencils for a dollar a dozen and by the end of the night they were all gone.
It made me feel good that I was actually contributing to a child's education instead of their bad health.
I guess if everyone gave away pencils it wouldn't be special any more but Walmart and dollar stores are full of little cheap things. And maybe part of the reason pencils were so popular was that my husband was so excited to be giving them away. The kids had a choice but the pencils sat bright and shiny at the top.
Did you give something away this Halloween that interested you or inspired you? If not what could you give next year?
We're on the home stretch of completing my son's IEP so my body has decided it's a fine time to succumb to those half cold half flu thingy. I have a stuffy nose and sore throat and a few aches but no fever. I sometimes feel incredibly tired to the point where all I want to do is lie in bed and sleep and at other times I feel almost human.
I don't feel quite sick enough to justify my husband staying at home so this has lingered on for exactly a week now. My son's IEP meeting was on Monday and I rallied enough to be fully present there. I also rallied myself to go riding later that day. The rest of the week I laid in bed until it was time to pick up my daughter and then looked after both kids until about 6pm when I just waited for my husband to get home until I could crawl into bed.
This weekend we missed four parties and may miss the fifth one today. Yet yesterday I deal with an insurance issue and also the lingering portions of my son's IEP.
I need to get better so I can have some fun!
I feel most sad for all the wildlife dying out there and neglected pets and the firefighters who have lost their lives. This silly picture is for them and the CCI folks. I send my prayers to the people affected by the fire and the CCI dogs and people at the SW regional center. These brave folks are waiting in the path of two fires. The smoke and soot and air quality are terrible. They're staying there multiple nights in case they need to evacuate the dogs and cat and I think they mention bunnies? That's true dedication.
As a child of 12 I once had to evacuate one solitary cat from my dad's friend's house because of an avalanche warning. Unlike these folks I didn't have any animal carriers so I had to hand-carry this cat down the mountain. The cat was very worried and tried to claw me but I was well bundled up. The cat was so freaked that she jumped out of my arms and tried to climb up a snow bank. After that she realized that it was my arms or the cold snow so she stayed with me.
I know these dogs are very well trained unlike this cat but still it must be very freaky to them to smell all this smoke and ash. I hope they're all doing okay.
Pimped from Jed's blog
map of San Diego fires
Southern California Fire map
My little niece has started rolling over. I remember naively thinking that babyproofing didn't start until they learned to crawl. Special K at least milked every milestone for all its worth. As soon as she could roll she was rolling rolling rolling everywhere. Carpet wood floor no flat ground was safe from my little tumbleweed. Every little speck that I left on the floor was picked up and put in her mouth if I was careful. I told my brother all this. Hee hee.
My daughter walked from 1:30 to 6pm for her school walkathon. She took one bathroom break. Otherwise she walked and walked and walked. 54 laps in all. I'm so proud of my little Kindergartener who could. I talk about Little T's determination all the time because life is more challenging for him but Special K also rises to the few great challenges her life presents her.
She also got her hair sprayed pink which she said "was scary for me."
I have been trying to tell her that a lot of life is just persistent effort over time or walking around and around. You do get prizes along the way but mostly the point is just to keep on going. I guess she knows that lesson at least for now. Do I say how incredibly proud I am of her?
Little T can climb up and down the steps of his school bus by himself. His preschool teacher says she has worked with him on steps everyday. How she accomplished this miracle I don't know since in therapy sessions it has been difficult to say the least. Picture a screaming boy at the top of our stairs. Bribes offered and refused. Lots of "No" screamed loudly.
No screaming at school. But then it's hard to refuse his teacher anything. She makes it all sound so sweet and reasonable.
It looks like Special K will be a Daisy Girl Scout if we can find one more girl in the entire school to join the troop.
I really like being able to walk to Longs. I'm still perhaps a bit overly excited to have a Longs in my neighborhood. I think it brings back childhood memories of biking to Longs as a child and Longs was this wonder store full of delights like candy and Merlin the electronic game that all the kids wanted and amazingly my parents bought.
I'm thankful my husband made me tea and went shopping with me and Little T. Something he does quite a lot. He's really a very nice man.
It was good but a bit painful to get my back worked on. It was sweet to see that although I woke Tucker from his little puppy nap. He got up lifted his head and greeted me with a little puppy snuffle. To me it sounded like an "I know you and am happy to see you" sort of noise. It reminded me of how my children as young babies used to snuffle before they could coo at me. It's funny how in the end we're all mammals. I read this breeder's journal about her puppies learning the commando crawl. Oh yes I remember my kids learning that.
I loved visiting Little T's preschool today and seeing how excited he was to participate in "body class". The OT made it all about fire safety and engines. How could he not be excited. He laughed as he bounced on the big ball.
I'm happy because I kept Louie engaged 95% of the time yesterday during our lesson and he only tripped twice even though we were walking and we had a side walker too.
I'm thrilled that Little T is alive. A friend just wrote that yesterday was Infant Loss Day. I have no idea how or why he lived that first day but I'm so glad he's still here.
I'm pleased that the reason my butt still hurts is that the muscles are still tight and pinching a nerve. A good hard massage from my chiropractor Dr. Deb helped and I hope it will heal over time.
Yesterday at Mori's annual checkup the vet said that Mori looked like a younger cat. He's eleven years old now.
Last year he went to the vet having snuck outside and been abused by a neighbor who was convicted of animal cruelty and had to pay my vet bills and serve community service.
For several days he dragged himself around the house like a very old man. We worried about it and gave him lot of very gentle petting and tried to cajole him to eat and drink.
Now we have built a cat fence for our back yard. Yes they do work but periodically he finds a chink and worms his way out again. So we walk around trying to find the 1/4 inch hole he's exploited and patch it up. It seems more like something to do than a discontent with our back yard. He always returns at mealtimes meowing at the front door or when called. And our other cat seems perfectly content to stay in our yard and has never once escaped.
The back yard provides exercise sunshine and a lot of ways to run around. He also comes inside and gets a lot of petting and attention from the kids. My daughter carries him around with her arms stuck out. He's so big compared to her that he's secure but it's very peculiar to see them together. Then he wants less attention so he goes into our yard again.
I ask Little T "Do you want to see Tucker?" "No" he says firmly. "Okay but I'm going over." Then he stares fascinated at Tucker. "Look he's chewing a bone." he giggles Every aspect of Tucker is commented upon. Then he doesn't want to leave. "No I want to see Tucker." just as firmly as he said he didn't 20 minutes before. Ahh the life of a three-year old.
Tucker's owner said that Tucker used to follow her on the leash very well but has just started sitting down and she has to carry him. I laughed and I said "That sounds very familiar."
I read some leash training techniques to try to get Little T to cross parking lots. Not that I use a leash but Little T still tugs on my hands and it hurts or abruptly sits down. We have mastered crossing the street pretty well now but an empty parking lot is apparently terrifying. It amazed me that one technique worked. I walked in front of him and took both of his hands from behind and walked slowly at his pace. He walked this way for few steps. My back was grateful it was just a few steps. Then he asked to just hold my hand standing next to me like a typical kid. On the way back he just crossed the parking lot holding my hand the typical way. Apparently I needed to show him that I was going to get him across the parking lot safely without picking him up.
My chiropractor has the cutest little golden retriever puppy named Tucker. He's 12 weeks old and has just learned to sit and lick instead of bite. Not CCI standards. But gosh he's cute and loves a good belly rub.
I was actually bummed when my chiropractor said that I only needed to come twice a week cos I'll miss lil' Tucker.
Little T got kicked out of the Regional Center. He's no longer officially developmentally disabled. Still has his special needs but he's one smart little boy.
Thank you Fenders Collision for fixing the latch on my car door so it shuts properly. You had the right tool and just screwed it in. And you all are so nice.
Thank you for the nice handwritten note my CCI friend.
Thank you Little T for having good vision even if you didn't want to cooperate with the optometrist.
My children love dogs. They really adore them in fact. Specific dogs that they know and trust.
You see my children recognize that each dog has his or her personality and training and that's how they judge dogs. I write his or her because my daughter always corrects me on the correct pronoun for dogs she knows. Both kids view dogs as sentient beings. My son greets dogs he likes by name. Both kids feel free to command dogs they know and expect the dog to obey. This makes for a much happier interaction as sometimes dogs do get over excited and forget that kids are two legged and not four legged.
My daughter thinks smaller dogs are "cuter" than bigger dogs but cute is only one factor in what makes a dog lovable. My kids' two favorite dogs are a lab mix and a golden retriever so clearly size isn't everything.
You say "My dog is great with kids." My kids want to make that decision for themselves after observing your dog. Please do not thrust your dog upon my children. If your dog is socialized your dog will not like it either. If my children take their time to observe your dog before they get close saying things to them like "You're afraid of dogs" will not help them get closer to your dog. If your dog is seen to be well trained or responds to correction my kids will approach your dog.
For those owners whose dogs are shall we say a bit excited? Perhaps your dog often strains on the leash or jumps up and is poorly trained or perhaps your dog is simply excited right now. My children can only judge what they see in the moment. These behaviors that you consider cute or harmless or expressing excitement can knock over my small children and make them cry. I don't think you should take it personally if my kids keep their distance. As soon as your dog settles down my kids will approach.
I've also taught my kids that some dogs work and should not be petted. For them these dogs wear a vest. They've also learned on their own that these dogs tend to hold more still. So if your therapy dog fits this description please don't take it personally if my kids don't pet your dog. They're still learning all the finer nuances of dogs. They're only 5 and 3 so they have some time yet.
Thank you for your understanding
Mom of two small keen dog observers and lovers
