aisforamy

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!
MY KIDS' SCHOOL IS STAYING OPEN! IT WAS A UNANIMOUS DECISION BY THE BOARD! WOOOOOO!

I actually spent a good portion of the day today making huge banners to put on the fence in front of the school. They read: "WOOHOO!!!" "YIPEE!" and "JAGUAR PRIDE" I am going to go extra early and hang them up! Hee! I also stopped and got six dozen donuts for the teachers to put in the work room where the teachers visit every morning to check their mailboxes, as a special treat! VICTORY DONUTS!

Can you tell I'm excited and a bit hyper right now? Wheeeeee!

I know that I have not been around of late, but school carnival stuff is kicking my butt. The event is tomorrow, and I still have a billion and one things to do. GAH!

Anyway, I think I at least have most of the volunteers I need--it was a real worry that I wouldn't, and would have to cut out a few of the games and put "CLOSED" signs on some of the other attractions because there was no one to run them. I finally just asked the 6th grade teachers to recruit some of the students, so hopefully they will show up when they are supposed to.

I will try to pick up any dropped tags on Sunday, if I am not too wiped out.

Anything important, link me, please!

Things I have done so far today:

Stood in front of the school with a large poster/sign reminding the parents dropping off their kids about the Public Hearing of the School Board tonight.

Made two posters/signs to stand in front of the school with on Wednesday and Friday respectively reminding people of the PTO meeting and that Jamba Juice is going to be coming to sell smoothies on Friday as a fund raiser.

Went to Walgreens to get my prescription and buy more poster board,

Smiled pleasantly even though I was Not Pleased.

Took meds.

Went back to the school and made two large posters/signs for people to hold tonight at aforementioned Public Hearing of the School Board.

Met President of the School Board and Arizona Senator Rich Crandall.

Smiled pleasantly even though I was Not Pleased.

Made two MORE large posters/signs for people to hold tonight at aforementioned Public Hearing of the School Board.

Came home and checked my flist, and printed out online petition to present to the School Board tonight, protesting the closure of the school.

Later, I plan to:

Get gas in my truck.

Hold up sign again to remind people picking their kids up to come to the Public Hearing tonight.

Pick up kids from school.

Supervise kids' homework, make dinner, possibly nap.

Go to Public Hearing and encourage others to be rowdy and possibly chant before the Board Members arrive, so they can hear us before they even enter the room.

Come home and crash.

It's an exciting life I lead, isn't it?

Your reward for reading all of this: An addicting game! http://flasssh.com/blocky2/

I spent yesterday pounding the pavement and going from business to business trying to charm people out of free stuff for our school carnival raffle. Met some very nice people who promised to see what they can do. I was gratified to find three free sessions in a batting cage, three free rounds of mini golf, and three $15 gift cards for a local BBQ restaurant! So far we have some really nice raffle prizes, but not nearly as many as last year. Things have been tight all over with the economy.

Last night was the first public hearing about saving the elementary school my kids go to from closing. I think it went really well, and that we brought up some issues that the panel had not considered. We had some very articulate and passionate people speak, and only two complete nut jobs that (while entertaining) did not really help our cause. The main thing we have going for us is that we have close to 140 special needs kids attending our school, and moving them all to a new facility would be extremely costly and traumatic for the kids. The two other schools they want to divide the kids into are ill suited to providing the excellent Special Education classes that our school provides. One of the schools has NO Special Ed program at all, and many staircases it would be impossible for some of the kids to navigate; the other school has a single autism class that was only implemented this past year.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Today I spent copying and sending our fliers for neighborhood distribution about the remaining hearings, and about the PTO meeting tomorrow after school. Then I took my doggie to the vet and learned that she probably will need hip replacement in the future to the tune of $6000.00 to $12000 dollars - that we cannot afford, and that my husband will not pay. In the meantime we keep her comfortable and on pain meds and canine glucosamine.

I went to the comic store for the first time in two weeks and got Ultimate X-men, X-Force #1 and the most recent X-Factor. I must say that I used to love Ultimate X-men, but am not really enjoying it as much anymore, as it is getting too angst. X-Force looks promising, if incredibly violent (not always a bad thing); I can’t say for certain if I will continue to buy the title, but for now it’s on my pull list at the comic store. X-Factor used to be one of my least favorite titles WAY back before I took a ten year hiatus from comics, I am really enjoying it now. I LOVE Layla Miller--She knows stuff.

Other than that? Life continues much the same as it always does. Not enough hours in the day, not enough sleep, not enough desire to do laundry and clean the house., and not enough money to hire a maid.

I always feel like everyone else on my flist leads a much more interesting life than I do.

=D?

BTW - ALICIA! YES! YOU WHO LIVES A SCANT TWO HOURS FROM HERE, BUT I NEVER SEE! I MISS YOU!!!

I know I haven't updated with anything truly newsworthy in a while, but life has been going on.

My birthday was nice, even if I did get stricken with a virus of some sort halfway through the day that sent me to bed with a mega sick headache. Thank you to all of you lovely people who wished me a happy day. I am still fighting a cold, but nothing as bad as it was.

My good friend in Tennesee sent me the funniest birthday present EVER! She sent me the world's largest gummi bear! I swear it weighs something like five pounds. When my son saw it, he asked if he could have a slice of it! (I said no.) My family pooled money together and renewed my Zoo membership for another year, so I might start taking the boys to the zoo every Wednesdays, since they get out early from school on those days. I got some spending money from my mother in law, and my husband gave me some money to buy myself something as well. I got some nice new clothes, and got my nails done and a pedicure!

I got a letter in the mail the other day informing me that a proposal has been put before the school board to close down my kids' elementary school, and to send the kids to other schools. The distirct is facing the task of addressing a twenty million dollar deficit, and they think that consolidating schools is the best way. Obviously, we think this is a Bad Idea, and want to fight this. I am heading a PTO meeting tonight to try an organize our group and make us less like an angry mob, and more like a force to be reckoned with. We have several people who have formed little Save Our School things going on, and information being gathered, but no one is sharing it with anyone else, and it's just a mess. I hope we get a good turn out tonight, so that we can be coherent and on the same page when the time comes to address the board in the scheduled hearings. The final decision will be made in mid-March.

I started planning the school carnival, which will be held at the end of March, and that is also a lot of extra work on my plate at the moment. I am hoping to get some more volunteers to help, soon. I keep having people asking me if we are still having carnival if they decide the school will be closed next year, and I keep telling them, "YES!" I don't get why they think the world is going to just come to an end if this happens.

In other news, I had to take my dog to vet today. She has been limping lately, and not moving around very well, but she is a young dog. Her hips may be displaced, and one of her knees seems to have torn cartilage. I have to take her back tomorrow morning for sedation and X-rays, then will likely have to take her to an orthopedic specialist vet for a cat scan and maybe surgery. This could get to be majorly expensive!

I also had her nails cut and her booster shots given. You would think that they had come at her with a chainsaw and and a branding iron for all of the noise she made while having that done.On a positive note, she met a cat that didn't attack her, and she was completely fine with it. Now, if I can find a cat that is indifferent to dogs, I might be able to get one, some day.

Speaking of pets...one of my turtle tank filters died yesterday, so that was another expense I had to take up...I just got an inexpensive one, but one day, I am going to have to bite the bullet and get that pond built in the back yard with the really good equipment.

Other than that, life is just...life. Busy and full of mom-stuff. I have really been wanting to RP more than I have--especially my remaining Milliways pups, but simply haven't had the time. I think I am just going to have to put them in one day with warnings for all taggers that replies will be slow.

Tomorrow after I take Sadie to the vet, I am going to go and see the Spiderwick Chronicles movie while the kids are in school. I have been waiting a long time for it to come out, and while I don't expect it to be anything like the books (at least the trailers lead me to believe the story is quite different), I still expect to enjoy it.

That's about it for now. The boys get out extra early today, and I need to take them to get their teachers some little Valentine's gifts, and get ready for the big meeting tonight. Wish me luck!!

Link of the day: Make your own girl scout cookies!!
http://bakingbites.com/2008/01/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-samoas

Time flies when you're having fun? Jeeze, time has been getting away from me lately. I have been extremely busy, and still don't feel like I am getting much done. Real life has been kicking my butt and demanding a lot of attention, so I apologize to anyone who has been looking for me online and not found me. I am not dead (yet)!

In the past week I have been especially busy because I have started planning for the school carnival, had a PTO meeting to put together and run, a bathroom to finish painting, and house to get cleaned up. I swear I turn my back for a few minutes, and the place is a mess again!

My husband has been out of town all week at a convention in Vegas, and is coming home tomorrow. While he was gone I bought a handful of new picture frames and prints and changed things around slightly in the house. I have to do it while he is gone, or I get smart assed remarks about how I hand stuff crookedly and whatnot.

I have gotten little to no RP done, and am hoping to get my pups into various places very soon for some actual play, since I've really kind of missed it. I don't think that will happen tonight, since I want the house to look nice when my husband gets home tomorrow night, but hopefully over the weekend. Anyone interested in playing with any of my pups at any time, all you have to do is give me a nudge. It will probably end up in slowtime, but I will play with just about anyone whenever I can.

I don't have much to say about Heath Ledger and Brad Renfro's premature deaths that hasn't already been said. It's sad and pointless seeming, and I am sure they will be missed.

I have been trying to watch season one of Heroes while I have been working on housework, but it has not been easy. I seem to have a curse on me regarding this show. I tried watching the pilot several times over the last few months, and something always intervened, and made me unable to watch it. Finally lai_lore bought it on sale, and lent it to me (still in shrinkwrap, even!) so I could finally watch it without broken links, stalled downloads or anything else causing problems. Then, when I put the first disk in my DVD player? The player broke. I am not even kidding. I finally got it to play on my son's laptop (I wasn't going to risk putting it in mine!), and the other disks have worked fine in my other player.

I am liking the show, watching it all at once like this, but I think I probably would have become frustrated with it and stopped watching it if I had been following it on television weekly. There are too many characters and mini plots within plots to keep track of for my brain to remember them all from week to week. I'm a woman who forgot her PIN number on her bankcard for over a week, and didn't figure out she was using a code from over a year ago. Week to week would be too hard for me to remember.

Anyway, I have not meant to be so completely out of touch with everyone, and I have not been ignoring anyone, not am I mad or unhappy with anyone at the moment...just one busy lady!

**hugs to you all** I miss you!!

Link of the whenever: http://newsbiscuit.com/article/image-of-a-piece-of-toast-seen-on-face-of-the-virgin-mary

You guys...YOU GUYS!!! The school fundraiser made over $1100!!!

I can't believe it! I was only expecting about $400, and so many people were there and helped and had fun...I am soooooo pleased!

:D!!!

That's all. I am exhausted. Now that the sewer line has been fixed, I am going to bathe, and have a nice long nap before I have to get the kids from school.

*bliss*

PRAY FOR ME!

Okay – so today has been a long day, but it has flown past….does that make sense?

I went to my kids’ school to volunteer to help with picture day. I love to see all the kids in their cute clothes, with their hair all done up… Then there is that one kid in every class whose parents obviously forgot (or didn’t care) that it was picture day, and that kid looks like they rolled to school in a big ol’ empty tire, then got dragged through a hedge backward. Thank God for retake day, eh?

I swear one girl’s braids were so tight that she looked Asian (she’s not).

Our school is also a hub for special education and special needs kids, so they get bussed to us from all over the area every day. Many of them seem to seriously FEAR having their picture taken. Ironically, I have noticed that the parents of these children tend to pay the most, and get the largest packages of pictures available. Not to morbid or anything, but it makes me wonder if it is because many of these children will likely die a lot earlier than people without their disabilities, and they want to preserve their memories a little more than other parents do.

In between classes being brought down, I got to make 1000 photocopies to put in the teachers boxes for announcements to be sent home with their kids…Send in your Boxtops for Education, Campbell’s labels for education! PTO meeting this Thursday! That sort of thing, which is my job now, as PTO President.

BTW – if those of you on my flist would like to start saving General Mills Boxtops for Education (found on stuff like cereal, fruit snacks, cake mixes, etc), I would gladly take them off of your hands. Let me know, and I will e-mail you my address! *Insert puppy dog eyes here*

After pictures were done, I had just enough time to run to the pharmacy, Trader Joes, and Taco Bell before going back to the school to pick up my kids. BTW – Trader Joes sells already shelled pomegranate seeds!!

I got home and called and FINALLY got my kid’s birthday party booked. Not for when I originally wanted it, but it’s okay.

Then I got a call from my new PTO secretary – who is apparently a psychopath. She yelled at me for ten minutes because I scheduled the PTO meeting for Thursday night, when I (apparently) KNEW SHE COULDN’T BE THERE OMFG! Long story short, she is going to tell on me. To the principal. Heeheeheehee. I told her the principal (who adores me) had nothing to with how the PTO is run or when meetings are held. But she is STILL GOING TO TELL HIM!!!!1!11!!!nineminuseightequalsone!!!

Yeeeeeah.

I think I’m going to be looking for a new secretary. Like FAST. This is the woman who needed explicit instructions on how to get to the bank from her house. It was less than two miles away (and no, she is not new to the area), and when we got there, she tells me, “Oh! This is my bank! That I bank at!”

*Headdesks*

Anyway, I also got an invitation flier made for Jared’s birthday party, and another one to send home to parents for a fundraiser coming up. So my to-do list is slowly, but surely dwindling.

I have a headache. I wonder why.

Wow! I didn't mean to prattle on for so long.

Link of the day Cow Maze! I think I posted this a year or so ago...probably more. I just rediscovered the joy of playing it, and thought I'd share again. http://gprime.net/game.php/cowmaze

Also? I would eternally love anyone who can make me an animated icon of the cow dancing when she finishes a level.