A Literacy Blog Project

Hello to you!

I am beginning my second week of school today. No actual-school, as today is Martin Luther King, Jr day, but I have been online working with my online class. It's an Early Childhood Education class on Literacy. We have to do a semester long project and I was scared spit-less at first. I even thought about dropping the class, because this was supposed to be the semester where I eeeeeased on back into school... No. No ease. I'm jumping in and I'm jumping in big-time.

One of the possible project ideas was to start a literacy blog. Well, that's the one for me. I made some notes on what I'd like to do (Make reading more fun for kids, share ideas that will help parents make reading more fun for their kids, etc) and now I'm working on a name for the blog.

Any ideas??

Moving Beyond Thinky

I keep hearing that we have a big storm coming. Thunder and lightening, rain, but it never really lets loose. It did get a little sprinkly when I was out on the playground with the kids yesterday (I subbed at lunch), but ..........pfht.... nothing much. Maybe this weekend - I'd love a lot of rain.

I had so much fun with the kids yesterday. I got a bunch of hugs - especially from Sabrina and Reece. We rescued a teeny-tiny grasshopper. We were heroes.

The 6th graders are graduating today. Very exciting. When I first started working at the school, they were in the 3rd grade and so naughty - big with the food-throwing, the back talk, thought it was funny to have a time out in the blue chairs. I can remember thinking that I wasn't sure that I wanted to handle them as 6th graders, but honestly, they were great this year. (It was those mean 5th grade girls who got to me). They always were a charming bunch of boys, even when naughty, and the girls just followed the boys around - probably found the boys charming, as well.
My kids have two more days of school left. They are all sick. Greg is going to school today and I'm pretty sure that Sarah is...........Okay, had to go check on Sarah. She'd gone back to sleep. Silly girl. She sounds not good, very congested, but she has to go to school because there's an, "...assembly, cool cat store, gameboy ..." I think she meant "game day," not "gameboy." Cool cat store is when they take all the points (cash?) they have earned all school year and buy some cool stuff. How fun does that sound? I bet she will pick some sort of ring or bracelet. The girl loves her bracelets. And Friday, she's off to Girl Scout camp - the June Jamboree.

I am going to look for another job. I'm not getting rid of any of the others, just looking some something additional. I'm a certified massage therapist and I do nothing with that. That's where I'm going to look, for something in massage. I've thought about that it for awhile, but that's it, just thought about it....... Okay, I have no idea what I am going to do, or more accurately, I have some ideas, but the point is this - I feel like I need more wiggle room in my budget. I need to get active, not just thinky.

Okay, time to get busy. Sarah needs a ride and I need a Diet Coke. Happy day to you!

Quick Saturday Catch-Up

It's been so long since I updated! I'm sorry. A lot has been going on. I'll start with yesterday and work my way back to last weekend...........

The Jogathon. Yesterday was the Jogathon at LCC. Look at those kids running! Sarah is in the pink t-shirt. I got a lot of fun photos. I usually volunteer, but this time I wandered around with my camera. Sarah enjoyed the event so much this year. She ran quite a bit of it, which was exciting to see. When she walked, she walked with her friend Karli. She had a big smile the whole time. Yay!

Sarah's birthday was Thursday. She is now 11. Her she is jumping for joy - WooHoo!! Cousins Ashlee, Brad, Hayden, Aunt Shawna, and Grandma came by and we did bubbles, played on the playground. Good day.

Check out this bubble. It's a good one.

The teenagers had prom last weekend. They had a wonderful time and spent a whole lot of money. Prom is complicated these days. There's so much they have to buy. I remember when I went, I borrowed a dress, we borrowed a car. The kids were so stressed out.

Bay wore a cute short dress and tall heels. She was almost as tall as Greg with her updo and her heels and he's 6 ft. Very glamorous. Greg seemed very comfortable in his tux. I like he liked the fanciness of it all. I drove him over to meet the other couples at his friend Deborah's house. I got this shot as they were walking out into the backyard for pictures.

The sun was so bright and they were squinting in every shot. I wish I had not been so shy in front of all the other parents, that I had pulled them off to the side, because with the expense of all the extras, they didn't end up with enough to buy pictures at the event.

Don't you think that they look pretty? Bay's hair looked just as great the next morning. It was set up with about 55 bobby pins. It was lovely.

Okay, that's it for now. I've got something very exciting to write about later in the week. My boyfriend is coming for a visit. I cannot tell you how excited I am. I'm afraid that I'm going to drive that boy crazy with my camera. Watch out, honey!

Work and Decisions

I was so going to try to get back into the habit of writing everyday again, but I blew it. The time that I don't have is really beginning to get to me.

I decided that I'm going to give notice at the school on Monday. I will still work as a substitute and I talked to one of the second grade teachers about volunteering in her class, so I can still see Sabrina and Reece and Austin. No Nevah in there or Logan, though. Nevah is in a different class and for some reason she was out of school almost all week. I spoke to her teacher about it today and she laughed it off. The attitude of the teachers is one of the reasons that I made this decision. I don't want to work with those people anymore. I like my team, but hearing the teachers call students "stupid" or hearing my principal's attitude about a male student's struggle to figure out his sexuality , well it's just not an environment I want to work in anymore. If I could do anything about it, I would, but instead I'm called one of the "Lunch Nazis."

If I'm not working at the school, it will give me two more hours a day to finish my other work and maybe I can start taking photos again. I got so excited by the prospect of taking on more and more writing jobs that I......well, I kind of over-extended myself. This adjustment and the fact that I will still be working at the school at least a few days a month make this a very good compromise.

I feel some guilt about leaving the school, especially after writing it out here. I know that the kids need adults that they can count on and talk to, but I have 4 kids of my own, on my own and the way things are now, I'm too tired too busy to give them the attention that they need.
******

I took some photos of my family. Here are a couple that have Bay in them. Doesn't Greg look "pensive" sitting on the bench. Chance is the blur. I used a no-flash setting and I got a lot of blur photos, which I like for some reason. I'll show one with my brother-in-law, Matt soon. Robin is to the right, doing something with her camera.




They are showing me Chance on the camera. Isn't Robin's new house lovely? It has lots of big windows and a great front and back porch. We had such a good visit. I wish we were there right now.

National Wear Red Day

It was party day in Sarah's class! Woo hoo! What do you think of her tasty jewel? Here's some of her loot. Lots of SpongeBob in there. Is SpongeBob the acceptable cartoon for 5th graders? Can you read that SpongeBob card? It says that it's from "Yo." Silly kid. That cracks me up. She got a lot of candy, including big Smarties. Have you seen those? Part of the reason that I like Smarties is because they are small. Why mess with a good thing?

Below are our National Wear Red Day outfits. When I put on the shirt that I planned to wear, I noticed that the shirt's sleeves were ripped. Darn! So, I had to wear a tank top, which was covered by a hoodie at work.

We had rainy day recess today and the last recess kicked my ass. I got upset, which doesn't happen there very often, but sometimes, as I've mentioned, the kids are cruel to each other and it bothers me. A lot. One boy, Cyrus is a large boy, very tall, but he's very gentle and soft-hearted. His family is Samoan and they are all very tall. Cyrus has been my height (5'4") since he was in the 2nd grade - he's in the 4th grade now. Today was his birthday and he was very excited, but that didn't last long. I stopped to tie a little kid's shoe and in the time it took me to do that, an older child pushed him down and kicked him in front of a big group. No one in the group helped him. I took their ball away, because we have a strict no-bullying policy at our school, and the kids would come up over and over and tell me lies or basic BS trying to get that ball back. I'm so tired of children looking me in the eye and lying to me.

I was so stressed out that I felt like I was going to throw up for the rest of the afternoon. I usually love my job, but sometimes I hate it. Today was a hate day. I blame the Valentine's Day candy.

Here's Sarah in her red. She's so cute. She loves this new top. It has a girlie looking skull on the front side, but her long hair is covering it up.

We just got back from Sarah's basketball practice. She is improving so much. I probably say that all the time, don't I? I'm very proud of her.

Bay and Greg are at a Chili Cookoff. I wish that they were home, in the next room, because this week wore me out and I'd love to go to bed early.

I wish you a wonderful weekend.

The Stress Is Getting To the Kids

I've noticed a real difference with the kids at school this week. They are mean.

I spoke with a co-worker about it and he mentioned that maybe the kids are picking up on the stress we adults are feeling these days. That made so much sense, but in my own stress of the day - brought on by the children's stress of the day - I forgot. After school, I mentioned the bad behavior to my principal and she started saying the same thing, "Children are so intuitive......."

Today, there were 3 different football to the face (resulting in blood) situations. 3!!! Before today this happened.......never. I'm sure during other recesses, but in the almost 6 months that I've been out of the cafeteria and on recess duty, it hasn't come up. In fact, I've only had 2 other bloody noses all year.

And another thing, Logan, who had the shoes that did not fit last year, well he's still wearing the same pair this year and they still do not fit. His sister is also wearing too-big shoes. Nevah, has cried two days in a row and needs lots of hugs. These kids, they've got tricky stuff to deal with, too.

Sometimes I have to slow down and look at the big picture. Of course the children are stressed. Who has it easy anymore? No one. They aren't mean, they are acting out, and they need calm understanding more than ever.

I can do that.

Bailey and Greg

Bay wanted me to take some pictures of her and her boyfriend, Greg, but by the time I was able to do that, I'd lost most of the light. We are going to try again tomorrow. Here's what I could get............ He always has a hat on. She got him this one for Christmas. At first she picked out another one and when it didn't fit (and he didn't like it), she cried. It was sad. It's hard to pick out present sometimes - a lot of presure.

The focus is really not good here, but I had a little light.

Greg has almost the same expression in every photo. I almost said that when I was looking at the shots in my camera, then I thought, hhmm, no don't say that - teenagers are so sensitive. Well, the female ones, maybe boys are tougher.

Sarah keeps doing these silly things. She stands up and does a sort of dance/pose thing and watches herself in the mirror over the couch. She really enjoys looking at herself. I'll say, "Sarah, I'm right here," when she's talks to me, but looks at herself in the mirror. If I was as cute as she is, I'd probably do the same thing. ;D

At school today a boy cut his knee so bad that I had to call the nurse out to the playground. He was having trouble walking, the cut was on his knee, and his sock was all bloody. He was making a lot of noise and it really drew a crowd. I kept saying, "Back up, please." And he'd cry harder, then they'd come back around, "What's wrong, what's wrong?" I checked on him at the end of my shift and he was still freaked out. I think that he was worried about getting it cleaned, more than anything else.

Yesterday, a little girl was looking like she was sick. When I asked what was wrong, she said, "My daddy was arrested last night." When I saw her today she said, "My daddy was on the news!" and she was excited. Yikes. Whatever he did was big enough to get on the news. Her dad is Logan's stepdad. I've mentioned Logan before, he's my favorite student at the school.

Another little girl, who lives by the first girl, told my friend Tammy (cafeteria lady) that she has not bedroom window and that she woke up with snow on her face during the Christmas break.

Sometimes my kids will complain. They don't know how good they've got it.

I'm going to be giving away some Cuties Mandarin Oranges at Veggie Chic soon. Cuties are so darn good. I will let you know before the giveaway starts - they will be 10 winners.

Backwards Day

I was riding my bike on Tuesday and the sun was this big red ball. I rode home as fast as I could to grab my camera. Then, I had to decide, drive or ride back? Get the shot or enjoy the ride? I chose the ride and totally missed the shot, but still it was fun, the darting in, grabbing my stuff, jumping on my bike, riding like a crazy woman.........

I tried a few TTVs, but my camera was out of focus and this is the best that I got......

Earlier in the day, the kids found this guy on the patio.............

I love insects...........well, on the patio. In the house, not so much.

Today, Max and I are off to Yuba City to visit his neurologist. It is a check-up, he has no new problems that I am aware of. I think he enjoyed the sleeping in. I know that I did.

I keep looking at him and thinking about how I can't believe he's turning 18 in a few days. Were did all that time go? He still feels like my baby boy. I guess because I do all his care and I carry him. I'm so lucky that I've had so many years with him. Most kids with his brain disorder - Lissencephaly - die somewhere between 3 months and 3 years.

I will miss being at the school today - it's Backwards Day. We are in the midst of our Red Ribbon Week. The Backwards Day is "Turn your back on drugs," and I could see all the 6th graders wearing backward hoodies when I dropped Sarah off. Dang, I wish I was there to see how silly they are being.

Tomorrow will be another theme day. I'll get in on that one. :D

Gotta get ready for the trip. I wish you a good day.

Getting Through the Day

This little beauty is one of my friends from school. She is showing off her school carnival tattoo here. :D

Every day, when she finishes lunch and heads into the go-to-recess line, she stops by and gives me a hug. Sometimes, when I'm walking around the playground, she will come up behind me and slip her hand into mine. This child is so sweet, so loving. She is a joy to be around.

Last Spring, I posted a picture of one of her brothers - she has two at our school. I don't get a chance to visit with him much this year. He's got a lot of friends and he's busy. I like to see that.

One of my co-workers didn't show up for work today. Our principal had to do her job. I'm hoping that by doing what Tammy has to do every day, she will have more respect for what Tammy accomplishes. Tammy is not always treated with a lot of respect. This evening, I was going through my messages and I found one from Tammy. I'm not sure, but I think she must have left it today. I feel bad that I missed her - she sounded very upset. I hope that she's better this evening.

I'm so out of sorts right now. I'm worried about money. I'm worried about my relationship with my boyfriend. I'm worried about my relationship with my daughter. It's interesting, but no less distressing to me, that I have noticed that they both treat me carelessly in very much the same way. They are quick to judge each other on this bad behavior, but seem unable to recognize it in themselves. I love them both very much, but they are not always easy to love. Somtimes I feel that all I can do is to get through one day at a time, not think too much about the future beyond that.

Well, it's getting late here and I need to get something together for the kids to eat. I can't wait to climb into my bed.

Carnival-y Post

I started to post this last night, but I lost my connection and gave up. I have a few of the carnival pictures ready. We were there for about an hour and in that time, the amount of people in attendance probably doubled. It's a fun even that the PTA puts on and the classes take part, setting up booths for things like a fishing game, a golf game, a lot of throw the ball, sponge, etc, at the target/hoop games.

Sarah was most excited about the sponge throwing. Her Grandma took her to the carnival back in kindergarten and they always laugh about the way she nailed Mr. Preston, the 6th grade teacher, in the face with a wet sponge. He's such a good sport. The kids all seem to love and respect him. Sarah acts like he's a rock star, there's Mr. Preston! there's Mr. Preston! One time, the day after school got out for the Summer in June, we happened to be waiting at a stoplight next to Mr. Preston. He motioned to Sarah to roll down her window and as we waited, he asked about her Summer plans. She was so thrilled. I think it's right up there with attending the Jonas Brother's concert in terms of exciting Summer events.

Here she is letting lose with the sponge.......... .......and here's Mr. Preston patiently waiting for the splat! He appears much braver than poor Spongebob.
One of the booths was a fingernail painting booth. Look at these cool 6th grade boys showing off their manicures. When I took the photo, I didn't realize that was what they were doing. Later, during editing, I noticed the colored fingernails. These boys make me smile. The one in the middle, he's The Boy this year. You can always find him in the middle of a crowd.
The kindergarten classes sold this honey. It's locally made and the labels are decorated by the students. I had some this weekend - put in in a vinaigrette, then I cleaned it off the spoon. Oh yum. I will definitely be hitting up the kindergarteners for some more. I love local honey.
Here's a sot of Sarah playing the basketball game. Her friends Carlo and Paolo are to the right. She's known Paolo for about 3 years and Carlo for 1. They are twins and they speak English, Korean, and French. This always impresses me. Paolo calls me Mrs. Smith, not Michelle - most kids call me Michelle or Miss Michelle or Playground Duty (to which I always reply, "call me Michelle"). He's one of those kids with a huge brain and incredibly good manners. I like that boy, but sometimes kids like him find it hard to fit with the rest of the group. Can you see me in this photo? I'm the shadow. :D

I'm in the beginning of what I'm afraid may turn into a spot of the blues. I'm trying very hard to avoid it, medicating with exercise, chocolate, and lots of cooking. I have some tough decisions to make about my personal life. I have tried reaching out to someone that I love many times - sometimes it works out, sometimes I'm hurt further. I'd prefer to avoid the hurt, but I can only control my behavior, not his. Sometimes people don't want to allow themselves to be happy and possibly that is what is going on and by trying to spare me that, I'm actually drawn further into the dark.

I try to live my life in a way that I can be proud of - sometimes I achieve that, sometimes I fail, but it's my intention always. I don't want to hold onto past hurts, or punish anyone. I want to keep an open mind and make decisions that will benefit all of us, not just myself. I keep thinking that this is The Right Way and if I do things The Right Way, my life will work out, that if I put good stuff out there, I will get good stuff back, which will then make me able to put even more good stuff out there........does this make sense?

I'm being petty with some of what is bothering me. I should just take care of my business and let things play out, but in all honesty I'm pissed right now. I've made what I need very clear and I've asked to be treated with respect and caring. That's what I have treated this person with and I should not have to talk someone into treating me well in the first place.

For now, I'm going to continue to do my work. I'm going to spend this week getting a photography business up and running. I have a photo that is going to be one of the prizes over at b5Media's Blogtoberfest. I'll post a link to it, when it's ready. We are also going to be hosting some prizes at Dating Dames. We start tomorrow, I think. I'll let you know.

Lastly, I have a bread recipe up over at A Cook's Bounty, if you are interested. It has a shortcut - begins in the bread machine, but then you bake it in the oven. Turned out pretty good.

Tea Party

Today, I had the opportunity to spend some time at two different school events. The first was the 2nd Annual tea at my son, Max's school. The second was the carnival at Sarah and my school. I'll tell you about the carnival tomorrow - not enough room for pictures of both.

This is the gym at Max's school - the location of the tea party. Everyone wore hats. Well, everyone but Mom and me. Next year, we'll wear them. Mom is in the middle of this photo, next to Max's teacher, Jill. She's a great teacher. She's the one who got the kids into the Special Olympics. The tent, that's where the tea was stationed. The placemats, they are the artwork of the children. We got to take one home.
This is Mom and Max. The picture is not clear, because I had to crop it from a wider shot. Can you tell how much they love each other?
This is teacher Jill and Max. He's still trying to see Grandma. :D

Here's some of the goodies. We had brownies, cookies, little pigs in blankets, pinwheel sandwiches, tea, and coffee. There was a beautiful fruit salad. All the ladies from Max's class they really enjoyed putting on the event, it was obvious. We chatted with one of the aids (I forget her name, very embarrassing) and she told me that she liked to see what Max is dressed in each day and that she felt an affinity with my family because our kids are around the same age. She was a nice lady, she mentioned angels and God. I've noticed over the years that people who are spiritual are very interested in Max. I don't have a problem with it, it's just something that I've taken note of. I'm not sure of Max's opinions on religion. I think if anything he worships trees. That kid loves trees.
I enjoy visiting Max's school, but it's also a reminder of how delicate he is. He's now one of the oldest kids in that school. He's been going there since he was 2. So much has changed since then.

It's hard to explain what raising Max is like. It's honestly a privilege, but it's also a challenge. I worry about him every day and not in the same way that I worry about the girls. I worry about his breathing and his eating and his slowly twisting body. He turns 18 in a few weeks. Okay, I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I'm getting too emotional to explain anymore right now. Thinking about my son's mortality every single day, it's not easy.

Thanks for reading and I wish you a good day.

Oh, and here's a shot of some candy.

Sometimes They Break An Arm

First let me say that these photos are not of the kids at school. They are of Owen and some neighbor boys.

Today, at school, a little boy broke his arm.

It was during the third and final recess of lunch - we break the kids into 3 seperate groups. Every recess was busy and I gave out a lot of passes to the nurse when kids, mostly boys, would do things like get hit in the head with a ball or tun into pole. I've noticed that boys are very hard on their heads.

I noticed that the kids were all grouped around a boy, lying on his back, under the bars. As I approached the bars - at a run - another student reached me and said that the boy had hurt his arm. I could see immediately that it was broken. It hang noodle-like just past his left wrist. It was terrifying to find him broken in that way. He is such a little guy - a second grader, 7 years old - and he was not crying, but moaning and saying, no, no, not again. I cannot express how hard it was to hold back the tears. I stayed beside him, radioed for help, and waited with the boy. My partner, he tried to move the kids away, to give the boy room, but they were curious and concerned. I heard him snap at the children, something that I have very rarely heard before, so I knew that he was very concerned.

The bell rang and the boy's teacher, she had the class line up along the edge of the playground and I could see some of the girls crying. I asked him about sports, what his favorite color was, what color his last cast was, what color he would like this time, what movied he'd like to watch this weekend, pretty much anything I could think of in an attempt to distract him. At first, he kept trying to move his hand, with the other hand, sort of testing it's brokeness. I said, honey leave it alone, leave it be. It scared me the way he'd do that and he'd say, it burns, it stings. I tried to support the elbow of the broken arm, so that he could hold it in a neutral position, across his chest, and I held the hand of the unbroken arm. I was worried about him making it somehow worse.
When his mom arrived, she was shaking. Apparently, she was working in the class all morning and had only returned home for lunch. I tried to reassure her, said, you are doing good, Mom, but she just looked at me blankly. It's hard to know what to do first or next in a situation like that. Your child is in agony, looking to you to fix it, and you need professional help, no bandaid is going to fix a noodle-arm. Oh man.

Bay has broken two bones, neither this bad, but Max, that boy has scared the crap out of me more times that I can remember with his seizures and turning blue. Children, they are so fragile.

I know that working during recess or in the cafeteria might seem like a simple job, but I take caring for other people's children very seriously. This little boy, he was so brave and so scared at the same time. I feel as if I'm going to hold a picture of him in my head forever now. I know that I'm going to be watching him very closely on the playground, afraid that he will break again.

I hope he's resting quietly now and that his mom is better able to relax. Poor little guy. He's going to miss playing with his soccer team, The Half-Pints tomorrow. He told me that they had a game. :(

A Walk Around the Neighborhood

It's hot here, in Chico, California. I took these photos outside on my patio and around my apartments. It's 105 F. Ouch. Hot. It's been so hot at school, that the kids hang out anywhere they can find shade - along the edges of the building, under the trees out in the field - and I keep my spray bottle filled with water. Their faces get red and I don't want anyone getting sick from the heat.

There are a ton of spider webs on my patio. I tried to capture them, but they aren't easy to see in this light. Most are Daddy Longlegs, but I've found black widows out here, too. I take everything off the patio a couple of times a year, spray it all down with the hose. I think it's about that time again.

August is a crispy time of year. I'm so looking forward to the Fall. October is my favorite month of the year. It's getting closer. :D
See the cracks? It's like this all over. I don't know if it's just another California earth shifting thing or if we've got some sort of sink hole situation going on. I watched this show once that explained that sink holes can be from construction - they clear the land, bury the trees, when the trees rot and break down, the ground sinks. I wonder if that is what is going on here? My apartment has weird cracks in the exterior walls, the front door fits oddly and has been adjusted twice, and all of our bedroom doors are off a bit. Bay's is way off, but she's got this door slamming problem and the whole doorway is screwed up.
This is a Valley Oak tree. Can you see my black flip flop? I put it next to the tree so that you could get an idea of how big it is. These are really gorgeous trees. The branches sometimes curve all the way to the ground. Where I grew up, we had little oak trees, nothing like these. That's my upstairs neighbor going by on the motorcycle. He's a nice kid with a big surround-sound issue. It's annoying, at times, but I prefer it to the neighbor who had the big barfing off the 2nd story into my plants problem. Yuck.

This is the second version of this post. The first one disappeared when I lost my connection. I lost track of how many times that happened today. Really, really, really a pain in the ass. The other verson was funny and entertaining - you would have been surprised by my incredible insights. I'm serious.

The Story of My Wednesday

More lovely weather here in Chico. After suffering through the heat wave of last week, we've had some mild days in the 80s. Yay!

There's a problem at school and it's not with the children. I work with a lady who has MS. She works very hard both in school with the kids, at her home nail business, and for her family. She sometimes has problems with her memory and communicating, but she really tries to plan things ahead so that her day goes smoothly. She has a very strong personality and when I first started working at the school, three years ago, I didn't really like her very much. That changed after a few months, when I came to understand her sense of humor and the way she dealt with the pressures of the job. We don't have to work a long day, but it's a couple of hours of loud, chaotic excitement. She does the breakfast crowd, then lunch, then comes back at the end of the day and works another hour and a half with the kids who are waiting for buses. Another of our co-workers - he works a different job, but our work days overlap - he messes with her. It really gets to her.

She called me today and we talked about it for awhile. She has tried to talk to our principal about the problem - last year and this year. The principal doesn't believe that he is doing it, thinks it must be a child. There are no children in the cafeteria at the time these things are happening - he is in there alone.

I advised ignoring him. If you don't react, he does not get what you want. I don't understand the behavior and I told her that he must be pretty miserable to act out in that way. It's the kind of thing we'd expect from an angry child. I'm hoping that tomorrow she walks in and does not react to his behavior at all. It will be tough, but she faces bigger challenges than him every single day. Oh dang! I wish that I would have thought of that one when I was talking to her earlier.

The cooler weather means it's much more comfortable on the patio. I cut my plants back and fed them. My tomatoes have never grown any tomatoes. How weird is that? I've grown tomatoes in pots off and on for years. This is the first time this has happened and it happened to BOTH plants. I took them out of the pots, put them in the soil - still NO tomatoes. It sucks. Oh well, I suppose that's what the Farmer's Market is for.

Sarah and her pals are out there right now. The window is open and I can hear their music and their laughter.

One of her friends just started middle school. She is sitting out there with make-up on. I wonder if that is odd to Sarah? Yesterday, this same friend came walking down the path and she was wearing high-heeled boots. She walked all the way home that way. Ouch. Growing up, it can be painful.

I'm having much fun with my new writing job. Today I posted the 2nd part of a 3 part series on online dating. Some people think it's risky, that the online sites are full of freaks and pervs, but honestly, I have some friends who have met some wonderful men. I'd love to see or read or hear about others have that kind of luck in love. If you'd like to see it, it's at http://www.datingdames.com

I have a new co-blogger over there. Her name is Lara and she sounds pretty interesting. She is a volunteer firefighter, a plus-size model, an actor, and a zoologist. She's done some more things, but I can't remember what at the moment.

Okay, that's about it for now.