A new name?

I'm thinking "The 435 Pumper" no longer fits me or this blog.  Send me some suggestions.

Some thoughts:
Just Me - a blog about life
Parenting - missteps and all
Mom + Student + Employee = life

So there you have it, I'm searching for a new direction for the blog...HELP!

mid summer report

Today is July 25, 2012 and I feel like I should update you on how our summer is going.
Read on if you are interested :)

Hubby and I are both former lifeguards and LOVE to swim and play in pools!  This summer the Missouri Parks and Recreation Department did a fund raiser called the 2012 KC Splash Pass.  Here is the flier....it is a tri-fold that I have flattened, so that should help you understand the formatting.

So that is $25.00 for 24 visits (2 to each of 12 pools).  AMAZING deal!

So far we have been to The Bay ($9/adult and $6/kid...even LO), Super Splash ($10/person no matter age), Belton Outdoor Water Park ($8 or $9 per person I don't remember) and Meadowmere ($4/resident).  We have more than paid for our Splash Pass.

We decided that spending $50 for 2 Splash Passes made more sense than getting a Meadowmere (our local pool) Season Pass for $110 for 2 reasons #1 cheaper.  #2. Meadomere is a terrible pool.

It has been an absolute BLAST visiting the new pools.  We hope to visit a new one this weekend.

Here are some pictures from Belton Outdoor Water Park

Here are the ones from Super Splash

Here are some awesome videos!  Just a note on the videos: we are at a pool with TONS of other people and LOTS of water noise, so turn the speakers DOWN...there is no important talking.

Other than swimming, we have been continuing our garden through this drought it has been difficult, but we shall carry on.  We have harvested a few dozen tomatoes and carrots.  The carrots are so small that I just pull them out of the ground and hand them to LO who eats them dirt and all (bonus to an all organic garden)....so I don't have any pictures of the carrots.  We have pulled 35 or so POUNDS of potatoes out of the garden too!  Our pumpkins are up and going, so hopefully we will have jack-o-lanterns in October!  Here are a few pictures:

This is a bucket of potatoes....like 15 plants worth = 20 pounds!

The little farmer helper!

Basically is has been a fun summer so far!  On a not so fun note, I am losing weight with the help of Slim 4 Life....I'm doing it.  It's slow and it's not fun, but it's worth the work.

Also, school is almost over for the summer!  I have submitted all work for my HTML class and at 5:00 p.m. today the teacher for the Political Science class will be posting our 2nd and final test (the first was a DOOZY, so I'm expecting the same for the second).

government....an essay

So I had to write an essay.
Here's the prompt:

Write an essay on whether or not the people of the US have an obligation to obey the US government. Deal with Locke, principle of obligation to government, whether government has a right ot exist and if so what type and how. Write with the understanding that it cannot simply be presupposed that today’s existing pattern on property-titles represents true ownership, though it might if you were able to establish some justifications for it. Deal with rights of people and the question of who has a right ot tell others what to do and to punish them if the disobey. Discuss democracy and majority rule and your views on whether they have a role in the question on legitimacy of government. Be sure to cover the questions of the boundaries of legitimate governance. For example, are the people of other countries where a government kills people rightfully citizens of the country that exercises this power over them? Do they have the right to vote for that country’s government? What exactly are the boundaries of citizenship and authority? Attack or support the positions of any writer we’ve read (including me) that are relevant to the points you are making. I’m interested, of course, in true rights, not in whatever some pieces of paper might say.

Oi!

So here is my essay...terribly long.  Sorry.  If you read though it, or just a part of it, let me know your opinion.

Government is a necessary and a desirable entity

Written by: Ruth

            People are followers; it’s human nature.  We need a small group of people, with good intentions for the whole, to lead us.  Thus we need government and we need the selected people within that government to poke and prod those within our society as a whole with potential (not necessarily the correct elite lineage) to become leaders of the future.  However, the poking and prodding can create biased leaders with somewhat good intentions not for all, but for those they (the privileged few) rely on for support.  As followers we need and desire leaders; this is true of all past and present human societies.  As a democratic society we have gone about achieving this desirable government in ways that mostly support human rights rather than forcing control on a group of people we have conquered.

            In the mid to lat 1700’s, the people of the colonies needed change to end Britain’s oppressive control over the colonies prompting the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  In breaking away, the colonists in essence agreed to the forming of a new government.  Because that new government was established and has not been over thrown, changed yes, but not overthrown, it is our obligation to obey the rules for the betterment of our society as a whole.  From John Locke and the formation of the United States Constitution to the current squabbles over illegal immigration, we as American citizens must follow the rules and regulations as we have allowed them to be written in order to protect the rights and liberties of our children and the many generations to come.  We must also remain diligent in upholding the founding principles of the government we support by electing leaders who will listen to the majority opinion and protect the system of democracy we have established and attempt to continually change the laws and punishments as necessary to protect our freedoms and liberties.  I will analyze the United States system of democracy as a whole and from an individual point of view.

            John Locke examined the human existence from the most simple perspective: lawlessness.  Stating that in the natural state,

[a]ll the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection…

Locke argues that every person is the same and are given the same advantages from the beginning.  Locke also states when it comes to the harvesting of property “no man but he can have a right to what is once joined to, at least where there is enough, and as good, left in common for others.”  Locke is expressing that no mans work should allow him to take all the property so there is none left for others.  One must assume that if I cannot harvest all the fruits of the land to keep for myself so that there is none left for other persons, there are social rules in place even in the natural state of man: the simplest form of government.  These social rules imposed upon ungoverned man could be viewed as the opening to the obligation and desire for political power and the establishment of a government.  Locke says in Section 3 of Chapter 1, “Political power…for the regulating and preserving of property…this [is] only for the public good.”  The public good would not exist without the formation of a government.  In order to preserve the property one has obtained in the natural state, a person would be over occupied with protecting ones property.  By establishing a common law and a ruling party, a government, on aligns himself with others for the collective governing and preservation of the societies property.  In agreement with Locke, I find it necessary for the furthering of a great society, such as the United States, a need for government and an obligation of its citizens to support and follow said government.

            It has been successfully argued in the readings that the Founders of the United States and its democracy used many principles of John Locke.  By Lockes’ understanding of society, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence establishing that the people who are governed should be ruled by their own representatives stating, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it [the government], and to institute new Government.”  It is the belief of democratic societies that the minority should make the rules and applicable punishments for the majority based on the desires of the majority.  Thomas Jefferson detailed the ways in which King George ruled the colonists were not for the better good of the majority but rather created a state of constant abuse and misrepresentation in order to benefit the King rather than the citizens of the ruling government.  Thomas Jefferson states,

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.  A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the rule of a free people.

Suggesting that although taxed and oppressed like citizens of Britain, the colonists were refused the right to address their concerns and grievances because they were not treated as citizens but ruled by a Tyrant and abused.  The writing of the Declaration of Independence began, in my mind, the great debate of complete freedom versus justifiable governing over a societies citizens.

            It could be argued that the Constitution is a document written to give powers to the minority, the chosen elite governing party, rather than to control the use of the power over the people, the majority.  The power of a minority, usually a rich, landholding minority, to rule over the majority is one which needs many restrictions as to not corrupt the holders of this power.  The writers of the Constitution created the document to “crack down on delinquent debtors and taxpayers, [so] they reasoned, they would create a national government that could” as Holton stated in his Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution.  According to Locke and the supposed founding beliefs, the new government was to be formed for the “preservation of their [the citizens] property.”  So, it can be believed that the Framers did not have the interest of democracy in mind when trying to crackdown on the majority but rather the special interest of controlling and protecting their property above the property of the majority.  After reading the excerpts provided of Holton’s writing and the “Law of the Land,” I can only conclude it is the minority for whom the new government was established and that government was designed to redistribute wealth and property rightfully of the majority into the hands and regulations of the minority.  However, I must agree with Chief Justice Taney’s words (not his intentions) in the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Stanford (1857) wherein he stated as amended in the readings “If the Constitution is unjust, it can be amended.”  If as citizens we desire a government to provide protection of our property and well-being, we must force the leaders within that government to provide what we desire.  It is our obligation to demand representation of our beliefs and do what is necessary, such as amending the Constitution, in order to insure that those desires are protected.

            The United States Constitution gives many rights to the citizens of the United States.  The debate over who legitimately is allowed to take advantage of these rights is still occurring.  The debate started in the 17^th century when British colonists settled and began shipping laborers to their farms.  These laborers being persons who were not free, established their owners as wealthy landowners through forced redistribution of their rightful property. The owners of the laborers and the British government did not consider the laborers citizens and thus they had no rights.  The land-owner minority, had created a protective system of control known as racism.  Because of the created racism and the ownership beliefs, when writing the Constitution it is assumed only certain persons were considered to have the rights as described within.  This brings to question: What happened to Locke’s idea that everyone is created equal from the beginning?  Many battles both in and out of court have been fought so that the rights written were assumed to be true for all citizens, without restrictions.

            The laws of the United States as established in the Constitution and specified by the individual states often created controversy.  Why is it the right of the Congress to regulate commerce as set in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution?  Why is it the responsibility of the Government to enforce penalties?  Simply, we the citizens gave the government the right when we agreed to remove ourselves from the natural state in order to protect our property.  Every democracy is in theory perfect, but as we have amended the Constitution it must be assumed we need to regularly adjust and amend our ruling minority to continually protect our view of democracy.

            Democracy as a governing system works even at an individual level.  For example, as the owner of a business, I have given myself the role of governing body.  I establish the expectations and demands of my employees and the compensation they are given in exchange.  It is my right to impose these demands just as it is the employees right to walk away from the employment and consequently the compensation.  This democracy works because the majority, the employees, can exercise their rights to not be ruled by an overbearing governing system, the minority.  However, the situation in 1860 was much different.  The governing body, the owner, would still have the right to impose specific demands and expectations on his employees, slaves in this case.  However, the slave did not have the right to walk away; consequences for such an action could have included death.  Democracy did not apply in 1860 to the property of the owner, even if the property was a person.  Over the past 250 years, the view of citizenship has changed.  People have rights no matter their employment situation, people are not considered property.  Although different from 1860 to 2012, the system of Democracy on an individual level parallels the system on a national level.

            In the 21^st century, we no longer debate the right to own people, but the citizenship debate is long from over.  Racism was ruled unconstitutional by the Civil War Amendments, Amendments 13, 14, and 15; racism is alive and well.  Many immigrants are moving to the possibility of a democracy and being refused the rights.  Following in the footsteps of W.E.B. DuBois the NAACP continues to fight for equal treatment of all people as described within the Constitution.  It is the obligation of the people of this country, its citizens, to continually battle against the corruption of the powerful minority.  In the United States it is the right and I believe the obligation of the citizens to fight for justice and equality of the majority through representation within our government.  If this it the desire of the people to be ruled by a minority, it should be the desire of the people to protect the rights of the people being ruled.

            Government is a desirable and necessary establishment.  The democratic process of ruling over people continues to change, but it remains necessary.  Consider, without a government we would be constantly arguing over property.  Although, imperfect, with and established government the arguments over property are limited because the government has outlined specific rights and liberties for the persons protected by that government.  The citizens of the United States must understand the rights and liberties they have been given in order to assist in protecting said rights; it’s our most important legacy for our children.

Loosing weight...an up and down battle

Well, I've been on the uphill of this roller coaster for long enough!  It is time for a change and time to be serious about it.

When I loose weight, I need someone to be accountable to....not myself, not my "I want to gain weight" Hubby, someone not emotionally connected to me.  Someone I am paying to kick me in the rear and say DO IT NOW, DO IT THIS WAY AND ONLY THIS WAY!

So I rejoined a weight loss program.  It seems silly, but it worked last time and I know the plan works and I know the "counseling" helps.

So Day 1:
breakfast, good job!
lunch...not so good....I had lunch with my friend, let's call her Wacko! (she'll love it!)  Anyway, we met at Mr. Goodcents and I had a 1/2 sub on white bread with roast beef and mayo (the counselor is going to holler at me).
dinner....I'll be better.

Anyway, here goes.  I want a long down hill followed by a LONG EXTENDED flat portion of this roller coaster.

Music to my ears

For those of you who don't know Hubby is a musician.  He was playing at our church every week as the music director and regularly serenades me at home :)  YUP, you should be jealous!

Anyway, since the falling out, our piano has been covered up with stuff and collecting dust.  It has been a sad situation, but one that I haven't taken much notice of...it just hasn't been happening.

Well yesterday the keys were tickled by 2 sets of hands.  LO and Hubby played some great music!  From the moment I first looked at LO ans noticed her long fingers I knew: this kiddo is going to play piano (which is good because it is one of Hubby's requirements - everyone plays piano)!

Wasn't that beautiful?

Having this experience yesterday has made me really miss church.  I miss the fellowship, friendship, music, scripture, and most especially the moments of calmness. 

So we are officially on the hunt.  Where do you go to church?  We need some recommendations.

The ins and outs of why we are hunting shall be disclosed at a different time.

a triathlon I shall do!

I am doing a triathlon!
I have always wanted to do one, so now I am going to do my own.

Date: September 1, 2012

Distance:  I plan to do what is know as the "enticer" distance
300 meters swimming
5 miles biking
1.25 miles running

Reasoning:
I am tired of this baby weight.  I am tired of my clothes not fitting.  It's time to stop complaining and just do it.

So here is my plan:
Run....eck.  I just hate it, so I shall start with a run/walk schedule.  Still doing research...any ideas?
Swim.... :)  LOVE to swim, even laps.  UMKC has a lap pool that is open to me as a student, but I don't plan to be back on campus until August.  So my dilemma is when to swim.....
Bike.  We just bought bikes, so I have one to ride.  Even have a helmet!  LO loves to ride in her trailer so we shall bike....my legs are protesting, but it has to be done.

The most beautiful thing

Sometimes I think we get wrapped up in the unimportant trivial details of life.  The link below is a beautiful story about parents who were in the right place at the right time and decided to be a hero.  Most of the time we go through life thinking "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," I hope after reading this story I can be more open to the right place at the right time.  You?

WARNING: near the end you will want a Kleenex nearby.

http://www.growingyourbaby.com/2012/07/07/pregnant-woman-nurses-abandoned-infant-to-save-her-life/

My prayer for all of us is this:

Lord of all, help us to be more observant in this beautiful life you have given us.  Remind us that life is not only about ourselves, but about all of our brothers and sisters and being YOUR hands and YOUR feet helping YOUR people.
Amen.

poo

It's potty training time!
LO is ready, I hope...how do you really know?  I'm ready, so I hope she is.

We started today....a Monday.  You ask, "Why Monday?"  Well, our babysitter MissDee is fabulous and has a great record of helping kiddos learn to potty.  So going back to MissDee's after a week of vacation (for MissDee, not us) I thought would be a good thing to start on the first day back....it's just the routine.  This might be a terrible idea.

We started out GREAT!  LO poo'd in the potty this morning, first thing! :)  HOORAY!

I have created a sticker chart and she has smiley faces for pee and cupcakes for poo.  This should be wonderful!

Wish us luck.  Have any suggestions on this adventure?

PoliSci

So I am taking a Political Science version of American History.  LOVING IT!  The professor is taking the history we all learned and twisting it....maybe he is just telling the other side of things.  It is very interesting and making me think totally different of the formation of our country.

Today's assignment was to post a commentary answering the following questions:
What are your criteria for legitimate government, the right to make rules and kill him/her for disobeying them?
Evaluate the legitimacy of people imposing rules on you and threatening to imprison you for disobeying.  Do they  have the right?  What criteria gives them the right?

Here is my post:

In the beginning of Locke's quest to determine the necessity of government to rule over people, he first considered them in their "natural state." I think the flaw in his theory from the very beginning is that as humans we are followers. If we are to obtain greatness and be beyond other mammals, we need someone with good intentions for the whole to lead us. Thus, we need government. We need government to poke and prod those with "potential" to become leaders. We need those leaders to set and enforce rules. These rules and their respective punishments need to be carefully considered for if they are too harsh, the majority will wipe out the sitting government and a new one will need to be established.
As a parent, I have had to create rules and punishments. Most of these rules have a basis in safety. For example, if you stand in your chair, you must get down because it is not safe. If the punishment for standing in a chair was no dinner for a week, my daughter would appeal to the other governing body, my husband, and if no acceptable change took place, she would revolt. I believe that rules and punishments should not be restrictive of the person, unless their safety or another one's safety is in question. I hold the same to be true about rules and laws that our government have set; they are overbearing and restrictive with punishments that don't make sense and are overly harsh at times and ridiculously vague and non-enforceable at others.
Locke explores the idea that people have the right to property. His definition of property includes the immediate possession of himself and his belongings and the possession of the goods he creates. It is difficult to find the natural state of a person's property being controlled by someone else, a government. However, that is what we have chosen to do. We have given the right to other people to dictate how our property is taxed, taken care of, what it is worth and also the right to punish us for not following the rules of our property. Because we have chosen them, in one way or another, we have given them that right.
In a society that believes a person's property is that which they have created, Locke has failed to consider the second generation. The first generation has proven themselves and some have amassed large amounts of property, but the children of the rich people are not in a do-or-die position, and thus become lazy feeding off what the first generation created. The lazy rich second generation is the type of person we typically elect to rule us in the government. I do not believe those people should have the right to tell me what rules and consequences I must follow based on my property. The system is imperfect, but we are constantly trying to evolve the system.

What do you think?
Notice I put in a bit about my parenting????  Sneaky ;)

Finally Decorating!

We are FINALLY decorating LO's room!  For the first 12 months she slept in our room, in our bed 100% of the time...we slowly transitioned her and now most nights she sleeps 3-4 hours on her own in her queen size bed....so we decorated it!

 We are going with a butterfly theme.  I found these cute "wall clings", but we have textured walls, so they cling to the door and her headboard.

Here are the cubes Hubby made!  They were upstairs in our room, but have always been intended for LO's room.  LOOK how organized!  NOT what it typically looks like :)  Below the cubes is the slant-top desk, that has 3 drawers and is currently empty.  Look a the AWESOME Smurf blue color of the room!

Here is LO's head board.  See the pretty butterfly?

These are the pictures of the updated craft/sewing/school room.  We call it the farm room.

 school desk.  Like the cow curtains?

 Sewing table

 Craft table...Hubby plans to do a puzzle.

Grade is in............

The final grade for my first class back in school........A!  98% to be specific!  HORRAY!

I am SO excited.

I told my insturctor, Mallams, that this was my re-entry class.  It was going to determine if I thought I could go through with school and a kid and a real job....it was a test of how much I really wanted it.

Well, I did it!  I am stoked if you can't tell :)

Thanks for the support.

I have 2 on-line classes (6 credit hours) starting today!

Garden Update

We FINALLY have our whole garden planted.  End of June + 100 degree heat....just hoping that the water bill doesn't kill us.

Here are some pictures.

This is where we planted the canteloupes

 A visitor!  Anyone know what kind of turtle it is?

LO and her onion!  She played with it for a long time.  I had to pry it out of her hands.

 I dug up some potatoes!  I put the baking soda box so you could have a size reference!  AMAZING

 Hubby watering the tomatoes

 I don't think the potato plants appreciate this heat.  :(

 LO was not ready for the water to be turned on...still wanted to play in the garden.

So there you have it, we are growing stuff!

1st Class Done!

So my June class is officially over!  We turned in our final projects on Wednesday and Mallams said she would have our final grades by Monday....so I wait.

Wednesday we had the discussion I was kinda dreading...vaxcinenes.
As a former school teacher, Mallams has seen a lot and I respect her opinions on a lot of things....vaxs not so much.  It is her beleif that all people should be vaxinated and the religious exemption should not exist.  I stayed after class to discuss my opinion and see if she was just generalizing.....well, she wasn't.  She listened to my opinion, but did not budge in hers...oh well.

My opinion is this:
People should be educated before making a decision...any decision. 

Having yourself of your child vaxcinated is a decision that should not be taken lightly and just going with the norm is not an excuse for poor behavior.  I understand that many people, even most people should be vaxcinated...they are in contact with unhealthy people, they have unhealthy lifestyles, they travel worldly, they have compromised immune systems, they eat like crap.....the list goes on, but those are the most obvious to me. 

My husband and I have weighed the pro's and con's of this decision, done extensive research, talked with an abundant amount of health care professionals and holistic practicing people and have made the decision that is best for my family....no vax.  It's right for us.

A friend of mine (let's call her SillyHair) works for a public health organization.  She has a 2 year old son (SillyMan).  SillyHair made the decision that is best for her family and follows the recommended vax schedule.  It works for her.

My MIL choose to delay vax for hubby and her 2 other sons.  It worked for them.

If you want to have this discussion and don't know where to start, here is a link to one of my favorite blogs.  www.brookie-lee.com  Brookie-lee is a WONDERFUL source of information.

At the end of my discussion with Mallams, she understood my decision and said that she respected me for doing the "foot work" and weighing the consequences for both options.

Anyway, time to get ready for 2 NEW classes starting Monday!

Success!

I am so proud of myself.

Last night, I put in a replacement zipper to an awesome pair of pants!  All by myself, I hand stitched the zipper in.  I have been wearing them now for 5 hours and have taken many trips to the bathroom and the zipper is still in and doing great!  SO EXCITED!

Originally I had planned to buy a zipper and pass off the pants and zipper to my mother-in-law (we'll call her MIL, just 'cause)...you see she sews...a lot and has for YEARS, so I thought it would be easy and better quality work in the end.  WELL, I decided Tuesday that I wanted to wear these pants for my "teaching" in my PE for the Classroom Teacher class....well, that's today, so I fixed my pants on my own!

School update:
Above I mentioned I am "teaching" today.  It is the first time I have had to "teach" anything in 5 years (since I left my para-educator job)...so I'm kinda nervous.  It will be fine, but still.  Here is my "lesson plan"....what do you think?

TATS Lesson                                                                    Ruth Godwin

Nutrition                                                                           PE 401 - Mallams

Kindergarten level

Health Education Standards:

Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health.

Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

Performance Indicators:

Identify that healthy behaviors impact personal health.

Identify a short-term personal health goal and take action toward achieving the goal.

Health Goals:

I will choose habits that prevent heart disease & prevent cancer.

I will eat healthful meals and snacks

Supplies Needed:

Cut outs of food                      Tape                            Dry erase markers

Scissors for students              Paper plates                Crayons

Classroom Set up:                Groups of 4 

White Board:                        1  chart

J Healthful             /               L Not Healthful                                 /                                 /

                               /

LESSON:

1.               Start with T chart

      A.        Hold up food cut outs 1 at time

                  Kids identify foods

B.              Ask “What do healthful foods do for us?”

            Help us grow, help our brains grow, fight disease, make us strong

C.              Ask “How do healthful foods do all those things?”

            They have vitamins

D.              Ask “What do not healthful foods do to us?”

            Make us feel icky, can lead to disease

E.               What do not healthful foods have?

            Lots of sugar, lots of fat, lots of oils

F.               Each kid place food in T chart

G.              Ask “Need any changes?”

2.               Worksheet #1

      Color foods, trace #s, X out not healthful food

3.   Worksheet #2

      A.        Draw 4 healthful foods you want your family to eat this week

      B.        Cut out and glue to your plate as a reminder

      C.        Have each kid report their family goal

                         ,           ,           , &        this week because they are healthful foods.”

4.   TEST!

A.              Heads down on desk: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down.  Name foods.

B.              Heads up: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down.  Show foods.

5.               HOMEWORK!

      Take your worksheet and plate home.  Share with your parents the health goal on your plate.  Report back!

***If particularly rambunctious group:

TEST can be done outside.  Place J Healthful and L Not Healthful signs on basketball goals, have kids start in center and run to the correct goal when shown a picture of a food.

Seriously...thoughts?
I'll let you know how it goes.

One other School note: I got 98% on my midterm!  I am now missing a total of 3 points out of the semester.....not including the teaching assignment and the final exam!

Accountability

Accountability: (according to dictionary.reference.com)
.1

the state of being accountable, liable, or answerable.

2.

Education . a policy of holding schools and teachers accountable for students' academic progress by linking such progress with funding for salaries, maintenance, etc.

 

 

Who are we accountable to?
I'm accountable to God, my daughter, my husband, my friends, school teachers, family members and my boss (let's call her IceQueen).

What are we accountable for?
I'm accountable for my actions, my words, my reactions, my temper, my attitude, my output at work and my lack of output.

Why, you ask, am I writing about accountability?
I was sent an interesting e-mail by IceQueen today about time accounting.  She wants to know what I am doing for "chunks" of time and for whom I am doing it.  Do you suppose answering that 90% of what I do during the day is in some way for my daughter?  I don't think she will realize that I am #1 not kidding and #2 not going to change my reasoning for what I do and when I do it.  Yes the time sensitivity of IceQueen's stuff is taken into consideration, but if Hubby calls or MissDee calls, I'm gone, no thought to it.  Guess that's why I'm where I am in life and not wearing the HUGE crown of the IceQueen.

So, after considering all the accountable things I have done today at work, I think her real question is: "How much have you done that I can bill for?"  After all, it always comes down to the money.

School Update

School is great!

I am really enjoying being back in the swing.
I am taking  "PE in the classroom" M-Th evenings 4:30-6:30 only in June.  We are 1/2 way!  It is VERY easy, for which I am grateful.
Yesterday the teacher said "you are the only freshman listed in this class".  EXCUSE ME???? FRESHMAN???? What?  So I gave her my education career story, many of you know it, so I won't bore you.  She was surprised that PE 401 was the class I would choose to jump back in after 9 years.  Well, I think it was a good choice, it's quick, easy and has very little new information, just new terminology.  Whatever.
Monday is our midterm. 1/4 of our grade.  So I have printed the study guide and filled it out.  Yesterday before school I was making my notecards to study from, and was asked by one of the not-freshman blond bimbos "You still study like that?"  YES I do, and if you want to question my method, maybe we should wait until the scores are back!  She made me really MAD.  What really irritates me about her is that she will be molding children 2 years ahead of me (if she can get a job, which I have my doubts).

Pumping on my way to school, give me purpose and forces me to leave work behind and focus on school.  It's nice, I think I missed my pumping in the car...who would have thought that?

Turns out that my financial aid was not available to me until I was enrolled 1/2 time.  Well because I had not taken any classes for the 2011-2012 school year, I had to have 1 semester of 1/2 time...6 hours.  So no big deal.  EXCEPT the PE class is only 2 credits...who knew?  So now I am enrolled in 8 hours this summer.  How did we go from 2 to 8, you ask?  2 = PE, 3 = online PoliSci, 3 = online Web Design.  Imagine ME in a web design class, that's pretty icky looking.  It starts in July, so I will keep you updated.

Flag Day

Did you know that June 14 is always flag day?  

Woke up this morning and saw my neighbor had replaced his NASCAR flag with a good ‘ole red white & blue!  It was a great way to wake up.

Then driving to work I passed the “Avenue of Flags” sponsored by a local Lyons Club.  All those flags blowing in the wind made me wish I was a bird that could also appreciate the wind.

Anyway, here is a neat poster for a celebration a city had in 1917.  So neat.  Just makes me proud to be part of this crazy country.

This is also the day the Army celebrates its birthday.  Every year they have a big cake at all the bases.  I have seen pictures and hear about the celebrations all over the world, that’s neat.

Anyway, happy flag day!

New favorite Blogs

So I have 2 new favorite blogs.

Little Momma is so cute and funny.  It is written by a friend from highschool's wife.  She's a hoot and the pictures are fun.
Here's a link.  http://thelittlemama.blogspot.com/

Letters to my ex is a guilty pleasure.  People write letter tot heir ex and then e-mail them to the admin who posts to the blog.  AWESOME!  Some people really need to move on and others really...really you were with that type of person????  Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Here's the link.  http://theletterstomyex.blogspot.com/

If you want to write a letter to your ex....send them to letterstomyex@hotmail.com and the admin will post.

Enjoy!

1st Royals game of the season

So my boss (we'll call him "Sir") bought 4 tickets for the Royals game last Saturday and only ended up using 2, so he gave us the other 2! 

Let me start by saying we LOVE the Royals....we are true fans, no matter the score, we stay until the end (most of the time).  We only get to see a few games a year (2 or 3) so we really treasure the moments.  For those of you wondering, yes the Royals overall suck...but they are the hometown team and we go to see the game.  After all, I couldn't do ANYTHING they can do...even slow-tubby-Billy is SUPER fast compared to me and miss-the-ball-Hosmer hits 1,000 times better than I can....imagine, me standing at home plate and a 6'5" gargantuan man launches an itty bitty baseball at my head at 100 miles an hour....YA RIGHT!

So anyway, we went to the game....90 degrees at least.  My hip was not in the best of moods, and I was trying to lug a 30 pounder....it was an event.

We made it to our Section 411 seats (almost nose-bleed) and sat.in.the.sun...for about 5 minutes.  Then we decided we should move...at least until the game started.  So we moved to the TOP of Section 411..yes nose-bleed. BUT we were in the shade!  We choose the absolute TOP of the seats because there was a little area of concrete with no seats that would be perfect for LO to play....if she was in the mood to play which she was not.

The game was at 1:10...right after lunch and during nap time...so we nursed...then be bounced, and finally she slept!  She slept from the National Anthem through the 4th inning!  Then we decided, it is time to leave, cranky-short-napped child was SO ready to play on the ground and wander on her own.  So we left...unusual for us.

We went tot he lower level and checked out the "nursing room" which has a sign labeling the room"cart access"....strange.  I had heard through FB friends that the room was a storage closet and still had paint cans and tools laying around.  Well, I am happy to report this is not the case!  The room was beautiful.  3 lazyboy style chairs a curtain for privacy and a TV to watch the game...PLUS it was air conditioned!  Maybe next time we will use the room...doubtful.

Here are pictures from the game.

CRANKY.

 NURSING :)

 NAP!