but that is what I get for standing out in 30 degree temps at 5 am yesterday unloading a 53 ft trailer for work. Actually it started Sunday, when I became very stressed out at work. Getting sick seems to be the way my body reacts to stress of any kind anymore. It's like it really lowers my immune system or something. So today I woke up at 4 am and right off the bat when I hit the bathroom, I coughed up green stuff, and blew yellow stuff and blood out of my nose---for those of you with weak stomachs, I really do apologize. but my stomach was pretty weak when it happened. Then I got to work and got to work on putting out the cologne sets. Yummmmmmmm.....
Not.
My roommate from college got it right when she called me today and said what's with this work stuff? Why can't we be independently wealthy? It's all our parents' fault for not be rich enough to allow us to play through adulthood...........
Believe me, that was ALL sarcasm.....LOL....
Well off to surf some before getting the kiddoes ready for trick or treat........
Happy Halloween y'all......
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
The saga continues.......
Teenage drama queens........should be outlawed.......
At any rate, we apparently are the cause of the 17 yr old exiling herself once again from this house. She spoiled for a fight Monday, didn't get it, proceeded later on to mouth at me, not talk to me, so when I wouldn't fight, just calmly told her to talk to my face, not around me like I wasn't there, she got all shades of p.o.'d and I finally told her if she wanted to act like a little b****, then fine. And I shut up. She called me a b***** and called her mom to come get her.
Now her dad followed her out the door and told her and her mom a few truths about themselves, and her mom has threatened to beat my ass if I ever talk to her daughter that way again. The child has alienated her grandma, the church secretary, her dad, her sister, etc. Prayer is the only thing we can think of to help. I am, as usual, 100% at fault according to her. Whatever. Her stepdad gets this too, so at least I am not alone. But she sees me as the evil influence. Again, whatever.
It should blow over soon, at least until she feels put upon again. She can;t handle not being the center of attention.
Me, I'd just as soon read.........
At any rate, we apparently are the cause of the 17 yr old exiling herself once again from this house. She spoiled for a fight Monday, didn't get it, proceeded later on to mouth at me, not talk to me, so when I wouldn't fight, just calmly told her to talk to my face, not around me like I wasn't there, she got all shades of p.o.'d and I finally told her if she wanted to act like a little b****, then fine. And I shut up. She called me a b***** and called her mom to come get her.
Now her dad followed her out the door and told her and her mom a few truths about themselves, and her mom has threatened to beat my ass if I ever talk to her daughter that way again. The child has alienated her grandma, the church secretary, her dad, her sister, etc. Prayer is the only thing we can think of to help. I am, as usual, 100% at fault according to her. Whatever. Her stepdad gets this too, so at least I am not alone. But she sees me as the evil influence. Again, whatever.
It should blow over soon, at least until she feels put upon again. She can;t handle not being the center of attention.
Me, I'd just as soon read.........
WTF--part 3000
The below letter, deleting pertinent names and locations for obvious reasons, is in the mail to the middle school principal, the Superintendent, and the president of the school board. This in in response to a letter that I refused to sign and send back----the school is no longer going to give students a grade of zero on any assignment, because it can "be devastating to the 6 wks grade". Instead, the student is going to have to do lunchtime detention with the teacher to complete the assignment, and if they do not complete it within 2 detentions, then they have to do afterschool detention until it is completed. I would happily provide the text of the letter the school sent home, but my scanner is s***.
"I have read the letter on zero tolerance of zeros that was sent home to be signed by the students and parents. I am not signing and returning it for several reasons.
I do NOT agree with the decision by the Academic Teams leaders/teachers. I firmly believe that there should be personal responsibility, not bail-outs by the staff. While exceptions to every rule do occur, and should be dealt with on a case by case basis, I do not feel a blanket bail-out should exist. I believe this relieves students of being responsible for doing and turning assigned work in on time. I do not feel this is in their best interests, as they will not be allowed to do this in high school or college. It is giving them a false sense of security, that they will always be given extra time or extra chances on anything, and life is not like that. My children are taught this from an early age, and have had to bear responsibility when, by their fault, they have received zeroes or lower grades due to an assignment not being done as it should.
I find this policy to be unacceptable for that and also for the fact for many students, the school bus is their only way home from school. Should it get to the point that a child should be forced to attend after school detention to avoid the zero, then how do they get home? Many parents work, and may not be able to get away to ensure their child gets home.
I have talked about this policy change with several parents as well as those in the workforce and those involved in higher education, most notably a Marshall professor with 25 years of college-level teaching experience. All have said this policy is a very bad mistake. As stated earlier, there are no do-overs in college. No one is going to check over a student’s shoulders to make sure that he/she is doing their work. It is up to the student. It is called personal responsibility. If a child must receive the zero to get the point across that doing the assigned work is mandatory to pass the class and move on, then so be it. If we do not teach our children this lesson at a young age, they are certainly not going to learn it when they get older. When are they supposed to learn this?
Obviously there are those parents who simply do not care, nor wish to be bothered with the details of their child’s education. Shame on them, but the school system simply cannot afford to pander to the self esteems and fragile egos of students and parents by promoting the “no-zero’s” standard. In doing so, the system is merely protecting it’s own interests, not those of the students, who will one day be forced to realize that the “protection” they were given in middle school is gone and real life is in front of them, and they are not going to be capable of dealing with it. Playing with the numbers to make one’s institution appear to be meeting standards is, simply put, fraud.
I would ask that the committees or whoever made such a decision would rethink it. I am also forwarding a copy of this, as well as the letter that was sent home, to the school board. While I am sure they have had a hand in approving this, I am making them aware of at least this parent’s feelings on this.
Thank you,"
Think about it----how many do-overs do you get in life? How many people----friends, relatives, coworkers, etc., do you know who never had to be responsible for anything growing up , and now are faced with the horrible realization that no one is going to do it for them?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Beyond the realm of stupidity....
That would be the WV legislature. Not to mention all of us who let it slide when the legislature threw out the provision that in order to home school your child, you had to have been educated a minimum of 4 years beyond the grade you are teaching. Makes sense, doesn't it. I do sort of remember a flap at the time about the provision keeping parents without a college degree or some post high school education from teaching their children at home beyond the grade school years.
Ok, let's get to the heart of my being so pissed off I can barely see to type. Yes my blood pressure is probably that high. My husband's ex, give her the benefit of the doubt (which I honestly doubt she deserves, but...) has mentioned that in order to keep their younger daughter from "straying" or in other words, being a teenager and rebelling (more on that topic later--it's a long story to which I don't quite have all sides of yet), she is threatening to pull her out of high school and home school her. After a small go-round this afternoon with the older child, a senior, over why the younger did not come here on the afternoon school bus as she was supposed to (part again of the long story), I called the local school board to find out what the minimum requirements to home school were.
Imagine my utter shock when I was told that it was to have at least a GED. OH PUHLEEZE. I will concede that having a GED does not mean you are stupid. It does not necessarily mean you couldn't hack it in the minimum high school program. I know there are various reasons for not obtaining a high school diploma, such as family hardships, i.e. having to go to work to be the support of your family and probably a host of other valid reasons. I would even include the total lack of personnel in the school system who even give a holy crap about anything about you, much less try to help you.
However, in this world today, a good education is mandatory for any level of success. At minimum, a high school diploma from an accredited high school, preferably a post high school education of some sort. I don't mean it has to be a traditional 4+yr college with a bachelor's degree and beyond. Junior college---like the local business and technical school, or the vo-tech to get mechanical training and the like. Something to enhance your chances of making enough of a living to support yourself and family without having to resort to welfare.
Yes, I have a bachelor's degree. It was great for getting me my first post-college salaried position, possibly even my second. But after that, all it did was put me more years in debt than I ever dreamed of being, and even more than that, it helped to teach me how to reason, how to learn what I do not know, how to successfully deal with people in life. Now, my upbringing had quite a lot to do with that as well, as has my own common sense (yeah I know, that's debatable). But I have enough common sense to know that with only a diploma from a, sorry Mom, backwoods-later-to-be-taken-over-by-the-state high school, (and Mom, she graduated 20+ yrs after you did), I would not have the balls to pull my child out of school to homeschool her simply because I do not like some of the people she is hanging around. Which is what it boils down to.
But unfortunately, because the WV legislature has given her the right to do so, she can, without a by-your-leave from anyone, even the child's father. So that gives us one less piece of leverage to use to gain custody. Which is something we are seriously looking at, and the child in question is 15 now, not 7. So she herself can pretty well choose to stay with us.
And I don;'t think necessarily that you have to have a college degree to be a good parent and want the best for your kid, but if you are going to educate them yourself, would you not want to be several years ahead of the child in education? I would. Simply to keep enough ahead of the child to be effective in my teaching. I have had family members who have homeschooled their kids, most in the grade school years, and then putting them into regular school to complete their diploma requirements. These people are not dummies. They kept their children home when they were young, instilled the values as well as the knowledge to help them succeed in life--and high school, and then let the schools teach them. These kids are still young--as I look at them from the back side of 40, but they seem to get along alright.
But I do not want to see my bright, individual, unique stepdaughter yanked from her friends and school to sit at home and be taught, or not, by her mom, when I feel her opportunities would be severely limited by such action.
When I get the rest of the long story, I may change my mind as far as she is concerned, but I doubt it at this point, based on past history. But I still give huge thumbs down to our state legislature, and all of us parents who didn't call them on it soon enough, for throwing out a provision that , to my mind, would ensure a better education for our homeschooled kids overall.
No offense intended to those who are doing their job right.........
Ok, let's get to the heart of my being so pissed off I can barely see to type. Yes my blood pressure is probably that high. My husband's ex, give her the benefit of the doubt (which I honestly doubt she deserves, but...) has mentioned that in order to keep their younger daughter from "straying" or in other words, being a teenager and rebelling (more on that topic later--it's a long story to which I don't quite have all sides of yet), she is threatening to pull her out of high school and home school her. After a small go-round this afternoon with the older child, a senior, over why the younger did not come here on the afternoon school bus as she was supposed to (part again of the long story), I called the local school board to find out what the minimum requirements to home school were.
Imagine my utter shock when I was told that it was to have at least a GED. OH PUHLEEZE. I will concede that having a GED does not mean you are stupid. It does not necessarily mean you couldn't hack it in the minimum high school program. I know there are various reasons for not obtaining a high school diploma, such as family hardships, i.e. having to go to work to be the support of your family and probably a host of other valid reasons. I would even include the total lack of personnel in the school system who even give a holy crap about anything about you, much less try to help you.
However, in this world today, a good education is mandatory for any level of success. At minimum, a high school diploma from an accredited high school, preferably a post high school education of some sort. I don't mean it has to be a traditional 4+yr college with a bachelor's degree and beyond. Junior college---like the local business and technical school, or the vo-tech to get mechanical training and the like. Something to enhance your chances of making enough of a living to support yourself and family without having to resort to welfare.
Yes, I have a bachelor's degree. It was great for getting me my first post-college salaried position, possibly even my second. But after that, all it did was put me more years in debt than I ever dreamed of being, and even more than that, it helped to teach me how to reason, how to learn what I do not know, how to successfully deal with people in life. Now, my upbringing had quite a lot to do with that as well, as has my own common sense (yeah I know, that's debatable). But I have enough common sense to know that with only a diploma from a, sorry Mom, backwoods-later-to-be-taken-over-by-the-state high school, (and Mom, she graduated 20+ yrs after you did), I would not have the balls to pull my child out of school to homeschool her simply because I do not like some of the people she is hanging around. Which is what it boils down to.
But unfortunately, because the WV legislature has given her the right to do so, she can, without a by-your-leave from anyone, even the child's father. So that gives us one less piece of leverage to use to gain custody. Which is something we are seriously looking at, and the child in question is 15 now, not 7. So she herself can pretty well choose to stay with us.
And I don;'t think necessarily that you have to have a college degree to be a good parent and want the best for your kid, but if you are going to educate them yourself, would you not want to be several years ahead of the child in education? I would. Simply to keep enough ahead of the child to be effective in my teaching. I have had family members who have homeschooled their kids, most in the grade school years, and then putting them into regular school to complete their diploma requirements. These people are not dummies. They kept their children home when they were young, instilled the values as well as the knowledge to help them succeed in life--and high school, and then let the schools teach them. These kids are still young--as I look at them from the back side of 40, but they seem to get along alright.
But I do not want to see my bright, individual, unique stepdaughter yanked from her friends and school to sit at home and be taught, or not, by her mom, when I feel her opportunities would be severely limited by such action.
When I get the rest of the long story, I may change my mind as far as she is concerned, but I doubt it at this point, based on past history. But I still give huge thumbs down to our state legislature, and all of us parents who didn't call them on it soon enough, for throwing out a provision that , to my mind, would ensure a better education for our homeschooled kids overall.
No offense intended to those who are doing their job right.........
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Ok I've calmed down somewhat...
Just some catching up to do.....
The talk from a couple of weeks ago about the 17 yr old--her dad sat her down to talk with her, and yes he got the "poor innocent me, I'm always a victim" act. He told her it was BS, but she continues to not listen. She even nabbed her 15 yr old sister on the bus after school the next day and told her off for telling her dad about her threats against her. So they are not best buds now, her words, not mine. Then she kicked her claiming it was just an accident.
Uh huh. Been there done that still have the tshirt to prove it. It was a favored tactic of hers when her dad and I married and I got onto her for something. Until I called her bluff and did it back to her a couple of times.
She has also exiled herself from this house for an undetermined length of time---in other words, when she thinks all is forgotten, she'll start coming over again. Sad thing is, we are at a point with her where we do not and can't give up on her, but if she refuses to acknowledge that we may have a point at times, what do you do? Keep trying every time the opportunity presents itself, I guess. I am not saying much about any of it to her--I am only the stepmom after all, but letting her dad set his foot down when it needs to be done. Of course he and I are constantly discussing what is going on so that we are on the same page when it comes to the playing one against the other, as it usually does.
On the other hand, her sister is getting some much needed daddy time, because sister isn't here to monopolize it. And it is doing her good. She seems much more open to talking, and more like the 15 yr old she is.
And my brother has taken the nerd test-----proving to all what a nerd he is........LOL........
My eye is still bothering me, but I think it is because it is drying out from having the contacts in all day. It's still really bloodshot, but my vision does not seem to have suffered, so I am taking it that things are all right. And I'll wear the glasses after church tonight and tomorrow while sleeping the day away since I am working overnight with the tech who is installing our new register system at the store. I may wear them at work then too. Give the eyes a break.
The talk from a couple of weeks ago about the 17 yr old--her dad sat her down to talk with her, and yes he got the "poor innocent me, I'm always a victim" act. He told her it was BS, but she continues to not listen. She even nabbed her 15 yr old sister on the bus after school the next day and told her off for telling her dad about her threats against her. So they are not best buds now, her words, not mine. Then she kicked her claiming it was just an accident.
Uh huh. Been there done that still have the tshirt to prove it. It was a favored tactic of hers when her dad and I married and I got onto her for something. Until I called her bluff and did it back to her a couple of times.
She has also exiled herself from this house for an undetermined length of time---in other words, when she thinks all is forgotten, she'll start coming over again. Sad thing is, we are at a point with her where we do not and can't give up on her, but if she refuses to acknowledge that we may have a point at times, what do you do? Keep trying every time the opportunity presents itself, I guess. I am not saying much about any of it to her--I am only the stepmom after all, but letting her dad set his foot down when it needs to be done. Of course he and I are constantly discussing what is going on so that we are on the same page when it comes to the playing one against the other, as it usually does.
On the other hand, her sister is getting some much needed daddy time, because sister isn't here to monopolize it. And it is doing her good. She seems much more open to talking, and more like the 15 yr old she is.
And my brother has taken the nerd test-----proving to all what a nerd he is........LOL........
My eye is still bothering me, but I think it is because it is drying out from having the contacts in all day. It's still really bloodshot, but my vision does not seem to have suffered, so I am taking it that things are all right. And I'll wear the glasses after church tonight and tomorrow while sleeping the day away since I am working overnight with the tech who is installing our new register system at the store. I may wear them at work then too. Give the eyes a break.
Another WTF day......
This may end up being a rant; I don't know yet. But I should stop listening to any news or spins on the news from any camp or I am liable to blow a gasket before it is over with.
To start with, I pay for my health insurance and that of my kids, along with whatever my employer may or may not contribute. It's a pretty hefty chunk out of my paycheck--I get paid every 2 weeks, so the weekly contribution for that as well as my taxes are doubled. My husband is insured at no cost to him, by his employer, thanks to being grandfathered in due to the policy in place at the time of his hiring (although he has gone without many annual raises due to the "well, we are covering your contribution for insurance, which gets more costly every year" excuse). My parents paid for their insurance coverage, as do most working people I know.
So who the hell decided that health insurance was a right? That money from my pocket should go to insure those who for whatever reason are not insured? I thought we had a program in place for that---Medicaid. Yeah I know it's about as worthless as any HMO or PPO. But the govt is already taking money from my paycheck to fund it, and I do not see why I have to fall for the "it's for the kids" SCHIP propoganda. Nancy Pelosi can rant and rave all she wants---send it to the Pres--I hope like hell he vetoes it. Bills like this are free money given to those who want others to pay for their own choices. I didn't have to carry the insurance my employer offered, nor did I have to carry any other plan. I chose to because it seemed like the logical thing to do. I
don't even have to carry any insurance on my boys, because in my divorce papers, it only says that the ex has to provide coverage, not me. I go ballistic over the unions and the like who strike for "better health coverage" or because the employer wants them to help cover a little more of the cost of the insurance. What, give the employee a reason to be held accountable for their decisions? What a novel concept, holding adults accountable for their choices.
Ron and I both realize that his insurance, should he have to start shelling out to keep the coverage, would go by the wayside in a hurry. That is why he is also on my insurance policy, as a stopgap. But he wouldn't quit or strike just because his employer quit covering him. He would simply opt out of the coverage and rely on mine until he found a policy we could live with.
But to rant and rave because enough people in the House, and hopefully the Senate, realized what a horrifically expensive measure this bill would be and that they couldn;'t put a bigger burden on the already beleagured taxpayer, well that just shows that the current leadership of the House likes the feel of her hand on my wallet way too much. I have nothing against kids getting needed treatment, or anyone else for that matter, but this smacks of pure idiocy to think that the people of this country can afford to foot the bill for everyone who wants a handout.
I do not get any kind of aid from the govt. No food stamps, no reduced lunch for the kiddies, no nothing. We struggle to make it on what we bring home. We carry a mortgage on a middle of the road house, we carry insurance on our almost 10 yr old vehicles, we feed our kids and pay our utilities and sometimes have a little left over to do something extra. That's life. We do not live high on the hog, and if we overspend one week, we know we have to cut back next week.
What is the matter with people?
On the other hand, I also heard about a not very well publicized amendment to the defense bill, I think, put there by Ted Chappaquidick Kennedy---to add to the hate crimes legislation at the federal level. Number one, is it really the fed's place to tell us what is a hate crime and what isn't? I believe that the feds are mandated to deal with 3 crimes--treason, counterfeiting, and honestly can't think of the 3rd right now--sorry the kids are demanding my attention too.
Even beyond that, aren't most crimes hate crimes? They sure aren't committed out of any great affection for the victim. I despise special protection laws. I am a white middle aged female. The only group more endangered and in need of protection is the white male group. And to add to that, we are Christian. Now let's talk about endangered species. Where is our protection? We can't pray in public, can't talk about our faith, can't practice it without catching crap from someone who has protected status. I do not care if you are white, black, gay, straight, whatever. We are all equal in God's eyes, and therefore we ALL deserve "special protection".
Now, Kennedy, put that in your pipe and smoke it.
To start with, I pay for my health insurance and that of my kids, along with whatever my employer may or may not contribute. It's a pretty hefty chunk out of my paycheck--I get paid every 2 weeks, so the weekly contribution for that as well as my taxes are doubled. My husband is insured at no cost to him, by his employer, thanks to being grandfathered in due to the policy in place at the time of his hiring (although he has gone without many annual raises due to the "well, we are covering your contribution for insurance, which gets more costly every year" excuse). My parents paid for their insurance coverage, as do most working people I know.
So who the hell decided that health insurance was a right? That money from my pocket should go to insure those who for whatever reason are not insured? I thought we had a program in place for that---Medicaid. Yeah I know it's about as worthless as any HMO or PPO. But the govt is already taking money from my paycheck to fund it, and I do not see why I have to fall for the "it's for the kids" SCHIP propoganda. Nancy Pelosi can rant and rave all she wants---send it to the Pres--I hope like hell he vetoes it. Bills like this are free money given to those who want others to pay for their own choices. I didn't have to carry the insurance my employer offered, nor did I have to carry any other plan. I chose to because it seemed like the logical thing to do. I
don't even have to carry any insurance on my boys, because in my divorce papers, it only says that the ex has to provide coverage, not me. I go ballistic over the unions and the like who strike for "better health coverage" or because the employer wants them to help cover a little more of the cost of the insurance. What, give the employee a reason to be held accountable for their decisions? What a novel concept, holding adults accountable for their choices.
Ron and I both realize that his insurance, should he have to start shelling out to keep the coverage, would go by the wayside in a hurry. That is why he is also on my insurance policy, as a stopgap. But he wouldn't quit or strike just because his employer quit covering him. He would simply opt out of the coverage and rely on mine until he found a policy we could live with.
But to rant and rave because enough people in the House, and hopefully the Senate, realized what a horrifically expensive measure this bill would be and that they couldn;'t put a bigger burden on the already beleagured taxpayer, well that just shows that the current leadership of the House likes the feel of her hand on my wallet way too much. I have nothing against kids getting needed treatment, or anyone else for that matter, but this smacks of pure idiocy to think that the people of this country can afford to foot the bill for everyone who wants a handout.
I do not get any kind of aid from the govt. No food stamps, no reduced lunch for the kiddies, no nothing. We struggle to make it on what we bring home. We carry a mortgage on a middle of the road house, we carry insurance on our almost 10 yr old vehicles, we feed our kids and pay our utilities and sometimes have a little left over to do something extra. That's life. We do not live high on the hog, and if we overspend one week, we know we have to cut back next week.
What is the matter with people?
On the other hand, I also heard about a not very well publicized amendment to the defense bill, I think, put there by Ted Chappaquidick Kennedy---to add to the hate crimes legislation at the federal level. Number one, is it really the fed's place to tell us what is a hate crime and what isn't? I believe that the feds are mandated to deal with 3 crimes--treason, counterfeiting, and honestly can't think of the 3rd right now--sorry the kids are demanding my attention too.
Even beyond that, aren't most crimes hate crimes? They sure aren't committed out of any great affection for the victim. I despise special protection laws. I am a white middle aged female. The only group more endangered and in need of protection is the white male group. And to add to that, we are Christian. Now let's talk about endangered species. Where is our protection? We can't pray in public, can't talk about our faith, can't practice it without catching crap from someone who has protected status. I do not care if you are white, black, gay, straight, whatever. We are all equal in God's eyes, and therefore we ALL deserve "special protection".
Now, Kennedy, put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
not quite as big a nerd as I thought i was
HAHAHAHAAHHHAHHA!!!!!
Just took the nerd test from the above site. Interesting. But I figure you have to be a nerd to take tests to tell you if you are a nerd.
Great day today. Got to work at 5am, and by 7am I had knocked myself in the left eye with a box while unloading the truck. I honestly thought I had split my contact and it was embedded in my eye. Actually I don;'t know what actually happened but my eye is nicely bloodshot still yet, and I will be surprised if I do not have a black eye tomorrow. My contact seemed ok when I got home today and took it out and cleaned it.
Finished Ben's quilt. Hallellujah.
Now time to tuck Shellie in. Thank God.
Just took the nerd test from the above site. Interesting. But I figure you have to be a nerd to take tests to tell you if you are a nerd.
Great day today. Got to work at 5am, and by 7am I had knocked myself in the left eye with a box while unloading the truck. I honestly thought I had split my contact and it was embedded in my eye. Actually I don;'t know what actually happened but my eye is nicely bloodshot still yet, and I will be surprised if I do not have a black eye tomorrow. My contact seemed ok when I got home today and took it out and cleaned it.
Finished Ben's quilt. Hallellujah.
Now time to tuck Shellie in. Thank God.
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