We May Think a Bit Too Much

Pirate's birthday is October. As it happens, so is mine. When I was younger, my parents gave no thought as to when I would attend kindergarten; it was assumed that I would start the September before I turned 5. Nowadays, there is a school of thought that it would better to hold a child back who is not 5 within the first few weeks of school. This is even more true, people say, when the child in question is a boy. Paco and I (okay, probably more me) have been struggling with a timetable for Pirate. He will be 4 this year, so should probably start preschool in the fall. (This is another issue, for another time...if you don't send your kids to preschool these days, they are behind before they even start.) The question is, should he be in a 3 year old program or a 4 year old program? Because he is a boy, there is the matter of maturity to take into consideration. There is a concern that he just wouldn't be mature enough to be with other 4 year olds. However, will he be too advanced for the 3 year old class? Then, what about the next year? Should he go to kindergarten the year he is eligible? I have gotten more opinions about this than I care to share and was starting to lose my mind.

Anyway, the preschool that we utilize took Pirate in for a trial class with the current 3 year olds; these are the kids that will be in his class next year if he were to go into the 4 year old class. He was a little hesitant when I dropped him off, but finally did walk away from me and went to play. They did not call for the entire 2 1/2 hours of the class and he was so excited about everything when I went to pick him up. The teachers both said that he should absolutely go into the 4 year old class. (I think a lot of this is due to his many years of therapy - his arts and crafts skills are exceptional ;) )

So after a lot of pointless thinking, Pirate will be entering the 4 year old preschool program this September. TBell will be in kindergarten. Princess will be in 2nd grade. I will be old.

The entire reason I wrote this post was to show this picture - here is Pirate before leaving for his trial class.

Yum!

A few weeks ago, TBell wanted some muffins. I didn't have a mix or anything and wasn't sure that I wanted to make any from scratch. I remembered that I had some Jiffy baking mix so I went online to see if they had a muffin recipe. It turns out that they have several different muffin mixes on their site and I was able to come up with a way to make chocolate chip muffins. Anyway, a few days later I decided that I wanted cinnamon rolls. So, I went back to Jiffy and they had a recipe for those, too. Now, if you make them from scratch, there is a lot of waiting and rising and punching. If you make them with Jiffy, they are way better (and cheaper) than the canned ones and aren't nearly as difficult as the cookbook variety.

He Did It!

In April-ish of 1998, I sat down to watch the NFL Draft with Paco. Paco watches the entire thing each year and for some reason I joined him that year. As it happens, that day was the start of my love affair with Peyton Manning. I watched the human interest story about him while waiting for the draft to start and decided he was the Best Football Player Ever. I have followed his career - Paco always updates me with the Colts goings-on. I wouldn't say that I am a huge Colts fan, as I don't watch every game. But, I do like them and always want them to win. During the current play-off season, the three main men in my life (Paco, his father and my father)all said that there was no way Peyton was going to do it. The sports announcers said that he had to make it to the Superbowl in order to continue his amazing career. I remained faithful, though, even when my precious team was losing 21-3 last night to the New England Patriots. And....they won! I think I am actually going to watch the Superbowl this year instead of just eating the good food. I think the game last night could have gotten even a non-sports fan excited...what a great comeback! I am just tickled that Indianapolis won and went to bed with a *huge* grin on my face.

Woohoo!

Another One

Here is another article. Enjoy!

Is it Too Much to Ask for a Snow Day?

There was a lot of promise last night - lake effect snow warnings and and words of caution regarding the morning commute. Upon looking out my window at 6:30 this morning, it was discovered that there was only enough snow here to cause some annoyance. It was enough snow to blow up into my pajama bottoms when I took Princess out to the bus. It is enough snow that I have to start my car early and allow several minutes to brush it off so Meghan can get to school. It is enough snow that the girls have to wear boots and take extra shoes to school. It is enough snow to make me incredibly crabby. Was it too much to ask for it to be enough snow for school to be canceled?

Update

As I figured, I posted too soon. Paco is fine, although I have not spoken with him directly. I spoke to someone who spoke to someone - I promise that is more reliable than it sounds! Anyway, I can rest easy knowing that Paco is traveling again and is not deemed to be a terrorist. (All of this did cause me to wonder if our lawyer, who handles traffic issues for us, is well-versed in the laws surrounding terrorism allegations. I am glad that we don't need to find out!)

Frustration

I am writing this entry a little prematurely and may end up regretting it. But, I decided that my internet friends were the people to turn to...

Paco travels a lot for work. A few years ago - I can't remember exactly when - he was given a slightly hard time at the airline counter because his name is apparently one that terrorists use quite a bit. In the end, they apologized for the inconvenience and sent him on his way. Today, he left our house at 4 in the morning for a business trip. When I woke up at 7 and turned my phone on, there was a text message that said he was going to need me to fax his birth certificate to a yet to be named location. I have not heard from him again. Now, he was flying to Chicago and it is possible that they let him on the flight and are just waiting for him to land so they can continue. But, that doesn't seem likely, does it? UGH! I am more frustrated at the process than the actual problem. I suppose it is fine that they research people that they *think* may be a problem. But, now I am sitting at home, sad and worried while trying to act like nothing is wrong while I get our children ready for school. I have no idea where he is or what is going on or when I am going to hear from him. *sigh*

Frustration

I am writing this entry a little prematurely and may end up regretting it. But, I decided that my internet friends were the people to turn to...

Paco travels a lot for work. A few years ago - I can't remember exactly when - he was given a slightly hard time at the airline counter because his name is apparently one that terrorists use quite a bit. In the end, they apologized for the inconvenience and sent him on his way. Today, he left our house at 4 in the morning for a business trip. When I woke up at 7 and turned my phone on, there was a text message that said he was going to need me to fax his birth certificate to a yet to be named location. I have not heard from him again. Now, he was flying to Chicago and it is possible that they let him on the flight and are just waiting for him to land so they can continue. But, that doesn't seem likely, does it? UGH! I am more frustrated at the process than the actual problem. I suppose it is fine that they research people that they *think* may be a problem. But, now I am sitting at home, sad and worried while trying to act like nothing is wrong while I get our children ready for school. I have no idea where he is or what is going on or when I am going to hear from him. *sigh*

Refreshed?

I have been on a vacation from writing for a while. The problem is, however, that I don't feel all that refreshed. In fact, every time I have thought of posting an entry here or submitting a new article, I have become slightly annoyed. Becoming annoyed does not entertain my readers, though, or pay the bills (or buy me Tim Horton’s coffee!) like my articles do. So, I am back. Perhaps with some *forced* writing under my belt I will get back into the swing of things.

I had intended to write about our Christmas celebration but that seems so far away now. The kids did have a good time and seemed happy with the gifts they received. I gave Paco a fake Tag watch that I purchased on a trip to NYC and he gave me this iPAQ. All in all it was a nice holiday and I am sad that life has to get back to normal now!

Because I am always getting myself into more and more, I have decided to accept the presidency of one organization I belong to as well as join a new board within the structure of our town government. I am exited about the board position as it seems to really have an actual impact on policy and budget in the particular department it is part of. It does add more meetings to my month, but I think that it will be time well spent.

Anyway, that is the news here. I will try to write more so that I will again be entertaining you with the details of my life!