My day off is way too busy

1. Go to physical therapy.
2. Volunteer at Sarah's school.
3. Take Sydney to lunch.
4. Take Sydney to preschool.
5. Clean my room.
6. Pick Sydney and her friend from preschool.
7. Pick Sarah up from school.
8. Go sledding with the girls.
9. Order Pizza.
10. Help Sarah with homework.
11. Get kids to bed.
12. Go to tap lessons.
13. Go to bed.

It's now 3:30, my room is half cleaned, and I'm almost done with the first 6.

I survived!

This weekend was the girls birthday party. They were born 7 days apart in January. Between end of the semester and Christmas, I'm just not ready for a party in January, so we usually wait until Feburary for their party.

This year, the kids had a car party. I made their invitations - printing them on the magnet paper for the ink jet (post card sized).

They had a sledding party at our house (we have a great sledding hill in our back yard.)

I made the girls cake. I found the directions on the internet.

I also bought some CARS fabric and made goodie bags. I hate getting junk in gift bags, so I did matchbox race cars, some play dough, and CARS fruit snacks.

The kids also made a foam door hanger with their name (put letters in a plastic bag for them in advance) and other things to decorate them with. Those also went in the gift bag.

Then we played a "Pin the smile on Lightning McQueen".

Considering that this was a party for 4 y.o. and 7 y.o. - I think I did pretty well. Thank goodness I only have to do one party a year!

The BIG snowblower.

For this weeks SPF, Kristine would like us to express our "To Dos"

As I was returning from the store buying some of the items for the girls birthday party tomorrow, I saw the city taking care of one of the to dos for the party.

This is the city clearing our sidewalk.

Now, to bake the cake, clean the house, make the goodie bags (yes, sewing my own bags), get food, blow up ballons, make "pin the lighting bolt on the Lighting McQueen" game.

Let me know if you played.

The way it works!

Yesterday, Sarah was really sick - the lay on the couch miserable sick. There is strep and influenza A going around town, so I took her to the Doctor as she complained of a sore throat and a really bad tummy ache. Normally I would have given it time, but between the birthday party and the curl on the ball because my tummy hurts had me concerned. Plus, the tamiflu needs to be given pretty early if it was the flu.

So, she laid on the couch miserable and I called the Dr.

Well, she has a virus - needs to run its course, etc.

Saturday is the girls birthday parties (we have them together). Today, I'm suppose to volunteer at Girl Scouts. I'm really hoping everyone is well.

Today, thankfully, Sarah is antsy and active. So, I'll give her a little longer to hang out at home and will probably take her in just before my 11:00 meeting.

It's a struggle, she still has a little bit of a low grade fever (normal w/ Motrin), but her cough isn't as bad, she feels good, her throat doesn't really hurt anymore. But, is she sick enough to avoid her friends?

I hate being mom!

Changing Life!

You may remember we had Sydney tested for food allergies a few weeks ago. I had a message yesterday that the results were back. I knew we could adjust to almost anything - except wheat or soybean allergy.

So, she is a, on a scale of 0 (no reaction) to 5 (severe reaction):

Soybean - 1
Peanut - 2
Strawberry - 2

She is going to be really sad about Peanut, but I might be able to convince her that almond or cashew butter is good. I guess I'm lucky that her peanut allergy isn't strong enough that she could end up in the ICU. That's good.

But, soy is going to be hard because so many foods come with Soybean protein or oil in them.

Any advice?

(oh, and we know why the milk and egg elimination diet didn't work - she's not allergic to either of those!)

Ramblings!

Today I have quite the day:

PT, volunteering in Sarah's school, coallating girl scout cookie packages, turning auburn, the cleaning house in a mad dash before the girls get home from school.

Sat we are having the girls birthday here on Sat which means that I have to clean house, create menu, make a cake, organize games/activities, prepare sledding runs in the back yard, oh did I mention clean house?

Sunday I made the best pot roast. It was carrots, celery, potatoes in a crock pot with the pot roast (salted and peppered). I added some red wine and beef stock with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Then add one bay leaf. Cook on low for 8 hours.

OK, I have ten minutes to get dressed before I have to leave.

Sunday Six - Presidents

"Sunday Six!" is a game where Kelly asks us to have six questions answered. Remember, the idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Your pet, your neighbor, your elderly family member, your roommate, etc. Did you play? Let me and Kelly know so we can visit you. Today I was able to ask Sarah (SB - age 6) and Sydney (SK - age 3) the questions.

This week's answers for SUNDAY SIX! The theme this week - President's Day!

1. What is a President?

SK: A present
Mom: No, a President.
SK: But I call it present.

SB: It's someone who is in charge of our country or something like that.

2. Why is that job important?

SK: Because, it is.

SB: Because it makes us safe and stuff that is not fair and makes laws.
Mom: What does it mean to make stuff that is not fair.
SB: Like slaves, one President stopped slaves.

3. What is politics?

SK: A musical instrument, like a trombone and a flute and a harmonica and maracas, and Benny's drum.
SB: Benny's drum?
SK: Like in my Dora Christmas book.
Mom: (note: Dora goes on a Paranda in the book)

SB: I have no clue.

4. What kind of people work in politics?

SK: I don't know. It's a checkmark.

SB: I have no clue.

5. How do you become President?

SK: Me don't know.

SB: You have to read alot and go to president school.

6. Where do you go to vote?

SK: On a boat?

SB: I have no clue.

SPF - Free

For this weeks SPF, Kristine would like us to express "FREE"

Earlier this week I took this picture of one of the snow statues on campus.

To me, it says we are free of dark skys for a least a few minutes. That we get to see the sun shine.

What does this picture say to you?

~OoO~

As an update to my last post - DH sent an email to our Marketing and Communications group. They responded with the same information I was givin last year - that they highlight the statues that people want to see, i.e., the fraternity winners.

When he called the next day to discuss it, they told him that they thought more about his email and have decided to highlight the winners in all four divisions next year (oh, it also helped that the person he spoke with advised a first year group who expressed their displeasure with not receiving the same level of press as the fraternities.

Now, on to the prizes.

I did speak with one of the women we know who is in a sorority. I asked if the disparity in prizes bothered her. She admitted it did a little. She went on to say that she could understand because it was the fraternities who brought in the visitors. I asked her if women's basketball should be given less just because their gate draw is lower. She thought about it for a half a second and admitted that she had never thought about it that way - but no. After all, they invest the same amount.

I'm hoping she takes that thought back to her sorority.

We have a diversity plan?

Each year, we have a snow statue competition on campus as part of our winter festival. On the campus website and and press releases, they highlight the fraternity statues - including descriptions of the statues and addresses of the statue location. Somewhere around the seventh paragraph, they list the winners from the other three divisions listing only the group name.

It has always bothered me that the fraternity statues receive so much more in publicity and accolades than the other groups (women's groups, student organizations, and residence halls). I also learned last year that the dollar prizes are also different.

I tried to talk to our director of marketing and communications last year when I ran into her at church about why we treat the groups so differently, and she pretty much told me that visitors travel to campus to see the top fraternity statues and that is why we highlight them in our press release. It left me with the impression that they come for the best, and the rest of the groups who spend a month building statues out of snow are window dressing.

It reminds me of when I was in college and women's basketball was just starting to gain equal press. They were not publicized as well because they didn't bring in equal gate fees.

It is true, the top three are pretty impressive - but the rest of the campus statues are imaginative, creative and talented.

So, this time I emailed a note to our special assistant to the university president for diversity issues. It addressed my frustration that there are four categories in the competition but only one is rewarded with university accolades - including the headline of the release mentioning on the fraternity category winner.

I'm not sure the outcome yet.

As we walked around campus this weekend, DH and I talked about this. Yesterday afternoon, he wrote an email to the director of marketing and comm and the writer of the press release. The writer responded to him pretty much identifying that people come to see the impressive fraternity status and that next year they plan to add the addresses of the sorority winners.

If they did, they would realize that naming the winner of the fraternity in the festival activities and then linking to a chart with all the points for all organizations that participated doesn't reward all who one. In fact, when I clicked on the chart, I discovered that the winner in the sorority competition earned four more points than the declared "overall winner."

They really don't get the point.

Everyone looks at the big things we can do to increase diversity on campus. They don't realize that something as simple as equalizing the reward and publicity to women and non-greek organizations on campus gives people the feeling that their efforts are valued.

In fact, there is no motivation for the other groups to produce better statues if they are better rewarded.

Will this make a difference, probably not. But I feel better saying it.

Sunday Six - Valentines

"Sunday Six!" is a game where Kelly asks us to have six questions answered. Remember, the idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Your pet, your neighbor, your elderly family member, your roommate, etc. Did you play? Let me and Kelly know so we can visit you. Today I was able to ask Sarah (SB - age 6) and Sydney (SK - age 3) the questions.

This week's answers for SUNDAY SIX! The theme this week - Kid Love!

1. What is love?

SK: Love means it's Valentine's day, right mom?

SB: Love is when you love somebody and it means you really like them alot.

2. Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day?

SK: So we know we love people.

SB: Because we celebrate love.

3. How do we celebrate Valentine's Day?

SK: I already said that.

SB: We just love each other

SK: We just love each other

SB: Hey, that's my idea.

4. What are Valentines?

SK: They are cards that say "I love you"

SB: What Sydney said.

5. How many Valentines can you have at one time?

SK: Forty.

SB: 500 Million, but I don't know that many people.

6. Who do you love?

SK: I love Gretchen and Neil.

SB: Nicholas.

SK: And I love Nicholas.

~~~~~~~~

Conversations heard this morning. As a little background - last night Sarah wasn't listening and was sent to bed with no shows or brownies. When I woke this am, it was to the girls talking in the bathroom:

Sarah: Sydney, how were the brownies?

Sydney: I don't know.

Sarah: Did you have one?

Sydney: Mommy forgot to give me one.

Sarah: Good, that means we will still have the same amount.

I paraphrased Sydney's words because I couldn't completely hear them. I took her 3 sentences to say what I paraphrased into one).

The great milk and egg elimination diet experiment is over

We saw the ENT today. After looking Sydney over, he still thinks she is suffering from a food allergy.

The singular and zyrtec as well as the elimination of milk and egg didn't really make that much of a difference. So, we can eat what every Sydney wants for the next few weeks. We did a blood test today to check for an allergy to 7 different foods.

We should have that result back in 2-3 weeks. Then, if it comes back positive for anything, we eliminate that from her diet for a month. We go back in two months. See where we are. If she still has fluid in her ears - we try tubes.

If her breathing is still through her mouth at night - we will xray her head to see what her adenoids look like and then decide if those or her tonsils should be out too.

I'd rather do everything we need in one surgery.

So, that is our plan.

I don't know if I want her to be allergic to something and try to manage her allergy with diet alone (boy that would be hard for almost any of the things he's checking) or if I want her diet to be ok.

Random Stuff

Since I'm tired of banging my head against a wall trying to determine why I can't get this budget to work (we have a fiscal year, a grant year, and academic year timing that require me to shift information all over the bloody place), I've thought I'd take a break to post.

I was going to take a break to attend my daughters field trip to see the snow statues on campus, but it's waaaaayyyyy too windy, so they cancelled.

But, I truly have nothing to say.

I could speculate why people rarely comment on my blog thereby feeding me with interesting things to comment about - but that would just come off as whining.

The other week, I ended up watching the 9/11 West Wing episode. I really wish I'd been watching the series all those years ago. I was so impressed with how the worked this. I know that I will be showing this in my class next semester.

If you haven't seen it, it has two basic story lines. One is the questioning of a White House employee who is suspected of being a terrorist based on his name alone and that it matched an alias for someone suspected of being a terrorist. The second story line is a group of students who get locked in the White House when the building is locked down while they question the employee. They start asking questions about terrorism.

My student tend to look at things very black and white. They tend to trust what they are told without question. They feel strongly that photo identifications make a our airlines safer. They don't understand that part of the reason it was so easy for the terrorist to take the planes on 9/11 was because the Standard Operating Procedure for the pilots was to hand over the plane because prior to then, any hijacking of a plane was to fly it to a country and not into a building.

It's a fun age to teach - I enjoy helping them expand their opinions. But, as many are very conservative and truly believe that Bush is going to stop terrorism by invading Iraq, I'm a bit more jaded and liberal and worry that we have entered a civil war that we really entered without understanding the history of the people.

So, for me to present information, I work hard at making sure I present a balanced opinion - that I have read the opposing viewpoints and help them to also.

Next semester promises to be fun with all the new ideas I have. Just a lot more work! I guess I did have something to say. Thanks for sticking with me. Opinions are always welcome. Especially ones I don't always agree with as I need to understand more.

When everything falls out of place

A friend needed me to be on call to watch her kids today because she may have jury duty. I moved my Dr. appointment, called Sydney out of daycare to make the trip to preschool easier, and geared up for a fun day with kids.

Well, jury duty was cancelled. Not a probem, we'll go play anyway.

Then, found out a pipe had burst at preschool and the carpet wasn't dry yet. Great for my friend, her daughter woke up early and would really need a nap to avoid an afternoon meltdown.

The, I get a call from my PT, they had a cancellation and wondered if I could come in in an hour. Call to see if Syd can stay with my friend while I go see the PT (YIPPEE, I don't have to wait another week). She can.

Best yet, my winter legs don't grow hair as quickly and they are fairly smooth!

I love it when everything seems to fall back into place after it falls out!

Ramblings

I’ve been reading a book called Applebee’s America. According to the subtitle, it’s about “How Successful Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Connect with the New America.” The book was recommended to me by E. J. Dionne, a columnist with the Washington Post (and syndicated to others) when he gave a lecture at our school this past fall.

I’ve only read about the first 50 pages of the book, but I can already see how it will fit into my class. I will probably demote one of my books to a few select chapters as the students have really hated the book. Applebee’s America will most likely replace The Agenda. I really like The Agenda and much of what it showed about how the federal government works, but the students spent more time thinking about how they don’t know Clinton than realizing that we could have written about anyone’s presidency and the lessons are the same.

One advantage to the Applebee’s book is that it’s co-written by both democrats and republicans so it has a perceived balance rather than appearing to be a liberal view of the world. Our campus tends to attract a fair number of republicans.

In the first 50 pages, the book talks a lot about how the Bush campaign – both elections – utilized personal data to develop a lifestyle profile of potential voters. Clinton did this to a point, but Bush’s group spent 3 million dollars to develop the idea.

It’s not surprising that many people can’t run an effective campaign with that type of money being spent. Especially since this was only used to decide how to best reach out to these voters. The book speculated that most targeted voters received between 50 and 60 pieces of mail during the campaign.

For the past 3 semesters, I’ve had my students write a paper on whether the American Culture is ready for a Female President or Vice President – and why we haven’t elected one in the past. I’m not sure if I want to use the paper topic this close to an election (then again, if all women and minorities have dropped out of the race by next Sept, then I will keep the paper)

This book has led me wonder about having the students write about the use of personal data in politics – is it ethical? Why do the democrats seem hesitant to use the profiling? Are the stupid? Concerned about the ethics? We had another speaker this fall that talked about internet security and addressed the privacy issues.

I know that I can put together an interesting set of lectures. My students last fall didn’t seem as concerned about the use of their data. The fun is trying to decide when something good can become something intrusive. And, why we, as a culture, seem willing to give up some of these rights.

Sunday Six - Ground Hog's Day

"Sunday Six!" is a game where Kelly asks us to have six questions answered. Remember, the idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Your pet, your neighbor, your elderly family member, your roommate, etc. Did you play? Let me and Kelly know so we can visit you. Today I was able to ask Sarah (SB - age 6) and Sydney (SK - age 3) the questions.


This week's questions for SUNDAY SIX! The theme this week - Ground Hog's Day!

1. What is a ground hog?

SK: I don't know.

SB: A kind of animal.

2. Where do they live?

SK: In a tree.

SB: In a hole.

SK: But in my weekly reader, the groundhog sleeps in a tree.

SB: That's weird. Weekly readers are suppose to be real.

3. What happens on Ground Hog's Day?

SK: The ground hogs come out of their hole.

SB: The ground hog comes out.

4. How does the Ground hog know how to predict the weather?

SK: I don't know.

SB: Because he sees his shadow or not.

5. Have you ever seen a Ground Hog?

SK: No.

SB: I have on a piece of paper.

SK: But I saw a groundhog in my Weekly Reader.

6. How do we celebrate Ground Hog day?

SK: I don't know.

SB: We see if the ground hog sees his shadow or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, I can tell you how I celebrate Groundhog's day - I'm typically panicing because I've just realized that my dad's birthday is the next day and I still haven't decided what to buy him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We entered the deep freeze portion of the winter at our house. When I woke up today it was between -5 and -10 at my house. Not sure the official temperature. I really don't want to go to church today. I know that DH isn't looking forward to clearing snow. Chili is definately on the menu tonight. We also have ice skating tonight.

Here is a picture of our front yard as I walked outside to get the mail yesterday.

And bonus pictures of the girls sledding when it was still 5 degrees above zero.