Whoa There and a Meme

The flu - the never-ending strain of flu - that took over my two youngest boys and me all last week has left us ennervated.  No, I can't even think about typing "la influenza" because it has too many letters in it and requires too much energy. 

There is good news: The fevers are finally gone today!!  We hope #3's asthma will be much-improved soon, too.  That would make me smile, but then I look at the family calendar for this week, I think maybe I should just cry.  Activities, school projects, work - more than one event per evening.  In addition, I start TAKING not teaching an on-line class this week and it requires 15-20 hours per week.  But no.  I'm not going to whine or cry or run away.  What I am going to do is meme all week.  I may well find my blogging future in allowing other bloggers to do all the thinking while I coast.  (No response to anyone who asks how this is any different from my past blogging.)

Onward and upward or maybe I should just say, "Next."  Monday's meme:  Give me 5 Monday ~5 fave or UNfave things for which I shop:


1.  UNfave: school supplies - the list never ends; the emotions tied to returning to a schedule and school aren't always happy.
2.  UNfave: groceries - the never-ending task
3.  Fave: shoes - anytime; anywhere
4.  UNfave: certain clothing items for husband or son #1- they find it easier to say they don't like something rather than describe what they do like.
5.  Fave: furniture - we never buy, but I could actually shop in furniture stores every.single.day

What are your faves or UNfaves??

FF: The I Work Edition

Thank-you, Mrs. 4's and Sara for hosting our weekly party. It is, sadly enough, the social highlight of my week.

Tales from school:

~I need to figure out who my students' English professor is. When I do that, I will ask her why she is so crazy about banning cell phones in her class. Who cares if the cells are being used to cheat during quizzes? Who cares if students can't participate in class because they are replying to serious text inquiries like: "Hey" and "wut ru doin" ??

Lighten up, lady!

~Male students have become especially sneaky this term with their cell phone use during class. They put their phones on their chairs but just under their crotches. It looks kind of like they are, well, maneuvering things down there, but they're really texting. If the teacher gets close enough to catch the texting, it looks like she is staring at the student's nether regions.

~Some examples from this week's student writing assignments:

"When I was a child I wasn't allowed to have any friends I could have only one friend."

"My uncle, may he rest in pieces, was a great man."

"Working when I'm 14 teaches me alot. I'm 18 of course."

~Here's an abrupt transition away from school news. The following is a sign from a Walmart in New Mexico.

Is one to flush the paper only or is there a trick to flushing other matter but not flushing the paper? Obviously, much to Checkered's dismay, I'm not smart enough to live in New Mexico.

And lastly (since we're already on a learning/toileting theme):

~The newspaper reading option has been replaced in this house - not that I'll be using that laptop anytime soon.

Had I Done It ...

He ate his entire sandwich while he stood on the scale.

The goal was to see his weight change.

It didn't.

15 Words

Essays ungraded.

Laundry piled high.

No groceries.

Can't be my house.

I never procrastinate.

Never...?

La Influenza

Early on Sunday morn, la influenza came calling. Sore throat, headache, and raging fever put its personal mark on child number 3. He was one of two asthmatic children living here who should have had a flu shot the first day they came out - if only President Obama had stopped by to pick up the tab. Since he failed to locate our house, October and a new paycheck seemed a much smarter way to experience the vaccine. Ironically, it was the very day the shots were scheduled that la influenza rang our doorbell.

At 4 p.m. Sunday, the thermometer was a constant fixture in all ears here and poetic phrases escaped nervous lips.

"I'm 99.9 in the left ear and 100.5 in the right."

"Oh yeah, well I'm 101.1 in the right and 97.8 in the left."

By Sunday night, child #3 was emptying his already empty food repository all over the kitchen floor and his parents were scrambling to see who could best take a day off work on Monday.

Monday morning at 6.30 brought the usual demands always polite requests:

"Will you finish making my lunch?"

"Can you get the laces in my shoes?"

"Do you think my fever of 99.0 is high enough for me to stay home from school?"

At 8:30 a.m., the erstwhile mother realized that each of her children had used the same hand towel to wipe their post-brushed mouths, and she nearly lost her esteemed well-contained composure.

Thus, at 9:02 a.m., she removed all towels from house and hung paper towels in their place.

At 5:37 p.m, the patriarch of the homestead used a buzz saw to cut the paper towels in half and thereby reduce the financial obligations of said brainstorm.

By 8:00 p.m. child #3 and child #4 claimed ignorance that paper towels weren't supposed to be flushed even though they might look exactly like toilet tissue.

By 8:38 p.m. Monday, the mother had moved into the sick room to tend Master Influenza where she reported to all concerned:

"I'm 99.9 in the left and 101.3 in the right."

Interestingly enough, no one even looked her way.

The Gallery Grows

You probably already know the story about Jill and how she has turned my kids' childhood art into keepsake quilted pictures. If you don't, here's a brief recap.

When my daughter was in second grade, she had a teacher named Jill. That year was structured, interesting, and happy, and seven years later, my daughter still has great affection for that teacher. The next year, third grade, wasn't so happy. Actually, it was miserable for my daughter. In the spring of that unhappy school year, Jill gave my daughter a beautiful birthday gift. She took a picture my daughter had drawn as her 2nd grade self-portrait and turned it into a quilted wall hanging.

When our first son drew his 2nd grade self-portrait we hired Jill, and another quilted picture soon joined our entryway gallery. Aside from our teasing about his disembodied head, we really do cherish this memento of his childhood.
Last Friday, we added to our collection with our third child's 2nd grade self-portrait in quilted form. (He looks pretty happy despite his 103 fever.)

We have one more to go and are looking for our fourth child's 2nd grade self-portrait to come home soon so we can send it off to Jill. At that point, our collection should be complete.

As always, if you're interested in purchasing a quilted picture of your own, let me know.

FF: The Three Chapter Edition

The bragging chapter:

• I have, in fact, fixed my broken links to Friday's Freewrite and Friday Fragments :) Don't believe me? Click the images above. ( please work, please work, please work....)
  
• I may have complained about our too full schedules, but we've added one more with the addition of my daughter's selection for the chorus of her school's production of "Seussical the Musical."

The school complaint chapter:

• WHY, school, have you chosen to do "Seussical the Musical" ?!?!? I attended a performance of the same musical a couple of years ago with my child's class and I arrived home and announced that was one musical we would never have to attend as a family because it completely failed to keep most every person there awake.
  
• My daughter's school has a very strict dress code and it is surely enforced, but dress codes that are strict can be confusing unless each detail is discussed. We understand the no short shorts rule, but my daughter's friends had on blue jeans under their shorts. The girls were found in violation of the dress code. As a matter of fact, there were so many violations (a tank top OVER a sleeved shirt was one) on wacky clothing day that the office ran out of extra clothing. I think the school should go to uniforms or provide a more lenient dress code. Without those, there will forever be too many gray areas. And don't even get me talking about the 1st hour teacher who said the clothing was acceptable but the hall monitors who decided it wasn't.
  
• When an after-school activity is scheduled to end at 5, but ends at 4:10, why does the school require the students to wait outside? My child is not old enough to drive and Checkered and I were both obligated to responsibilities 30 minutes away. My child was the only person outside that building for that half-hour. Think, school, before you change plans. Not every child has access to a quick ride home.
  



• If, during the month of April, a child exhibits behavior which greatly concerns you, please don't wait until a conference in September to tell his parents.
  
• My 6th grader is a good student, but he has had 2-3 hours of homework each night since the first week of school. I understand the theory that homework is a reinforcement of what was presented in school, but I also believe that a child deserves some breathing room during the evenings.
• 
  
  I miswrote something on the board this week (i.e. proname instead of pronoun) and an entire class of 28 college students did not murmur a single, "Huh?" I refuse to believe that they were ALL asleep.

The recipe chapter:

• I love emealz. They send me a list of dinners for each week and a shopping list for those meals. Customers can specify the types of meals they want (in our case it's the points counting/WW type) and the grocery chain. The recipes are not only tailored to diet preferences, but are based on that chain's weekly sale items. Try this quick and delicious soup from emealz:
  

Santa Fe Ravioli Soup

28 ounces of FF low sodium chicken broth

9 oz pkg of frozen cheese ravioli

16 oz fresh salsa

15 oz can low sodium black beans, rinse and drain

9 oz pkg roasted Tyson chicken

1 t. minced garlic

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

Bring broth to a boil

add ravioli & cook 3 mins

stir in salsa, beans, chicken, & garlic

Cook 5 mins.

Stir in cilantro.

Serves 6 little, bitty portions :( BUT it is only 4 Weight Watchers point per serving.