poetry

We are doing poetry in class again. That means I am writing poetry with my kids (I always try to do teh assignments with them), out theme is "Where I'm from" and we are taking a figurative view rather that literary. Here is my first:

Where I'm from...
I'm from catching polliwogs in the mud
and ruining rims across the street
hiding in sand traps, and taking golf balls
playing kickball in the summer's heat

Watching TV praying for a snow day
Penny candy from Bill's, in a small bag
Big bubbles in shop, gum mixed with saw dust
Girl Scouts after school, saluting the flag

Can I go to the pahk?
Ya, but don't go too fah!
And take your sistah too!
And Be careful for cahs!

New England boiled dinners with Dad's family
Getting cold cause my Mamie forgot her fake teeth
Coffee and omletes for breakfast at noon
Dad's broken leg from playing hide & seek

Comfort foods at Nana's - baked mac & cheese
Remember your manners – thank you and please
Swimming in the river, fishing off the dock
Getting stuck in the mud, losing shoes and socks

If you roll all this together
Add my friends and family
You'll see how I got where I am
What has made me be me

I am not completely pleased with it yet. I feel like it is still awkward in come places. Here is my college version:


Where I'm from (the college years)

From “this town smells like crap”
to a breeze that smells of cookies
tornado alarm tests
and negative 90 degrees

Printing papers in Kemper
Religon in Todd Wehr
Lit and writing in West
Lower campus at the rear

In the English Department
Professor Woods was the best
Doctor Martz passed away
He is now with Mae West

From Johnson and TriDorms
(Known as the Virgin Vault)
Scott Hall, the Quads and Merriman
Damages?? not our fault!

There was AchiO, ADPi
and my girls in PiDeltaXi
SigmaChi, ThetaChi and Merrimen
Tau, Phi Delts and LDA, (also me)

From 'RPN, to athletics,
There was a million groups for you
Help others, build houses, have fun
Oh, and those academics too!

I am now an “old alumni”
And the campus is not the same
Some buildings gone, some Greek names changed
and the drinking policy lame

The Ripon of my college days
Is still with me in a way,
the lessons learned, the people there
made me who I am today.

Clearly you have to have gone to Ripon to know exactly what I am talking about, but I am sure if you went to college, especially a small one, a lot rings clear.

Getting Old

I have finally faced the fact that I am getting "old." I remember going out to look for a dress for a formal and trying to find something that showed as much skin as possible while still looking nice. Julie's best friend is getting married Saturday, so I had to go out and get a dress to wear. I found myself out looking for a dress that showd as little skin as possible while still looking nice. That's it. I'm old.

I did find a dress, I really do love it. It is from Jump Apparel, but they don't have "my dress" on theie web site. I am sure after the wedding I will have plenty of pictures.

PDD

I had my first Professional Development Day of the year yesterday. They are in Worcester, which means I have to get up early and leave early to get there on time. That means I had to get Ali up early. She is so my girl!

Alarm going off in Ali's room. I walk in, run her back, say
"Good morning! Are you going to ignore your alarm, silly?"
Ali turn around, her hair a big messy halo around her and says;
"What do you FINK???? IT IS STILL NIGHT TIME!!!!!!"
I say "no honey, remember, I have that meeting today, so we have to get up early, It is morning."
She replies "When the sun comes through my blinds, then it is morning" and pulls her blanket over her head.

Wow, those were my sentiments exactly!

My nerd score

I had to. This was fun.

It's Friday!

Wow! What a week! My first full week in my classroom, Yeah! It is so nice to not only be back in a classroom, but to be in MY classroom. The one I set up in late June. I was nervous about the size, it is small, but now I love it. I even have some plants and a little Beta fish tank with two Beta in it (named Montegue and Capulet, I think). I have my normal dry erase board on one wall that I can put up the week's plan, and then the big huge one I made (with an old chalkboard and dry erase paint) on the front wall to use during class. I have my awesome Einstein picture up (click here to see it), my signed R. Lee Ermey picture with a fabulous quote I added to it, all of my posters and quotes and my podium. It is great. Back in MY element.

Alison is loving Kindergarten. She has made some great friends, Caroline, Nailani and Jaden. She was VERY disappointed at gym, all they did was go over the rules "SEVEN times" *add eye roll here* I promised it would get better once they know all of the rules. So far, according to her, in Kindergarten she has learned "To use grown-up words, like 'Can I use the bathroom' instead of 'I have to go potty' and how to burp with our mouths shut." Starting Monday she is going to an afterschool program on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the school. Caroline is in the same program, so I am confident it will work out great. As an added bonus, the program runs until 6:00 pm, so I won't be in a rush getting out of work to get her.

The best quote of the week;
Me - "What did you do in school today?"
Ali - "Gus threw-up. It was milk. It got all over him and he had to go home. It was AWESOME!!"

Ah yes, my baby is in kindergarten!

Who da man???

I da man!!!
Why? Because I did my brakes. See my dirty hands? See my big smile? It was fun. I love hands-on work. Not to mention the fortune I saved doing them myself!
Here I am hard at work!

Here I am cleaning the brakes. I love that brake clean! It smells nice and helps me feel happy. All inappropriate high jokes aside, I did love doing them.
And look at those brake pads, not a moment too soon! The new ones are in the front, the old ones in the back.

I da man!

First Day

Today was Ali's first day of Kindergarten! I can not believe my baby is in school! Here are some pictures from this morning. We were lucky enough to step out of the door and see the Barnes'. Melissa Barnes is the lady who has the home day care that Ali goes to. Her son Christopher was starting today too. She was out of town, but her husband Jason was walkin Christopher, older sister Laura (3rd grade) and friend Sophie. Here is Ali chasing Christopher next to the school.
Here is Alison in the school yard in her first day outfit.
And lastly here is Ali next to new friend Caroline in the classroom. (Caroline has the same Tinkerbell backpack as Ali)
I worked half a day so I could pick her up after school. She had a "good" day. She said Kindergarten is harder than she thought, she has to raise her hand to go to the bathroom. Her teacher just got the job, so the classroom is not set up yet, hopefuly it will be ready soon!

Little Piece of heaven

We were introduced to a little slice of heaven this summer. I was looking for somewhere to take Ali for a beach day. She gave me directions to this wonderful place. I am not saying gthe name of the beach, nor the city it is in because it is a neighborhood beach, and I like it that way!! Here is Ali in the water.
Here is Ali eating a popsicle from the Ice Cream truck.
Here is Ali at her little tideal wall (not very effective!!)
We have been there a few times, I would go there every weekend if possible! I love it there! There is amazing sea glass and shells, hopefully soon I can post some pictures of some kind of neat craft made from the glass and shells!

Strange

My ex-husband has a girlfriend. Although he will deny it, I can tell. For one, he has not called Ali on the weekend for quite a while. He has always called her nightly, annoyingly nightly. Even when she does not want to talk, he still calls and calls. Suddenly he stops calling on the weekends. Also, as my sister has pointed out, if you read his blog (click here to see it) his entries all talk about "we". "We" did this and "we" did that. He has suddenly been pushing through our divorce, bugging me about something that until recently was somthing that was not his radar. He was still waiting for me to go back to him. It has been bothering me, him having a girlfriend, and I have been trying to figure out why. It is certainly not because I want to be back with him. Oh goodness no. I think it is because I know the him she is getting right now. The Will I fell in love with. The fun guy who goes places, takes you on trips, is always trying to impress you. He is charming and funny and great to be around. I want to call this woman and warn her "It is all a ruse, he will change!! He will get mean and nasty and sick of you", but then I realize that may not be the case. I would imagine that he has changed since I last spent much time with him. He claims that he has changed, but I don't know for sure.

Although that is part of it, I think there is more. I think it is because he CAN date. He can go out whenever he wants. He can meet someone and not have to worry about what kind of person they are, are they safe to one day maybe have around our child. He does not even have to ever mention that he has a child. If he does, he will give the "poor me" story. I got one of his poor me story. The one I got was about his horrible ex-girlfriend who treated him so awful. He is going to tell her all about the wicked ex-wife who took his darling girl, the light of his life, and left. For me, being a single mom it like carying around a huge banner that says "don't date me, I have baggage" If I were to actually to met someone who is not terrified that I have a child, can I go out? Can I get a sitter, and can I afford a sitter? Am I going to be taking time from my daughter? I feel bad enough that we only spend nights and weekends together as it is, can I take more time from her to date and actually not feel guilty? It really does make me angry that he has absolutely no responsibility for our child. Yes, he does pay support for her, although not anywhere near what he can or should be paying. But that is it. He sees her a few times a year, and even then he stays with us, uses my car, and I am always around.

Although I am complaining about this, when it comes right down to it, I have Alison. I would never trade that for anything else in the whole world. I love my baby, I love being her mom. She is the coolest kid in the whole world. He is amazing, and I can happliy live without ever dating again if it means that she grows up healthy and happy. It is easy to complain when I see him dating and lying to us about it all that is going on ("I just want the divorce for closure", "I should start staying in a hotel when I come to visit, I don't want to bother you guys"), but I have an amazing child and the wonderful blessing to be with her every day. That is better than anything else in the world.