They won!
the Lincroft Mets stay alive. I think the next game is Tuesday. We play a powerhouse team. Expect the end. More later.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
The Visitation
We have been visited by the agency! It was, again, a day of cleaning and readying the house for someone to come and sit at the kitchen table. :-) However, I think I will continue to schedule these visits, as this is really the only time I can enlist everyone's help in cleaning the house.
So we just went through some paperwork, signed one more form, and took some handouts in the form of brochures and a poster she would like me to ask to be hung at the high school. I will wait to see if we're able to get this ball rolling next week before I go shaking any more trees about this. The next step, once she gets a verbal OK from the Assistant Superintendent, which hopefully she will, will be to let the poor girl know who the family is who has had her hanging for so very long. Then she will have the final opportunity to veto or accept. Assuming she accepts, we will be able to correspond.
We were under a tornado watch today! But no sooner did I read that than the sun came out again. Kevin took Brian to get a haircut, and wow! did he. His scar is clearly visible, as no hair grows there. He has a dual-hemisphere back of the head now. And he is off to his playoff baseball game, as no additional precipitation has made its way here just yet. So I ordered a pizza for Megan and a couple of her friends, and I am off to see the game at 6. If they lose, that will be the end of it.
Horrible morning!! Wren, who has taken to escaping, did so when I let Molly out for the morning pee. I fed the others, and left a plate outside the slider for Wren. Then I heard meowing, so I went outside. I didn't see her, and I kept hearing the muffled meow. I thought she was hurt or captured. Suddenly, she jumped up on the deck, and she had a CHIPMUNK in her mouth!! I was horrified; and then I saw her drop it, and it tried to get away! I lunged for her, she lunged for it, and I snatched her up just as she got hold of its tail. So I was shaking her, and the poor little chipmunk was just swinging around by his tail! Just then she dropped it, and I threw her in the house, and by the time I turned around, there was no sign of it. Ugh. I hope it is not mortally wounded. I didn't see any blood.
Well, that is about all for tonight. I don't have much to report. In other news, I got a nice paycheck today, and I expect a nice one again in two weeks. The last couple of days were not that bad at school, and I have the three in a row coming up next week, but they'll be in the last pay period of the year for me, most likely. There is a small black BMW backing up in front of my house. Better go and see if that's the pizza.
So we just went through some paperwork, signed one more form, and took some handouts in the form of brochures and a poster she would like me to ask to be hung at the high school. I will wait to see if we're able to get this ball rolling next week before I go shaking any more trees about this. The next step, once she gets a verbal OK from the Assistant Superintendent, which hopefully she will, will be to let the poor girl know who the family is who has had her hanging for so very long. Then she will have the final opportunity to veto or accept. Assuming she accepts, we will be able to correspond.
We were under a tornado watch today! But no sooner did I read that than the sun came out again. Kevin took Brian to get a haircut, and wow! did he. His scar is clearly visible, as no hair grows there. He has a dual-hemisphere back of the head now. And he is off to his playoff baseball game, as no additional precipitation has made its way here just yet. So I ordered a pizza for Megan and a couple of her friends, and I am off to see the game at 6. If they lose, that will be the end of it.
Horrible morning!! Wren, who has taken to escaping, did so when I let Molly out for the morning pee. I fed the others, and left a plate outside the slider for Wren. Then I heard meowing, so I went outside. I didn't see her, and I kept hearing the muffled meow. I thought she was hurt or captured. Suddenly, she jumped up on the deck, and she had a CHIPMUNK in her mouth!! I was horrified; and then I saw her drop it, and it tried to get away! I lunged for her, she lunged for it, and I snatched her up just as she got hold of its tail. So I was shaking her, and the poor little chipmunk was just swinging around by his tail! Just then she dropped it, and I threw her in the house, and by the time I turned around, there was no sign of it. Ugh. I hope it is not mortally wounded. I didn't see any blood.
Well, that is about all for tonight. I don't have much to report. In other news, I got a nice paycheck today, and I expect a nice one again in two weeks. The last couple of days were not that bad at school, and I have the three in a row coming up next week, but they'll be in the last pay period of the year for me, most likely. There is a small black BMW backing up in front of my house. Better go and see if that's the pizza.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
It's Gotta Be a Strange Twist of Fate
And so I had to work today. I was not so much looking forward to it, four nice days off in a row, and now to go back to a third grade class of which I am not particularly fond. They have a very strict teacher, and they always sort of break down when she isn't there. But, I sucked it up...and for the most part they were glad, or at least not surprised, to see me. Just two major mishaps: the boy who fell backwards in his chair and hit his head on the rolling bookcase, and the girl who got on the bus when she was supposed to be picked up by car; and her bus left before the mom realized it. Oh well. Noone told me she wasn't supposed to get on the bus, or, in fact, what she was supposed to do at all! I am sure they will just say "she had a substitute."
Anyway, the odd thing is that the principal at school has been out quite a bit. Rumor has it she had a hospital stay a couple of weeks ago, when she was out and unreachable for the entire week. Well, when a principal is out, there must be an administrator in the school for arrival and dismissal of the students. I noticed a tall, dapper looking gentleman who I had never seen before, and assumed he must be the substitute principal. I wondered who he was, and thought that perhaps the principal of the high school. So I asked a woman I have seen around for years, who works in the before-care, but also happens to be a board member. Well. Knock me over with a feather. This man was none other than the man we have been trying to reach regarding the exchange student approval! I hurried over.
He was extremely nice and open to the idea. I explained the whole thing to him, and he said that he had grown up as one of six, and they often had exchange students in their home. He even asked if we would give them back one of ours!!! Haha! I should have asked if he had one in mind. But I didn't. He gave me his card, with all of his information on it, again gave me the excuse of how busy the other woman has been with the testing assessments, and we went our separate ways. I called the regional manager, knowing I could get hold of her as the local rep works during the day, and gave her all the info, and the details he had requested. She said she would get on it.
Later in the day, she told me she had spoken again to his secretary, and was again put off, and also that she spoke to the secretary of the woman we keep being pushed onto, and she was quite rude. So, I fell to discouragement again. However...not to be outdone, the local rep scored some victory of her own. Just by chance, she called this guy to follow up, and he actually picked up his own phone!!! So she got him, and he was very kind to her as well, and he told her to go ahead and send the packet, and so she is! It is most exciting. And to think I was on the fence about this whole exchange student thing at first. As soon as they make something difficult to attain, that's when it seems to be the most attractive.
So that was the news of the day. I woke up and the day was not going so well. I let Molly out, and Wren escaped. Damn cat! She's been doing that a lot, but it was 7:45 and it's lawn cutting day. Nobody else would be home until Megan got home at 2:30, and the stupid fool would be out all day. The other night she had some sort of skirmish with another cat, and now noone would be home to protect her. Then I dropped off Brian at school and went to Dunkin Donuts, and it was packed! I was in such a funk! My car was saying "check fuel cap", but I have not even gotten gas since Friday. All was just not well. But then! I came out of Dunkin Donuts, and there on the ground, there it was! It was a heads-up penny!!! I thought, I can use all the luck I can get today! And I grabbed it. So maybe it worked its wonders. Who knows.
Anyway that was that. Today was a hellish sort of day. I had already volunteered to drive both ways for the swimming carpool, which on Wednesdays entails a half-hour drive to the beach. Normally I enjoy this, and I will walk and have myself a nice glass of wine at Stewart's by the boardwalk. However, tonight there was a rescheduled baseball game for Brian's travel team. Well, I didn't realize that this was a playoff game, and a makeup for a game that had gone one inning in a previously rained out event. So here is what I did: picked up the carpool boys at 4:45. Drove them to Long Branch for the 5:30 practice. Drove home, got here at 6. Took Brian to his game by 6:15 (half an hour late for warm-ups). Left him there. No other team at the time. Drove back to beach, got there at 6:45. Waited 15 minutes for the kids, then drove them all back to their homes. Went to see Brian play right field as their team was mercied in only three innings of play (add to the inning played the other time for four innings) of which Brian played exactly ... one. Fun with Jane.
The good news? They're done for the season (the travel team). Little League has their second game on Saturday. They almost won yesterday, in fact. Brian not only had a hit, he also scored! It was most exciting. But the coach switched everyone up the last inning and the other team scored, and they beat us by one. It's double elimination, so if they lose on Saturday, they're out. Ironically, they are called the Mets and they played the Marlins; I heard on the radio that yesterday the Mets beat the Marlins, 5-3. Unfortunately, in our world, the Marlins beat the Mets, 6-5.
In other news, Kevin is still in Denmark. He returns on Friday. I am working again tomorrow (4th grade) and on Friday ('floating' as of now) and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week. After that, it may be done. (heh heh ... one can only hope!) Megan got her classes for next year, and holy God...I could never survive a schedule like that: Geometry, Pre-Calc, Chemistry, English, History, Spanish 4 (all Honors). She is doubling up on the math this year, so she can do something later (I forget what) but she has no electives. However, when you do it this way, you have an easier time your senior year. So let's hope our exchange student (more on her later) is as serious of a student as all of her application answers say she is!
Anyway, the odd thing is that the principal at school has been out quite a bit. Rumor has it she had a hospital stay a couple of weeks ago, when she was out and unreachable for the entire week. Well, when a principal is out, there must be an administrator in the school for arrival and dismissal of the students. I noticed a tall, dapper looking gentleman who I had never seen before, and assumed he must be the substitute principal. I wondered who he was, and thought that perhaps the principal of the high school. So I asked a woman I have seen around for years, who works in the before-care, but also happens to be a board member. Well. Knock me over with a feather. This man was none other than the man we have been trying to reach regarding the exchange student approval! I hurried over.
He was extremely nice and open to the idea. I explained the whole thing to him, and he said that he had grown up as one of six, and they often had exchange students in their home. He even asked if we would give them back one of ours!!! Haha! I should have asked if he had one in mind. But I didn't. He gave me his card, with all of his information on it, again gave me the excuse of how busy the other woman has been with the testing assessments, and we went our separate ways. I called the regional manager, knowing I could get hold of her as the local rep works during the day, and gave her all the info, and the details he had requested. She said she would get on it.
Later in the day, she told me she had spoken again to his secretary, and was again put off, and also that she spoke to the secretary of the woman we keep being pushed onto, and she was quite rude. So, I fell to discouragement again. However...not to be outdone, the local rep scored some victory of her own. Just by chance, she called this guy to follow up, and he actually picked up his own phone!!! So she got him, and he was very kind to her as well, and he told her to go ahead and send the packet, and so she is! It is most exciting. And to think I was on the fence about this whole exchange student thing at first. As soon as they make something difficult to attain, that's when it seems to be the most attractive.
So that was the news of the day. I woke up and the day was not going so well. I let Molly out, and Wren escaped. Damn cat! She's been doing that a lot, but it was 7:45 and it's lawn cutting day. Nobody else would be home until Megan got home at 2:30, and the stupid fool would be out all day. The other night she had some sort of skirmish with another cat, and now noone would be home to protect her. Then I dropped off Brian at school and went to Dunkin Donuts, and it was packed! I was in such a funk! My car was saying "check fuel cap", but I have not even gotten gas since Friday. All was just not well. But then! I came out of Dunkin Donuts, and there on the ground, there it was! It was a heads-up penny!!! I thought, I can use all the luck I can get today! And I grabbed it. So maybe it worked its wonders. Who knows.
Anyway that was that. Today was a hellish sort of day. I had already volunteered to drive both ways for the swimming carpool, which on Wednesdays entails a half-hour drive to the beach. Normally I enjoy this, and I will walk and have myself a nice glass of wine at Stewart's by the boardwalk. However, tonight there was a rescheduled baseball game for Brian's travel team. Well, I didn't realize that this was a playoff game, and a makeup for a game that had gone one inning in a previously rained out event. So here is what I did: picked up the carpool boys at 4:45. Drove them to Long Branch for the 5:30 practice. Drove home, got here at 6. Took Brian to his game by 6:15 (half an hour late for warm-ups). Left him there. No other team at the time. Drove back to beach, got there at 6:45. Waited 15 minutes for the kids, then drove them all back to their homes. Went to see Brian play right field as their team was mercied in only three innings of play (add to the inning played the other time for four innings) of which Brian played exactly ... one. Fun with Jane.
The good news? They're done for the season (the travel team). Little League has their second game on Saturday. They almost won yesterday, in fact. Brian not only had a hit, he also scored! It was most exciting. But the coach switched everyone up the last inning and the other team scored, and they beat us by one. It's double elimination, so if they lose on Saturday, they're out. Ironically, they are called the Mets and they played the Marlins; I heard on the radio that yesterday the Mets beat the Marlins, 5-3. Unfortunately, in our world, the Marlins beat the Mets, 6-5.
In other news, Kevin is still in Denmark. He returns on Friday. I am working again tomorrow (4th grade) and on Friday ('floating' as of now) and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week. After that, it may be done. (heh heh ... one can only hope!) Megan got her classes for next year, and holy God...I could never survive a schedule like that: Geometry, Pre-Calc, Chemistry, English, History, Spanish 4 (all Honors). She is doubling up on the math this year, so she can do something later (I forget what) but she has no electives. However, when you do it this way, you have an easier time your senior year. So let's hope our exchange student (more on her later) is as serious of a student as all of her application answers say she is!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Poolside Post
It's Memorial day weekend! It is summer!!! Currently playing: The Wall (Pink Floyd)
I am sitting out by the pool. I had a headache all day, but I watered my shrubs and it went away significantly, so I had a glass of wine and it is totally gone now. Here is the thing: I went to church, and thought how nice it would be to sit where the sun was coming in the window. So I sat there, and it ended up being too sunny, and the sun made me squint, and by the end of church I had a terrible headache! (plus, I don't think it is 'The Wall' after all, but it is definitely Pink Floyd)
So my funny bloggable story is that when I woke up, I thought, Ok, this exchange student thing is really getting to me, I am going to try to put it out of my mind for the time being. Maybe I'll get some sort of message at church as to whether or not I am meant to do this. So off we go, because Megan was wearing the white robe on the altar today. As I sat down and waited for the service to begin, as I always do, I browsed through the bulletin. Below the listing of all the sick and prayers needed, and birthdays and anniversaries, was a new entry. Guess what it was called? Are you sitting? It was called...THE MESSAGE!!!! =:-O!
So I read it. Well, basically, it said that you can't worship two gods at once, because you will end up hating one. what does that mean? I can't have an exchange student, because I will end up hating either her or my own kids? Anyway, I tried to pay attention to the sermon in between the vibrations of my phone when Kevin would send me a text. It seems that the two gods are God and Money. You can't have them both. However, what I took from this is that it is perfect to want to be like Christ. But I suppose what he was saying is that it is the same thing to want to want to be like Christ. So, like, if you have lots of money, but wish you didn't really have it, because Christ says the rich will be the last and they can't really get into heaven any more easily than they can fit through the eye of a needle, then you are actually OK and it is the same thing.
I was watching this lawyer and his wife, who rarely come to church now that their kids are grown, but who live in a multimillion dollar home in the next town over from us, and I swear that I saw them heave a dual sigh of relief when the priest said that it was just the same to want to want to be like Christ. Anyway, I told Kevin and he said that was good. He wants to give more money to the YMCA. I said, so go ahead. So, we're in.
But, sadly, I was unable to take away any relevance to my exchange student ponderings. I guess on that front I will just have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of weeks. I did find out that the woman who is too busy to call us back works until 4pm and make $126,000 a year. I definitely answered the wrong calling in my college days.
So that was my epiphany for the day. Yesterday we did go to the beach for the opening of Surfrider. It was a little chilly, not too bad. It is, after all, the beach. As long as there are no biting flies and no hypodermic needles on the beach, how bad can it be, right? And there were already two captured kittens! It was so sad. One of them, the one lying inthe litterbox, has yellow coming out of its eyes. I wanted to take it home and cure it. But, no. Four cats is enough and Puff the Beach Cat is the most expensive free kitten I have ever heard of, once we got rid of all the ailments she came with.
Well, Kevin informs me his creation is complete. He bought some unidentifiable hunks at Costco today, and just cooked them on the grill. They looked to me more like something you'd put in the oven, but as long as I didn't have to cook 'em, who really cares. I'll post more on that if I remember, and if I survive.
In other news, Megan is babysitting next door and Brian has been running around pretty much all weekend with random local boys. We had to drag him from the beach yesterday, and he wasn't trailing Megan, so that can only be a good omen for the year to come. Megan has a whole gang to run around with; and he is 'too young' to be included. So thankfully, he is finding himself some other buddies. And anyway, I dropped off her application to work in the extended school year program for the special ed kids, so hopefully she will get that and will work three days a week anyway, as a volunteer. They need 100 hours by their senior year, for the National Honor Society. Oh, yeah. And our phone is broken. It's been broken since Wednesday night. Ridiculous. (Disclaimer: post not proofread)
Currently playing: Burning For You (Blue Oyster Cult) :-)
I am sitting out by the pool. I had a headache all day, but I watered my shrubs and it went away significantly, so I had a glass of wine and it is totally gone now. Here is the thing: I went to church, and thought how nice it would be to sit where the sun was coming in the window. So I sat there, and it ended up being too sunny, and the sun made me squint, and by the end of church I had a terrible headache! (plus, I don't think it is 'The Wall' after all, but it is definitely Pink Floyd)
So my funny bloggable story is that when I woke up, I thought, Ok, this exchange student thing is really getting to me, I am going to try to put it out of my mind for the time being. Maybe I'll get some sort of message at church as to whether or not I am meant to do this. So off we go, because Megan was wearing the white robe on the altar today. As I sat down and waited for the service to begin, as I always do, I browsed through the bulletin. Below the listing of all the sick and prayers needed, and birthdays and anniversaries, was a new entry. Guess what it was called? Are you sitting? It was called...THE MESSAGE!!!! =:-O!
So I read it. Well, basically, it said that you can't worship two gods at once, because you will end up hating one. what does that mean? I can't have an exchange student, because I will end up hating either her or my own kids? Anyway, I tried to pay attention to the sermon in between the vibrations of my phone when Kevin would send me a text. It seems that the two gods are God and Money. You can't have them both. However, what I took from this is that it is perfect to want to be like Christ. But I suppose what he was saying is that it is the same thing to want to want to be like Christ. So, like, if you have lots of money, but wish you didn't really have it, because Christ says the rich will be the last and they can't really get into heaven any more easily than they can fit through the eye of a needle, then you are actually OK and it is the same thing.
I was watching this lawyer and his wife, who rarely come to church now that their kids are grown, but who live in a multimillion dollar home in the next town over from us, and I swear that I saw them heave a dual sigh of relief when the priest said that it was just the same to want to want to be like Christ. Anyway, I told Kevin and he said that was good. He wants to give more money to the YMCA. I said, so go ahead. So, we're in.
But, sadly, I was unable to take away any relevance to my exchange student ponderings. I guess on that front I will just have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of weeks. I did find out that the woman who is too busy to call us back works until 4pm and make $126,000 a year. I definitely answered the wrong calling in my college days.
So that was my epiphany for the day. Yesterday we did go to the beach for the opening of Surfrider. It was a little chilly, not too bad. It is, after all, the beach. As long as there are no biting flies and no hypodermic needles on the beach, how bad can it be, right? And there were already two captured kittens! It was so sad. One of them, the one lying inthe litterbox, has yellow coming out of its eyes. I wanted to take it home and cure it. But, no. Four cats is enough and Puff the Beach Cat is the most expensive free kitten I have ever heard of, once we got rid of all the ailments she came with.
Well, Kevin informs me his creation is complete. He bought some unidentifiable hunks at Costco today, and just cooked them on the grill. They looked to me more like something you'd put in the oven, but as long as I didn't have to cook 'em, who really cares. I'll post more on that if I remember, and if I survive.
In other news, Megan is babysitting next door and Brian has been running around pretty much all weekend with random local boys. We had to drag him from the beach yesterday, and he wasn't trailing Megan, so that can only be a good omen for the year to come. Megan has a whole gang to run around with; and he is 'too young' to be included. So thankfully, he is finding himself some other buddies. And anyway, I dropped off her application to work in the extended school year program for the special ed kids, so hopefully she will get that and will work three days a week anyway, as a volunteer. They need 100 hours by their senior year, for the National Honor Society. Oh, yeah. And our phone is broken. It's been broken since Wednesday night. Ridiculous. (Disclaimer: post not proofread)
Currently playing: Burning For You (Blue Oyster Cult) :-)
Friday, May 23, 2008
Finally Friday!
Well, at long last the week is ending, and it's Memorial Day weekend! (and it's 50 degrees in the sun...) I just finished almost a full week of subbing - although none of the days were bad, they can still get exhausting. And today they had a special luncheon for the teachers and nobody bothered to invite the subs, or at least they didn't invite me. I did enjoy having the teachers' room all to myself, but it's a bit insulting and degrading when they do things like that. In the past, they would always tell me to stop in and have something. But nobody mentioned a word of it. Also, I am picking up on increasing tensions amongst the staff, and I don't really know what's behind it, nor do I want to be involved. As a sub, I really just have to get along with everyone.
One of the teachers came in and had words with another one, right in front of me, today. I don't know what it was all about but she said, "don't you have enough teachers in here to do this now ..." and he said, "first of all one of them is a sub, and one is a para". Guess which one I was? I didn't know I was incapable of performing basic teaching functions; I'm not sure what she wanted done, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't rocket science. I know he didn't mean it against me, he was making excuses, but it pretty much summed up the whole day. Although I must add that some teachers are wonderful and kind all of the time. But some who used to be are not so much anymore, and I fear they're just all getting sucked into this vortex of cosmic dissonance.
So, on my prep, I called the woman at the district offices about the exchange students, and was told that the person I needed to speak to was out and would return my call. I said, well she hasn't returned any calls in over a week, and I got the song and dance of how busy she is. I explained (stretched, if you will) that we had already lost one student due to this delay, and we were hoping not to have to have that happen again. I doubt it made any difference. It's been four hours, and no return call. I did get an email that the cute little Russian girl was placed the same night that I first saw her profile, so at least I don't have to worry that I made the wrong choice, since it appears not to have been mine to make after all. Again, we wait.
Meanwhile, I have to find four photographs to attach to the agency's host family application that make us seem like a fun family that people would want to join. Sadly, I am finding this to be quite an elusive task!!! I can't just send all Cape May pictures, as this person may never come to Cape May. The pictures are supposed to show us with family and friends in places we live or places where we often go...I have so many pictures of brunches and dinners with the Doll, and bad blurry shots of the kids going off the diving board, or standing around holding badminton rackets and looking all scraggly. No good candid winter pictures, and that's the main time that they'd be experiencing. I'm going to have Megan search her facebook pictures. There's a whole section where people tag you in pictures, and they show up on your page. I don't know if she can snag one, but she can always ask to have one sent to her.
Well, on that note, I should go and do something before I lose all motivation and the sun sets. Kevin said he would leave work around 3 today; he is not going in on Tuesday, but he is leaving that day for Denmark. And, in other news, he did call the attorney and she gave him the same answer she gave me a year ago: she would pull the file and get back to him. This time, I think I will follow up in less than a year's time. We have no big plans for the weekend, no baseball, just Kevin's softball on Sunday and Megan is babysitting Sunday morning at church and Sunday night for the boys next door. I guess we will try to get down to the beach at some point, but they are saying it will be a bit chillier by the water. Which should be common sense, so if they're saying it, that must mean significantly cooler. I'm working next week on Wednesday and Thursday, but the way things are going, probably Friday too. Someone always wants their Fridays off!
One of the teachers came in and had words with another one, right in front of me, today. I don't know what it was all about but she said, "don't you have enough teachers in here to do this now ..." and he said, "first of all one of them is a sub, and one is a para". Guess which one I was? I didn't know I was incapable of performing basic teaching functions; I'm not sure what she wanted done, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't rocket science. I know he didn't mean it against me, he was making excuses, but it pretty much summed up the whole day. Although I must add that some teachers are wonderful and kind all of the time. But some who used to be are not so much anymore, and I fear they're just all getting sucked into this vortex of cosmic dissonance.
So, on my prep, I called the woman at the district offices about the exchange students, and was told that the person I needed to speak to was out and would return my call. I said, well she hasn't returned any calls in over a week, and I got the song and dance of how busy she is. I explained (stretched, if you will) that we had already lost one student due to this delay, and we were hoping not to have to have that happen again. I doubt it made any difference. It's been four hours, and no return call. I did get an email that the cute little Russian girl was placed the same night that I first saw her profile, so at least I don't have to worry that I made the wrong choice, since it appears not to have been mine to make after all. Again, we wait.
Meanwhile, I have to find four photographs to attach to the agency's host family application that make us seem like a fun family that people would want to join. Sadly, I am finding this to be quite an elusive task!!! I can't just send all Cape May pictures, as this person may never come to Cape May. The pictures are supposed to show us with family and friends in places we live or places where we often go...I have so many pictures of brunches and dinners with the Doll, and bad blurry shots of the kids going off the diving board, or standing around holding badminton rackets and looking all scraggly. No good candid winter pictures, and that's the main time that they'd be experiencing. I'm going to have Megan search her facebook pictures. There's a whole section where people tag you in pictures, and they show up on your page. I don't know if she can snag one, but she can always ask to have one sent to her.
Well, on that note, I should go and do something before I lose all motivation and the sun sets. Kevin said he would leave work around 3 today; he is not going in on Tuesday, but he is leaving that day for Denmark. And, in other news, he did call the attorney and she gave him the same answer she gave me a year ago: she would pull the file and get back to him. This time, I think I will follow up in less than a year's time. We have no big plans for the weekend, no baseball, just Kevin's softball on Sunday and Megan is babysitting Sunday morning at church and Sunday night for the boys next door. I guess we will try to get down to the beach at some point, but they are saying it will be a bit chillier by the water. Which should be common sense, so if they're saying it, that must mean significantly cooler. I'm working next week on Wednesday and Thursday, but the way things are going, probably Friday too. Someone always wants their Fridays off!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
A Little News
Well, there is new news, as you may have guessed. First, the Fresh air lady did get back to me, and she told me that our references had wonderful things to say about us. (I must have paid them well) She said that she has forwarded our info to New York, so we are just awaiting a match.
Second, after spending nearly TWO HOURS on the phone yesterday morning with the woman from PIE, we have put on hold a different girl from CCI instead of the four PIE candidates. I don't know why, but I prefer to work with them. The PIE candidates were Russian and German girls, and two of them appealed to me; one little Russian girl in particular. However, the girl from CCI instantly won over Kevin and Brian. Megan agreed to her as well. She is definitely going to be a good kid - my concern is will she be TOO great? But I suppose it is a chance we take with any of them. I was so set on J2, that I would have had to adjust my thinking anyway, to any new person. This one will fit our lifestyle the best, I think. So now for school approval, hopefully.
A little quick background: this girl, we will call her E, is just six months older than Megan, so she should also be in the same grade, but legitimately, where the others were much older. She is from Denmark, which Kevin likes, and in the "Dear Family" letter, they didn't white out the names of her father's companies, so Kevin was able to see that they are both customers of the bank. Also, for three years when she was younger, her family lived in Connecticut. In her letter, she says that she so didn't want to go at first, that she insisted on getting a new bike and a kitten (she was then 8). It seems she did, because she has two cats, and one is from the U.S. She is attractive, but tall (yikes) and thin. She says she likes sports, music, friends, and lists a bunch of other issues such as debating, politics, social dancing, and ::gasp:: dating. (well, at least she is honest). Like J2, she writes extremely well, even for a natural English speaking person. So we will see if we get te approval. supposedly she is on hold 'pending school approval' so let's see if we can get that before tomorrow. Ha.
So, that is the news. In other news, I am working again today with the special ed second and third graders. I am very excited because we are going to see the play put on by the drama club at the other high school. These kids are really fun to be with, although they can also be a handful with their assorted issues. And tomorrow I have the resource room for the day. I will welcome the three day weekend, although I wasted much of yesterday waiting for email from PIE, which didn't come until 6pm. Brian's rec baseball team won their second game last night, and I am also waiting to hear from my real estate attorney.
This should be an issue for another blog, but I will sum it up quickly: when we bought our house, our seller apparently hadn't been able to prove that she had paid off an old mortgage. I guess she must have refinanced, or consolidated, or something, after her husband died. So she had some paperwork, to prove she had paid off what she knew about, but there was an older loan, and she did not have that dcumentation. I knew nothing about this until I ran into her a year or so ago, and she told me our attorneys were withholding $3000, and she didn't have these documents. Why this falls on me I don't understand. She needs to go to court and get them; but her attorney is not helping her. Mine never followed up with me on that call, although they did tell me this "happens all the time, and is really no big deal", and I forgot about it. Well, this seller also ran a bus company (perhaps into the ground, I get all kinds of odd mail and once a subpoena guy showed up at the door) and the other day there was a letter from the IRS addressed to that company in our box. I have again emailed the attorney to be sure that we get this issue taken care of. I'd hate to try to sell our house, only to find out there is some issue attached to it that doesn't even concern us!
Second, after spending nearly TWO HOURS on the phone yesterday morning with the woman from PIE, we have put on hold a different girl from CCI instead of the four PIE candidates. I don't know why, but I prefer to work with them. The PIE candidates were Russian and German girls, and two of them appealed to me; one little Russian girl in particular. However, the girl from CCI instantly won over Kevin and Brian. Megan agreed to her as well. She is definitely going to be a good kid - my concern is will she be TOO great? But I suppose it is a chance we take with any of them. I was so set on J2, that I would have had to adjust my thinking anyway, to any new person. This one will fit our lifestyle the best, I think. So now for school approval, hopefully.
A little quick background: this girl, we will call her E, is just six months older than Megan, so she should also be in the same grade, but legitimately, where the others were much older. She is from Denmark, which Kevin likes, and in the "Dear Family" letter, they didn't white out the names of her father's companies, so Kevin was able to see that they are both customers of the bank. Also, for three years when she was younger, her family lived in Connecticut. In her letter, she says that she so didn't want to go at first, that she insisted on getting a new bike and a kitten (she was then 8). It seems she did, because she has two cats, and one is from the U.S. She is attractive, but tall (yikes) and thin. She says she likes sports, music, friends, and lists a bunch of other issues such as debating, politics, social dancing, and ::gasp:: dating. (well, at least she is honest). Like J2, she writes extremely well, even for a natural English speaking person. So we will see if we get te approval. supposedly she is on hold 'pending school approval' so let's see if we can get that before tomorrow. Ha.
So, that is the news. In other news, I am working again today with the special ed second and third graders. I am very excited because we are going to see the play put on by the drama club at the other high school. These kids are really fun to be with, although they can also be a handful with their assorted issues. And tomorrow I have the resource room for the day. I will welcome the three day weekend, although I wasted much of yesterday waiting for email from PIE, which didn't come until 6pm. Brian's rec baseball team won their second game last night, and I am also waiting to hear from my real estate attorney.
This should be an issue for another blog, but I will sum it up quickly: when we bought our house, our seller apparently hadn't been able to prove that she had paid off an old mortgage. I guess she must have refinanced, or consolidated, or something, after her husband died. So she had some paperwork, to prove she had paid off what she knew about, but there was an older loan, and she did not have that dcumentation. I knew nothing about this until I ran into her a year or so ago, and she told me our attorneys were withholding $3000, and she didn't have these documents. Why this falls on me I don't understand. She needs to go to court and get them; but her attorney is not helping her. Mine never followed up with me on that call, although they did tell me this "happens all the time, and is really no big deal", and I forgot about it. Well, this seller also ran a bus company (perhaps into the ground, I get all kinds of odd mail and once a subpoena guy showed up at the door) and the other day there was a letter from the IRS addressed to that company in our box. I have again emailed the attorney to be sure that we get this issue taken care of. I'd hate to try to sell our house, only to find out there is some issue attached to it that doesn't even concern us!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
J2 No More
Well, I got an email from the CCI woman saying that J2 was placed last Friday. Strange, since her message on Monday said she was on hold and we could not lose her. I guess we have no more to worry about in that respect. Now we have to decide if we want to go with J1 from Denmark, who likes horses and cooking, or if we would prefer to keep looking, or go back to the more professional agency - they do have someone who sounds perfect - except -- she is 5'9!!!! But she is a swimmer, and would like to join a swim team while she is here. Would that be too much togetherness? What if she is really good, and she swims the distance freestyle events? Or do we drop the whole thing? But once you get onto something...at least, once *I* do ...!
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