Yardwork Today!

Today we are going to get some much needed yard work done... Cutting back bushes, planting Zinnias, cutting grass, and hopefully finding some Hydrangeas somewhere that we can put in our back yard along the back fence. I hope they will fare well there - I just love those big blue bunches of flowers - nothing says "the south" like a big Hydrangea bush!

Cruise was "Wonder"ful!

Our Disney cruise was "Wonder"ful! Went snorkeling, fed sting rays, haggled in Straw Market, got feet massaged, and danced the "I'm on vacation" dance. I cannot say one bad thing about our trip - the kids were great, food was great, weather was great... Will try to post pics soon!

My brave, 21st Century teachers...

I am so proud of some of my teacher friends! They are creating blogs for their classrooms... You remember how each of us used to have different jobs in the classroom back when we were in school? You know - line leader, teacher's helper, pencil sharpener, etc. Well, they are planning on adding a new job to that list - Blogger! The blogger will take notes during the day and post what their class did before they leave at the end of the day. The class will have occasional homework assignments to log on with their parents at night and respond to the blog posts. What a great way to share what they are learning in the classroom, to encourage 21st Century skills, and work on responsible Internet communication with others. Proud, Proud, Proud!!!

Mean Post Masters

My family and I have been trying for four weeks now to get someone to take our applications for our passports. As I have young children, I must have both of them with me at the post office to submit our applications. I am not thrilled about taking them out of school, but luckily there are a few post offices around (NOT IN) the city where we can get the job done on the weekend. To reach any of them, we have to travel at least 45 minutes.

When we traveled 45 minutes for the 3rd time to get this done (long story) we were met by the rudest postmaster I have ever met. I am a mild person - not given to wild fits, and he had me arguing with him in front of the citizens of his fine city in record time. Needless to say, we did not get our passports done today, as he refuses to correct the information on his site, and weekly changes the hoops necessary to jump through to get the job done. New this week - he began to require appointments to submit applications. (One of his workers said that as they didn't have anyone there, she would take care of me, but he would have none of it!)

Before we left, he was ranting about Condoleezza Rice, his fire department, my city's "overstaffed" post office, and how he cannot control what is on the state department's website. A woman stopped me outside and told me, "If I were you, I would have reached across the counter and popped him!" She made me feel better. It was nice to know that other people did not see me as the crazy one.

I will be checking my kids out of school next week, and handling it in my local post office next week. Gotta love governmental agencies! Anyone else have a good government agency story?

Booked First Cruise!

My family has booked its first cruise. We have booked a 4-Night Cruise on the Disney Wonder, July 1st . Very much excited. I have no idea what to expect - is anyone in my family prone to seasickness? We will find out... Will it be too crowded? I hope not... We are trying to decide whether to take our kids to a swim with dolphins experience. I have heard positive and negative things about the ones available in Nassau. We may pass this one up, and save it for later... I purchased all of us some Hawaiian shirt/dress attire for the pirate/tropics party. My husband is NOT into the Hawaiian shirt thing, but he is a pretty good sport, so this should be very entertaining... Any of you who have cruised with Disney before, and you did it with kids, I would love to hear from you! What was your experience like?

Snow in the Deep South?

OMG! They are predicting a major (major for us, anyway!) snow event Fri night/Sat morning! Multiple inches! It has been such a loooooooong time since we have enjoyed some real snow. Our last major event - the Blizzard of '93. I was sitting in my mother's house, finishing cross-stitching the ring-bearer pillow that would be used in my wedding the next weekend. We were listening to the radio, and heard a woman pleadingly inviting anyone remotely near her church to please come bring a bag to pick up some food, as her wedding had taken place that day and her guests were not able to make it to the church, leaving her reception uneaten. I sat there, looking at the 6+ inches of snow in my parents' back yard, thinking, "This is going to be me next weekend." The sun came out and did its job, and we were all comfortably in the 70s by the time I donned my white gown. Stay tuned... I'll let you know how much we get!

Children's Book Awards Announced!

I called it, my friends! The Invention of Hugo Cabret took the Gold Caldecott Award on Monday when the ALA announced all of 2008's book awards. I was also excited to see There's a Bird on Your Head take the Gold Geisel. I love love Mo Willems - his illustrations are unique, and his stories - a little bizarre, but delightful! Willems took a Caldecott Honor, too for Knuffle Bunny, too - his sequel to Knuffle Bunny - which took a Caldecott in 2007, BTW. Loved watching the announcements live via webcast. My only complaint is that announcing the awards at 8:00 AM eastern time is hard for the rest of the nation enjoy, as most of us are getting our kids ready for the day, or still in bed asleep, depending on when you live. My American Library Association friends - when holding your Mid-Winter Conference on the east coast, please push out your announcements a little for the rest of us!!