I realize that I am letting my children write for me lately. They seem to be doing a better job than I am! I found this little gem stuck in an old notebook. This is from last fall when Sophie was in fourth grade, but the tricks still work and make me laugh every time!
Maya is adjusting to Junior High so well. Her kind and gentle nature overrides any tendency toward biting sarcasm and violence.
As part of her English class she described a new Roller Coaster design that she would like to build for the sweet little children.
I am so proud.
Remember the mystery of the Scooter Thief? If not, please read this post.
We have been hit again. This time, it was Sophie’s bike. This wasn’t just any bike. It was a 1970’s – ish Schwinn cruiser, spray-painted red with chrome fenders and whitewall tires. It was beat up, but it was cool. We procured it at a garage sale down the street and she loved it very much.
It was parked alongside my house…far from the street…and I was home all day today working. When did it disappear? Who is the little bastard that took it? I wish I knew so I could chase him down in my car.
She is crying, so sad that she is the only kid on the block without a bike. A bike is not in the budget.
I’m pretty sure it is the little fucker Justin down the street. He steals everything from everyone and the entire neighborhood has been up in arms about him. I called the cops and they are going to his house to take a look around.
We’ll see.
He’s a seasoned thief now, and probably hid it pretty well already.
I have called everyone on this street, and there are more than a few of us running reconnaissance missions past his house tonight and in the upcoming days.
This kind of thing just sets my hair on fire.
<insert some sort of crazy jingle here>
Busy, busy, busy…but not too busy to teach my dog another language!!!
Boy, this teacher is JUST ASKING for more frowning flowers….
Washington State has an assessment test for its students called the WASL (Washington Assessment for Student Learning). It is your standard assessment test – with its standard problems and controversy surrounding it. Do the teachers teach only to the test and ignore everything else? Does the test measure one group well and another not so well? Are standardized tests even necessary?
There is much discussion.
This year the WASL will be replaced by yet another type of standardized test that, I’m sure, will not measure up.
All that said, I got the girls’ WASL scores from last year. Maya’s were great. She “Exceeded all Grade Level Standards” in her two tests (Math and Writing I think). Sophie had tests in three areas last year, Reading, Writing and Math. She also “Exceeded all Grade Level Standards”.
Of course, whether I believe that the WASL is a good or a bad thing, this made me very happy. But I was astounded to find that out of 475 points possible on the Reading part of the test Sophie scored…..(drumroll)…..a 475.
That’s pretty damn good!
Not surprising after you have heard her retell any story that she has ever read, or any incident she has ever witnessed. Not only will you get every stinkin’ detail, but you will also get the color of the shirt of everyone involved and whether she believes they might have got that particular shirt on sale the previous weekend at the store because, don’t you remember? There was a 50% off sale on that rack of shirts by the front door?
The girl has scary recall abilities.
And I’m proud.
I realize that many more days than posts have occurred in September, but the posting has still picked up. That’s good, right? Because it is quick and entertaining I will share with you two recent classified ads that appeared on my company’s classified ad section.
Ad Details |
| 9/8/2009 – Missing Chicken Alert System (Lost and Found) Jiggle me chicken! She’s eggscaped? Been chickenapped? Also known as the the chicken on a string. She served as the communication device between myself and those who dwelled on the other side of the cube wall. We’ve been CM’ing (chicken messaging) for years. But today, no chicken. No string. No note. Nothing. Was she tired of dangling from the yellow ribbon? Did the depression over her dried up egg finally cause her to take drastic action? Is there a randsome note coming? I need answers! The community needs closure. Small dirty, yellow rubber chicken, approx 6 inches in lengh, stuffed with a crusty yellow egg and tied by the foot to 4ft of yellow ribbon that has a cardboard ring on the other end. Last seen hanging on the wall of my cube in Rainier. Please contact me if you seen or heard from our chicken or our chicken nappers. A reward for any information leading to the location of the chicken. |
9/4/2009 – Wanted: Darth Vader Fork (Items Wanted)
My Darth Vader fork broke today. It was part of an intergalactic spoon/knife/bowl set. It gave me the power of the darkside when reviewing spreadsheets while eating at my desk. It was a smaller sized fork so it also helped with bite portion control. Would be willing to negotiate a replacement fork featuring any Imperial forces or bounty hunters. Please, no rebel silverwear.
My sister is coming back to spend another night or two with me. She has allergies, so to make her last stay more comfortable I used my “Dog Park Special” coupon to get Midge the works…..an oatmeal bath, toenail trim, ear cleaning and tooth brushing.
She is looking quite smashing. The butt bow just sets the whole thing off.
She looks pretty pleased with herself, doesn’t she?
Already I have broken my resolution. I didn’t post yesterday, but as you will see I had a good excuse.
Ant and I scooted the girls off to school and jumped in his car and pointed it in the general direction of Mount Rainier. I was a bit worried that it would be completely cloudy and we would be unable to see the mountain since it had rained all night. And there were only brief glimpses of it as we drove, but they were glorious. Our destination is the highest place that you can drive to on Mount Rainier…a place aptly named “Paradise”.
At one of our stops, a sign showed us just exactly what the mountain thinks of Seattle.
We stopped occasionally at the pull outs on the side of the twisty and turny road and were rewarded with our best view that we were going to get of the mountain that day.
We hiked behind a tour bus group out through the glacial morraine and across a rickety “bridge” over the rushing water that is tinted white with volcanic ash.
Waterfalls were everywhere.
And the occasional view of craggy peaks reminded us that we were on top of the world.
When we arrived at the Visitor’s Center we decided to take a hike on the many trails that wend their way through creeks, wildflowers and waterfalls. This deer was only a few feet off the trail, munching happily on the leaves of a small bush.
It was lush, green and absolutely gorgeous no matter what direction you looked.
The creek gave a clue to how little soil sits atop the glacially ground rocks.
And there are always more waterfalls….
And more waterfalls…
“…the most luxurious and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I ever beheld in all my mountain-top ramblings.”
-John Muir on Mount Rainier’s meadows
She came out of the clouds one last time to say goodbye.
