Oh Hey! Don't Forget...

Remember that April is National Poetry Month and that at TIBM it means a poem-a-day challenge. I will endeavor to post a verse or 2 each and every day during April and I challenge anyone who is willing to join me. They don't have to be polished (check out last April and the one before you'll see what I mean), and you don't have to post 1 per day (although I encourage you to), but if you decide to come along for the ride, let me know and I'll be sure to let everyone (all 1 of my other reader) know so they can follow you too.

Get ready...

Lulu School Update

Because I know it's keeping you up at night that I messed up Lulu's school for next year, here is what's going on at this moment.

We are holding our breath.

Enough? No? Oh, then...

After the initial panic and gut-wrenching guilt I felt when I realized that it was actually most likely my fault that Lulu wasn't absolutely going to Pete's school like she should be or any school at all next year (this lasted several days, by the way, because I'm a worrier and really hard on myself), I filled out the application for wishful thinking, which is our only hope for getting her in for next year and crossed my fingers (but had to uncross them to do other things, like eat and write and type and wash my hair and stuff, but they're still mentally crossed until the end of April when we'll find out if our little sweetie will get in). Then today I stopped by the office at Lulu's preschool, where they are done with registration and are actually sending out class assignments next week and said, "Oh help! I messed up. Please will you have us next year, just in case?" and they said, "Fill this out and we'll put you on the waiting list," and as long as no one else turns in a form before the end of the day, we'll be first on the waiting list and I feel good about that. Well, I feel fine, better-than-nothing about that.

So, after today, all we can do is wait for news one way or the other. But I'm not going to worry about it, and here's why:

• Worrying won't make any difference in how long we have to wait except that it will keep me from sleeping, which will make the time pass more slowly;
• Worrying won't change the outcome, what's going to happen will happen;
• We have a plan and a back-up plan and at the very least I'll be more teacher (because that kid is ready to learn), less mommy next year, which would be a back-up-back-up plan;
• I am 98% certain that the sibling guarantee will apply again to Lulu the year after next and now we know all the things we have to do to make it stick.

On a happy, braggy note, my sweetie read "The Vet" to me yesterday. It's the last book in the first set of Bob Books. So I know she can read, and she knows she can read Bob Books, and the trick is convincing her that she can read other things too, but we're working on it.

My Writing Was Featured!

Click here to read it (or try this http://writewithpictures.blogspot.com/2010/03/wednesdays-ten.html).

This Is Not What the Sunrise Looked Like this Morning

(In real-time, it's Spring-ish.)

Oh Crap

I'm an idiot, apparently. Pete goes to a magnet school here so Lulu should be guaranteed a spot next year as long as we, her parents, jump through all the right hoops and apparently I missed one. I thought I jumped through it but must have missed a step because I don't have a confirmation and Lulu's school assignment for next year, which should now match Pete's, is "unassigned" and it's too late to go back. All we can do now is apply for reassignment and wait, but the guarantee isn't guaranteed anymore. I didn't enroll her in the school she's in this year because I didn't think I needed to so now she might not have anywhere to go next year. But we won't know until late April, when it may be too late to make arrangements for her to go to a good school.

And no one can figure out what's wrong with our dog except that she's really expensive.

Check This Out

Septembermom and some of her friends have started this great blog, Write With Pictures. Every weekday they post a new photo and a writing challenge. I'm really enjoying the excuse to write a little something (I just posted about yesterday's photo). You should stop by!

Believe It Or Not

A year ago, I didn't like zucchini. Or onions. Or mushrooms or eggplant. I'm still on the fence about mushrooms and eggplant (together or separate), but since I gave up eating things that used to walk around I have discovered that... believe it or not... vegetables are yummy! A year ago, if I had told Husbandguy that I was going to become a vegetarian, he would have said, "What are you going to eat, then? You don't eat vegetables. You'll starve!" He may have actually said that 11 months ago, when I did tell him I was going to be a vegetarian. And oh how wrong he was (I think he may have been projecting, actually). Because, you see, when you can't eat the "easy" stuff, you tend to discover that the things that repelled you before are actually worth trying. That doesn't mean you're necessarily going to love them right away (see mushrooms and eggplant comment above), but for me, about 60% of the time, it does mean that. It's inspiring, really, and makes me want to try more things or things I didn't like prepared in different ways (like brussel sprouts not overcooked). And now when I tell my kids that they can't say they don't like something until they've actually tried it, I can back it up with example. My 1-year vegeversary is coming up. I'm trying to figure out how to celebrate it. I'm considering also giving up eating things that used to swim around, but that would make it really hard to eat out with my family, who all still eat things that used to have faces...

Aside: I had a fabulous beet salad when the Grandpa, HG and I went out for my birthday dinner. I don't usually like salads because of all the lettuce, but this was just beets and arugula and candied pecans and it was amazing and now I'm craving it but it's 4 hours away and I don't have any beets here...

Whatever (some randomosity fer ye)

One: Pete's teachers have been trying to get Pete into the Talent Development program at her school. You know, that little bit of extra attention for gifted students to help them not get bored (my elementary school called it the Gifted and Talented program). We found out this morning that they don't think that she's quite gifted enough. On the one hand, I think they're full of it. Because a. I'm her mom, and b. she's really bright, and c. I'm her mom. But on the other hand, I get it. She is gifted, but I am absolutely positive it wasn't completely evident to them due to the fact that a. she doesn't have a whole lot of experience with test-taking (she's a Montessori kid, after all), and b. she doesn't have particularly well-honed attention-to-details skills (she's working hard on that). But we know she needs challenges and her actual classroom teacher knows she needs challenges so even if the elitist TD people don't want her, we'll still help her develop her talents.

2: Last Sunday we started writing the Follies, which are scheduled for October 16 (mark your calendars Meme, TG, and Moomie - and anyone else...). You may recall that last year I joined the little troupe late and still managed to ROCK the show. Remember? (Click here...) Well, this year I am being all involvedy from the very beginning so it will SUPER ROCK. But not just because of me. We've got a fantastic little group of writers and a bunch of talented performers and I am all full of ideas and can't wait for our next meeting... All I'm saying is that there will be a pink flamingo neon light on stage... And that if we see Zuzu, she will probably be 8 years old...

III: "What's up with Abby?" you ask. (Go ahead and say it out loud. I'll wait...) Well, I answer, something is up. Something not good. I think, perhaps, whatever energy oversees the owner/pet relationships in our house is testing (or punishing) us due to our whole Howie screw-up (we get it - we messed up). Our poor Abby should have been spayed in December, but I opted to wait until January due to the fact that Santa went overboard, as she usually does, and Mrs. Claus was already rolling his eyes about the credit card bills. I made the appointment and everything for right after Pete's birthday, but the vet wouldn't do it because poor puppy had (what we thought was just) a urinary tract infection. So, a monthplus and half-a-dozen vet visits and a heatcycle and several$100 later, the bacteria is gone, apparently (the culture didn't grow anything), but the puppy is still full of crystals and is having accidents on the couch and in the kitchen and on the carpet (she's not allowed on the bed anymore). But there's no stone. No obvious explanation. So today they're checking her liver function. I tell you what, I am really worried about that little creature because a. her mom and both of her litter mates are dead, and b. she's ½ Maltese, a breed that is prone to liver shunts. And Mrs. Claus is rolling his eyes again about how expensive my stuff seems to be, but he gets that there's nothing I can do about it other than keep taking her to the vet to find out what's wrong. I think I'm glad we didn't have her spayed in December, now, because if something is wrong with her liver, we wouldn't have known and it could have been really dangerous to put her under. She's scheduled for spaying this Friday, though, and her doctor is still planning on doing it so maybe they can fix this other problem at the same time and everything will be the way it's supposed to be from now on... Maybe...

FORE! We're planning on putting our house back on the market next week. We're waiting to hear back from the agent, but that's our plan. So fingers crossed for us, okay?

Worst. Mom. Ever.

Poor kid. I jumped to conclusions and assumed that my sweet Pete wasn't so sweet because of what happened last month. When she got home yesterday, I asked her about the rubber bands and she denied the other child's story but couldn't tell me what had actually happened so I thought she probably did bully the child out of her rubber bands but maybe said something else that she was ashamed to tell me because she knew it was wrong.

But then...

Around 7:00 last night...

The phone rang...

And it was the other mom and she was effusively apologetic. I had emailed her about what Pete had told me, including that she had given the rubber bands back when she was asked so the other mom talked to the other kid some more about it. Guess what. The other kid made it all up!

Poor Pete. She very graciously and with great maturity accepted everyone's apologies (mine, the other kid's, the other mom's).

Then she walked in her sleep, which I think I've mentioned before, she seems to do mainly when she's overly stressed. I felt terrible. Yep. Worst. Mom. Ever. Yesterday...

Bully Bully

Sigh... What am I going to do with that kid?

I got a note from a mom-friend of mine. Her girls ride the bus with my Pete. She said that the cool rubber bands Pete brought home on Friday actually belong to her 5 year-old. Pete told us all weekend that the girl had given them to her, but it turns out, according to the mom-friend, that she gave them to Pete after Pete threatened her.

Hey! you say. How can you just take the word of this mom (and other child) without talking to Pete?

And I answer, I'm planning on asking Pete what happened, but given her history, I suspect it's true. Plus, the girl didn't tell her mom about it until the mom overheard her talking to her sister about it.

You say, What history?

Last month I got a call from the assistant principal at Pete's school because Pete had gotten a little boy thrown off the bus by telling him to hit and then bite another child. Pete confirmed the story when I asked her. Of course the kid was at fault for doing those things, but Pete told him to. She was lucky not to have also been suspended from the bus. I'm still not sure why she wasn't, actually. And in kindergarten she was included in a group that the school psychologist led of children learning all about what it means to be a bully. And there was a mom who refused to talk to me ever but I didn't find out that her problem with me was that Pete picked on her daughter until they had moved her daughter to another school (not just because of Pete, I don't think), and then I had to hear it from another parent.

I feel really clueless.

I am so embarrassed.

I'm at a loss...

Sigh... This isn't over.