Fragmented thoughts on a Friday

It is Friday and you know what that means! It is another edition of Friday Fragments. Mrs. 4444 over at http://www.halfpastkissintime.com/ is the grand marshal of this parade of randomness. Make sure you check out the other participants.

Everytime I clean out the lint trap in my dryer, I am amazed at how much stuff is there. Am I the only one who wonders why we still have clothes? I always think that some day, I will open the dryer and it will be empty because all of the clothes dissolved into that big mass of lint.

In my current hometown, they hold trick or treating on October 30th. Apparently they have done this forever and a day. Isn't that strange? No one seems to know why it isn't held on the 31st. Just that "it has always been done this way". Not that it really matters as we never get trick or treaters. I think the most I have ever gotten was 10 - mostly because I told people to make sure they stopped by with their children.

I got a call from the school nurse today. First thing she said to me was "they are dropping like flies". I had to go get my son at school because he had a slight fever. He went to her office to get a cough drop and she took his temperature. With all of the flu going around, they have zero tolerance for anything. I have to say, I think that is a good idea. His temp was only 99 but I would rather catch it early. Our school has been overrun with what they are calling influenza like illness. The paper referred to it as ILI. Where do they come up with these things?

That's all, Folks.

Here's to randomness.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I have been so busy lately that I have only had a chance to think about blogging in passing. It is 11:00 Saturday night and my husband is off to pick up the kiddo and I am taking advantage of these few quiet moments to throw something together.

The Good......

- My husband's cousin and her husband were visiting from Mississippi this past week. i hadn't even met them until a couple of years ago but I really enjoy their company. This year, we promised to take them into Boston for a day. What a glorious day we had. We decided to walk the Freedom Trail. The weather was perfect! We ended up skipping the last stop (Bunker Hill) and took the water taxi from the USS Constitution back to Fanieul Hall. You know, I have lived about 75 minutes from Boston for 26 years and this was the first time that I have ever walked the Freedom Trail. It was the first time on the water taxi too. Isn't it funny how we never do the tourist things until we have someone to take with us?

-My son had plans this evening. We were visiting his grandparents next door, he left early, went home and got ready and then drove the car down. I am really enjoying him having his permit!

-My husband installed Windows 7 on my laptop. It installed very easily and so far, I really like it. Usually when we upgrade something, another function breaks down. So far, so good. I have my fingers crossed (which is making typing much more difficult.)

The Bad.....

-We have a vocal few residents who are pushing to close our high school and have our town tuition out our high school students to another school district. While this would have some benefits (an increased course selection), I believe that it would have a lot of negative effects also. Class sizes would increase significantly, it would be much harder for our students to participate in many activities, the distance from our school could easily result in 2 hours on the school bus each day OR our teenage drivers traveling a very busy and dangerous road and we would have no voice in their education. The savings that they are spouting about has not been verified and I have been told by various people that it is simply not accurate. All of the people pushing to close our school are people who moved into our town knowing the small size of the high school. If you don't like it now, pick a new town. Many people moved to this town because of the small school department. The good news is that I attended a meeting less than a week ago that was advertised by facebook and word of mouth. On a rainy Sunday night, 40-50 residents showed up to say they support our school. I looked around the room and thought "Yup. These are the people that I want to go into battle with. They are the people that make things happen in our small town." I have been tied up writing petition and fact sheets, ordering buttons, writing letters to the editor and planning strategies. Phew.

and The Ugly.....

I got a phone call a little over a week ago from the high school principal. I figured it was because of the fight we were mounting to save the school. Imagine my shock when she told me that a notebook had been found in the school with "disturbing" comments - and my son (and other classmate) was named. Gulp. They know who wrote it but they can't tell us who or what he said. In fact, they didn't even say it was a boy - although I put that together since. All they said was that the writings were disturbing, the police had been called and that while they didn't think it was anything to worry about, they had to let me know. The good news here is that our high school is small enough that the principal knows my son personally, knows who he hangs out with and knows that he has no interaction with this other kid. The bad news - to me anyway - is that they couldn't tell me anything. No name to tell my son to stay away from, no idea of what the threat was so I can tell my son what to watch out for, nothing at all. I understand privacy issues but, gee, isn't my son's right to safety as important as the other kid's right to privacy? I ran into the principal in person and she did tell me that the kid had been removed from school and "probably will not be returning". Huh? He has been removed for good because of what he wrote?!?! Needless to say, that shook all of us up!! I called the police and got more of the same. Although, the first officer did tell me that they didn't consider it to be a serious threat. He had a detective call me back - the husband of the high school principal (the joys of a small town). He also said he couldn't tell me much but did tell me that the kid was away for treatment. He said that they were well aware of this kid at the police department, that he had done many things over the years but that he had never targeted my son or the other student before. He told me that they took the safety of all of the residents very seriously and that he did not feel my son was in danger. Basically, we are operating in the dark and being asked to trust everyone else. As a control freak, that is difficult but I am trying.

Now I am off to read everyone else's blog. I am happy to be back!

Here's to finally posting.

Once again, it is another edition of Thankful Thursday. Thursday is the day I pause and reflect on how very fortunate I am. There is usually something big or small to be thankful for and we all feel better when we accentuate the positive. I hope you will consider joining me. Mighty Mom has joined our thankful party. Go over and check out her Wonderful Life!

I am thankful that I passed my karate test this week. Orange is my new favorite color!

I have season tickets to a local theater and the season starts tonight. I am thankful that I have a wonderful friend to go to these plays with. We go out to dinner first and it is a very enjoyable evening.

I am thankful that I have a super sized weekend to look forward to. I have Monday off so I decided to really stretch things out and take tomorrow off too. My husband and son also have tomorrow off so we are going to do something fun.

I am thankful for my facebook and bloggie friends. I was bombarded with birthday wishes. It was great to hear from so many old (and I mean old!) friends.

I am thankful that my husband and son are meeting with the music teacher today to talk about the possible eagle project. He is on his way!

I am thankful that I got my car fixed this week and the cost was $125 less than the first estimate we received.

I am thankful that I live in New England where the foliage is so beautiful.

I am thankful that the Red Sox made the playoffs so I have more games to watch. What will I do with the extra time when the season is over?

I am thankful that I live in the United States where we all take our freedom for granted.

What are you thankful for today?

Here's to everything wonderful!

Mastercard Moment

I have always enjoyed the commercials with the credit card where they list the cost of everything and then point out that the memories are priceless. That was my day yesterday:

Tickets to a Red Sox game - $150.
Parking near Fenway - $35.
Snacks at the game - $20.
A teenager saying he had a great time - PRICELESS

For my birthday, my husband and son got me tickets to the Red Sox as I have turned into an avid fan. It was a wonderful day. My son took the day off of work (and didn't complain once!) and we traveled to Boston. The weather was great, our seats were awesome, the sox won and the company was enjoyable!

What what your most recent Mastercard moment?

Here's to birthday presents that rock!

Finally - Fragmented Friday

It is Friday and you know what that means! It is another edition of Friday Fragments. Mrs. 4444 over at http://www.halfpastkissintime.com/ is the Principal of the School of Random Thoughts. Your homework assignment today is to check out the other ones going to her school.

I have slept well three nights in a row. Let me say that again. THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW. For someone who doesn't normally sleep well three nights in two weeks, that is a huge deal. Gigantic even. It has made such a difference in how may days have been going.

I used to really enjoy watching "Jon & Kate plus 8". I loved the interaction between Jon and Kate in the confessionals because the little comments seemed so real. Ever since the announced divorce and the "he said/she said", I have decided to boycott the show. I just can't support such bad behavior. The sad thing is that it is the kids that will pay the price. I support that Jon wants the show off the air but do question his motivation. Whatever. Just GO AWAY and take care of the "plus 8".

One of my friends (a friend of the "because we have children the same grade in high school" variety not of the "I would give you the shirt off of my back" variety) asked me before school started about one of the graduation requirements for our sons. I remembered reading that they had upped the health requirement from 1/2 year to a full year a couple of years ago but went online to the school website and confirmed the requirement and sent her my answer. She told me that I should ask my son's guidance counselor because she said the other guidance counselor at the school said it was only 1/2 credit. To humor her, I did. I received several "did you get a response yet?" inquiries from her but did get the answer that yes, indeed, there is a full year requirement. The counselor said that she verified it with the principal. Last week, I got another email saying that she had a meeting with the principal who told her it was 1/2 year and that it had been a typo in the program book for 2 years about it being 1 full year. I emailed the principal who quickly emailed me back asking me why I was asking about a typo but that the requirement was, indeed, a full year. My friend is apparently very upset about this. Seriously, is this really something important enough to get your knickers in a twist about? Her son is a sophomore and will have plenty time to take one more 1/2 credit class. It was in the book last year and this year and the counselor told me that she had reviewed all of the graduation requirements with all of the students last year. What is the big freakin' deal? This is the same woman who told me that the topics in Algebra II class her daughter was taking was the same as a regular Algebra II class in the eyes of colleges. I knew from the teacher who created it that it wasn't and tried to tell her that but she wouldn't listen. The next year, her daughter had to take the real Algebra II class because colleges wouldn't accept it. Gee, maybe going to open houses, teachers conferences and reading the program of studies book isn't a waste of time like she always says? Just sayin'.

My son is really being challenged academically this year. It has been interesting and a bit sad to watch. Suddenly he is doing hours of homework and isn't getting automatic As on all of his tests. It has been interesting to see how he is dealing with this and a bit sad to watch when he gets frustrated. He had a mini-meltdown one evening this week as was very overwhelmed with the amount of homework he had and he couldn't find one of his assignments. He took a deep breath and started working on another assignment while his father and I scoured the house. My husband (whose Indian name would be "Finder-of-all-things") located the missing paper. By this time, he had calmed down and we talked about some strategies he could use in managing the work load. I have seen a significant reduction in his stress level this week as he is using some of the techniques and they seem to be working. Last evening he and another student got together and worked on their AP Calculas assignment. He said they figured it out together and he was very excited about his understanding. It was cool to see the other student posting on facebook that my son had been a big help to him. I am very impressed that the other students do not think twice about asking for help or asking to study with the sophomore in the class. I am not sure we wouldn't have just ignored him back when I was in high school.

That's all I have for this school edition of Friday Fragments. Don't forget to do your homework and check out the other Friday Fragmenters over at Mrs. FFFF's.

Here's to Fragmented thoughts.

Thankful Thursday

Once again, it is another edition of Thankful Thursday. Thursday is the day I pause and reflect on how very fortunate I am. Even on those days when I wonder why I bother to get up in the morning, there is usually something big or small to be thankful for. Here is the time that I remind myself of that. I hope you will consider joining me. Mighty Mom has joined our thankful party. Go over and check out her Wonderful Life!

My thankful list (in no particular order) is:


Today the boss is providing lunch for the office. He does it once a month. This time, he is actually making us lunch and lobster rolls are on the menu. Yum!

My husband and son bought me Red Sox tickets for my birthday. We will be at the last regular season game on Sunday. Go Sox!

My son is taking the day of off work to spend my birthday with me. Of course, the above-referenced Red Sox tickets helped.

It is getting cooler in the evenings so I didn't overheat at karate on Tuesday. It makes class much more enjoyable if I don't throw-up. I am sure my fellow students would agree. (It has happened twice - yuck!)

That there are people in my community willing to question if closing our high school and sending our students to a neighboring school really will be in the best interest of our students. They are looking beyond the dollars and cents at what is best for the children.

That we were able to save our largest account this week. It was a lot of work but we won!

That I had such a fun time with my high school classmates this past weekend.

That one of my GNO friends took the time to drop me a card thanking me for my friendship. It made my day.

That my son has his eagle project selected. He will need to get the approvals but he has found something that he is interested in doing that will make a difference in the high school.

That my son and I are both starting to feel better.

What are you thankful for today?

Here's to appreciating all the good things.