What does a 2 inch spider, a tick, a black unidentified thing, and an incredibly fat beetle have in common?

All have been on me or VERY close to me in the past 12 hours. 

Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At our baseball practice tonight I heard a few stories about the local schools.  I'm shocked, sad, and 100% glad my kids are at home with me. 

I really felt for the people I was with tonight.  1 was a teacher and 2 were subs.  One other man worked in the schools or his wife did.  Not sure which.  They seemed helpless.  In a dispairing kinda way.  Here is a sample of the long conversation between the teachers, parents and me.

1.  The sexual acts that are going on in the hallways are out of control.  Not just kissing anymore.  Seriously.  She said they may as well be having sex!  This sub said she just doesn't know what to do about it when she sees it.  You can tell them to go to their class, but that doesn't take care of the problem.  She really seemed in despair about it.  I told her that there wasn't a whole lot she could do.  These are morals heart issues.  It made me sad to hear the story.

2.  unoccupied rooms must be locked during the day or whenever they aren't in use to prevent kids from having sex in them.  What shocks me is that this is actually a big enough problem that it had to be addressed in such a way. 

3.  The principal having a list of which students are to report directly to his office upon arriving at school in order to prove they are wearing underwear under their mini-skirts.  I have no idea how they prove this.

4.  The teacher stated that it's very hard because the government expects the kids to reach a certain level at a certain time without taking into account that kids are individuals and learn at different speeds in different ways.  Like they expect them to be robots.  She couldn't seem to find the right words for it.  I said, "Like they're on an assembly line being mass produced?" She said yes.

I asked them to tell me the good stories.  We all agreed that the bad experiences become cemented in our heads, but they didn't come up with any.  Except that they as teachers are trying.  I could tell they wanted to.  One said that the government has so many stipulations placed on them that they can't do it effectively.  It made me sad.  To see so many teachers feel helpless.  To know there is something down in there that's telling them, "this isn't right" and there isn't much they can do, even though they want to.  *sigh*  Made me glad to have mine home. 

By the way, I live in a small town.  It happens just as much here.  My heart goes out to the teachers and administraters who want to make a difference, make a change, and just can't.  I feel for you.

1.  Roll out of bed having been miraculously cleaned, shampooed and all, during the night.  Oh and my hair is looking spiffy too.

2.  Socks that static cling themselves to their God given match in the dryer. 

3.  "Wow, mom/sweatheart!  Thank you so much!"

4.  The real exsistence of a Laundry Fairy.  The Tooth Fairy gets too much attention.

5.  Thinking burns at least 100 calories an hour.  More if your really pondering.

6.  A rewind button for my life player.

7.  And  finally, no bras.  I would have made a great hippie in that department.

Does anyone else feel that ABC's Miracle Workers show is over the top?  I have watched every episode and there is something about it that doesn't feel right to me.  Don't get me wrong.  I feel for the families and individuals.  Their problems are real and deserve attention.  It's the way the show is presented that bothers me.

By the second show, I noticed how often the host, a doctor, seemed to use many emotionally charged words and phrases.  I got the feeling that he was repeating these words just for the purpose of the emotional response of the audience.  How many times does one need to repeat phrases like, "Now, if this is off even a fraction of an inch, he could bleed out and die, right?"  I mean, come on.  The guy just doesn't seem sincere.

Commodore Brillianbones made a comment about the blond nurse on Monday night. "Where do the nurses that look like her work at?  I've never seen a nurse that looks that good!" (actually, I'm pretty sure he's just sheltered!) BUT...the camera did seem to spend an unusual amount of time on her, not the patient, while she was bending over in her rather loose fitting tank top--showing a very clear amount of skin and breast lines!  The camera could have centered on her face but, abviously chose to place her face at the top of the sceen so they could fit that unnecessary chest shot in.  You couldn't help but look at it!

I will probably still watch it.  The only channel I get is ABC.  I like wife swap (to a point!). I love super nanny and the miracle worker show is on right after these.  But, it doesn't get my five starts.  There is just something exaggerated and overdone about it.

Still trying to figure out how to keep the font at a consistant size.  Thank you Kelli in TN for letting me know!

On the news tonight there was a tragic story of man drowning after falling though the ice in his car.  Read the incredibly shortened version here.  The news reporters said things like, "this is what we see when conditions are not optimal for driving on the ice."  Huh?  Since when do we even LOOK for optimal conditions to drive on ice?  They also said, "in order for ice to be safe for cars and trucks it needs to be at least 10 to 12 inches thick."  My question is, why would the ice NEED to be safe enough to drive on?  Are we not capable of using roads?  Is this too much of an inconvenience?  We need to cut across to save time or something?  Not once did the news tell viewers that it would be a better idea to stay off the ice at this point, since it has been so warm here.  AND not once did they mention that it would be better not to take a car or truck onto the ice at all! 

This is the nightly news that so many people trust for accurate information and yet they fail in providing us with sound information in this basic case.  Well, these seem to be our times and I would strongly caution anyone who puts too much trust in the media.  Just another example of the ignorance America seems to be suffering from.

On the other hand, maybe there is a legitimate reason for driving on ice.  But, I don't know what it is. 

Well, I guess I have a blog now.

I feel so very important. 

As my husband rolled his eyes and said, "Now you have one too?" I thought, why am I doing this?  I think I figured out my answer.

To keep my family up-to-date on the going-on's in our house and school

I really want to keep everyone up to date on things that the kids are doing in school and sports.  I want them to know that my kids do well in some areas and struggle in others. I think that as a homeschooler, I feel a need to prove that we are wonderful, but the reality is, we are just normal. Sometimes I feel like people expect us to be one of two things: Fruitcakes or far above normal.  Well, sometimes we're both!  But, families do seem to be more concerned when you homeschool.  They want to be sure that the kids are *okay* and learning something.  So this is my chance to keep everyone up-to-date.  If I can keep up with this blog.

To write my general thoughts about things.  I have opinions, good days, bad days, "people irritate me days", etc.  Also just random thoughts like--I think I have a good theory on why orientals take so many pictues!  I tend to vent this all to my husband when he is home (which isn't every day, so it all builds up) and I'm wondering if I write it all out, maybe it will be out of my system and I won't feel the need to dump it all on him at the end of the week. 

A DISCLAIMER ON MY OPINIONS:  I do not feel that I am a well read person.  I'm trying.  Many of my thoughts are random and NOT logical.  I don't want to try and be logical all the time.  I also don't want to feel as though I must censor myself, however, my son may be reading this (and my mother too! Hi, Mom!) so I will try to use words that are generally acceptable.  And last--my spelling and grammar sucks (a generally accepted word?) so from this point on, please excuse it and accept it.  Thanks!