What the h-e-double hockey sticks has happened? I mean, my goodness, it's already the end of November!!
I don't know about you, but my life has been a bit nutzo lately. Between the kids' activities, schoolwork, holidays and vacation, I hardly have a minute to breathe! And since when does a 5th grader need hours of homework every night? Don't even get me started on the amount of make-up work he has been given after we took a 2 week vacation. Oy! If I had known the extent of the work he's expected to make up, I might have reconsidered our vacation.
Since I didn't know, however, I'm so very glad we went. Where did we go? If any of you reading this know me personally, you already know... HAWAII! Maui, actually. I'm embarrassed (slightly) to say that this was my 7th trip to the Hawaiian islands. More embarrassing than that is that my children have already been to various Hawaiian islands 3 times already in their short little lives. How lucky is that?!
I think we might be spoiling them a little.
I swear I was meant to live in weather that good. The temperature when we got home... mid-40's. Which means, of course, that those great tan lines I got while there were lost on all my friends, since I was covered from head to toe in nearly all my clothing to keep warm.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, spending it with friends, family, or whomever you find the most comfort in. May the holiday season bring you joy and beauty, and may your stress levels stay at sea level. *wink*
Showing posts with label Hawaii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawaii. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 29
Tuesday, January 25
Welcome, 2011!
Sorry I've been MIA for a while. The family took a lovely trip to Hawaii right after Christmas, just me and the hubs, and our 2 little ones. It was DEVINE!!! I could spend the rest of my days in that warm, tropical weather. For those of you still stuck in the doldrums of winter, here's a little something to remind you of better days...
And yes, that chair is still there on the beach, waiting for you to sit your butt down and relax in the warm breezes. :-) I love you all that much.
Now that we're back to reality, things are crazy as ever. The kids are way behind on homework, as their teachers didn't send any with us to do while on vacation. I know they mean well, but I'd rather have my kids do a little homework on vacation than to have so much extra to do after we get back. As my son said, "I wish we hadn't even gone to Hawaii! I have so much extra homework now, I hate it!" Can ya blame him?
My PFA (Parent-Faculty Association) duties at my kids' school is heating up, as we are in the early planning stages of a first-ever art auction. There has been some disagreement as to how the actual auction portion of the evening will go forward. Oddly, when I tell people they are welcome to join the committee to help plan the event, they all say they're too busy. It's so easy to complain, isn't it? So, I have one group who thinks I should have the authority to tell the woman chairing this event how it should be done. Personally, I don't like the idea of micro-managing people, especially when they stepped up to take on a large project, and have a personal vested interest in it going well. And I'm always a bit amazed at how quickly we adults turn juvenile. By that I mean, we hate to have direct conflict, so we turn to the "adult" or person in charge to see if they can fight our battles for us. As the elected "adult" of the year, I'm choosing to be Switzerland. We'll see how that turns out.
In other news (probably more relevant to your life), I see the House of Representatives in Washington DC have voted to repeal health care reform. Nice. While I never thought this "reform" was perfect, it is a start. And we should all be able to agree that we need to do something.
My State Superintendant of Public Instruction has unveiled a sweeping, radical reform plan for public education. Wow! I haven't been able to get my hands on many specifics, but this is baaaaaaad, folks. Requiring 2 online courses per year starting at 9th grade, giving every student 9th and up a new laptop, increasing class sizes by 1.5 starting at 4th grade. (This will actually increase class sizes by 3-5 at least per class, as he uses some fuzzy math to determine the current class size.) I'm not saying we shouldn't be having a discussion about the future role of our schools, and how best to serve our kiddos, but this is a HUGE change all at once. And of course, he uses the "state taxpayers have spoken, and they don't want their taxes increased" line. Bullpucky! Nearly every parent I know would much rather pay a bit more in taxes than to completely overhaul the educational system in one foul swoop. The worst part about this whole thing to me, is that this elected official (don't even get me started) in our reddest of red states, has absolutely no educational experience!! That's right, folks. We the people have blindly elected a Republican (twice!) that has no education experience, and "earned" his degree online in, are you ready for this, weights and measures! And now he thinks we are going to trust him to completely change the way we educated kids. Madness!
It should be an interesting few months here. I'll be biting my tongue-- alot! I may be venting my frustrations here, though, as it's the only place I can tell my real feelings without crossing a line.
I know budgets all over the country are not looking good. So, what cuts are your states thinking of making that just plain don't make sense to you? What things do you think we can do, as citizens, to make our voices heard and help shape the future of our states? I'm all ears, and would love to hear your ideas on making our world a better place.
Kisses!
Sorry I've been MIA for a while. The family took a lovely trip to Hawaii right after Christmas, just me and the hubs, and our 2 little ones. It was DEVINE!!! I could spend the rest of my days in that warm, tropical weather. For those of you still stuck in the doldrums of winter, here's a little something to remind you of better days...
And yes, that chair is still there on the beach, waiting for you to sit your butt down and relax in the warm breezes. :-) I love you all that much.
Now that we're back to reality, things are crazy as ever. The kids are way behind on homework, as their teachers didn't send any with us to do while on vacation. I know they mean well, but I'd rather have my kids do a little homework on vacation than to have so much extra to do after we get back. As my son said, "I wish we hadn't even gone to Hawaii! I have so much extra homework now, I hate it!" Can ya blame him?
My PFA (Parent-Faculty Association) duties at my kids' school is heating up, as we are in the early planning stages of a first-ever art auction. There has been some disagreement as to how the actual auction portion of the evening will go forward. Oddly, when I tell people they are welcome to join the committee to help plan the event, they all say they're too busy. It's so easy to complain, isn't it? So, I have one group who thinks I should have the authority to tell the woman chairing this event how it should be done. Personally, I don't like the idea of micro-managing people, especially when they stepped up to take on a large project, and have a personal vested interest in it going well. And I'm always a bit amazed at how quickly we adults turn juvenile. By that I mean, we hate to have direct conflict, so we turn to the "adult" or person in charge to see if they can fight our battles for us. As the elected "adult" of the year, I'm choosing to be Switzerland. We'll see how that turns out.
In other news (probably more relevant to your life), I see the House of Representatives in Washington DC have voted to repeal health care reform. Nice. While I never thought this "reform" was perfect, it is a start. And we should all be able to agree that we need to do something.
My State Superintendant of Public Instruction has unveiled a sweeping, radical reform plan for public education. Wow! I haven't been able to get my hands on many specifics, but this is baaaaaaad, folks. Requiring 2 online courses per year starting at 9th grade, giving every student 9th and up a new laptop, increasing class sizes by 1.5 starting at 4th grade. (This will actually increase class sizes by 3-5 at least per class, as he uses some fuzzy math to determine the current class size.) I'm not saying we shouldn't be having a discussion about the future role of our schools, and how best to serve our kiddos, but this is a HUGE change all at once. And of course, he uses the "state taxpayers have spoken, and they don't want their taxes increased" line. Bullpucky! Nearly every parent I know would much rather pay a bit more in taxes than to completely overhaul the educational system in one foul swoop. The worst part about this whole thing to me, is that this elected official (don't even get me started) in our reddest of red states, has absolutely no educational experience!! That's right, folks. We the people have blindly elected a Republican (twice!) that has no education experience, and "earned" his degree online in, are you ready for this, weights and measures! And now he thinks we are going to trust him to completely change the way we educated kids. Madness!
It should be an interesting few months here. I'll be biting my tongue-- alot! I may be venting my frustrations here, though, as it's the only place I can tell my real feelings without crossing a line.
I know budgets all over the country are not looking good. So, what cuts are your states thinking of making that just plain don't make sense to you? What things do you think we can do, as citizens, to make our voices heard and help shape the future of our states? I'm all ears, and would love to hear your ideas on making our world a better place.
Kisses!
Thursday, July 8
We're baaaack!
Yep, back to reality around here. I'm not sure I ever wanted to leave the beauty of the Florida Keys. I mean, would you want to leave this?
I didn't think so!
As far as we could tell, there was no sign up any oil or tar on the beaches or ocean surrounding Southern Florida. Who knows if that'll last, but for now things are as gorgeous as they've always been. So, if you're jonesin' for a trip down South, get your behind in gear and get down there! The locals are in desperate need for the tourists to come hang out for a while, and you'll be given all the hospitality they can muster.
After a ton of relaxing and hanging out, coming home was very disorienting. We went from all the chaos of end-of-school doings, to absolutely nothing, to "what on Earth are we going to do with the rest of the summer?" Oh, and don't forget the ever-popular "I'm bored, and there's nothing to do and no one to play with." (Love that one!)
It's been an adjustment for us all. And after spending 2 glorious weeks in the tropics, and all that togetherness, my husband and I are jonesin' for some Hawaii time. This, I realize, is both sad and horrible. I mean, we got to spend 2 weeks enjoying the warmth and beauty of South Florida. We may never get to visit again. There was ocean, beaches, and warm breezes caressing our skin. (As well as some amazingly quick no-see-ums that ate us alive one night going from the car to the hotel!) But there's one thing about the Florida Keys that we weren't aware of before we visited-- it is most definitely a boat culture. Not alot of soft, warm, sandy beaches to be had there. Tons of seashells! Especially on Sanibel Island, where there's so many shells, there IS no sand! (If you ever go visit there, you MUST go to Pinocchio's and have the Sanibel Crunch ice cream! Delish!)
See, I love Hawaii. It's laid back, mellow, gorgeous, and if all I want to do is read a book and lay on the beach, no one thinks that's weird. I suppose no one in Florida thought that was weird, either, but the vibe just isn't the same. I drug my husband to Maui for our honeymoon, much to his shagrin. He wanted to fish in Alaska. For our HONEYMOON!! Anyhoo, ever since that trip, he's a complete convert. We plan nearly every vacation around the ocean and beach, and have been lucky enough to visit Hawaii and most of it's islands already. This coming January, we'll be taking our kids with us to the Big Island. Lots to do, and yet, we can just hang out at the beach and I'd consider that a successful vacation. I feel a bit guilty extending our holiday vacation after the kids are supposed to be back in school, but not guilty enough to change our plans. :-0
This is by no means an ad for vacations in Florida or Hawaii. (Although, if I did get compensated for doing such a thing, that'd be great!) This is, however, a gentle nudge to get you to think about where you'd like to visit. Is it the beauty of the coast? Or maybe the vastness of the open range? Whatever you dream about, take the time to make a plan. Don't wait until the kids are gone, or you've got more money saved up, or you're retired and have time. I've seen more people than I can count say those exact things, and as soon as they finally decide they're ready to hit the road, something dreadful happens and the best laid plans are toast.
After any illness, most people re-evaluate what's important to them. My husband and I decided we really wanted to travel-- alot! Since my diagnosis, we've been to Disneyland 4 times, Disneyworld once, Hawaii, Florida, and Paris. (My husband's been to Costa Rica and the Caribbean without me, but that's a longer story for another post.) We've visited family, and saw Jimmy Buffett live on Waikiki. Our savings account may be less than we'd like it, but we have so many stories and experiences that we don't mind so much. Life is for living, and hopefully we'll be able to live life out loud!
I didn't think so!
As far as we could tell, there was no sign up any oil or tar on the beaches or ocean surrounding Southern Florida. Who knows if that'll last, but for now things are as gorgeous as they've always been. So, if you're jonesin' for a trip down South, get your behind in gear and get down there! The locals are in desperate need for the tourists to come hang out for a while, and you'll be given all the hospitality they can muster.
After a ton of relaxing and hanging out, coming home was very disorienting. We went from all the chaos of end-of-school doings, to absolutely nothing, to "what on Earth are we going to do with the rest of the summer?" Oh, and don't forget the ever-popular "I'm bored, and there's nothing to do and no one to play with." (Love that one!)
It's been an adjustment for us all. And after spending 2 glorious weeks in the tropics, and all that togetherness, my husband and I are jonesin' for some Hawaii time. This, I realize, is both sad and horrible. I mean, we got to spend 2 weeks enjoying the warmth and beauty of South Florida. We may never get to visit again. There was ocean, beaches, and warm breezes caressing our skin. (As well as some amazingly quick no-see-ums that ate us alive one night going from the car to the hotel!) But there's one thing about the Florida Keys that we weren't aware of before we visited-- it is most definitely a boat culture. Not alot of soft, warm, sandy beaches to be had there. Tons of seashells! Especially on Sanibel Island, where there's so many shells, there IS no sand! (If you ever go visit there, you MUST go to Pinocchio's and have the Sanibel Crunch ice cream! Delish!)
See, I love Hawaii. It's laid back, mellow, gorgeous, and if all I want to do is read a book and lay on the beach, no one thinks that's weird. I suppose no one in Florida thought that was weird, either, but the vibe just isn't the same. I drug my husband to Maui for our honeymoon, much to his shagrin. He wanted to fish in Alaska. For our HONEYMOON!! Anyhoo, ever since that trip, he's a complete convert. We plan nearly every vacation around the ocean and beach, and have been lucky enough to visit Hawaii and most of it's islands already. This coming January, we'll be taking our kids with us to the Big Island. Lots to do, and yet, we can just hang out at the beach and I'd consider that a successful vacation. I feel a bit guilty extending our holiday vacation after the kids are supposed to be back in school, but not guilty enough to change our plans. :-0
This is by no means an ad for vacations in Florida or Hawaii. (Although, if I did get compensated for doing such a thing, that'd be great!) This is, however, a gentle nudge to get you to think about where you'd like to visit. Is it the beauty of the coast? Or maybe the vastness of the open range? Whatever you dream about, take the time to make a plan. Don't wait until the kids are gone, or you've got more money saved up, or you're retired and have time. I've seen more people than I can count say those exact things, and as soon as they finally decide they're ready to hit the road, something dreadful happens and the best laid plans are toast.
After any illness, most people re-evaluate what's important to them. My husband and I decided we really wanted to travel-- alot! Since my diagnosis, we've been to Disneyland 4 times, Disneyworld once, Hawaii, Florida, and Paris. (My husband's been to Costa Rica and the Caribbean without me, but that's a longer story for another post.) We've visited family, and saw Jimmy Buffett live on Waikiki. Our savings account may be less than we'd like it, but we have so many stories and experiences that we don't mind so much. Life is for living, and hopefully we'll be able to live life out loud!
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