Crash! Bang!

Well, today I crashed my car (accidentally of course) into another car on Howell Avenue in Oak Creek.  I didn't mean it! It was an accident!!  I was a dumb-ass and I just merged over to the turn lane without looking.

The lady I hit was pretty mad.  She came out yelling. 

We pulled over to exchange information and she was still yelling about her new car and the big dent I put in it.  I cried. (of course. When don't I cry, you might be asking yourself!)  I really didn't want her to call the police (single income family, cost of a ticket, insurance hikes blah blah blah and more tears) But she called the cops and the Oak Creek officer arrived, he was the nicest, most patient and cool officer I've ever met.

He reassured me that "accidents happen". Of course, I heard another being called in as we spoke.  I wasn't the only dumb-ass today.  That was reassuring.  I have been stopped by so many police officers who have intimidated me, been annoyed with me, been on a power trip with me... but not this one.

He told me that he had to write me a citation but that he'd give me the cheapest one that he could.  Turns out dangerous lane change is cheaper than inattentive driving.  Go figure.  At any rate, he was so courteous and well...good at serving and protecting that I came away from the whole experience feeling like I'd learned a very important lesson: Never merge before you look!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving.

I gotta say, when Tad and I first dropped one income so he could go to school, all I could think about was budgets and badgercare, foodstamps and lack... but We're four months in and I think we're doing really wonderfully.

Here's what I'm thankful for:

I'm thankful to have a husband/partner/friend who knows that even though it seems weird, stopping to get me get a white chocolate peppermint mocha on the way to Thanksgiving at his parents house (even though the kids are antsy and loud in the backseat and we all just want to get there already) will help my frame of mind as much as stiff shot of booze-ahol would for some other Milwaukeeans

I'm thankful to have a son who, in the midst of a mother-son argument about Lucy's spilled milk and the cleanup process thereof, provides the amazingly hilarious comic relief of going over to ask "Is this the troublesome bump?" (that his daddy was referring to--the troublesome bump being a lump of napkins placed under the tablecloth where the spill was, to keep it from staining the table), nearly knocking over yet another cup of milk in the process. 

I'm thankful to have a daughter who wakes up on Thanskgiving day, proclaiming, "Mommy made two pumpkin pies! One for me and one for Coen!" And also at the Thanksgiving party at Tad's cousins, ran upstairs from where she was playing in the basement at least twenty times just to give me a hug and run back down.

I'm thankful to live in a really great neighborhood where my neighbors lend us ladders and sugar and we, in return, lend eggs and butter sticks. And we all keep track of each other's children and play in each other's piles of leaves.

I'm thankful that my family is having a second Thanksgiving today which means I get to do it all over again with my own mom and dad and sister and her family.  And that during this second thanksgiving we will laugh more than anything else.

I'm thankful that my son (and next year my daughter) go to a school where we have a community feast on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and it is full of Montessori educated children and parents who are supportive and present in their kids lives and their kids school.

I'm thankful that I really like my life and all the people in it.

Happy Thanksgiving and peace out everyone!!

Spirit Week

One of the many things I love about Tad is that he does not allow for things to become dull.  Ever.  So, he's in school right now, and this is not to say that he finds this dull. In fact, I have not seen him more interested, challenged and into what he's doing in a long time!  But school does require a lot of lecture, and lecture requires a lot of note taking.  And Tad noticed, that, like himself, a lot of his cohort was getting a bit restless, a bit down in the doldrums if you will.  So, what did Tad do? He instituted SPIRIT WEEK!  Spirit Week--in a graduate level Montessori certificate program! Come on! How can you not love this man?  Monday was "Everyone wear blue" and Tad felt a bit despondent after that day as there are so many shades of blue, it seemed to go unnoticed by his teachers.  I encouraged him to keep spirit week going. Tuesday was switch seats day, Wednesday was hat day, Thursday was sweet and salty snack day. And then Friday was the grand finale. This is where I came in.  The matching clothes thing seemed so fun, but as we found out with just picking a color, there are too many shades to really look conformed!  SO...luckily my father is in the junk peddling business (as he calls it) and he had some lovely leftover goldenrod colored t-shirts that a client did not want.  But I did not see it as good enough just to have everyone show up in a goldenrod t-shirt.  So I printed a black and white photo of Maria Montessori, copied it onto fabric printer sheets, cut them into squares and sewed 21 Maria Montessori T-Shirts!  Look at them! Aren't they adorable.  As I was sewing these patches for two hours, I thought to myself, 'one might interpret me as a bit insane putting all this time into a whimsy, a fun little idea....' But then I thought, 'I AM insane. And that's okay, I like myself that way.'  And readers, I encourage you, wherever you work or learn or spend your days: Institute a Spirit Week.  It is a lot of fun!  Happy spirit week!

Two of the worst things I can think of: Insurance companies and dentists (mostly insurance companies)

Now, I have no problem with dentists as people, in fact, I think it's a very important job that they do. But I despise going to the dentist. Seriously. I must be one of the worst dental patients out there. I squirm. I whine. I whimper.  It's bad.

So, insurance will pay for your dental visits every six months. Conversely, dentists peer pressure you to come every six months.  I sometimes try skipping a year or two. But then do they ever let me have it at the dentist's office!  And how! 

I am trying not to pass this fear on to my children and so far so good with Coen. Lucy's first appointment is in February. Keep your fingers crossed!

Anyway, I went to the dentist in Feburary of this year for the first time since 2008. I know, I know, that is way too long a time to wait.  But I kept thinking about making an appointment, and putting it off.... finally I did it.  And I squirmed and wiggled and whimpered and when they took my blood pressure before hand (I'm not sure why they have to do that when checking my teeth) boy was it high!

Then, I was a very good girl and I called in the summer to make another appointment six months later.  In August. I went and actually it was completely not as bad as the February appointment. I did decline the flouride rinse because insurance doesn't cover that (jerks) and the last time I hadn't realized and got stuck with an extra $50 bill. 

A couple weeks go by and I'm still basking in the glow of my great fear tackling and supreme responsibility in going for my six-month check up...when I get a bill in the mail.  A BILL! Apparently, insurance has not covered my last check up.  I call to find out why. 

'Well', the lady tells me in a very condescending voice. 'Your insurance only covers one visit in a six-month period and this was two visits in a six-month period.' 
'No!', I say indignantly.  'I went in February of 2010 and then I went in August of 2010. That's six months.'
'Well,' she says again, 'Your appointment in February was on the 25th and your appointment in August was on the 23rd.'
Two days shy of six months.
Are you effing kidding me?
I didn't say that of course, though I wanted to.  I asked what I could do and she suggested I write a letter of appeal.

Today I recieved my response.

APPEAL DENIED.

What the?!

I called and left a very assertive message on the Claims Specialist's voice mail and he called me back saying basically that I could appeal it again and it would go to a higher level appeal process but in, short, it will get denied. 

What kind of crap is this, I ask you? I was two days short of six months and previously had not been for two years.  So I say it all evens out. 

So, I say, down with insurance and their petty rules. I don't even LIKE going to the dentist.  I went out of shame and dental peer pressure and now I have a $150 bill I can't afford. 

 

Don't worry about me though dear readers. I am not done with this, no sir! I will not go down without a fight!I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Market basket and Montessori-style meringue cookies

This week at work, I ordered, along with other coworkers a market basket from a local farmer for $16.00....this is less than what I generally spend on produce anyway.  It contained:

oranges, apples, spinach, onions, parsley, green beans, cabbage, zucchini and summer squash.  Well, of course, I had to get moving on that immediately because we can't let all these lovely fruits and vegetables go to waste, can we? 

I made some garden veggie soup with beans, carrots, summer squash, onion, cabbage, and garlic in a base of vegetable stock and tomato paste with some oregano and basil tossed in for good measure. Delicious and healthy!!



I still have three zucchini left which will likely become two loves of zucchini bread.



Homemade German Pretzels



Then I made some soft pretzels from scratch...they look yummy though I have yet to taste them (see picture) and the recipe called for egg yolks beaten with water to be brushed upon the top. 

Well of course, with egg yolks come egg whites and now here I was with two egg whites and nothing to do with them. 

I was not going to waste them...no sir...so I racked my brain for what to do with egg whites (besides omelettes which we already had for breakfast with market basket spinach and onions) and then I had an idea...

Pink chain of 3 and yellow chain of 4
Montessori Cookies

As you know, what propelled me to begin writing this blog was the fact that we became a one-income family. And what propelled us to becoming a one-income family is that Tad went back to school.

Well school is going well, and I daresay I have not seem my husband this happy, challenged and full of stuff to tell me about his day in years!  But wow, is it a lot of work. And a lot of lecture. And more lecture. And then some more.  So needless to say, he and his cohort are getting to that point where they feel like they need to be uplifted a bit.  So I decided that one great thing to make out of egg whites is meringue cookies.  But the cool thing about these cookies is that they are white and very easy to make into whatever shape you like.

I dyed 1/2 the batter pink and 1/2 the batter yellow and made my cookies into the Montessori math materials: The yellow chain of four and the pink chain of three.  See photos below. These will be for Tad to take to school for his classmates and teachers and they can really get into the Montessori teaching materials!

Ah, music

I'll tell you what's a free form of entertainment: letting music transport you back to a time in your life.  Now of course, you must have two things: 1. a time in your life upon which you think fondly (nice grammar, huh?) and 2. a song that reminds you of that time.

This morning, I put Ben Harper's "Welcome to the Cruel World" disc into my car cd player and listened to track number one, an instrumental called The three of us.  Instantly I was transported.

When I was in the Peace Corps in Estonia, this was one of the cds I brought with me.  When I took the ferry boat from my little island of Saaremaa to the mainland to visit friends or go to the capital to the Peace Corps office, I would go to the deck of the boat (if the weather allowed), smoke a cigarette (yeah, I used to smoke) and listen to The three of us on my headphones. 

Listening to that song this morning, probably for the first time hearing it closely since that time,  I could have closed my eyes (Don't worry..I didn't. I was driving!) and been right back on the deck of the ferry boat, smelling the salty wind off the Baltic Sea.  I would stand there and look at the approaching mainland, full of anticipation to be with friends again after the solitude of being a Peace Corps volunteer on an island, in a city of 16,000--the only American.  I loved my host family and my coworkers but at my site I could go days without speaking a word of English and even a whole day without speaking to anyone. 

During my service, I felt the lowest, loneliest lows I hav ever felt in my life, but I also felt some of the most achingly full, joyful highs as well.  And on that boat, with Ben Harper's gorgeous guitar in my ears, cool, fresh wind in my face, knowing I was on my way to companionship and laughter and some of the the truest friends I'd ever known, It felt like my heart would explode from my chest in joy.  I didn't know then, but I was as free as I'd ever been, as an individual, just figuring herself out, just starting her journey.   

It's lovely to think of it now. To think of the twenty five year old me then and the ten years later me now and know how much a part of me that still is. And to remember how music can fill an empty moment with just the touch of a button. 

Happy Friday everyone... get out there and FEEL, no matter what it is you're feeling. Happy or sad, angry or elated, you are ALIVE and that is incredible.

Vacation! (...and work)

It is a real perk of my job that I get to go to a lot of conferences that allow me 1. professional development and 2. time away from the office. 

This week Sunday through Tuesday I went to a conference for work in Wisconsin Dells.  The conference was Children Come First and allowed me to learn about issues such as bullying, self-injury, advocacy, person-first programming for youth and children with mental illness and emotional / behavioral disabilities.  The venue was the Kalahari and this allowed me to bring my family and have a vacation of sorts.  While I conferenced, Tad took the kids to the water park and when I finished with my workday, we all went back to the water park for some family fun. 

The waterpark was great fun--see the picture?!  But the best part, Tad and I agreed, was being in a hotel room (all expenses covered), cranking the heat in the room up to 75 and turning on the fireplace.  We allowed our kids to indulge in very rare actual programmed- TV time (with commercials, even--they were thrilled) and relaxed in a room that we didn't have to worry about cleaning.

To save money I brought a homemade pizza which was our dinner both nights and fixin's for both breakfast and lunches.  Breakfast was Quaker oatmeal bars (we bring these every time we go to the Kalahari--the kids call them "Kalahari-bars")  Lunch was PB & J.  The only money we spent was on dessert on Monday night. We all went down to the sweet shop and everyone got to choose what they wanted.

Coen got a peppermint stick ice cream cone
I got a caramel apple
Tad got some wierd chocolate/caramel/marshmallow covered rice krispy thing on a sitick.
Lucy got a blue moon ice cream cone.  Since we didn't want her to eat the whole thing (it was big), I kept saying this:  "Lucy, want mommy to hold your ice cream cone while you go count all the animal pictures on th e wall?"  She obliged and every time she ran away to count things, Tad and I snuck bites of her ice cream.  Oh how I relish the days I can still pull one over on her!!!
Coen even got into it. He had her counting plants while he snuck a taste.

We had a great time and I even learned a few things to help me in my work!

Wig out at Woodmans

Sometimes it just feels like too much to do. Between the planning and grocery shopping and cooking, and trying to switch insurance and all the things that go along with this particular income situation..along with being a mother and having a full time job and trying to do things I enjoy like blogging and playing my guitar...I feel like I don't have TIME!!!!   And when it feels like to much to do, I make lists for myself with days I will get things done.  Yesterday was grocery shopping. I had an hour allotted to get to Woodmans and shop and then go pick Lucy up from daycare.

I did my shopping and pushed my cart up to the line and once I got to the checkout, my card was denied. Apparently they were having problems with certain debit cards. They put my order on hold while I tried to withdraw money from the ATM, then outside at the neighbor bank's ATM, and the gas station's ATM.  By this time, I was well over my allotted hour and late for Lucy and I came back into Woodman's and I LOST IT!

I started to cry and blubber about "I don't have time!" "My daughter at daycare!" "Birthday party Saturday" "Allotted grocery hour!" I probably sounded (and looked ) like a maniac.  I had packed all the groceries in my own bags so I hastily began yanking things out of the bags so I could take them with me and I was crying and I marched out of the store. Once outside I realized that I really wouln't have time tomorrow to do this all over again. So I had to take my pathetic self back in and ask them if they could locate my cart and hold it for me while I figured out what to do.

My bank is a 1/2 hour away from Woodmans.  I had no checks. They don't take credit cards.  So I called my in-laws who live in Franklin and tried not to cry while I asked them if they knew of a branch of our bank that was closer, and they said they'd come bring me some cash.  I went back into Woodman's with my wounded pride and tear stained face and waited for them.  They came. As soon as they pulled into the parking lot, I started crying all over again.  They paid. We left (two and a half hours after I'd gotten there). 

Tad picked up Lucy for me at daycare and I drove home in rush hour traffic trying to breathe evenly and not feel like a huge ass!  I guess I'll remember my checks next time!

Here's me wigging out at Woodmans

The election: Free entertainment

It's election day. Did you vote?

There are a lot of entertaining things about election day.  Here's a list.

1. All the people wearing their "I Voted" stickers.  Sometimes people come into work with their sticker and then you can tell that they voted before they got to work. Sometimes people come into work with their sticker in the middle of the day and then you can tell that they voted on their lunch break.  Sometimes people don't have a sticker and then when you ask them if they voted, they say "Oh, I'm voting on the way home."

2.  The status updates on facebook and twitter.  Everyone's voting. Everyone's talking about voting. People have vote updates and vote tweets.  Everyone's asking "Did you vote yet?"  Its very entertaining.

3.  People at the polling place.  It's fun because sometimes people are lined up to register to vote and you can tell they are pretty young. Maybe even eighteen. Maybe its their first time voting. That's pretty cool.  Also there are people in your neighborhood that you run into and you're like "oh HI!  Funny seeing you here!" and then you laugh loudly because obviously its not that weird to see your neighbors there since its your polling place!  You can make other jokes here like "What are YOU doing here?" or "Wow, pretty busy here today!" and then laugh "Ha ha ha ha ha."

4.  The election coverage.  This is entertaining and also funny because its kind of like sports coverage.  Everyone flashes all the numbers on the screen and talks about what might happen and how things might turn out. Like football. The announcer guys all talk before the game about what might happen and then during the game about what is currently happening and what might happen next and then after its over, what happened.  That's how election coverage is.  Except WAY more stressful because it means a zillion percent more than football. Sorry football fans.

Yeah, election day. It's a pretty exciting event. I've been entertained since I woke up this morning.  I'm going to sign off now and watch msnbc. 

Witchy plumber



Our sink is dripping. It has been for some time now but the drip is getting worse. By worse I mean louder and more rapid in succession. Which also seems to mean that our water bill is getting higher. So...in order to save costs, since I had such good luck fixing our clogged drain that one time when all of Lucy's sippy cup staws went down the drain when we washed them---I decided to fix it myself!

Tad and I went to Lowes on Saturday and bought a new faucet, plumbers putty, winterizing material, among other things. I got into my costume on Sunday morning before trick or treat and then suddenly got the urge to start working on the sink. Here I am! A witch plumber.