I think the first thing to do as I try to figure out what direction I'm taking with this is to haul out my list of long term goals and take a good, hard look at them. Right now they just sit there in that sidebar, mocking me. Am I still interested in them? Am I still working towards them? Is there something else that should be on that list? In other words, is this still a goal, or not?
So that leaves me with 4 out of my 10 goals that I can use or rework. I'm going to add one more now that will take me up to 5 goals and then I'll rework all my microgoals.
1. Become fluent in Hebrew.
2. Grow lavender.
3. Find a way to partner with others to develop a kosher wine business, including the possibility of fruit wines.
4. Get totally out of debt and stay there!
5. Develop at least two alternative income streams (in addition to my current employment) and use the money I make to accomplish my other goals, starting with getting out of debt.
So, my microgoals are the small steps I will be taking *now* in order to move ahead with each goal.
1. Go back to Rosetta Stone and figure out how to log in again.
My Dear Child and I wanted to get ahead in Hebrew, so I bought the Rosetta Stone course a few months ago when it was on sale. We tried it a few times and then got really busy. Now I don't remember our log in. If I can't figure it out, I'm sure there's a way to reset it.
2. Go to a few gardening centres (like Home Depot, Art Knapp's, etc.) and look at lavender plants. Only buy if I find the types of lavender I'm looking for.
3. Get together with someone who expressed interest in this project.
Maybe meet for coffee and discuss the project? This person suggested another mutual friend and perhaps that would be the first thing for us to follow up on.
4. Stay current on the regular bills, paying things every payday.
5. Go to the start up meeting for 31 Canada in BC on April 7 and enroll that night. Do as much pre-planning as possible ahead of time so I can start strong.
Not bad. I think I can live with these goals for now. The underlying theme behind these goals is happiness, something I would like to expand upon soon. For now, I think I'll just finish getting this post up and editing the sidebar. It is after 2 am, after all.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Halfway Through Summer?
Okay, so when did that happen? One minute school was letting out and the next minute I blink and summer's half gone. I said before that things had been pretty overwhelming and they did get significantly more so over the past month.
An older family member who had been seriously ill since the beginning of the year became critically ill, was hospitalized and was then transferred to palliative care for a couple of weeks before passing away. It's been a rough time for the whole family. Lots of time spent in the hospital, lots of stress, knowing that the outcome wasn't going to be good and less attention paid to a lot of other things.
Things are slowly getting back on track. Dear Child has spent one week at day camp so far and goes back for her second week tomorrow. The following week her nieces come back and all three girls go back to swimming lessons.
I got a big, brown envelope from the school in the mail the other day. I was thinking that things were all under control on that front because I already bought DC's uniforms and handed in both a series of post-dated cheques for tuition and a separate one that only gets cashed next June if I don't put in at least 12 hours of parent participation at her school. Silly me, I forgot about the school supply fee, the workbook/textbook fee, the field trip fee and at least one other fee of some kind. Lovely. Even better, they all have to be paid on or before September 1st, which is the first day of school this year (early, because all the High Holy Days come early this year, finishing at the end of September). Since the kids will barely be in school through September they get to start on the 1st instead of waiting for the day after Labour Day. Lest I forget, there will also be the hot lunch fee about a week after school starts.
I had intended to spend every other weekend and every long weekend at our house. Needless to say, that hasn't happened. I finally went for 2 days the other week, Sunday and Monday. It meant taking a day off work, but I desperately needed to do some yard work and there's tons still left undone. I hope to go again next weekend.
An older family member who had been seriously ill since the beginning of the year became critically ill, was hospitalized and was then transferred to palliative care for a couple of weeks before passing away. It's been a rough time for the whole family. Lots of time spent in the hospital, lots of stress, knowing that the outcome wasn't going to be good and less attention paid to a lot of other things.
Things are slowly getting back on track. Dear Child has spent one week at day camp so far and goes back for her second week tomorrow. The following week her nieces come back and all three girls go back to swimming lessons.
I got a big, brown envelope from the school in the mail the other day. I was thinking that things were all under control on that front because I already bought DC's uniforms and handed in both a series of post-dated cheques for tuition and a separate one that only gets cashed next June if I don't put in at least 12 hours of parent participation at her school. Silly me, I forgot about the school supply fee, the workbook/textbook fee, the field trip fee and at least one other fee of some kind. Lovely. Even better, they all have to be paid on or before September 1st, which is the first day of school this year (early, because all the High Holy Days come early this year, finishing at the end of September). Since the kids will barely be in school through September they get to start on the 1st instead of waiting for the day after Labour Day. Lest I forget, there will also be the hot lunch fee about a week after school starts.
I had intended to spend every other weekend and every long weekend at our house. Needless to say, that hasn't happened. I finally went for 2 days the other week, Sunday and Monday. It meant taking a day off work, but I desperately needed to do some yard work and there's tons still left undone. I hope to go again next weekend.
Friday, June 25, 2010
School's Out...For Summer!
Yesterday was the last day of school. This summer I'm lucky, in that my Eldest Daughter is home on maternity leave. That means Dear Child will hang out with her. (Not sure that Eldest Daughter considers herself lucky, since that leaves her with 4 kids every day, and 5 if my Number One Son's daughter comes too, as she did some of the time last summer.)
Next year will be a much bigger financial burden for all of us, as she'll be back at work and all the girls will have to go to day camp right through the summer. As it is, we are putting them in a couple of sessions of swimming lessons (necessitating me leaving work to pick up and drive everybody to and fro). The lessons are 4 days per week for 2 weeks (but only 1/2 an hour per day) and we hope that the sustained amount of pool time will enable everybody to move up at least one level. Last session (which was 8 classes once a week) nobody passed, although they all made progress.
DC will go to day camp for 2 weeks this year too, as my granddaughters' other grandparents are taking them out of town for 2 weeks. That will give my daughter the relative quiet of only having her nursing baby at home.
Yesterday was payday. I paid some stuff then and some more this morning. Right now I'm pleased to say that I'm current on all my bills (paid the water today) and that I have $651.14 in my TFSA, right on track for the year. Property taxes for the rural house are due next week. I have to check, but I think I have enough in the rural credit union to pay them. Yay, me!
I went away to the house last weekend and spent some money, money on myself (gasp!) as well as gas. But I just have the $50 odd dollars I charged for gas on the way back to pay back still. And I made the regular $90 payment on the credit card anyway.
So, I have to pay for swimming lessons and I'm going to start some exercise stuff of my own that I'll also have to pay for. And I only have about $150 left in my chequing account for food, etc. for the next 2 weeks. But all in all, I'm not doing too badly. And my hubby should be transferring some money over to me at month end.
Next year will be a much bigger financial burden for all of us, as she'll be back at work and all the girls will have to go to day camp right through the summer. As it is, we are putting them in a couple of sessions of swimming lessons (necessitating me leaving work to pick up and drive everybody to and fro). The lessons are 4 days per week for 2 weeks (but only 1/2 an hour per day) and we hope that the sustained amount of pool time will enable everybody to move up at least one level. Last session (which was 8 classes once a week) nobody passed, although they all made progress.
DC will go to day camp for 2 weeks this year too, as my granddaughters' other grandparents are taking them out of town for 2 weeks. That will give my daughter the relative quiet of only having her nursing baby at home.
Yesterday was payday. I paid some stuff then and some more this morning. Right now I'm pleased to say that I'm current on all my bills (paid the water today) and that I have $651.14 in my TFSA, right on track for the year. Property taxes for the rural house are due next week. I have to check, but I think I have enough in the rural credit union to pay them. Yay, me!
I went away to the house last weekend and spent some money, money on myself (gasp!) as well as gas. But I just have the $50 odd dollars I charged for gas on the way back to pay back still. And I made the regular $90 payment on the credit card anyway.
So, I have to pay for swimming lessons and I'm going to start some exercise stuff of my own that I'll also have to pay for. And I only have about $150 left in my chequing account for food, etc. for the next 2 weeks. But all in all, I'm not doing too badly. And my hubby should be transferring some money over to me at month end.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Thanks for the Support!
It's very nice to hear back from some of you, welcoming me back and encouraging me to stick with both the blogging and the work I need to do to.
Thanks for being there for me!
Things are very busy right now. Work is crazy, the school year is winding down and every day seems to bring some departure from the norm (field trips, class parties, sports day, hot lunch, you name it), many people are dealing with the health issues of family members (at work, in our own family, friends) and I'm feeling stretched kind of thin.
I've straightened out some things that had fallen by the wayside, like my cell bill and will take care of the one remaining outstanding bill (the water) by next week at the latest. I got the property taxes for my rural home and the garbage bill for it. Both have gone up somewhat from last year, but not horrendously. And, thanks to the fact that I've been setting aside money for those kinds of things most paydays (and keeping track of when I don't and then catching it up) I have enough money already in my rural credit union account to pay the bills when they're due at the beginning of July! That's a big improvement from the past couple of years.
I also have been working on slowly paying down the massively increased amount that has gotten charged to my credit card over the past few months. I have only one charge left to pay back from my Passover purchases but most of the rest are biggies. There's about $750 owing for kitchen cabinets and flooring I charged at IKEA, the last couple of hundred owing on Dear Child's dental surgery, the $1,300 for my root canal, and about $125 for a new heavier duty weed whacker and replacement reel for the rural house. Last year we bought the cheapest one we could find and that was a huge mistake. The reel didn't feed properly (which meant it had to be taken apart and played with repeatedly Every. Single. Time we used it) and the whole thing broke under the usage it was getting. We hope this one will last much longer.
My hubby is going today to finish his root canal and I already have an appointment booked for July to fill a cavity and discuss the crown I'm going to need on the tooth I had the root canal on. Sigh.
Thanks for being there for me!
Things are very busy right now. Work is crazy, the school year is winding down and every day seems to bring some departure from the norm (field trips, class parties, sports day, hot lunch, you name it), many people are dealing with the health issues of family members (at work, in our own family, friends) and I'm feeling stretched kind of thin.
I've straightened out some things that had fallen by the wayside, like my cell bill and will take care of the one remaining outstanding bill (the water) by next week at the latest. I got the property taxes for my rural home and the garbage bill for it. Both have gone up somewhat from last year, but not horrendously. And, thanks to the fact that I've been setting aside money for those kinds of things most paydays (and keeping track of when I don't and then catching it up) I have enough money already in my rural credit union account to pay the bills when they're due at the beginning of July! That's a big improvement from the past couple of years.
I also have been working on slowly paying down the massively increased amount that has gotten charged to my credit card over the past few months. I have only one charge left to pay back from my Passover purchases but most of the rest are biggies. There's about $750 owing for kitchen cabinets and flooring I charged at IKEA, the last couple of hundred owing on Dear Child's dental surgery, the $1,300 for my root canal, and about $125 for a new heavier duty weed whacker and replacement reel for the rural house. Last year we bought the cheapest one we could find and that was a huge mistake. The reel didn't feed properly (which meant it had to be taken apart and played with repeatedly Every. Single. Time we used it) and the whole thing broke under the usage it was getting. We hope this one will last much longer.
My hubby is going today to finish his root canal and I already have an appointment booked for July to fill a cavity and discuss the crown I'm going to need on the tooth I had the root canal on. Sigh.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
September and Back to School
Today was Dear Child's first day of Grade 1, her first day with a new English [secular] teacher, her first day in uniforms and....we were late. Sigh.
I went shopping for school shoes with her yesterday afternoon after Hubby came home to watch our granddaughters and we had mixed results. Just like last year we had to try on pretty well every shoe in Payless that was likely to fit her. This year that meant everything between size 10 and size 11 1/2. Some of the shoes came off when she ran. Some shoes hurt her toes or cut across her instep. Some shoes hurt her heels. Sometimes her heels came up when she walked.
We eventually settled on a pair of brown suede Airwalks for indoor and gym use (with Velcro straps for easy on/off several times per day) and the same black boots she had last year in a bigger size. It was BOGO but the boots were $50 so I spent about $68 all told. We had no luck at all finding "outside" shoes. Even the cute black shoes she had last year and wore out didn't work in a bigger size (they were among the ones that hurt the top of her instep). She ended up wearing her pink crocs as outdoor shoes today. They can't use crocs as inside shoes but they're okay as outdoor shoes. Don't ask me why.
I also took care of getting the school all the money I owe them in tuition (post dated cheques), textbooks and workbooks, school supplies, field trip money, etc. so as not to be in the huge crowd of parents who had to do that today.
The other thing I did yesterday was to get my new flipper. It's smaller and more comfortable than the old one, but it cost $361.60 because I hadn't had the old one for enough years to be eligible for a new one on our dental plan. Tell that to the Dog! Heck, if I could convince him to get a job maybe he could pay for it (seeing as how it's his fault I needed a new one in the first place). But, no. I show him all the working dogs on TV and he just ignores them....
Today, after I got Dear Child into class (with no tears!) I headed to my physio appointment where I got politely chewed out for not doing the exercises I've been given to do at home regularly enough. He wants to see me again in a week and I'm supposed to shape up in the meantime. Oh, yay. Fun.
I went shopping for school shoes with her yesterday afternoon after Hubby came home to watch our granddaughters and we had mixed results. Just like last year we had to try on pretty well every shoe in Payless that was likely to fit her. This year that meant everything between size 10 and size 11 1/2. Some of the shoes came off when she ran. Some shoes hurt her toes or cut across her instep. Some shoes hurt her heels. Sometimes her heels came up when she walked.
We eventually settled on a pair of brown suede Airwalks for indoor and gym use (with Velcro straps for easy on/off several times per day) and the same black boots she had last year in a bigger size. It was BOGO but the boots were $50 so I spent about $68 all told. We had no luck at all finding "outside" shoes. Even the cute black shoes she had last year and wore out didn't work in a bigger size (they were among the ones that hurt the top of her instep). She ended up wearing her pink crocs as outdoor shoes today. They can't use crocs as inside shoes but they're okay as outdoor shoes. Don't ask me why.
I also took care of getting the school all the money I owe them in tuition (post dated cheques), textbooks and workbooks, school supplies, field trip money, etc. so as not to be in the huge crowd of parents who had to do that today.
The other thing I did yesterday was to get my new flipper. It's smaller and more comfortable than the old one, but it cost $361.60 because I hadn't had the old one for enough years to be eligible for a new one on our dental plan. Tell that to the Dog! Heck, if I could convince him to get a job maybe he could pay for it (seeing as how it's his fault I needed a new one in the first place). But, no. I show him all the working dogs on TV and he just ignores them....
Today, after I got Dear Child into class (with no tears!) I headed to my physio appointment where I got politely chewed out for not doing the exercises I've been given to do at home regularly enough. He wants to see me again in a week and I'm supposed to shape up in the meantime. Oh, yay. Fun.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Finally, an Update
Wow, I haven't posted in forever. It's been a combination of all the previous reasons (Blogger issues, exhaustion, resistance, not wanting to blog when I'm not doing what I ought to be doing) but I really have to get over myself and just get back to it.
Anyway, I'm coming up on my birthday, Dear Child starts Grade 1 on the 1st, my new Executive Director arrives a week later and work is about to go crazy. Fun!
At least DC got to do 2 weeks at day camp before it ended in early August. She loved it and wants to do more next year, so I'll have to plan for that.
We went to the PNE the other day and had a great time although it cost about $100 all told. Oh yes, plus I entered the draw for the prize home (5 tickets for $25, including a draw every day for a car). It's a great house, very suitable for us, and this year it's supposed to be set up on a lot just outside of Kelowna (about an hour and a half away from where our rural home is). If I won I'd sell the lot (worth about $275,000 for the bare lot) and buy land in our area with that money. Then we'd have the house assembled where we actually want it. No, I'm not likely to win, but it would work out very well for us if I did.
I finally had impressions taken to replace my "flipper", the retainer-with-a-tooth that our Dog tried to eat a few months ago. It'll be ready tomorrow evening. I hated how discoloured my teeth were (which was really noticeable when you looked at the tint of the fake tooth) so I've been using special toothpaste and Whitestrips for the past several days. Maybe it's just because I'm about to be another year older, but I've felt the compulsion over the past few months to pull myself together a bit. Hence the new glasses, the new flipper, wearing lipstick (usually go "natural"), going to the physio.
This is one of the two times of year that I tend to do an in-depth look at how various aspects of my life are going (my birthday/Rosh Hashana time and the secular New Years). I'll do that privately (much of it is too personal for me to put down here) but there will likely be some new goals for me to discuss shortly.
Anyway, I'm coming up on my birthday, Dear Child starts Grade 1 on the 1st, my new Executive Director arrives a week later and work is about to go crazy. Fun!
At least DC got to do 2 weeks at day camp before it ended in early August. She loved it and wants to do more next year, so I'll have to plan for that.
We went to the PNE the other day and had a great time although it cost about $100 all told. Oh yes, plus I entered the draw for the prize home (5 tickets for $25, including a draw every day for a car). It's a great house, very suitable for us, and this year it's supposed to be set up on a lot just outside of Kelowna (about an hour and a half away from where our rural home is). If I won I'd sell the lot (worth about $275,000 for the bare lot) and buy land in our area with that money. Then we'd have the house assembled where we actually want it. No, I'm not likely to win, but it would work out very well for us if I did.
I finally had impressions taken to replace my "flipper", the retainer-with-a-tooth that our Dog tried to eat a few months ago. It'll be ready tomorrow evening. I hated how discoloured my teeth were (which was really noticeable when you looked at the tint of the fake tooth) so I've been using special toothpaste and Whitestrips for the past several days. Maybe it's just because I'm about to be another year older, but I've felt the compulsion over the past few months to pull myself together a bit. Hence the new glasses, the new flipper, wearing lipstick (usually go "natural"), going to the physio.
This is one of the two times of year that I tend to do an in-depth look at how various aspects of my life are going (my birthday/Rosh Hashana time and the secular New Years). I'll do that privately (much of it is too personal for me to put down here) but there will likely be some new goals for me to discuss shortly.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
And They Say You Can't Go Home Again....
There are definitely times when I think it would be useful if I could clone myself! As I mentioned in my last post, I've been incredibly busy. My lunch with my Executive Director ended up being postponed to this week because we didn't have time last Thursday!
I did go to the doctor and the news was all good. She said all my blood work was normal. I'm not anemic and my thyroid was normal. The stress test results were normal too (meaning that I didn't have any kind of problematic heartbeats during or right after the test and that my heart rate slowed back down afterwards within the appropriate time frame). She feels that I'm not getting enough exercise and told me to do a half hour per day, every day. I'm trying, but it's not always working out that way. I think it will take a while to get in the habit and to manage to fit it around everything else.
Dear Child had her Kindergarten Graduation (which was very cute) and only has 2 days left of school. Tomorrow is a field trip and Thursday they pack all their stuff up to bring home and get their report cards.
My summer schedule is going to be insane. Mondays generally home with all 4 girls. Yes, four. This summer my oldest granddaughter is joining us, as her mother is working Thursday to Monday (and my Number One Son works Monday to Friday). Tuesday and Wednesday my daughter-in-law is off and has all the girls. The catch is that my son-in-law (the one we share a house with) has to take our 3 with him at 7 am and drop them off with her on his way to work! This should be, um, interesting considering that I spend about half an hour on average from 7 to 7:30 am talking to Dear Child, stroking her, tickling her, anything that will wake her up (while not putting her into a grumpy mood). Then we normally leave at 8 am. She moves fairly fast once she's awake but she's very hard to wake up (her father's daughter). There is No Way I want to get up at 6 am and start trying to wake her. I have a hunch she may be going in the van in her nightie with food she can eat in the car! Thursday and Friday are my son-in-law's days off and he gets all 4 girls here.
So, on the surface, it looks like I'm getting a break over the summer because I'm only responsible for one day per week instead of the current 3. However, my 4 year old granddaughter is registered for 2 or 3 weeks of summer camp (and the baby is registered for a week, as of today!). The older camp kids eat lunch there and finish at 1 or 1:30 pm; the littles finish at 11:30 am. That means on Tuesday and Wednesday I can only work until 11:30, go downstairs, pick up Boo Boo, hang out in the building until the older group finishes, pick the 4 yo up too and head home. Meanwhile, my own child will be happily playing with her niece, half an hour or so from home. Mondays should be even more fun. I'll be doing multiple pickup and hanging out at the centre for at least 1.5 hours with the older girls too. And I still haven't decided if I'm going to try to put DC in camp for a week too! The best part of that is that it would be an Orthodox kids camp instead of the community centre one, so it's in a different place and I don't know if it has the same pick up time ('cuz you know I'm good with being in 2 places at one time, see cloning comment above). I've been putting it off because I haven't checked with all her friends' mothers to see if their girls are going and which weeks, etc.
Anyway, to get back to what happened over the past few days, Dear Child complained of an upset tummy on the morning of her graduation and threw up in the car on the way to school. Into a plastic Safeway bag. The kid gets brownie points for not getting anything on her Shabbos clothes because they were all supposed to be dressed up for the graduation. I ended up taking her to my office for a couple of hours and we just took her to school in time for the event itself (I talked to the teachers and that was the decision as we didn't know if she was sick or just nervous and we didn't want her to miss the graduation).
After the graduation party I took DC home, we threw things in the car and I headed off on a 4.5 hour drive with a kid who had already been car sick once that day! Yes, I gave her Gravol and she had a fresh bag handy! Baruch Hashem [thank G-d], things went well and we arrived without incident and in enough time that I accomplished about 2.5 hours of intensive yard work before Shabbos. It was the first time in about 7 months that we've been to the house, so not too surprising that there was a lot to do!
Shabbos we just hung out, went for a long walk with Dog (who is in 7th heaven whenever we go to the house) and she played some with the kids next door. And yes, I did warn the mother that she might be sick. While she felt fine (no aches or pains, no fever, no further queasiness) she did develop the runs intermittently on Shabbos and Sunday. When she had to go, she really had to go. Within about 30 seconds. I was terrified of putting her in the car Sunday afternoon for the long car ride back to the city because I wouldn't even be able to pull over to the side of the road in that kind of time frame.
I did about another 4 hours of yard work on Sunday, some by hand and a lot with my neighbour's heavy duty weed whacker that you hold with 2 hands and swing kind of like a scythe, while holding down a button on the side and squeezing the trigger all at once. Do you think that was what the doc had in mind when she talked to me about exercise? By the time I finished I was in serious pain from my back, arms and right hand. When I say "finished", I mean I did all I could do but had to leave one of the side yards for next time. I ended up talking to Hubby and Eldest Daughter on the phone and the decision was to stay over Sunday night and come back some time on Monday. She worked something out for her girls and we just stayed and relaxed. I left a voice mail at work and that was that.
I took DC into town Sunday evening to buy a couple of things from the store, including a small pack of pullups for her to wear to bed and in the car, just as an insurance policy. She still had 2 more bouts, one about 11:30 pm Sunday, the other at 6:30 am on Monday, so it was a smart thing to do, although she's been out of that sort of thing for ages. We stayed until 4 pm Monday, then headed back and she's been fine. Whew!
My son-in-law took today off to do some work on their van so I worked the whole day and went back for some more time this evening. Now I'm not short any hours, even though I didn't work Monday. I'm really tired though and I'm covered in giant, itchy mosquito bites. At least 32 at last count. I don't think they liked me cutting the grass. Either that, or I just taste really good to them. So, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is payday and Wednesday, so we'll see just what I can accomplish.
I did go to the doctor and the news was all good. She said all my blood work was normal. I'm not anemic and my thyroid was normal. The stress test results were normal too (meaning that I didn't have any kind of problematic heartbeats during or right after the test and that my heart rate slowed back down afterwards within the appropriate time frame). She feels that I'm not getting enough exercise and told me to do a half hour per day, every day. I'm trying, but it's not always working out that way. I think it will take a while to get in the habit and to manage to fit it around everything else.
Dear Child had her Kindergarten Graduation (which was very cute) and only has 2 days left of school. Tomorrow is a field trip and Thursday they pack all their stuff up to bring home and get their report cards.
My summer schedule is going to be insane. Mondays generally home with all 4 girls. Yes, four. This summer my oldest granddaughter is joining us, as her mother is working Thursday to Monday (and my Number One Son works Monday to Friday). Tuesday and Wednesday my daughter-in-law is off and has all the girls. The catch is that my son-in-law (the one we share a house with) has to take our 3 with him at 7 am and drop them off with her on his way to work! This should be, um, interesting considering that I spend about half an hour on average from 7 to 7:30 am talking to Dear Child, stroking her, tickling her, anything that will wake her up (while not putting her into a grumpy mood). Then we normally leave at 8 am. She moves fairly fast once she's awake but she's very hard to wake up (her father's daughter). There is No Way I want to get up at 6 am and start trying to wake her. I have a hunch she may be going in the van in her nightie with food she can eat in the car! Thursday and Friday are my son-in-law's days off and he gets all 4 girls here.
So, on the surface, it looks like I'm getting a break over the summer because I'm only responsible for one day per week instead of the current 3. However, my 4 year old granddaughter is registered for 2 or 3 weeks of summer camp (and the baby is registered for a week, as of today!). The older camp kids eat lunch there and finish at 1 or 1:30 pm; the littles finish at 11:30 am. That means on Tuesday and Wednesday I can only work until 11:30, go downstairs, pick up Boo Boo, hang out in the building until the older group finishes, pick the 4 yo up too and head home. Meanwhile, my own child will be happily playing with her niece, half an hour or so from home. Mondays should be even more fun. I'll be doing multiple pickup and hanging out at the centre for at least 1.5 hours with the older girls too. And I still haven't decided if I'm going to try to put DC in camp for a week too! The best part of that is that it would be an Orthodox kids camp instead of the community centre one, so it's in a different place and I don't know if it has the same pick up time ('cuz you know I'm good with being in 2 places at one time, see cloning comment above). I've been putting it off because I haven't checked with all her friends' mothers to see if their girls are going and which weeks, etc.
Anyway, to get back to what happened over the past few days, Dear Child complained of an upset tummy on the morning of her graduation and threw up in the car on the way to school. Into a plastic Safeway bag. The kid gets brownie points for not getting anything on her Shabbos clothes because they were all supposed to be dressed up for the graduation. I ended up taking her to my office for a couple of hours and we just took her to school in time for the event itself (I talked to the teachers and that was the decision as we didn't know if she was sick or just nervous and we didn't want her to miss the graduation).
After the graduation party I took DC home, we threw things in the car and I headed off on a 4.5 hour drive with a kid who had already been car sick once that day! Yes, I gave her Gravol and she had a fresh bag handy! Baruch Hashem [thank G-d], things went well and we arrived without incident and in enough time that I accomplished about 2.5 hours of intensive yard work before Shabbos. It was the first time in about 7 months that we've been to the house, so not too surprising that there was a lot to do!
Shabbos we just hung out, went for a long walk with Dog (who is in 7th heaven whenever we go to the house) and she played some with the kids next door. And yes, I did warn the mother that she might be sick. While she felt fine (no aches or pains, no fever, no further queasiness) she did develop the runs intermittently on Shabbos and Sunday. When she had to go, she really had to go. Within about 30 seconds. I was terrified of putting her in the car Sunday afternoon for the long car ride back to the city because I wouldn't even be able to pull over to the side of the road in that kind of time frame.
I did about another 4 hours of yard work on Sunday, some by hand and a lot with my neighbour's heavy duty weed whacker that you hold with 2 hands and swing kind of like a scythe, while holding down a button on the side and squeezing the trigger all at once. Do you think that was what the doc had in mind when she talked to me about exercise? By the time I finished I was in serious pain from my back, arms and right hand. When I say "finished", I mean I did all I could do but had to leave one of the side yards for next time. I ended up talking to Hubby and Eldest Daughter on the phone and the decision was to stay over Sunday night and come back some time on Monday. She worked something out for her girls and we just stayed and relaxed. I left a voice mail at work and that was that.
I took DC into town Sunday evening to buy a couple of things from the store, including a small pack of pullups for her to wear to bed and in the car, just as an insurance policy. She still had 2 more bouts, one about 11:30 pm Sunday, the other at 6:30 am on Monday, so it was a smart thing to do, although she's been out of that sort of thing for ages. We stayed until 4 pm Monday, then headed back and she's been fine. Whew!
My son-in-law took today off to do some work on their van so I worked the whole day and went back for some more time this evening. Now I'm not short any hours, even though I didn't work Monday. I'm really tired though and I'm covered in giant, itchy mosquito bites. At least 32 at last count. I don't think they liked me cutting the grass. Either that, or I just taste really good to them. So, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is payday and Wednesday, so we'll see just what I can accomplish.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Busy, Busy Week
Things have been crazy busy and they're continuing in that vein. Busy at work, with Dear Child's school as it draws to a close, with family, with fundraising and with preparing to go to the house this weekend for the first time in over six months!
I was short parent participation hours so I've been doing things like thank you cards for the teachers, buying food for various events and so on.
And I haven't been sleeping particularly well.
Tomorrow and Friday are the capstones of the week. Tomorrow, among other things, I need to ferry everybody around, work most of the day, go for lunch with my Executive Director (who is leaving), go to the doctor for my test results (finally), go to the school for an assembly and a BBQ, and possibly get together with my oldest son.
Friday I'm only working a couple of hours, instead of all day. Dear Child graduates from Kindergarten in the middle of the day and then she and I are going to go to our rural home for the first time in over six months! Hubby has other obligations, so it should be interesting.
I have to arrive there with enough time before Shabbos that I can mow at least the front yard (and preferably all of it) because I got a phone call earlier this week, complaining about the appearance of my yard. One of my neighbours is trying to sell and it seems the jungle is putting buyers off! Since I can't do yard work on the Sabbath, I need to arrive with a few hours to spare on Friday so I can make it look decent before their next open house.
I'm going to make a bit of a list of what else needs to be done once I get there because DC and I are going back for a few days from Canada Day on. That's really when I'll be able to do a couple of things as well as kick back and have some fun with DC! We can go swimming in the lake and take Dog for walks up into the hills. I also have 2 properties I want to look at.
I was short parent participation hours so I've been doing things like thank you cards for the teachers, buying food for various events and so on.
And I haven't been sleeping particularly well.
Tomorrow and Friday are the capstones of the week. Tomorrow, among other things, I need to ferry everybody around, work most of the day, go for lunch with my Executive Director (who is leaving), go to the doctor for my test results (finally), go to the school for an assembly and a BBQ, and possibly get together with my oldest son.
Friday I'm only working a couple of hours, instead of all day. Dear Child graduates from Kindergarten in the middle of the day and then she and I are going to go to our rural home for the first time in over six months! Hubby has other obligations, so it should be interesting.
I have to arrive there with enough time before Shabbos that I can mow at least the front yard (and preferably all of it) because I got a phone call earlier this week, complaining about the appearance of my yard. One of my neighbours is trying to sell and it seems the jungle is putting buyers off! Since I can't do yard work on the Sabbath, I need to arrive with a few hours to spare on Friday so I can make it look decent before their next open house.
I'm going to make a bit of a list of what else needs to be done once I get there because DC and I are going back for a few days from Canada Day on. That's really when I'll be able to do a couple of things as well as kick back and have some fun with DC! We can go swimming in the lake and take Dog for walks up into the hills. I also have 2 properties I want to look at.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Getting Ready for Payday
Well, I'm still having problems with Blogger but I'm still fighting through it so I can post.
Tomorrow is payday and Wednesday, so my plan is to take care of a bunch of bills and then see how much money is left! Somehow my internet account (which was on pre-authorized payments) got messed up a couple of months ago and I finally got, not one but two, bills in the past week or 10 days so I've got to get that straightened out. I'm just debating whether to try to get the pre-authorized stuff switched over to my credit union account or whether I should just add them as a bill on the system and pay them manually.
To compound my financial issues, I seem to have misplaced my chequebook for the credit union account! I had it in my wallet (with the chequebooks for the other 2 accounts) but it's not there now. It's also not in my purse or in a stack of things I had taken out of my purse. I have another chequebook somewhere (they sent 2) but I think it's packed away in one of the boxes of paper I put away at Passover. Sigh.
It's also time to buy uniforms for Dear Child for school this fall but I'm getting at least some of them second-hand. The school resells used uniforms at a very low price and I'll see what the ones they have in her size are like tomorrow. I'll still have to buy a few other items, including socks and tights. She needs 2 new pair of shoes too, one for inside wear and the other for outside wear, but I'll definitely wait until some time in August to get those to make sure they fit properly. I'll also need to buy her at least a couple of new skirts for after school and Sunday because her current ones are starting to get short. Most of her tops are still fine though.
All told, her school stuff should cost a lot less this year than it did last year and that makes me happy. Uniforms rule! Even if I bought new uniforms they'd cost a little less than I spent last year on regular clothes. By buying used I'll save a lot. And she's not at an age yet where wearing a used uniform will be the end of the world.
Tomorrow is payday and Wednesday, so my plan is to take care of a bunch of bills and then see how much money is left! Somehow my internet account (which was on pre-authorized payments) got messed up a couple of months ago and I finally got, not one but two, bills in the past week or 10 days so I've got to get that straightened out. I'm just debating whether to try to get the pre-authorized stuff switched over to my credit union account or whether I should just add them as a bill on the system and pay them manually.
To compound my financial issues, I seem to have misplaced my chequebook for the credit union account! I had it in my wallet (with the chequebooks for the other 2 accounts) but it's not there now. It's also not in my purse or in a stack of things I had taken out of my purse. I have another chequebook somewhere (they sent 2) but I think it's packed away in one of the boxes of paper I put away at Passover. Sigh.
It's also time to buy uniforms for Dear Child for school this fall but I'm getting at least some of them second-hand. The school resells used uniforms at a very low price and I'll see what the ones they have in her size are like tomorrow. I'll still have to buy a few other items, including socks and tights. She needs 2 new pair of shoes too, one for inside wear and the other for outside wear, but I'll definitely wait until some time in August to get those to make sure they fit properly. I'll also need to buy her at least a couple of new skirts for after school and Sunday because her current ones are starting to get short. Most of her tops are still fine though.
All told, her school stuff should cost a lot less this year than it did last year and that makes me happy. Uniforms rule! Even if I bought new uniforms they'd cost a little less than I spent last year on regular clothes. By buying used I'll save a lot. And she's not at an age yet where wearing a used uniform will be the end of the world.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
100th Day of School
Friday was the 100th Day of School for Dear Child! On Thursday the kindergarten class baked cookies at school. On Friday they went from class to class, singing a song about the 100th day and handing out cookies to all the rest of the kids. They had crowns to wear and necklaces made with one hundred cereal Os.
The class also had an assignment to carry out at home. They had to count out one hundred small items, put them in a Ziplock and bring them in. DC brought Trix cereal. Some of the other kids brought cotton swabs, dry pasta, you name it.
Now, this whole 100th day of school thing is new to me. We certainly didn't have it back in the Dark Ages, when I went to school. My adult kids never had it. But I saw a book in the Scholastic handout recently that was about the 100th day of school, so it can't just be her class.
Anyway, it was fun. And she got to bring enough cookies home for us each to have one!
The class also had an assignment to carry out at home. They had to count out one hundred small items, put them in a Ziplock and bring them in. DC brought Trix cereal. Some of the other kids brought cotton swabs, dry pasta, you name it.
Now, this whole 100th day of school thing is new to me. We certainly didn't have it back in the Dark Ages, when I went to school. My adult kids never had it. But I saw a book in the Scholastic handout recently that was about the 100th day of school, so it can't just be her class.
Anyway, it was fun. And she got to bring enough cookies home for us each to have one!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The 3 P's Part 2
As I was saying before I fell asleep a couple of nights ago, Purim is a lot of fun. And it can be done fairly inexpensively, but it often ends up costing at least somewhat more.
Costumes are easy. Keep a bin for costume type clothes, whether you hit the stores for leftover costumes on November 1st, check out Value Village (I once got a Pakistani silk suit for $7 that I wore a 2 or 3 times for Purim), or just toss in bits and pieces of adult clothes that would make a jazzy kid costume. Of course you could go all out and rent a really fancy costume from a costume supply place, but there's no need.
Giving charity to 2 people isn't optional, but you don't have to give a fortune. I usually give $18 each these days because the numerical equivalent of "chai" (life) is 18, but when I was a single parent with 3 school-age kids I sometimes gave $10 apiece.
Then there's mishloach manot, the gifts of food. At it's most basic the mitzvah is fulfilled with 2 types of food given to one person. But you also usually want to reciprocate and give a basket or bag to everyone who gives to you. And 2 items of food looks pretty skimpy, so you toss in a few nuts and a couple of candies to go with the cookies and the cake and pretty soon you've spent at least $20 on food. Plus most people try to package the food attractively and that also costs money. I've often bought brown lunch bags and drawn on them with coloured scented markers as an inexpensive packaging alternative.
This year I'm faced with the school fundraiser. For $5 per household you can send to as many people as you like. The school (read: a group of mothers) puts together boxes and baskets and volunteer drivers deliver them for you on Purim day. If up to x many people send to one family they get a small box, if more people send to them they get something bigger, and so on up to a few really big baskets that usually go to the rabbis. I'm sure each small box costs the school less than $5 to put together, so it's a great fundraiser for the school.
I went online and made a tentative list, totalled it up and found it would cost $75. Plus I'm already committed to buying a dozen cookies from another organization for $20 (also a fundraiser, and one I've supported for several years). Now, $75 is more than I would spend on the bags and contents if I packed them myself. I use the cookies in the bags, but would probably spend about another $30 on everything else I'd need (including a few extra cookies because a dozen isn't enough). So the convenience cost of doing it through the school is about $45. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do.
A month after Purim comes Passover, the 8 day festival that commemorates the story of the Exodus from Egypt. We eat matzo (kind of like a large flat cracker, made of flour and water and baked very quickly in a very hot oven) to remember how we left Egypt in a hurry and didn't have time for our bread to rise. That, in and of itself, wouldn't be too difficult.
But we also get rid of all our bread, pasta, cereals, cookies, etc. that contain flour made of any of the 5 grains (wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt). The pots and pans and dishes that we use throughout the year get put away and out come new sets of everything that get used just over 1 week per year. The whole house is cleaned to get rid of every crumb that may be hiding in a pocket, under a sofa cushion or on the floor. The kitchen gets very special treatment. It's intense.
We have 2 seders, special meals where we read the story of the Exodus and discuss it. I host the seders for our family because we're the only ones that really keep kosher and we normally have 14 people before we even get around to inviting any guests (and usually we have a few of those as well). The food bills at Pesach are horrendous. We only use very special dairy products, supervised from the time of milking. We eat a lot of meat during 4 full festival days plus Shabbat and a couple of semi-festival days. Normally we only eat meat on Shabbat. We go through a lot of wine and grape juice because you each have to have 4 cups at each seder, plus there's kiddush on all the other festive meals, which you say over a cup of wine. We have a lot more people over than we do the rest of the year. It all adds up.
I figure I usually spend about $1,000 on Pesach food and related products plus about another $400 to board Dog for 10 days. He can't eat his usual food if he stays home and I don't think his tummy would do too well on matzo and tunafish (some of the human tummies have issues after a few days of matzo). Besides he loves where he goes. The dogs aren't crated or in a kennel. They have the run of the house, dog beds in the family's bedroom, go hiking through the woods for a couple of hours a day, can eat a gourmet raw food diet, play outside with the other boarding dogs and the 3 family dogs on their fenced acreage and just generally have a riot. I'm surprised he ever wants to come home. And I know there are places that charge as much or more but keep the dogs in wire and concrete kennels and runs and feed them Dog Chow. At best, I might save $5 per day. Believe me, it's not worth it.
But how do we pay for it all? That will be the subject of Part 3, Parnassah.
Costumes are easy. Keep a bin for costume type clothes, whether you hit the stores for leftover costumes on November 1st, check out Value Village (I once got a Pakistani silk suit for $7 that I wore a 2 or 3 times for Purim), or just toss in bits and pieces of adult clothes that would make a jazzy kid costume. Of course you could go all out and rent a really fancy costume from a costume supply place, but there's no need.
Giving charity to 2 people isn't optional, but you don't have to give a fortune. I usually give $18 each these days because the numerical equivalent of "chai" (life) is 18, but when I was a single parent with 3 school-age kids I sometimes gave $10 apiece.
Then there's mishloach manot, the gifts of food. At it's most basic the mitzvah is fulfilled with 2 types of food given to one person. But you also usually want to reciprocate and give a basket or bag to everyone who gives to you. And 2 items of food looks pretty skimpy, so you toss in a few nuts and a couple of candies to go with the cookies and the cake and pretty soon you've spent at least $20 on food. Plus most people try to package the food attractively and that also costs money. I've often bought brown lunch bags and drawn on them with coloured scented markers as an inexpensive packaging alternative.
This year I'm faced with the school fundraiser. For $5 per household you can send to as many people as you like. The school (read: a group of mothers) puts together boxes and baskets and volunteer drivers deliver them for you on Purim day. If up to x many people send to one family they get a small box, if more people send to them they get something bigger, and so on up to a few really big baskets that usually go to the rabbis. I'm sure each small box costs the school less than $5 to put together, so it's a great fundraiser for the school.
I went online and made a tentative list, totalled it up and found it would cost $75. Plus I'm already committed to buying a dozen cookies from another organization for $20 (also a fundraiser, and one I've supported for several years). Now, $75 is more than I would spend on the bags and contents if I packed them myself. I use the cookies in the bags, but would probably spend about another $30 on everything else I'd need (including a few extra cookies because a dozen isn't enough). So the convenience cost of doing it through the school is about $45. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do.
A month after Purim comes Passover, the 8 day festival that commemorates the story of the Exodus from Egypt. We eat matzo (kind of like a large flat cracker, made of flour and water and baked very quickly in a very hot oven) to remember how we left Egypt in a hurry and didn't have time for our bread to rise. That, in and of itself, wouldn't be too difficult.
But we also get rid of all our bread, pasta, cereals, cookies, etc. that contain flour made of any of the 5 grains (wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt). The pots and pans and dishes that we use throughout the year get put away and out come new sets of everything that get used just over 1 week per year. The whole house is cleaned to get rid of every crumb that may be hiding in a pocket, under a sofa cushion or on the floor. The kitchen gets very special treatment. It's intense.
We have 2 seders, special meals where we read the story of the Exodus and discuss it. I host the seders for our family because we're the only ones that really keep kosher and we normally have 14 people before we even get around to inviting any guests (and usually we have a few of those as well). The food bills at Pesach are horrendous. We only use very special dairy products, supervised from the time of milking. We eat a lot of meat during 4 full festival days plus Shabbat and a couple of semi-festival days. Normally we only eat meat on Shabbat. We go through a lot of wine and grape juice because you each have to have 4 cups at each seder, plus there's kiddush on all the other festive meals, which you say over a cup of wine. We have a lot more people over than we do the rest of the year. It all adds up.
I figure I usually spend about $1,000 on Pesach food and related products plus about another $400 to board Dog for 10 days. He can't eat his usual food if he stays home and I don't think his tummy would do too well on matzo and tunafish (some of the human tummies have issues after a few days of matzo). Besides he loves where he goes. The dogs aren't crated or in a kennel. They have the run of the house, dog beds in the family's bedroom, go hiking through the woods for a couple of hours a day, can eat a gourmet raw food diet, play outside with the other boarding dogs and the 3 family dogs on their fenced acreage and just generally have a riot. I'm surprised he ever wants to come home. And I know there are places that charge as much or more but keep the dogs in wire and concrete kennels and runs and feed them Dog Chow. At best, I might save $5 per day. Believe me, it's not worth it.
But how do we pay for it all? That will be the subject of Part 3, Parnassah.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Good News, Bad News
Every time I turn around there's good news and bad news, bad news and good news.
The bad news: Hubby's partial plate kept breaking and the cost to replace it turned out to be over $600, NONE of which would be covered under his extended medical because he's only had it for 3 years and they only pay out for that every 5 years.
The good news: He found a place that can supposedly repair it (recommended by someone who has had it done). It'll be ready tomorrow and will cost $45.
The bad news: Dear Child was sick yesterday with a fever and missed school.
The good news: She was able to go back today.
The bad news: Now I'm sick -- cold and achy all over.
The good news: We went to parent-teacher conferences and heard lots of good things about DC.
The bad news: She had her hearing tested at school today and now needs to go to the doctor for further investigation as one side was problematic.
The good news: I mailed that cheque last night.
The bad news: Being sick obviously makes me susceptible to overspend on food for Shabbat. I spent about $60! I just hurt so much that I didn't care and bought yummy but expensive stuff.
The good news: At least I spent cash and never even considered using the credit card.
The bad news: Hubby's partial plate kept breaking and the cost to replace it turned out to be over $600, NONE of which would be covered under his extended medical because he's only had it for 3 years and they only pay out for that every 5 years.
The good news: He found a place that can supposedly repair it (recommended by someone who has had it done). It'll be ready tomorrow and will cost $45.
The bad news: Dear Child was sick yesterday with a fever and missed school.
The good news: She was able to go back today.
The bad news: Now I'm sick -- cold and achy all over.
The good news: We went to parent-teacher conferences and heard lots of good things about DC.
The bad news: She had her hearing tested at school today and now needs to go to the doctor for further investigation as one side was problematic.
The good news: I mailed that cheque last night.
The bad news: Being sick obviously makes me susceptible to overspend on food for Shabbat. I spent about $60! I just hurt so much that I didn't care and bought yummy but expensive stuff.
The good news: At least I spent cash and never even considered using the credit card.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Payday!
I'm looking forward to having my paycheque in the bank in the morning. The cheque itself won't be huge, but it won't be terrible (especially when you consider it's my 3rd one this month). I need to mail a cheque to the plumber and make payments on a couple of other things. I should also transfer $100 into my chequing account from my vacation pay account at ING because I took 2 days of vacation time that fall out during this pay period. Oops, and I have my other benefit cheque to deposit as well. I have a number of items that come out at either the end of the month or in the first week of the next month that have to be covered and that money will do that.
I also want my hubby to give me $100 from his month end cheque to put towards groceries. Dear Child's school sells Safeway gift cards and I want to buy one. I do a lot of our regular grocery shopping there anyway (it's directly on my way home from work) and for every $100 card you buy the school gets something like $8. Even if I only buy 2 or 3 cards per month I could potentially make a couple of hundred dollars for the school. That may not be a fortune for the school but it doesn't cost me a penny! Why wouldn't I do it?
What else do I need to pay? Well, I'm going to order DC's school pictures. The proofs came home yesterday and they're gorgeous. They're much better than most of the school pictures my grown kids had (well, with the exception of Eldest Daughter's grad pictures, but they cost a fortune). I don't know if the photographers are better or if it has something to do with digital technology, but I was really impressed.
My only problem is that I prefer one pose and hubby and ED prefer a different one. I really don't want to order a 2nd package to get 2 poses since the package I want costs about $32 (additional packages are half price). I suppose I could add 4 pictures of a 2nd pose for $16 ($8 really). That brings the total up to $40 but we have to give pics to the in-laws, DC's siblings and other family members, and we want to have a couple ourselves to display and to carry around in our wallets. I also really love the idea having a collection of pictures taken about the same time every year to capture how she changes and matures.
So, it's an expense, but it's one that I care about. This year was the first time that I didn't buy anything from the wrapping paper/chocolate fundraiser the school does every year. I love gift bags but I didn't let myself get tempted. By not spending at least $14 on a set of gift bags I have a little more money to get the pictures. Photos I can keep forever. Gift bags, not so much.
I also want my hubby to give me $100 from his month end cheque to put towards groceries. Dear Child's school sells Safeway gift cards and I want to buy one. I do a lot of our regular grocery shopping there anyway (it's directly on my way home from work) and for every $100 card you buy the school gets something like $8. Even if I only buy 2 or 3 cards per month I could potentially make a couple of hundred dollars for the school. That may not be a fortune for the school but it doesn't cost me a penny! Why wouldn't I do it?
What else do I need to pay? Well, I'm going to order DC's school pictures. The proofs came home yesterday and they're gorgeous. They're much better than most of the school pictures my grown kids had (well, with the exception of Eldest Daughter's grad pictures, but they cost a fortune). I don't know if the photographers are better or if it has something to do with digital technology, but I was really impressed.
My only problem is that I prefer one pose and hubby and ED prefer a different one. I really don't want to order a 2nd package to get 2 poses since the package I want costs about $32 (additional packages are half price). I suppose I could add 4 pictures of a 2nd pose for $16 ($8 really). That brings the total up to $40 but we have to give pics to the in-laws, DC's siblings and other family members, and we want to have a couple ourselves to display and to carry around in our wallets. I also really love the idea having a collection of pictures taken about the same time every year to capture how she changes and matures.
So, it's an expense, but it's one that I care about. This year was the first time that I didn't buy anything from the wrapping paper/chocolate fundraiser the school does every year. I love gift bags but I didn't let myself get tempted. By not spending at least $14 on a set of gift bags I have a little more money to get the pictures. Photos I can keep forever. Gift bags, not so much.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Look Ma, No Goals
I always make lists of goals. Right now I have a list of long term goals but I'm not keeping up with creating microgoals to lead me in the right direction. In fact, I can't name all my long term goals off without checking back to the post where I outlined them.
That is what is known as: Fail to plan; plan to fail. How can I have any success if I don't keep all those goals up front where I can see them all the time. So, I've come up with an idea. I've added both my long term goals and my current microgoals as sidebars.
Now, every time I open my blog, it's there in black and white. These are the things I want to do and here's my next step for getting there.
That is what is known as: Fail to plan; plan to fail. How can I have any success if I don't keep all those goals up front where I can see them all the time. So, I've come up with an idea. I've added both my long term goals and my current microgoals as sidebars.
Now, every time I open my blog, it's there in black and white. These are the things I want to do and here's my next step for getting there.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
So Busy
We were busy today, but we're always busy and it's been even more so since the beginning of September. I haven't written about my Dear Child and kindergarten (other than mentions of dropping her off or picking her up). I didn't write a lot about my milestone birthday. And I've written a bit about my Eldest Daughter being away and having the girls but, again, more like bare bones about it.
Why? Because I'm too busy living it all to write about it for the most part. And some of it needs a little reflection. I'm not getting much time for that right now. One of the things this reminds me of (and I'll freely admit I'm too lazy right now to go look through my L.M. Montgomery books for the actual quote) is a scene where a young Anne of Green Gables and her best friend are having a sleepover. They get ready for bed, race down the hall and bounce into bed, only to find the friend's Maiden Aunt in the bed! There are apologies and further conversation where the Maiden Aunt says something to the effect that every year after age 13 time seems to speed up until the years are just racing by. I feel like that more and more every year.
How can my baby be almost 6 years old and in kindergarten all day long? Worse, how did my Number 1 Son get to be almost 30? I'm not that old, am I? I guess that's why I tried not to dwell too much on the milestone aspect of this birthday. I feel like (maybe) I should be turning 30, not 20 years more than that. But the one place where I do feel my age is when I go to the school.
First of all, my next to youngest graduated from high school before his little sister was born! I'm very out of practice with all the details of getting small people up, fed, dressed, teeth brushed, hair done and in the car in time to get to school on time. This was never my favourite thing to do in the first place and it really doesn't seem to have gotten any easier with the intervening years. I'm still a night owl masquerading as a morning person and my children are all unabashed owls.
I like to have a pleasant start to the morning and having to focus (and make my child focus) on sticking to a timeline tends to create dissention, whining, pouting and fussing (and it makes my kid crabby too!). Getting into the car several minutes late is a guaranteed way to raise my blood pressure and stress level through the roof. Traffic is always bad, we live quite far (20-25 minutes driving in traffic) from the school and every minute of the drive is excruciating when we're late. Every red light is a disaster, along with every bit of construction that wasn't there yesterday and every stalled car.
We were early once (by 5 whole minutes!), just on time once and late or later the other 6 times to date (although the on-time days have been the most recent ones, so at least we're improving). I'm pleased that DC says she likes school and appears to be getting along well with her classmates, even though almost all the rest of the class has been together already for the past 2 years. But I feel funny at the school, even though I know a few of the mothers. With a few exceptions, they seem a lot younger than I am (I wonder why) and I don't know the kids or even that many of the families anymore. Yet there's a sense of deja vu about it all.
Anyway DC looks cute, has developed some extreme climbing abilities at the playground, is now eating sandwiches and is doing very well in school. Her secular studies teacher noticed last week that she could read in English (not news to us) and she comes home each day with new Hebrew words (from the Judaic half of the curriculum). But she's tired by 4 pm and still not always agreeable about eating dinner and getting ready for bed.
Why? Because I'm too busy living it all to write about it for the most part. And some of it needs a little reflection. I'm not getting much time for that right now. One of the things this reminds me of (and I'll freely admit I'm too lazy right now to go look through my L.M. Montgomery books for the actual quote) is a scene where a young Anne of Green Gables and her best friend are having a sleepover. They get ready for bed, race down the hall and bounce into bed, only to find the friend's Maiden Aunt in the bed! There are apologies and further conversation where the Maiden Aunt says something to the effect that every year after age 13 time seems to speed up until the years are just racing by. I feel like that more and more every year.
How can my baby be almost 6 years old and in kindergarten all day long? Worse, how did my Number 1 Son get to be almost 30? I'm not that old, am I? I guess that's why I tried not to dwell too much on the milestone aspect of this birthday. I feel like (maybe) I should be turning 30, not 20 years more than that. But the one place where I do feel my age is when I go to the school.
First of all, my next to youngest graduated from high school before his little sister was born! I'm very out of practice with all the details of getting small people up, fed, dressed, teeth brushed, hair done and in the car in time to get to school on time. This was never my favourite thing to do in the first place and it really doesn't seem to have gotten any easier with the intervening years. I'm still a night owl masquerading as a morning person and my children are all unabashed owls.
I like to have a pleasant start to the morning and having to focus (and make my child focus) on sticking to a timeline tends to create dissention, whining, pouting and fussing (and it makes my kid crabby too!). Getting into the car several minutes late is a guaranteed way to raise my blood pressure and stress level through the roof. Traffic is always bad, we live quite far (20-25 minutes driving in traffic) from the school and every minute of the drive is excruciating when we're late. Every red light is a disaster, along with every bit of construction that wasn't there yesterday and every stalled car.
We were early once (by 5 whole minutes!), just on time once and late or later the other 6 times to date (although the on-time days have been the most recent ones, so at least we're improving). I'm pleased that DC says she likes school and appears to be getting along well with her classmates, even though almost all the rest of the class has been together already for the past 2 years. But I feel funny at the school, even though I know a few of the mothers. With a few exceptions, they seem a lot younger than I am (I wonder why) and I don't know the kids or even that many of the families anymore. Yet there's a sense of deja vu about it all.
Anyway DC looks cute, has developed some extreme climbing abilities at the playground, is now eating sandwiches and is doing very well in school. Her secular studies teacher noticed last week that she could read in English (not news to us) and she comes home each day with new Hebrew words (from the Judaic half of the curriculum). But she's tired by 4 pm and still not always agreeable about eating dinner and getting ready for bed.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Shopping for School Clothes
This post could be subtitled: It's only money (or plastic).
I worked all day, picked up Eldest Daughter from work and then we went home to switch cars and take 2/3 of the girls shopping for school clothes. The baby isn't going to school so she didn't get to come. We went to a big mall (Metrotown) and spent about 3 hours hitting Old Navy, Baby Gap, The Disney Store and The Children's Place. My ED got plenty of clothes for her daughter and I got more than enough for DC.
The biggest problem is that DC is very petite and it's hard to get skirts or dresses that fit her and still cover her knees. One denim skirt she tried on that fit lengthwise was about 3 or 4 inches too big in the waist! It basically just fell off her.
We hit the stores in the order I listed them in and there was really very little that fit her at Old Navy so I bought some things that I wasn't overly crazy about, just because they fit. I got a couple of nicer dresses at Baby Gap. Then we got to The Disney Store, where they were having a 50% off sale on a lot of items. I bought a couple of tops, an overall dress and a beautiful jumper type dress (okay, that one was full price). But the Children's Place was the prize!
They had 6x/7 skirts that were long enough and yet had easily adjustable waists. We got 3 in corduroy and one denim. Four long sleeved tops in mix and match colours. Four pairs of co-ordinating tights. Next time we go to The Children's Place first!
Now, my biggest problem is that I want to take some of the other stuff back and DC is freaking out. But really, some of it just doesn't measure up or it doesn't match colourwise with her other stuff. I think 2 dresses and one skirt will go back at an absolute minimum.
All in all, I'm really pleased with the things I found and DC is set for the fall and most of the winter too (though she'll need boots and a couple of warmer tops or sweaters later).
I worked all day, picked up Eldest Daughter from work and then we went home to switch cars and take 2/3 of the girls shopping for school clothes. The baby isn't going to school so she didn't get to come. We went to a big mall (Metrotown) and spent about 3 hours hitting Old Navy, Baby Gap, The Disney Store and The Children's Place. My ED got plenty of clothes for her daughter and I got more than enough for DC.
The biggest problem is that DC is very petite and it's hard to get skirts or dresses that fit her and still cover her knees. One denim skirt she tried on that fit lengthwise was about 3 or 4 inches too big in the waist! It basically just fell off her.
We hit the stores in the order I listed them in and there was really very little that fit her at Old Navy so I bought some things that I wasn't overly crazy about, just because they fit. I got a couple of nicer dresses at Baby Gap. Then we got to The Disney Store, where they were having a 50% off sale on a lot of items. I bought a couple of tops, an overall dress and a beautiful jumper type dress (okay, that one was full price). But the Children's Place was the prize!
They had 6x/7 skirts that were long enough and yet had easily adjustable waists. We got 3 in corduroy and one denim. Four long sleeved tops in mix and match colours. Four pairs of co-ordinating tights. Next time we go to The Children's Place first!
Now, my biggest problem is that I want to take some of the other stuff back and DC is freaking out. But really, some of it just doesn't measure up or it doesn't match colourwise with her other stuff. I think 2 dresses and one skirt will go back at an absolute minimum.
All in all, I'm really pleased with the things I found and DC is set for the fall and most of the winter too (though she'll need boots and a couple of warmer tops or sweaters later).
Monday, August 25, 2008
Still Thinking About School
School starts in just over a week and we still have to get DC at least a couple more skirts because she doesn't have more than a couple left that cover her knees. She doesn't seem to be that much bigger but she must have grown at least a couple of inches just based on how much shorter her skirts and dresses have gotten over the summer. We should establish a wall or a doorframe at our rural home and start measuring her there on a regular basis.
I did that for years when my big kids were small and the only problem was that it was a rented place. When we moved out, we lost all those cool reminders of how small everybody had been at one time.
We got DC a new backpack, shaped and coloured like a bee. It's cute and waterproof and it doesn't have to be huge or incredibly sturdy yet because it'll be another year before she starts shlepping books and other supplies back and forth. This backpack needs to basically serve as a place to hold her lunch and it will do that with room to spare. I also picked up a couple of juice boxes with pink lids at the dollar store for her and my 3 yo granddaughter who is going to go to preschool 2 days a week.
Before I get too excited about having 2 of them in school, let me say that this means I'll only have the 17 month old on her own for about an hour once a week before it's time for us to walk up the hill in all kinds of Vancouver weather (rain, heavy rain, pouring rain) all winter to pick the older one up because it's only a half day. The other day that she's in school is one of the days her dad is home with the kids. This means he's really not going to be looking after DC anymore, other than picking her up from school on Thursdays and Fridays.
My Dear Child, on the other hand, is going to be in school from 8:30 am to 4 pm 5 days per week (early dismissal on Fridays excepted). That also means she's only going to be hanging out with her nieces for a couple of hours on each of those 2 days instead of being with them all day every day. It's going to be a big change for everybody.
She's still not going to bed early enough or getting up early enough, although she has been waking a little earlier, around 7:30 to 8 am, as opposed to 8:30 to 9:30 am previously. I really think she's going to have to be up by 7 am in order to have a hope of making it to school by 8:30 am. That includes waking up (not easy for a night owl), eating, dressing, brushing teeth and having her hair done in about an hour and then getting out to the car and into her car seat. I think lunches are going to have to be made the night before. I've been asking her, but she still can't tell me what she wants to eat in her lunches.
They aren't allowed to bring peanut butter or any other nut products into the school. She won't eat a cheese sandwich. She sometimes eats cream cheese and she went through a phase where she wanted a ketchup sandwich (yes, that's just bread and ketchup) although I think she may be over that, thank goodness. Aside from the cost ($19.99/lb) I'm not planning on giving her meat sandwiches. She rarely eats them and she'd hate not being able to have any dairy products for 6 hours in the middle of the day. I don't think there's a rule prohibiting meat, like some day schools have, but it just doesn't make sense for her.
What does that leave? Well she ate a jam sandwich the other day. Not my idea of the healthiest thing she could have. And she might eat tuna, although it has to be kept cold because of the mayo. Not sure if she'll eat an egg salad sandwich (same issue about keeping it cold). I guess I could try alternating all those for the first couple of weeks and then see what she's willing to keep eating. The thing is, she's just not keen on sandwiches, soft tacos, hamburgers, etc. She prefers toast, but I don't see how she can eat that in a school lunch.
I did that for years when my big kids were small and the only problem was that it was a rented place. When we moved out, we lost all those cool reminders of how small everybody had been at one time.
We got DC a new backpack, shaped and coloured like a bee. It's cute and waterproof and it doesn't have to be huge or incredibly sturdy yet because it'll be another year before she starts shlepping books and other supplies back and forth. This backpack needs to basically serve as a place to hold her lunch and it will do that with room to spare. I also picked up a couple of juice boxes with pink lids at the dollar store for her and my 3 yo granddaughter who is going to go to preschool 2 days a week.
Before I get too excited about having 2 of them in school, let me say that this means I'll only have the 17 month old on her own for about an hour once a week before it's time for us to walk up the hill in all kinds of Vancouver weather (rain, heavy rain, pouring rain) all winter to pick the older one up because it's only a half day. The other day that she's in school is one of the days her dad is home with the kids. This means he's really not going to be looking after DC anymore, other than picking her up from school on Thursdays and Fridays.
My Dear Child, on the other hand, is going to be in school from 8:30 am to 4 pm 5 days per week (early dismissal on Fridays excepted). That also means she's only going to be hanging out with her nieces for a couple of hours on each of those 2 days instead of being with them all day every day. It's going to be a big change for everybody.
She's still not going to bed early enough or getting up early enough, although she has been waking a little earlier, around 7:30 to 8 am, as opposed to 8:30 to 9:30 am previously. I really think she's going to have to be up by 7 am in order to have a hope of making it to school by 8:30 am. That includes waking up (not easy for a night owl), eating, dressing, brushing teeth and having her hair done in about an hour and then getting out to the car and into her car seat. I think lunches are going to have to be made the night before. I've been asking her, but she still can't tell me what she wants to eat in her lunches.
They aren't allowed to bring peanut butter or any other nut products into the school. She won't eat a cheese sandwich. She sometimes eats cream cheese and she went through a phase where she wanted a ketchup sandwich (yes, that's just bread and ketchup) although I think she may be over that, thank goodness. Aside from the cost ($19.99/lb) I'm not planning on giving her meat sandwiches. She rarely eats them and she'd hate not being able to have any dairy products for 6 hours in the middle of the day. I don't think there's a rule prohibiting meat, like some day schools have, but it just doesn't make sense for her.
What does that leave? Well she ate a jam sandwich the other day. Not my idea of the healthiest thing she could have. And she might eat tuna, although it has to be kept cold because of the mayo. Not sure if she'll eat an egg salad sandwich (same issue about keeping it cold). I guess I could try alternating all those for the first couple of weeks and then see what she's willing to keep eating. The thing is, she's just not keen on sandwiches, soft tacos, hamburgers, etc. She prefers toast, but I don't see how she can eat that in a school lunch.
Busy Rainy Sunday
We had planned that, if the weather was nice, we would take all 3 girls to the PNE, which mostly means going to Playland and riding all the kiddie rides. So we switched cars with our son-in-law so we'd have the van that will take all the car seats.
But the weather has been weird lately. It started off nice one day so I went to work in a thin skirt and a tshirt with 3/4 length sleeves. When I finished work it was pouring rain and I had to run for it. At least I had the car that day. Then another day it was raining in the morning, so I dressed more warmly and wore my waterproof jacket. By the time I left it was sunny and hot (and this was a day I was walking and taking the bus). I actually left the jacket at work so I wouldn't boil.
Today, of course, it was pouring rain. My in-laws came over for a visit. Boo Boo had a nap, I fed the girls and then got them ready to go out and run errands. Hey, if it wasn't nice enough to go to the PNE then we had to go shoe shopping for our Dear Child for school.
So we went to Payless and got her 2 pairs of school shoes on a BOGO sale. She got Tinkerbell runners with velcro closures for her gym and outside shoes, and a pair of flat black shoes with a little strap for inside shoes. We tried on pretty well every pair of girls' size 9 shoes (and a few of the 8 1/2's) before settling on those. Many of the shoes I thought would be good DC turned down flat. She said a lot of them hurt the bottom of her feet, a couple were tight and 2 pair were loose enough that her heel slid up and down when she walked (those were the ones where we also tried 8 1/2's). The 2 pair she chose were the only ones that left a smile on her face when she walked up and down the aisle in the store.
We bought a few other little things: juice boxes and a bottle brush at a dollar store and a Webkinz on sale 30% off. Then we drove to IKEA. I finally found the receipt for the mirror I returned and I wanted to get the store credit they'd given me transferred back to my credit card to pay it off in full. Except that they will only do that within 45 days of purchase and I was several months too late. So I'm stuck with my store credit and have to pay the credit card off myself. Actually, stuck with store credit is not a good way to put it. This is IKEA. I could spend $166 and some odd cents in a heartbeat. Maybe I'll buy the 2 Hemnes mirrors I want for the other house now that they've gone down to $79 each. I'd just have to pay a few bucks towards the taxes for them. And I always need more Billy bookshelves.
Then we went to Linens 'n Things. I had a duvet cover and shams that I'd bought (again, months ago) but never used and I wanted to return it and get drapes for the living room here in the city. Second verse, same as the first. I didn't have my receipt so I got my refund on a store credit but it gets worse. They give you the lowest price the item has been offered for at any time in the previous 6 months, regardless of what you actually paid for it. I paid $59.99 and got back $29.99 as a result (actually $33 or so with taxes).
I ended up with 2 Dupioni silk panels (on sale), a picture frame to replace one of my husband's that broke, a car air freshener and a small candle (DC buys one pretty much every trip). I used 2 of the 20% off coupons that come with the Sunday paper and the store refund. I forgot to buy a curtain rod so we can actually put the panels up.
When we finished up at Linen 'n Things it had stopped raining so we conferred a bit back and forth with Eldest Daughter and eventually decided to go home to pick up son-in-law and we spent the entire evening at the fair. ED was finished work by the time we got there so she also came around with us.
We had a great time. I bought a skirt for $9.99 in the Marketplace (in addition to going on most of the kiddie rides that allow parents) and the girls won a couple of small stuffed toys. But I'm exhausted now and have to leave early tomorrow for work because I agreed to drop ED off at the store where she usually works before I go to work for 8:30 am. She has to go there to restock their booth at the PNE. Anyway, gotta go before I fall asleep at the computer again.
But the weather has been weird lately. It started off nice one day so I went to work in a thin skirt and a tshirt with 3/4 length sleeves. When I finished work it was pouring rain and I had to run for it. At least I had the car that day. Then another day it was raining in the morning, so I dressed more warmly and wore my waterproof jacket. By the time I left it was sunny and hot (and this was a day I was walking and taking the bus). I actually left the jacket at work so I wouldn't boil.
Today, of course, it was pouring rain. My in-laws came over for a visit. Boo Boo had a nap, I fed the girls and then got them ready to go out and run errands. Hey, if it wasn't nice enough to go to the PNE then we had to go shoe shopping for our Dear Child for school.
So we went to Payless and got her 2 pairs of school shoes on a BOGO sale. She got Tinkerbell runners with velcro closures for her gym and outside shoes, and a pair of flat black shoes with a little strap for inside shoes. We tried on pretty well every pair of girls' size 9 shoes (and a few of the 8 1/2's) before settling on those. Many of the shoes I thought would be good DC turned down flat. She said a lot of them hurt the bottom of her feet, a couple were tight and 2 pair were loose enough that her heel slid up and down when she walked (those were the ones where we also tried 8 1/2's). The 2 pair she chose were the only ones that left a smile on her face when she walked up and down the aisle in the store.
We bought a few other little things: juice boxes and a bottle brush at a dollar store and a Webkinz on sale 30% off. Then we drove to IKEA. I finally found the receipt for the mirror I returned and I wanted to get the store credit they'd given me transferred back to my credit card to pay it off in full. Except that they will only do that within 45 days of purchase and I was several months too late. So I'm stuck with my store credit and have to pay the credit card off myself. Actually, stuck with store credit is not a good way to put it. This is IKEA. I could spend $166 and some odd cents in a heartbeat. Maybe I'll buy the 2 Hemnes mirrors I want for the other house now that they've gone down to $79 each. I'd just have to pay a few bucks towards the taxes for them. And I always need more Billy bookshelves.
Then we went to Linens 'n Things. I had a duvet cover and shams that I'd bought (again, months ago) but never used and I wanted to return it and get drapes for the living room here in the city. Second verse, same as the first. I didn't have my receipt so I got my refund on a store credit but it gets worse. They give you the lowest price the item has been offered for at any time in the previous 6 months, regardless of what you actually paid for it. I paid $59.99 and got back $29.99 as a result (actually $33 or so with taxes).
I ended up with 2 Dupioni silk panels (on sale), a picture frame to replace one of my husband's that broke, a car air freshener and a small candle (DC buys one pretty much every trip). I used 2 of the 20% off coupons that come with the Sunday paper and the store refund. I forgot to buy a curtain rod so we can actually put the panels up.
When we finished up at Linen 'n Things it had stopped raining so we conferred a bit back and forth with Eldest Daughter and eventually decided to go home to pick up son-in-law and we spent the entire evening at the fair. ED was finished work by the time we got there so she also came around with us.
We had a great time. I bought a skirt for $9.99 in the Marketplace (in addition to going on most of the kiddie rides that allow parents) and the girls won a couple of small stuffed toys. But I'm exhausted now and have to leave early tomorrow for work because I agreed to drop ED off at the store where she usually works before I go to work for 8:30 am. She has to go there to restock their booth at the PNE. Anyway, gotta go before I fall asleep at the computer again.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Hello CCTB Retroactive Payment
My nice surprise for today was that I came home and discovered my CCTB retroactive cheque had arrived a day early! Too bad it's dated the 20th. Guess what I'm going to be doing tomorrow!
After I deposit my cheque and update my passbook (it's also payday on Wednesday) I should pay some bills! This will be a big cheque and the next one will be too. I have this big retroactive payment, plus I'll be getting 2 more government cheques within the next few days. So, I'm going from broke to having a nice chunk of change pretty abruptly.
What's the plan for spending it? I have 2 months of utilities at the city house to pay, I need to make a payment on my credit card, I want to either pay off the next amount owing on the Home Depot card or put the cash for that into ING so it's available when it comes due some time in January. Even more than that is the payment that will be due in February. It's about $1,400 and I have nothing saved for it yet. That means I should be trying to put away at least $200/month. Good luck. I've been in the red mostly by the end of each month.
And then again, there's a little more money owed to the school for supplies and books and I still need to get DC some new skirts and 2 pairs of shoes. I ran into her teacher today when I went down to the cafe for lunch and she said they should be really easy to put on and take off because they change shoes so often (when school starts and for each of the 3 recesses thereafter and again to go home). Basically, that spells velcro.
There are so many possibilities for spending the money. I just have to make sure I pay off and pay down as much as possible and that I don't leave myself short for anything I've already committed myself to (like the tuition payment).
After I deposit my cheque and update my passbook (it's also payday on Wednesday) I should pay some bills! This will be a big cheque and the next one will be too. I have this big retroactive payment, plus I'll be getting 2 more government cheques within the next few days. So, I'm going from broke to having a nice chunk of change pretty abruptly.
What's the plan for spending it? I have 2 months of utilities at the city house to pay, I need to make a payment on my credit card, I want to either pay off the next amount owing on the Home Depot card or put the cash for that into ING so it's available when it comes due some time in January. Even more than that is the payment that will be due in February. It's about $1,400 and I have nothing saved for it yet. That means I should be trying to put away at least $200/month. Good luck. I've been in the red mostly by the end of each month.
And then again, there's a little more money owed to the school for supplies and books and I still need to get DC some new skirts and 2 pairs of shoes. I ran into her teacher today when I went down to the cafe for lunch and she said they should be really easy to put on and take off because they change shoes so often (when school starts and for each of the 3 recesses thereafter and again to go home). Basically, that spells velcro.
There are so many possibilities for spending the money. I just have to make sure I pay off and pay down as much as possible and that I don't leave myself short for anything I've already committed myself to (like the tuition payment).
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
My 5 Year Old's Mail
Technically, the mail was addressed to me (and my hubby) but my daughter considers that the mail that came today was hers. School must be approaching. We got two pieces of mail from them today.
While we gave in the 10 post-dated tuition cheques some time ago I knew there were more fees to be paid. We actually have 3 more cheques to give in by the beginning of school. The first is a $35 fee for school supplies. Throughout the primary grades the kids use communal supplies that are kept at various stations in the 2 classrooms they use rather than buy their own individual pencils, crayons, etc.
The second is a textbook/field trip fee for the student agenda, a math workbook and field trips. That's another $33. But I'm not going to pay $70 for a Tanach (Bible), especially when it says on the form that the 5 books of Chumash with Rashi are the better (and more expensive) option. Why? Because I already own a perfectly good set of linear Chumash with Rashi (the ones I learn from every morning). [This is the first five books of the Bible with the Hebrew on the right, English on the left and Rashi's commentary at the bottom of the page.] For that matter, I have a Tanach. It's just a weird size with really small print.
The third cheque is for $240 and is for the school service requirement. Each family is required to give at least 12 hours of time to the school and there are all kinds of different opportunities throughout the year for fullfilling the 12 hours. If you don't put in the time by June, they cash your cheque. My goal is to put in our time and get my cheque back!
The other mail was a copy of the student handbook, a code of conduct and the schedule for the first week of school (when they don't go for the full day). Starting the 2nd Monday in September school runs from 8:30 am to 4 pm. The first week is going to be difficult, especially with our various schedules, only 2 vehicles between 4 adults and the little girls to shlep around too.
Not to mention that we'll be entering foreign territory in terms of getting our little owl to school before the time she normally wakes up! Basically, she needs to get up an hour and a half earlier than she does now and she has just over a month to get used to it. I've done this before and it's not fun. My #1 Son actually went to a half day kindergarten that started at noon. All the other kids had lunch before arriving at kindergarten. My son had breakfast and then had to hustle to get there on time. We don't have the option of half day kindergarten, so we're just going to have to get it together. Unfortunately, waking DC up means that every side of the bed just became the wrong one, whereas we have an even up chance if she wakes by herself.
While we gave in the 10 post-dated tuition cheques some time ago I knew there were more fees to be paid. We actually have 3 more cheques to give in by the beginning of school. The first is a $35 fee for school supplies. Throughout the primary grades the kids use communal supplies that are kept at various stations in the 2 classrooms they use rather than buy their own individual pencils, crayons, etc.
The second is a textbook/field trip fee for the student agenda, a math workbook and field trips. That's another $33. But I'm not going to pay $70 for a Tanach (Bible), especially when it says on the form that the 5 books of Chumash with Rashi are the better (and more expensive) option. Why? Because I already own a perfectly good set of linear Chumash with Rashi (the ones I learn from every morning). [This is the first five books of the Bible with the Hebrew on the right, English on the left and Rashi's commentary at the bottom of the page.] For that matter, I have a Tanach. It's just a weird size with really small print.
The third cheque is for $240 and is for the school service requirement. Each family is required to give at least 12 hours of time to the school and there are all kinds of different opportunities throughout the year for fullfilling the 12 hours. If you don't put in the time by June, they cash your cheque. My goal is to put in our time and get my cheque back!
The other mail was a copy of the student handbook, a code of conduct and the schedule for the first week of school (when they don't go for the full day). Starting the 2nd Monday in September school runs from 8:30 am to 4 pm. The first week is going to be difficult, especially with our various schedules, only 2 vehicles between 4 adults and the little girls to shlep around too.
Not to mention that we'll be entering foreign territory in terms of getting our little owl to school before the time she normally wakes up! Basically, she needs to get up an hour and a half earlier than she does now and she has just over a month to get used to it. I've done this before and it's not fun. My #1 Son actually went to a half day kindergarten that started at noon. All the other kids had lunch before arriving at kindergarten. My son had breakfast and then had to hustle to get there on time. We don't have the option of half day kindergarten, so we're just going to have to get it together. Unfortunately, waking DC up means that every side of the bed just became the wrong one, whereas we have an even up chance if she wakes by herself.
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