I'm Voting No, you know because I hate children

Well, there it was in the mail on Thursday afternoon...my official ballot. I knew it was coming, that's all there has been in the letters to the editor in the paper, the "you said it" column, and all over with the yard signs and billboards. You see our local School District 51 has had to tighten it's belt in the last couple years with the downturn in the economy. So, despite getting turned down before they are trying yet again to get the property owners in Mesa County to pony up a little more money. The threats are clear, closing schools, laying off teachers, bigger classroom sizes, etc, etc.

Now for the disclaimer: I currently have three nieces with teaching degrees. One teaches back east, one teaches for District 51, and one is on active reserve attempting to raise 3 1/2 boys. I don't hate them, want them to earn less money, or want them to teach in schools without lights. (And, thank you Allie for agreeing with me on this measure).

You see the problem is that for the last 11 years I have dealt directly with this school district, and all the machinations that it has managed to create. My children currently can not bring home some of their text books because there aren't enough to share and can't leave the school. They have dropped some classes because the district can't afford some of the programs, and they literally go to the same schools I did 30 years ago and have some of the same desks, lockers, and even a few of the same teachers. But throwing money at them isn't going to fix any of this.

The district's mentality that "just give us more" will fix any and all problems isn't the answer. My children have had 30+ year teachers who flat don't give a damn. My nieces school has adopted a policy of "no homework" because the parents complained. The middle school has now adopted a "rubric" style of grading, which is completely bizarre. My daughters high school has 3 assistant principals, 5 counselors (all new this year) and six secretaries. My list of examples can go on and on, but please explain how any of this helps with a quality education.

My parents managed to get pretty good educations with only chalk boards and books, I managed to get a darn good education with chalk boards, books and a few computers. I don't think fancy projection boards, web sites, progress counselors, and dispute mediation's really help. So I am voting no. No, you can't have more money, you just have to tighten your belt like the rest of the country. It's like a teenager that has managed to go through his allowance in the first three days of the week, the solution isn't to give the teenager more money, the solution is to get the teenager to be more responsible. More money is not the solution to this nations education problem. If throwing money at it made it the best, our country's education results would lead the world. Our children and the administration of the district both need to learn the same lesson...responsibility.

The College Hunt Has Begun

College. College? Oh thanks, I've been there done that. What? Time for my daughter to start looking at colleges? No that isn't possible, I'm pretty sure she is only in third grade!

Well, today Emily and I went up to Aspen for the Western Colorado College Fair. (Ok, we missed church) Anyway, off we went because Emily just turned 16, and apparently the clock is seriously ticking. According to the counselors at GJHS we are already behind schedule. So there we were, with over 200 colleges in attendance and only three hours to look through them. There were colleges from every state in the union, ranging from Harvard (yes, Harvard) to IntelliTech. I think we are somewhere in between. The trouble is Emily wants to go into structural or architectural engineering (this week), so we are definitely not looking for a liberal arts college. Of course she found the perfect college...in Vermont.

Currently she seems to be interested in the following:

Vermont Tech

Colorado School of Mines

CU

Westminster

U S Coast Guard Academy (they include big guns with engineering)

Of course I have no idea who is going to pay for any of these colleges, but the dialogue has begun. We filled out enough of the little interest cards that our mail box should be over flowing in the next couple months. Next comes all the tests, PSAT, SAT, ACT, ASVAB, blah, blah, blah.

I'm not sure how the heck I ever went to college, I guess that is why I just stayed at MIT (you know Mesa in Town). But, even if Emily ends up at my alma mater that will be just fine. I'm glad Emily is being proactive and I hope all the entrance stuff doesn't overwhelm all of us. So begins a new chapter in our lives, well in two years, since we just started our junior year, but hey...the clock is ticking!

I Don't like Halloween

It's true, I really don't like Halloween. No, it isn't the religious part of me either, I simply don't like it. I have never liked scary things, I don't really appreciate gore and blood, and I don't even like suspense...so pretty much all things Halloween.

When I went to see Ghost Busters in my younger days I went home with nightmares. When my Dad suggested that that I watch Hitchcock's famous movie Psycho, I had a clear shower curtain for two years (that seriously irritated my sister Ellen). when my friends convinced me to go see Night of the Living Dead, I spent all but the first five minutes in the lobby. When I first got married Scott didn't believe that I really didn't like scary, and tried to get me to watch The Fly, I didn't sleep for three days and I only saw a few minutes of it too.

I have been known to attempt bribery of my children with multiple bags of their favorite candy if we don't have to go trick or treating. I have been known to purposely go out to dinner to avoid trick or treaters. I refuse to decorate my home with any extra cobwebs, skeletons, witches, etc.

If I have to I will go to church parties, I will get dressed up, and I will give out candy, but just realize that I really don't like Halloween.

Blame it on Shadrach

Approximately 10 weeks ago, I woke up thinking about the fact that I have a really big yard, and I really hate yard work. There are tons of nooks and crannies, a bizarre corner over behind Clark's, peach trees and lots of weeds. So I woke up and thought, "I need a goat", so I checked Craig's List and consulted my goat expert Allison the Younger. The conversation went like this:

Me: Hey, what do you know about La Mancha goats?

Allison: They're ugly, they don't have ears.

So, on the way home from work that day,

Introducing...Shadrach

No...he's not a camel. He's our sweet addition. But that just opened a whole other can of worms. First of all, staking out a goat in my neighborhood is like offering the local dogs/bears/mountain lions a treat on the end of a string, and apparently goats like friends. So, the task of fencing in the portion of our lot behind the Clark's began. Scott decided that the fence should be good enough to hold what ever his wife might bring home (what does that imply?). We had just started the fencing process, (spending a lot of time at my favorite store Murdoch's) and we had found all the necessary parts, except for a 16 foot wire filled livestock gate for the far corner. Unfortunately, Murdock's only had 14 foot gates, so Scott and I were looking for a misplaced 16 footer...when I tripped over the gate rack and broke the 5th metatarsal in my left foot. So the task of building nearly the entire fence went to...
Scott, and his "trusty" helpers

Okay, maybe not so trusty, but they did help.

Nearly 500 feet of fencing, two livestock gates, 18 eight foot post, and 45 T-posts later, we had a new goat pen.

In the midst of building the goat pen, we had an RE Whiting Family Reunion at the ranch. We had a pretty good turn out.

And of course Shadrach was invited. But he wasn't the main course.Despite the broken foot we did take a quick family vaca/back to school shopping trip to Salt Lake. We went to Lagoon, where my family had the opportunity to push me around in a transfer chair for the day. In a moment of weakness or maybe it was the percocet...I agreed to let my children do the following:

Get strapped into harnesses by twenty something year olds with little or no training

Hoisted a couple hundred feet in the air

and released.

Fortunately they survived, because I can't bake anymore.

We started back to school in August, the day before Emily turned sweet 16. She decided to post phone her party until Labor Day weekend, and the pictures from that are on another camera, so you will just have to breathlessly anticipate them.

Then last week we finally moved Shadrach out of the Chicken Coop (his temporary home while the fence was being finished) and got two new friends for him. I let the kids name them which is why we on't havea aMeeshach and Abednego. We now have...

Diva (who isn't really)

and Little Tim (Emily named him), she said, "He looks like a little Tim" So I asked, "Do you mean Tiny Tim?". "Who's Tiny Tim?" she asked. Never mind.
So now we have three goats, small, medium, and large. Although Shadrach has a few issues, he likes to play with Frank.Right now the goats only have a upside down Loomix tank for a home, but knowing my husband they will soon have a goat palace. But looking at them they don't seem to mind.

Anyway, I know I haven't blogged in a really long time, but between the broken foot, the goats, family reunions, school starting, a sweet 16 party, and maybe even a cub scout regatta race, I've been a little out of it. So I'm working on it.

The Dederick Family Shoes

A long time ago, I made an impulse purchase at Wal-mart. A pair of slip on Dr. Scholl's. How was I to know that many, many years later these same shoes would come to be known as "The Dederick's Family Shoes"? Well, it's true. We all wear them. We slip them on to run out to the chicken coop, over to Nancy's, up to Grandma's, out to get the paper, etc, etc, etc. If we all need to go somewhere, and the shoes have all ready been taken, we stack up at the door, like pringles...and stare, not really sure what to do. My family members can tell if someone from my family is visiting someone else's house, they just look for the family shoes, kicked off by the front door. We aren't proud...those are awesome shoes, and we all love them! I think everyone else is just jealous. And yes, I have been half way up the street or maybe even farther into town and realized that I forgot to change.

The Trouble with Traditions

As most of you know, I come from a freakishly large family which loves to spend a lot of time doing things together. This attitude didn't appear overnight. It was carefully and lovingly nurtured by generations of women before me or my sisters. When I was little time was marked by events such as Easter picnics

Family reunions, which of course included luaus
And of course the biggest end of year event- Christmas Eve

It seemed we would just get done with one event and planning would begin for the next. Everyone in my family can recall-sometimes with fondness; sometimes not- all of these traditional family events and gatherings. I still can't comprehend the idea of spending Christmas Eve quietly watching movies.

Anyway, as time has gone by and as noted in previous posts I have been blessed/cursed with the genetic desire to continue traditions. Well, it turns out that traditions take a lot of work. When I was little I didn't truly appreciate all the work that went into all the events around me. But now as I get older I appreciate the need for traditions. Not all the traditions that I had as a child have continued. We no longer do large family Easter picnics, Sunday dinners are a thing of the past, and luaus are simply a fond memory. But a few years ago I woke up one day and realized that while I couldn't do all the traditions my Grandma did, I did have the opportunity to start creating my own traditions within my family.

You see, that's the trouble with traditions, they take a lot of work or they go away. It doesn't count when you sit around and just tell your kids about the great things you did way back when. You need to actually get up...and do something. If you aren't willing to help, you deserve to not enjoy them. So...as the time gets closer for the 2011 RE Whiting Family Reunion, and I hear "well...I don't think we are going to make it this year" or as Christmas approaches and I hear "I just can't make it this time...but for sure next year" I wonder what your children will be doing in 20 years. You see, kids learn from example, if you didn't have the time for your family I wonder if they will ever have the time for you.

Traditions create a sense of stability. Something that you can count on no matter what is going on. Unfortunately, many members of my family, while they enjoy the traditions, are not willing to put the work into them. To them I say--"Quit ****ing and get to work! You think it was easy for people before? Well, they did it, so suck it up cupcake!"

The Rivers Edge

It's runoff time. Usually that means that we get dirty water in the water treatment world, which, oddly enough is actually easier to treat than clean December water. Anyway, this year we had watershed snowpack levels around 248% of normal. That means a lot of snow, add to that a nice cold spring, and you have the opportunity for a lovely runoff year. Normally the Colorado River in the summer runs around 10,000 cfs, runoff on a normal year is around 20,000 cfs. This year we are expected to peak around 34,000 cfs. While this won't be the record year of 1983 which was 40,000 cfs it's still pretty serious.

My work has been preparing for this flood for a couple months, but it wasn't until the last two weeks that we got into high gear. We have been building berms and filling sandbags, lining banks and watching the weather like crazy. Since our treatment plant is right along the river, we have to take all this seriously. In the record year of 1983, the river decided to use it's old channel, which happens to be our across our driveway, so the operators were literally boating in to work. This year we have a boat, life jackets, and plans for evacuating the building for things like documents and some of my lab equipment. Hopefully we won't have to do that.

However, since the river usually crests around 2 a.m. we have all volunteered for shifts to watch the river in the middle of the night. Mine is for Thursday morning 2-6 a.m. For some reason this has my mother and my supervisor very nervous. My supervisor, because I am the only woman who volunteered (apparently the secretaries aren't interested in being team players) and my mother because, well...she's my Mom. The crest is supposed to be here on Wednesday or Thursday, right when I will be checking. I'm not worried, but to make my Mother happy, maybe I'll give her a call so she knows I'm safe! A 3 a.m. check in should make her very happy indeed!