Vote of Confidence

Today while I was preparing a PB and J to take along with us to the park, H asked for his copy of the daily agenda.

I told him that we were going to go to the Fire Station first so that I could vote. After he donned his fire helmet and Dalmatian rain boots, he asked about the concept of voting. I know that it all went right over his head, but I thought it was a great chance to start our very first dialogue about civic duty. Yes, my three year old and I had a conversation about civic duty. I am definitely a person that needs daily adult contact.

I remembered accompanying my dad to the Music Room at my school (our voting location), and the curtain-covered booths always seemed very mysterious. I couldn't WAIT until I was old enough to stand behind that curtain. By the time I turned 18, mail-in ballots were prevalent in Oregon, so this was my first time participating in an in-person voting situation and it was kind of exciting. (I know, giant dork.)

Voting complete, I met friends for coffee and then we went to the park and that part of my fantasy where I read my book and H plays gently with others was fulfilled. The part that wasn't in my fantasy was when I reached home with two sleeping children, deposited them in bed and then went to read more of my latest library find only to realize that I'd LEFT IT ON TOP OF MY CAR when putting H in his car seat at the park.

I'll be going back to search for it when naps are over, but I hope someone will fulfill their civic duty and return my book to the library if they find it on the ground! Dissapointing for more than just the money I'll have to spend, but also because it was a really good book that I was half-way through and it was on my New Classics Challenge list.

Just and FYI...today, if you vote, you can get a free drip coffee at Starbucks!

Today C turns five months old...I can't believe how fast this time is going. It's hard for me to believe that at this point with H, J was gone for a month-long away rotation and H was starting full-time daycare. I'd already been back to work for well over a month, and life was just truckin' along.

I don't know if it's because I knew I didn't have to go back to work this time, but there was much less of a sense of urgency to get him on a schedule, which incidentally never happened with H anyway. I have really enjoyed my time with C and sometimes find myself with the thought, usually when H is on his last set of "That's 1!", that C has the short end of the stick. While we had less with H, he got what we had. With each child it will be divided more and more, but I guess that's just the way it goes...

As much as I am sarcastic and get frustrated over the daily grind of being at home, I do appreciate that we've been able to make the decision and according budgetary sacrifices for me to stay home. Now I just hope the boys will concur.

Way to go, Ida-ho!

As I was reading my sister's blog post about the end of the school quarter, I was very impressed to see that her school (a small school in rural Oregon) is using technology to not only help kids become savvy and aware users, but to help reduce the amount of paper that schools as a whole crank out. (okay, so the school's not in Idaho, but it's close enough and the writer's at Disney are better with little quips than I...hope you've seen Toy Story.)

Their assignments are on a central server, and each child is able to complete the majority of their assignments on their own lap top, provided by the school, saving it to the teacher's files where that teacher can grade it without ever having to print off, or physically be handed anything. I asked about internet access, and they don't have access on those laptops outside of the school, so it stems the issue of MySpace and other sites of concern at home.

What a great way to teach kids not only about accountability (the teacher can see where the student is, progress-wise) on their assignments, but also about being more conservative and globally conscious. Not to mention, it was always a big job to lug around and empty the recylce bins at school. I can't stress how important I think it is for college-bound kids to be computer savvy, and comfortable on the Internet.

WWJD?

Hey J, What is the kind, nurturing translation for "H, if I see your face out of your bed again tonight, it will not be a happy occasion"? Hmmm...I'm stumped, too.

Not-So-Green Thumb

In my inbox this morning I found the following tip from Clorox's 30 Days to Natural;

"Get a green thumb and breathe easier. Enhance indoor air quality with houseplants, which convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Some plants, like the spider plant, remove some air pollutants."

Can they smell the funk of a diaper pail from a three year-old from there?! I've been looking into houseplants because I know that I need/want a few. My mom always had houseplants and they were always glorious looking, dusted regularly and perfectly potted. I have had several attempts with geraniums and other spring/summer flowering plants and they are always lovely for the amount of time that they can sustain themselves and then it's Sayonara, Sister!

I have to be careful, because with the lasseiz-faire tactics I employ for most things in life, I would most likely end in a poisonous plant being placed within reach of curious hands. Good thing there are websites that help weed out (ha ha, pardon the pun) the baddies. In looking at the list I'm pretty sure I would have deduced that Devils Backbone, Crown of Thorns and Dumb Cane would not good choices make. But Angels' Wings and Angel's Trumpet? Are they trying to make us have that conversation with Child Welfare workers?

I have one plant that is being plant-sat in Oregon, which I managed to keep alive for just over four years, before abandoning it to head to the "right" coast, as they call it here. Granted it's really tall for it's girth and was placed in a much larger pot far before its time, but thrive it has. I've been told my my old cubie buddies that it's doing quite well, and I'll be visiting it when I go home to visit.

My mom and two of my girlfriends at home have the most beautiful yards and are a big factor in me wanting to move back to Portland when residency is over. Who needs a landscape architect when you have friends that are passionate about an aesthetically pleasing, yet practical and balanced flora arrangement? But for now, here I go again on my own...yes, I'm full of 'em tonight.