Hittin' the road

It's early around here because Mayhem #1 and I have to be at the high school by 7:00 to leave for San Antonio on the band trip. We're driving down, touring the Alamo, going to the competition location, changing into concert attire(The kids are. I'm just a roadie.), competing, going to the hotel, changing for dinner, going to the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner, and strolling down the river walk. Tomorrow we eat breakfast, check out of the hotel, go to Fiesta Texas, load up, drive back, and be home by about midnight. Are we having fun yet?

My calendar for May only has about 5 days with nothing scheduled on it. It was 6, but we got a letter that said Mayhem #1 was going to be recognized at the school board meeting as valedictorian. I guess that makes it official, though this is the only confirmation that we've gotten so far.

Please pray for Mayhem #1. She has 5 AP tests in the next two weeks. She says if she can get through this, it's all downhill from there. Pray I get the graduation announcements out. Pray I don't burst a blood vessel. AAAAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!!! Like I said,...Are we having fun yet?

New Pets

To cheer myself up, I got some new pets. Well, not really, but they do have a way of cheering you up. Once again they're not your run-of-the-mill pets. I couldn't get anything "normal" to go with the turtles and fishes. I don't have to feed these guys, but I do have to take them for a walk regularly. I am now the proud owner of eight plastic yard flamingoes!

The Project Graduation group from the high school placed thirteen flamingoes in my yard last week as a fundraiser. They had decorated theirs with pink, black, and green feather boas or tufts on their head and tail. One even had bumble bees glued on its back. I thought they were a hoot. I got to keep them for 48 hours and name the person they went to next. All that was worth a donation. They had placed them in a little "flock". I strung them out in a line before they came to pick them up.

Well, I've decided that our church youth group needs to do this for camp funds. We have a little less than two months before camp and we've raised about half the money needed to go. We're going to Glorietta, New Mexico this year for Centrifuge camp. The director didn't seem too hip on the flamingo idea, but everyone else did. I don't know if I'll decorate mine. I'm afraid the feathers will get messed up if it rains. The girls and I will be the "flamingo bandits" and make the deliveries and pick ups after dark so as to remain anonymous. The church members will also be given the option of purchasing "flock insurance" if they don't want these beauties in their yard. I think I need to go get eight more so I can have two flocks going at one time.

Depressed again

Hi guys. I tried to blog last week, but my computer froze in the middle. I was already depressed for the day so I took that as a sign that I shouldn't try again. Early last week, I was all gung ho to take on the recurring windmill of dress code enforcement and lack of discipline at the secondary campuses. I had sent an e-mail to the superintendent to that effect and he blew me off and sent my e-mail to the principals. The middle school principal has never contacted me, but the high school principal jumped me in the hall on my volunteer day. She didn't say it, but she inferred, "How dare you have a problem with my school and how I do things." All you have to do is stand in the hall to see what's wrong. I mentioned the skimpy shirts, baggy pants, and chains hanging on the pants that could be used as weapons. I did forget to mention the multiple piercings in multiple locations. I went out later that day and got prices from different stores of khaki pants and polo-type shirts so I could talk to the school board about it. In the afternoon, I heard on the radio that Dallas ISD had passed a new uniform policy. However, it said that 85% of the students would qualify for free uniforms, so the district would have to buy them! Why do I have to raise all these children? I already pay for the free lunch that most of the kids throw away and then they pull out $5 and buy junk. Then when I picked up Mayhem #2, she said that she had a sub in one of her classes. Since the district can't keep subs (I think that's because of the lack of discipline.), the other teachers have to cover classes during their off period. This sub was a regular teacher, and all she did was watch music videos on the computer. She even asked if any of the kids had gum because she wanted some. She said she wouldn't "rat" on them for having it even though that's a no no.

Now do you see why I was depressed? Why bother? Why try? No one else cares. I'm a little afraid to say much more because I fear it will be taken out on my kids. I can't mess up Mayhem #1's senior year. I can't risk them finding a way to take honors away from her. As it is, she has to fight for everything she gets. We just signed her up for 5 AP tests, and spent a ton of money at Barnes & Noble on study guides. She needs a score of 3 on four of the tests to earn the distinguished achievement graduation honor. Last year she took three tests and didn't score a 3 on any of them. She only had one teacher actually prepare her for the tests last year, and she made a 2 on that stats test. This year, only her calculus teacher is preparing her for the test. The rest she is having to do on her own. And the principal is trying to force the kids to take the tests if they are in the AP classes, but most of them don't feel like they are prepared to take the tests.

I think I'm depressed again. I'll go do some laundry and dishes (woo hoo) and try to come back later with something a little more cheerful. Maybe a little about Mr. Mayhem's new job.