Cotton Balls and Fruit Loops
No. This is not about personal hygiene and breakfast cereal. Just as the title is random so are the thoughts rolling around in my head. I have some spinach to use. Last week I made a great lasagna with spinach ricotta filling that was gobbled up. I didn't need quite as much as I made so now I must find a use for the remainder. It taunts me every time I open the fridge "ooooh are ya goin' to use me today? I bet you won't you big spinach loser" because I just shove it farther back into the fridge. I am avoiding it. How sad am I? Very. Yet I can't waste this good spinach and have to find another way to use it, ideally in a supper dish, before it has to be pitched. I've been searching the Food Network site for some good ideas. Perhaps a stew is the best option. Lately the kids have been pickier about the food they eat which is making me rather irritated. My brain is too tired from trying to find the perfect recipe for supper all the time. I think it's time to make something and call it a meal.
On the school front my 3rd grader is not doing well this quarter. I take that back. She is excelling at spelling, reading and writing. She is not doing well in math, science and social studies. Every quiz she has taken this month was scored no higher than a C, mostly lower, as in hardly passing. It pains me for several reasons. Her father and I are about as type A as it gets, always doing well in school, work, etc so this is not sitting well with us, particularly her father. He believes in diligence, focus and achievement of goals. Failure is not well received. He spent some time helping her study for her government test, we thought she was solid on the vocabulary, but the big F on the test is going to be a big punch to the gut for him. I am upset because I don't know why all the sudden she is doing poorly. She is so bright, talking about complex topics in daily conversations, these grades are not her. Science and language arts were always my strongest subjects. Math. Well. That for me is like the wagon without wheels that you need to drag up a hill. A big struggle. Yeah, I know, science nerds should also be good in math. I can do it, I just don't like it, so it's my attitude you see. My conclusion is I am encountering lack of interest. Her lack of interest in those subjects is the cause of her trouble passing them. I am trying to determine what she likes to learn about, there has to be something she likes about those subjects, right? When I ask she tells me phys ed is her favorite class, as well as library. Sigh. To be more specific I asked about the reason for her poor grade on the government test she explained that "Well, the test was taken at the end of the day and I had other thinks to remember. Such as 'meet me at the monkey bars tomorrow' and 'we can sit together at lunch' so it was pretty hard to keep all that other information in my head. I think it all fell out when I wanted to remember all the other thinks." Then I understood. It's focus and interest. Last night I spent a good deal of time reviewing her study sheets for the next round of tests (government, science, math). Her government test worries me the most as this is the one she is really having difficulty retaining its information. She is not getting the difference between populations and communities. I have been drawing the differences for her to see what I mean. She just might be the kid that needs to "see" to learn. We'll give it a whirl and hope for the best.
Now that I have painted I can't use the excuse I need to paint for why I haven't decorated or personalized our home more. I have been thinking of what to do for weeks. Now, you see, we are interesting folk, being strange, animated, busy, eclectic and slightly funky, it makes for a rather difficult style to determine. If only we had the cash to hire some designer to assist me in the process. Hmmm. What tv program could I be on.....hmmmm. In the mean time I will figure out how to accommodate his and my tastes in the space. Have I mentioned his big idea for the basement family room? It involves painting a football field mural on the wall behind the tv. (My desk faces that to be fielded wall) The room is to appear like a stadium. Thankfully before the football area is built in the basement there is still more painting to do on the main floor of the house. My goal today is to get that tape up in the butler's pantry. Then I'll work on the staircase and hallway. Once the main floor is complete I'll work on the trim work. Next will be the girls' bedrooms, pink and yellow are the colors. Keith has furniture plans for them. I'd like to get their rooms completed before winter sets in so that they can start hanging up the various pictures and posters they keep asking about. Plus there are several boxes in their closests that need to be unpacked and that shelf space is valuable storage space they could use now.
I am considering being a subsitute teacher. I need to complete a mountain of paperwork and health tests before that can happen. It all depends on my motivation. I have some other things going on currently which will be ending soon and perhaps after that I'll feel ready to be the sub.
The church library project has been coming along so slow. Really slow. I have some tech problems I'm working out and once I figure them out I'll be back on track.
My cookbook collection has been living in the basement with my office. Not the best place for a finiky cook. I can't determine the best place to store the ones I use most. Perhaps a book shelf in the kitchen, but that would require an open wall. Between the windows and cabinets I have only one to spare and that one is going to be the focus of some decor. In the meantime I'll continue to complain about the lack of cookbook space.
On the school front my 3rd grader is not doing well this quarter. I take that back. She is excelling at spelling, reading and writing. She is not doing well in math, science and social studies. Every quiz she has taken this month was scored no higher than a C, mostly lower, as in hardly passing. It pains me for several reasons. Her father and I are about as type A as it gets, always doing well in school, work, etc so this is not sitting well with us, particularly her father. He believes in diligence, focus and achievement of goals. Failure is not well received. He spent some time helping her study for her government test, we thought she was solid on the vocabulary, but the big F on the test is going to be a big punch to the gut for him. I am upset because I don't know why all the sudden she is doing poorly. She is so bright, talking about complex topics in daily conversations, these grades are not her. Science and language arts were always my strongest subjects. Math. Well. That for me is like the wagon without wheels that you need to drag up a hill. A big struggle. Yeah, I know, science nerds should also be good in math. I can do it, I just don't like it, so it's my attitude you see. My conclusion is I am encountering lack of interest. Her lack of interest in those subjects is the cause of her trouble passing them. I am trying to determine what she likes to learn about, there has to be something she likes about those subjects, right? When I ask she tells me phys ed is her favorite class, as well as library. Sigh. To be more specific I asked about the reason for her poor grade on the government test she explained that "Well, the test was taken at the end of the day and I had other thinks to remember. Such as 'meet me at the monkey bars tomorrow' and 'we can sit together at lunch' so it was pretty hard to keep all that other information in my head. I think it all fell out when I wanted to remember all the other thinks." Then I understood. It's focus and interest. Last night I spent a good deal of time reviewing her study sheets for the next round of tests (government, science, math). Her government test worries me the most as this is the one she is really having difficulty retaining its information. She is not getting the difference between populations and communities. I have been drawing the differences for her to see what I mean. She just might be the kid that needs to "see" to learn. We'll give it a whirl and hope for the best.
Now that I have painted I can't use the excuse I need to paint for why I haven't decorated or personalized our home more. I have been thinking of what to do for weeks. Now, you see, we are interesting folk, being strange, animated, busy, eclectic and slightly funky, it makes for a rather difficult style to determine. If only we had the cash to hire some designer to assist me in the process. Hmmm. What tv program could I be on.....hmmmm. In the mean time I will figure out how to accommodate his and my tastes in the space. Have I mentioned his big idea for the basement family room? It involves painting a football field mural on the wall behind the tv. (My desk faces that to be fielded wall) The room is to appear like a stadium. Thankfully before the football area is built in the basement there is still more painting to do on the main floor of the house. My goal today is to get that tape up in the butler's pantry. Then I'll work on the staircase and hallway. Once the main floor is complete I'll work on the trim work. Next will be the girls' bedrooms, pink and yellow are the colors. Keith has furniture plans for them. I'd like to get their rooms completed before winter sets in so that they can start hanging up the various pictures and posters they keep asking about. Plus there are several boxes in their closests that need to be unpacked and that shelf space is valuable storage space they could use now.
I am considering being a subsitute teacher. I need to complete a mountain of paperwork and health tests before that can happen. It all depends on my motivation. I have some other things going on currently which will be ending soon and perhaps after that I'll feel ready to be the sub.
The church library project has been coming along so slow. Really slow. I have some tech problems I'm working out and once I figure them out I'll be back on track.
My cookbook collection has been living in the basement with my office. Not the best place for a finiky cook. I can't determine the best place to store the ones I use most. Perhaps a book shelf in the kitchen, but that would require an open wall. Between the windows and cabinets I have only one to spare and that one is going to be the focus of some decor. In the meantime I'll continue to complain about the lack of cookbook space.
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