For those of you who said, "Don't pull your broccoli out yet. It might come back." after I lost all my plants during the hard freeze we had in January, I just wanted to let you know the broccoli did come back and went straight to seed. Worst year ever for broccoli at the S Family Farm. We did well on cauliflower, though. And my kale went all season. It's only now going to seed. But the broccoli was a dismal failure this year.
It's that time of the year in the desert! Everyone I know, including myself, is scrambling to get their garden plots ready for their summer crops.
"Plants in the ground by March 15th!!!" is our motto in the desert, which is a completely unpleasant situation for me, because normally Greg pulls out the old plants, tills the dirt, fixes any bad irrigation, then I plop the plants into the pristine earth and blog, "Ohmygosh, I LOVE GARDENING." and then take all the credit, having done none of the hard part.
This year I don't have Greg because of his shoulder, so I started on one garden and spent the whole afternoon trying to clear it out. Then the boys came from school and I paid them.
And they were seriously done in 15 minutes. I am so thankful to have boys. I can see how they are going to be an enormous help to me as they get older.
Plus, they are so darned cute.
In between the baby chicks and the gardening, I've been working. This new stay-at-home work job is absolutely perfect for me. My current schedule is I start working from 6am-8am, then I schedule a 1.5 break, so I can make breakfast, pack lunches, take the kids to school, eat breakfast, clean the kitchen, and take a shower. Then I start working again at 9:30am and I work until 1 or 2. The kids get out of school at 3:30, so then I still have time to go to the store, fold laundry, and clean the house before they get home.
And when I have something going on, like today I volunteer at the school all day, doing Pizza Lunch, then I have a PTA meeting, then I have my monthly Triplet Mom Dinner, I don't schedule any work. I actually get out my PTA calendar to decide what days I work. It's really the ideal situation for me right now. I make peanuts, but it goes toward groceries and extracurricular activities, so I can't complain.
Also, I can schedule myself off and go lunch when necessary, which is what I did Monday, when I stumbled into this restaurant:
I was absolutely cracking up when I read the last paragraph of this sign. This is my new favorite place. The food was excellent and clearly the owner is my soul sister. So a shout out to Layer's Bakery Cafe for Keepin' It Real!
Since I've got time to join in discussions today, let's talk about the Superintendent of the Clark County School District handing in his resignation yesterday, only 1.5 years into his 4 year contract, because I'm super pissed off about it.
I cannot even articulate what a raw deal this is for our district and I'm wondering why we keep hiring these out-of-town thugs to come in here, raid our funds, then skip town. Why are we not hiring a NEVADAN to do the job?
Let's talk about that, locals.
March 15th for summer garden?! Ha! We can't even see the ground here. Happy Gardening!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like your Superintendent may be buddies with our former one (Google Jean-Claude Brizard). He screwed us a year into his second contract and then went to Chicago where he was the cause of their teacher strike. He's been "released" from that contract with a large payment and health care coverage for his family. I wonder where he will go next (hey I wonder if knows about the opening in Las Vegas????).
ReplyDeleteSeriously though he was replaced locally with a man who was a high school guidance counselor and a former school board member and I really think he is the hope we needed to improve our crappy district so you are on to something about hiring a local. Someone with ties to the area (while large we are not nearly as large as CCSD and are frequently used as a administrative stepping stone).
He will almost certainly end up here. That's our luck!
DeleteBoys are special! My teenagers do so much to help around the house. Need heavy stuff moved, they are there. Need to climb a tree and do some pruning, they are there. Reach all the stuff on the high shelves that their short mom can't reach, they are there. You have years of help ahead of you!
ReplyDeleteI have 2 teenaged boys and they are such a tremendous help and same here, they are both taller than me so they reach stuff on the higher shelves (while poking fun at their short mom ;) Gotta love them though!)
DeleteI cannot wait until my boys are big enough to do manual labor. My daughter too! I'm no sexist!!
ReplyDeleteMichele - I met Mara Liasson today ... she's a political correspondent for NPR (after having been THE White House Correspondent for the entire Clinton Administration) and she was talking about how women get started in politics. She made reference to Patty Murray who was first elected to the US Senate in 1992. This is from Wikipedia about her:
ReplyDelete"As a citizen-lobbyist for environmental and EDUCATIONAL ISSUES, she says she was once told by a state representative that she couldn't make a difference because she was just a "mom in tennis shoes". The phrase stuck, and she later used it in her successful campaigns for Shoreline School District Board of Directors (1985–1989), Washington State Senate (1989–1993), and United States Senate (1993 – present). Murray was successful in gathering grassroots support to strike down proposed preschool program budget cuts. Patty Murray now Chairs the Senate Budget Committee and is the 16th most senior member of the United States Senate."
Michele, my energetic and fiercely passionate about education issues friend who happens to reside in one of the lowest ranking states in the entire US of A for education - while I KNOW that you love the flexibility of your current job ... I think that you seriously might have a greater calling in this life. As such, I think you need to honestly consider stepping out from the laundry room and in to an election.
I kid you not. You've got what it takes, Michele. A smart mind, a desire to make a change, a sense of humor and a tough skin. YOU COULD DO IT. I know you could. Maybe Greg could be your campaign manager?? I can see the campaign signs now, "WE DON'T TURKEY AROUND!!!"
WHAT? Since when do you have MODERATION on your blog??
ReplyDelete(Wait a minute, am I on the right blog....? Holy smokes I'm getting old and confused!!!)
You are my mentor, Jen, so I'm following in your footsteps.
Delete1) Your boys are super!!! And I am impressed you are able to grow anything in the desert.
ReplyDelete2) That cafe looks SO GOOD!!! Seriously - their menu had me wishing they were in my city. And the prices are totally fabulous!! Yeah, the sign is priceless, too! "Mind your manners, and mind your brats!"
3) $340,00 a year???? Seriously???
This was not news to most teachers. I've been hearing rumors for months that he was getting ready to cut and run. Mayabe now we can get back to teaching. Just this week I finished up another round of testing with my students. I went back and looked at my calendar and I have spent 13 days testing my students since we came back from the winter break. I'll lay odds that by the end of our year we will have spent 20% of our time on testing. That's insane. What I want to know is where are all the teachers that were going to be rehired with the money he got from the teachers after the latest arbitration? And if those teachers are not being hired, where is all that money?
ReplyDeleteIt's depressing. My kids have tested all last week and this week.
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