It’s been a week now since the kids went back to school. Not enough time to catch up with the flurry of activity that accompanies this time of year, but enough time to get a few thoughts together.

The budget crackdown in CA is really hurting our schools. It was kind of a given that education would be a big target since it accounts for roughly half of the general fund expenditures, but the reality on the ground really sucks. Ana’s kindergarten teacher was doing reading recovery the last few years to help ensure that the lowest-achieving first graders could catch up before it was too late. This year funding was cut so she’s back in the classroom. Quite a few teachers are in different grades from last year, some of them covering for those who were laid off. Class sizes are up school-wide. Our school’s Community Club, which was already responsible for donating much of the school’s computer equipment, chairs for the multi-purpose room, and emergency supplies over just the last few years, is asking for even more donations this year to cover further cutbacks.

Angie gets ready to go back to school

Angie is back in daycare after two idyllic months home with mama. She’s very advanced for her age, having started her Terrible Twos(tm) weeks ago. Her preferred method of ending a sip of any liquid is to hurl the container as far as she can. It turns out that those covered sippy cups either leak horribly when upside-down and/or their lids come off entirely when dropped. We’ve tried a few different kinds but for the moment we’re stuck sitting next to her and playing shortstop to avoid having to clean up massive milk puddles.

Her latest tricks are saying “uh uh” and nodding for yes and “unh” and shaking her head for no. She’s a climber, though thankfully not quite as much as her big sister. She can get on and off the sofa safely, but tends to avoid scary things like standing on tables, arms of chairs, etc. We’ve caught her with little Lego parts in her mouth once or twice but to be fair, I think she was hungry at the time.

See Daddy? I can do it myself.

Julie goes back to work tomorrow. She probably has 1.5 months of work to catch up on that built up during her 2 months ‘off’ during the summer. We’ve spent the last few days before she heads back pondering things like: How can we streamline bathing the kids? Do we really care if the cars aren’t washed until next July? and When exactly are we going to fit in grocery trips?

This promises to be an extra busy year as we’re both headed back to school as well. I’m looking forward to my MPA classes, as well as the interdisciplinary coursework I’ll be taking in Education. We spent yesterday getting an old desk back down from the rafters in the garage and assembling it in the study for Alex. We now have full-time work space for everybody but Angie, and I’m building a second computer for the kids. It’s not going to be practical having them share one any more as Alex is being expected to do more online research and type up his papers.

OK, bye!

Categories: angie, kids and parenting, school, work-life balance
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In the Disney movie, Lilo and Stitch, when the social worker Cobra Bubbles asks Lilo, “Are you… happy?”, the little girl responds with an awkward open-mouthed smile. Lately, baby Angie and I have been enjoying a private joke in which one of us smiles like awkward Lilo, and the other responds in kind. Sometimes we stand in front of the mirror and make the face together. It’s our secret handshake.

For months, the fish tank in the kids’ room has been empty except for a Golden Mystery Snail, which has grown alarmingly large. The other day I bought 2 Red Clawed Crabs to keep the snail company. Little animal lover Ana has been faithfully feeding them each one shrimp pellet every night. I think the snail wishes they would just go away, but I’m sure it can take care of itself.

Alex and I have been watching episodes of Gilmore Girls together on DVD. He finds Lorelei Gilmore hilarious and runs out of the room during the makeout scenes. I wish I were a Lorelei, but unfortunately I’m more of a Paris Gellar.

Have you seen the order form for Star Trek t-shirts on select boxes of cereal and cracker products at the grocery store? I’ve got enough tokens to order Kevin and Alex each a shirt. They both want blue.

With only 1 week left until I return to the office, I’m finally making some headway on the work I brought home with me at the start of summer. I would allow myself to exhale, but with the amount of knocking on wood I’d have to do, I’d rub my knuckles bloody.

Categories: TV, angie, kids and parenting, pets, work-life balance
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I just got an ad from CREDO Mobile, a different kind of wireless company by the same folks that brought you Working Assets back in the 80′s. According to their website, “[t]o date, the company and its members have donated more than $60 million to amazing groups — groups that members themselves help select — like the ACLU, Doctors Without Borders, Global Fund for Women, Greenpeace and Planned Parenthood.”

But that’s not what was interesting. CREDO’s competitors include AT&T, which currently holds a monopoly on providing wireless service for the iPhone – hence the title of my post. The ad I received contained some eye-opening facts about AT&T along with Verizon Wireless. I’ve reproduced the comparisons word for word below:

Disclaimer: I use T-Mobile for my wireless service.

Categories: environment, news, politics
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Kevin and I both going back to school + temporary pay cuts for both of us, courtesy of the California state budget = It’s going to be hard the next 12 months. Really, really hard.

I’ve been working on my coupon queen skills as well as my cooking skills. So far I’ve had great luck with creating shopping lists based on supermarket sales ads and cooking a mixture of ready-to-eat microwave food and from-scratch stuff. I’m hoping this routine sticks after I return to work full-time in September.

To end this post on a positive note, here are some fun things 15-month-old Angie has been doing:

• She knows how to wash her hands. When I take her to the sink and turn on the water, she leans over and puts first one hand and then the other under the running water.
• When Kevin comes home, she runs to the door to greet him.
• She hugs and kisses her big brother and big sister all the time.
• She likes to draw: on paper, on the floor, on herself, etc.
• She LOVES music. Anytime she hears a beat, she starts dancing.
• She likes to play “Angie says.” She likes to watch us copying her movements.
• She loves to eat cheese, popcorn, pretzel sticks, rice with sauce, and Chinese dumplings. She’s not fond of baby food anymore. Too bad I still have over 20 jars left.
• She likes to flip through books.
• She likes to put things in the trash can. Unfortunately it’s sometimes stuff that I would like to keep.
• She likes to play ball. Mostly we just roll balls across the floor at each other, but sometimes she picks the balls up and hurls them at us with great zest.
• She LOVES to play with clothes. Tonight she slung about 10 pairs of my underthings over herself and paraded around the living room like a little baby supermodel. Hilarious and adorable!

Categories: angie, budget, school
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