Today was the yearly group yard sale of my local mommy network. It's an established tradition with around 40 families participating, held in the basement of a local church. It's a great place to get ANYTHING kid-related at really good prices. So it's a mob scene, of course.
This was the first year I was able to go. Typically, I manage to sign up to work the weekend of the yard sale, and Anne becomes my personal shopper and finds things for me. She volunteers for the event so that she can get in early and scoop up the best stuff. This is a good strategy. Stuff goes fast. But Anne was out of town this weekend, and I was not working, so I got to go and be Anne's personal shopper instead.
I got there early to help out. I knew the organizer because she helped me with the enormous yard sale I did last year. I ran into my neighbor and her friend who shared a table. I met a lot of new people. Then the sale opened, and the crowds arrived. I saw friends that I know from BestestHusband's work. I saw friends I know from church. I saw friends I know from daycare. I saw friends I know from our old babysitting co-op. I saw friends I know from the playground. I saw so many people I know. I didn't know I knew so many people around here. I know I've said it before, but occasionally I realize how rooted I've become here. And today I realized that I have a taproot in this community. I'm firmly dug in.
I didn't find much stuff for HeyMama, unfortunately. But I did find some great stuff for Anne's daughter, Rockstar. (she's earned this nickname for the place she holds in my daughters' lives. MeToo idolizes her.) Part of me wants to post pictures of the loot, as I'm proud of the finds. But I also want Anne to be surprised when she sees them. So I'll hold back. But I will say this: a pristine Hanna Andersen dress for $5. Of course, Anne told me which tables to beeline to first, so I can't claim too much credit...
I hope your weekend's full of fun surprises!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Gas Stinks. And other ramblings, thanks to NyQuil...
I had so many things I wanted to write about tonight, but won't, thanks to NyQuil.
Like a rant about how the price of gas stinks. When I drove my first car to college, I paid 89 cents per gallon. Yes, less than a dollar per gallon. Tonight I paid $3.41. And I felt like a winner for paying that. Only because I saved 30 cents/gal by spending too much money at the grocery store. Without the loyalty points, I'd spend $3.71/gal. For the "cheap" gas. My first job out of grad school was a 45-60 minute drive north of here. I entertained 2 job offers. The jobs were very different, the pay was very different. Driving almost 2 hours round trip every day was worth it, we calculated, if gas never rose above $3.50/gal. We laughed. Certainly that couldn't happen. Ha! How naive we were back then... Thankfully I got a job down the street before gas did get that high, and was able to walk to work. Gas stinks. It'd stink more if we had 2 cars...
I wanted to do a fond farewell to our garden. Our first hard frost is scheduled for tonight. So today I harvested a ton of parsley, mint, and lavender. And I pulled up the poor baby spinach that was struggling to grow in the waning sunlight. Farewell garden, we will miss thee... Dang, I forgot to bring in the ivy. I should get that pot inside right away...
I enjoyed a glorious trip to the grocery store alone tonight, where I combined a fistfull of coupons and some store sales to save $15 just on cereal. I did buy a lot of cereal. I love the grocery store late at night. It's so peaceful. And when I have extra coupons, I lay them on top of the product that they apply towards for someone else to discover and use. (sometimes even the coupon doesn't make it cheap enough for me to buy...) I like to think of myself as the Coupon Fairy. But only for coupons that aren't so great...
I did not bring home any candy or treats from the store. But I did bring home 3 versions of cold medicine. 2 were on sale. That's the sign of illness in me. I had 2 kinds of leafy greens in my cart (spinach and kale), but no chocolate. Not even more Dum-Dums for the girls. I'm definitely still sick.
Dogs are great. I love our dogs. I wish they didn't shed so much. But if I brushed them more often with the Furminator, I wouldn't have so much fur to sweep up. But I don't think to do that very often. Did I mention we have great dogs? That are very furry?
My cold is getting a bit better, but I'm sustaining myself on various drugs. Thanks to Sudafed and Mucinex, I could actually use my left nostril intermittently throughout the day. This is a significant improvement. But also thanks to Sudafed, I was wired all day, and couldn't nap. This is noteworthy, as I have a history of napping any place, any time. Rowing in college trained me to nap flexibly, and I was even able to take 90-second naps in the boat. But I could not nap today. So I took NyQuil as soon as I got home from the store. And now I'm a zombie. A zombie that writes tangential blog posts. I think I might be able to sleep now, so I'll wrap this up and go to bed.
Wash your hands. Stay well. And thank you Lord for NyQuil.
Like a rant about how the price of gas stinks. When I drove my first car to college, I paid 89 cents per gallon. Yes, less than a dollar per gallon. Tonight I paid $3.41. And I felt like a winner for paying that. Only because I saved 30 cents/gal by spending too much money at the grocery store. Without the loyalty points, I'd spend $3.71/gal. For the "cheap" gas. My first job out of grad school was a 45-60 minute drive north of here. I entertained 2 job offers. The jobs were very different, the pay was very different. Driving almost 2 hours round trip every day was worth it, we calculated, if gas never rose above $3.50/gal. We laughed. Certainly that couldn't happen. Ha! How naive we were back then... Thankfully I got a job down the street before gas did get that high, and was able to walk to work. Gas stinks. It'd stink more if we had 2 cars...
I wanted to do a fond farewell to our garden. Our first hard frost is scheduled for tonight. So today I harvested a ton of parsley, mint, and lavender. And I pulled up the poor baby spinach that was struggling to grow in the waning sunlight. Farewell garden, we will miss thee... Dang, I forgot to bring in the ivy. I should get that pot inside right away...
I enjoyed a glorious trip to the grocery store alone tonight, where I combined a fistfull of coupons and some store sales to save $15 just on cereal. I did buy a lot of cereal. I love the grocery store late at night. It's so peaceful. And when I have extra coupons, I lay them on top of the product that they apply towards for someone else to discover and use. (sometimes even the coupon doesn't make it cheap enough for me to buy...) I like to think of myself as the Coupon Fairy. But only for coupons that aren't so great...
I did not bring home any candy or treats from the store. But I did bring home 3 versions of cold medicine. 2 were on sale. That's the sign of illness in me. I had 2 kinds of leafy greens in my cart (spinach and kale), but no chocolate. Not even more Dum-Dums for the girls. I'm definitely still sick.
Dogs are great. I love our dogs. I wish they didn't shed so much. But if I brushed them more often with the Furminator, I wouldn't have so much fur to sweep up. But I don't think to do that very often. Did I mention we have great dogs? That are very furry?
My cold is getting a bit better, but I'm sustaining myself on various drugs. Thanks to Sudafed and Mucinex, I could actually use my left nostril intermittently throughout the day. This is a significant improvement. But also thanks to Sudafed, I was wired all day, and couldn't nap. This is noteworthy, as I have a history of napping any place, any time. Rowing in college trained me to nap flexibly, and I was even able to take 90-second naps in the boat. But I could not nap today. So I took NyQuil as soon as I got home from the store. And now I'm a zombie. A zombie that writes tangential blog posts. I think I might be able to sleep now, so I'll wrap this up and go to bed.
Wash your hands. Stay well. And thank you Lord for NyQuil.
Debates
I'm watching my second debate, this one for Vice-Presidential candidates. Sigh. I realize that I'm a cynic. Who's telling the truth? Whose facts are correct? What truths are being told and what truths are being bent? I'm not a political insider. I don't know. Nor am I really sure of which insiders to trust. This is a problem.
I'm more involved in a different debate. There is a debate raging in Boston about changes to the school system. One side says that the school system is trying to destroy neighborhoods. The other side says that the school system is trying to widen the gap between the poor and the rich. They shout words like "racism". The thing is, I know that both sides are wrong.
There have been many articles about the history of bussing in Boston:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/1/boston-still-vexed-by-school-busing/?page=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/education/new-boston-busing-debate-4-decades-after-fervid-clashes.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/10/bostonians-committed-school-diversity-havent-given-busing/3544/
http://www.wbur.org/2012/03/30/boston-busing-crisis
It was started in the 70's to address the issue of schools being segregated because neighborhoods were segregated. What happened? People were outraged about their children being bussed away from their neighborhood schools to schools with strangers across town. Unfortunately, violence resulted. What would you do if you were informed that next year, your child would be driven across the city to a strange neighborhood? I doubt you'd throw bricks at busses, but if you had the means, you'd move to a different town with more reliable and predictable schools. Or send them to private schools. Well, if you had the money to do so...
And that's what happened in Boston. Wealthier families who wanted to take control of their children's educations left en masse. That left behind the children of the poor and the children of immigrants - children who desperately need good educations and desperately need additional resources to make that happen. The elementary schools are full of the neediest children in town. That's a tough position for any school district to be in. Do they still need to rise to the occasion? Yes. But does that make it more difficult for all schools to be equally good? Yes.
The school district needs to lure back the wealthier kids to fill in more of the seats. And by "wealthy" I mean families that can scrape together about $7000/yr to buy a predictable parochial education. They need to prevent the flight of wealthier families to the burbs. Then they'd have more money to spend on all of the children. It isn't only the wealthy families (and again, I use the term "wealthy" loosely here) that want better schools. It isn't only the wealthy that want advanced coursework for their bright kids.
The school district (BPS) has been implementing targeted programs towards the children with the greatest needs, those who enter the system with linguistic and academic disadvantages. They have more plans ready for implementation. These are the poor (largely African-American and latino) and the immigrants that are being helped the most. How are they demonstrating ongoing racism? And the Superintendent of the BPS and most of the school administrators and Principals were African-American. Others were Latino and Asian. They were the ones presenting the possible plans. I'm scratching my head at how an African-American woman making school policy recommendations that largely affect African-American children can be accused of being racist.
When people care greatly about a topic, local or national, rhetoric gets heated. I realize this. But why does it have to be so nasty? And full of untruths? A mom on JPMoms wrote that she feels that this is "us vs. them". But why do we have to assume this? The mere fact that BPS is proposing 5 different changes, and vigorously soliciting parent feedback through surveys, meetings, and open appeals makes me feel invited and included in this process. The fact that I had facetime with the Superintendent at a meeting makes me confident that this isn't an "us vs. them" process. We can't all get exactly what we want. But this doesn't mean that they're not trying to find a good middle-ground solution.
So I pray regularly now that we may all be given open minds, gentle spirits, and sweetened tongues. There are many debates going on right now that will have ongoing consequences. I pray that truth rises to the top of the fray, and good decisions can be made all around.
I'm more involved in a different debate. There is a debate raging in Boston about changes to the school system. One side says that the school system is trying to destroy neighborhoods. The other side says that the school system is trying to widen the gap between the poor and the rich. They shout words like "racism". The thing is, I know that both sides are wrong.
There have been many articles about the history of bussing in Boston:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/1/boston-still-vexed-by-school-busing/?page=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/education/new-boston-busing-debate-4-decades-after-fervid-clashes.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/10/bostonians-committed-school-diversity-havent-given-busing/3544/
http://www.wbur.org/2012/03/30/boston-busing-crisis
It was started in the 70's to address the issue of schools being segregated because neighborhoods were segregated. What happened? People were outraged about their children being bussed away from their neighborhood schools to schools with strangers across town. Unfortunately, violence resulted. What would you do if you were informed that next year, your child would be driven across the city to a strange neighborhood? I doubt you'd throw bricks at busses, but if you had the means, you'd move to a different town with more reliable and predictable schools. Or send them to private schools. Well, if you had the money to do so...
And that's what happened in Boston. Wealthier families who wanted to take control of their children's educations left en masse. That left behind the children of the poor and the children of immigrants - children who desperately need good educations and desperately need additional resources to make that happen. The elementary schools are full of the neediest children in town. That's a tough position for any school district to be in. Do they still need to rise to the occasion? Yes. But does that make it more difficult for all schools to be equally good? Yes.
The school district needs to lure back the wealthier kids to fill in more of the seats. And by "wealthy" I mean families that can scrape together about $7000/yr to buy a predictable parochial education. They need to prevent the flight of wealthier families to the burbs. Then they'd have more money to spend on all of the children. It isn't only the wealthy families (and again, I use the term "wealthy" loosely here) that want better schools. It isn't only the wealthy that want advanced coursework for their bright kids.
The school district (BPS) has been implementing targeted programs towards the children with the greatest needs, those who enter the system with linguistic and academic disadvantages. They have more plans ready for implementation. These are the poor (largely African-American and latino) and the immigrants that are being helped the most. How are they demonstrating ongoing racism? And the Superintendent of the BPS and most of the school administrators and Principals were African-American. Others were Latino and Asian. They were the ones presenting the possible plans. I'm scratching my head at how an African-American woman making school policy recommendations that largely affect African-American children can be accused of being racist.
When people care greatly about a topic, local or national, rhetoric gets heated. I realize this. But why does it have to be so nasty? And full of untruths? A mom on JPMoms wrote that she feels that this is "us vs. them". But why do we have to assume this? The mere fact that BPS is proposing 5 different changes, and vigorously soliciting parent feedback through surveys, meetings, and open appeals makes me feel invited and included in this process. The fact that I had facetime with the Superintendent at a meeting makes me confident that this isn't an "us vs. them" process. We can't all get exactly what we want. But this doesn't mean that they're not trying to find a good middle-ground solution.
So I pray regularly now that we may all be given open minds, gentle spirits, and sweetened tongues. There are many debates going on right now that will have ongoing consequences. I pray that truth rises to the top of the fray, and good decisions can be made all around.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Stewardship Sunday
I love 3 day weekends. It's Sunday night, and we've opened a bottle of prosecco. No need to rush to get stuff done and go to bed early. We went "hiking" yesterday with the girls before the rain started, and have spent the rest of the time just getting little things done. BestestHusband took HeyMama shopping today to help him find jeans. MeToo and I had great relaxed snuggle time at home. And we have tomorrow to look forward to, as well. Good stuff.
It's been an interesting week. A week of events that require their own posts. When I haven't had 2 glasses of prosecco.
So I'll report in on my week.
M&Ms: my consumption has been scandalous. Just scandalous.
Patience: it's been helped by the M&Ms, and a few trips to the gym. And the Patience Angel. Who apparently took a vacation today. But she was around this week...
Time: I definitely wasted too much time this past week. I hope to do much better this next week.
Money: as I previously reported, I did a fair amount of shopping to bulk up HeyMamas cold weather wardrobe. I got some good deals, though.
Food waste: again, it was scandalous this week. I could fill most of our compost pail with food waste. Sigh. Again, I need to do better this week.
Our Bible study at church is studying the book of Romans right now, and we've been talking about law and grace. Law, the rules and guidelines of life, help us know what we do wrong. Grace, thanks to our loving and forgiving God, allows us to start a week with a clean slate, ready to try again.
So I'm thankful for Grace. It's time to try again.
Hope you have a great week!
It's been an interesting week. A week of events that require their own posts. When I haven't had 2 glasses of prosecco.
So I'll report in on my week.
M&Ms: my consumption has been scandalous. Just scandalous.
Patience: it's been helped by the M&Ms, and a few trips to the gym. And the Patience Angel. Who apparently took a vacation today. But she was around this week...
Time: I definitely wasted too much time this past week. I hope to do much better this next week.
Money: as I previously reported, I did a fair amount of shopping to bulk up HeyMamas cold weather wardrobe. I got some good deals, though.
Food waste: again, it was scandalous this week. I could fill most of our compost pail with food waste. Sigh. Again, I need to do better this week.
Our Bible study at church is studying the book of Romans right now, and we've been talking about law and grace. Law, the rules and guidelines of life, help us know what we do wrong. Grace, thanks to our loving and forgiving God, allows us to start a week with a clean slate, ready to try again.
So I'm thankful for Grace. It's time to try again.
Hope you have a great week!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Bedtime Prayers
Heard tonight at bedtime:
MeToo: "Dear Desus, tank you for Daddy, bawoons, de dzim, an all de toys, and two beds. Amen."
HeyMama: "Dear Jesus, thank you for green. Amen."
Translation: "dzim" = gym.
If you can't figure out "bawoons", you obviously don't spend much time around children.
MeToo: "Dear Desus, tank you for Daddy, bawoons, de dzim, an all de toys, and two beds. Amen."
HeyMama: "Dear Jesus, thank you for green. Amen."
Translation: "dzim" = gym.
If you can't figure out "bawoons", you obviously don't spend much time around children.
Monday: The Good...
Yesterday was a day of highs and lows, as most days are. I'll focus on my triumphs today, and my abject failures tomorrow.
I went clothing shopping for HeyMama today. We are graced with wonderful friends who shower us with hand-me-downs, and the girls have a very cute wardrobe. But because our biggest donor lives in Texas, we don't get a lot of snow pants and snow boots. And due to the timing and growth curves of HeyMama and her slightly-older benefactor, a gap had opened up in our clothing supply. So I had a shopping list that I was hoping to knock off yesterday.
So, one trip to a consignment shop, one trip to a Stride-Rite outlet, and $110 later, we had 2 pairs of shoes, 1 pair of slippers, 1 Halloween costume, and 10 shirts, sweaters, and dresses.
The girls were in a good mood and well-behaved, we found some really adorable stuff, and I almost got everything on my list. We still need church shoes...
Now, I'm sure that diligent yard-sale shopping could have lowered that price. But the shoes were all new, the clothes were all in great shape, and my time expenditure was significantly less.
So I'm going to call that part of my day a significant success.
I have to count the successes wherever I can find them!
I went clothing shopping for HeyMama today. We are graced with wonderful friends who shower us with hand-me-downs, and the girls have a very cute wardrobe. But because our biggest donor lives in Texas, we don't get a lot of snow pants and snow boots. And due to the timing and growth curves of HeyMama and her slightly-older benefactor, a gap had opened up in our clothing supply. So I had a shopping list that I was hoping to knock off yesterday.
So, one trip to a consignment shop, one trip to a Stride-Rite outlet, and $110 later, we had 2 pairs of shoes, 1 pair of slippers, 1 Halloween costume, and 10 shirts, sweaters, and dresses.
The girls were in a good mood and well-behaved, we found some really adorable stuff, and I almost got everything on my list. We still need church shoes...
Now, I'm sure that diligent yard-sale shopping could have lowered that price. But the shoes were all new, the clothes were all in great shape, and my time expenditure was significantly less.
So I'm going to call that part of my day a significant success.
I have to count the successes wherever I can find them!
 |
| Here's the loot, minus the Halloween costume. Please ignore the box of outgrown clothes that need to go to the basement. |
 |
| Here are some of the dresses, with a turtleneck to match an existing dress, and a cute sweater. |
 |
| Here's a cute sweater, with a denim skirt. Both in pristine condition. |
 |
| Here's HeyMama's favorite - Princess Jammies. She carried them around the store. |
 |
| Here's my favorite, sweet play shoes from Stride Rite. They match my favorite work clogs. |
 |
| Despite being shiny, they're built for running and jumping. |
 |
| HeyMama had to break them in at the playground right away. |
 |
| Here are the shoes that totaled $43. Not bad. The hiking boots ($5) light up, and the Robeez ($7) make perfect winter house shoes. |
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Monday: ...the Bad, and the Ugly.
So on the way to my shopping triumph yesterday, I had the chance to visit unfamiliar parts of town. My GPS completely failed me, insisting that I drive THROUGH a neighborhood park to get to a road that had no simple substitute. So I meandered through the winding neighborhood roads of Chestnut Hill.
As I drove through the genteel neighborhoods made of graceful single-family homes on well-manicured expanses of land, I felt a wave of envy sweep over me like I've never experienced before. I felt flush, and broke out in goose-bumps. Everything was lovely. The neighborhoods projected safety. Security. Permanence. Wealth. Impeccable schools. And I wanted it all. Verdant athletic fields. Rambling playgrounds. I wanted it. Badly.
And then I started passing the private schools. The palaces of education with every educational innovation and luxury. There were no barriers or inconveniences there. Just every extracurricular you can dream of. Lacrosse? Got it. Field hockey? Rowing? Fencing? Diving? Check, check, and check. Music? Check. Art? Check. Drama? Check.
It reminded me that Boston is flush with money. Well, the tony suburbs are. There is a standard of living here that we will never have. If we lived in Texas or Minnesota, we would have a single family home on a lush green lawn. If we lived somewhere else, we wouldn't be subjected to the vagaries of the BPS lottery. We wouldn't have to choose between schools with music and schools with art. We could get music, art, and athletics at the same school. One in our neighborhood.
Other people have it all. I wanted it all, too. I wanted everything that they had. I was nearly crying with envy.
It was bad. It was ugly.
And then I felt the shame.
I was driving my girls to go shopping. Sure, I'm always looking to get a bargain, but I never have to choose between buying food or clothing. Medicine or heat. Paying for opportunities for one child, but not the other. I don't have to make hard decisions about money. We are not poor. We have all that we need, and plenty to share.
To be envious is to be ungrateful for what we do have. And we have a lot. I forget that sometimes.
For shame.
I think it's ok to wish for better, especially when it's wishing for better for your family. That's what parents do. It's our job. But I wasn't wishing. I was coveting. And for that, I'm very ashamed.
I'm thankful for brief flashes of perspective. I pray that I can keep the perspective as the year goes forward. I'm going to a BPS meeting on Thursday night to hear about proposed rezoning to change the schools available for us in the lottery. It will bring up issues of educational disparity, money, race, class... All ugly topics.
I have to keep reminding myself that we have so much. We have so much. We don't have prep schools. We don't have an expansive verdant lawn topped by a multimillion dollar home. If God thought we needed one, we would. So I pray for contentedness. And I will continue to pray. And pray. And pray...
As I drove through the genteel neighborhoods made of graceful single-family homes on well-manicured expanses of land, I felt a wave of envy sweep over me like I've never experienced before. I felt flush, and broke out in goose-bumps. Everything was lovely. The neighborhoods projected safety. Security. Permanence. Wealth. Impeccable schools. And I wanted it all. Verdant athletic fields. Rambling playgrounds. I wanted it. Badly.
And then I started passing the private schools. The palaces of education with every educational innovation and luxury. There were no barriers or inconveniences there. Just every extracurricular you can dream of. Lacrosse? Got it. Field hockey? Rowing? Fencing? Diving? Check, check, and check. Music? Check. Art? Check. Drama? Check.
It reminded me that Boston is flush with money. Well, the tony suburbs are. There is a standard of living here that we will never have. If we lived in Texas or Minnesota, we would have a single family home on a lush green lawn. If we lived somewhere else, we wouldn't be subjected to the vagaries of the BPS lottery. We wouldn't have to choose between schools with music and schools with art. We could get music, art, and athletics at the same school. One in our neighborhood.
Other people have it all. I wanted it all, too. I wanted everything that they had. I was nearly crying with envy.
It was bad. It was ugly.
And then I felt the shame.
I was driving my girls to go shopping. Sure, I'm always looking to get a bargain, but I never have to choose between buying food or clothing. Medicine or heat. Paying for opportunities for one child, but not the other. I don't have to make hard decisions about money. We are not poor. We have all that we need, and plenty to share.
To be envious is to be ungrateful for what we do have. And we have a lot. I forget that sometimes.
For shame.
I think it's ok to wish for better, especially when it's wishing for better for your family. That's what parents do. It's our job. But I wasn't wishing. I was coveting. And for that, I'm very ashamed.
I'm thankful for brief flashes of perspective. I pray that I can keep the perspective as the year goes forward. I'm going to a BPS meeting on Thursday night to hear about proposed rezoning to change the schools available for us in the lottery. It will bring up issues of educational disparity, money, race, class... All ugly topics.
I have to keep reminding myself that we have so much. We have so much. We don't have prep schools. We don't have an expansive verdant lawn topped by a multimillion dollar home. If God thought we needed one, we would. So I pray for contentedness. And I will continue to pray. And pray. And pray...
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