Shameless self promotion

Ok, really not "self" promotion but I did write it myself and it is shameless. :) If it interests you, please email me mom2cne @ gmail.com (no spaces) and I can get you all set up :)

Do you have a small business or know someone that does? Would you like to congratulate your child on an achievement? Do you have a community organization that needs promotion? Would you like your advertising to reach the entire Westview community?

We are selling ads to be placed in the yearbook, to cover the costs of having them created.

Pricing is as follows:
$20 – 1/8 sheet
$35 – ¼ sheet
$50 – ½ sheet
$75 – full sheet
$100 – full sheet inside front or back cover

All artwork must be camera ready, no editing or corrections will be made. Ads are placed on a first come, first served basis. Payment is due when the order is placed.

Please fill out the below order form and return it to your child’s teacher by Friday, March 13th.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name:_________________________________________________


Business or organization name: ___________________________________________


Ad size: __________________________


Ad words (if additional space is required, please use back of form): ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________


Phone number: _____________________________________

Technology

I seriously spent the whole trip across town tonight trying to come up with a cathy title for this post and I got nothin'. So what you see is what you get

I was thinking tonight about the things technology has changed in my life. Probably the biggest thing I can think of is that I wouldn't have the friends I have now if not for the internet. We are primarily an internet based group and without, I'm not sure we would have stumbled upon each other. Even if we had met, we probably wouldn't have been good friends because I'm not a phone person. I wouldn't have just called them out of the blue to schedule stuff. Of course, now I don't hesitate to call but I wouldn't have gotten to that point without the net.

I also have NO IDEA what I would do without my cell phone. I got my first one when I was 16 and I lived out of town but drove in every day for work. I worked until 10-11 most nights and then had to drive 30 minutes home. My parents got me a cell phone but it was a POS. First of all it was the size of a book (I did not have a bag phone but it was close) and the battery on it was terrible. It would hold a charge for about 5 minutes and then it died. So I had to leave it on the car charger, plugged in all the time. Of course, that didn't work so well when my alternator went out and the car wouldn't start and the phone could be used.

I use my cell phone all the time. We don't have a land line anymore and only once or twice in the last 4 years have I thought that having one would be a good thing. I even have the internet on my cell phone so that I check my email on the go.

Besides that, online banking, online book reservations at the library, online shows, online PTA groups and digital calendars (which RF just figured out how to push to my phone so yay) have done nothing but make life easier.

On the other hand, facebook, email, blogs, bejeweled, etc have create a giant vortex that does nothing but suck away my time. Is the trade off worth it? You bet!

Big update-y update

So Purple Cow accused me of being inconsistant in my blogging. I seriously have 15 posts written in my head that just never make it to the page. When I sit down at the computer, it sucks all the brain out of my head and with it my posts. Plus, I'm in a winter slump and the deepest thoughts I can manage are what clothes to wear each day. Normally, I don't do updates that often because I see a lot of you regularly and I figure the rest don't care about my day to day stuff. But there is a lot of stuff to talk about so you are getting a paragraph update :)

I picked up my van tonight from Tatman's. In case you don't know, it was parked at Christie parking lot a couple of weeks ago and a guy was pulling into the space in front of it and missed the break, hitting the gas instead. I had a couple of puncture holes in the front bumper but he busted his radiator. It still cost over $800 to get it fixed. We took it in yesterday and I have driving a Grand Prix for the last 2 days. Even though it was a "full size" car, it was tiny and little and I'm super glad to have my van back.

I some super b-day presents all ready for my upcoming celebration. I'm trying to decide if the Happy Bunny would be acceptable as a purse :)

Looseyfur commented the other day "well you guys don't have jobs so it is ok" I knew what she meant and it didn't bother me. However, I've been filling out some online surveys and then yesterday at Enterprise it happened too. The guy askd where I worked and I said "at home" because I dare anyone to tell me that a SAHM doesn't work and he said "what is the business name" I told him no name (although I should make one up and just use it from now on), I was a SAHM and he said "oh, so you don't work at all them" WTF? Seriously?

Apparently, I don't possess the ability to suspend disbelief enough for Lost. I can read all these wacky vampire books where vamps and witches and shapeshifters and demons are all real. I can watch Lost and buy smoke monsters, polar bears in the jungle, secret organizations doing experiments, etc etc etc. But time travel? No way, get real! LOL

It occured to me today (after busting Quigs' chops a little about not posting) that I hadn't logged into Blogger for 3 days. No wonder I didn't think anyone had updated. Duh!

This kid is all kinds of awesome! I wonder if he needs plain folk support for his cause? (I'll post a video of his interview if I can find it)

Finally a conversation with MT.

MT: yak yak yak, something about laser tag
Me: nods head
MT: yak yak something else about laser tag (I swear to God she talked about laser tag for over 10 minutes by this point in the conversation, I had moved on)
Me: nods again
MT: MOM, you need to respond to me when I talk to you!
Me:I did respond, I nodded
MT: Well I can't hear your brain rattle, now can I?

ROFL

How to be cool

MT: There is a new girl in my class
Me: Oh yeah?
MT: Yeah, she is cool
Me: She is?
MT: Yup, she likes me and thinks I'm awesome so that makes her cool

So apparently you aren't cool unless you think MT is awesome ROFL

Cakes on Walnut

What do I think of Cakes on Walnut?

That action is not affirmative

Today was NAAPID at local schools. This dy irritates me to no end. Where is Asian American parent involvement day? Or Mexican American parents? Or any other sub-group of parents? Isn't it important to have ALL parents involved in schools?

Last year, the school raffled off a bike to to all students whose parent(s) came to school that day. I was so angry about the whole thing last year that I didn't even read anything that came home about it this year so I don't know what was being done.

What about the rest of us that are there all the time? I got a little drawing and a notepad thanking me for my time. And it isn't just me. I'm thinking of people like our PTA president, both past and present, who have put in innumerable hours to make our school a better place. I'm thinking of the parents who are in the classroom, every week, working to make the school better. What about those people?

I've talked to other parents at other schools who said that they made certain to point out that everyone was invited but I didn't see that on anything that came home from our school. I also haven't talked to a parent yet that actually supports this program. Why can't this be promoted as "Parent Involvement Day"? Part of the consent decree complaints are that things are unequal and unfair between the races. The district is spending millions of dollars a year to change the issues that brought about the concent decree (millions of dollars that could be spend on building improvements, increased teacher salaries, more support staff etc) which is all about inequality and then they throw up this HUGE dividing line.

What can you do with a rubber band

Or salt and other commen household items?

Funny clip

Stolen from Midlife Mutations


Ellen DeGeneres Calls Gladys Hardy

It's a nerd alert

When TB was little, probably 18 months or a little younger, Discovery channel premiered "Walking with Dinosaurs". Because he is born from a family of nerds, we watched it on TV. He was mesmerized by it and just stared in awe at the show. When a commercial would come on, he would wonder off and play but came back for more dinosaurs when the show would start back up. He was not a "TV stupor" kid (and still doesn't just WATCH TV, instead he interacts and plays his own things while it is on) so that was pretty amazing. A couple of years ago, I found the DVD and bought it for him for Christmas. He watched it a few times but wasn't as impressed anymore.

Today, we got home from school and he was looking for something to watch while he had his snack and found the DVD. He came running into the kitchen, yelling "look what I found, look what I found! Can I please watch it" Sure, you bet. Walking with Dinosaurs is at least educational and better than Drake and Josh by a long shot. I put it in and he is now sitting on the couch, eating his snack and, aside from occasionally commenting on the things that are happening on screen (like that the baby just got eaten), he is in total "TV stupor".

I'm not sure I have ever seen him so still before in my life! Maybe this is what I need to play at bedtime so he will stay in bed during evening TV time.

How was school today

That is a pretty standard question in our house. The answer is usually either "fine" or "I'm not telling you", depending on which kid is asked. After the "fine" response, we follow up with various detail questions to get more info from him. These include "how was lunch", "what did you do in Math", "did you go to reading today", etc. Today, he said he didn't go to reading so I asked what he did in his class. He said he worked with Mr. D, the student teacher, who he thinks is AWESOME.

In yet another desperate attempt to extract a tiny bit of info from a very tightly closed mouth, I asked "what did you do with Mr. D for reading?" His response? "We worked on phonemic awareness"

Ah, well then, glad we could have this talk LOL

Chicago land reviews

Check out the travel blog to see what I thought about the Children's Museum at Navy Pier and Lego Land Discovery Center in Schaumburg