my schedule this week...

I've not been home once all week... Monday night we had Job's Daughters, Tuesday night was Back to School Night (remind me again about the value of this for involved parents who have already had every teacher in the school?), Wednesday was 'Senior College Night' - holy criminy, it amazes me that some parents were smart enough to actually keep their child alive long enough for them to be a Senior!, Last night was opening game for Varsity Football and tonight is my father's 75th birthday and I'm buying him a beer!

Anyhow, I told another blogger (can't even remember who now - Tales from My Tiny Kingdom?) that I would post our menu so that others could have ideas for dinner - I am so ashamed to say that our menu has been:

Monday - Girls & Mom - Burgers (grilled by husband at 9pm when we got home)
Boy & Dad - Burgers

Tuesday - Kids - DOYO (aka Dinner On Your Own) - so they had soup or frozen convenience food or ramen or something like that
- Mom & Dad - Arby's

Wednesday - Youngest - DOYO (she had a salad)
Boy - Team Dinner, I have no idea, I didn't ask, I think it was burgers
Oldest & Mom & Dad - Taco Bell

Thursday - Girls - Arby's
- Boy and Mom & Dad - Chipotle

Tonight - the plan is to have breakfast for dinner because I have some breakfast links that need cooking in the fridge

So if you want ideas for dinner - please see the below the very involved, lousy to stand around and prepare in hot weather, strange sounding, but delicious old family recipe

As for what I've gotten out of all these nights away from home... Monday night, it was the first meeting of the term so there wasn't much to be gotten - that's okay, you have to have one every term right?... Tuesday night, BTSN - well the big huge everyone speech by the principal was too long and drawn out, there was NO NEW INFORMATION, and I didn't have a seat, had to sit on the Gym Floor! Then we went to the classes, you go to each "period" for ten minutes and this works well for most families who have 1 or 2 children with 1 or 2 parents, but we are outnumbered and have to pick and choose which classes to miss... I don't really care what the teachers have to say about the syllabus or the rules - they don't really change much from year to year or teacher to teacher - no plagierism, no cheating, come in during activity period for help, this is a survey course, we will have 4-5 homework assignments per week, there will be a term paper after christmas break and here are all the dates that you will never retain and you will never find that slip of paper you are writing on again so I don't know why I am telling you this, etc. Now, in the case of a teacher we have not had previously - you get a feel for the teacher -

Sr. daughter's History teacher is indeed creepy like she said, and he has NOTHING hanging on his walls, however he is really passionate about history and excited to teach them the stuff on the syllabus - so I think it will be fun and fine (Boy has him also)

Sr. daughter's English teacher might be a pompous ass, he has an ego wall in his classroom, has the look of an eccentric college professor - weird beard and all - and wants to make certain that the parents know that he gradutaed summa cum laude from one University and magna cum laude from another (this tells me he has no social skills, but whatever) - he is also passionate about his subject and looks like he takes particular interest in making it intersting to the kids - his one goal may be to make more literature geeks like himself - perhaps he loves himself that much?

Freshman daughter's math teacher (boy had him last year, but he got left out of the schedule for some reason) seems pretty cool, I actually almost never have to have contact with the boy's teachers because he is scary smart and very organized and doesn't particularly need my support at school... so I actually never met the teacher in a whole year! I think he will be good for her because he isn't a super math geek dried up old prune and can actually speak to people and kids

French teacher is just as kooky as every other year, and AP French should be very demanding on the Sr. daughter (the other two have her also, but there isn't much reason to go into that - she's kooky that's all)

AP Chem teacher (British) is a kick, I think she's delightful, most everyone else thinks she has a stick up her butt, but I can tell she doesn't - my concern though is that she has the boy, and he can be rather... gregarious during class, which doesn't always go over well with 'stick up the butt' teachers - it will be very demanding but like I said, he's scary smart and never has issues with that

Son's math teacher does not look like Mrs. Umbridge without glasses - I don't know what youngest was smoking when she made this assessment (she doesn't smoke - it's an expression)... she is not flaky and crazy, and she isn't mean and harsh - actually she seemed alright, sort of neutral - and son thinks she's okay too - regardless of her reputation

Husband saw - same history teacher, an English teacher we had before, the gym teacher - the female one with the nice rack that the boy is delighted to have for weight lifting, another English teacher we had before, a biology teacher we had before, and the photography teacher that we had before - he told me she has lovely daughters - her name is Mrs. Brown - I don't think he met or saw her daughters, he's just a smart ass that way.

We blew it and did not see a math teacher that we needed to see, oops - should have sent husband there instead of the weight room - oh well. We've had the teacher before but it is an AP course, so probably should have gone there.

Wednesday night... Senior College night - oh dear lord! -- I got two things out of it, speakers can be amusing even if they teach you nothing and Counselors send the whole tomato to colleges now - the app, the transcript, the letters, the essay - and you must have it to them two weeks before the deadline so they can process it. -- the question and answer sessions were a waste of time, and other seniors parents for the most part are fine, but a few are totally inept and should be locked up at home before they cause more damage!

Thursday night... well really what do you get out of a football game that your kid doesn't play in? They won, by a large margin, and it was fun. Our kids attend a strange school where most of the parents go to games, even if they don't have a football player living in their home. It is quite bizarre actually that about half or more of the crowd at a game is adults - teachers and parents - even the geeky teachers come - so it is a bit of a social event, although my husband and I both really enjoy football so we try to sit near the more serious football fan parents and limit our socializing to halftime and the occasional comment after a play about an exceptional block or a great catch. We sat near a family where the mom is quite social but dad and grandpa and grandma are very into the game, then some other very football serious moms sat to my right - we practically didn't even talk during halftime - it was great - no pressure to make smalltalk with people I am tired of after all this school meeting socializing crap. I made a point to wander to the social section during halftime to inquire about another woman's sick mom - she has West Nile Virus, and I found out last night Viral Meningitis - she is very sick, I felt very bad for my 'friend' - I remember when my mom was sick how much it meant when people asked about me and wanted to be kind and helpful - I'm deciding about what I want to do for her (she also has a new baby) I think I will fix a couple of meals and maybe get her some light reading - maybe even magazines? Thoughts from any of you about what would have been meaningful while you sat around the hospital for the third week would be appreciated. I don't know her well, so books might be a flop if she doesn't read much or has already read them... unless someone has a great suggested title that wouldn't likely fall into those categories. I also don't know if she has any particular hobbies - but I like her very much, her kids are very nice, her husband is a great guy - and our sons play both football and baseball together so we see each other pretty regularly.

Today - I need to go into my office and do some more work - instead of blogging and googling finch care all day. I got a new pair of finches last night - thinking of naming them either Atticus and Scout - you know from the novel - or Atticus and SingSing or Florence - face it the male is Atticus. But when I told my mom that, she thought I said Attica - thus the Prison name for the female (my daughter is grossed out that they might breed and in the book Scout and Atticus are daughter/father - I see her point actually) My husband is partial to Florence, as that is the maximum security prison here in Colorado, and we could call her Flo for short - which cracks him up - because "she flo all over da house when she got away" - or "she flo from perch to perch when she get happy" - he's SUCH A DORK, giggle.