noze nuzzle

Especially cuddly this evening and babbling up a storm. Recited the letters on his sippy sup. While coaxing him to bed, I tried Eskimo kisses. He returned the favor too.

dinner, books

Tonight I made wonderful chicken satay; the peanut sauce was scratch and without recipe. It was ultimately awesome. Peanut butter, half a lime, some honey, some ponzu sauce (citrus soy sauce), and a little water. Try it on grilled chicken skewers or steak skewers.

Yesterday we went to the library and I picked up George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones again. I read it back in college but never finished the series. So I'm gonna try again. Recently I was reading some stuff of his about his real life and he mentioned getting into the fantasy genre and I thought I really ought to go back and read that series and finish it this time. I know I'll get mad again when he starts killing off all the main characters again (part of the reason why I stopped reading it last time). Jon got a copy of Son of a Witch since we both liked Wicked so much. And then I put a copy of Below the Root by Zilpha Keatly Snyder into his hands. I read it when I was 10 because I loved the video game so much. I wish I could play that game again. And I wish I had some cheat codes because I never did finish it :(

I'm finally getting over the histamine reaction I had on the day before Easter, but now Liam has a super runny nose. How the hell do you help a 20 month old clear his nose? I can't use the snot sucker because I can't find it. He LOVES it and he plays with it all the time. What kid likes having the snot sucker in his nose? Apparently mine.

first sprinkler

Today: 1st sprinkler run this season. Not hot enough but lawn needed watering and Liam wouldn't get out of the sprinkle. Neighbors stared; Liam got warm bath. He was charming.

jobby jobby job job

Got my job back!!! I survived yet another round of annual layoffs. Funny thing is, I thought I'd never have to face this problem being a teacher in such a small community. I thought I'd be vital to the education of the children in the county. Guess not...most of it has to do with the fact that about 15-20 years ago, everybody and his brother got a Social Studies credential. So here I come, all new and full of life and the latest techniques in education, and all I have is one measly little Social Studies credential and that's what's been costing me my job.

Last year my job was saved by the 8th grade US History teacher, Graham, retiring. That made me sad because I really liked working with him (he reminded me a lot of a not so antisocial version of my dad) and wanted to try and get a couple more years in with him as a colleague. He was of the mind that he was so close to retirement age and it was time to let those young teachers with young families and new careers have the reins. I am eternally grateful for that.

This year, the Districts conspired to have me removed yet again by claiming there wasn't enough money to fund the art program at the high school. WTF?! They were actually gonna cut ART, a required course by the CSU & UC system for our students to be prepared for college. The art teacher was also on our list for "golden-handshake" retirements this year. She's been too nervous to retire as I understand in these tough economic times. Well, guess what. She's also got a credential for social studies. So my district was willing to put a woman who's in her 60s, hasn't taught world History in 20 years, and has NEVER taught junior high kids into my position. Nevermind that in doing so, they would have to cut the entire Art program at the high school and the entire Home Economics program...AND legally they would not be able to replace these classes back into the school schedule for 39 months (that's 3 whole school years). Yup, legally they wouldn't be able to hire another art teacher for 3 school years.

Anyway, back to the job. The lawyer called me yesterday to say that district's lawyer had called him to rescind my RIF (reduction in force) and offer me my job back in full for next school year. Nothing like being a permanent employee whose job seems to be never permanent. The teachers union save my job. We voted last week to reduce the number of days in the calendars for 2010-11 & 2011-12 by 5 days. 3 of the days will be our buy-back days and affect everyone with the 11 or 12 month employment status (teachers/admins/secretaries/DO). The other 2 days will be actual school days and this affects the children and the 10 month employees (all the support staff). We had to wait for the support-staff employee union to vote to approve this change, but apparently they did. We also had to wait for the school board to approve the change, but that meeting wasn't scheduled until Apr 15th. I guess the district doesn't want to wait that long (probably because they need to start getting the class schedules down for next year's enrollment). The money saved by cutting the 5 days was enough to save the jobs of the 4 teachers who got pink-slipped. And now I have my job back for next year. :)

This is helpful because it brings some weight off of our shoulders. We're currently drowning in the monthly rent we pay and were hoping to move into a lease-option home owned by one of my colleagues (the only one who's taking the golden handshake this year and also has a friggin' social studies credential!!!). He's going to charge us $200 less in rent a month + I'll be closer to work. But we weren't even gonna think about moving until I heard that I got my job back simply because we didn't know if we'd be moving, or moving in with parents, or what-not. This also means that Jon and I can hopefully start thinking about trying to have another baby. I really wanted to start this summer during my belated birthday vacation. And of course, Jon wants to go back to school too (and so do I).

Easter Elmo

Today...Liam's first egg hunt courtesy of ELMO!!!
Lovely day entertaining Nana and Granny. Found 5/12 eggs without help. Marshmallows, jelly beans. Refused nap. Sugar crash tantrum. Tickles, laughing, delightful day.

food revolution

Okay, so Jon and I just finished watching our first episode of Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution." Hubster's a real Jamie Oliver fan. He watches his cooking show on Friday mornings almost religiously. This is good timing for me as I've recently become a big fan of this blog about school lunches in America. It took us nearly an hour to get through the 1 hour program because we kept stopping the show to alternately get angry with/whine about/get excited about/ and plain ol' bitch about school lunches and the program.

I almost posted a lengthy comment on the FedUpWithSchoolLunch blog today but left it with the fact that a guilty pleasure of mine to eat salisbury steak. But here's my thoughts on what I wanted to say . . .
I work in a small school district in a very rural part of California where a significant proportion of our students' parents work in some facet of the food production world. A lot of my kids grow up on ranches and farms (and even some of the teachers and their spouses farm as well) (did you ever wonder why almonds are considered a "ranch"? I sure do). Many of our students' parents are farm workers or migrant farm workers. Some of my kids' parents work in restaurants or own their own restaurants. (Hell, when Granzella's -10 miles north- burned down 2 years ago, it was on the Sacramento news because it was the largest employer in the county!!!) My superintendent started out teaching in our district way back-in-the-day at the small school on the outskirts where, as a teacher, she was one of the cafeteria ladies for the elementary students. So why oh why are my students eating mindless, boring, nutritionally pathetic and possibly psychologically damaging prepared pre-packaged and trucked in manufactured lunches (AND BREAKFASTS!!!)? California is a land of plenty, a Tir Na Nog or milk & honey if you will. We produce almost 100% of some of the food favorites of the country - like avocados and pomegranates and others. Why oh why do we resort to trucking in our lunches? I know we are trying to feed as mony as possible for as little a possible. Most of my students qualify for free/reduced lunch so obviously we are a higher poverty school. But there's no love in those meals. There's nothing in those styrofoam dishes holding some measly pieces of lukewarm and cello-wrapped entrees with half-ripe fruit that says "I care about you, want you to be successful, and am providing you with nurishment for the belly and soul."
Hell, it's no wonder my students can be little brats and barely get any learning in their brains some days. It's hard to feed the mind when we barely nourish their bodies. I really could go on about this for hours, but it's after midnight now and I probably should put my head on a pillow.

20 months

Swear to God Liam hates all dinners I make. Still eats like a wolf-child.
Half ends up floorbound; can't use utensils.

What kind of nutrition is this? Protein no vegetables.