Saving the planet and still more crazy people

So, Josh's school has an artist in residence this week - Dan Dancer. Information about Dan, and the school encompassing art project he would execute while in residence was sent out a few weeks ago, and I was excited for Josh when I got this information. The kids are all wearing black and white and together will create the image of a huge panda on the school soccer field. A photo of this will be taken from above thus creating the art. A reminder of this event was emailed to parents earlier today (on my mobile address), but there were a couple of interesting side bars which made me question why such verbiage would be necessary. Basically they noted that some parents don't believe in global warming (laughable, I know), and that we should all use this opportunity to discuss with our kids the impact we have on the planet. The website for Dan (linked to above) was included, so I took a look. I was truly moved by all the great things this guy has done with art to enlighten folks to the state of our environmental demise. I was even more perplexed, after viewing the website, about why the school sent such an odd email. Once I got home and checked my home email I saw the reasoning. A parent, one who I believe I've met (her kid came to Josh's birthday party last year), emailed every parent whose email she had (at least that's what I'm guessing - she may have emailed the entire school like a true psychopath) complaining about how this isn't an art project after all, and instead calling it "propaganda." Now, the only thing I can take away from her short email is that she doesn't "believe" in global warming, or the fact that we as a planet are dealing with serious environmental issues. I sat and I thought, and I thought some more, and employing every fiber of my "let it go" being, I did not email her back and tell her how excited I was that my child was going to be part of something that heightened awareness to the environmental issues facing today's generation and most certainly tomorrows. Why on earth would this lady think that she was somehow of the majority in her thinking? That her opinion would be that of the whole school, or even of the other parents in her kid's grade? I can't imagine emailing people, encouraging them to hop on board my band wagon if I was to disagree with something overwhelmingly positive that the students at my kids school were taking part in. Now, if the US Nazi party was stopping by for a chat, I'd certainly have beef with it, but I really can't see how FCPS would in any way shape or form think that was positive for the kids. She ended about how mortified she was that the picture the students create (a panda) would be posted on the 350 website. That made me even more excited! Dan's website is nice and all, but it's nowhere near the publicity that the 350 site has. I even went and became a fan of 350 on Facebook. I think this project, and notoriety on both websites, is something Josh will be able to reference and look back on for the rest of his life. We do what we can to help the environment. We recycle, we use energy saving appliances and electronics, we use cf light bulbs, and we buy from the farmers market all summer. I hope that these things and more stay with Josh (and Brinley) throughout his life. I hope that learning about the environment and what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint early on will help him to continue to learn about what he as an individual can do to make a change. He is VERY interested in biology, so who knows, perhaps he'll be our next environmental champion.

Parking lot interaction with a psycho

Yesterday was our "free" day. Nobody had to go to work (shocker), there wasn't anything on the agenda for the day. We were free to do whatever we wanted. If Brad had his way we never would've seen the outside of the front door. I, however, had other plans. Josh needed a haircut, plus, he only had like 3 long sleeve shirts, so I wanted to shop around for a few more of those for him to wear.

We headed out for the Hair Cuttery in Old Town Fairfax, where I generally like the ladies and they have yet to botch Josh's haircut. We didn't even make it in the door when drama ensued. Apparently, sometime between when Brad got out of the car, and when he walked to the curb, he spit on the ground. I don't know if he got rain in his mouth as it splashed off a car, or if a bug flew in, or any number of other reasons one might feel the need to spit, but he did it nonetheless. It was not a lugie, nor was it gum or some other form of litter, just plain old spit.

Why, you may be asking, are you blogging about spit? Well, it's not in my normal repertoire, but this pissed me off, so here's the reason.

As we step up on the curb to head in to the store, a lady across the parking lot starts yelling something we can't quite understand. Everyone on the sidewalk stops and looks at her, and then turns back to what they were doing. This doesn't faze her and she continues to yell - now saying "you, hey you, yes you." I still don't get that she's talking to us, but as she comes close she starts speaking words that make some sense. "You can't just spit on the ground like that!" I said "what?" She goes on with "he just spit on the ground - that's how tuberculosis is spread you know!" I nearly laughed out loud. Not because I didn't believe her, but because she chose a random individual in a parking lot to yell at about the spread of disease because he spit on the ground for reasons she didn't know. She continues to lecture with "this isn't' a 3rd world country you know, you can't just go around spitting on the ground." I had to interject before I smacked her right upside her ridiculous head. "That's all fine and dandy, but this isn't a 3rd world country, and nobody here is spreading tuberculosis." She says "well how do you know." Again, I almost laughed in her face. "Well, he is my husband, and I'm acutely aware of the status of his health." She continues on with some nonsense about how she's a physician (beware of this crazy lady - very short brown hair, with no style to it whatsoever) and is certain that people are getting tuberculosis from spit on pavement all across the US. I noted that I was also a health care professional and that I was not the least bit worried about people spitting on pavement (good lord, what would she do if she ever set foot in WV where folks are spitting their chew on the pavement - or lack thereof - left and right). Brad, at this point, is sensing that I'm on the verge of doing something he might regret, so he goes for the diplomatic approach with, "ok, you've made your point - move on." (this to her, in an attempt to get us both to shut up undoubtedly).

We ended up leaving the Hair Cuttery immediately because it was apparent that there was a significant wait, and frankly I could not stomach the thought of having to sit there in the store with that crazy lady another second. We went to Old Navy (which sometimes makes me think I'm in a 3rd world country), then to California Tortilla (where I was disappointed, yet again, with my meal), and then back to Hair Cuttery (where we were the only people in the store and it was quiet and pleasant).

Life comes at you..... fast

So, I just noticed that the last time I posted a blog was nearly 3 months ago. WTF? Where on earth did the time go? Alot has happened since August 6th, so here's a recap.


August
Katie & Bekir left to go back to Turkey at the end of the month, and Brinley started full time daycare with our neighbor (and Venezuelan goddess of childcare) Martiza. This is a fantabulous set up with her being only one block over, the best deal going (cost wise), and a very kind, trustworthy person who truly seems to love Brinley and children in general. I started working part time at Gallaudet for a three week stint while Jonathan went off to Taipei (I'm only slightly bitter). Brad got a second job at Golf Galaxy to help pay for childcare (and get a discount on golf equipment and clothing).

September

The Gallaudet gig got pretty taxing. I was working mornings at my regular job (trying to cram 8 hours worth of work in to 4 hours was nonsense), and then afternoons/evenings/weekends at Gally. It was fun for the most part, but exhausting as well. I was really glad when that ended. Couple that with trying to balance my schedule with Brad's schedule and it was a bit of a circus. At my regular job I ended up doing all of the content loading for my two websites. This came as quite a surprise, as I thought I wouldn't have to do all of that. Nonetheless, I got it done (4 hours a day for 3 weeks) and was glad to have the experience and ability to make changes where necessary. It's up and running now, but still needs more work from my perspective. You should be grateful that I had no time to blog while that was going on. I had mad blog fodder, but it's one of those things that needed to be written in the moment.... and the moment has passed.


October
Let the travel begin! Ok, so I've cut back ALOT from travel in years past. First, I don't have the crazy whack budget I had before. Second, Brad would undoubtedly divorce me if I was on a plane once every two weeks for a 3 day trip. Nonetheless, some trips are necessary. I was off to Seattle on the first for my fall committee meeting. Things went relatively well, and I got the chance to bum around town a bit after the meeting finished up on Friday. Had a nice time with a few committee members. On Sunday, Brad had his graduation ceremony for UOP. He's still got a few loose ends to tie up, but there's a bright light at the end of the tunnel now.


This has pretty much caught us up to where I am now. Brad is working many evenings a week, and usually one weekend day, and that really sucks for the most part. He doesn't get much down time, and I am single parenting on the regular. I can handle it, I just don't enjoy it and I miss him being here in the evenings.


Brinley has taken to rolling back and forth. She doesn't roll over and over (so it's not a mode of transportation as of yet), but she does roll over and can flip back over if she wants to. She doesn't do this much cause she's not much for tummy time, but we're working on it.














Josh will test for his purple belt at Tae Kwon Do tomorrow. I feel like we JUST had a test, but I guess it's been a couple of months now. This time next year he'll be testing for his black belt (and hopefully we'll be able to afford for him to do so). At the last test he got a trophy for most outstanding test. This makes me happy because he works pretty hard at it, so he deserves to be recognized for his efforts.



In a couple of weeks I'll be heading out to Colorado Springs for the one state convention I'll be attending this year. I've never been to Colorado, so I'm looking forward to it (though not all the snow they've got). A former coworker lives there now, so I'm looking forward to seeing her and checking out her new job at the OTC. Also looking forward to working with some AHA pals, and imbibing some Fat Tire (yay Fat Tire!).