Saturday… Adios Texas!

We’ll miss the mountains, and some of the foliage:

But we will not miss the wind, the heat, and the dirt:

If all has gone according to plan this week, today is the day we begin our drive OUT of El Paso, Texas, toward our new home in Kansas.

Gracias Marty:

Music Memories

As you’re reading, I’m probably wrangling the toddler out of the movers’ way, or making lunch for the crew, or trying to coax Anni the Cat out of her hidey hole so that the movers can empty the furniture from the next room. Thanks to postdating my blog entries this week, I’ve been able to supervise the wrapping of my dishes, glasses, and other breakables while *you* get to decide whether or not to indulge in some of my awesome music memories from the Bordertown. The memories aren’t from this year, they’re from my childhood, 1970-1980. If the tunes get stuck in your head for the rest of the day, blame my mother… I do!

(Enjoy the fashion!)

Diana Ross and the Supremes, Where Did Our Love Go

Tommy James, Crimson and Clover

ABBA, Dancing Queen

Seals and Crofts, Summer Breeze

Mom let me listen to the good stuff!

Not in the Forecast

…but welcome just the same! Rain- that wonderful stuff that helps the grass and flowers grow- is appreciated here this weekend. Not for the foliage though- for the DIRT. Steady rain keeps the sand, grit, and dust out of our eyes when the wind picks up, and friends, the wind blows hard enough here to make the desert dirt an incredibly painful exfoliant!

This weather makes for a great BAKING day!

Cookies and pecan nummies for friends and neighbors:

…with some quick crochet while each batch bakes in the oven:

The squares will be for a new afghan, while the scarf was made with left over baby yarn…I was trying out a new design, one that leaves an opening in the scarf to pull the tail through after you’ve wrapped it around your neck a few times…I like the design.  I don’t like the scarf in this baby yarn.  Winter time will probably see me making more with some softer, prettier yarn.

Cookies are done!  Now to make oatmeal raisin!

Ruby Red…Sneakers?

My feet are *so* ready to return to Oz!

The rest of me is too, but for now, these spangly ruby red sneakers will just have to do their part in keeping my mood upbeat as my family and I endure this latest round of power packing, marathon driving, and bidding one state goodbye (er, “adios”) and another hello.

As for the sparkly shoes, head to Walmart~ they’re nine dollars!

Unfortunately, their heels don’t click…

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My truck is at a collision repair shop here in the Bordertown.  They’ve *promised* it can be repaired, good as new, by next Thursday.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed since we’re supposed to drive out two days later!  Until then, I’m getting used to driving my husband’s truck (it’s the one I’ll be piloting back to Oz, pulling a small trailer) while he drives a rental car.  May I just say THANK YOU GEICO?  I think you’re pretty terrific, even though your spokesgecko reminds me of a SleeStak:

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~Back to kid-friendly snacking, The Pioneer Woman Cooks Marguerites (Ritz crackers, peanut butter and marshmallows!).  I’m a kid, right?

~Strawberry Shortcake from Tracy Porter

~Andrea doesn’t know it but she crafted the perfect crown for ME…Fairy Tale Dress Up Day just won’t be the same this year!

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It’s time for me to start collecting all things Tasha Tudor~ she has always been my favorite featured artist in magazines such as Victoria, and one of my favorite childrens’ book authors/ illustrators.  She died two days ago at the age of 92:

Show and Share Thursday: We Went for a Walk

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Spring has sprung here in the Bordertown, so the toddler and I decided to take a walk today, enjoying the foliage, flowers, colors, and textures:

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* Here are some details of our local desert foliage, thanks to El Paso Water Utilities.
* A Plant Hardiness Zone Map for those of you with greener thumbs than mine…
* Martha provides how-to’s for making pressed plant cards…

* Casa Sugar suggests making your own aphid spray to keep the pests at bay and your plants thriving…

* Paper-and-String made “disguises” for her Happy Trees!

* Crayola has a cute craft idea for spring or May Day bouquets (kindergartners LOVE to dress up and sneak through the school to leave these on classroom doors- and the dress-up factor helps me in some sneakiness of my own: May 1 is the day I photograph my students for their end-of-the-year certificates!)

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Where flowers bloom so does hope.
- Lady Bird Johnson, Public Roads: Where Flowers Bloom

Pretty Mountains, Darn Lightposts

Getting My Spring *Fix*

The Bordertown is desert. Brown, dry, tumbleweedy desert. There are some amazing blooming plants and shrubs in a lot of the landscaping here, but they won’t erupt for a bit longer, leaving me with a twiggy, dusty view. How to solve the problem?

Go exploring!

~ housemartin creates *fabulous* floral arrangements: spring colors and soft spring flowers

~ Genevieve of The Adventures of Gigi attended the 2008 Philadelphia Flower Show, lucky duckie!

~ Brenda Walton posted photos of the French countryside gardens she visited last fall- wrong season I know, but the RIGHT photos- they are beautiful!

~ Lisa at Celebrate Creativity in All Its Forms added embroidered flowers to her pillowcases…talk about sweet dreams…

~ Carol at Boxwood Cottage has crafted spring and Easter pendants

Ladies, thank you!

I’m Wondering

… why husbands and children don’t close what they’ve opened. Closet doors, dresser drawers, kitchen cabinets…

… why as I get older, inconveniences come in threes: fungal nail infection, bronchitis, allergies… boom (gross), boom (cough/hack), boom (sneeze).

… which Master’s Degree Program I should look into once we are finally relocated. Curriculum and Instruction (will I get to implement something non-scripted?), School Administration (not only no but heck no), Early Childhood Education, Child Psychology, or Advanced Glitter-and-Glue Applications?

… if there’s anything better than a duckie blankie on a chilly morning during cartoon time? (Special thanks to Rissa!)

… which wreath to make next (Easter? Patriotic? Floral?)…

… how many parents of students in the Bordertown really read the school district’s “report card” info, considering it’s a document of 400+ pages. I certainly found Daughter’s school info, and knew enough to shudder at what it did and *did not* report. I haven’t heard any other parents asking things like “how, when the school’s scores have dropped two to twenty percent in writing, math and science from 2005-2006, does this school earn a rating of ‘academically acceptable’?”

…where all of these bunnies and eggs will go…

Geo Visitors Map

Personally, I Vote for HOPE

It’s February, but there is something I’m *not* loving at the moment… the all-encompassing FEAR that many/most (if not all) of us have felt for quite some time now. Fear of terrorists, fear of our children “being left behind,” fear of immigrants, fear of gender, fear of race… interesting how we’ve allowed ourselves to be steered in this direction.

Living in the Bordertown gives me visual reminders of fear everyday:






Now these homes aren’t in bad shape, nor are any of these located in what’s considered to be a “bad” neighborhood, but their prison “look” is representative of the rest of the community at large. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if your gates and bars are painted a complementary color to your home, or if you add swirly curly-q’s to them, or try to make them architecturally interesting by making their line follow the architecture of scalloped walls: you’re still locked in behind those bars, and you’re trying to lock everyone else out. Sure, we outsiders see your fence of fear (oh I know, the manufacturers call it a “security fence”), but you know what? When you’re looking out of your window, so do you. Must be a great view.

Fear.

Somehow, we can deny entry into our country to any music star who might have a drug conviction, but we can’t keep terror cells outside of our own borders. And just when you try to return to Mom, baseball, and apple pie, someone somewhere decides that 9/11 footage should be shown AGAIN. How’s your adrenaline?

Blanket statements about immigration ignore those newbies to our country who came here the “right way,” legally obtaining citizenship. Instead, we’re fed information from a different slant. Many statements (usually racist) made about how all of “our” jobs are being lost, our school/health/welfare systems are overburdened by non-citizens, etc. Riled up yet? Oh wait, is that….adrenaline again?

As a teacher, I resent the fact that many people in this country have bought into fearing me, fearing that I might “leave your child behind.” In twelve years of teaching, somehow I’ve morphed from trusted guide and awesome kindergarten teacher to “She-Who-Must-be-Doubted-and-Feared.” No, my intense interest in finger paint, glue sticks, and songs by Raffi is actually not an indicator of substandard or inappropriate teaching practices. Really. Surprised?

I value my ability to put food on my childrens’ plates, clothes on their backs and someday, Uncle Sam willing, a long-term roof over their heads. I’ve spent a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of effort obtaining knowledge from a college I didn’t have to attend in order to learn how to teach well. I complement my educational expertise with ongoing training in child/parental psychology, health and nutrition guidance, nurse/EMT training, multi-cultural awareness, sociology and communications, technological advances, and a slew of other areas of specialty, again, so that I can do my job well. I utilize developmentally appropriate practices and I believe children are very different from adults (and should be allowed to be so).

In my classroom you’ll see children BEING CHILDREN, learning through experience and exploration, expressing themselves, sharing, laughing, singing, and yes full-day-kindergarten-advocates, taking naps. Sorry folks, but no matter what politicians or testing company CEO’s try to tell you, duct taping students’ fannies to their chairs multiple times per week to assess their knowledge gained actually results in kiddos spending less time participating in activities and experiences that enhance and facilitate their learning.

Stop. Think. Breathe. You can understand this one, really. If you have to take your kids to soccer, then to the store to get new pants, then over to the dentist’s for an appointment, then over to the bank to deposit a check, how are you putting your family’s photo album together at home? And when? If you keep taking kids away from their teacher, and keep making them spend extra time on math and reading in isolation in order to pass a single test, when are they going to learn how to play an instrument (which by the way, would offer yet another way for a child to have an “a-ha moment” in regard to both math and reading!), have time to explore literary genres, or learn a foreign language and exercise their bodies? After school? Uh, honey, check the newest after-school activity list: here in the Bordertown you won’t find band, babysitting, or computers. You’ll find TAKS TUTORING. When did you decide that it was okay to no longer value your child’s creativity? His or her inner song? Interests? Gifts? Mental, physical, and emotional health? Did you learn best by sitting in a chair, day in and out, in a room filled with silence, or are your most vivid memories of learning filled with sights, sounds, textures, smells, exertion, emotion, and interest?

Someone told us to be scared. And we bought it.

What other messages of fear have you been fed lately? Which ones have you gulped down, hook, line and sinker? And to whom has it been of benefit?

Questions to ponder… I know, they’ll tick some of you off:

What’s the big threat, really, of having a president whose anatomy includes breasts and a vagina? Same goes for a male president whose family tree doesn’t solely include ancestors who were Elmer’s Glue “white.” A president represents his or her entire nation, all colors, sexes, creeds, and beliefs. In order to do so, s/he must have a diverse background, advisers who are paradigm shifters, and the ability to understand that the most honest answers (and best solutions to problems) will come from going straight to each horse’s mouth. Please stop talking to CEO’s and other salespeople about how I should be doing my job. Talk to child advocates, other teachers, parents, and children. Fame does not equal credibility. Donald Trump and Bill Gates may be Googled more than I am, but that doesn’t mean they could do my job better than I do it. Their business models are MODELS FOR BUSINESS, not for teaching and guiding young children in ways that will enable them to lead enriched, expressive, generous and tolerant lives.

Presidents aren’t perfect, they’re human, and will make some mistakes. But isn’t it time to have hope again- hope that our president will stop serving a single agenda, and stop steering us with fear? We’re not just a nation at war. Americans are starving, we are homeless, we are displaced. We have no health care. Our environment is suffering, a lot of people are depressed. And we are allowing ourselves to be herded like sheep with scare tactics.

Eek! A woman! Eek! Someone with brown skin! Eek! Someone who isn’t a teacher has told us to be afraid of education! Eek! A Republican! Eek! A Democrat! Eek, someone whose marital decisions entitle little ol’ me to judge them! Eek, a veteran! Eek, a non-veteran! Eek, someone whose religious practices don’t match my own! Eek, a person who doesn’t photograph well! Eek, change!

Any idea why our nation’s enemies find us so deserving of their attention? Why we are viewed as predictable and easily-targeted drones? Oh, go ahead spin doctors… our nation is the strongest in the world, our American way of life is awe-inspiring, so other countries and cultures fear us and our strength and our divine right to demand compliance from them, er, our desire that they accept our generous gift of democracy, yadda yadda yadda…

Sweethearts, I’m an American woman with a multi-cultural background who teaches students in our public educational system. I’m a mother, and I’m the proud wife of a United States soldier. Members of my father’s family are considered “indigenous” people, meaning they were here on this continent, living on the land that is part of our present nation, long before my mother’s family arrived on the boat. I would be proud if my children chose to serve in the military, and I would proud if they chose to become doctors, mechanics, computer techs, non-fiction writers, woodworkers, or rocket scientists. I appreciate the fact that it is your tax dollars that move and house me and my family with each new military assignment my husband receives, but I also know that it’s my family’s tax dollars moving and supporting us too.

Hope isn’t frivolous. Hope isn’t a fad. And regardless of what you’ve been told, Hope isn’t going to bring our enemies “into our backyards.” We can be a nation of hope, and have a strong, capable, and appropriately equipped military to defend it. We can be a nation of hope, and provide our children with the best education possible (once we stop taking money away from our students to give it to corporations- yes, I said “students,”not “schools”). We can be a nation of hope and require that all immigrants join us legally. We can be a nation of hope and of health and provide for ourselves as much as our political-correctness inspires us to demonstrate care for others.

It’s time hope returned to our nation. I VOTE FOR HOPE.

Candidates, please deliver, regardless of your political party’s affiliation. All of America is your party.

Tuesday

Something’s coming over the mountains today:

I’m glad to have something idea-inspiring to read when the dust kicks up, wind starts howling, and tumbleweeds go whizzing past my windows:

Hearing so much about Somerset from the crafty bloggers I read each day made me take the fifteen-dollar-plunge at B&N this past weekend. Guess what? I’ll be subscribing.

Talking with my husband last night, I introduced the idea that once our new duty station comes through and we have floorplans for our future housing, I’d like to figure out a way to have my own craft/sewing workstation, perhaps sharing a study with him. Ideally, I’d love to have my own space, free of children, toys, seasonal clothes in storage tubs, and frankly, my husband’s stuff. Hunting gear, guns, military awards, and Harley logos are not what get my creative juices flowing…his support of testing gravity by letting all magazines, papers, catalogs, receipts, brochures, business cards, etc. live on the floor of his study is also a major obstacle to overcome before we could seriously share a space. I think I’m talking myself out of it here!

How do we share space in the rest of the house? I’m the boss, that’s how. You see, my husband’s job requires that we move regularly. MORE than regularly in fact. We’ve moved four times in the past five years, with another move coming up this summer. The kids and I don’t get a say in where we move to, what jobs or friends we have to leave behind, nor how long we’ll stay or how quickly we’ll have to leave again. So the public parts of the house are decorated the way I want them to be with my husband and kids having their own spaces reflecting their personalities and tastes. Yes, I make sure my husband has his man-cave, and the garage is always his. But because we have no say in the move-us-cross-country-or-even-OUT-of-country decisions, I lay down the law when it comes to home decor, storage, and household chores. We may not get to choose where we’re going to have to live, but I *will* have my family living in a clean, comfortable, soothing, and inviting home, dadgummit!

Once I get an idea of what kind of housing we’ll be in, I need to figure out a way to effectively create my own space, keep other family members (and the required military/social visitors) from encroaching upon it, and scheduling time for myself to spend in it, seeing creative ideas come to fruition. Until then, I’ll continue to explore, collect ideas and a few bits and bobs and inevitably, see what happens after this Bordertown’s windy season.

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Here are some blogs I’ve recently been enjoying:

Sally Jean: I love her charms- so sweet!

Cari Kraft’s What Should We Make Today: Creative banners appeal to the teacher AND mom in me…

And if you need a good laugh or a “saucy” story, get your fix over at Bloggedy-Blog-Blog.

Don’t forget our soldiers this Valentine’s Day (or ever!)- An Army Wife’s Life has posted links and ideas about cards and care packages for soldiers and veterans. Even if you miss Valentine’s Day, remember it’s never “too late” to show our soldiers how much you care- even plain ol’ Tuesday is a holiday when an unexpected care package with goodies and treats or a “thinking about you” card or letter is received.

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Please vote. Before you do, please think. Think about something deeper and more relevant than gender or race. Thanks.

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