>Good thing I don’t gamble.

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>Offices have their football pools. Sportswriters have their contests. We’ve started our own friendly family competition on Sundays, predicting the outcome of the NFL games.
Amigo picks up his schedule binder with the Braille schedules in it, and he reads the list of the day’s games. As he does, I write down our predictions for the winners. When it’s all over, we check the scores and add up our results.
Scores in the last three weeks:
Husband 10, Daisy 9, Amigo 8
Amigo 8, Husband and Daisy tie at 6
Amigo 7, Daisy 5 (Husband was out of town)

Wait a minute. I’m the main football fan in the house! Why do I keep losing? It’s a good thing I don’t play Fantasy Football, with this kind of record.
We’ll see. Maybe today’s my day.

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>The LoveSac Quarterback

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>Amigo is a sports fan in a major way. He’s my child, so he enjoys pro football and cheers loudly for the Green and Gold any given Sunday. But he’s developed interests of his own, too, beyond the NFL Network that his mother would love to add to the cable package.
On Saturdays, he watches college football. But wait — it’s not as simple as you think.
Early in the week, he finds a web site with the week’s (and weekend’s) college football television schedule. Husband or I sit down at the computer and copy the schedule into the translation software so that it can be embossed, or printed in Braille. Amigo puts the finished schedule in a designated Schedule Binder, and then he’s ready.
On Saturday morning, after squandering a perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk on public radio, he’ll dress, come downstairs, and examine the day’s outlook. He eventually settles into the LoveSac Rocker with his schedule binder on his lap and the remote control by his side and watches as many games as he can. He’ll stick to one game for a while, then switch to another later on. How many games does he eventually watch? I honestly couldn’t tell you the total.
He tells me about on-field drama and big rivalries. He can flawlessly identify the names of every stadium — look out, Jeopardy! When the opportunity presents itself, he takes a half-time computer break to check his email and search for a few game highlights on the web.
Meanwhile, I kind of co-exist in the house. I work on laundry, do any necessary schoolwork, and at times turn off my hearing aids and nap. I trust that he’ll wake me to make supper if he’s hungry.
Husband? Well, he’s working this weekend — on the sidelines of the Packer game.

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>"live" blogging my morning routine

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>This started as an effort to chronicle my day, but real life took over. Here’s as far as I got.

5:30, alarm goes off
5:35, feed rabbit, shower
5:55, showered and dressed, finish setting up breakfast
6:05, back exercises in den
6:15, wonder why Amigo isn’t downstairs yet
6:17, Amigo comes downstairs.
6:20, breakfast, brush teeth
6:25, clear table
6:30, shoes on, coat on, go outside
6:35, wave goodbye to Amigo as he gets on his school bus
6: 38, pick up bags and get in minivan
6:45, return Amigo’s books on tape to the public library
6:50, Jo to Go for 16 oz. hazelnut, no cream or sugar (the usual)
6:57 arrive at school
7:00- 7:15, deal with emails
7:15-7:40, stand at copier and make copies (Is this really a good use of my time?)
7:35, touch base with principal regarding student behavior concern, basically talk at her while she hurriedly took off her coat and ran off down the hall for a meeting
7:45, back at desk, trying to release pettiness of yesterday and focus on today
7:55, in library finding videos for social studies. Checkout computer isn’t on yet, specialist and aide not in yet, left stack for checkout
8:05, reheated remainder of coffee
8:15, posted daily schedule
8:21, welcomed kids into building!

And at this point, I was too busy to list events for blogging the rest of the day. But it was a good kind of busy, the kind of busy that means being involved in teaching and learning and feeling like the day was moving along well. I even managed to get my gradebook nearly up to date.
Teaching is one of those fields where the work is never done. I can feel content when I’ve accomplished most of what is on my to-do list and still managed to teach all day. Today, I think I did that.
And now, the weekend. After this week? TGIF!!

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>Ah, the magical fifteenth.

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>I read Nina’s post at Mid-Century Moms and thought how sadly common it has become for teens and young adults not to read. My teen reads for pleasure, but my college student doesn’t read unless it’s online. This struck a chord with me because I informally joined Melanie of The Refrigerator Door in her quest to spread the book-buying habit. Those interested in being a part of this project have a simple job: buy, then read, then review. Reviews and new titles are usually posted on the 15th of every month.

October’s calendar was spilling over with commitments, so it’s amazing that I even had time to pick a book off a store shelf and plop it on the checkout counter. Somehow, I managed to pick up three. I finished one and started the others.

I bought Nicholas Evans’ The Divide because I enjoyed his other works so, so much. This book was shorter than the others, but every bit as dramatic and intense. It was haunting. Powerful. It’ll stay on my shelf for future rereads.
I also bought Amerithrax: the story of the Anthrax killer. It’s a heavy read at times because of the scientific detail, but that’s also what makes it fascinating. I haven’t finished it. I might have to wait until a break or even next summer to really devote some time and thought to it.
I’ve started Seabiscuit, too. I saw the movie, and when I see a movie based on a book, I usually like the books better. So far, so good. It sits on the table next to my rocking chair, and I’ve been reading at a relaxed pace when I can.

I’ll find time to visit another bookstore soon. Amigo wants a Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift CD, and I think they’ll have that in another dept. He and I can make it a team visit. I’ll post my new reading material titles as soon as I buy them. Oh, and family? Books always work for my birthday…hint…hint….

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>I’ve got daisies….in green pastures….

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>I’ve been humming “I’ve Got Rhythm” ever since Amigo and I went to his high school’s production of Crazy for You. Now I have even more reason — reasons, really — to sing my own songs and blow my own horn!

Glennia of The Silent I has given me the Nice Blogger award and compounded it with a Rockin’ Blogger award, too! When I stopped over to visit her yesterday, she had a post up about rockin’ liberals. Oh, she’s my kind of blogger! Thanks, Glennia, I think we share some political leanings as well as enjoying each other’s family-related posts.
Update: Nicole from Not Just a Working Mom and Silicon Valley Moms also offered me a Nice Matters Award! I feel like I’m swimming in pink, and I should be blushing!

MammaCheryl, another Wisconsin blogger, posts on Red Pens and Diapers. She thought I should participate in a great meme from BlogHer. It’s short and simple and doesn’t require any html, so I thought I’d go right ahead!

1.) State the name of your blog, your online name, and link to your “about me” page.
Hello, BlogHer fans and others. My blogging name is Daisy, my blog is Compost Happens. I also post poetry at A Mother’s Garden of Verses and contribute to Mid-Century Modern Moms. My profile/ about me page is here.

2.) Say you want to be profiled on BlogHer as a family blogger and link back to (this post).
Okay, this is easy. Nordette, come on over, I’d like to be profiled as a family blogger! Really. I’ll sit down at the computer and talk to you, now that it’s too cold to garden. 🙂

3.) Tell how long you’ve been blogging.
I’ve been blogging since June 2006. It started as cheap therapy, and became an enjoyable outlet and connection to a whole new world with a whole new network of people.

4.) Pass this meme on to three other bloggers that you think should be profiled/interviewed.
The hard part of this one is limiting my choices to three! I read and enjoy so many.

I’d like to read in-depth interviews with Farmgirl Susan; Boogiemum; and for a Dad, how about Joe from Club 166? His son had the cutest Halloween costume ever.

Celebrate! I expect to register my 15,000th hit any day now. I hope some of you will take off your coats and stay a while. I have tomatoes ripening on the windowsill, and the coffeepot’s always on.

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>Hey, that’s my line!

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>I got up this morning at 5:30 (grudgingly), fed Buttercup the rabbit, took my shower, dressed, did my back exercises, and then on my way back to the kitchen noticed (ominous music) drops of blood on the floor.I checked to make sure I wasn’t bleeding (I was sleepy enough that I felt I couldn’t assume anything), wiped up the spots, checked the bunny (looked fine), and went back into the bathroom. I noticed a bloody napkin or Kleenex in the wastebasket.
Hmmm…did I mention that Husband got home after 3 AM from his weekend train show?Meanwhile, Amigo got up (late), ate, brushed his teeth, put on shoes, and waddled out to the bus stop just in time.
I got in the minivan (still with modular HO scale layout in the back), and headed for my blood test appt. Yes, I was doing all of this after fasting overnight. Hungry, wanted coffee. On my way to the test clinic, I got stopped by a train — at the slowest intersection in town. After the train, the other light turned green first, so I had to wait again. Bleh. Somehow, I made it to the middle school for my appoinment by 6:50. The nurse couldn’t hear my blood pressure, so she presumed it must not be too high. I’ll just have to guess at the numbers.

Got to school, text-messaged Husband RU OK? Checked my mail, got coffee, found the credit union’s free calendar for 2008 in my box. Its theme? Never a Dull Moment. Hey, where’s the camera? They know me too, too well.

Update: husband is tired, but fine. He wasn’t bleeding. Now we’re wondering — what was in those red spots on the floor? Ketchup? Fruit juice? Tropicana fruit punch flavored soda? Modeling paint? The drops were still partly liquid when I found them, just drying around the edges. It’s a mystery. Never a dull moment, indeed.

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>And the dominoes fall…

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>It’s that time of year again: State Test Season.
Before we go any farther, this disclaimer: Accountability is good. Quality assessment is good. I do not object to using a test to evaluate my students’ skills.
I do, however, object to the negative effect that state testing, as per the requirements of federal law, has on instruction. Here we go, folks. Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

For just over two weeks, my students will have no writing classes. None. That period of the day is designated for test-taking.
A test period also displaces their weekly art class.
Rescheduling the art class cancels math on Tuesdays.
Rescheduling art also results in my orchestra students having to reschedule their weekly small group lesson.
Rescheduling their lesson means pulling out a third of my class during social studies.
Another class needs to use the computer lab as a test venue during our usual lab time. This means that we can’t use the lab for keyboarding lessons for two weeks.
Back to the beginning. Scheduling tests during our writing workshop also means moving their morning recess.
Moving recess cuts fifteen minutes out of reading class each day.
Moving recess also cancels our weekly library checkout. Rescheduling that changes spelling and penmanship lessons, which means those have to be skipped or taught some other time, forcing another domino to tip….

Now add in time for handing out pencils, scratch paper, and gum or snacks, and instructional minutes get reduced even further.
And that doesn’t count the make-up tests for those who were absent.

After the Test Window, I’ll pack up the booklets and send them off to the scoring lab. Out of sight, out of mind, until the scores come back in the spring.
And then I can teach again. My students can learn again. School, in earnest, can begin again.

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>Three, no, four reasons why I’m glad my kids are too old for toys

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>1. Dora with lead paint
2. Diego with lead paint.
3. SpongeBob Squarepants notebooks with traces of lead.
4. Winnie the Pooh, Thomas the Tank Engine, and who knows what else? — all contain lead.

I could go on, but what’s the point?

It’s the stuff of which late night jokes are made, when their writers are working, that is. Who would believe the sheer number of new recalls in the last six to twelve months? It’s been unbelievable. Simply unreal. No one can blame it on terrorism, either. At least no one at the White House has tried…yet.

My children are no longer children, thank goodness, so I didn’t have to find a way to explain why their favorite toys had to come out of the toy box or their favorite new notebook was better off under the sea. Mine are 15 and 20, and their holiday needs are, well, different from the wish lists of their younger cousins.

So in the spirit of the Twelve Days of Safe Shopping, here are twelve ways I’m considering to help get the lead out of our family’s holiday.

1. Read the boxes. The bags. The packaging.
2. Look for those magic words “non-toxic” on the label.
3. Watch the news.
4. Look for water soluble paints and dyes. Lead isn’t.
5. Give homemade gifts to family and close friends.
6. Know your sources (like Dale and Thomas Popcorn: Mmm. Fresh.)
7. Buy music. Support artists and musicians making their living.
8. Buy clothes.
9. Look for country of origin, buying closer to home whenever possible.
10. Buy fair trade.
11. Buy from local craft fairs and farmer’s markets.
12. Stop buying toys (I can do that; my “kids” are older).

I didn’t need to clean out a toy box with each new recall, but I did wonder about families who did. It had to be difficult to handle with children to young to understand the dangers.
Many sites can give you up to date information on recalls. Try these.
The League of Maternal Justice
Consumer’s Union (Not in My Cart! is their mantra.)
Consumer’s Union’s blog
And finally, if you’d like to join Consumers’ Union in making a difference, check this site, their Safe Shopper movement.
Parent Bloggers Network is chronicling many bloggers who are addressing this topic in today’s blog blast. Find them here.

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