Facie’s Ramblings

Yesterday, I sent out my third thank-you note for my thank-you note project . This one went to a woman I met four and a half years ago when our daughters attended the same preschool and then the same kindergarten (they were in the same place, the same room, actually). I really like R; she is younger than me, though we have the same birthday, and she seems to be a good, loving, caring mom to her three kids. She seems sincere, and she is not one of those gossipy women. We have managed to stay in touch over the years, though because of her work schedule and large (to me, anyway) family, we don't get together too often, which is a shame because Jordan really likes her daughter, who is sweet and quiet, just the kind of friend you want your kid to have. I decided to send R a note because, as a real estate agent, she has been sending me housing information to help me fight my assessment case. As I ranted about a few weeks ago , our assessment went up even though we live in an area where...

I spent the past 1.5 weeks subbing for the music teacher (who also teaches social studies to third graders). The last time I went to work five days in a row, Jordan was in utero. That was a long time ago. Anyway, I have come away with some observations: My mom was right when she said I should have practiced the piano more. My trying to play songs with the kids was not a smooth thing. In my mind, I could play whatever was in front of me, but my fingers had a different idea. Probably because I can't sight read anything. Oh, well. If I never hear "Wiggle Worm" again, that would be just fine for me. However, the K through 3rd grade kids love moving around to that song and then trying to stand like a statue. What they don't like is when I tell them they have moved and then they have to sit down. Those who talk the loudest often sing the softest. But boy can they "scream-sing." Ugh. The one kindergarten class was surprisingly attentive when I tried to teach...

Now that it is January and the school year is half over (I think), I am starting to worry about Jordan not yet reading. She recognizes the 20 words in her the first sight word list and probably another dozen or so, but I just thought she would be reading most of the words in some simple books by now. I clearly am not some type of overachieving parent. I have no expectations for my child to be at the top of her class; I will be happy if she makes A's and Bs. Brian said as long as she tries, that is important. I mostly agree with that, but I will be disappointed if she does try hard and she ends up making mostly Cs. I'd like to think since I made mostly A's from 5th grade on, and I tried, surely she can make B's and A's if she tries; it is not as if I was some brainiac, though, to be fair, I think school was easier back then, and I don't think my alma mater was that tremendous. When I visited the kindergarten class near the end of last January, to determine if we ...

I recall, very clearly, being the donkey in the Christmas program when I was in first grade. I recall walking around the church staring at my feet, though I don't remember which end I was (that I remember staring at my feet is probably pretty telling). I really just wanted to be a pretty angel, but did not get the nod. When second grade came, I thought surely I would get to be an angel that year, but, no, I ended up being a reader. I remember being mad that Heidi, who peed her pants in first grade, got to be an angel. I seem to recall one girl in my class got to be an angel two years. Me? I never wore the silver tinsel halo or white cardboard wings. I was relaying this story to some friends while out to lunch yesterday. I said I had not thought about it in years, but once I found out that Jordan's kindergarten class was doing the Nativity, all the memories came rushing back. I joked that I was going to email Jordan's teacher, begging her to let Jordan be an angel. So imagin...

If I were not so lazy, I would have posted some pictures of the summer adventures we have had thus far. But doing so requires that I first download the pictures from my camera, which happens only a few times a year, not to mention I have no idea where the thingy is that connects from my camera to the computer, which allows said downloading (or is it file transferring?) to take place. If I had those pictures on my computer, you could have seen a boat ride, some picnics and get-togethers, birthday parties and a christening, days at the park and nights looking at starts, a trip to Idlewild, and the first day of Steelers training camp (still hope to get the pic up of me and Steely McBeam). Still to come are the community days at the town where I grew up, another afternoon in the Burgh, and Jordan's fifth birthday party. My kid is going to be 5 in just two weeks. How can that be? It seems like just yesterday when I was having contractions at work and my friend Q said it was probably gas...