What do we *really* want to teach our children

I was so appalled to read about this misguided teacher in Florida. Aside from the unbelievable cruelty of this act, what has this woman really taught her classroom of 5 year olds? Compassion? Nope. Empathy? Nope. Tolerance? I think not. What she's really taught them is "conform, or you too will be ejected."

Kindergarten, Survivor Style. Sigh. I think Ms. Portilo needs to investigate other career choices.

Cousins!

Cousins! Cousins! Here come the boys! Bedlam! Mayhem! Noise! Noise! Noise!

The Souzas arrived today to help finish the basement! YAY!

Souzas do not waste any time. Demo is complete.

I love Souzas!

Stolen from Epona Harper who stole it from RaisedbyMoogles who stole it from someone else...you follow the chain, I have a bathroom to build!


Go here. Keep refreshing until you've collected five quotes that really resonate with you, then post 'em to your journal.


We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.
Bertha Calloway

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
William Hazlitt English essayist (1778 - 1830)

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.
Thomas Moore Irish poet (1779 - 1852)

Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There's just too much fraternizing with the enemy.
Henry Kissinger US (German-born) diplomat & scholar (1923 - )

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

Indiana Jones and the 1040 of Doom

As an accountant I was quite amused by this letter to Indiana Jones from his CPA.

Happy Birthday!

I have abandoned Ondigo to the joys of basement renovation and I have taken the Birdling and Pigboy to the beach to celebrate my family's March and April Birthdays.















Are you jealous? You should be.

Yipee! It's a FLOOR!

Well, will you look at that! I have a floor!

Oh! And I also have HOT WATER!

It's the little things that make one content, you know?

There's a Hole in My Basement!

Well...the plumbing contractors were here yesterday. There is now a very large hole in my basement.....

And my water heater doesn't work...

Waiting on the plumbing inspector....

.....


.....

sigh....

The Giant Pool of Money

Working as I do for a real estate settlement company, I am naturally interested in any discussion of the housing market and the mortgage crisis. I was listening to NPR this weekend, (... okay.... *I* wasn't listening to NPR. I was riding in the car with Ondigo, who was listening to NPR. Personally I prefer the country music station. Don't hate me because I have no musical taste.)

Anyway... I was listening to NPR this weekend, and a piece on the Global Pool of Money came on. It was absolutely fascinating. I wasn't able to catch it all, as we were running errands, but I made a mental note to look on the web and see if I could find a podcast of it. I must have made the note on a virtual post-it note that had lost its stickiness, because I totally forgot about it until I was browsing BoingBoing tonight and found this link to the podcast. I don't have time to listen to it tonight, but I'm looking forward to checking it out tomorrow.

I am a failure as wife....

Sigh...Ondigo sent me this link to 1939 marital rating scale.. And while it is clear that according to this scale, I am a dismal failure in the wife department (my raw score is negative), I have only one question:

Where is the husband rating scale?

UPDATE: My friend Debs sent me a link to this flickr site that has the scan of the entire document. I still have a negative raw score....

And a basement bathroom begins...

Well... we finally picked out a contractor to do the bathroom rough-in. I still think 4 grand is waaaaay to much, but i'm running out of time. Why the time constraint, you ask? Ondigo's sister, her husband and their 4 boys are coming in less than two weeks to help us finish the basement so that Ondigo's mother will be able to move in next month. So, umm.. we've got a week and half to get the concrete broken, the drains set, the ground plumbing inspected, the concrete reset, the rough in plumbing put in place, and the final plumbing inspection done. Ergo, almost four thousand dollars for a bathroom rough in. Sigh... Not even Gulliver can save us now.

Wow... A blog of my own....

I've decided that if my newest nephew can create a blog in utero then I can certainly maintain one as a fully functioning adult. Right? Of course Right!

My latest endeavor is attempting to get estimates for a basement bathroom rough-in. OMFG. Some of these guys are crazy. For what they want to rough-in my bathroom, I could have the entire bathroom installed. If you don't think the job is worth your time, just say so! But don't have me take time off of work to meet you for an estimate and then send me something so outrageous.
For these prices, I'll take a jackhammer to the floor myself, do it wrong, have the inspector tell me what's wrong, rip it out and fix it. It's still 1/4 of the cost and I have a new skill. Of course, when I say "me", I mean my beloved Ondigo. I've made him learn painting, drywall, wiring and tiling. It looks like plumbing may be next on the list. (What? You didn't think I would be getting *my* hands dirty? Manicures cost $$!)