The holidays are upon us....again

As much as I would love for the holidays to be about family and love and peace, it seems I am so busy running around and am so hectic I am finding it hard to find time to enjoy the season! I just this week finished decorating the house and have not really even begun to shop. The children will be at their father's house for Christmas, so I don't technically have to shop until after Christmas because we are not having our "Christmas" until Jan 1st, but I still feel like a slacker..lol I didn't get around to mailing any holiday cards either. Oh well. I am off for the next two weeks as the schools are out and I cannot sub, so maybe I will now be able to enjoy the holiday season!!!

The GREAT waste of food in our public schools

I have been substitute teaching in the public schools for a few months and I truly love it.  I have been teaching in the elementary schools and it is both challenging and wonderful.  the kids are so smart and sweet.  Some are a handful, and some are not.  Just like the kids who live in my house.....lol.....

One of the things I have noticed, however, makes me so profoundly sad.  I have eaten lunch in the cafeteria with the kids I teach. From preschool through 5th grade.  The amount of good food and milk I see thrown away every day makes me sick.  We could feed so many hungry people with that food.  So many kids order hot lunch and it sits on their trays totally uneaten.  Not even a bite taken.  I ask why they didn't eat it, and they say things like ,"I wasn't hungry", or "I don't like it". It makes me so sad.

Last week I was subbing and went to the cafeteria to pick up my kids.  A little girl had not even opened her container of milk.  I asked the teacher assistant if she could put it back, or give it to a friend.  I was told it is "illegal" to do that since the parent had paid for the milk.  A 1/2 pint of unopened chocolate milk went into the trash.  I actually plan to look into this with the school system and see if there is something that can be done.

I wonder what happens to all of the food that is cooked and not eaten.  Do they reuse the food in "leftovers", or is it also thrown away and wasted???  The horrible waste disgusts me, especially with so many hungry families in the United States and abroad. 

Random thoughts

I sit here wondering: was it a good idea to quit working full time?  I am tearful, although I don't know why...  We haven't really had to sacrifice much...we bought the kids new clothes last week (with cash), we still donate to church, we gave almost $100 to Aids Access care to help HIV positive and Aids patients, we even go out to eat 1-2 times per month, and my shameful indulgence of Starbucks has only had to be cut back to twice per month.  We have food in our bellies and a freezer and pantry full to boot.  Our children no longer have to go to day care after school and a parent is home for them every day to help with school work, or just to give a hug and a word of encouragement. Our bank account is okay, the bills are paid, and we even paid off a credit card last month...HURRAY!  So why do I sit here stressing, and tearful????  Is it the stress of change, the worry the phone won't ring for a substitute job, or the feeling that somehow I am not "pulling my weight" in my marital relationship???  Random thoughts....

MY online store!!!

I opened an online store to sell the breads I have been baking!  I am very excited but am at a bit of a loss as to how to market myself in "real" world.  I am making business cards and will post it here, but since I think only one person is reading my blog it won't get much "play"....LOL

The link is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6391606

I really enjoy baking and would love to be able to make some money doing it.  I have given away LOTS of loaves to try to get word of mouth advertising... :-)

The web site is: www.etsy.com

It is a website for all things handmade.  Soaps, baked goods, crafts, models, toys, etc.  I think it is a great idea!!  Check it out!

Doing my part for Democracy.

So I have decided to canvas for the Obama/Biden campaign. i am meeting the group at the North Suffolk library on Saturday at 4 pm, and they have said I can work in my own neighborhood. I am really excited. I am also getting a yard sign and a bumper sticker!! YAY!! I just feel so strongly that this is the most important election in my lifetime so far, and although I have great respect for John McCain's military service to this country, I just feel as though he is NOT the right man for the job. And the idea of President Palin scares me silly!!! So I am going to go out there and take my smile and my positive attitude and try to lovingly encourage people to vote for Senator Obama for president. Send me good zen vibes!

Obama pride video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV0_u3z3AkQ

More time when I quit working full time????NOT!

So, when Karol and I decided I would be able to quit working full time I had these ideas about what a stay at home mom does with her long days with no children. HA! That was soooo not reality!!! LOL Although to be honest I am not totally a stay at home mom, I actually have three part time jobs that keep me very busy. Add to that laundry, cleaning, baking, and blogging and the day is gone just in time for the kids to get home from school so we can start the homework, chores, dinner, boy scouts cycle... As happy as I am to get a call from the school to sub (which I have ben doing every day for the past two weeks), it was so nice NOT to get a call today so I can catch up on all of the things that need to be done. So today is catch up day. :-) All the little things like, charge Jake's Ipod, download music for it, wash the dog, Boy Scout popcorn spreadsheets, washing linens, etc, etc, etc......lol We'll see how much I actually get done. I have high aspirations. May be I should stop blogging and get busy..........

Amish Friendship Bread

So in my quest to find ever and ever more ways to earn money from home I have come up with a plan....Amish Friendship bread. I love baking it (it on requires a day every few days and produces many loaves per batch), and I am experimenting with different flavors all the time. So my idea was to bake and freeze many different flavored loaves and then sell them at Arts and Crafts fairs. Then I met a young lady named Claire who works at a web site where you can buy handmade crafts, artwork and edibles among other things. Everything on there is "Crafty", and she said she would help me create an "online" store to sell my breads. So now I am trying to think of a catchy "name" for my store (breads). I like "Healthy Hearth Breads", I also "Namaste Baker", "Kacey's kitchen",.... I am in the market for ideas.... Any suggestions are welcome!

VOTE!

So I saw this video on a friend's blog, (Down the road less traveled) and thought it was so cool I would add it to mine.  I really don't know if anyone is reading my blog, but someone may stumble across it, and this message is too important not to post.  There is adult language in the video, so make sure the kids are not around.

Fighting the Veterans Administration! sigh....

So my four year battle with the Veterans' administration to receive compensation pay continues....sigh.....

I have these horrible itchy bumps on both of my upper arms from anthrax shots I received in order to deploy to Bahrain for Operation Iraqi Freedom.  I developed these bumps, but like a dummy, I never had it documented in my medical record.  Probably because my desk was next to the flight surgeon's desk, and he would just take care of me "off the record".  DUMB of me!  Anyway, the VA has been denying me disability for the past three years.  Well, I finally got a dermatologist and the corpsman I worked with to write statements so I could resubmit to the VA. I was sent to see a civilian doctor (paid of course by the VA) to evaluate my bumps.  He agreed with me that the bumps were "DEFINITELY caused by immunizations".  I was thrilled.  Lo and behold in three months the letter came back from the VA with a deniald because the doctor said I had "acne" on my arms....AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!   So, I called the doctors office (a few days later so I could calm down), to ask why he had lied about my condition.  The office manager says to me.. "Oh Ms Rood, that is my fault, you see, we get a template, and your condition was not on it, so I marked what I thought was best".   WHAT????  She isn't even a medical person.  She is the office ADMINISTRATOR!!!   So, she promised me that if I request to see that doctor again, she will make sure to mark down the right thing.  Thanks alot lady!!  NOW I have to go back to the VA, reopen my case by making an appeal, resubmit ALL the paperwork, wait two to three months for the VA to send me to the doctor, and then wait another three months for my case to be decided.   Did I yet say AAARRRGGGHHHHH????  I have come to the conclusion that the VA denies people routinely, without thought or merit, because they figure by now, someone like me would give up and they could save some dollars.  NOT ME!  I will reopen my case and fight on!  If nothing else, for every time someone says to me: "why do you have those bruises on your arms?"  FIGHT ON!!

Blogging

I have recently become a part time worker and a part time stay at home mom. I was a full time stay at home mom over the summer, but decided to work part time when the kids went back to school.  So I have decided to substitute teach so I would be home when the kids are home and would have the flexibility to say "no, I can't work today."  I have been reading the blogs of some of my friends and thought I might to blog as well.  We will see how it goes.......