Day 5

Today marks Day 5 of the Bellevue teacher's strike. It seems like day 50. We started the day with an exciting trip to the pulmonologist. Followed by folding clothes at home and cleaning the bathroom. That was followed by going to the gym (my only moment without the duo). Next was planning girl scout stuff with Deanne & the twins. Later was a trip to swim at the pool...which I might add was just too cold for me. I wonder what excitement day 6 will bring?!

The weekend events

This weekend we had things to do and places to go. After speech on Saturday, we headed to Home Depot to get a swing set kit. Yeah! Mark finally caved in and decided we could get new swings. The old swingset was fine, but Lauren was just getting too big to swing on it. It was starting to sway front to back and that is never a good thing! We bought the swingset about 3 years ago when Jackie was in Oak Harbor. It cost us $50 from a neighbor of hers who no longer needed it!

At the Depot, we found the basic 'A' frame kit and the lumber and came home. Let me add my disclaimer now. Just because the most simple instructions say "can be completed in 3 hours", it doesn't mean it will. We worked for about 3 hours yesterday and seemed to make progress. That is until you looked at what still had to be done. Well, quitting time came, so we stopped.

After showers and the babysitter arrived, Mark & I headed to the M's game with Adam & Meghan. Good game. We saw a 3-run homer.

We also saw a very interesting woman with some strange type of respirator device on. It was purple & green. And she had orange hair. Orange...not red! Quite the site. We spent the moments before the game trying to figure out what her deal was. Was she waiting for a terrorist attack? Bird flu? Multiple chemical sensitivity? We had quite the time trying to figure it out. When people sat behind us, they started doing the same thing. As the game started and continued, this woman would take off her respirator, talk or drink, then put it back on. We left the game still not knowing what the purpose was.

After Church, we came home and I cleaned the old swingset. I posted in on Craigslist on Saturday night for $150. I had two people call me last night wanting to purchase it! Today by noon it was gone and we pocketed the money, which will go towards the new swingset. Mark & I spent the entire afternoon working on the "easy, 3 hour" swingset. Well, it is now in the ground and functional thanks to another friend of ours who helped us stand it up right & dig a few holes.

Day 4 of the strike

Not much excitement to report on day 4 of the teacher's strike. We had errands to run -costo for glasses, etc. In the afternoon we watched the Andersons boys. Needless to say...there is never a dull moment when the 4 kids get together.

Mark was actually in-town most of the week (as I mandated him to do so because of the first day of school...which hasn't happened). He was out of town on Friday. So, after a long day and a week of no school, I decided it was time to treat myself. So, I took the kids to dinner and had myself a strawberry daiquiri! Amen for blended drinks.

Day 3

Day 3 of no school.

Yesterday (Thursday...aka day 3 of the teachers' strike) we took a field trip to The Outback Christmas Tree and Kangaroo Farm in Arlington. It was about an hour drive. When we arrived, there were peacocks (male, female, & babies), chickens, and turkeys roaming around. The tour started at 10am. Luckily, we were the only 3. Apparantly last week, some of their tours had 50 people. But, by now, those lucky parents have children who are attending school! Anyway, we watched the ring tailed lemurs. We saw a group of 1+ week old ducks.

Next was the "main event". The kangaroos (one named Kangaroo Jack), wallabies (2 were named Luke & Laura), and wallaroos (2 were named Sophie, Kate Moss). We were able to feed them, pet them, take pictures with them. It was wonderful! Then we saw goats and donkeys. The end of the tour we say llamas, alpacas, emus (named Monica & Bill), ostriches, a cockatoo, and a parrot. The llama (named Mr. T) even "kissed you". The last part was holding the baby joey named Bella. It was by far the highlight!

I would highly encourage

the trek up there on a sunny day. Their website is http://christmastreesand roos.com.

Goodbye to Martini

In July we "adopted" (or paid for) Martini our little long-haired chihuhua. Today he is no longer ours. He has had food aggression issues that we have been working with and handling. However, his aggression overall has gotten worse. His warning sign was to growl. He has nipped and growled at kids & adults. But today, he bit Mason. It was unprovoked. He was on his pillow and Mason laid down on the floor near him. Martini lunged and bit him. Luckily it was more surface scratches. The inside of his lip and near his nose bled a little. It could have been much worse. After consulting with our veterinarian, he advised that we bring him to the Humane Society. So after many tears, we took him there this afternoon and said our goodbyes.

So, if any of you feel the need to "smirk", "gloat", or act indifferent towards our situation, please don't! I've already had one call earlier today which was less then empathetic - and it's been a tough day.

Today was also day 2 of the teacher's strike. Aside from the dog trauma, Mason had swimming lessons.

And, we received this late this afternoon: "Bellevue teacher contract talks continue through Wednesday afternoon.
Whatever the outcome of today’s negotiations’ session, there will be no school tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 4."

Day 2

Today we spent what should have been the first day of school at the zoo with our friends. The Siamangs put on a great show. The baby gorilla was out frolicking with her mom. The animals were out and about. It was a good zoo day.

This just in: (to my in-box at 4:22pm): District and BEA negotiators met this afternoon. The discussion was productive but did not lead to a tentative agreement. There will be no school tomorrow, September 3, 2008.

Need I say more?

What my kids will be doing on the first day of school

Historically, schools in our district start the day after Labor Day. Being that today is Labor Day, tomorrow is the first day of school. To answer the question of "what will my kids be doing on the first day of school"...read below.

"The Bellevue teachers’ union has announced a strike against the Bellevue School District starting Tuesday, September 2. Because of the strike, all District schools are closed until further notice." (This was from the Bellevue school district website).

In other words, my children will be here with me. Again.

I'd write more, but I think I need to have a drink. Enough said!