Ballot number 26

I'm old fashioned and think that the idea of driving to my voting location ON voting day is fabulous. I woke up at 5:20 AM and couldn't fall back to sleep. I decided to go when the polls opened. I was there at 6:25 AM and waited in a line that stretched out into the parking lot. The air was a brisk 30 F, but no matter. I needed to vote. I did vote. After today, I am excited to get this decided once and for all. I would love to be able to answer my phone, watch my TV and to pick up my mail- all free of political commercial or ad.

She ran off into the kitty sunset.

We're sad here that our 14 1/2 year old Maine Coon made her voyage off to the Kitty heaven this morning. I knew that she was having a little bit of breathing distress yesterday afternoon and knowing her age and the way that it had come about, we knew that this was the signal that the end was nearing. This morning, Hubs and I were in the basement with Smudge and that is when her little kitty legs went running, despite the fact that she was lying on her side. She breathed her last and we were with her. Hubs went to work late and we just went to Sunday School so that Smudge could be properly laid to rest. In the middle of the night, there will no longer be the thumperness against the side of the litter box. She will no longer trick us into giving her two servings of food. No more kitty bites. No more hide and seek turds. (Her favorite way of letting you know that she was mad at you.) She was certainly not the kindest of kitties. K has a recent scar from a Smudge attack. Still, she was ours and we loved her and her quirks. We are so sad. :(

Hanging at the dealership.

The RAV maintenence light came on a few weeks ago. I knew that I needed an oil change. I made an appointment today, made mention of the airbag light staying on twice, found that there were "three other campaigns" and we're sitting for a long stay. It truly is why we have our oil changed at the dealership. They can pull for recalls and we can get it taken care of lickety split.

Or just lickety. Since I'm still here, I'm thinking that split isn't quite it yet. For the time being, K is becoming quite proficient at operating the vending machines. :)

ETA: Another great reason to go to the dealership- apparently, there is a pipe at my catalytic converter that is rusted. They are ordering a new part and since it falls under warranty, it will cost us nothing. Hooray!

Math, Guatemala, the boat anchor and one hot mess.

Math: I am happy to report that K got a C+ on her latest math test! Of course, that was only after I ended up at K's school before classes started and accidentally cried because K got a zero on a math quiz and was so upset about it and that we took her out of the after school program that she vomited. She's going to the math tutor everyday now. We're looking at a D for math on her report card, but she has worked so hard for it. Everything else is all A's and one B. The sad thing is that she will not get merit roll because of the D and that will make her sad. Next time.

Guatemala: There was guy who came into work last week and after putting all pieces of the story together, I've found that he asked several of us to travel with him to Guatemala over the Christmas holiday. We were giggling about it yesterday.

The boat anchor: That would be what our neighbor is falling the computer. He said that he's seen nothing like it. They still have it Geek ICU, but we don't have much hope.
One hot mess: That would be the hurricane-force winds that we're dealing with. We've hit 75 MPH winds and all schools are closed. They talked about closing where I work. "But it's just some wind," I said. Yup. Wind and rain that closes tons of stuff. K is happy. She gets to go hang with her cousins today.

That's my lame update. Typing big paragraphs with the Kindle is difficult, especially with auto-correct. You never know what auto-correct will give. :s

Hang onto your hat today!

So tired of the negativity.

Seriously, I would love to watch TV without all of the negative attack ads. I would love to answer my phone without looking at the caller ID. I would love to pick up my mail without ads spilling from the in betweens- on a political side that I've never subscribed to. I am so tired of it. I cannot be the only one.

I admit that it isn't just that. I have found out why people only serve the one term as PTA President that they do. There is always someone telling me what they would do different. I loved getting text messages at 6:20 AM from someone who disagreed with how I handled a situation. Not just one message was sent over, but three to four. Oh yes. Good times. There were duties left unfinished and since they were very time sensitive, I opted to sit Friday and get the task all done. I've had people insert themselves to positions that didn't exist, I have people with control issues, I have people who have a difficult time remembering that this is not a paid position and that we have families, jobs and lives that exist outside of the confines of the PTA walls.

Don't get me wrong. It isn't all bad. Through all the crub, I am happily confident in the candidates that I am voting for. I also have wonderful PTA folks who are absolutely happy to do anything and yes, I practice having them say, "No," so that I know they can say it. We have teams of people who rotate weeks on handling different tasks and people who are honest with me in a loving and constructive manner. I have people and a principal willing to work with me to get things done for our 530 children. I am thankful that we do have parents so dedicated and willing to make everything that they can happen for our school.

The negativity has just all piled at once. Couple that with an ailing computer that is not allowing me to get things completed and it kind of makes me cranky. I would live it if everyone and everything would just cooperate and not be so yucky. Some day the dust will settle with everything, right?

Have I ever mentioned the love we have for our neighbors?

Our paralyzed vehicle to the Internet is currently sitting on the neighbors kitchen table as he attempting to rescucitate it for us.

She is in some serious rough shape. I think that she may need bypass surgery. Right now, she is in ICU and we hope the best for her.

Skechers Twinkle Toes- what a disappointment!

Dear Skechers,

My daughter has wanted a pair of Twinkle Toes for years. Since she wears the standard American school uniform, TToes were legal, funky footwear. They were a bit cost prohibitive for what they were, but we found some on the clearance rack this summer. For $30.00, I've been able to buy Nikes or Converse, which have held up wonderfully, but I agreed to get the TToes.

The first day of school, a twinkle came off. Bummer.

Fast forward a month and you have my daughter announcing that, "You need to e-mail the sneaker company, Mom. There's a hole on the bottom of my shoes." When she got home, I looked and there was a big hole in the sole of her shoe. She has only run in them. There is no swingset at her current school, so it isn't like she was dragging the paper thin bottoms of these otherwise ridiculously high-cost shoes.

The failure of these shoes has left my husband and me to have to reinvest in shoes for my daughter for school. Our money has gone into a pair of LL Bean comfy girl mountain moc's (low hiking shoes) for another $40.00. They are well worth the money and at least if they have a problem, they will replace them. Oh, but they are well built to begin with and I'm certain that the sole will last longer than a month.

Your company will not be getting any more of our money.

A sad mom,

Amy