This and That

Last night I dreamed someone stole Dakota out of my car at the gas station. I was looking at the security video, holding her leash and hoping she'd just jumped out. Then I saw this guy grab her, crying and struggling, from the back seat of my car. It upset me enough I woke up, heart pounding.

I'm still upset and keep looking to make sure she's right here with me.

In other news, I thought I'd share some pictures from my street from my latest walk.

My neighbor has an old bird's nest in his tree -- I know it's from last year, because the year before it was there but got ruined over the winter, so the birds must have rebuilt it. I hope they move in again this year. I'm going to try to remember to check it again in a few weeks...



We have this strange phenomena that happens every now and then -- this ant swarm thing. On the edges of the road, there are cracks and sometimes, from these cracks we get ants.



Lots and lots of ants...



I don't know why. It's the strangest thing. I suppose I could Google it.

DH has a co-worker who has a bazillion strawberry plants that he's going to share with us. I said to DH, "Didn't you tell me growing strawberries out here was hard because the birds and beasts get them?" and he responded, "What plants of yours DON'T the birds and beasts get to?"

Uh. Yeah. There is that.

So we're going to grow strawberries.

And lastly, if you haven't already, go congratulate Maria Zannini on her latest contract. She's had a rough time of it lately (parvo, tornadoes, computers) so the good news was a welcome change.

Have an awesome weekend!

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The Cunning Voles of Doom -- STRIKE AGAIN!

So ... just when you think it's safe to plant again, guess what moved in? See the tracks?



Yep ... they've moved into my flower garden over the culvert -- where I've had creeping phlox cascading over the bricks every spring for years:



Wanna see what it lookes like THIS year?






They may LOOK cute, but they are PURE EVIL.



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Happy Easter!

Accentuate the Positive

Spent a good part of the weekend filling out DD's application for the new school. It's not just a matter of "name, address, phone number". They ask those tough questions (like the ones we hear in job interviews, ala "Why should I hire you?").

DD fell to pieces yesterday trying to write a one page essay on "What do you have to offer our school?"

She has a tough time seeing the small bites it takes to eat an entire meal (and, no Michele, once again it's not about food *G*) and only a huge plate of lima beans and beef liver that she doesn't want.

Yeah, essays about your good points are like that.

You ever realize how hard it is to talk about yourself in a positive way? To say, "I'm smart." or "I'm creative." or "I'm capable." or the absolute hardest thing to say about yourself, "I'm pretty."

It's very sad.

Worse, when my DH and I had to sit down and fill out questions on her strengths and weaknesses HE had a hard time coming up with any. About broke my heart.

I have a laundry list.

Is she perfect? No, she's far from it. She's not a self-starter. She's not very good at problem-solving. She's stubborn and has a quick temper. She tends to be a little lazy and has no problem walking right past something that needs doing without even seeing it.

BUT... she's also amazingly intelligent. She loves to learn. She's creative and clever and loves to work with her hands. She's funny and nurturing and has a heart as big as Alaska. She's my wonderful daughter, and she's beautiful.

After her big meltdown about the report, I asked her what her strengths were. After she stared off into space and finally answered, "I don't know." I prompted her a bit. And then told her to make an outline for the report with her strengths and how the manifest in her life.

Small bites.

She got that done, thankfully. Her job tonight and tomorrow is to make that outline into an essay.

The fun never ends.

How was your weekend?

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Warning: Spider Story

No spiders were harmed in the writing of this tale, though two humans and a dog nearly were.

Yesterday, DD, Dd and I were driving home from school when I saw a movement on the frame of my door. I jumped and grabbed at my heart, giving a little yelp. Understandable, right, when something is moving where it shouldn't be.

It was a spider. Not a very big one, and I'm not really spider phobic, but I didn't want the thing dropping on my head, so I kept blowing on it to make it freeze in place until I could pull over and put him outside.

Apparently, he decided he'd deal with the wind, though, and started making his way up the frame and close to where my head was. This was unacceptable and I picked up a pack of cough drops I had nearby and put it up where he was to block him.

That didn't work, so I decided it was time for him to take his chances with the great outdoors and rolled down my window, then tried to brush him out (yes, I was driving the entire time... ::hangs head in shame:::).

That was when he dropped ... dangling above me from a silken thread.

I screamed like a little girl and whapped at him. He landed on the door frame and scurried into a crack.

Finally, I was able to pull off the road and get him the h-e-double toothpicks OUT OF MY CAR. But even that was a trial. First I had to find him. Then I had to make him understand that he would be much better outside. He disagreed. Finally, though, he fell on the floor mat and I picked it up and shook it off outside, then leaped into the car and took off before he could hitch a ride again.

I know, I know -- I could have squished him, but honestly that never occurred to me until after all the drama. I'm a catch and release kinda gal, so it didn't enter my thought stream at all.

I do wonder what all the cars that passed me on the side of the road thought, though.

So that was my excitement yesterday. Anything exciting happen with you that you'd like to share?

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Cool school!

What an amazing and very different school we visited yesterday. They actually own the entire little residential street they're on and the classes are held in different houses. Two of the houses are HUGE because of additions they students built (not the current students -- though, they're doing building as well, an addition for another private school in a different town). There are a few outbuildings they built, too, all post and beam and stained glass (beautiful pieces also created by the students, who apparently also make it for various other schools, churches and other buildings).

Everything is very casual, possibly due to the "home" feel of the place and the fact they have to walk outside from place to place (it's quite rural). There's a dress code, but it's not strict. Jeans are allowed and T-shirts, but nothing too short, too tight or too skimpy which works for me. The "feel" is sort of a cross between regular school and homeschool. Class size will be bigger there, but not a lot. Her current school's high school classes run 3 - 5 students. This place averages 10 - 12, a good size.

DD is excited about much of it. Nervous, too, but she's not really super happy where she is, has struggled to make friends (most of the kids there have gone to school together for years) and is pretty sold on the new school. I told her SHE needed to decide what was going to work best for her.

Dru had asked yesterday if she has to test, etc. to be enrolled or if they'll automatically take her. We have to fill out the application, get copies of her report card and references from teachers and mentors and she'll have to shadow a day there (thankfully they're in sessions when DD is off on spring break in a few weeks, so we'll do it then). Her current school required her to test to make sure she could do the work for the grade we wanted her enrolled in. I imagine this one will, too.

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In other news, I swear winter has returned. We had 30 - 50 MPH all day yesterday, so bad it grabbed my storm door last evening and flung it open, hard. Didn't break the glass, or the door itself, but yanked the bottom whoosie-whatsit (the thing that controls how fast it closes) right out of the frame and bent it neatly in half, breaking the plastic cover and twisting the metal.

We had to chase down our lawn chairs and garbage can (why is it always windy on garbage day?) as well as my pooper scooper and some other things that stay outside. It's bitterly cold, impossible to walk in or even stay out in for more than a couple minutes. And it's just as cold and windy today. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'm guessing this wind is blowing in that front. Hopefully then it will stop. But my dog is bouncing off the walls.

The joy of New Hampshire.

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School Choices

This morning we're checking out a new high school as a potential landing place for DD. Yes, her current school has a high school and, yes, we've been invited to return next year but I'm not sure it's a perfect fit for her. It's a very, very small school with few extracurricular opportunities. We found that out in spades this year as the canceled middle school basketball because enough people weren't participating -- and the high school is even smaller.

The school we're looking at is closer, very rural and rustic (it's held in a huge old house/barn) and has about 50 students in the high school. DD's current school has about 15.

They really celebrate what it is to live in NH -- with lots of outdoor activities like hiking, canoeing, mountain biking, etc. plus their girl's basketball team won their division this year, so clearly there are enough students. They offer project-based learning (last year the kids built a post and beam house and held a miniture victorian faire, for instance).

We'll see how the meeting goes, but it feels right so far and DD is sort of excited, too. It helps that her BFF is probably going to be going back into homeschooling next year, so she isn't a factor as to where DD goes.

Other than that, our weather is back to normal for this time of year... COLD. Highs in the low 50s, lows in the 20s with light frost. *sigh* Those 80 degree temps spoiled me rotten.

Hope you had a good weekend! Trying to get to blogs ... visited a few this morning and will try to hit a few more this afternoon.

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