As of 5:30 tomorrow morning, I will be heading to the Outer Banks for a 3 day trip with about 130 8th graders. :) Sounds crazy, I know, but it's actually a lot of fun! I'm all done packing....all I have left to do is check to see if there are any letterboxes in the exact places we will be going.
Tomorrow is also John's birthday, so....
Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!!!
We already had his birthday celebration over the weekend....I won't bore you with all of the details, but let's just say that there were Xbox 360 games, Scrubs DVD sets, hardware purchasing and ice cream cake. :D We had planned a trip to a park/zoo in the area, but our plans were rained upon. :(
One more thing....I got an email from Discovery Channel expressing concern about the offensive ad. At this point, they have asked that I provide more information for them. At least they seem to be taking things seriously.
Have a great week! Outer Banks update coming Friday. :)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
The Discovery Channel: A Bad Influence???
Firstly, I have not fallen off of the planet. I have been spending lots of time with family and friends over spring break. :)
Today, as I was spending time with John, Grace and my mother-in-law, we were watching How It's Made on the Discovery Channel....a family friendly show that certainly makes it past our parenting radar....and it continues to. Unfortunately, Discovery Channel felt the need to air a commercial in the middle of How It's Made (a show we were watching a very child-friendly time, by the way...it was about 1:00 in the afternoon) for The Deadliest Catch that contained TWO instances of profanity! Now, I'm not opposed to profanity...in fact, I'm an avid user. :) However, I do not speak that way in front of my bonus daughter! Nor does any of her family...and we certainly don't expect her, or any child, to be exposed to it while watching an educational program on a supposed family-friendly channel! Well, I, in my typical fashion, spun into a full-tilt tizzy and got on the channel's web site immediately to send an email letting them know what I thought about their mid-day commercial. After going through an incredibly aggravating process of demographic-gathering (which is required, apparently, to deal with the Discovery Channel in any way), I got my email through to them. Of course, I got a message back right away informing me that not all emails get read and I should go to the web site for more information about their programs. Grrrr. My mission now? Find a phone number and speak to someone directly. I feel like the commercials during shows that are rated for 7-year-olds should be 7-year-old appropriate. Am I crazy here???
On a totally different note, tomorrow is the day for Earth Hour. We will be turning out our lights at 8:00 pm and leaving them off until 9:00. I hope others will join us!
Have a great weekend. I should get caught up on my blogging soon! :)
Today, as I was spending time with John, Grace and my mother-in-law, we were watching How It's Made on the Discovery Channel....a family friendly show that certainly makes it past our parenting radar....and it continues to. Unfortunately, Discovery Channel felt the need to air a commercial in the middle of How It's Made (a show we were watching a very child-friendly time, by the way...it was about 1:00 in the afternoon) for The Deadliest Catch that contained TWO instances of profanity! Now, I'm not opposed to profanity...in fact, I'm an avid user. :) However, I do not speak that way in front of my bonus daughter! Nor does any of her family...and we certainly don't expect her, or any child, to be exposed to it while watching an educational program on a supposed family-friendly channel! Well, I, in my typical fashion, spun into a full-tilt tizzy and got on the channel's web site immediately to send an email letting them know what I thought about their mid-day commercial. After going through an incredibly aggravating process of demographic-gathering (which is required, apparently, to deal with the Discovery Channel in any way), I got my email through to them. Of course, I got a message back right away informing me that not all emails get read and I should go to the web site for more information about their programs. Grrrr. My mission now? Find a phone number and speak to someone directly. I feel like the commercials during shows that are rated for 7-year-olds should be 7-year-old appropriate. Am I crazy here???
On a totally different note, tomorrow is the day for Earth Hour. We will be turning out our lights at 8:00 pm and leaving them off until 9:00. I hope others will join us!
Have a great weekend. I should get caught up on my blogging soon! :)
Friday, March 14, 2008
Happy Pi Day!!!
I'm wishing everyone a spectacular Pi Day today! I had a blast at school with all of the Pi Day activities. In my language arts class, I read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi and did all sorts of exciting literary/grammar activities with that. In math classes, I presented pi facts, got the students to calculate pi using Oreos and Twizzlers and did a video scavenger hunt for pi facts. Good times. :) Oh, we can't forget the background music....Lose Yourself (In the Digits) by Pi Diddy. I'm not making this stuff up...it actually exists. :D Toward the end of 4th period (8th graders last class before they go to electives), the kids got to eat pie....there were about a gazillion pies that the parents sent in....yummy! I hope everyone else has a Pi Day as fun as the one we did. (I think my nerdy is showing.) :)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Nonprofit of the Week #6
Okay, I know this is super-late, but here it is....the nonprofit of the week. This week's nonprofit organization is Warm Up America. This organization promotes the idea of getting several people to knit or crochet small parts of an afghan to later be combined into one big blankie. The blankets are then distributed to anyone in need - people who have been victims of house fires or floods, homeless people, women's shelter residents, etc. I love the idea of a community of knitters (crocheters) working together to help someone in need. :) It is super-easy to get involved in this - just grab a group of yarn junkies and get them started on 7" by 9" blocks.
I'm currently working on putting together all of the blocks sent to me from the wonderful letterboxers on Atlas Quest. It's hard to get all of those blocks situated for stitching together! :)
Coming soon....a review of the Frank Celebrates Easter (Early) letterboxing gathering that I hosted last Saturday!
I'm currently working on putting together all of the blocks sent to me from the wonderful letterboxers on Atlas Quest. It's hard to get all of those blocks situated for stitching together! :)
Coming soon....a review of the Frank Celebrates Easter (Early) letterboxing gathering that I hosted last Saturday!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Victory Is Mine!
Haha, vile toothpaste company that sneakily inserts artificial sweetener ick into my tooth cleanser! I have found a Tom's of Maine all-natural, orange-mango toothpaste. No yickiness, guaranteed. Also comes in 100% post-consumer waste packaging and the company encourages employees to use 5% of their paid hours to do volunteer work. Bye-bye scary chemicals. :)
I also began using Feline Pine today. A much more environmentally friendly choice for the kitty of the house. Added bonus? It's way lighter than litter, so it's not such a pain to carry up three flights of stairs. :)
I also began using Feline Pine today. A much more environmentally friendly choice for the kitty of the house. Added bonus? It's way lighter than litter, so it's not such a pain to carry up three flights of stairs. :)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Why???
First, let me say....Egads, I'm a slacker! It is shameful that I have gone so long between blog posts. :)
Second, a rant. Let me preface this by telling you that John and I run a 100% anti artificial sweetener home. The stuff frightens us. Sucralose is safe, you say. There have been studies, you say. I say that every artificial sweetener was considered safe at the beginning and every one turns out to be some disease-causing bit of swill. Not to mention, there are also the studies that indicate that artificial sweetener helps you lose exactly NO weight, so why not go with something natural? So, now that you know I feel this way, can you imagine my horror and disgust at this: I was innocently brushing my teeth this morning (still half asleep) and became entranced by the toothpaste container. I started reading the list of ingredients out of boredom and pondering spending the extra bucks to buy something with a less frightening list of chemicals when I saw it...SUCRALOSE! In my toothpaste!!! What kind of voodoo is this? Who is that concerned about the calories that may be absorbed through the insides of their cheeks from their toothpaste?!? You're not supposed to eat the stuff, for goodness sakes! (Count up all of those exclamation points and you'll realize how dumbfounded I was.) Good grief. Why in the world does toothpaste need to be tainted with that junk? Again, I say good grief!
Still no progress on the recycling situation. A fellow letterboxer sent me some information about places that recycle #6 styrofoam, but I've called the polymer company listed and have not had any response. Their web site also says that they don't accept food service products, so I guess that really answers my question anyway. My dad suggests that my next step be contacting state government. This may be the route I take.
In other school news, our school system is considering going over to a 4 day school week. I think this would be wonderful. Other districts in the country have done and had quite a lot of success. Of course, as with anything, there are the ups and downs. The actual motivation for this consideration is the cost of fuel for all of the buses. If we cut to 4 days per week, that's 20% of the fuel we normally use not getting used. Yay to that. Students and teachers would certainly enjoy this schedule. Fridays would become half day teacher workdays. I'm sure they would workshop us into the ground for a lot of those, but, in theory, we could get a lot done on those days. The downside, however, is what happens to our sports teams, our academic clubs and other extra-curricular activities? And what do parents do with their children on Fridays? Hmmmm....I'm curious to see if it happens and how it works if it does happen.
I'm off to continue the planning and organization of the letterboxing gathering that I'm hosting on Saturday. Who knew so much was involved??? Nonprofit of the week coming soon!
Second, a rant. Let me preface this by telling you that John and I run a 100% anti artificial sweetener home. The stuff frightens us. Sucralose is safe, you say. There have been studies, you say. I say that every artificial sweetener was considered safe at the beginning and every one turns out to be some disease-causing bit of swill. Not to mention, there are also the studies that indicate that artificial sweetener helps you lose exactly NO weight, so why not go with something natural? So, now that you know I feel this way, can you imagine my horror and disgust at this: I was innocently brushing my teeth this morning (still half asleep) and became entranced by the toothpaste container. I started reading the list of ingredients out of boredom and pondering spending the extra bucks to buy something with a less frightening list of chemicals when I saw it...SUCRALOSE! In my toothpaste!!! What kind of voodoo is this? Who is that concerned about the calories that may be absorbed through the insides of their cheeks from their toothpaste?!? You're not supposed to eat the stuff, for goodness sakes! (Count up all of those exclamation points and you'll realize how dumbfounded I was.) Good grief. Why in the world does toothpaste need to be tainted with that junk? Again, I say good grief!
Still no progress on the recycling situation. A fellow letterboxer sent me some information about places that recycle #6 styrofoam, but I've called the polymer company listed and have not had any response. Their web site also says that they don't accept food service products, so I guess that really answers my question anyway. My dad suggests that my next step be contacting state government. This may be the route I take.
In other school news, our school system is considering going over to a 4 day school week. I think this would be wonderful. Other districts in the country have done and had quite a lot of success. Of course, as with anything, there are the ups and downs. The actual motivation for this consideration is the cost of fuel for all of the buses. If we cut to 4 days per week, that's 20% of the fuel we normally use not getting used. Yay to that. Students and teachers would certainly enjoy this schedule. Fridays would become half day teacher workdays. I'm sure they would workshop us into the ground for a lot of those, but, in theory, we could get a lot done on those days. The downside, however, is what happens to our sports teams, our academic clubs and other extra-curricular activities? And what do parents do with their children on Fridays? Hmmmm....I'm curious to see if it happens and how it works if it does happen.
I'm off to continue the planning and organization of the letterboxing gathering that I'm hosting on Saturday. Who knew so much was involved??? Nonprofit of the week coming soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
