Photo NEEDS

There are wants. There are needs. And then there are NEEDS.

Some people (like my mother) have gadget issues. If it was/is made by Ronco, my mother has it... I do not have that issue.

Things from Photojojo are definitely NEEDS. I have a collection of Photojojo items: lens coffee mugs, cute felt camera case, iPhone telephoto lens, instant camera decal that I get loads of compliments on...
There are more, but I'm getting uncomfortable.

But I have needs. I need a flash bounce like this for my DSLR. Definitely not a gadget. Pure quality control. Now if I wanted this camera dolly, that would be a gadget. (I do kind of want it.). This would make my iPhone so much more functional, but it's probably a gadget too.

I need this too. Purely for efficiency. And this for camera safety (the SLR version, please).

As I've said before: Tools, not gadgets. Needs, not wants.

Good Afternoon

I think I want this for cruising to school and back to pick up the kids...

Happy New Year!

It's not really a new year for you, but it is for me! I believe the next set of PTA officers is at the bank signing paperwork as I type.

I believe I am free!

It's been two loooooong, exhausting years. I quit blogging, most of my freelancing, and the majority of my Facebook posting in the last two years. The blog and FB posts stopped because too many people started reading into things I posted or I couldn't post the things I wanted to write about that were happening at the time. You can't really post about the hate mail, the teacher who yells at you or the fun administration conversations you have had... Well, you can't post it while you are trying to be PTA president. Maybe it's time to start writing.

Here's my Facebook post that sums it up (but doesn't give you the juicy details):

2 years, 40 meetings to lead, about 100 more to attend,

dozens of events, at least $50,000 in funds directly to

our grade school and I'm tapping out as PTA president...

My Julia project

Like so many others who dabble in cooking, I received Julia Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" for Christmas.

Yesterday, I set about making the much-ballyhooed Boeuf Bourguignon. It's all the rage since the movie "Julie & Julia." Everyone is doing it, right?

So I sliced and boiled salt pork. I peeled 18 pearl onions. I rendered the salt pork fat so I could brown the beef. Then transferred everything to another dish so I could brown the vegetables. Then combine it all (this is going MUCH quicker than it did in the kitchen)... then I get to the part about adding the wine. I like this part.

I've chosen a good wine because that's what Julia said to do. Pick one that you drink, not just cooking wine... so I'm thinking that I'm getting a glass of leftover wine when I put this whole thing in the oven to cook for 2-3 hours. I'm going to sit down with my wine and enjoy the moment. It's going to be worth it at that point, right?

Not so much.

The recipe calls for 3 measured cups of wine. Want to know how many cups of wine are in your average, every day bottle?

That's right -- 3 cups!

Why get my hopes up? Why not just say "Add a bottle of wine." Don't let me think there will be leftovers.

Of course, there were other bottles willing to help out...

Jack is wise beyond his years

So fifth grade has lots of group projects. LOTS of group projects. I don't always understand projects ("You need a poster advertising an earthquake?") but I am hearing about them through the filter of a 10-year-old boy.

Right now Jack is in a group working on a project about the early colonies. He is a little frustrated. First the group consisted of him and 4 girls. He's not old enough to appreciate the potential of that situation. The teacher added another boy, Andrew, to the group so Jack wasn't completely overrun by the females.

The group has to come up with a song for their colonies (they have the middle colonies in case you were wondering). I don't quite understand why they need a song, but I'm just a mother. What do I know...

There is some serious in-group conflict right now. The girls can't decide which song best represents their colonies: "It's a Small World"? "New World"? A Taylor Swift song? The Doo-Dah song (Jack's title. I have no idea)?

I naively asked, "What do you and Andrew want as a song?"

"Mom," Jack sighed. "We are boys. We get no say. It's just not natural for the boys to make the decisions..."

The female/wife part of me says he'll have a successful marriage... The mother part of me thinks he might need a male teacher soon...

My favorite time of year, so far

The lovely thing about Southern California in September/October -- when we aren't on fire or dreading mudslides because fire burned up the vegetation that keeps the dirt on the hills -- is the weather. It's still warm (even HOT at times), sunny and divine.

We've been enjoying the pool after school on many days. Yes, we have 18 practices, homework, speeches, Cub Scout events and PTA meetings, but somehow we manage to slip in an hour or so floating in the pool. It's been lovely.

It's my favorite thing right now. Me and my boys just floating and chatting about the day. Rarely is anyone else at the pool. It's calm and cool. We drag out the noodles and cruise around. Neil does his impersonation of Michael Phelps. There's some playing with boats, especially in the jacuzzi.

The boys take turns telling me things: describing PS2 Madden Football plays in detail, reporting on who did what in class today. Sometimes they just swim up to me and I get a kiss or a hug for no reason other than it's a good day.

Who says we don't have seasons in Southern California? Sneaking in pool time before it's gone is the best time of year.

PTA

I haven't posted to this blog lately because most of what I have to say involves PTA. That's what takes up the majority of my days. It's 24/7.

And I'm not sure it is fair or right to complain about others, list the outrageous things people say to me or about me, or the times I've been yelled at by teachers, fellow volunteers, etc.

At least I'm guessing you shouldn't when you are in charge... Let's just say: "I HAD NO IDEA!" and when I can mentally justify putting it in print the stories will be good.

Do I just write what happens and let the reader decide? Do I just let it all slide so it doesn't get worse? Does putting it in print on a blog the same as drawing a battle line?

How do I start an anonymous blog?

Neil is a helper

So I'm working at the school book fair after school. The boys -- mine and their friend Travis -- are working on homework in a corner.

Within five minutes, Travis comes over and tells me he has finished all his homework. Now, Travis had a lot of work. The week's homework plus the work he missed in class yesterday when he was out. I'm pretty sure he hasn't finished his homework.

"Let me see it," I say and walk over to where they were working.

Neil sees me coming and proudly jumps up and shows me the pages he finished for Travis, "I did the squirrel pages!"

Great.

Today's life lesson is about cheating.

Outsmarted

The kids caught us trying to cheat at Design Star. Damn those public schools, actually teaching basic addition...

Jack started totaling up the two lampshades ($9 each), the curtain rod and curtains (more than $9) and we were over budget. He made me put back the new quilt and pillow shams for the bed...

Dean and I then tried to use some decals I bought ages ago on clearance. They are very retro circles and make a cool design. I'd show you a photo, but they all peeled off the wall and left funny marks on the paint...

The kids won by default. They made a "man-cave" out of their playroom with a $19 table and $1 cushions for their kid chairs.

They believe they are living in the lap of luxury -- something soft under their butts and somewhere to put their feet up.

Let the competition begin

We've been enjoying Design Star as a family. I like that it's not football, baseball or collegiate lacrosse. The male members of the family like the competition part. It's a win-win for family viewing.

It gets ugly too. The boys are quite vocal with that heartless criticism that children have. Neil likes the outrageous, glitzy stuff. Jack wants everything unbreakable so scooters and footballs are allowed in the room... He has quite gotten over Mom banning scooters, bikes and all sports equipment from the house when we redid the floors.

Jack will do almost anything if it is a competition. Neil will do anything that Jack is doing.

So in a desperate attempt to get them to clean up their playroom, we challenged the kids to a Design Star competition. They get the playroom. We get our bedroom (which I should admit is worse than their playroom but I won't).

Each team has $25 at Ikea and they can use anything else from around the house (within reason). Dean and I are already planning on cheating. It's our wallet.

Any questions?

Neil had one: "How much is a mini fridge?"