Thursday, September 2, 2010


School started Tuesday.  Today is Thursday. I received an e-mail today from the school closing! superintendent.  It was to notify us of an early dismissal tomorrow, Friday.  I'm thrilled! Already there's a school closing
It's very nice for all of us. When Grace and T.J. arrived home this afternoon, T.J.announced that they would be having an "EARLy  Dismissal." 

Already this week, we've lived through homework.

T.J has done a short power point presentation with great tension since it could only be done on Biff's computer....Biff was in Boston at homework time.

We've covered geometry books, spanish books and  history books. 

Grace has spent hours of deliberation over clothing choices.

We've cut off the computer and x-box for the week....most of the week.

Grace has announced many times that she's "stressed out" because of the new school year! 

We've packed healthy lunches, bought healthy snacks. 

We've all worked on getting to sleep earlier and waking up without drama. 

We've had to do the a.d.d. selection of the school picture package....which they make so confusing that we are forced to plunk down millions of dollars just to get the form filled out. Then, our students need to select one of 238 back rounds which must coordinate with the clothing selection for picture day. 

We've had e-mail communications with the Guidance Counselor... T.J. found out that chorus was not the mandatory elective as his sister advised.  Phew! He likes music, he enjoys many different styles from rock classics to hard rock to rap to marching bands and salsa!  Just kidding about the salsa...I think.  It could have changed this afternoon.  The good news is that both kids enjoy a wide variety of music.....I digress!  

All of that and more for 3 1/2 days of school!  Wouldn't it have been simpler to just waited until after Labor Day? Did I mention that the schools are closed for some of the Jewish Holidays this month!  They may not have a 5 day week until after Columbus Day.......


Just sayin'.



Like it or not, Earl is heading for Connecticut
Our newsrooms have been busy covering all things Earl throughout the day.
As it stands right now, Earl is a Category 3 hurricane off the coast of North Carolina and is expected to start impacting our area around Friday afternoon. For our readers in New Haven county, as you probably realize, you’re already in a tropical storm warning.


We’ve also got a really useful interactive map on CTPost.com with the absolute latest Earl trackings.







2010 Life is good Festival




The festival will feature a first-of-its-kind fundraising component,rewarding festival attendees who raise money for The Life is good Kids Foundation with exclusive hospitality, preferred viewing, artist meet and greets and other prizes. Fundraisers will be called VGP’s – Very Good People – and will have a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience. You can sign up to be a fundraiser to upgrade your ticket during the ticket purchase process.

Life is good Festival will also feature interactive art exhibits,hands-on games and activities, great local food and the “Good Kids” zone featuring kid-friendly music and dozens of fun activities for the little ones.

Tickets are on sale now click here. Prices are: $50 for single day pass / $90 for 2-day pass / Kids 6-12 are $10 and Kids 5 and under are FREE!

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Life is good!
Isn't this wonderful?    I want to take our kids.  It is such a great group of people doing so much good. The proceeds help kids in need....many different kids with a variety of needs. This is kids helping kids.  I am always impressed by the many ways that people come up with to help others...big scale or small scale!
I do hope our kids still have these kind of ideas....they matter.


sometimes it's overwhelming....so many to give to.... so many in need....I do believe that we all want to give....there are just so many ways to give that it gets overwhelming.


*Hospice volunteer...doing art therapy with the patients...I get more from the patients than They ecver got from me.  Those patients are in my heart everyday.

*Junior League volunteer opportunities....with children, women starting over, cooking and having dinners with people who had been homeless and were working there way back up.....projects that were "Done in a day"...those were awesome because they allowed us to do different work with a variety of groups.

*Volunteering with "High Hopes" in Old Lyme, Ct. working with autistic children and special needs children who came to ride the horses as therapy.  I walked alongside the horse and the child as we circled the indoor ring or walked outside on the trails. It was an incredible experience to see these children light up and sit up tall, high up on the horses and gallop and trot and walk an communicate with their horses. It was magical for me....and I'm not even in the horsey set!  I worked with people who had a passion for horses and the passion to help others find joy and self esteem through their work!

*volunteering with small scale beach clean ups.

*fundraising for my alma mater.

* volunteering in the thrift shop for Jr. league and here in ct., the a.b.c. thrift shop ( a better chance....funding smart, hard working kids who come from city schools to come live in connecticut and go to our schools)

* volunteering in our own schools with our own children.

* volunteering with church group, driving down south to help some people's homes that were affected by katrina.

 



















*many forms of giving to our servicemen like sending Christmas packages to them 
or their families.



















*volunteering with teenage moms who need to learn mothering skills.



  

















SO MUCH TO GIVE. SO MUCH TO DO. THERE ARE SO MANY WHO NEED SO MUCH.  EVEN WHEN I'VE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE A LITTLE, TIME OR MONEY, IT ALWAYS AMAZES ME HOW GRATEFUL THE FULL TIME VOLUNTEERS ARE.....THEY ARE SO HUMBLE AND ALWAYS SO GRACIOUS AND WELCOMING!

WHY NOT VOLUNTEER? EVERYONE NEEDS HELP....

DONATE TO THE THRIFT SHOP?

SHOP IN THE THRIFT SHOP?

WHEN MONEY IS TIGHT AND ALL I CAN DO IS  GIVE TIME, THEY ARE GRATEFUL!

WHEN TIME IS TIGHT AND MONEY IS DONATED, THEY ARE GRATEFUL!

Those LIFE IS GOOD guys are inspiring!

Just sayin'.