What's Happening In Your Life?

[sodascouts]

Peek - oh my gosh, that's unbelievable about Tally! I went and read the story - wow! Those people have some explaining to do. Thank God she is OK. I'm sorry to hear about Francene, though - at least she still is "herself."

Stars - thanks for the update on Smokey- he sounds like a trooper!

And congrats on 6K, PM!

[ticky]

Cathy, YAY!!WOO HOO!! Happy Naked Dancing (indoord due to winter chills.. unless you like that kinna thing) 6k!! you rock!! *G* (happy for ya!)

Mike *HUGS* Im sorry about your Aunt. She sounds like a beautiful lady. The world could use more like her. God Bless

Jess, awe Hon *HUGS* I hope Tally's okay and can get past this without detriment. Its a sad fact that really good and even just qualified special ed teachers are rare. It's a rough area to work in. (I've had this rant before LOL) It's hard enough to just find a good teacher, finding a good special ed teacher is like finding a needle in a hay stack! Unfortunately, public schools have to hire who ever they can get and they aren't usually the cream of the crop. Love to you and your aunt. I cant even begin to imagine what she must be going through.

Im finished selling the gourds for the season and have been working on a few special gift gourds for family and friends. I made about 250$ in total after costs (not including time or labor or gas LOL) Not a ton, but enough to cover Christmas for the girls and a few extras. I still have several left and have been invited to a few spring shows and to join a local gallery. I may do that after the new year.
My friend Marsha and I are thinking about getting back into the cookie/candy thing then as well. I have access to a licensed kitchen and the business license isnt too $$$ Marsha used to have a business similar to Mountain Man Candies where she'd go from business to business selling candies, cookies and small toys etc to the people working there at lunch or after hours, so she has some connections and I used to sell to coffee kiosks and houses so I have those. My toffee and fudge sold really well at the last two shows so it may work out.
Jenni's home for the holidays altho she's usually sleeping or out with friends so, when she stayed home last night ALLL night, it was a lot of fun to have her around. Sarah's out of school for the next two weeks as well so this should prove interesting! She does have a best friend who lives across the street now so maybe she'll stay occupied LOL
Nearly ready for Christmas, only a few more gifts to buy and Sarah desperately needs some new clothes, so I may brave the roaring hoards tomorrow, "may" being the operative word there *G* My arthritis is pretty bad right now and has spread to my wrists and hands and my back and neck seized up yesterday, so I hobble a bit *G* BUT maybe looking like a 90 yr old lady will give me some sympathy sway in the holiday madness tomorrow *G* Otherwise I'll just carry a cane and beat back the crowds!
I missed you guys, it's good to be back and have a little time to spend here.

[Troubadour]

We missed you too, Rhonda! Good luck with the Christmas shopping. You too, Willie.

Jess - what happened to Tally is inexcusable, particularly with such a low number of students actually on that trip. I am so sorry that she had to go through that. I work with adults with learning disabilities and I spend time with many other kids from other homes, who have Downs Syndrome... I can imagine how worried and confused she would have been. I'm glad your Aunt is drawing attention to the issue. These sort of things just CANNOT be allowed to happen. The fact that it has happened once before makes it even worse.

Cathy - congratulations on 6K! Check out Walsh Worship... I posted something there for you last night, before I saw this thread.

I'm snowed in at the moment, which suits me fine, to be honest! I have a light sprain to my ankle, so there's no way I'm going to risk going out in these conditions. It started snowing at around 6.30 this morning, and the street is already covered in a thick blanket. (It's now 8.50am.) I've been working a lot these past couple of weeks, and I've been pounding it out at the gym, so I'm glad of the chance to just stay indoors, chill out, and catch up with The Border. Hope everyone else has a great weekend, whatever you're doing!

[Peekaboo]

Thanks, everybody, for the concern about Tally. I'm still furious about what happened. Francene and i had a long talk about it yesterday afternoon and she filled me in a bit more about what happened. (Tally is Francene's little sister.) Francene told me that the school found out about the news interview before hand and one of the teachers called my aunt and tried to turn their story around and said that Tally was upset and didn't want to leave and that she wouldn't get back on the bus to go back to school. Seriously? If that was really the case then WHY did they leave her at the library ALONE? UGH!!! This whole thing just makes me so mad. Tally may have the mind of about a 6 year old but she doesn't have fits like they she did. I went back to the website and found the direct link to the news story and saw that there were two comments about the article posted. One of the people that commented said that they think the teachers responsible should be disciplined for their actions but they should not be fired. They say that the economy is bad enough and they shouldn't have to face losing their job over this. I completely disagree. I understand that about the economy being bad but what happened to Tally is a direct result of neglect and a major failure by those teachers to fully do their job. They've lost Tally twice and they didn't notify her mom when it happened the second time. It's just such a sad and unfortunate situation. I'm not sure if it's going to happen but Francene mentioned that her mom is thinking about getting a lawyer and taking this matter to court. I think that would be a good thing to do. Something needs to be done about the way that school handles special needs children.

Peek, 10 students and 4 teachers!!!??? And they couldn't take the time to do a head count??? If I were Tally's mother I'd be furious too!

Stars, what did you find out about Smokey on Wednesday?

ETA: Oh wow - I just surpassed the 6000 mark!

PM, that was my first question when i was told that their were 4 teachers and 10 students. How hard is it to do a head count for 10 students? Surely 2 kids per teacher isn't too difficult.

Btw, PM, a big Congrats to you on 6000+ posts.

Rhonda, great to have you back around these parts. Hope you're arthritis doesn't give you too much of a bother and eases up for you.

Lou, being snowed in should allow for some good quality Eagles time. Get those dvds ready. Eagles dvds + snowy weather + hot chocolate = a wonderful way to enjoy a snowed in day. Hehehe, didn't mean for that to rhyme. Take care of that ankle. I know how you feel. I've had many ankle injuries over the years. Keep it wrapped and if it's swollen or achy you should ice it down and keep it elevated. Hope it gets better soon.

[sodascouts]

Rhonda - glad to see ya pop by!

Lou - take care of that ankle, have some hot cocoa, and relax!

[MikeA]

Jess,

I can't be concerned about the "economy" and people having a hard time finding a job if they get fired. They are inept people taking up jobs that could go to someone much more caring. Incompetence should not be rewarded when care of people is entrusted to someone.

[Wildthyme]

Jess, what a scary thing to have happen to your cousin. We had something similar happen here a couple of years ago with an autistic boy. He disappeared off the playground one day and it took the school over an hour to find him and they never called his mom until after it was over. And it wasn't the first time and she didn't know a thing. There was a ton of publicity about it because this time he almost died when he fell in an irrigation ditch. All the news articles and an infuriated community really made a difference. The school and the school board had to make major changes. It sad that it takes a near tragedy to get action but Tally's mom should do whatever she needs to to make sure her daughter and other special needs kids are safe at school. I sure hope some of the other kid's parents get involved too... it could be their child left behind next time if the school isn't forced to make changes.

Mike, sorry about the loss of your Aunt. I am lucky enough to have a very special auntie myself who is like a second mom. And never having been blessed with children of my own as an aunt I know how much my nieces and nephews mean to me so I have doubt how much she loved you back.

Take care of your ankle Lou. Use the snow as a good excuse to stay in and cozy and let it recuperate.

Congrats on 6000 Cathy! Wow. I am going to be ecstatic if I ever hit 1000

Well I am living on the other end of the clock right now. I am working evening/nights at Harry and David. I don't get home and into bed until about 3 am if I am lucky. I have worked every day for the last week or so and will right up until Christmas and then after Christmas and into January. Its not too bad of a job as seasonal jobs go. Not exactly mentally stimulating. I spend my whole shift last night calling the credit card centers getting authorization codes (or not) for internet transactions and calling people to confirm their numbers and expiration dates (for those of you ordering online this season - make absolutely sure your number and expiration date are correct... The two inch high pile of 600 codes (invalid cc info) on the desk at work are a testament to how many people don't check...) And please don't scream at the poor customer service rep that has to call and tell you your card was refused. Its not her fault you entered it wrong or the card was no good so now your present won't be there in time...even though she is the one who has to apologize when she would rather point out exactly who really goofed up...

Good luck to all who are trying to finish up their Christmas shopping. I haven't started mine but then I am buying only a few things for my littlest niece because I am too broke to spend money on anyone else. It will make the 4 or 5 hours I have to shop a lot more productive

[MikeA]

Verna and I drove home from Topeka this morning. Interesting drive. We saw a semi-rig on the side of the road that had just hit a deer. The deer was in front of the truck but I couldn't see any damage to the rig.

Then we saw an SUV on the opposite side of the divided highway that was over on its side sort of straddling the barrier separating the northern and southern bound lanes. There were at least 15 or 16 vehicles pulled over and shortly thereafter we saw something like 5 emergency vehicles including a rescue unit. Looked really bad.

Then to pass the time, I counted the number of hawks I saw on the fences and trees along the turnpike. Between Topeka and Andover, I counted 54 of those big birds. All of them looked WELL FED! <LOL>

[TimothyBFan]

Welcome back Rhonda!! I really miss you around here when you're gone!!

Jess--How dare that school and those teachers try to turn it around and blame Tally!! Shame on them!! And you're d*mn right they should be fired!! 10 kids, seriously, one of the 4 adults should of been able to just look around and realize someone wasn't there without even having to take a head count. How the heck hard is it to count to 10?!? I was telling hubby about this and he was beside himself about it, especially when I told him that the stupid school didn't even bother to call her parents when they realized she was missing!! Couldn't believe they could do something like that. I got so angry again when I was telling him about it!! No excuse for something like this to happen!

[Brooke]

Peek, I'm so sorry to hear the story about Tally. Good grief, someone needs to wake up! And sorry about Francene's news, too, but maybe the treatment will take care of it.

Welcome back Rhonda!

Wt, keep smilin'! lol I know how it is. I work for a utility and it's our fault that the customer doesn't pay their bill on time and gets a penalty applied or disconnected!