FakeAtion

I'm still a little confused by the term "StayCation." I mean, I get it that "they" are trying to promote all of the possibilities one has to explore in their own home town...the problem I have with it is that IT STILL COSTS MONEY to frequent those venues!!! If the whole concept is to actually save money (or better yet not even spend it) how about not going anywhere people?! Allow me to introduce my brainchild: The FakeCation. Without spending a penny I have been enjoying a place that I missed being at for the past ten months: my very own HOME! I LOVE being HOME!!! So far, on my fakecation I have enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in, watching movies on tv, and reading. There have even been a few times when I have "ventured out" and spent some down time on the porch---at no charge! Yes, I would love to be able to travel more and visit new places. Sure, I would like to "get away" and experience new things. But in this fast-paced rat-race world I truly do enjoy slowing down. I like to stop and listen to the song birds and watch the sun rise and set. I have even been known to wear a fluffly white robe and sip hot tea while out on my no-fee porch pretending that I was at some swanky mountaintop spa. In the evenings I've enjoyed a glass of merlot while wrapped in a lightweight blanket engrossed in a book. Without paying a cent I gained a huge return...and there's nothing fake about that!

Making Cents of a Book Fair

I just wrapped up a week's worth of book fair excitement. There is something magical suspended in the air during this special week each school year. I feel very strongly that children should have magical moments in their lives while they are young so that they have lasting memories they can revisit later in life. Being able to garner sneak peeks into the lives of children on a daily basis is one of the neatest gifts I could ever receive. Many parents send their kids off to school and do not know all that goes on in their child's life. I think it is important for this to occur because it is my opinion that kids need to learn how to grow and 'become' in the absence of their parents. That being said, I consciously make an effort to lay low while at work because I want my kids to have some school time without Mom looking over their shoulders. But that is not always easy to do considering the fact that I work at their school. But, because I work at an elementary school I am privy to all kinds of interesting childhood moments.

One day last week I had a second grader approach me at the cashier's desk while clutching tightly to a ziplock baggie that was filled with coins. "I just want to know if I have enough cents," he explained. Boy, don't we all, I thought to myself. Even though I knew that I certainly didn't have enough sense to do many of the things I attempt on a daily basis, I patiently counted out his coins. So many kids came into the library skipping and left shouting "I got a book!" Many others strategically divided their loot so that they could purchase a book for a sibling. Still others kept buying until the last penny was spent. I did have one fourth grade boy ask me if he could use a credit card because he knew his mom's credit card number along with it's expiration date-OMG!

I spent a large portion of each day desperately trying to explain the concept that a five dollar bill would not be enough to purchase a $4.99 book because of little word called "tax." I guess I didn't do that good of a job because at the end of the week I owed Scholastic close to $50.00 for all of the students who were short on change!

I overhead many parents bargaining with their kids saying things like, "...you can get these two, but you have to put that one back." Or "...well...how about if you just don't get an allowance this month?" Or "...You already have 6 diaries at home that you haven't even written in...you don't need another one...pick out a book with WORDS in it." Most parents want to expose their children to all forms of literature. They want to foster a love of reading. They are strapped for cash but always find a way.

Both of my kids read in the car the entire way home. My son spouted out facts and statistics and my daughter stayed up late reading and couldn't wait to share with me the details the next morning. I learned of a student who spent the night we were open late for Family Night drawing sketches after reading his new drawing book. I saw kids reading their new books while waiting in the bus line and at the cafeteria table during lunch. I watched normally rowdy boys sitting quietly on the floor hunched over a cool book. I witnessed friends giggling over some funny pictures, and ultimately ended up buying the same books. Hearing all of the ooohs and ahhhhs this past week was better than any movie soundtrack. It made all of the extra hours and frenetic activity completely worth it.

I hope that over this three-day weekend many kids will fall into a good book and get hooked on reading!

Blowing It All Away

After school my daughter and I drove over to Walmart where I dropped off her prescription and then proceeded to walk out the doors, into the parking lot where she and I waited for 30 minutes for a covert deal to go down. I had received the call thirty minutes earlier to "meet me at the gas station in front of Walmart...I'll be in a silver truck parked in the shade." While waiting and wondering if we had missed him my daughter and I shared a 6 months past it's expiration date granola bar (tasted like corregated cardboard). My cell rang and I was asked what kind of car I drove. "I'm in a gray VW Jetta...near a rock wall underneath the only shade tree in the parking lot." The caller's response was, "I know exactly where you are."
In my rearview mirror I watched as a silver truck pulled in behind me. The driver got out and we exchanged goods: I gave him a check and a flute and he promised to fix it and clean it up good as new.

Almost 30 years ago, when I was in 6th grade, I began playing the flute in the middle school band. I can vividly recall going with my mom to a real true music store...the kind that had French Horns mounted on the walls. Money was tight and I remember that Mom was willing to get me an instrument no matter what by golly. I walked out of that store with a Gehmeinhart flute (my apologies to the makers of this flute as I know I have butchered the spelling !) I thought I was really something. I held that slender black case by it's suspended handle and just knew that I was hot stuff. My dad gave me one of his thin, white handkerchiefs to keep inside the royal blue velvet lined case to polish my flute with. He also engraved my last name on each of the three pieces to ensure that it never got mixed up or-gasp-stolen (of course, having a surname on an instrument is not that great of a deterrant to theft...it only allows the thief to know exactly who he/she stole it from).

I practiced and I was quite good----first chair for the majority of the two years I played thankyouverymuch. But once I hit high school it was not considered "cool" in my circle of "friends" to continue on and so I did not pursue band any longer. My flute rested in its case for almost thirty years and now, it is being played again. Of course, the boll weevils have feasted on the pads beneath all of the keys thus resulting in the need to call in a flute fixer upper. There is such a person and I met him in the Walmart parking lot. I already owed him $75.00 for fixing my husband's trumpet he pretended to play when he was in 6th grade (which my son resurrected to pretend to play his 6th and 7th grade years). Ah...money well spent. So now my daughter is following in her mother's footsteps and I was happy...until flute man told me it would cost $200.00 to repair. Time to get out the engraver and scratch through my maiden name.

One man's trash is another man's Wii

You know how after a good workout you will be a little sore the next day? It is 10:40 at night and I am in pain! My "workout" consisted of standing in front of my television playing a video game earlier this same day. That's right, folks...in a matter of one hour I bowled, I played tennis, I played baseball, and I boxed...all in my flip-flops with the air conditioner on in my den. I should also mention that I huffed, I panted, I grunted, and I began to feel beads of sweat forming. I could also feel the burn. I don't know about you, but that's my kind of exercise!

Even though the Wii has been out for some time now our family has just now acquired one. I am proud to say that my husband and son decided on the purchase after collecting their cash reward from their recycled cans. Both of my guys collected and crushed enough cans over the course of one year to pay for a Wii!! Even though this was their project they decided to buy something the whole family could benefit from...and I love them for that. I, for one, have had more fun than I ever thought I would (I've never been 'into' video games--they make me anxious and tense).

For the past several years, as a family, we would go on evening jeep rides up and down the backroads that surround our house and collect the cans others have littered the ground with. We do this for many reasons: to clean up our surroundings, to teach our kids some lessons, and, to reap the rewards of recycling. Last Friday my son called me on his way home from San Antonio with excitement lining his voice: "Mom! Guess how much money we got for our cans?!" "$201.80!" "We're on our way to get a Wii!!" And then, right after we hung up, a picture text came up on my cell. It was a picture of two one hundred dollar bills and a one dollar bill fanned out on my son's knee. I was so happy for him. I was also proud of what my husband was teaching him. What a perfect father/son moment.

As our luck would have it Wal Mart was out of Wiis and the guys came home empty-handed. We would have to sit out Saturday and wait until Sunday before going back into town. But, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, my husband and I dashed into SA while the kids were in Sunday School and snagged a Wii (but only after stopping at two other locations...I swear...it was like the Cabbage Patch Christmas all over again!). As soon as we got home the guys set to work attaching wires and plugging things in. We spent the rest of the afternoon swinging a bat, bowling a ball, and punching a bag. I have to say that it is pretty darn cool! The kids nearly fell off the couch when I told them I wanted to participate! My only problem is that now I have to do everything left handed in order to balance out the soreness from yesterday's activity!

Not meaning to negate the health benefits of "working out with the Wii", but after all of that physical activity I had no choice but to have myself a beer...you know, to celebrate the purchase...to cool off...to get the guys started off right as a new year in recycling begins today!