IT'S FRIDAY!

I don't have much more to say than that. I love Friday. I love it, love it, love it! For two whole days, I don't have to pack lunches! I don't have to get up before 8:00 in the morning! Here in the Scott household, we take our weekends very seriously. So, you have a good one and so will I!

I think we have it all wrong.

Do you ever get the feeling that society took a wrong turn a while back? Kevin and I were lying in bed last night and I asked him if he had a good holiday weekend. He said he did but it was too short. Which made me think of just how strange our lives really are.

We work to get money to be able to afford thing to make us happy. Then, when we are older and our family is grown up, we get to stop working. Doesn't that seem backwards? Shouldn't we be spending time with our family and then work when they're gone?

The most interesting person I ever met lived completely off the grid. He had (or probably still does have, but it's been at least 15 years since I met him) a cabin in the woods with an apiary and bartered the honey for whatever goods he couldn't provide for himself. He had no running water, no indoor plumbing, no electricity and yet he was alive and well and... happy. He didn't want for anything.

What would it take for society to go to that extreme, I wonder. I'm not sure it would even be possible. I'm not naive and I know that with our lifestyle comes a lot of benefits and I know I wouldn't want to trade some of those benefits. Medical advancement, for one, is something that I wouldn't want to give up. Kevin wouldn't be alive without it. But, there is just something appealing about living a life so simple that it takes very little to be happy.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Picture time! We went to the park and the dandelions are in bloom. To some, they're ugly (and I do admit I dig them up from my yard) but to us on that day, they meant flowers for the girls hair.

My weird little family

Some random weirdness from my randomly weird family.

My Victoria turns five tomorrow. I'm not sure who gave her permission to do that, but she is. When we're talking weirdness, Victoria sets the bar. She's just such a free spirit and my biggest hope for her in the next few years is that her spirit is not squashed. She's so much like me and she's lucky to have me because I don't think my mom knew what to do with me. And I'm luck to have her because her and I are kindred spirits and will always share that bond. Happy birthday Victoria!



Each night, I sing to the kids while I put them to bed. Last night, Rosemary and Victoria asked me to sing "Still Alive", the song at the end of the game Portal for the XBox 360. So, we sang it. And now I have beat the game three times in a row for Rosemary so we could sing along. (Yes I know I could just go to Youtube, but that's not as much fun, is it?)



Brings to mind the time Madeleine was asked to sing a song in front of the class during the parent teacher night. They were doing some kind of game where a person would be asked to do a certain task and that is what she was asked to do. So she sang the Imperial March and got laughed at. Or maybe laughed with, I don't know, it's a sore spot for me. I was pleased with her choice of song!

So we're a strange family. We just are and we embrace that. People like to play "I Spy" when stuck in a long line with their kids. We like to plan out what we would do if the zombie uprising happens that minute. Or, we will discuss which would be worse, the zombie uprising or the machine uprising. For some reason, we get some flack for that. Why, I will never know, but the Looks do become tiring. Oh well, I am teaching my kids to be who they are and to disregard the Looks that they will get.

Gay Marriage... strike that and make it just Marriage

I mentioned in my very first Blog entry that I used to lean more conservative, but am now an extreme liberal. I think the beginning of the end of my conservatism was the gay marriage issue. I just couldn't understand what the hoopla was about. And I still don't.

For some reason, this issue has again been on my mind. Gay marriages are legal in Canada, and have been for some time. I am proud of that (although I admittedly had very little to do with the decision). The denial of rights is a slipperier slope than is extending rights to same sex couples. Now that it is legal and everyone's fear about their marriage being effected has not come to pass, I would hope the issue would be put to rest.

I don't have much to say right now, but I want to say this. I will no longer call same sex couple being married a "gay marriage". It is a marriage plain* and simple.


*Hahahahaha! I initially put Palin and simple. Oh, that's funny, considering the subject.

Hypocrisy in public school? Say it aint' so!

Be forewarned, the following post contains a bit of a rant.

Lilly and Madeleine go to a school that promotes litterless lunches. That means that the school doesn't want parents to send things like yogurt containers, snackables or any single use container that will be thrown out at the end of lunch. This is something I support and take part in. It is a rare occasion that my kids have something that is not organic that needs to be thrown out. That means sandwich containers instead of baggies. Tupperware containers instead of yogurt containers. Reusable drink containers instead of juice boxes. It has been something I have been doing for quite a while now.

This acutally has two benefits. The first one is, of course, the environmental impact. Not just the landfill issue but the manufacturing process has less of an impact. The second benefit is that I get to control their portions. It is a rare thing that either Lilly or Madeleine would eat an entire yogurt container but Victoria would eat more than one. So, for Lilly and Madeleine I will put two spoonfuls in their container while Victoria's container is full.

Lilly and Madeleine's school has just implemented a new rule stating that any waste left at the end of lunch will be sent home with the kids. This wouldn't really phase me, except it includes organic waste. To send home a yogurt container as a reminder that it needs to thrown out and is not necessary is one thing. But, telling kids (and parents) that organic waste is avoidable is setting the bar a bit too high. I really can't think of a way to avoid sending a banana other than wrapped in a peel. Apples turn brown when sliced. And, to top it off, organic waste is actually GOOD for the environment when composted.

This is something I would let go and just live with if it weren't for one other thing. Every Friday, there is a catered lunch for the entire school from East Side Mario's. Not every other Friday. Not once a month. But EVERY FRIDAY. Let's just stop and think about the process that is involved in getting that lunch to the students.

1. Food must be prepared in a processing plant (which would have other steps previous to this one involving getting the ingredients to the processing plant etc.)
2. Food must then be delivered to East Side Mario's.
3. Food must then be cooked at East Side Mario's.
4. Food must then be put in non-reusable containers.
5. All containers must then be placed in boxes for transportation to the school.
6. Food must then be delivered to the school.
7. When food is eaten, all waste, including utensils and containers, is then thrown out.

Is it me, or does that not seem a tad more wasteful than putting an orange peel in the garbage? Sure, there are steps that the orange had to take to get into my house, same with the bread for sandwiches etc. but I can't see how the school in one breath can tell us "All litter is bad" and then have weekly catered lunch. It smacks of hypocrisy and "Do as I say, not as I do" is never a good way to teach people.

Happy Star Wars Day!

So, what are you doing to celebrate? I am making it a six day celebration by watching each episode, one per night. Oh and I will play me some Star Wars Lego and Force Unleashed.

OK, I may mash Episode One and Two into one evening by skipping the awful parts (ie. the non-fighting parts and parts that don't include Obi Wan). I mean, what was Lucas thinking?

Leia "I love you."
Han "I know."
CLASSIC! Perfect geeky love story. Compare it to the "love" story of Anakin and Padme:

Anakin: If you are suffering as much as I am, please tell me.
Padme: I can't... We can't... It's not possible.
Anakin: Anything is possible, Padme, listen to me.
Padme: No you listen! We live in a real world, come back to it. You're studying to become a Jedi, I'm... I'm a senator. If you follow your thoughts through to conclusion, it will take us to a place we cannot go, regardless of the way we feel about each other.
Anakin: Then you do feel something!
Padme: I will not let you give up your future for me.
Anakin: You're asking me to be rational. That is something that I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could just wish away my feelings, but I can't.

Awful! "I wish I could just wish my away my feelings"? That made it past the editing process? (But then he does force choke her in Episode 3 and the Emperor tells Vader/Anakin he killed Padme. That almost makes up for it. Almost.)

Here is my theory. Actually, I have two theories. First one is that Lucas was drunk when filming and editing. The second one is that he surrounded himself with yes men who were afraid to tell him that the dialogue and acting left much to be desired. "Perfect Mr. Lucas. Boy, you sure are the best film maker of all time! I am so lucky to be working with you." Either way, it is evident that Lucas' time has past and perhaps it's time to hand the lightsaber over to someone else.

Always take time to watch the worms

Today is Victoria's day to go to school, so Rosemary and I got to take her to the bus stop. We left super early for some unknown reason (usually we're late, not early). So, when Victoria saw a worm on the curb, we got to stop and watch it. We took turns holding it and then put it in the grass and watched it for a bit.

On the way home from the bus stop, Rosemary and I found a lot of worms. We decided to see what happens when we put them on different types of surfaces - rocks, dirt, grass and gravel. Then, the recycle truck came down the street and we watched that.

Please, take time to watch the worms. Too much happens when you're not looking and before you know it, you have no one left to watch the worms with. They've all grown up.