This Needs to End

The Great Recession is hitting home...

Thankfully, hubby and I still have our jobs - but our kids are about to be massively impacted. And that really, really bothers me.

See, in Oregon, there's some screwy way they fund schools. Even in good times, they don't get much money (kindergarten is only partially funded, for instance - so we have 3-day-a-week kindergarten, and some PUBLIC schools charge TUITION for the other 2 days). So with the economy tanking, unemployment in the state at 10% and rising...that state income tax isn't generating near the revenue it used to.

So our schools are facing a HUGE revenue shortfall - they've been warned to plan for a 15% reduction.

My lovely little town has just 3 schools - elementary, middle, and high school (all in a row no less). All told, a bit over 1200 kids between the three. Pretty small, huh?

And yet, Monday they are having a community meeting to discuss the need to cut $1.2 MILLION from the 2009-2010 budget. I just can't wrap my mind around that - it's roughly $1000 less PER STUDENT.

How are we going to do it? I just don't know. There's all kinds of rumors - going to 4-day-per-week schedules, laying off multiple teachers, cutting out music and PE. There's even a rumor of combining 2nd and 3rd grade - and that's just what I'm hearing from the elementary school. All I know is, this is HORRIBLE for the kids and their education - but what the hell can I do about it? Not like I could sell my house and move - all the other Oregon districts are in the same boat. And finding another job in another state right now - yeah, right.

I'm so frightened.

Closing school

People in Oregon are snow wimps. Seriously.

My kids have been out of school for FIVE days (all week) for 3" tops:

Come on. 85% of the student population walks to school here! And you know all us parents have been trudging in to work all week. Insane.

Of course, the best part is that our lovely snow will turn to cold rain come Christmas. Figures.

I'm back, kinda

Quickie post for me today - I'm at work for 2 days before resuming my beach vacation. hee hee

It being Oregon, the beach has been less

And more of

Ok, perhaps that's a slight exaggeration...but with highs that barely scrap 60 F, and a stiff wind from the north 99% of the time - it's been quite chilly! Still, I've enjoyed the last four days of sunburn and tidepool gazing. It's better than this anyday!

Back to Reality...

(I'm humming that awful early-90s song now..."back to life, back to reality")

I had a GREAT Wednesday, even with nasty Oregon weather. It was probably 45F and drizzly all day. Yuck. Still, it was a delight to walk through the zoo with my daughter and her class. They have been working on animal classification, and it was such fun to listen to them "that's a mammal" and "mommy, does that have a backbone?" as we roamed the exhibits. We ate brown-bagged lunches, fed Lorikeets, took pictures, marveled at tigers and bears and giraffes just inches from us (gotta love plexiglass), and spent so much of the day just walking hand in hand. I wish she could stay 5 forever.

I'll be sure to upload some pics soon, especially of Rachel with a rainbow-hued lorikeet on her arm.

Oh My, What a Weekend

Before I forget...be sure to leave a comment for your entry in my Blog Giveaway! (You can leave the comment on this post, so I'm sure to see it) One entry per person, per day - and you can earn extra entries by posting about this contest and providing me the link!

On to the rest of my post...

The weather here in Oregon was gorgeous this weekend - 75 degrees, sunny, light breeze. We spent much of the weekend outdoors, of course. Saturday was so much fun. First we drove to a local tulip farm, picked up some blooms and took a few pictures. After the tulip farm, we drove east of Portland, to the Columbia River Gorge area. Had a few misadventures trying to find a state park, with waterfalls, that we could actually locate a parking spot for. Apparently ALL of Oregon was outside on Saturday! We eventually pulled into a small turnout, where a very helpful Scottish gentleman (from the accent) guided us up a hill, behind a waterfall, and into some neat caves. He was meeting friends to rock climb in the area, and delighted our kids with his knowledge of the "Rat Caves" as well as demos of his climbing gear. What a treat!

After carefully climbing/sliding down the hill again, we drove back to Rooster Rock state park, where we enjoyed some time on the river, and played in the playground. We finished our day with dinner at Tad's Chicken 'n' Dumplings.

Sunday wasn't nearly as fun, at least for me and the hubby. We mowed, edged, pulled weeds, and cleaned the garage...while the children had watergun battles, bounced in their bouncy castle, ate lunch in the sunshine, and just generally did kid stuff. (Days like that make me want to be a kid again) The house looks better, but it's frustrating knowing we'll need to do all that work again in 2 weeks. Maybe less if it rains a lot. UGH.

When the rain moved in Sunday afternoon, I was finally able to relax, shower (!), and get a little jewelry making done. I finished a cute little bracelet, as well as some earrings for the "So You Think You're Unique" beading challenge. (Those will get posted on Monday on Etsy) So now we're back to Monday, and work, and 'normal' life.

Just a quick note about Feature Monday - it's not happening this week. Too much else going on! Instead, I'll be writing a post (probably for tomorrow) about step-by-step creation of a custom jewelry request. Hope you all enjoy it!

Shameless Bragging

I'm putting the finishing touches on my Feature Monday post, but in the meantime...

I just have to brag a little! My eldest son Carson (age 8) and I ran a 5k yesterday in Portland. (Oregon) Carson was interviewed by a local station - KATU channel 2. I got about 2 seconds of video time myself (frazzled hair and arms full of stuff). Look about 3/4 of the way into the clip, for a kid in a white shirt. :-)

Video is here

I love Spring

It's very nice today...mostly sunny, reasonably warm. So out to the park we went, with camera in hand. Took some fun shots, then once it started to drizzle, we came inside to warm up - and I played with photo edit a bit! :-)

Here's a few fun examples based on today's excursion. Enjoy!

This picture has been edited...can you tell how?

Quickie

After yesterday's rambling, ranting post...this should be quick.

This is Spring Break week for our kids (like so many). It's not the best weather in Oregon...and with our bank accounts rather low (stupid new car) a trip to "warm and sunny" wasn't in the cards. So...I've been working like normal. Pffft.

I did decided to spend at least 1 day with my spawn - so I'm off tomorrow. We decided to drive to the Oregon coast tonight (hopefully I can slip out of work a little early...). It will be chilly (48F is we're lucky), quite possibly raining, likely foggy. Not anybody's idea of Spring Break - but at least it will be NOT HOME and NOT WORK.

On the plus side, our large hotel room has a fireplace, and looks out on the ocean. We can sip hot cocoa and listen to the waves....maybe jump in the indoor pool. Hmmm...this could be relaxing and fun...wish me luck!