Friday, September 24, 2010

a good cause

Tomorrow there is a bake sale. It is to support childhood cancer research. A friend of mine has a son who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Can I just pause for a moment to take that in? Good lord...what a sucker punch that is. So, he has chemotherapy treatments, and has lost his hair, and in a show of support all of his buddies shaved their heads too. To see little bald headed fifth graders walking around our elementary school...one of them a girl...was pretty touching. So, there are mounds of cookies and baked goods that will be sold tomorrow. And I have a pan that just came out of the oven that was to be donated to the cause. Of course we were going to go over and buy up a storm. I tasted a friend's pumpkin cookies tonight...saw another friend's coconut macaroons, and I think that I must support a worthy cause, no matter how great the price. :) But my donation...well, I am thinking about just buying it from myself right now and donating the proceeds to the cause. My donation are "Mom Loves Me Bars". That is not their real name. They are a recipe I stole from an old friend, Morgan, from Boston. And then I renamed them, because they are the very definition of love to me. And usually I am not like that. I am not an emotional eater...but the reason I named them "Mom Loves Me Bars" is because it shows the depth of my love that I am willing to part with even a single bar, to give to my children, instead of inhaling every one myself. I'm selfless...what can I say? That's bull shit of course. It's not that I would say I am selfish, but when it comes to good food, I do get a little territorial. Like, homemade chocolate ganache for mommy lion, and freezer burnt otter pop for baby lion. It just comes with the territory of getting old- you get the real goods. So, I give my children these bars, and they know it is an act of love. So, do I give them to the cause, where they will earn a few bucks and end up in someone else's stomach? Or do I play it safe, save the pan, and hand Ash (my friend) a $20? I think the latter. There is no desert I love more than these. I want them in the house for the next couple days. I want to pack them in the kids lunches. Argh...we'll see.

One thing that bugs- erectile dysfunction commercials. Good lord. Whoever was the brain behind those commercials is diabolical. It makes me want to barf. And the two tubs with two old (albeit very good looking old, but old none the less) people sitting together watching the sunset is just BARF. I mean, not because it's sexual, but because it's so flipping stupid. Why are there TWO tubs? How is THAT going to promote romance? I know that the image of two old people in one tub together would probably make most people loose their lunch, but two tubs are supposed to be sexy? Ah-noy-ing. It just bugs.


Saw the follow-up Oprah on the movie "Waiting For Superman". A friend of mine had seen it up at Sundance this year, and now I wish I would have gone with her. What a buzz that thing is causing. And all I have to say is YAY-IT'S-ABOUT-DANG-TIME! I never thought I had a great elementary school education, when I was growing up. I guess, in part, because I didn't have anything to compare it to. But isn't the whole idea of progress that things are supposed to get better over time? And so it has become a major disappointment to me that the elementary school system that my kids are in is not even as good as the one that I had. No focus on social studies, no theatre, way less PE, horrible food, teaching to the test, etc.. I live in one of the "better" school districts in Utah, so if my school doesn't have it in Utah, it means that most schools don't have it.

Dalton got a teacher that everyone said was mean. I was really worried. But guess what, she's really nice. And the reason why? In the past she had 35 kids in her class...are you kidding me!! 35. I coach 10 kids in soccer for an hour a day and I am about to pull my hair out of my head. 35 and I would need to be institutionalized. You can't teach 35 fourth graders. At that number it is just crowd control. So she lost her temper. She probably had a nervous break down. And so this year, she has 25. And what do you know? She's awesome! And even 25 still is way too many kids in my mind. My friend's kids go to a private school here in Salt Lake, where there are 20 kids to a classroom with two teachers and an aide all day. Good night...that is education.

So, the thing that sucks is that my kids have to put up with this education system while it's broken. Or not. Or we go the charter or private route, and just say that it's not worth their suffering to put up with a sub par education system. We're hosed with Dalton. He is in love with his elementary school. But we could do a charter for jr. high. That time is hellish anyways. And then with Shelby we could start now. We could do Hawthorne. Or Challenger. I really wish that we could afford Rolland Hall.

OK, I have to coach nine five year olds in the morning. I have got to do the dishes and go to bed. I am keeping most of the cookie bars...buying them from myself. I will donate a plate...maybe.

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