icy beauty
We had no trouble with last week’s ice storm, though many in the northeast did. It was beautiful afterwards!
Last week we got our tree… cut your own, from a place where you wander down a hill, over a creek, through the snow and ice. All the trees there had personality. I wanted one with some real kinks, but dh thinks I like the odd ones.
Of course all the trees were covered with ice, and since it was so cold and not sunny… no way it’d melt outside. So we brought it in.
It’s nearly wicked cold out there right now, fresh snow, and a big storm on the way.
floor update
The floor is done! And we actually have baseboard up… I don’t think there was any of that in that room before…
There’s a chair in that corner… and a tree in there someplace…
boring?
So my son is on a 10 day suspension from school (and snow days and vacation days do not count)… for having a pocket knife at school, and for pulling it out (unopened) to in some way threaten another boy.
Geesh.
The night or two before this, the knife fell out of his pj’s pocket. Mom (admonishing tone): “you’re not taking that to school are you“; kid (frustrated sarcasim): “what do you think, I’m stupid?”
Um… guess we know the answer to that.
But here’s the thing… Although I’m really angry with him for doing something he knew was (1) stupid and (2) against the rules with serious consequences, I am also proud of him.
The story: A boy was “dry-raping” one of kiddo’s female classmates against the locker. Kiddo pulled out the pocket knife, other boy goes off verbally but ceases with the girl, and nothing further happened between the boys.
I had to inquire about “dry-rape”… who knew I’d get to the point that I don’t always understand the English language.
We even got a call from the police, but not initiated by the school… initiated by the other boy’s parents… they wanted to be sure that kiddo’s parents knew he was suspended and why.
????? What kind of parent thinks that a parent wouldn’t know something like that. ????? And how did they know? It is the school’s policy not to discuss other kids with other kids’ parents.
The principal is furious with the police department and the other parents. Of course the officer who called is on vacation… The principal says she can’t get the police to respond to immediate and more serious needs. What does that say? Do you think somebody knows somebody?
So what happened to the other boy? At first nothing. Which of course totally incensed some of the kids in kiddo’s class, they have such a keen sense of justice at this age… one even went to the principal and did the “how dare you suspend kiddo when the other boy gets off” routine…. I do know that the school was doing an investigation, and they needed answers to a few more questions from the girl before they pursued any action. And I know that that has happened. But I don’t know what action was taken.
beware knitting Canadians
which perhaps should be titled
knitting notes are not a terrorist threat
Remember Colleen? She was on her way from Maine to Vancouver, BC… and here’s what she says…
Subject: keeping the world safe for democracy - one knitter at a time
a knitting story:
Once there was a knitter in an airport. She was knitting socks - not your average socks, but socks, nonetheless. She made notes about her knitting so that her second sock would at least vaguely resemble the first one. At one point she picked all of her stuff and headed to the bathroom, carelessly leaving her scrap of paper with her notes on it behind. A couple of minutes later she realized what she had done and went back to retrieve it. Then she was stopped by a security guard who was highly suspicious of her numbers and letters and arrows. She tried to explain, but he remained unconvinced. They were joined by a second guard, and she was escorted to an office. The knitter suggested that if they could find a guard who knit, this could all be confirmed. She also tentatively explained that if she missed this plane, she would miss all her connections and she really couldn’t afford another ticket all the way across the continent. This was possibly a mistake, given that security guards are not notoriously sympathetic to this kind of plight. Eventually a female guard who crocheted was found. She looked at the scrap of paper and the knitter showed her the sock-in-progress, explaining and and pointing out how the notations on the scrap matched the stitches in the sock. The crocheting guard was convinced,and the knitter was given back her passport and she gratefully rushed off to catch her plane.
She’s rather calm in her description, as she is in person. She likely only had notes because she was making the pattern up as she went along.
Me? I’d've probably been arrested…
