Do You Give Money to Strangers?

Okay, so last week I met who I will call the "Toys R Us Troubadour" ... a Bret Michaels knockoff playing guitar outside the Toys R Us with 2 little boys. Yes, you read that right. A guy. Playing guitar for money with a bucket that said "Hard Times" on it. Outside a toy store. With 2 kids.

Some of you right now might be thinking, "What a con artist! Those probably weren't even his kids! He probably is a lazy bum who borrowed his pal's kids during spring break to make some easy money. He probably didn't even tell his pal what he was doing."

Who knows? All I know is I have a big old bleeding heart and I don't think I would like myself any other way. Sure, I can be quite cynical, but that's more like about people I know and have experienced to be gamey or players or just plain nutso.

As for strangers, well, I give 'em money when they need it. Always have. Sure, I (I should say WE here since Aron is totally involved) give money to people I know, as well, like maybe a family member who has fallen on hard times. And I don't LOAN money because that has too much attached to it. If I'm going to give it, I have to just GIVE it and be done with it and kiss that money goodbye and have no expectations placed on the person I'm giving it to.

Most of the time I have to just pass a few bucks out the window on a freeway off-ramp (I don't carry a lot of cash!), but I prefer to talk with the person and get to know them as a human being, if only for a couple of minutes, you know? That's not always possible when I have wiggly toddlers and someplace to be that I'm generally late for.

This day, though, I had dropped off Joel, his girl friend who is 10 and Michael to shop for something they knew they wanted and had money for. Then I parked in front of the store and got out to give the singing dad some money and Veggie Chips and fruit snacks I have in the trunk of the mommyvan. I asked him how old his kids are (7 and 3 with 2 more back at the hotel with their mom, one special needs in a wheelchair, he said). They moved to KC from Seattle so he could start a drywall job but it hadn't started yet and then the paycheck would be a couple of weeks after that. He sang a song for the kids that was like something Mr. Stinky Feet would sing: goofy and fun.

Maybe those weren't his kids. Maybe he's a meth addict. Maybe God put him there to test my compassion. Yep, God, still intact, and I want to teach it to my kids, as well

Should we be scared of people like that? Well, I'm pretty sure I'm around people on welfare and food stamps and disability and state-funded insurance and state-funded daycare and state-funded school breakfast and lunch programs every single day of my life. I'm not scared of them.

Don't we all need a little help sometimes?

Mama's Got a Brand New Heartrak Heart Monitor!

Ah, the fun of being 40!

Thursday I got to go to Olathe Medical Center to grab me a heart monitor. I've had palpitations for years ... no big deal. My dad had them and his mom also has something heart-related. Palpitations alone I'm not really concerned about because they don't affect my daily life and are not frequent.

But here's the power of reality TV: I saw Victoria Gotti on Celebrity Apprentice and had to Google her to see what the hell she was even famous for (besides her dad) because they kept calling her an author. Turns out she wrote a book about her mitral valve prolapse. MVP would NOT be a good thing to have because it would make me tired, and I can't afford to be tired.

So I finally decided to grab the heart monitor. It's so easy ... I just put this credit card-sized dealy jobber up to my heart when I have issues and push RECORD. Later I call a real person from a land line and download the recordings. I'll do this for 30 days. I don't have to wear anything around all the time.

So my points are:

1. Reality TV can be good. There is a reason for everything. Thank you, Mr. Trump, for choose Gotti for your show.

2. We need to take care of our health. I kept putting this off because I didn't want to leave the kids to do it, but they had a BLAST with Jordan (as always) playing outside, and I even got to have a nice lunch alone and get some writing work done. (only child = alone as natural habitat and it feels nice sometimes)

This is a full-service blog. I don't judge you for watching reality TV and I'm telling you to schedule some sort of -opsy today whether you need it or not.

Little Juvenile Delinquents in Kansas City, MO (Guest Post)

/Since I messed you over the last 2 days with no pictures on the blog (by the way, I can see the pictures just find when I go to the site ...so apparently I can see dead people, too?), here's a bonus post from Happy Elf Mom over at Homeschool and Etc. about a pressing issue that needs your opinion, help, attention, etc.


Less than two weeks from now there will be a vote on this proposal.  Any school-age child can be interrogated at the park or shopping center or... oh, just anywhere in Kansas City including the sidewalk in front of your house.  No crime needs to be committed for the cops to put YOUR kid into the paddywagon and bring him in downtown.  The officer simply needs to suspect that your child is truant.

First off, "compulsory education" is an oxymoron, but leaving that aside for the moment, there are about a dozen and one problems with this proposal.  I live about three blocks from Kansas City and parts of Kansas City are part of our school district.  Stay with me, now...

Today, my public-schoolers don't have school.  (It's Professional Development day, which means teachers are doing their dopey workshops and celebrating diversity and stuff.)  Kansas City School District (KCSD) schools are in session.  Were the law in effect today, my teens could be accosted for going to the park about a mile away from my house.

Guess what?  We also have spring break during an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WEEK than KCSD.  And sometimes we call snow days and they don't.  Add to that the fact that our district has ten elementaries, bunches of middle schools and high schools that all have DIFFERENT start and end times and you can see where an officer might be confused as to what time "school" is really in session when he's thinking of picking up some random kid.

And I don't think my district is the only KC-area district with a few differences in attendance dates and hours than KCSD.  Nevermind that KCSD faces *immediate takeover* by DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) and DESE may decide to divvy up the district piecemeal to five *different districts* in the very near future.  Five different districts which may have different start and end times even within their borders.  Five different districts that have long weekends at different times.  (I'm counting about six in our district alone this year that are probably different from KCSD.)

I'm thinking cops have other things to do than carry ten different district schedules, and also worry about whether they're going to pick up the wrong kid sometime whose parents will start a stink in the media.  I haven't even gotten to this idea of homeschoolers being left alone just yet in my post, and I've been rambling for a while now.

HSLDA is currently collecting stories from homeschoolers who have been harassed or bothered in some way during the "school" day because of homeschooling.  They're encouraging members and other concerned people to emailLegalC@hslda.org and promise to keep stories confidential unless specific permission is given to use publicly.

Sometimes it isn't even about homeschoolers.  Sometimes it's about American citizens of all ages having reasonable rights.  I wrote HSLDA and told them that as of right now, I've *never* been harassed by police or school officials for homeschooling.  And I'd like to keep it that way.


Bloggy fans, weigh in in the comments section, please!

"I Love Ya Like a Love Song BABY!" by Callie and Sam

Who needs a TV when you have kids? DANGIT, they are entertaining! And I certainly don't pay for cable when I have this MTV-quality duo's video right here on my own blog and in my own foyer (that's a teeny tiny entryway for those of you who don't speak French). Enjoy Spring Break!

When Stuffed Animals Travel, Part Two

Dear Sam, Eva, Callie, Michael and Joel,

We had so much fun the other day we begged your dad to take us to work again with him.  So yesterday we went on another adventure, and once again we had so much fun, we wish you all could be here with us.

So here’s some pictures of yesterdays adventures.  Your dad sure knows how to start a day because he took us to sit down breakfast and we had ham and French toast with lots of butter and syrup .

So next we started up the mountain, it’s funny when he says that because we’re not actually driving straight up the side of a mountain, it’s more like we’re winding up between the mountains.  Anyway he said we gain about 2000 feet of elevation, which is almost half a mile up.  So here’s a picture of the valley where town is and we are just starting to go up.  Notice the mountains in the background with snow on them.

So about half way up Spike had to get out and tinkle.  So once he finished your dad let us climb in some sage brush.  I was kind of prickly and we got stuck, so your dad had to get us out.  We think we’ll go tree climbing with Joel some time so we can learn how to not get stuck.

We saw some funny signs on the way up.  We thought this sign was funny.  They put this up because there are deer all over the place up here.  Your dad almost hit one coming down the mountain last night.  He was probably going too fast and had to slam on the brakes pretty hard.  I’m glad he didn’t hit the deer.

This is a sign we don’t like.  H2S is Hydrogen Sulfide, which can be present if gas leaks from the pipeline or the well sites.

Anyway we got to work right away.  Your dad didn’t drink coffee because of lent.  So here’s the show where we talk shop.  Actually here’s where your dad complains about being away from home.

And two hours later when that got old we went outside for awhile and stepped on frozen puddle ice crunchies.

After awhile of that we decided to go north and get some work done.  So we got out the laptop, opened up the project and typed  for about an hour.

Next we inspected the cabinet for the 34^th time for about an hour.  There are 6 cabinets out here so that took the rest of the day.

Well that was our day.  I told your dad to put this picture in of his Jeep.  He likes driving in the mud.  He actually had to clean the side windows off so it was safe to drive.

Your dad says we’re coming home today - yeaahhhh.  It sure will be nice.  We had fun up here but we miss you and can’t wait to get home to someone who doesn’t snore through the night.

Love you, XOXOXO, see you soon

Spots, Lucky and Spike