Do Nothing Saturday

I'd love some vibrant fall color, instead this is what we have here. No reds or orange to be found.

View from the driveway. The locust trees in the background that I hate so much turn brown rather than gold. I need to find something for the front of the house to add height and try get get more three season interest. I've worked so hard this year but from the street it still looks ugly.


This is the "willow bed" that I started in August for next year. As you can see the weeds came right back and I let them get away from me. In the center section the hollyhocks are coming up but I'm not sure what else is weed and what is perennials. I pulled out the pokeweed at the far right and some other things that I knew were weeds. I think I will have a giant mess on my hands come spring.


This pokeweed is about 5 1/2 feet tall. Since it is growing in the scrubby area at the edge of the yard I'll leave it and the 8 or 10 others around for the birds. It's hard to believe that it is not a shrub or small tree as I originally thought.


The first time I saw these pines start shedding I thought for sure they were dying. I'll have plenty of pine-straw for mulch in the spring. I'm hoping that this tree survives the winter. The weight of the snow the last two seasons has severely damaged the entire left side.


The poison ivy has spread right up to the edge of the lawn. I'll have to get rid of it to make sure John and the kids don't get a rash from it. I don't seem to be as allergic to it as they are.


All over the county I've seen poison ivy turning a scarlet red. But of course mine can't be pretty, just a dull burgundy.


The golden rod is giving us some beautiful color along with runny noses. I'm not sure what type of bug was feasting on it. At first I thought it was a bee.


The freshly painted back steps and one of the two new butterfly houses.


John put up both of the butterfly houses for me earlier in the week. I'm not sure when he did it, my miserable mood kept me from noticing until yesterday.


I potted up some of the coleus to bring inside as houseplants.


This week has been one where stress got the better of me and I overloaded. Combine the stress with the cold I have (which seems determined to turn into bronchitis) and I'm not functioning well. I'm unable to concentrate or remember things. I've let Bean down twice this week, add to that the fact that I forgot SIL's birthday and she is understandably unhappy with me. I've cried at work, which I have never done before. I feel another bout with depression settling in.

Dear Parents

Dear Parents,

I understand that life is busy, that sometimes things go wrong. Yeah that accident on the highway today really sucked, it made you late. Things were crazy this morning so you forgot to send a note that your 6 year old needed to go to the sitter. You got busy doing whatever and lost track of time, happens to everybody. You were there, you just forgot to unlock the door and didn't hear your 8 year old knocking. You thought he'd be home in time, so really it's his fault. I get it, I understand. I like your child so I don't mind keeping them with me until we can connect. You need me to drive them across town, no problem. My family can wait until I'm sure your child is safe.

YOUR CHILD DID NOT UNDERSTAND! They were upset, afraid, hurt that you'd forget them. They carefully memorized your cell phone number and panicked when you did not answer when we tried to call. She screamed for her Mommy the second time you weren't there and is now afraid to get on the bus. I tell her you'll be there this time and pray that you will be. I tried to distract him as we drove around town waiting to hear from you. I wiped his tears when I got the call that no one could be reached and I had to tell him that he would have to go back to the school.

School has been open for a month now. Maybe it's time to really think about that emergency plan that I requested the second day of school. Maybe you should give me the number for a friend or relative in addition to your cell. I'm sorry that you're upset that I didn't just leave her with Mrs Smith next door but if you'd give me written authorization I'd be happy to do so next time. Have you talked to your child about what they should do if they get dropped off and no one is home? Because I know you'll understand if I get distracted and drop them at an empty house.

Thank you,
Mrs Apple

Visiting Cemeteries

I recently met a newly found cousin online. Hi Pittsburgh!

I promised her some cemetery photos but when I went to upload them I realized that they were not mine. Some Kind Soul (SKS) had taken pictures of every headstone in the Oaks Corners Cemetery and put them online. The genealogy community is amazing. This man took the time to do this simply because it might help someone else out.

I have always enjoyed walking cemeteries and taking pictures. I once met a cemetery caretaker that was able to put me in touch with cousins I didn't know I had. I was able to find a headstone in a local cemetery for a man who was living in another country, the cemetery had been indexed but somehow his ancestor had been overlooked. Headstones can sometimes give you an idea of how well off or how well liked an ancestor was. The carving on some can be amazingly beautiful. Occasionally an epitaph will make me laugh out loud.

With the leaves changing and cool temperatures fall is the perfect time to take a walk through your local cemetery.

Garden Chores

Some of the bulbs I ordered came during the week so since we had a little break in the weather I decided I go out and get them in the ground. Annuals are growing where I plan to plant many of them and since they are still so pretty I decided to wait to pull them out.

Note to self: Buy more stakes and try to find more sturdy ones for next year.

I did plant my new Mum.

This is the Mum that I won at a garden club meeting last year that I planted then moved twice.

I didn't expect any blooms until next year.

This Hollyhock has buds, will they open before the first frost?

I also collected some seeds, weeded a little and cut some flowers to bring in. John cleaned out and organized the garage so I can get my car in. I just have to clean up all the gardening stuff out there!

Recap of My Week

I had an up and down week that centered around work. So it seems appropriate that I show you a picture of my current bus. Mine is on the left and it's twin is on the right. It's a 2000 Blue Bird IC. More info than most of you need but the things that happened at work this week that I would like to talk about I can't because of confidentially rules. So I will say that most of the week was great. The little ones are really learning the safety rules and I am quite proud of them. I have always said that the day I need an aide to ride with me will be the day I look for a new job. I will have another driver with me on Monday. I hope it is only for a day or two; I would hate to give up a career I love.

The weather has been a mixed bag this week. We're definately easing into fall. I need a warm jacket in the morning and only a teeshirt in the afternoon.

We moved kids night to Tuesday this week because I thought I would be working Thursday evening. It was Mike and Nikki's turn to be the cooks. The only food that all four of them will eat is chicken nuggets. With the girls allergies we have to be very careful in the kitchen!

After dinner they used dominoes for building.



After Alex was done building I showed him how to match up the dots to play dominoes. He slowly counted each dot and then matched them up. His counting has really improved. After counting and matching about eight of them he suddenly realized that the colors also matched up. You could almost see the lightbulb gleaming over his head! Watching them learn and discover things at this age is so much fun.


Wednesday we went to Mom's and got her laundry and shopping caught up. I didn't end up participating in the plant exchange at the garden club meeting. The speaker gave some good tips on bulbs and composting. She lost me when she started talking about worm composting. I will not be keeping worms in my kitchen but to each their own. Thursday was Beaver Lake and Friday I will still be dealing with on Monday.

My first box of bulbs came this week and I hope we get some breaks in the rain so I can get them planted. I'm taking the band to Oswego tonight.

Beaver Lake Nature Center

I had my first field trip of the year today. Up until yesterday I was sure I would get the VG soccer team tonight. I don't like working evenings, so I was thrilled when it worked out that I got to take a group to Beaver Lake.

There wasn't a whole lot of fall color at the park yet. The first two pictures were taken on the bog trail.

I have always liked the bog trail because of the boardwalk. Today the hard surface really bothered my foot.

This is a good representation of the amount of color change we have throughout our area. Some individual trees doing their own thing but not the mass of color that we comes and goes too quickly.

The weather forecasters here are in their glory. The weather patterns are changing and we have been getting lake effect rain. I swear the one weather guy must have said "lake effect" 40 times yesterday during the news. This picture shows one of the lake effect bands as it was starting to break up. There were a few geese on the lake but they were too far away for my camera.

It rained before we took the kids and started raining again just as they were getting back on the buses. While we were there the sun came out and the weather was almost perfect. I just liked this picture.


Lake Effect is what gives us our 150+ inches of snow a year. The winds come across Lake Ontario picking up moisture and dump it on us. The clouds set up in bands. Sometimes one wide band at the east end of the lake. More often the bands set up as narrow fingers of clouds that can extend for miles to the south east. The closer to the lake, the more snow you're likely to get. East of the lake, on the Tug Hill Plateau, they get more snow than us, down in Syracuse they get less.

Great Weather - If You're a Duck!

It's raining again but at least it's still warm out. I took this picture a couple of days ago. It's the pond in town that I pass four times a day on my elementary route. The first several days of school the kids got very excited, now they hardly notice. In years past it has not been unusual to see a pair of ducks here but this year there has been a population explosion. With all of the neighbors feeding them it will be interesting to see if they stay the winter.

I think it's time to start looking for a new (to me) digital camera!

Sunny Sunday

The weather is perfect today. The weather man blew it yesterday. The forcast of sunny and warm turned out to be grey and cool. At least we didn't get anymore rain but I was cold in my shorts! The kids had a good time at Mike's party. BJ and Angie will be eating ziti and cake for the rest of the week, just like me, they always have too much food. Sprout was my little buddy, she wanted me to pick her up as soon as she saw me. Twig wouldn't have anything to do with me, he cried everytime either John or I held him. The other four were too busy running around to spend time with me. lol. When Mike opened his present from us he had the back of the package facing him and got excited that we gave him headphones, which made me laugh. He got really excited when he realized that he also got a CD player to go with them. He'll have to use some of the money he got to go out and get some CD's that he'll like. Bean teased me about my selections. I ask you, who doesn't like Kenny Rogers?

They did say that the rest of the state cleared up much earlier than we did so I hope Kerri's daughter Kylie had a beautiful wedding day!

We had planned to go to the pool today but I think we'll end up staying home and puttering a bit. We have quite a few things to do before the bad weather sets in and I'd much rather get them done on a beautiful day.

Eight Already!

Where have the years gone? Happy Birthday Mike!

Does it Really Matter?

I found myself in a heated argument with a coworker this morning over something trivial. We each have very valid reasons for believing we are right and I do know where she is coming from. (No, this is not one of those situations where we could both be right.) I should have just let it go. It would not have cost me anything to say "OK, you must be right" and walk away. Instead I dug my heals in and wouldn't let it go. I wasn't insulting, I did not raise my voice but I may have been a little sarcastic. She got very upset and said some things that I found very insulting. If I had just walked away we could have each gone on thinking we were right and no one's feelings would have been hurt; I would not still be angry several hours later (and I'm betting she is too.)

If it turns out that I am wrong I will apologize to her. If it turns out that I am right I will just keep my mouth shut and let it die.

No matter how it turns out, I'm sure our working relationship will be strained for awhile.

Brrrr

The weather certainly has tanked. I got soaked first thing this morning and have felt chilled ever since. The weather forcast for the weekend is good and I'm counting on one last day at the pool. It's killing me that we've had to run the furnace this early.

The fourth car of the year to run my reds was a weird one. I stopped for a student and the approaching car stopped, right at my bumper. The kid got on but before I had canceled my lights the car drove right on by and then proceded to drive straight through the red light at the intersection. The woman driving was talking on her cell phone, which is illegal in NY. I was amazed that she didn't cause an accident.

One new student and a major route change today but things seem to be settling down at work. The six kids that now have to sit up front with me are not happy campers. Two of the girls complained that they were just a little bad so it was unfair that they had to move up.

I got the Garden Club newsletter out today. I have to decide what to take to the plant exchange next week. I have lots of iris but I'm not sure what else to take. Maybe I'll raid BJ's garden on Saturday.

It's Good to be Back

I've had several good days in a row. Saturday I slept late and did not much. Sunday we had friends over for dinner and several rounds of Sequence. The boys were here for a few hours too.

Yesterday went much better at work. The kids were great. I'm still getting new ones daily and several others are either walking or riding other buses from sitters so the over crowding situation that I anticipated never materialized.

Today was day five so by law we had our first emergency evacuation drill. For years this has been a front door drill but this year it was rear door. Luckily none of my young ladies were wearing dresses. The secondary went well. I covered the entire sheet and then had time to go over a couple of other things.

At the elementary school I ended up covering how to get out the back door, just that nothing else. One kindergartner was in tears until I explained that it wasn't a real emergency and that she only got to go out the back door twice a year. The other kids helped out by telling her it was fun. I tried to go back to explanations and another kindergartner kept interrupting with "How do I get my lunch card?" I told her several times that I didn't know, she'd have to ask teacher. She finally started crying. I finally got them organized and sent them seat be seat. The little one that doesn't speak English got very worried about her backpack. She wanted to keep it with her and I kept setting it on the seat. Due to poor planning on my part she was the last one out so I had to go too, to make sure she got back to the sidewalk. When we got there all but one of the kids were in a nice orderly line. One of the kindergarten boys had decided to wander down the line to see what was going on at the other buses. This group is going to keep me on my toes! But they are all so cute.

One of the new drivers rode with me this afternoon and of course some of my middle schoolers had to act up. The group of them will be sitting with me for the rest of the week. The one that I wrote up has been trying to skip school already. His Mom must be on to him. She left for work before I got there this morning and he "missed" the bus but there he was at school this afternoon.

And in my neck of the woods someone has decided to put bottle bombs in mail boxes. Why would anyone do that? I hope they catch them soon.

Late Blooms

Wow, this week flew right by. A week ago, when we finally arrived home, it was pouring. John pulled up as close to the path between the house and garage as he could and I sat there a moment slack jawed and gaping at the garden. Even in the downpour the garden was popping with color! The plants must have liked the cooler, wet weather; some seemed to double in size and others finally had bloomed.

This is the view I had but since it was taken the next day the colors seem duller. The dark grey skies of the day before had really enhanced the colors.


The marigolds that the kids started from seed really got going, look at all of the blooms! The datura continues to bloom and the butterfly bush has put out another round of flowers.

Several of the garden blogs have poo-pooed annuals and I guess they are certainly entitled to their opinions but I have gotten a ton of flowers for under $10 that are still going strong and giving me lots of seeds for next year. I love the perennials I have planted but I will always save room for annuals.



The zinnias continue to amaze me. Some are now over 4' tall and still have new blossoms forming. The sunflowers started while we were gone. I have since added more stakes.



This butterfly bush was supposed to be red! I ended up with two Black Knights. When I planted it, it looked like a dead twig, as a matter of fact I almost didn't plant it. I'm very glad that I gave it a chance and so are the white butterflies that visit it daily.



Speaking of butterflies I was surprised to find a huge Monarch Caterpillar happily munching away. I would have thought that they would all be on their way back to Mexico by now.


These cocks comb look a little ratty from the rain. BJ would like some for his border next year. Can anyone tell me how to harvest the seeds? Behind them you can see the bumper crop of daisies that I'll have next year. It looks like the clump that Country Girl gave me will have doubled in size. The delphiniums that I planted in the spring have just finally germinated! so I will have flowers next year after all. The toad house needs to be moved.




These little hollyhocks that I took from BJ's look great now that there aren't very many beetles around. Behind them you can see the huge hollyhock seedlings for next year. I think to two varieties will look good together.




One or two of the blanket flower plants may bloom if the 1st frost isn't too early.






The morning glories didn't quite cover the tee-pee like I thought they would. I'll try them somewhere else next year and maybe plant runner beans on the tee-pee for the kids.

No Tears

Today was a good day. The weather was perfect, the harvest moon was beautiful and the kids were much better behaved. Nobody ran my reds. I ran on-time in the morning and everyone got dropped of where and when they were supposed to this afternoon. My secondary students have all turned in their emergency forms and permission slips. My copying is all done. My route sheets and secondary list will be done by Monday.

Between runs I went to Bean's and played with Sprout, who seems to be feeling much better. She showed me her new "big girl" bed. Twig is up to 15 lbs and smiling at everything.

Yesterday was better than Wednesday.

The kindergartners started yesterday and not a single tear was shed, not even by the parents, a first! Half of them seem terrified and the other half are going to keep me on my toes this year. One likes to pinch anyone within reach, one has already crawled under the seats and another talks nonstop. Four have lost their name tags already so I'm very glad that I tagged their backpacks. I seem to be communicating OK with the one that doesn't speak English.

A secondary student that I had removed from my bus 18 months ago has been given another chance, only no one told me. When he went to get on I told him that I hadn't received any paper work on him and before I could tell him that I would call in for verification, he screamed "You B*tch!" at me. I had to transport him anyway. My first discipline report for the year has been written and I explained to him that it would be my last for the year; if he gets out of line again he'll be back on the special needs bus.

At my turn around my student's toddler brother was allowed to run outside to greet them. Thank god I saw him in time, my spotter never said anything. I now have a new spotter assigned to the back seat!

Three cars blew through my reds. I think the air horn will see a lot of use this year.

Miles of Smiles

It was a good thing that everyone was wearing a smile today. I can honestly say that this was the hardest first day in 13 years. I was off to a bad start when the alarm didn't go off.

The secondary route went fine, great kids and more or less on time. Most of the seniors are driving. The new kids are a great group. It was good to see the other kids again. Only 19 miles and only one turn-around!!

The elementary was tough. The kids were super excited to be back and it was a battle to get them buckled up and keep them out of the aisle. With that many hyper kids the noise level was way too high. At least four moved away over the summer but eight (so far) moved in. Every time I went by the time clock there were several new post-it-notes; call with pick up time, so & so needs to go to this address today only, pick up Billy at Grandma's but remember to drop him off at Aunt's, etc, etc. My dash board is covered and that is not safe, I'm trying to read and sort out 45 kids while the cars back up behind me. Many of the new kids parents drove them this morning so I had no idea who the kids were or where they needed to go. One kid got on to go to a sitter with no pass so I had to wait for the school to verify where she needed to go. The school put one kid on my bus, with a pass, but his parents were waiting for him at the sitter's on another route and when they caught up to me they were very angry. The mother of three new students was waiting at the stop before her house with the other moms, but since I didn't know her I made the kids ride down the block to their house; another pissed off parent.

After I got parked I found two of my kids playing on their scooters right in front of the garage. I read them the riot act and sent them home before one of the 20+ buses that still had to come in had a chance to hit them as they came around the corner.

Tomorrow the kindergartners start. This is always a tough day, mostly because of the parents. I spent a long time this evening adjusting the seating chart and updating my student list. Thirteen new smiles to look forward to (hopefully no tears, at least from the kids!)

I'm ready, I can do this. Pass the tylenol.

The Island of Hispaniola

We had a nice relaxing vacation in the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola. This was our fourth trip there but first at this resort. We stayed at the Fun Royale Resort in the Playa Dorado complex on the north shore. Tropical storm Ernesto sailed by the south side of the island our first day there giving us warm rain and was here to greet us again on our return with very COLD rain!

After Ernesto had passed by we had hot, sunny weather for the rest of the week. We spent a day lying on the beach and the other days at one of the pools at the resort. In years past we have gone on various tours but this time we just relaxed. I reread a favorite book, we played several games of On the Rocks and Cribbage and ate way too much. As this was a last minute trip I hadn't brushed up on my meager Spanish but it came back as the week went on. This was the first resort that we have stayed at where it was totally unnecessary anyway. Overall we were quite pleased with this resort. With the exception of one bartender and the Internet vendor, the staff were all quite friendly and ready to do whatever they could for you. The couple of problems we had were taken care of very quickly.

There was family of peacocks that roamed the grounds and quite a few cats. I loved watching the swallows soar over the pond, it was like watching a dance. My tipsy looking pics were my attempts at capturing them and not the effects of the rum! You had to watch out for the blackbirds that sailed through the restaurant that would steal from any unattended plate! The grounds were pretty. John enjoyed watching the golfers try to carry the water hazard right by the pool bar.

There were several others from the United States there which was a pleasant surprise for us as in the past we have rarely met anyone else from the US. There were also lots of folks from Canada, Germany, England, Ireland and Scotland. We both enjoy "people watching" and we weren't disappointed with this group! What a lot of people don't seem to realize when traveling is that they are ambassadors of their countries. We know from our travels that Americans are not always well thought of and work to change that. Almost all of the children were cute and very polite. Unfortunately too many of the adults, no matter what their nationality, felt that the F word was perfectly acceptable to use in every sentence. We love to travel with Canadians, we always have a good time. The Scots all struck me as very nice. The Germans were a contradiction, at the same time both reserved and happy go lucky! I'm sure the language barrier was at work here. The Brits were to largest group and their personalities were quite mixed. We enjoyed meeting some of the older couples and could have done without the younger ones. Almost all of the Irish we met were obnoxious which is too bad, as they left me with an unfavorable view of their county. I'm sure they were not representative of their whole nation and hope to meet others in the future.

I don't know what others felt it was necessary to pack for a week or two at the beach but everyone else seemed to have huge suitcases. Our tour rep was warning that heavy cases would be assessed a surcharge on our return to the airport. When we were leaving the rep that met us commented on the small amount of luggage that we had. So why then did very few of the men have appropriate clothes (dockers and a nice shirt!) for dining out in the evening!!!

If you'd like more information on our stay at the resort, tips for what to pack, or tips for Americans wishing to save money by traveling on the charters out of Toronto leave a comment.

Last Day at the Beach

We're heading back to Toronto later this afternoon and then driving home early tomorrow. I was able to check my email and didn't see anyhing from family so I assume all is well.

Ernesto greeted us when we arrived and we expect to see him again on the way home. Otherwise it's been sunny and hot.