order up. . .kitchen breakdown

So. . .while writing my last whiny post. . .yeah it was whiny I know it was whiny--I can accept it, please don't hold it against me--I thought of something funny.

Jim helps me out all the time. And I mean all the time. I have friends with husbands that come home from work and literally sit on the couch and do nothing. Some play video games, some watch tv but none of them do anything to help out around the house. They are resistant to helping with the children and certainly wouldn't do everything that Jim does. I am spoiled and I know it.

So the other day after having a particulary violent meltdown b/c I don't ever sit down (not whining) Jim offered to make my dinner. I about fell over, but it was an easy meal to make, just season the pork chops and fry them quickly and then saute the vegetables. I was in the middle of a meeting when he called the first time and I didn't answer since it would be rude. After 5 minutes the phone rang again and I put it on vibrate. There was only 5 minutes left of the meeting at that point--what could possibly be so urgent.

Five minutes later as I walked out of the school the phone "rang" again. I figured at this point the kitchen must be on fire. It wasn't, but I am sure Jim could have handled that better than cooking. . .

He was literally screaming at me, "I can't do this, I can't do this!! I don't understand what I am supposed to be doing with any of this stuff!"

Now I had already explained to him what needed to be done before I left the house for the meeting. Season the pork chops, fry them quickly in oil and cut the vegetables up and saute them in oil. So easy.

I rushed home since he was completely freaking out. And I found him in the kitchen surrounded by all the ingredients with nothing cooking, almost in tears because he just couldn't figure out the three simple steps.

Now give this man a vacuum and he'll put anyone to shame, but hand him some meat and he's hopeless. In less than five minutes I had the swiss chard chopped and the pork in the pan. And from there I went down to Providence and picked up Jenna. He turned off the pan in 10 minutes and let it sit till I came home. He has already said that if it can't be cooked on the grill or in the microwave he won't touch it. But that's ok I would hate for the kitchen to ACTUALLY burn down.

Oh, and did I mention he did the dishes after I ate the dinner he "made"? I'm so spoiled.

My time is everyone else's time. . .I want me time.

So, I have been a very very bad blogger because every time I have a moment to myself I am too tired to move my fingers, let alone get my mind to form complete sentences.

And here is why:

Every weekday I get up at 5 am and get ready for work. I leave the house at 7am after getting the girls ready, which I couldn't do with out Jenna's help, but that is a different blog.

Work my 8 hours which is the easy part. And now the fun begins:

After work depending on the day I either go straight to Providence and sit outside the dance school and wait for Jenna to get done with dance or I go home and make dinner, then leave for Providence and wait for Jenna to be done dancing. This child literally dances every single day of the week.

Mondays 4-6:30, home at 7pm this is our early night, yay!!
Tuesday 7-8:30, don't come home after bringing her down since 30 minutes one way makes it utterly ridiculous to come home, just to turn around.
Wednesday 6:30-8:30, yay another night that I get home at 9pm
Thursday 3:30 - 7:00, seriously the 3:30 was hard to arrange, but more about that when I write about Jim
Fridays 5:00 - 7:00 and one would think that is it, but no we have more
Saturdays to earn her scholarship to this prestigious dance school that is pretty much ruining my life she has to "teach" a class from 1-2
and on Sundays. . .well there is Nutcracker rehearsal.

In between all this I have to do the laundry and make the food for the family to eat. Those are my two all the time jobs. So often by the time I make it to bed it's nearly midnight. I walk around all day in a constant state of forgetfulness because I am so damn tired.

And there is Josie's schedule to deal with. . .but that is yet another post.

I know, I know. The inclination is to say, "cut back her activities". But there are two problems with that.

1. Cutting her back. . .well she loses the scholarship and we can't pay for it any other way.
2. Every time I tell her she can't dance (except for the occasional night off) and the crying jag is unbearable. And it's not worth it.

She loves dancing and I love being able to give it to her. But sitting outside a ballet school in downtown Providence, RI (safe area thankfully) in a dark cold car isn't what I want in me time. I want a comfy couch, a warm cup of tea or coffee and a tv by my side. ahhhhhhh, to dream. One day I will have a weekend with no activites and I can just do NOTHING!!

Oh Please, REALLY?!

So as my first blog I had expected to do a quick intro and explanation on why, where, how so and the like. But then as I was surfing the web this morning I ran across an article that literally blew my mind. Oh yeah it can happen. I've posted the link below.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27008935/?GT1=43001



But the recap is this:



There is a school district in NY where a couple of teachers have been using yoga to help their students focus and relax before testing. Now this is a great and innovative idea. I personally love yoga. The girls love yoga, I can even get Jim to do it once in awhile. We all find it relaxing and it's a great workout. So this should be a good thing, right?



Well, nothing good can happen without serious repercussions. So here it is:



Parents and religious leaders are complaining because teaching the children yoga "violates the boundaries between church and state." Yup, that's what they believe. Because yoga is part of the Hindu belief system the children cannot possibly learn yoga without being indoctrinated into the Hindu belief. They are not opposed to the benefits, "they understand the benefits." The just oppose the philosophy. I can't even write this without shaking my head.



So. . .they understand the benefits. Benefits such as, the children are relaxed and getting some physical activity while being introduced to ways to solve their problems and remain calm without resorting to things like, I don't know, drugs and alcohol. Also, since one of these classrooms was special ed, I would think the benefits would be twofold in that instance. I have spent a small amount of time in a special ed classroom and I can tell you those children need something to help focus their attention. But this is not mentioned by the complainants. Only the vague statement about understanding the benefits. And then they go on espousing this silliness about the religious aspects of yoga.



Now, don't get me wrong I know that yoga is part of the Hindu belief system. I don't know how and I don't know why. I don't know the history or the details and guess what--I DON'T NEED TO. As I previously stated I love yoga. My family does yoga. I've taken yoga classes. Even Hatha yoga classes which is what was being used in the classrooms (of the 100s of types of yoga). And the only reason I know that yoga is part of the religious belief system of Hinduism is because I had a really great History of Religion prof at EMU. (I would know the history and details if I had paid more attention in class, but that is my problem not the prof's.) Otherwise, nope, no info on that. I am pretty sure that neither of my children could tell you what Hinduism is. Josie would laugh because it would sound like a funny word to her. So, since I know and have now shared with you that yoga can be taught without the religious aspects being incorporated--I want to know what the school board is going to do to stop this from happening.



Oh, yeah, that's right. . . NOTHING. At least that is the impression I got from the article. They made a weak attempt at backing the teachers (correct me if you read it differently) but overall they don't seem to be fighting the parents or religious leader from the community. And now is the time to tell you that this is not the first district to cave to this stupidity. There is a list of other districts that have also caved to this stupidity.



And why? Why would they not encourage this? Why not stand up to the parents? To the religious leaders that are violating the separation of church and state themselves by interfering and seem to be only concerned that they may just be losing some customers, why not say "shut the hell up"? No, really, I want to know WHY?