One more day until we get a week of vacation! I’ll be at a literacy conference tomorrow though, so vacation kind of starts tonight. Unless you consider the fact that I have to leave the house at 6:30am tomorrow morning and won’t be home until 5:30pm…. so maybe vacation starts tomorrow night.

Anyway, prepare for a rambling post. I am SO ready for vacation. Things seem to be falling apart around here. Coming apart at the seams. We are all pretty ready for a break. Unfortunately I have a Vaca To-Do list that’s quite extensive. Sigh.

I’ve applied for several jobs this week. I REALLY would like to get one of them, though I’m barely prepared for interviewing. One of my top vaca to-do list items is to prepare for interviews, on the assumption that I will indeed get one. Positive thinking, right?!

Eve is doing well, as far as I can tell, except I think she has two cavaties. We have a dentist appointment in June so we’ll know for sure then. Lex, however, isn’t doing as well and I’m hearing troubling reports in all areas regarding his behavior. We are working with him and trying to figure out what’s going on. Reports of anger, aggression, and just plain meanness. Not his typical personality! The guilty mommy in me thinks it must be because our schedule is a bit chaotic this year, I’m not as available as I have been in the past, we have long days, frequent daycare, and he’s on a bus every day. But the realist in me is trying to prevail and hold strong to the idea that maybe it’s not all my fault. :) Maybe there are other things going on, developmental changes, social structures forming, etc. We’re working with him. It hurts my heart though to hear reports of him being aggressive and mean to peers.

And I’m just so tired. I keep thinking, “It’s just for this year,” and Alan keeps saying, “We just need to get through this year,” but in the back of my head I know that if I get a job (which would be a good thing!) then next year will be even harder. Teaching all day every day. Being responsible for 18 little minds for an entire year without anyone else to fall back on. That’s a lot of responsiblity! And I just taught a disaster math lesson today, in front of my supervisor. She was nice and pointed out the good parts, but we both know it was a disaster. Ugh.

And I’m just so tired. So. Tired. Always.

On that note, it is after 9pm and I have to be up early (as usual) so I’m going to stop bitching on the blog and go drink a(nother) glass of wine, fold some laundry, chill with my hubby and Colbert, then go to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

Eve asked for ten more minutes before bedtime and since we had a really good start to our evening I decided to give it to her. So now I have a few minutes of time. I could go wash the dishes or sweep the floor, but instead I’ll ramble here for a bit. I haven’t checked the camera lately so I’ll have to rely on my memory!

Top on my mind is the job hunting process. One of my least favorite things ever. I’ve been fairly spoiled in the past and gotten many jobs quite quickly. I’m hoping the same applies here. I applied for two jobs already and didn’t get selected for an interview on either. One was a total long-shot though, so I’m not too disappointed. I just applied for another one today and I hear another is coming up soon. Either of these would be awesome to get. I really just want to get hired and be done, then I can focus on my school work again and start planning for the next step. I’m not a very patient person, you know. For now I’ll continue to tweak my cover letter and write my application essays and thank my mother daily for her advice and editing support. :)

The weather is starting to warm up and that makes me immensely happy. Any day that I don’t need a jacket and gloves, or sunscreen, is a good day! (Yes, I know I should be wearing sunscreen every day and blocking all those wonderful rays, but really that just will never happen.) The kids got out their bikes and scooters this weekend. Eve even tried riding her bike again. I’m hoping this is the year she’s back at it and we can take those family bike rides we were hoping for last summer. Unfortunately she is a very nervous rider and fell, scraping up her cold, bare knee. Not bad, but enough to make her even more hesitant to ride. Sigh. Lex, on the other hand, was flying! I think we are going to invest in new bikes this summer. Bikes that fit them properly and aren’t covered in rust and duct tape. When I mentioned it to the kids they both seemed uncertain of the idea. “But I like my red one,” said Lex about his too-small bike, and Eve asked why she couldn’t just ride her pink one, the one we got for free that’s covered in rust but has a basket on the front. I thought to myself, “Shiny new bikes, kids, why are you not salivating at this idea?!?!?!” but instead just said, “Ok, we’ll see.”

The kids’ school is doing a Artist in Residence program where they have a local famous artist come do a big project with a select group of kids. The project is going to be a big mural for the school and Lex is one of the selected kids. He’s pretty happy about it. The just got started last week but I’m eager to hear the details as they go along. They sent home a really nice letter listing the criteria for selection, which included creative, motivated, team player, etc. All nice things to hear about your kid.

That’s all for now. If you need to read a little more check out the adorable birthday party little Kate had this weekend. Wish we were there. :)

Off to put my own little birthday girl to bed. G’night all.

Action Adventure game on the XBox 360!  Yep, this just happened.  Hubby paid good money to Microsoft. Never thought I’d see the day. :-)

Lex just said to Eve, “You don’t like peas? I’ll eat them for you!”. Maybe there is hope for him after all.  :-)

I, on the other hand, just said, “There’s not much in your Friday folder this week.” To which he replied, “Mom, it’s Thursday.” Sigh.

So, I picked up a Nissan Leaf on Monday.  If you are like me, and 90%+ of your trips are less than 80mi, If you have a second car for trips over 80mi, go get one now.  Nissan Dealers have end of quarter numbers they have to meet to get a big bonus which usually puts them in the black, and the lease deals are sick right now.  Even Consumer Reports recommends the lease on these which is nearly unheard of.

I got the Leaf S, which is the lowest trim level.  I was surprised it did not include cruise control, but not a big deal for my use of car that does <80mi on a round trip anyway. There are a few other things in the SV and SL models I’d like to have, but nothing worth the extra money to me.  Overall, the S is a super nice car with plenty of niceties; certainly it has everything I really need.  If you are interested, feel free to give me a call and I can break down the options for you and probably answer most of your questions.  =)  I have been studying these for years and watching the lease deal for months, waiting to get enough equity in my Prius, and just the right timing.  It all finally came together!

[Start boring details.]

If you are interested, find some where with some 2013 still in stock and they are very likely to make you a great deal. I traded in my 2005 Prius for a Leaf S with the same monthly payment ($226/mo).  With less than $2000 in equity (trade value minus amount remaining on the loan) on the Prius, I paid absolutely $0 to the dealer up front and they cut me a check for over $1000 to cover the VT taxes.  All I had to cover is a registration fee of about $41.  After 35 payments (that’s right, they even covered the first payment), I can buy it out for about $12.5k, trade it in for something at the dealer, or pay $395 to walk away assuming no significant damages beyond normal ware and tear.  Miles over 36k is only cost $0.15 but I don’t expect to do more than 24kmi in 3 years.  (They have a 45kmi option if you need it.)  All that on a car that has an MSRP of almost $30k.

This totally cash-flow positive for me.  Same-payment, only I get to skip one.  The electricity to run it should be less than 3/4 the cost to gas a 45mpg Prius at today’s prices (we will be lucky if it only doubles in the next 5 years) and maintenance is practically nothing: rotate the tires every 7500mi (which I do myself) and get the battery checked once a year.  Full manufacturer warranty on everything else for the life of the lease, and then some on most of it.  Sure beats the expect maintenance on a Prius (which is very low relatively), not to mention the unexpected issues of a car over 8 years old (again, relatively low on a Prius, but still.)

You could pay up to $2000 to have a charger installed at home, but it can be done cheaper.  Maybe more to come on that some day, but for now, the 110v cable that comes with it is sufficient for my needs since I’m just topping off each day for the most part and the land lord at my office said it was OK to plug in there as needed too.  I do want to get something dedicated at the house though since it is becoming tedious to pull out the cable every time I get home, and then pack it up again when I leave.  It will be much nicer to have something I can just leave behind and keep the cable that came with it in the car for occasional charging at work, etc.

[End boring details.]

Tessa finally had a chance to drive it Saturday and is pleased with it.  The basic function is pretty much the same as the Prius, so there is no learning curve to just get in it and go.  Of course, the kids love it!  Lex says, “Yeah, a brand new Nissan Leaf?  I sure would like to set the clock in that thing.”

In conclusion, As the song the kids want to hear every time we get in it says (and yes I count myself among the “kids” in that statement), happiness resides in an electric car. =)

Dear March,

You have done an excellent job coming in as a lion.  Thank you for the wonderful snowstorm.  You gave us a day of dense, packable snow that we used to make snow balls, snowmen, snow penguins, and snow bunnies. 

My little snowmen

Lex made a snowman for the mailbox.

Eve wanted a penguin, so we all worked together on that one.

Then you gave us a day with light fluffy snow that made the world look beautiful.  You gave us over two feet of snow that provided me with an excellent workout each day, especially shoveling Wednesday’s heavy snow and then walking through very deep snow to dig out my heat intake thing.  I learned, fortunately not the hard way, that it’s important to keep that thing clear.

This snow bank greeted up Thursday morning when we went out to shovel again.

Lex had to climb over the bank just to get out the door.

Notice something different about that car Lex is clearing off? More to come later…

Eve brought Bitty Baby out to play. I’m such a mom (or dork) that I had to stop and put her hood up and fix her jacket.

Eve took a few minutes to recline on the giant snow bank by the tree.

We’ve got a bit of snow out there!

Lex is getting pretty good at helping with the shoveling. He doesn’t love it, but he does it. Sometimes Eve helps too. Today they worked hard to get the end of the driveway clear.

I tried to go out the back door today, but no luck. This is what happens when we don’t shovel.

The intake thing is in there somewhere.

Our propane tanks are buried in that mountain. I figured it would be good to dig them out as well. I got the tops cleared off and found we had plenty of propane so I stopped. It was COLD today!

The district canceled school for two days, which wasn’t the best timing since this was my first solo week in kindergarten, but we’re all taking advantage of the break.  Tuesday was a tough day at school and I was ready to lay low Wednesday.  The kids both have colds and we were facing a very hectic week, so your lovely snow provided a forced slow down.  They are both feeling much better this afternoon.

Now that we’ve had this storm, your final hurrah, could you please show us the lamb.  Just last week I taught my kids the saying, “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” and as much as we’ve all enjoyed the lion, we are ready for a little lamb.

Winter and Spring table decorations. We just can’t decide which one is appropriate!

Sincerely,

Tessa, ready for some sunshine.

Do you think March reads my blog?