2013 Poetry Contest!

The time is now here:

Wildly anticipated

Poetry Contest

Yes, yes, National Poetry Month is almost upon us, and that means it is time for

Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest!  

(Wild applause here.)

This year's challenge is to write a Haiku (say "High-Koo"). 

Write me a Haiku—

Cool . . . clever . . . captivating;

Win fabulous prize!

For those of you who may have forgotten this since your elementary school days, Haiku is a style of Japanese verse—usually about something in nature. The format for a Haiku is five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line, and five in the third (and final) line.  The lines do not have to rhyme—in fact, I've never seen a rhyming Haiku. And, in real Haiku, the last line is supposed to be kind of a surprising twist, but I'm not a stickler on that.
 
Here is an example of a traditional-styled Haiku that I just found on a website about how to write a Haiku:

The last winter leaves
Clinging to the black branches
Explode into birds.

And here is a Haiku that I wrote about my favorite topic—the laundry:

Weeping and wailing.

Gnashing teeth. Eternal and

Endless my torment.

Get the idea?

I have to admit that Haiku is not my favorite type of poetry (although I have seen some pretty cool ones). So your mission this year is to create a great and interesting Haiku about . . .

. . . Anything!

I can't think of a specific topic, so surprise me! It can be anything from profound to ridiculous, whatever strikes your fancy. (Although I am partial to things that make me laugh.)

Here are the contest rules:

* The contest begins today and will end on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 12 p.m.  (noon)
* Post your original entries as comments on my blog at any time between now (March 27) and then (April 10). 
* You may enter up to four poems.  (Just remember, this is a family-friendly blog and my children will read your poems, too.)
* Poems must follow the rules of Haiku (five, seven, five)
* There will be one winner in each of two categories: Children (up to 12 years old), and Everyone Else (older than 12)
* All entries must be in by Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at noon.
* Winners will be announced by 10 p.m. on April 10. (Indulge me—April 10 is my birthday!  Your poems can be an easy, inexpensive birthday gift. :-)  )

Fabulous Prizes will be awarded!

I can't wait to see your poems!

One Happy Week

Well, Spring Break is over now, but I had a fine time while it lasted.
So what did I do with myself? 

I hung out with my kids and talked and watched movies with them. I went for walks with Bruce. I listened to music and looked around on facebook, and posted a blog or two.  I took long showers.  I read some fluffy books. I had something to eat whenever I got hungry.

I deep-cleaned my kitchen, including the fridge—inside, outside and underneath. And I got rid of all those greasy dust-bunnies that collect on the tops of the kitchen cabinets; I washed the all the vases and cookie jars and stuff I keep up there too, so it's all shiny and sparkly.

I deep-cleaned the bathroom.

I cleaned the living room.

I cleaned the garage.

I washed all the laundry that's been piled in the laundry room forever.  (Really, if it just sits in there for two months, does anyone truly need it?  Although I did find some nice surprises—like some matching socks, and another pair of Brandon's school uniform pants.) 

I cleaned my bedroom, and washed the laundry that's been sitting in there.  I also folded the two baskets of clothes that have been sitting on my floor for the last couple of weeks.  Now I know exactly where to find my clothes. (Well I guess I knew exactly where to find them before, but this is better.) :-)

I cooked.  And cooked and cooked. I made all kinds of worky dinners—some of my kids' favorites included—that we don't often have when I'm in school, including a turkey with all the fixin's.  And I made pies and cakes and three new cinnamon roll recipes, and a new recipe for dinner rolls. Yum!

I did not do any homework.  I did not go into my kids' rooms and wash the laundry that's on their floors, or make their beds, or clean their rooms.  I just did not want to do that.  I almost didn't have to drive anywhere—hardly any errands.  The weather was beautiful, sunny and perfect temperatures.

It was a fabulous week!  I love being a stay-at-home mom!

But it snowed over the weekend—a reminder that spring break doesn't last forever; and last night I stayed up late doing illustration homework that I'd almost forgotten. Today I went to school and did a presentation, I came home to a rather messy kitchen (although the glass stuff on top of the cabinets still sparkles), and rushed to make dinner because I was starved. (It's almost finished cooking! Yay!)

Spring Break was great, but it is really over now.  Just six weeks to go until summer!

Missionary Bake Sale!

For the past several months our friends, the Forsyths, have been having bake sales to help get their missionary out the door. And I thought, What a good idea! So, following their example, we Norths are going to have our own bake sale so that we can get rid of Jason! ;-)

We are (tentatively) scheduling a bake sale about every three weeks, beginning March 30 (the day before Easter).


Mark the dates!
March 30, April 20, May 11, June 8 & June 22

 At every sale we will have yummy stuff like loaves of honey-wheat bread, white bread, cracked-wheat and oatmeal bread, and a couple of specialty breads like my artisan-style cranberry, white-chocolate, pecan bread, and rosemary bread. Oh! And cinnamon rolls! Yum!

In addition to the regular goodies, we will have specialties for each sale which you can pre-order by calling me, leaving a comment on my blog, a message on my facebook, or emailing me.

These are the specialties for the March 30 sale:

Banana-Cream Pie
the perennial favorite, rich and creamy, studded with perfectly ripe bananas and topped with fresh whipped cream
(Lindsey not included)
$8.50

Coconut-Cream Pie
for coconut lovers: a smooth, luscious filling made with real
coconut milk, and piled with toasted coconut
$8.50

Lemon-Cream Pie
my personal favorite, made with fresh-squeezed lemons for a perfect balance of tangy-sweet deliciousness!
$8.50

Angel-Food Cake
a beautifully white (and virtually fat-free!) cake that goes great with just about anything you can think of (strawberries and cream, or lemon curd are my favorites!)
$6.00



So order your pies and cakes, tell your friends, and come see us on Saturday, March 30. We'll be here from 9:00 a.m. until the goods are all sold!

Spring Break!

One entire week free, starting now! 

Affordable?

I don't usually talk politics; I just mostly disagree with everything the politicians are doing. (Yes, I do pay attention and I do vote.) But we got some news last Friday that bears mentioning—in fact I mentioned it on facebook, and I'm repeating it here:

"Ya gotta love the AffordableCare Act. Bruce just got a letter informing him that he can't work as a substitute teacher for more than twenty-nine hours a week or he will get fired by Granite School District. Under this wonderful law GSD will  have to give him healthcare benefits if he works more than 29 hours.

"He gets called in to substitute every day—which doesn't pay the bills, but is better than nothing. (Yes, he is still looking—and applying to get—any better job.) Now we will be forced to give up twenty-five percent of that income. How many of you can afford to give up a quarter of your monthly pay?

"Well. Bummer for us.

"But consider this as well: If a teacher goes on maternity leave (or broken ankle leave) for six to ten weeks—it happens—then the school can't have one person sub for her class while she's gone because that sub would be required to work more than 29 hours in a week. Does this mean the school has to hire two subs who switch off? The district is already short on teachers and substitutes—how will that really work out? And, the switch-off game makes for a chaotic classroom and a headache for the teachers and administration.

"Wonderful."

My friend Nicole also substitutes on a fairly regular basis (although she doesn't depend on this for her living.)  Here is what she had to say about it:

"I just received a letter from the district that reads, "due to the new Affordable Care Act and its budget implications it is necessary for the District to limit all hourly employees to no more than 29 hours per week"... This means that no substitute teacher can work more than three days per week.  (I don't know anyone, other than me as a stay-at-home mom, who would work for $11 an hour for a maximum of 28 hours per week, IF you get called, and they require a bachelors degree. If I weren't staying home I'd go get a real job! I would think there would be a mass exodus of good substitute teachers and you would just be left with the creepers—you know which ones I'm talking about.  My daughter had the stained t-shirt and sweats guy once  —ew!)

"Here's a real scenario...A few weeks ago a teacher asked me to sub because her husband was dying. Under the new plan I would go in for 3 days, another sub would come in for the last 2. Then, the teacher was out for another week, so I would go back in for 3 days and the other sub would come for 2 more - because that's not confusing for the students. WHAT THE?

"Oh well, it doesn't affect me financially, it just makes zero sense and there is very little 'continuity' for students—another term the District was big on for awhile. I wonder what a WOMAN does when she leaves on maternity?!  'Class, Mrs. G will be coming in on M, W, F. All the work she does with you will be pointless because on T, Th the greasy sweats guy will be here letting you watch movies. See you all in six weeks!'

"I'm going with not best for teachers, not best for students, and not best for women on this one."

Right now Granite School District has about five missing teachers a day with no substitutes available; the school Bruce subbed at yesterday said they'd been having one of their secretaries sit with a class. He had been hoping to do a long-term sub job starting in a week or two, for a teacher who is having a baby.  In word, the state has already made that nearly impossible with a (stupid) law that requires schools to hire certified teachers for long-term sub jobs.  Are you kidding?  That's not going to happen because if you are a certified teacher you are going to get a job as a teacher and not as a substitute-teacher.  I mean, you want to get the most pay for your time, right?  Still, the schools know this, and they know there are no repurcussions for hiring a regular long-term sub. They're not supposed to do that, but they often do it because the don't have a choice—they need someone to take care of that class. 

  
But now, thanks to "Affordable Care" they really can't do that. In my family not only can we not afford health care, but soon we won't be able to afford our house payment either.  Bruce and I lose. The school district loses, the schools lose, the teachers lose, and the kids lose.  Gotta love politics.