Another band couple! WooHooooooo!

[quote name="Maus" post="5268514" timestamp="1382671199"p We both played clarinet in our university's marching band. He was also friends with my younger brother, who played trombone. Marching love is the best kind, ya know.

The summer after freshman year of college, a friend convinced me to join this little drum & bugle corps in NJ. Aa it turned out, that was the summer we merged with another litttle corps in Philly that DW had been marching with for several years. DW conspicuously borrowed my sunscreen for the whole summer, but as I was a rather thick lad, I didn't take the hint until near the end of the season, when we finally became a couple at the 1984 DCI Worlds in Atlanta. We were both 19, but kept it going as a long distance thing between U Delaware and West Chester.

Just in case he changes his mind, I just stumbled on this: Awesome Stick Figure Kid

Happy birthday! I turned 48 on the 22nd, so, as DD reminds me, it's just two more years until AARP! Then I can go into the local diner say Giimie my discount, dad gummit! I'll need to get some cardigan sweaters.

"Once Upon a Time in the Body" BBC series. One YouTube user, isgota, seems to have posted a bunch of them.

Manipulatives and wall posters and School House Rock.

Long johns, socks and hat - yes. Gloves, too. And something warm but not constricting to sleep in, like sweatpants. Blanket - no -- it won't really do anything more than a good sleeping bag. As a kid I did winter camping and had a ground sheet, like a lightweight tarp, that was silver on one side to reflect heat. THIS looks very similar, although it's now called a "sportsman blanket." What you don't want to do is wrap that around a sleeping bag lest you want to be soaked through with sweat by morning. You could use a thinner space blanket thingie, except it will crinkle with every movement, and will likely rip.

City Data has a ton of that info in their forums.

Just don't drop it, lest it dent the floor. :laugh:

The WTM intro pretty much sums it all up: If you’re fortunate, you live near and elementary school filled with excellent teachers who are dedicated to developing your child’s skills in reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and science. These teachers have small classes - no more than ten students - and can give each student plenty of attention. The elementary school sits next to a middle school that is safe (no drugs, guns, knives). This school also has small classes; the teachers train their students in logic, critical thinking, and advanced writing. Plenty of one-on-one instruction is offered, especially in writing. And in the distance (not too far away) is a high school that will take older students through world history, the classics of literature, the techniques of advanced writing, high-level mathematics, and science, debate, art history, and music appreciation (not to mention vocational and technical training, resume preparation, and job-hunting skills) This book is for the rest of us. I would add a sentence or two about having a school not driven by testing, that has a deeply-engaged and active parent base, and that aligns with the physical needs of a changing student population (e.g. later start in high school, plenty of recess, etc.) -- maybe gender-segregated classes too. I'd put that all on a bumper sticker, but the teeeeeeeeeny text would be useless.

With a black triangle on the forehead, and dark clothes he could be Eddie Munster. If you have a jog stroller, that would make a cool rolling coffin-mobile with some cardboard. Wired to it.

Aaaaaaaaaand that would be here in NJ. I don't the warehouse is even operational yet.

I'd be honored and humbled if my daughter grew up to cause such trouble.

Right there with ya.

Rachel Maddow is blazingly smart -- Maddow Blog.

In a pinch - plastic pumpkin and black spray paint.

Cookies go in tupperware in the fridge. Cold cookies are like cold pizza -- love it or hate it.

We got a huge deal on our piano by buying it used from a local university. The sale was not well-publicized -- sort of an insider thing. I think we got a flyer from another teacher. Some (definitely not all) music departments regularly rotate out their practice room pianos and sell them to the public. Ours was used for maybe a year or two and was in great shape.

In interactions with PS parents from DD's activities, I'm struck by the constant parental complaining. Maybe it's just this snooty part of the state, but a startling number of parents seem to be inconvenienced by having kids. I genuinely like to be around my kid, and she's a genuinely nice person to be around. That just seems so dishearteningly rare.

Hold music -- get annoying hold music....Girl from Ipanema on the kazoo, perhaps. I've wanted a hold/music button for ages. I'm sure there's a way to rig it.

TJ's is actually cheaper for a lot of things than the local supermarket. It used to be that a full shopping trip was not complete until I hit TJ for most edibles, WF for the odd specialty item, my local HFS for great lettuce, or local honey or something, and the supermarket for foil, or toilet paper. I've cut that down a bit. Since we just got a new HFS, WF trips have become rarer.

Perhaps there is a middle ground? Drop tap and keep ballet or vice versa. DD has stayed with the same school since 2, and has gone through similar ups and downs. I will say there is intrinsic worth in artistic activities if kids stick with it until they get to experience the different kind of fun that comes when they start to get good. It doesn't sound like you've slid into the stage parent trap, which will screw up a kid quickly. I say follow yer gut.

That's OK. I hear some still call it "the War of Northern Aggression." Sorry....Yankee snark.

Anything more than a postcard and one call is stalking. Next level is shadows in the backyard wielding dental picks. Yikes.