Thursday, January 26, 2012

Never realized how difficult

It would be to find someone to babysit in my home.

I am literally pulling my hair out at this point. Part of the issue is probably the fact I only need someone constant 1 day a week  and then its only 7 hours total.... and occasionally 2 days a week.

I dont know if the number of children is what scares people away. The oddness of the hours. Or the fact I refuse to pay more than the going local rate. If you are worth $20 an hour with no degree you better be able to cook and clean while you are at it!

Sitter City was a bust... there are a few semi-locals listed, no one wants to sit in someone else's home. They havent logged into their accts in 6 months or more, or they are high school students looking for after school random jobs.

A daycare center wont work for us, because of the bus schedule for 2 of the kids. Maybe I should just drop out of school and become a babysitter myself!

Ugh.


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Road Trip part TWO!

Philly :)

The kids and I ventured into downtown Philly after our trip to the aquarium. We were able to hit Independence Hall and take the tour, as well as Constitution Hall, Betsy Ross's House, and the Liberty Bell.

Independence Hall was a great tour, and lil dude got the opportunity to be a "helper" during an explanation of the  constitution of the United States. I think I stood with my mouth hanging open in awe throughout the different tours, just to be in a place with so much history, a place with so much meaning to this country.

The buildings themselves are something else. I was highly impressed with the way they have been maintained for over 200 years.

My children have obviously been sheltered, as they were shocked at the sight of homeless people, sleeping in the snow on the sidewalks. The compassion for human beings they have been taught shined through, and my proud mom moments were many. Coffee was purchased for one homeless man by my 13 yr old, with her own money. On the drive home lil dude wanted to take him home with us. I tweeted extensively that night about our conversation. I know Im raising them right.

































Road Trip!

Last semester I took a history class and fell in love. Not with a person, or specific place, but with American History. We all learn about things in high school, and honestly at that point in my life, the history of our country was not top on my list of things to pay attention to.

I dreaded taking the class, but was so glad I did. I learned so much, things that previously were assumed, or taken for granted, became things I wanted to see, places I wanted to visit etc.

So in November the kids and I toured Civil War battle grounds. This month we took on Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

My daughter and I have an agreement of sorts. We will visit all 50 states before she turns 18, for graduation we are taking a cruise to the Bahamas :) Just the 2 of us (one can wish anyhow LOL it will probably turn into just the 10 of us but thats ok ;) )

So Friday afternoon I picked the kids up and we started our journey. We drove straight through Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, and into New Jersey where we had a hotel room booked via Priceline. Now Im going to throw a plug in here for Priceline. I love them (most of the time) the negotiator option tends to get me hotel rooms for very darn cheap. This time it was $32 a night. BARGAIN!

The trip was long, due to weather that was expected to hit around Midnight... that snuck up on us around 8pm. What should have been a 5 hour drive, turned into a 10 hour drive. But we made it. We parked our weary heads on pillows and crashed for 3.5 hours. I say we, for the most part the kids slept in the car, so their amount of sleep was much greater than mine!

New Jersey. I hate it. No joke you can not make a left hand turn in New Jersey. Well you can, but you have to drive 2-3 miles before its allowed, and for the most part you must turn right, like 3 times, before you are finally going to the left, in the direction you desired to travel.

Saturday morning we got up and drove to the Camden Aquarium where we met up with friends from Philly. On the way there, we encountered half a dozen badly signed roads, and 3 dozen instances of not being able to turn left :/ Okay maybe Im exaggerating but it seemed like 3 dozen times! We finally took the Market street offramp headed to the Aquarium. As I came around the corner, I thought to myself, damn that squirrel needs to get out of the road! Wait, it wasnt a squirrel. It was a teeny little kitten, in the middle of the road.

I am forever an animal lover and advocate. I couldnt leave it there. I stopped in the middle of the road, threw on the flashers and had the kids jump out to rescue the kitty. It went off into the bushes and down an embankment. I moved the car out of the direct line of traffic onto a side road, and we were able to catch the poor thing. She was scared (I would be too) and starving. Piggles had part of a subway tuna sandwich left from lunch on the way to the aquarium, and the cat managed to eat half of a 3 inch sub.

Back on track to the aquarium!