I just pre-ordered my special collector edition of the Twilight DVD.  According to both Stephenie Meyer's website and Amazon, this DVD is due for release on March 21, 2009.  That date is somewhat of a disappointment as I have read all over the Internet that it was to be release around Valentine's Day.

Bummer - but, I also didn't really expect it to be a 2 DVD set.  I thought for sure that they would put out a regular, single DVD with a couple of extras and then, a few weeks later, put out a Blu-Ray version AND a collector's edition. 

We would all buy both and we all know it!

To make it make the wait bearable, head on over to Amazon's Twilight DVD page and check out all of the related media they have.  If I have read everything rightly, all of the related media on this page is the same stuff that is on the DVD.  So, that means that you can watch all of that stuff ahead of time and get right to watching the movie when it arrives on March 21!

Oh, and before I forget, the Super Busy Hospital videos at youtube have been removed - thank goodness.  To the little twit who spent all that time putting that up there:  I hope you get yourself in a lot of trouble for that.  I am a Twilight fan too, but that was over the top and just not cool.  The fans have already lost out on Midnight Sun because of stunts just like that one.  I, as a fellow fan, don't appreciate it.

Well, why are you still here?  Head on over to Amazon and pre-order Twilight!

I wish the release date was based on the number of pre-orders for the DVD, don't you? 

The school district we live in is considering going to a 4 day school week. I am 100% in favor of a 4 day school week. I currently have one child in Kindergarten and will have another child in Kindergarten next year. The possibility of a four day school week in very appealing to my husband and I for several reasons:


1. It will reduce the time my children have to miss school for dental and medical appointments. We all know that it basically takes all day long to take your child to an appointment in Helena. Having a four day school week would virtually eliminate the need to miss school for a scheduled appointment of any kind.


2. More time for family. I currently get to see my daughter for about an hour and a half before school and for about 5 hours after school. If she rode the bus, it would be even less. The idea of having my kids with me for three days rather than just two is very agreeable to me. We could do so much more in the way of family oriented activities that are limited right now with a five day week.


3. As I understand it, many times some of the funds saved from having a four day school week, if properly managed, can benefit at risk students. Often times, tutoring and reading programs are implemented on the ‘fifth day’ which benefit the at risk student population.


4. Sports activites can be scheduled on the ‘fifth day’ which in turn reduces the classtime lost by those who participate in sports. These students don’t miss instruction time for extra-cirricular activties, which are important, but secondary to academics in my opinon.


5. Kids who participate in clubs like Scouts have that ‘fifth day’ for activities and meetings geared toward those groups. They are still learning and are engaged with their peers – which is essential for good citizenship and community. Though my kids are not sports or club participants at this time, I anticipate the day when they both will be involved in either a club or sport – maybe both.


6. A four day school week would also afford my family the opportunity to participate in an activity not currently offered by the school, ie ballet or karate. At present, I feel doing so would be ‘overload’ on my kids but if we had the ‘fifth day’ free, we would have more flexibility to do something like that.


7. From a common sense point of view, it is easy to see that a four day school week reduces the amount of money the school district would spend on hourly salaries, energy, fuel, food and other expenses. That is hard to argue with.


8. Research shows that having a four day school week improves attitudes and outlook of the faculty, staff and students, reduces stress, and increases student attendance while decreasing discipline problems. It also reduces the need for substitute teachers while increasing the opportunity for older students to gain work experience because they have an entire day they can promise to their employer.


I am unconcerned about the fears that the younger kids won’t adapt well or that a long school day will be too much for them. I was concerned about those very issues when my daughter started all day Kindergarten and have been proven very wrong. She is thriving and comes home with plenty of energy to play and do what she needs to do in the evenings. She sleeps and eats much better after having started school. We have regimented eating and bedtimes at our house and the routine of school has only reinforced my ‘at home’ regimen. I cannot see how an extra hour or so four days a week would impact my daughter negatively in the least. I anticipate the same pattern for my son who will start Kindergarten in the Fall of 2009.


I can find very little wrong with the idea of getting to spend more quality time with my children while saving the school district money in basic operating costs. I am looking forward to the decision the school board makes and hope that we see a four day school week in the near future.

I have declared myself a political atheist. I have no faith in either political party to be quite honest and am sick to the back teeth of this year's election.

I have been to the polls this morning and cast my ballot. I actually enjoy voting and watching the American political process in action. But....this year it has been overwhelming. Negativity, lies, fear mongering, destruction of good people's reputations.....it has all been too much for me. I don't want to be a negative person but it is rather hard to stay positive when everything you hear about both candidates and both parties is nothing but doom and gloom.

Honestly, neither candidate really was for me. I refuse to rant about why - it now officially doesn't matter anymore - but I do have a hard time believing that this is the very best America has to offer. Seriously - I have a hard time believing that the most powerful nation on Planet Earth has to be defined by the two men currently awaiting election results. Both men have their strong points but both have severe weaknesses in my mind.

So, we will see. One thing I do know for sure....no matter who is elected, that person has a monumental mess to try and fix. America has a lot of work to do and I am afraid that the man who gets the job as President of the United States has a BIG job ahead of them and that person is never going to be able to make everyone happy. The campaigning for election is like boot camp for the real deal and we will see if the man we choose is up for the job.

Also, I would like to ask for prayer for those of you who are of the praying persuasion for my good friend Dee and her family. There has been an illness and a death. I don't have permission to elaborate, but the Lord knows who I am talking about ;) Thank you all!

We have been snowed in for the last couple of days. The snow started to fall on Friday and the National Weather service said that it was supposed to stop on Saturday. So, my hubby plowed the road all out and all was fine.

The minute he left to go game bird hunting with his friends, the snow started falling and did not stop until last night! I tried yesterday afternoon to see if we could get out so that I could get both kids to school this morning and to their flu vaccination this afternoon.

I promptly got myself stuck in the drive way and spent 45 minutes on my knees in the snow with a shovel getting my SUV out. I had no choice but to get it out - you can't plow the road if there is an SUV stuck in the middle of it. So, finally, I succeeded in getting myself unstuck and resolved that the kids were not going to be able to go to school today.

They, upon returning to the house, I was taking a break and my kids were upstairs playing in their rooms. I heard Owen jumping off something up there and had just yelled up the stairs for him to quit and was headed up there when I heard a thump that sounded a bit off.

Sure enough, Owen had jumped off the blanket chest at the end of the bed - backwards - and sprained or strained the top of his right foot. Thank goodness my good friend is an RN! So, I had an ACE bandage and a bad of frozen peas - which is all I needed - which I used to wrap up Owen's little foot. I have him some Tylenol and put him into bed with me last night because it was hurting him. This morning, he is hobbling around on it, but it is still swollen.

So, as soon as hubby gets here and clears the road, I am headed off to urgent care to see about Owen's foot.

A foot and a half of snow in October!!!! Grrr.....

The other night I had a chance to hang out, paint my toe nails and watch a good old fashioned chick flick. I chose Made of Honor, on a whim....no real reason why. I am not a huge Patrick Dempsey fan - and I must be the only woman on the planet who isn't! - but I thought that it couldn't possibly be THAT bad.

As I was watching it, the only thing that kept popping into my mind was that this guy - the character played by Mr. Dempsey - was a selfish moron who didn't really deserve a good woman. I wanted the girl to take off and marry the Scottish guy. Yes, yes, I know....I have a thing for Scottish guys. Well, obviously not THAT big of a thing because my husband is English and German and he wouldn't wear a kilt - ever. Trust me. I have begged and all for naught.

So, all in all, it was an okay movie. Not a great movie, not something that I want to watch again or own, but certainly not a total waste of time. It had it's funny moments and it's sweet moments - but it was sort of hollow at the end. There never was any real jeopardy for the two main characters. You always knew that she was going to leave Mr. Handsome Kilt Wearer and go back to him.

Anyone else?

Amazingly, last night, Bill and I actually found time to watch a movie together! Okay - so we did not even put the DVD in until after 11PM, but we both watched the whole movie all the way through and enjoyed it very much.

I really liked this movie. Lots of adventure, none of the icky stuff and though the plot line was fairly predictable, there were some great one-liners and lots of action. If you have not seen it, put it in your Netflix que or rent it at the video store. You will like it!

Last weekend, I took my kids and some of my nieces to see Kung Fu Panda. I was not really looking forward to seeing this at all - kung fu and all of that not being my thing - but I was very pleasantly surprised. The storyline was meant for the younger set, but actually quite good. Maya (who loves karate and pretends to be doing karate all the time) and my niece Kait (who giggled through the whole movie) particularly enjoyed this movie. There was lots of funny stuff and jokes that you would expect Jack Black (who rocks!) to do. All in all, not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

The only downside was taking 5 kids to the concession stand. $4 for an icee and another $3 for a box of candy! How do those people sleep at night?? I want a piece of that action!

Now, back to work! Hope all of you are having a lovely summer so far - LOL!

Gosh - it has been over 2 weeks since I posted here? It truly does not seem like that long.

I have been really busy working on various projects and trying to keep everyone in my house healthy. It seems the ickies keep coming back for round after round. Today, everyone is well except Owen says that his throat hurts. It has not stopped him thus far though.....

The weather here has been absolutely atrocious and we have basically been stuck in the house for the past couple of weeks. We are all suffering from a bad case of cabin fever. Unable to take it anymore, I have booked us all into a hotel in Bozeman tomorrow night and am packing the swimsuits and so extra money for room service. We are going to get out of here - if only for a day or two.

Last week, my Maya went to the Kindergarten for pre-registration. The Kindergarten teacher was totally taken aback by my demand that she give a run down of the entire curriculum and then, I requested to see her lesson plans book. She answered every single question I had and I was satisfied that she knows what she is doing and that my child will not spend two hours a day taking a nap and coloring. After I was finished with her, I introduced myself to the principle - a woman about 10 years my junior. While I was impressed with her 'air' and the way she spoke - it remains to be seen how she will handle real discipline problems. I am not going to judge her in advance though - she will likely do quite well and I hope she does. The Superintendent of the school - a woman as well - I liked a lot. I have worked in more than one school and never have I had a Superintendent be out and about in the school - let alone be working in the office helping students and visitors. Her - I like.

Yes, that's right - I spoke to every single person in authority. I think every parent ought to do that. I want Maya to be able to go to public school - but I want to be involved. That is why I accepted the invitation to be a parent volunteer in the Kindergarten next year ;-) I truly am not being controlling - I just want to know that my child - the child I prayed for and had to wait so long for - is safe and happy. That's all I want. If I make a nuisance out of myself in the process, then I will have to ask for forgiveness afterward - and that will surely never stop me!

Now that I have that little PETA rant out of the way, I wanted to talk about something a bit more important.



I had been meaning to become a St. Jude Partner in Hope and the day before yesterday, on the eve of Maya's 5th birthday, I finally got around to it.

You pledge $20 a month for an entire year. All of the money goes to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to fund the treatment of children with cancer. St. Jude shares all of it's research - free of charge - with any hospital that needs it. St. Jude never charges the families of the children they treat and has treated children from every state and from many countries all over the world. I can't think of another organization with such a generous attitude. They *save* lives at St. Jude - which is a gift for all of us.

Our local radio station has it's annual St. Jude's telethon this past week - and fell $20,000 short of what they raised last year. That prompted me to make a seperate donation on top of becoming a partner in hope. $20,000 is a huge drop! I wonder why that is?

Anyway, if you can, make a small donation or become a partner in hope by visiting the St. Jude Children's Research Hopstial website.

I have not had an addition to my boycott list in a while. I actually have never really liked the newest addition to my boycott list and I am not exactly sure how to boycott this organization, but I cannot overlook what they have said.

PETA - we all know who they are and what they stand for. The idea behind PETA - the ethical treatment of animals - is fine. America is a free country and I support PETA's right to do what they want as long as they stay within the confines of the law and as long as they do not insult people. That last little big - about insulting people - is apparently the part they have trouble with.

Last week PETA named Aretha Franklin at the top of their "Worst" list. Not only did they slam her for wearing fur, but they said many derrogatory and personally insulting things about Aretha Franklin that I think were just plain uncalled for.

Aretha Franklin is a national treasure. Talk about a strong role model! No, she has not been perfect - particularly in her younger days - but her mistakes aside, she has been a strong, independant woman who is extremely talented and gifted.

Aretha Franklin has had 20 #1 R&B singles - a record that still stands. She was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. Using her voice, she made a life for herself and is living the American dream. If she wants to wear a fur coat, then she ought to. She has earned that fur coat many times over I am sure.

I know people object to wearing fur and leather (yes, if you object to wearing fur, you must also object to wearing that leather jacket and those Jimmy Choos. If you don't, you are a hypocrite of the first order. Period.) and I support their right to do so just as much as I do anyone's right to wear a fur coat. What I object to is the nasty and personal insults that are hurled at a woman in her 70's who has worked very hard for her place in the world. It's not right.

James Taylor was awesome! He came out and stood in the middle of the stage and sang all of his classics. It was simple, not showy or over the top - and a big portion of it was acoustic. There was no need for James Taylor to lipsync or electronically enhance the music he was playing because the man can actually sing - even though he is not as young as he used to be. In a world where Ashley Simpson has a record deal for something she cannot do, I was heartened to see people turn out in droves to see a real musician who can actually play real music. He even sang a George Jones song! It was all that I like in a live muscial show.

Here is the part that impressed me the most - James Taylor took the time to shake every hand and sign every autograph that he possibly could. He even hugged one lady and let a couple of people snap photos with their cell phones. I have never seen anything like that from such a major star in my life. I really thought that was something else and I now love James Taylor more than ever.

I actually cried during Fire and Rain which took me by surprise. I had not expected that to affect me the way it did. All in all, I wanted to go right back in a do it all over the minute it was over. If I never see another concert again, I will die a satisfied woman!