That’s because we are at camp. Tp see what we’ve been up to, go to: www.athomeonwheels.com

I probably won’t be blog hopping tonight, but that doesn’t mean you can’t! So go blog hop and I’ll catch up with you on Monday when I get home.

Have a great one!

I see something in this pic. Let’s see if others see it or if I’m nuts!

So comment away and tell me what YOU see!

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My recipe: Chili

I have a recipe that I got about 30 years ago when I worked in a daycare. My favorite infant, Katie, was moving. Her mom gave me a recipe book with the Chili recipe on the 1st page.

It’s a good recipe, but now & then I’ll add a little “something” to change it up- it’s so delish. But I cannot reveal any of my “extra’s” that I sometimes add as they are having a chicken wing and Chili cook- off at camp in a few weeks. I may decide to enter, so cannot give away my secrets!

So here’s the basic “very good” recipe…

CHILI

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 lg pepper, chopped

2 lbs ground beef, cooked and grease drained

2 large cans of tomatoes

1-2 cans of kidney beans

2 c. water

1/2 t. red pepper

3-4 T chili powder.

Use a big pot. Brown beef, garlic, onion and green pepper. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients.

Let simmer, uncovered for a least 1 hr.

Enjoy!

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I can already get on my Facebook and Twitter from the Blackberry.

I enrolled the Princess back into public school from homeschooling. Not my choice, and frankly she doesn’t seem all that happy.  To see why I re-enrolled her back into PS, go HERE.

They told us to call her guidance councilor today. Lo and behold, when I called the school today and asked to speak to Mrs. B, they said that she was no longer there, that Mr. A was now there. He was actually the school psychologist in the elementary school when the Princess went there.

He was the one who literally saved the day when the Princess was in THIRD grade and was refusing to go to school, crying hysterically. I was beside myself, crying as well. I called the school and they said to see if I could get her in and talk to Mr. A.  She agreed and he talked to her.

She had a teacher that yelled- alot! In fact, another teacher babysat my daughter over the summer and when she found out my daughters teacher, she warned me about the teacher. I blew it off, thinking  a teacher can’t yell that bad and get away with it, they must be exaggerating.

They weren’t. Some of my Girl Scouts said they could hear her screaming at different kids from down the hall- my daughter included.

Mr. A said he had that complaint from several other students, but the teacher had been there for like 20 years….but he did talk to her. He also let my daughter come in for lunch with him and a few other students now & then. This at least gave her a reason to want to go to school, but…

So he knows my daughter and she knows him- good or bad? 

One thing I cringe at: When he called and gave me her homeroom teacher, he gave me just a last name. I asked if it was male or female just because….

He didn’t know!

He said he was new to that school, which I understand- but they are throwing him into a situation where he has to managed a few hundred kids and deal with issues without knowing anything about that school or any of the teachers.

I hope we’re not in for another trying year……….I’m already dreading not Homeschooling! Life was sooo stress free and my daughter was so much happier!

Let me just go back to camp and not have to stress over this poo-poo!

Oh well, the decision has been made……….

Feel free to check out my whole blog and leave a comment THEN push one of the bloggy buttons below and join in a hop!

Friday Fragments

We’re “almost” ready to roll! Today we pull the camper out and set it up in it’s new home! I say we’re almost ready because there are a few things that aren’t done- like putting the rug down on the floor. But I set today for our “goal” date. We were going, ready or not! We can do the rest while there.

This is probably the first goal date I’ve hit in years. But then again, it’s only 7:39 a.m. The day isn’t over yet!

Homeschool or Public School

I enrolled the Princess in public school yesterday against my wishes. I know, I know, I’ve heard it before, I’m her mother and I should decide which she does. I have my reasons for what I did- you can read about it HERE.

In my opinion, after I enrolled her, I thought the Princess looked a little sad.

I did tell her that if it became physically too much to let me know and I’ll HS again.

She has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis- last time she went to PS (2 yrs ago) she was having problems navigating between classes and such and being on time. They have since EXPANDED the school.

I expect she’ll be home soon- and not just for that reason.

BTW- the socialization issue………..I found that button up above on a homeschooling group- love it! As you will see on my blog post about her going back…it was all about socialization.

When I re-enrolled her, the one woman at the school office asked if it was because of socialization. My daughter said yes, and I said ” She misses the detention she used to get for socializing.”

The lady kind of laughed then said she was surprised the Princess was coming back- it seemed like we were doing really well and had a good system down (she reads the school reports). Our system was natural learning for the most part!

Puppy Report

We bought Cosmo a new toy- it is a stuffed hamster and it has a string you pull. When you pull the string it shakes and makes a noise. I call it the Hyper Hamster. I took a video of him (with my Blackberry) pulling the string but I couldn’t send it to my email- the file was too big.

Every file is too big! Does anyone know how to transfer a video from a Blackberry to the computer?

Ok, have to go finish  packing. If I can get Internet service at camp, I’ll check you guys out later. Otherwise, I’ll catch up Sunday night and Monday.

Have a great weekend!

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I made $36.33 last month with WeUseCoupons. They sent a check – was I surprised when I got the mail!  I mean I knew I was getting paid- they emailed me and told me so. But amongst everything, I sort of forgot….

I know to many $36.33 isn’t a killing, but it’s not bad for the first month with something…if I actually got out and REALLY marketed it, I’m sure it would be more. And, add that $36.33 to the money I make with other programs….it all adds up.

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But when I do…..

All I can say is:

“Oh, yee family who have so little faith in me – did you REALLY think that I  bought all this junk for nothing?”

Because now all my little treasures will have their time…………

For our second home, the camper, is in dire need of a few things…

Check out what I am “reusing”:

This has been sitting in my pantry for years…I don’t know why I never used it. The other day I was looking for something to heat some left-over zucchini-sausage soup on the grill.

Saw this in pantry and used it. It worked great, and now it’s going to camp!

When Ron and I combined households, we had tons of silverware. Despite giving a couple of the boys some when they moved out, we have a ton of forks and knives (could be thanks to my mom- she’s like that

For some reason there were NO spoons. I do have a few 1,000 plastic ones left over from Golden Childs graduation. That will have to do for now.

Check these babies out:

Aren’t they cute? They are holders for those little glass candles. The flowers are metal. They will be a great addition to my outdoor decor.

Did you notice I’m a poet as well as a camper decorator

That’s a few of the gems I’ll be keeping.

Praise the Lord my lawn sale didn’t work out a month or so ago.

Later!

Friday Fragments

Waz Happenin….

My daughter announced she wants to go back to public school. I got quite emotional about it! Poor kid! You can read the post HERE.

Tuesday night I had my network marketing meeting with other local business owners. Only two others showed up, but we had a great brainstorming session. Between the coffee and the ideas bouncing around in my head, I could barely sleep.

Yesterday we went to the science museum. We went to the iMax movie, where I proceeded to fall asleep. I know, how can you fall asleep with a screen that surrounds you and is quite LOUD at times?

Dead Chickens….

There is something getting our chickens. I had found a dead one in the coop several days ag0.  I figured it died of old age.

Then, Ron and I thought we had less chickens in the coop. We had previously moved most of them out of the coop and in with he ducks, but hadn’t gotten to several of them yet.

We counted them to be sure we knew how many were left in there.

Well, I go to feed them the other day and there’s one missing. I found it behind the building, headless!

The next day, another dead one.

So we got all but two out. One hen was skittish so we decided to wait another day and try to secure things better.

This morning, the rooster was dead. Ron moved the last chicken in with the ducks and other chickens.

Hopefully our hungry friend will move on….

The Great New York State Fair!

The fair is coming and I don’t know if I want to go. Honestly, we only go every couple of years and in my opinion it seems like the same old stuff.

AND, since we are late coming into the camping season, I hate to give up any of my time there.

As it is, I just found out we have a family reunion one of those weekends………at least that’s being held at a cousins maybe an hour or two away, so we can go for the day or pitch a tent and stay all weekend.

My mom said to bring the camper. I told her no way- once I have it parked and set up the way I want, it’s not moving!

So anyway, my mom is going to the fair, and I believe my aunt from Colorado (who’s coming back for the reunion…).

But I just don’t feel like it…..unless my cuz and best friend comes back from Colorado, too! They HAVE surprised me a few times before..

Otherwise, maybe I’ll just invite them to camp……

Texting Torture

I seem to have a  problem texting- does this happen to you, too?

Yippee, Skippie I got paid!

I know I’ve told you guys about this site a few times- I mean who doesn’t like saving money? But I’ve also posted when I’ve MADE money, too. The other day, payment was made into my PayPal account, so now I know they pay up.

Hey, you never REALLY know until you see the money!

But this affiliate pays off, and it has been one of the easiest money makers I have. And I ALREADY have more earnings in my account!

The Weekend

So what’s everyone doing this weekend? You know what we’ll be doing- the camper!

Of course, Ron has been busy with work 24/7 the last 2-3 days. He’s a diesel mechanic on call, so he may have no calls for a day or two, or get calls back to back. Or be called out at 3 a.m. to fix a truck on the side of the thruway.

What guy wouldn’t like a job like that? You can never PROMISE to fix something, or go somewhere, or be here for dinner.

Because that phone may go off right when you’re ready to eat……

Hope you all have a Happy and Safe one!

So we homeschooled last year. I thought it was going ok…….

Then at Thanksgiving, she was at her uncles (her Dad’s brother).

Just for the record, her Dad and I have not been together for a LONG time. He used to take her every other weekend, sometimes every weekend.

Then his newest girlfriend got pregnant and they got married. A year or so later, things changed. He hardly ever took my daughter for visits, and didn’t buy birthday presents, although he still thought of her at Christmas.

Now she hasn’t seen him in over a year, and no presents nor word from since.

Until Thanksgiving…..as I said she was visiting Dad’s family (except Dad) when Dad called. Her aunt gave her the phone to talk to him. He told her he didn’t like the idea of her homeschooling.

What the heck? What gives him the right to make any decisions?

She was upset about that. I told her don’t worry.

Since then, a few friends have been hounding her to come back to public school. They say she’s misisng all the fun…

Let’s see…fun?

Fights, sex talk, teachers degrading students in front of other students, girls holding hands and kissing in the hallway, drugs, etc….

Also, my daughter has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, with her hands being severely affected as are her ankles. Several times she got detention for being late to class.

The one time when I threw a hissy fit they said she was late because she was socializing at her locker, not because of problems with her JRA. The fact was she couldn’t get her locker open and a friend was helping.

I was p-o’d!

Anyway, all summer she’s been back and forth about homeschooling. I went ahead and submitted my Intent to Homeschool letter and other required info to the school district. I figured I can always enroll her in PS at the last minute if I choose to.

She recently decided she wanted to homeschool. I have been working hard to set up some stuff she wanted to do last year…she was going to be working in the nursery at co-op for one period, help with the yearbook, do photography and maybe take drumming lessons.

The kicker? Yesterday her cousin, who is late 30′s and more like a Dad than her own Dad, started in….

He asked her why she would want to homeschool…she won’t have a prom and she’ll never get to go to a reunion. He had quit school and had to get his degree on his own.

He told her, “Don’t make the same mistake I made. You’ll miss out on so much.”

Number one, she’s not quitting!

Except for the prom and reunions (um…I’ve never cared to go to one…I can talk to anyone I want pretty much through facebook or myspace…) I can’t think of too many pro’s for public schooling…

I don’t want my daughter to have a cookie cutter education..I want her to learn what she wants the way she wants…..when you do this, everything else seems to fall into place.

My daughter LOVES to learn and public school almost took that from her.

As a matter of fact, I walked out to get a cup of coffee a few minutes ago and she was reading a biology book. It’ s summer, yet she was interested. BTW- she’s going into 8th grade and this was a high school biology book.

Anyway, now my daughter is adament (to the point of tears) because she wants to go back to PS so bad….

I was driving when she told me- she claimed she NEVER said she wanted to homeschool this year.

I didn’t take it too well, I cried….

…and got upset….

….and totally missed my exit and had to drive an extra 15 miles to get back on track.

I think she wants to go back to public schools to make Dad happy- maybe he’ll pay attention to her then.

Think she’s forgetting he hasn’t paid much attention in several years…

I think she’s also afraid of losing the cousin and his wife….they often take her to breakfast on Sundays and now and then to the movies.

Her dad’s brother and wife also take her now and then…

So now I’m thinking of maybe letting her go back and see if that makes her happy like she thinks it will.

My cousin had the same thing with her daughter…she homeschooled a year or so in her teens then wanted to go back to PS.

That lasted a couple of months, then she was back home….

Several people say I am her mom and I should decide if she goes back or not, but she has been so depressed about the issues with her Dad, and I feel I let her go to PS for 7 years before…if she had NEVER gone, maybe I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.

So I’m bummed. I would LOVE to have a talk with the cousin, but I don’t want to rock the boat as he is a part of her family and I don’t want him to get mad and stop seeing her.

So, my dear friends, what would YOU do?

But tonight…that’s when the fun begins! That’s when Ann of Annagain66 hosts Virtual Girls Night Out. Check it out!

Be there or be square

And if you are always late like me, you are probably still working on reading the blogs listed at Friday Fragments and Friday Blog hop.

You can check out my post yesterday for that- and don’t forget to visit my other blog and leave your Twitter and Facebook links.

Later!

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