Pumpkins, Pie, Perfect

Pie. HELLO.

Emma rocking the froggie wellies and the bink.

I have a death grip on her because she just wanted to climb the straw house, a la Three Little Pigs.

So pretty.

Dadd and Ellie get ready for a great adventure.

We decided to try the ever-popular and heavily touted Patterson's Fruit Farm for our Sunday jaunt. www.pattersonfarm.com They have a "Family Fun Fest" with hayrides and other attractions at their location on Mulberry, but we decided to just do the real farm, buy some pumpkins, and let the girls run. What a great idea! There was a terrific hay house that they enjoyed climbing, I bought a pecan pie, and we got two great pumpkins to carve during It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Tuesday night. It was a little windy. I regretted not packing hats. But the kids loved it and I would do it again in other seasons too, just to give them a chance to be outside. Tired, air-freshed kids are happy kids.

My Eileen Fisher Jacket, or, What I Wore to the Election

The most important little black circle I may ever fill in. Go, Obama, go.

The jacket, the twins, and a good day at the BOE.


A throwaway scarecrow for Sarah Starr. The head looks handmade. Bravo, crafty people.

Is it hot in here, or......

I'm just a schoolgirl at heart.

Oh, Helen.

Rocking the Sleeping Beauty diaper. On her head. at 7:30 a.m. What could be better.

Fun Stuff of Late

There's no there there, as Gertrude Stein would say. The whole UC complex at CSU is but a memory. This view from the library walkway is interesting, in that before the demolition, it wasn't possible.

Bill's new T-shirt. Emma is fan.

Zoo Day, Sunday, October 12. Perfect weather. We did the Northern Trek only, had lunch up there, went to Wolf Lodge. A joy.

Troops to Teachers, or, Lord, He Screwed THAT Up

John McCain mentioned Troops to Teachers in last night's debate. Naturally, my ears perked up. He said that it was a program to let retired and discharged soldiers go into education as a second career without having to worry about certifications and passing examinations.

WHAT?

Bill said I turned into Cartman's mother. "What what what?!?" How could this be? How could some guy just get his discharge papers and walk into a classroom teacher position with no "teacher school" training? No Praxis? NO LICENSE? I mean, yes, being in service comes with valuable experience that should not be wasted. But you wouldn't let a combat medic walk into UH and start performing orthopedic surgery. Are his skills needed? Sure. But just like medicine, teaching is a profession. And professions need licensure.

So I called Troops to Teachers this morning in Columbus. A very nice woman named Veronica took my call. A nice, really shocked woman named Veronica. I told her why I was calling and she said, "McCain just got all his facts wrong. We are a transition program for retired and honorably discharged servicemen and women. They must complete all the necessary requirements for licensure. They are bound by Praxis. Yes, they can get their license under the state-approved alternative route. But to say that they can just become teachers with no training and no license, no." I said, "What did you think when he came up with that?" She said, "I almost threw up. And I prepared myself for all the calls I'm going to get today."

Good going, Johnny. Idiot.

http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEPrimary.aspx?page=2&TopicRelationID=560

The Perfect Pie and Poetry Party, or, Welcome to Obvious World

Sarah Smith and her bud Annie had a pie party. Yes, it was a Poetry and Pie Party on Parkdale. We cut up dozens of paint chips from the Depot to make found-word poems, ate pie, laughed, ate pie, read our poems and clicked our fingers, ate pie, looked at each other's poems (they were pretty as well as pretty good), ate pie. I mean, it was just really, really great.