Schools, teaching our kids from the beginning

Having recently moved from the Great State of Texas, I have been settling the household and kids. Putting everything in it's place, sorting the things we don't need for the next year and adjusting to new climate, lifestyle, schools and neighborhood.

While in Texas, I was kidded for being "green" or a "tree hugger." While I am by no means living as green as I want or should, I was more conscientious about waste, electricity usage, and recycling than most people I ran into or knew in Texas. They lovingly called me a crazy Californian - from the state that would rather go bankrupt than give up it's "green" calling.

I like to think that California is doing more than it's part in helping the world become a cleaner, greener place all around. I think all Californians want to believe that. We have sacrificed jobs, businesses, and money to make regulations that will help the environment.

Every action has a reaction. It is not always easy to figure out how extreme the reaction will be. If I buy organic food, will my life be extended or will I feel healthier? For how long? What is the price I need to pay to get the exact result I am looking for?

The budget in California has been an issue for as long as I can remember. The legislature gets locked in, or sessions get extended or the governor demands resolution. Where do the cuts come from? Where can we generate more revenue? How big do the cuts have to be to get the results we need? How much do taxes have to rise to get the results we need? With a fluctuating market place, the right formula is a moving target. As house values drop, revenue from taxes drop. As jobs are lost, revenue from income tax is lost. As businesses go under, the revenue from sales tax and corporate business tax is lost. As programs are cut, revenue is saved.

Looking at the local level programs that have been cut, the one that is affecting me today is the buses for the schools. Not only are the schools overcrowded according to the state mandate for classroom size, the kids either have to walk to school or have someone drive them. How far is too far to walk to school? Not sure of that answer, but it would take us 45 minutes to walk to school, so for us, it is too far, expecially on a rainy, windy day.

The schools were not built with the idea in mind that the majority or even half the parents would be dropping off and picking up their children. The parking lots are proof of that. There is only enough room for the staff and the drive through areas are tiny. The traffic build up around the 2 other schools I pass on my way to pick up my kids is even worse because the schools are bigger.

So, instead of a few buses driving around, 400 parents have to drive around. I'm hoping a scientist or someone with footprint knowledge can help me. My question is, what is the carbon footprint when we had busing and what is it with so many parents driving?


What are we teaching our children? If it were just hat we should walk more, I'd be in agreement. But with all the sacrifices we ask the businesses to make to be green, I would think maybe the busiensses would require that we teach our kids how to be green, too. I'm wondering if I'm the only one who thinks all the extra cars on the road is not the right message to send.

May 22, 2009

Here is a little video Doug put together of the kids playing in the back yard earlier this week.
Jen is coming over on Saturday to give Doug and I a "date night" for our anniversary. Hopefully they won't all take advantage of her too much!

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/1a878af207c239df0800567ed19b0c40/video/4198205

Houston's Crazy Weather

Well, last night's storm was not so enjoyable...a little scary! Tornado warnings (which mean circulating areas that will probably make a tornado) from about 4 to 6 pm. Every time the wind picked up we wre searching the skies for funnel clouds! Around that time, the back yard was mostly flooded, but not totally. We had a huge storm a week ago over 2 days. We got as much rain in the afternoon as we did in the last storm. Our little creek that runs through the neighborhood was flooded into the retention ponds. The fountains were barely visible, which means the water level was up at least 5 feet.
At about midnight the lightening started, about one strike per 2 seconds. Then, by 1 am, it was like a strobe light. Every 1/2 to 1 second there was a flash! I've seen those storms off in the distance over the past 2 years, but never had it right over head. It was amazing! Then the rain got harder - it sounded like a huge waterfall outside our house for about 2 and 1/2 hours. We got more rain in the last 24 hours than we did with Hurricane Ike last year. About 12 inches in 24 hours!

Our whole back yard flooded, which is about 1/2 acre. I was worried that our house would get flooded! But, we are ok. Not so for the rest of Houston. Katie didn't have school today due to the flooding. Many parts of town have cops and national guardsmen keeping people from traveling through town. One of Katie's classmates lost her house yesterday because it got struck by lightening! Lost everything! Devastating and sad. Luckily everyone got out ok. The nanny couldn't make it today because the cops and national guard were not letting people out of her neighborhood.

One a brighter note, we rescued a baby bunny Sunday and wow, I can't imagine it would have survived out in the storm if we hadn't found it. I need to get it to the rescue place or release it. It seems to be ok now...had a hurt foot, but it seems to be better now. It's more active than it was Sunday. I can't get it to the rescue place now due to the flooding. Couldn't get it there yesterday due to the tornado warnings. Some how I need to get rid of it!

Beginning the New Year

Well, looking back, it's hard to remember the whole year, which brings me to the point of this post...to make note of the great things that happen to our family in 2009.

As we closed 2008, with lots of sniffles and sneezes, and 80 degrees one day then 50 degrees the next, 2009 has us mostly recovered and ready to finish the "winter" and move into spring as soon as possible.

These past 2 weeks Doug and I took off most of the time to spend with the kids, with a little work here and there. It was probably the most relaxing holiday season we've had since the kids were born, well, maybe ever. With no family around and a virus passing amongst us, we had little time with family or friends. We were fortunate enough to be well on Christmas and had a nice Christmas dinner with our neighbors and the kids had lots of fun playing all evening, almost til midnight.

The kids were thrilled to go see Desperaux and visit the zoo. Doug also took them to the Natural Science museum where the infamous "Lion eating the Zebra leg" display was entertainingly viewed again. The big dinosaur skeletons are impressive, but nothing beats a lion eating a zebra!