It’s a very drizzly, gloomy day in Atlanta today. After a rough night of nightmares, I finally got some sleep this morning and woke up very behind on my list of things to make and do an most importantly blog.
I didn’t get time to put up a time post for our chatter today, so rather than putting up a late post for Monday, I thought I would start Tuesday’s early. 🙂
I am currently watching a 20/20 episode about the 50th anniversary of the Sound of Music with lots of interviews with Julie Andrews, AKA Sequoia’s obsession, and they are on location in Salzburg, Austria where the movie was filmed. From this I learned that Austria is the 11th rainiest country. So Salzburg got the spot for Tuesday.
Banjo and I had also just returned from a walk in the rain when I found this photo.
I’m loving all the gardening talk on the secret gardening page.
TT does Banjo actually like the rain? Both my dogs did not, in fact when I had to walk the smaller one, she would take a look at the water, then do an about face and give me the “look.” Gosh I miss them.
​Banjo is so starved for walks he would walk in any weather. It was not raining when we first went out and then it began. There was no way I could in good conscience abort the mission. He was just happy to be on a walk. It was just a drizzle then, but it’s coming down pretty good now.
Banjo LOVES snow. Cleary, he’s a damn yankee. 🙂
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 7:31 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Dogs perceive snow as an endless, all you can eat ice-cream buffet.
This picture makes me want a big hit chocolate with plenty of whipped cream and a big piece of cake
Sorry your skies are cloudy today, it is a BEAUTIFUL day in my Yankee town. Spring has finally arrived. French pedi’s with my open-toe stiletto’s are next!
My Bichon loves the snow….the rain, not so much. Julie Andrews is one of my fave old Hollywood stars…always elegant + poised. Loved her as Queen of Genovia.
So are you still covering RHO Melbourne?
​Yeah… I just suck. I’ll try to get on it on Thursday. 🙂
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 8:01 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I am jealous of your rain. It hardly rains here. I would love to go to sleep early tonight under the covers listening to the rain. So peaceful. Instead it will be 23789 steps to get my toddler to bed then midnight wake up calls from the baby to eat. So tired.
I sleep so well when it rains too. It must be white noise. Love when it rains and I dont have to wake up to go to work and I can snooze.
Hang in there Jen. This too shall pass!
I love it when it rains at night. We moved our bedroom into our sunroom. It’s heated and cooled and makes a wonderful bedroom with blackout curtains for the mornings. It also has a tin roof so when it rains, it’s almost like a lullaby. You can barely stay awake even if it’s early when it starts to rain.
Aww Jen. I’ve been there. Boys are 15 months apart. I used to say, if I ever see another sunrise, it will be too soon. Lack of sleep is worse than being drunk sometimes! Hang in there. It gets easier…
@ Jen, this time passes quickly.
Enjoy this time Girl, hugs.
Thanks. I try to enjoy it but toddlers are such assholes. Mine are 16 months apart.
The thing I love about a night rain is I can leave my curtains open and open the windows and listen. Generally there is a lot of activity outside my window and if it’s dark out and my lights are on, I’m lit up like an Amsterdam whore in the red light district.​
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 8:02 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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BWAHAHAHAHA…. you scamp. I still have an auto notify alert on ebay for that blasted WWHL tea bag.
Getting you that tea bag is on my bucket list. I am VERY concerned because it looks like Andrew has had his interns rearrange the backdrop to the clubhouse. I may need to take a more direct approach.​
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 8:05 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I had resigned myself to not seeing this SOM/JA special as ABC hadn’t put it online or on demand, now thanks to you, I have now had the opportunity to view it in all it’s splendor. I am forever in your debt.
When my mother died in NY 1997 I took time off from mourning to see Dame Julie in Victor/Victoria on Broadway. Seeing the show wound up being the highlight of the trip. To this day I’ve never quite forgiven my mother for ruining the experience.
Anyway, I will admit to a bit more then a casual interest in Dame Julie, I’d hardly call it obsessive. Not like say like brandi glanville level wine throwing crazy super fan obsessed. That said, having just watched the SOM special, were I to die today, I would die a happy man…
Ha….. Is can just hear Fred Astaire now …….. “I’m Singing in the Rain”!
OMG Cafe Mozart. I need to go there and drink coffee while reading a John Le Carre novel!! I love Mozart. I love Sound of Music too. They are doing another sing-along to the Sound of Music and the Hollywood Bowl, this summer. Maybe I’ll drag the kids, etc. to it again.
I’ve got tickets to it! I’ve been wanting to go the last few years and finally bought tickets. I do wish I could carry a tune, tho! Can’t wait to see all the crazy costumes. And I’m with you on LeCarre. LOVE his Smiley trilogy!
Send rain to poor draughty Los Angeles!!
Clearly, God hates California. I keep telling all my Cali (SWIDT?) friends to move… to no avail. I must admit visiting my friend in Orange County is lovely. It’s very beautiful. BUT IT’S GOING TO FALL INTO THE OCEAN!​
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 8:15 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Damn TT. I’ve always said the same thing. The fault line is where the state is going to start cracking during the big earthquake and just continue to crumble and fall completely into the ocean. Then there really will be oceanfront property in Arizona lol.
We had a little earthquake last night! I was at work.
​YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!
Sorry. I say this to my west coast friends all the time.
I might be a bit paranoid. But there is more science behind that the “global warming” shit.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 2:47 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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aaargh no more “Cali”…..it’s “California” You’re trying to get a rise out of us Californians, aren’t you? 🙂
Personally, I will take earthquakes over tornadoes. I didn’t feel either one of them the other day.
That is my my moms fav movie. I have watched it every year at least once since I was a little girl. Even when I watch it now I’m reminded of climbing on her lap and having mommy/daughter time and dancing around the living room singing My favorite things. It just goes to show the most important things are not what you can buy your kids but the time you spend. I couldn’t tell you 1/2 the things that were bought for me. But that memory is as vivid as yesterday, and I can’t remember what I had for breakfast on Saturday lol.
That photo of Salzburg makes me want to go there. It just looks so beautiful with the beautiful pastel colored buildings and ironwork. I wouldn’t mind that rain one bit. The guy is walking a chow dog like mine.
We used to have a photo over the mantelpiece in our house of a valley in Switzerland and I always pictured that scene of Julie Andrews spinning around on top of the mountain singing the theme song. Easy to imagine breathing in that fresh mountain air.
In junior high school I joined Girls’ Choir and was in it through senior year. In addition to some really strange and obscure songs that our religious choir director chose for us, luckily we also got to sing Broadway tunes and some of the popular songs of the day. Sound of Music was my all-time favorite and I envied the high soprano girls who could sing those parts.
Pristine.
That looks so dreamy and my favorite kind of day. Really hope some rain finds it’s way to California (Cali ? hehe) And love love love The Sound of Music … whheeeee!
I’m dying to go to Vienna and Salzburg. The daughter of my BFF from high school is living there now. She is legal counsel to Red Bull. Geez talk about a plumb job!
So can I hijack this thread? I need to talk about Southern Charm. Tamara- please let us know if you want to start recapping it (since you confessed to being a closet watcher) or if you want us to add to the Daily Tea Tuesday threads from now on?
Thanks!
Shaweeeet!!! Guess you just answered my question… I see a recap up!!
http://s17948.p858.sites.pressdns.com/2015/04/13/southern-charm-recap-bbqs-and-bow-ties/
Merry Christmas.
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 11:25 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I’m just adding a post to make sure this daily travel escape has traffic! Stressed OUT with adult issues, God I hate that! Would prefer to be working in a little floral shop right now, or have nothing to do but garden. I shouldn’t be here- so I’ll stop, at least until I wake up at 3am!
kk bella, sorry that you are so stressed for whatever you are going through. Sure hope your life calms and things get better. Sending you positive calming energy and thoughts. Maybe it will help a little just knowing someone knows and is thinking about you. Hugs.
Hugs, kk bella. Walking the walk with you.
Hang in there KK Bella! Today is a new day, girl!
Just was wondering about other parents/ educators points of views on state assessment tests for elementary students. Here in Tx my 3rd grader is now supposed to take the STAAR test. My son is a great student. All a’s. I’ve already told him that it’s just a test and I’m refusing to make a big deal out of it. However the school and teachers are pushing this as a super big deal. In general I think my son will pass the test and be just fine. On principal I hate standardized testing and was wondering if I should opt him out. Thoughts??
It is a super big deal to the educators and the school district.
Supposedly the testing is about how the students are doing however it’s really about the schools and the teachers. It’s a judgement on them.
Testing was good idea but it’s not working out very well.
We just switched to the milestones test – which I think is another name for the STARR test. Because it is graded by a human ( versus the scantron), teachers have been told that scores may not be back until December or January. We just tested last week. I didn’t opt my son out, I told him I didn’t give a shit how he did. He is in gifted classes and the schools make enough money off of him already. They are adding another gifted class next year- gotta make that money! As it is now, he is in gifted for all classes with the exception of social studies and reading. That I like. If he were in regular Ed, I would have pulled him already. In gifted, he is with similar students and they move at a faster pace. In his SS class, there’s a kid who is 15 ( in 7th grade) who has a dedicated para with him ALL day that does his work for him. That’s bullshit.
Kind of dickish to comment on someone else’s kid having a dedicated para when you don’t know jackshit about what might be in that kid’s neuropsych eval/ 504/ IEP.
You’re lucky your kid qualifies for special education services via his gifted classes.
Some of us have kids with special needs who can’t qualify for any services because we can’t document failure to meet AYP.
I am a former public school educator and I desperately wanted to opt him out of paarc. The ONLY reason I didn’t is because he deals with enough social stigma as it is and opting out would have added to it.
I cant afford private, am too ill to homeschooling him, and missed the charter lottery deadline.
This testing has nothing to do with achievement and is 100% about money. It has resulted in the best and most creative professionals retiring early or choosing the administrative track, and drawing mediocre people to the classroom. It makes me sick.
Shellbelle- I fully understood your funding remark the first time you said it, and it’s still grotesque on repeat. It is really gross that you seem to sincerely think that a public school is “making money” off your gifted child. I am in education, and I am well aware that gifted kids fall under IDEA.
If I was feeling as obsessively terrorized by the prospect of such a violent criminal enrolled at my child’s school, I’d do something tangible to change the situation. Honestly, I feel sorry for the kid in question. If the situation is as black and white as you describe, his future looks much shittier than your kid’s future.
Forgive me if I get SUPER pissy about people with gifted children bitching about services they get when kids with ACTUAL medical and intellectual impairments which don’t meet strict AYP criteria are left with zero help and shoved into groups of 32 9 year olds.
​I don’t think I would opt him out. I would try to find a way to make him ignore the teachers/administration. My school would have these DON’T STRESS ABOUT THE TEST rallies and shit. The kids would never know it was such a big deal if the school would just do it and shut the fuck up about it.
Opting him out will ostracize him and make him feel like a tard.
The problem is constantly telling a kid not to worry about something lets them know they better not fuck it up.
You should opt him out of any kind of rallies or guidance counselors saying stupid shit. How old is your kid?
Just sort of feel out if he has any feelings about it and let him know it’s no big deal it’s just a test like any other and he should do his best and not worry.
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 11:41 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Ultimately I don’t want to or think I will opt him out because I don’t want to be THAT parent who has THAT kid. He is 9 and a very good student. We have spoken about it and he says the teacher says ” it’s a very big test!” And “it’s important to do your best” while I have agreed with those remarks I’ve just Tried to remind him that as long as he does the best he can do he will be fine. I just am so sick of the pressure that they put on the kids about this stupid test. I mean the school basically goes on lockdown. No parent are supposed to come to school to have lunch with their kids( not that I do).recess in all grade levels are cut for the day, the whole school is walking around on tip toes. It’s just ridiculous. Guess I just wanted to rant for a minute about it!! Thanks
​If he is a good student and you try to opt him out his teacher will call you in tears. Seriously.
Let him take the test. Check out Testing Miss Malarkey from the library. Read it to him and tell him that grown ups get stressed about stupid things. 🙂 Though that is a picture book and he may roll his eyes. Even big boys like their mama to read a picture book.:)
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 2:12 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Thank george bush for that shit. Tying test scores to school funding is bullshit. Poor schools often have larger EL populations and that drags scores down. It also isn’t fair that current teachers are being held accountable for what prior teachers neglected to teach. Don’t even get me started on high school exit exams. (The kids who can’t pass — being tested on math grade 6 and English grade 8- are now having to take intervention courses to help them pass the test. Not learn lost material, but taking classes to pass a test. College bound students have no trouble passing and kids that actually need their high school diploma to work or go to vocational schools don’t get graduate or get their much needed diplomas.)
The kid with the dedicated para? He’s been to alternative school, is involved in a known gang, and has sexually assaulted 11 and 12 year old girls( he’s 15) at school and refuses to do his work which is why the para does it for him. So forgive me if I seem dickish about his 504.
My kid is considered special Ed and the school gets funding for him just like they do special Ed students on the other end of the spectrum. Which was my point about the funding.
I’m in Texas with a 3rd grader! She has been stressed about this for sometime. I talked to her teacher and she told me that for 3rd and 4th graders, it’s not a big deal. If you fail in 5th grade, you might be held back. My child will breeze through reading and ELR, but she has some trouble in math. I explained to her that it is basically a test to see how well the current teaching methods are working. She seems more at ease knowing she can’t “fail” it. I wouldn’t opt out. Just consider it practice for the 5th grade exit.
It’s a shame they make such a big deal out of it. I am also in Texas with a 6th grader and the last years he has exceeded expectations. I think that is the wording. I do believe that if your child makes good grades and does somewhat well in school, the test will be no big deal. Growing up we had standardized tests every year and no one freaked out like they do now. Maybe it wasn’t linked to funding back then?? Anyway, good luck- it will be fine. No stress!!
Look some place I’ve been! Loved it. Went to Mozart’s Geburtshausthe, the Baroque fountain of the Residenzbrunnen, Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburger Dom, and Festung Hohensalzburg. Visited a very old Beer hall called Stieglkellers. Got lost lol! The tunnels. Austria is beautiful so many places to visit. Good wine, chocolate, and cheese.
@shay Beg pardon…but GWB left office in 2008. Please direct your anger to @Arne Duncan and the current occupant (soon to be up outta here) of the WH. Thanks.
Didn’t the Staar testing and all others come about because of the No Child Left Behind Act? That was George W’s proposal in 2001. The bill was bi-partisan. Boehner, Ted Kennedy, others co-wrote it. Bush signed it. President Obama and Arne Duncan want to change the act, but that is done in congress not the White House. Don’t want a flame war here, but reality is important. @Shay, agree 100%.
@lisamia: can always count on you for a reasonable comment. I should’ve read ahead before hitting reply in my email. That’s the last time I respond to that person. She’s always trolling me.
Thank you. Not a fan of revisionism.
I don’t understand how Tanya is so confident in her comments yet half the time has the facts wrong.
@Lisamia Oh puh-lease! BO issued waivers for NCLB in his second year, and renewed said waivers in 2012. He had the supermajority, why didn’t he repeal it? Sorry….he owns ERR-thang after 2009.
President Obama never had a super majority. It takes 60 senators to get a super majority. When President Obama was sworn in, Jan 20, 2009, he had 58 senators. He should have had 59, but the Republicans contested Al Franken’s election in Minnesota and he didn’t get seated for seven months.
Arlen Specter switched parties, but that put the count to 59–one short. Then Senator Byrd fell ill which put him out of commission and the count back down to 58, in practice, if not on paper. That stood when Franken was finally sworn in. In practice, there were 59 senators. Then, Ted Kennedy died and it went down to an actual count of 59. And then, Scott Brown–republican– won Kennedy’s seat. The Republicans have blocked legislation over 500 times with their filibuster since President Obama was sworn in. In February of this year, the House Republicans decided yet again not to vote on a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Bill.
No child left behind. You’re excused.
Angel (?) I think she likes to rattle cages, so facts are optional
@Shay, This is actually getting kind of fun. 🙂
@lisamia: I’m glad you’re having fun and am dying in laughter:) Unfortunately every other comment made to me has been personal. Calling me pathetic, dumb, and inferred I’m also uglier than her and shorter? I have never made a personal dig toward any commenter, yet now my poor health is deserved or has “correlation” with my spirit and how I treat others? (Give me receipts on who or when I have mistreated someone.) Hm. Im pretty sure my health has to do with me being rear-ended at a crosswalk by someone going 55mph… but of course, only one person knows the facts about everything and cant ever be wrong or take a seat or just shut the fuck up. Its not fun arguing with window licking trolls, for me. I’m just not feeding or acknowledging the troll anymore. I’ll just wait until TT banishes her and she comes back with a new name (and hopefully a new persona).
Gentle hugs, @shay. Hope TT takes care of her, and I will ignore her now, as well.
@lisamia: sometimes I think commenters think we are on a show and they need to create controversy and drama within the group. I don’t see any other reason you personally attack strangers on such a funny, lighthearted blog. Take that energy to foxnews.com or slate. I’m just here to make fun of strangers on tv (who get paid to act a fool). Its a bonus to get such support and encouragement from people like you… and although I love seeing you take someone to school, you can’t make someone willing to learn (or unlearn they know it all). I’ve always said, the older I get and the more degrees I earn I realize just how little I know, how much more there is to learn, and how everyone is smarter or more talented than me in different ways. Its this knowledge of lacking knowledge that propels me to keep learning… That doesn’t mean I’m not discerning or can’t spot a striped donkey pretending to be a zebra.
@shay, I don’t understand attacking strangers either–especially here. I am glad you are here. You are interesting, caring and funny. Happy to know you. I still have to buy a darned tomato plant!! (don’t tell TT)
​I CAN SEE YOU! Do I have to give you a deadline! 🙂
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 10:36 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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shay, please don’t include links. Thanks.​
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 10:28 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Sorry!
​She’s gone. I should have done it sooner. I apologize for the delay.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 9:50 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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You are so sweet, TT. I don’t know why I let it get under my skin… I just dont have the energy to trade insults on my fave escape blog.
​And you no longer have to. xoxo.
On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 12:42 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I <3 sound of music but I'm too poor to travel IRL.
This is going to make me sound moronic but wth: TT I wish you would recap teen mom og.
Or teen mom 2. I can’t wait to see Leah have her third marriage next season and 4th kid. Maybe twins, then she will have 5! If she has another Goggles, I die.
I’m sorry, and I don’t mean any offense to anyone here, but Leah just makes me think of the young mother with 5 or 6 kids and several baby daddy’s bare foot hill billy. She has a modern twist with several divorces and none of the dad’s, as far as I know, are drunkards who like to beat their wives but come on Leah. Slow down girl. You are way too young to have 3 kids and two divorces.
Shay, high 5, girl. We had some good convo here about Farrah’s pathos back on her solo celebrity rehab appearance, and I’d love TT’s take on how absolutely DISGUSTING Tyler Baltierra is behaving and Gary Shirley TELLING LEAH THAT HER NEW FUTURE BABY SIBLING WAS AN ACCIDENT.
OMFG.
Leah Calvert is supposedly being told to go to rehab now. I find her more of a nagging, ungrateful, cheating cow than a drug addict, personally.
Ugh, please TT. This shit is so much more compelling to me than Bethenny Frankel, whom I wish we would all please start calling BF, Lvp style.
TT, thanks for booting the a-hole who was harassing my fellow chronic illness poster here. This is the only blog I went to the trouble to ever create a commenting account on, and it is my escape haven, too, and yes, my husband hates you, too. 😉
​I can live with that. 🙂
On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 9:54 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Thsnks for the support, love2hatebravo:)
“there wasn’t a camera crew. It was us and one guy with a camera.”
So, you admit someone else filmed it.
“What? I never said there was another guy with a camera.”
—
“My future top clients will have me, the top plastic surgeon. I’ll be the best because I’ve had good and bad experiences with plastic surgery.”
@Shay I really hate to be unkind here…but perhaps your poor health has correlation with your spirit and how you treat others.
Something to think about yes? Namaste.
​okay, you’re done here.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 6:54 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Thank you, TT. <3
@Angel Take a seat. I am not addressing you. Mmk?
@Ca Fall back….. and you might want to read more sweetie. Perhaps something other than reality tv blogs….just say’n.
TT I love your advice about the tests.
The only time I have been to Europe was on a backpacking trip, Salzburg was wonderful, especially liked the coffee, cobbled streets and Mozart candy!
Spoiler Alert about the scene where Julie Andrews is singing and twirling in the grass…she said in an interview that shot was done via helicopter and the blades and wind were so low she couldn’t hear a thing and was sometimes blow down…