Every Sentence Starts With Mom.....

Mom, Hey Mom, Mommy, Mom, Mooooommmmm. If you are a mother you know what I mean. My children start every sentence with Mom. Most everything that comes out of my son's mouth goes something like, "Mom, where is...my back pack, my book, my ipod, my shoes, my skateboard, my head." My daughter is a question box..."Mom, what is...,why is...,where is....what is.....how come......????" You get the idea. Some days it is enough to drive you over the edge of sanity.

Today was one of those days...then I checked on another blog that I follow, some of you are familiar with the story of Audrey Caroline and some of you are not. If you are not it is well worth the read. Yesterday was a big anniversary for this family and after reading and watching her video it made me glad that every sentence starts with Mom....see if you agree.

Bring The Rain

Raccoon Update

I got several emails inquiring as to the fate of my 'coons. After spending 3 long days and night with Fred (the coon hunter) we have successfully been saved from anymore sleepless nights. Our eaves and roof has been secured with steel bars (again by Fred), the attic fumigated and cleaned and the Mama Coon and her two babies have moved on. Should you need coon services or other home improvement I would recommend Fred he did a great job. If you need his number drop me an email.

Enjoy the weekend!

School Budget Cuts

If you have not seen the depth of the cuts that Volusia County Schools are facing then you need to take a look at this article from the News Journal this morning. It outlines what is being cut immediately, as well as proposed for next year. Sports will be gone. Electives will be gone. Most all programs will be gone.

Take a look at the potential additional revenue sources. Help me understand why they are not looking at the cigarette tax which would raise 1 billion dollars.

We are being led by a bunch of idiots in Tallahassee.

Here is the info on who to write to.

Inaugural Seaside Balloon Fest

The very first Seaside Balloon Fest is this weekend at the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport on US 1. It will be held Friday night from 5-8:30pm and Saturday starting at about 7am. Events include:

Friday: "Balloon Glow" -- illumination of balloon envelopes by their burners accompanied by music. Plus tethered balloon rides, food and other activities. On Saturday there will be a simultaneous dawn liftoff of at least 20 hot-air balloons. You can make a reservation and take a ride for a cost of $175 per person. Call 407-897-5432 for reservations.

Here is an article on the event from the News Journal.

Volusia County Schools Financial Crisis

It is no big secret that our school system is out of money and about to lose more. Volusia County Schools is on this list of schools that is losing more funding, over 13 million. That is outrageous, totally outrageous.

Our brilliant leaders in Tallahassee have once again failed our children. The school board is holding a series of meetings around the county to give you the bad news and ask you to bombard your representatives for help. Here is the information on the meetings. The New Smyrna Beach meeting will be held on Thursday, January 15th at 6:30pm in the NSB High School.

If you are interested in who you need to be contacting here you go:

Florida House of Representatives:

District 28 which covers New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater is Dorothy Hukill

District 27 which covers Daytona, Ormond and Holly Hill, South Daytona and Daytona Beach Shores is Dwayne Taylor

District 26 which is Deland, Deltona and Lake Helen is Pat Patterson

And the Senate, we are primarily District 7 which is Evelyn Lynn

Let's not leave out our brilliant Governor Charlie Crist, by all means include him on any and all emails you send.

If you click on their name you can not only get information about them but in the right hand corner is a handy little email your rep button, one click and you can tell them what you think.

In order to make finding your rep easy, I will include a link to this post in the left sidebar for future reference. If you are unable to attend the meeting check back here next week and I will post the important points so you can contact your representative even if you are not at a meeting.

Whether or not you have children in the school system currently does not matter. These decisions and budget cuts effect every single person in our community. Our future leaders are not getting the education that it is our responsibility to provide and it is not acceptable.

Please do not think that someone else will take care of it, someone else will send that email, someone else will write that letter. Everyone needs to act!