TGIF!

I'm so ready for warm weather that as soon as it broke freezing here, I painted my toenails hot pink and walked around barefoot for a few hours. Yes I did-you have a problem with that?? ;)

So, to answer your question, yes, Kaylee did make a Valentine for the girl who she said "when I look at her all I see are horns on her head" about. She made it today and gave it to M, who in fact did not crumple it up or toss it aside, but appreciated it. She admitted to Kaylee that it hurt her feelings when the boy destroyed her Valentine to him, and then as a thank you, she made Kaylee a play camera out of construction paper, which Kaylee has played with all afternoon. On the way home from school, Kaylee was telling me all about it, and told me it was nice to have M as a friend today. We talked about how kindness is the better way to handle people, and I think it was a "lesson" that really sank in. Not that they are going to be best buds from now on, because with their personalities I highly doubt it. But for today they had peace, and thoughtfulness, and kindness, and a little bit of friendly connection, and sometimes that's enough for the day.

And in case any of you who know me are laughing at me right now because I am not always the best person at being kind when others are not kind, this is one of the things that having kids does for you. I want her to be better than I am, and she acts as a mirror, reflecting what we do, what we think, what we say, what we believe. That can be surprising sometimes, and it makes you want to do better yourself. She's sure a blessing to us. :)

I taught Kaylee how to actually multiply, and she loves it. After we finished the first set of 12s and 13s, she wanted to do them again so she could cement it in. She's not just memorizing the answers, she knows how to get the answers and what they mean. THEN I'm going to have her memorize. We even did double-digit multiplication with paper and pen, and she got it. I was proud of her, and she was really proud of herself when she realized she could multiply anything. She can do any three digits (a two-digit and a one-digit like 14 x 9) in her head, and she can do any four digits (two-digits and another two-digit number like 12x13) with a pen and paper. Now she just needs to be able to do it more quickly, and/or memorize the multiplication tables for speed race stuff. Even there she's better-her teacher again told her today that she could tell she had been practicing, and Kaylee won a lot of the math-offs today, coming in second place. :) Mostly I just wanted her to know how to figure out the answer even if she didn't have it memorized first, so I knew she knew the basic math principles. I always struggled with math, all the way until I had a calculus course in college where everything finally clicked in for me after a lot of hard work, more than a few tears, and a ton of frustration. Kaylee is good at math, better than I was, and I want her to know it and believe it and let it work for her. One thing the teachers got right--math is extremely important in a lot of areas of life! :)

I would talk about flying, but there's nothing to talk about. I was supposed to fly the Decathlon today and teach some aerobatics, but they cancelled due to an airplane issue. So then he offered to hook us up with a Cessna 150/152 Aerobat. The problem with that is that it's a tiny little airplane, and not my favorite anyway, and he's a big guy and I'm...not a tiny girl, making us "over gross" from the get-go, and I'm not too fond of 150/152s in the first place, and a bit of a snobbery on my part means I'm not really interested in doing aerobatics overgross in an underpowered airplane. :) So, another time I guess. Other than riding around in a 172 with a student next week, I've been grounded, grounded, grounded. Grounded enough that I stayed in the Cheyenne an extra length of time when I returned its fuzzy monogrammed blankets just to sniff the interior. *sigh*

While I am unhappy with the stimulus package, let me add this aspect of it that I dislike. In the so-called Stimulus Package there is a provision for 79 billion dollars in monies for a “State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but what I think this government-speak title means is that those who live in states that have a balanced budget will be sending money, lots of money, to states that spend money like it’s water to save them from dying of thirst. Only they’re not dying, just in debt. And I don’t particularly feel obligated to pay California’s debt. And by the way, aren't we back to Socialism and redistribution of the wealth? By the way, I was just as anti-bailout for the same reasons, and that was Bush. Apparently I can't be made happy by the two parties, huh? Don't worry, I don't expect you or anyone else to listen to me on any of this. I'm just a "soccer (dance/cheer/gymnastics) mom" in fly-over country, Indiana. :)

I'm happy that it's Friday and that neither Steve nor I have to work tomorrow, which is unusual. We aren't going anywhere, don't have any flights, the weather is supposed to be warm and nice, and I look forward to a nice weekend!