Maine's Own Off-Topic Thread! (Clinton, Union: mattress, drivers license, rank)

[dramamama6685]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

good idea!

you can't live in rural Maine and not expect that you'll have to drive to get places! We drive to take our kids to some places more than we did when we lived in Bangor.....I'm not 5 minutes from swim lessons anymore for example. The high school is only 2 miles away for me, but for some others it's 15 miles or more. BUT the trade off is that we are rural....we leave our doors unlocked, we know our neighbors, they know us, and they know our kids and watch out for them--often times more than the kids would like.

Our kids ride snowmobiles to school. They hunt. They fish. They've been driving an ATV or a snowmobile long before they can get their driver's license, and they've been driving the family car on the camp road long before as well. In the summer they go swimming and fishing in the lakes and ponds, the same ones they snowmobile across in the winter to ice fish. It's not unusual for our teens to have their own lobster traps in the water, making money, some even have their own boats.

Our towns have after-school programs and recreation departments. It's not all about athletics either. There are arts and crafts and drama and foreign language as well. They are in small classes at school with a fantastic teacher to student ratio.

Most of the kids I know are not sitting with the tails plunked in front of the TV or computer. They are up and moving--active and involved. My kids range from a senior in HS to a 3rd grader, we go a lot with them, yet there is balance too. They are not "overbooked" the way some kids are today. Every day is not scheduled and full of this, that, and the other thing. They have the opportunity to be kids, to play, to grow through that play. They have days in the summer when they leave in the morning and I don't see them til lunch--they're outside playing, they're at their friends, or the pool, or the ball field.

Nothing for kids in Downeast Maine? That's crazy! I know kids participating in everything from the Washington County Children's Chorus to Stage East Theater, to being in swimming lessons at the University of Maine at Machias to taking a pottery "class" at the Cobscook Bay Learning Center. I know kids who participate in sports all year long and kids who can't wait to get out on the water with their Dad in a boat. I know kids who are taking lessons from NRA instructors and kids who participate in Civil Air Patrol and Cadet Corp.

And as an aside, I know of a HS boys basketball team in little old Downeast Maine with a 52-0 record, achieved from 2 previous undefeated seasons, and still undefeated this year.....seems as if they must have had an opportunity to play a little ball before HS to accomplish that.

Greta post Molly! A little aside, I went online recently to see if I could join Stage East's membership. Maybe pay for a lifetime one?), It says one of the requirements is having been involved in a production. Guess I'll have to wait until the first auditions after we move to get involved.

[Maine Writer]

A dog and his baby.

Seb is half German shepherd. It's hard to see it unless you see him in person. In sunlight it's easier to see the little bit of brown hair and his GS stance when he's intently observing. He's driving me nuts whining this morning. He took the critter outside yesterday afternoon and lost it. We'll find it this morning so that it's not lost in tomorrow's snow storm.


Don't hate be because I'm beautiful.

The 30 pound cat. Piper's always been a big boy. He was 20 lbs but not fat until he ate a piece of embroidery floss. His intestines aren't quite right now. And besides, he's big boned. His sister is 11 lbs, solid black, short haired and sleek. Mom is a big tortoise. The dads, well, there were at least two. Sidney howls like a siamese.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

oh MW--it's really a building year! Last night was certainly not their best. Calais has 2 comp squad kids out with injuries (torn rotator cuff and one resulting from a flier fall last Friday-neither cleared by Dr to come back!)....so, a couple of the game squad kids filled in to keep the routine almost the same.

Of course WA won. I was relieved when Kristin hit 130 lbs and 5' 7" all of a sudden. She was too big to fly. She was an excellent base. She'd thrown bales of hay since she was 10 so she was very strong. I'm glad her feet were on the ground. I wish fliers' feet had been together instead of wiping out faces on the way down. Asics leave a distinct mark on faces and foreheads.

Taylor came home griping because Woodland's squad isn't going to competitions. She has a couple of friends cheering. I had to explain not being ready, not starting the long routine the day after Christmas, not having a choreographer, inexperienced very (very very very) young team, blah blah blah. She knows all this. Kristin cheered for nine years, T's heard it before. She's a teenage girl and wanted to gripe. You know how that is!

[mollysmiles]

I do know how that is....and I know about the Asics mark! They get so banged up. Amy's on a kick now about "you fall down on the basketball court and you lay there, you fall down on the cheering mat and you get up and get to where you're supposed to be. You get hurt in a ball game and you pull someone in to take your place. You get hurt cheering and the entire routine gets changed and you might not compete!"

The boys basketball team is teasing them again because they have had so many injuries. I think it stopped after yesterday though. The entire cheering squad and about eight of us parents, along with the AD and the cheer coach were at the hospital for two hours yesterday waiting to see if one of the girls was ok. She'd been kicked in the back of the head when two of them went to do cartwheels at the same time. By the time the ambulance got to the school she was having trouble staying conscious. Luckily she seems to be ok, though she stayed overnight for observation. Very scary--and with all they do, it was a simple cartwheel. It was horrible. Now none of them want to go to Eastern Maine's....they've been through so much this year. I can't imagine they won't go, Calais has never *not* gone, but I just don't know how much heart they'll have in it. The injuries certainly take a physical toll, but it's emotional too. One good part--Katy may not be flying after all---fingers are crossed!

[Maine Writer]

I'm sitting here with my hand over my mouth and goosebumps. I don't know anyone hurt that badly. She must have one heck of a concussion. The girls will come around. They're strong and they obviously love what they do. They're good at it. I watched them at the Calais game.

mmmm....scary. It's a good thing today's young women are tough. Get up, don't brush off, get your smile back, finish what you started and if you have to, throw up when you get off the floor. Then get toughen back up, get back in place, smile and get back to having a great time.

T plays bball. I don't worry about her getting hurt. It's entirely different; a comparatively safe sport. Someone came down over her head under the basket at WA the other night. It never occurred to me that she might be hurt. Of course, the look on her face was "what the..." She went to the line, put up her two shots and the game went on. I bet gymnasts' parents worry as much as cheer parents. There isn't any protective equipment for those kids either. But bball parents - no new gray hairs for me this season.

[Elcarim]

May I change the "off-topic" topic again? It just occurred to me tonight that my girls are already talking about the approaching 'end of school' year. I know it won't come quite that fast, but as soon as it does, the next school year will be here MUCH faster than we ever anticipate with our shortened summer vacation that they are allowed now.

The problem is this......our house needs to sell so we can be moved before the start of the next school year - period. My 7 y.o. will be going into 2nd grade next year and into a school across town that is in a bad neighborhood. This 'hood' is so bad that there is a 9 foot cyclone fence around the whole school grounds with barbed wire at the top - the only one in our community with such an obvious presence of "protection". The thought of her being there scares me. I don't want that place for my baby. DH is so upset at the thought that he even suggested homeschooling her next year if we don't move by then. I say we just HAVE to be moved by then. That's all there is to it.

So, I would so appreciate all your good thoughts, vibes, prayers and incantations on our behalf. I'll be doing all I can on this end!

[msina]

Prayers, vibes and fingers crossed.

[elston]

I will have you in my thoughts most definately!
I will visualize you in Maine.
I don't want your little girl going to school there.
It has to be school in Maine!
God's Speed in sending a buyer and sending you on your way to your heart's home.

[Maine Writer]

It sounds like a prison yard. I'll be sending positive energy and praying.

[Maine Writer]

I see names I know here! Congratulations folks!