Orientation for Jazzmin's New School

I went to Jazzmin's school orientation today for Aspire Preparatory - it made me feel good about choosing the school. The school considers itself a college preparatory school and focuses on children excelling everyday not just sometimes. For example, there is a statewide required test called ELA. If you get a 2 you pass, 3 your above average and 4 is the highest score. If a student gets a 2 on their ELA they are enrolled in 'early bird' class to help them be able achieve a 3 next time they take the test. The vice-principal says when he speaks to the children individually he refers to them as doctor, council woman, your honor, etc. because he feels that it reminds them of what is expected of them which is to go to college and aim high.

I like that the offer breakfast before school, though I'll still give Jazzmin breakfast at home but Jazzmin will benefit from eating both at home and school. She only eats a little at a time but she's always up for the task of eating. So by the time she goes to school and they serve breakfast she'll be ready to eat again. I love that I don't have to pay for her school lunches anymore. Thank God. Unlike catholic school, there aren't extra fees here, there and everywhere.

They have uniforms but it's not as strict as the one at Jazzmin's school. Jazzmin can wear a skirt, shorts, pants or capris - as long as they're not jeans, sweatpants or track suit pants. The top is a white collared shirt - but that's as far as the limitation goes. And the great thing is she gets to wear sneakers to school - the color of those is not restricted.

They're remodeling the school yard - instead of having one big tar lott they're going to add greenery, a track, play areas w/equipment and "quiet areas" also. This definitely is a great improvement from her old school.

I feel hopeful that this school is going to be far better then her old school. The really seem to be reaching to better themselves as a school each year, whereas her old school wasn't remotely interested in improving themselves. Most of the teachers were sub-standard, kinda nutty and I had no confidence in their abilities as teachers. I also think it's very telling that a parent who used to be very involved in helping out Jazzmin's old school took his daughter out of the school. When it came time to put her in a middle school he chose catholic school but didn't choose to go back to Holy Rosary. I know it has nothing to do with price because Holy Rosary is on the low side as far as catholic school fees go.

The way they do their grading is certainly better then in Holy Rosary. In Holy Rosary if a student had an off day and didn't do well on 1 test, it doesn't matter if they did amazing in homework, classwork or other - 1 bad test grade severely brings down the whole quarter grade. I don't think homework and classwork should come to mean nothing at all because of one test.

Anyway - let's see what happens. I hope it's as good as it appears to be.
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Here today, gone tomorrow

Jazzmin is coming back today from her trip to Disney World. She called me often while she was there - she wanted to call me everyday but her Grandmother didn't let her because she had just spoken to me the day before. But I did speak to her every other day. It seems to bother Jazzmin more this year then past years to be seperated from me. She really wanted to go to Florida and is looking forward to going to Aunt Vallerie's and Grandma Holloway's but still is a little sad to be without me. It's nice to be missed. ;)

Talking to her on the phone just underlines the fact she's turning into a young lady. The way she is able to carry on a conversation, express herself, etc. In away it's a little sad to see the little girl part of her drift away. But at the same time I'm looking forward to seeing the woman she becomes.

Tomorrow is her flight to Illinois - oh joy a nice long trip to the airport. Don't be jealous. I always feel ill at ease watching her go on that plane alone and am anxious until I her from Val that she's arrived safely. This is the part I like the least about her going away for the summer.
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Jazzmin's Mambo Recital

Please excuse the 15 seconds I end up filming the wall - was trying to look for her on stage. She's the second one in from the left. She had to learn the last bit of the routine momens before going on stage because the teacher kept changing the routine. But all and all she did very good!

End of the School Year

One more week of school for Jazzmin. One more week of having to take a train to the school bus and the extra time going to her school to pick her up and then take two buses home. No more montly tuition and all the extra fees that come up throughout the year. Of course her afterschool program next year will be a little more, but I guess that's OK. I'm also saving up for my trip to Korea next year so most of my extra money will be going toward savings. I'm hoping to have all the money saved up by February, going to save what I can til then and then use my tax refund to make up the rest. After that I have to save up for spending money in Korea - I don't know if I'll ever go again so I want to be able to buy whatever I want while I'm there.

I'm still waiting to see what school Jazzmin is getting into next year. Somehow the application didn't get processed due to the way the private to public school transfer applications were handled. Thank God I had the direct dial and e-mail address of a specific person at the dept. of ed or it'd be a real headache. When I was looking into the prospect of public school I had the hardest time trying to get a live, human being on the phone. So I looked on the internet and found the guy in charge of the dept of ed in the Bronx and e-mailed him. He was prompt about responding and giving me the information I needed. So that's why now I already have a direct contact lined up. So anyway, I have to wait until the end of June and they will then know for sure which school Jazzmin is going to. The good thing is the school I was afraid of her being put into is already full so there is no way she's being placed there. She's definitely going to 1 of the 3 schools that are housed in that one building, which is close to after school.

Next year she's going to have afterschool at her taekwondo school, which is awesome. This way she'll be taking classes 5 days a week and will climb the ranks quickly. It's been hard for her to move up belts by only going once a week. Also she will be able to get out her extra energy - after school she always has extra energy to burn.

I am so happy that I won't have to deal with Holy Rosary anymore. They're a disorganized mess and that is not something I want to pay for. Not to mention the extra time out of my day bringing her to and from school. YEAH! No More Holy Rosary!!
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I Let the Bed Bug Bite

Jazzmin and I have been getting bug bites since this past summer. I couldn't figure out where they were coming from - I never saw anything on me chomping away. We've been suffering with very itchy bites - new ones appearing once a month.

I saw a promo for the late night news last week about bed bugs, though I didn't stay up to watch. I decided to check out online what bed bug bites look like to see if maybe that was what was plaguing Jazz and I. And wouldn't you know - the bites look EXACTLY like the ones Jazz and I had been getting. I read up about the bug bites and everything is the same as what we've experienced.

So I've ordred mattress and box spring covers that are supposed to bed bug proof your bed. The only other option would be to throw the mattress and box spring out - but I just bought them! Dont' want to do that. The good thing is, is I don't have a major infestation of them. If I did then we'd get bit more often.

I'm glad to finally know what has been going on so now I can fix the problem. Really hard to combat a problem when you don't know what the root of the problem is. Glad to see there is an end in sight.

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Back to Blogging

I know I have been bad about blogging for a while, I blame Mafia Wars - a game on Facebook and MySpace. Whenever I had a spare few minutes I'd play that instead of blogging. Shame on me... But I have deleted that program so hopefully I will be more consistant with the blogging.

Just to catch up, I think everybody knows about my belly swelling to the point I thought I was 4 months pregnant. Turns out it wasn't but I don't know what exactly happened because my ob/gyn didn't tell me (as he only communicated with me by leaving voicemail messages). All I know is that my tests are all normal. But my belly has started going down since I got my monthly a couple weeks ago.

I am having my wages garnished for the next couple of months due to an old student loan from about 20 years ago. But since I am not taking martial arts for a few months - the money I save there will compensate for the garnishment. So I guess it's not so bad. Though it's not a particularly great thing to go through.

Jazzmin will be going to public school next year. I've finally come to the conclusion that the education she gets at Holy Rosary is no better then public school. Additionally, I don't like most of the teachers at Holy Rosary and don't have confidence in their ability to teach effectively. Most seem a bit off between the ears. It took a while for me to decide that public school was just as good because Jazzmin did have some good teachers in the begining. I liked her kindergarten and 2nd grade teacher - Jazz and I had decided maybe it's that she gets a good teacher every other year. But then 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers have not impressed me or were just bad. I don't need to pay for crazy - I can get that in public school for free. I checked out the state testing of the public school in my area and they do moderately well in english and above average in math. So they're at least as good as Holy Rosary - maybe better.

I feel like a prisoner waiting to get out of jail when it comes to Jazzmin finishing this school year. I will be happy to not have to take a train to her bus stop anymore. We'll get to leave the apt. later in the morning as a result. When I come home her after school is at taekwondo - so it's a 5 min walk from home. Instead of taking 2 buses to get home with approx 20-30 min travel time. And by going to taekwondo 5 days a week she'll go up in the ranks faster then she has going once a week. Plus Jazzmin always has this extra energy to burn after school - so being in taekwondo will tire her out and I'll pick up a mellow version of my daughter.

And let's not forget the fiscal liberation as a result of Jazzmin being in public school. I plan to pay off all my bills while also saving money to go to Korea the summer of 2010. I will also put more money into my 401K. But all this has to wait until the end of June. Sigh.

OK, that's it for now - I'm all blogged out.

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Jazzmin's Basketball Playoffs.

Saturday Jazzmin had her first "play off" game in basketball. Oddly enough - even though her team lost a majority of their games, they are the winningest team in their division.

It was a good game - even better is the fact that they won by 10 points. They were in the lead the entire game. The other team had issues getting the ball to their basket and when they did - the baskets didn't go in.

Her next playoff game is this Friday - thankfully it's not on a Saturday so she doesn't have to miss dance class again. Her grandmother will be taking her to the game on Friday, but I'll be sure to keep you updated on how her team is doing!

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Jazzmin

Jazzmin's last basketball game was this past Saturday. The defense was snoozing on her team and they lost as a result. Her Grandma Simon came to watch - we were surprised she came! Nice of her to come to the last game. It turns out they won enough games to make it to the playoffs. Who knows when that will be - hopefully I get the info. soon. Hard to believe they made it to the playoffs since they lost 80% of their games. Oh well.

Jazzmin started participating in gumdo and she's really enjoying it. She got her very own wooden sword (mukgum) last night while waiting for me to get out of class. She's very excited to use it this Saturday when she has her gumdo class.

I am going to be taking her out of her catholic school starting next year. I don't think that this school is giving her a better education then a moderately performing public school. In fact, the public schools might be a step up from what she has now. I don't have faith in most of the teachers as educators there - it seems like they're just there to collect a pay check. If the public school is comparable to her catholic school and it's problems - at least this way I won't be paying tuition every month for it. I went down to the dept. of ed. enrollment office today to get the ball rolling on this. At first the lady told me that Jazzmin had to be there to enroll. Then she went in to the office and spoke with somebody and I was told all I have to do was have Jazzmin's school fill out the form she gave me and drop it off. And I didn't have to have Jazzmin with me to drop it off. I like 2 of the schools available and the other 2.... not so much. Am really hoping I get the school I want. I will get a letter in the mail in May letting me know which school she got into. Either way - she's guaranteed to get into one of the schools. I had gone down to a charter school yesterday to apply - the school is excellent, but I don't know how I am going to be able to pick her up from there even if they have an after school program. Most places want you to pick kids up at 6-6:30pm and I wouldn't be able to get there until 7pm at the earliest. It's not near any train station - you have to take a bus. So I am not sure if she can go there, but I would like her to.

Well, that's it for now re: my Jazzmin update.
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Affect or Effect?

Remember last year's science fair project where you guys were very vocal about how I should've put Effect instead of Affect on her triptych? Well this year I made sure to put Effect and not Affect but Jazzmin's TEACHER made her change it to Affect with an A.

I asked Jazzmin if she wanted me to write a note to the teacher letting her know that Jazz had it correct the first time, Jazz really doesn't want me to do that.

It doesn't matter so much anyway, she got above a 90 on the grade and was one of the 3 chosen to actually participate in the science fair. The teacher made everybody do a project for the science fair but only chose the best to participate.
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Jazzmin's Basketball Game

I finally was able to go to one of Jazzmin's basketball games this Sunday - which was her 3rd game ever. I was sure that Jazzmin's team was going to win because in warm ups the other team looked like a hot mess, while Jazzmin's team was well organized. But the other team ended up winning, part of the problem is that everybody is new on Jazz's team except for 2 people. So they're all still adjusting to playing on a basketball team for the first time. They lost 17-12.

I feel confident that they'll get better as the season progresses. I've posted a few photos (and a video) here but will e-mail family and friends with the rest of them.

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Jazzmin's Annual Physical

I had to have Jazz's annual physical done with a new doctor as her current doctor was booked until the end of December and she needed a paper signed for basketball the first week of November. This new doctor is at a different clinic all together as the old clinic won't allow my daughter to get a physical by a different doctor as long as her actual doctor was available (I guess they define available as being in the building - even though he's double booked with appts.). I asked the receptionist if she'd prefer the clinic lose my money by having me go to a doctor from a different clinic (as I explained the urgency of the visit) and she told me to go do what I have to do. So I did. Though I think the rule is stupid 'cause if a patent goes to a new doctor and switches to that new doctor as a result then they lose all future earnings. It would make better business sense to accommodate then risk losing the patient all together.

So anyway - I went to the new doctor this morning. Can't say as though I was impressed - Jazzmin did not speak of any problem breathing, despite being an active child, yet prescribed an emergency inhaler for her to have if she needs it. OK... Let's see - if she never spoke of having breathing problems then when would these times of needing the emergency inhaler happen? He's treating a non-existent problem. The reason he wrote the prescription was as a result of a breathing test they had her do. But if the test says she needs it and the patient doesn't have any breathing problems - wouldn't that be a cause to think that something is amiss with the test?

It's not as though her other pediatrician was so amazing, but... It's not exactly easy to find good doctors in the Bronx. If she had any real health problems I'd have to find a doctor in Manhattan - not that Manhattan is full of amazing doctors. You still find more "misses" then hits - but at least the hits are attainable.

But end result of her physical is she's fine and can play on the basketball team. Her first game is on Monday!
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Jazzmin's Dad Court Date

I spoke with Jazz's paternal grandmother yesterday and it seems as though Jazz's father has gone to court today. I imagine it's just a court date to officially enter in the charge, what sentence the prosecutor is going for and get the date his case will actually be heard. After that he'll likely be shipped off to a facility outside of the city to wait until that court date. His mother seems to think that he'll be looking at heavy time - of course, law enforcement has always wanted to put him away for a long time but have, as of yet, been successful.

Jazzmin is staying with her paternal grandmother while I am at my gumdo tournament this weekend. She's going to bring Jazzmin to visit her father. So that meant I had to finally tell Jazzmin that her father is in jail. She took it very well - she seemed unaffected by the news. When I told her that is she feels bad at all about this that she should tell me - but she said it didn't bother her because she's not used to seeing him that much anyway. I cross my fingers that she is not too adversely affected by her father and his absence.

It's times like these that I am glad that she has the teacher she does at taekwondo as a male role model. I feel like somehow having an alternative male figure/role model helps ease the absence of her dad on some level. After all she adores him and he does go beyond just teaching martial arts -but also teaches proper behavior, encourages her to read while waiting for me while I'm in class, gets on her case if he's eating unhealthy snacks, etc.

Well, we'll see what happens with her dad. Wish he hadn't gotten himself into another mess.
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Holy Halloween Batman!

This weekend I have to bring Jazzmin to 3 different Halloween parties in 3 days, starting tonight. Sigh. So much for a restful weekend. But... she doesn't get to go trick or treating so this is the extent of her Halloween celebration. The only other thing we're doing is going to a haunted house on Halloween. So I feel obligated to try and make sure her Halloween is fun by going to all the parties.

The reason she doesn't trick or treat here is because all the kids do are go from store to store and collect candy. Stores leave out a bowl and they dive in. Doesn't exactly capture the spirit of Halloween. I refuse to participate in such a tacky, unfestive revised tradition of Halloween.

Of course, I could bring her door to door trick or treating in apartment buildnigs but I'm not going door to door wondering which one is going to be be the weirdo or serial killer. There are plenty of good people in my area but the element of surprise where there is potential for dealing with the crazies doesn't sound appealing to me.

Incidentally, Jazzmin is going to be Queen Amidala from one of the Star Wars movies - the character Natalie Portman played. It's a girl costume yet it's sporty - just how Jazzmin likes it. She's not really into the girly costumes like barbie, cheer leaders or the like.

Jazzmin on the Basketball Team

Jazzmin tried out for her school's basketball team. She missed the initial announcement of who made it on the team as she was absent that day (due to her tooth getting fixed). But on Friday we spoke with the gym teacher and she MADE THE TEAM!!

Jazzmin is super excited to be on the team. All weekend she talked about how she couldn't believe that she made it. I'm glad, now, that I didn't sign her up for band. Band is more expensive then basketball and she's happy doing only 1 of the 2 activities. But she definitely wanted to do something extra after school. Band is $45 a month plus rental (or purchase) in instrument. Basketball is cost of uniform plus a 1 time $30 ($40?) fee. They end up playing 20 games - 10 home and 10 away games. I plan to take half days for the away games during the week. I don't know any of the parents well enough to entrust them with my daughter's safety.

The good thing is, now that she's on the team, it's almost assured she'll get on the team next year. Then in the 7th grade she has to try out for the varsity team in her school. And that's pretty much a guarantee also. I know Jazzmin is really going to enjoy competing against other schools and seeing if she can beat them. She loves the challenge.

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Jazzmin's Chipped Tooth

I don't know how many of you remember Jazzmin chipping her 2 front teeth in 3rd grade (see photo). But she re-chipped 1 of them today in schoool - only the part the dentist had put on previously came off. Or so I'm told.

Jazzmin's grandmother is going to pick her up from school - I have a dentist appt. for tomorrow. This is the absolute wrong time for her to chip he tooth because I am ultra broke. I called Dawn and asked to borrow money to cover the cost of fixing her tooth. I'm fairly certain that it costed me about $125 to get both teeth fixed, so I'm guessing fixing one tooth will be about $60. And this dentist doesn't bill - it has to be paid up front. I hope everything turns out OK and the fixing of the tooth costs the same as it did last time.... or cheaper?

I called my insurance and at least Jazz's dentist is still in-network. I couldn't remember the name of wha they did to fix her teeth last time so I don't know how much it's going to be covered. It's either going to be covered 50% or 80%.

This whole incident stresses me out.
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Jazzmin's ELA Test Results

Jazzmin got her ELA test results back yesterday. This is the test given in 4th grade to see if kids can be promoted to the 5th grade. Being that Jazzmin is ALREADY in 5th grade, the results are a bit slow in being delivered. But public school kids are really the ones who have to worry about being held back if they don't pass, catholic schools get to make the judgement call.

The score is from 1-4 - 1 you fail, 2 below standard, 3 meets standard, 4 above standard. Jazzmin got a 3 in reading and 3.5 in math. When Jazzmin would do the practice tests - her teacher would always give her a 2. So I was worried about the out come of the actual ELA test.

But I've come to realize that Jazzmin's 4th grade teacher is not the greatest. "Ironic" how everybody's grades went down when they went into her class and now in 5th grade Jazzmin's grades are back to being in the 90s. And, thankfully, Jazzmin's dizzy spells are gone now that she's not in her class anymore.

I'd tell the principal about the situation but I've dealt with her before. Just a waste of time.

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Baby Daddy Drama

I found out from Jazzmin's grandmother that her father is running from the FBI. The FBI has been to visit her as well as the mother of his eldest daughter. It seems as though he's either going to flee the country or eventually get caught. Either way I am left having to tell Jazzmin that she will either never see her dad again or she gets to see him in a jail cell. That is, if the jail he's in is even close enough for us to travel to.

I feel bad for Jazzmin. I think she'll deal with it OK because she's used to not having him around but I think she deserves to have a good father. I know she'd love to have one.
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I'm Sick :(

Jazzmin started to feel sick on Monday - thankfully her grandmother was able to pick her up from school. She ended up staying out on Tuesday with her grandmother as well. Tuesday is when I started feeling sick with my ear and throat hurting. I thought by Wed. the gland in my neck would be the size of a golf ball. While my gland didn't swell, I did feel worse on Wednesday so Jazzmin and I stayed home sick.

I had heard that if you put hydrogen peroxide in your ear that it will help ward off a cold. When I used it on Tuesday night it was really bubbling in my ear so I figured it must be killing some germs. But, obviously, not enough germs to prevent me from feeling worse the next day. Who knows if it helped stop it from getting worse then it already did, don't know.

I came into work today thinking that if I suck down lots of lemon tea that I would be fine. Now I'm starting to think that was a bad idea. But I might as well stay since I'm here. We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning.
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Summer Coming to an End

I can't believe the summer is almost over, it's gone by so fast. I only have 2 more weeks of going to class Mon. - Fri. at Taekwondo. I will be glad to have some weekdays where I can just go home and relax. I am really surprised that I was able to keep it up all summer - I was sure there would be many days where I'd have a hard time motivating myself to go. But that has not been the case. I guess part of it is that it helped that the lady who normally handles the office hasn't been in that much this summer. She makes me uncomfortable with the way she acts toward me sometimes so it makes me not look forward to going there. When a friend of mine came to watch me in my class a couple weeks ago and the admin. was there - even she noticed how funky the admin. treated me.

I don't know if I lost weight working out so much - it's hard for me to tell. I think I have. But I'll still be working out a good amount even when Jazzmin is around. I am going to take Gumdo Mon. & Wed. and Taekwondo Fri. & Sat. This will put an end to my having to rush after work to attend classes as all of them are after 8pm. Saturday's class is at 9am though - have to get up early for her dance class anyway. So it's not a big deal. And that's another thing, this year we have ample time btw. Taekwondo and dance class - no more running 'like a bat out of hell' from one class to another. That is a bonus for me because I hate to rush. I hate having to worry about making it someplace at a specific time - it makes me anxious and I just hate rushing. Given a choice, I always give myself ample time to avoid it.

My Gumdo belt test has been postponed - it was supposed to be this Friday but the teacher administering the test couldn't make it. My teacher can not perform the belt promotion test - it has to be his teacher, who has a school in Long Island. The test will be sometime in September. I'm glad it's been postponed because I don't feel as comfortable with my knowledge of things as I'd like. Especially with the added stress of having to do it in front of a teacher I am not familiar with and is said to be tough. I also don't want to make my teacher look bad by doing poorly in the testing.

I am going to go with Brenda & Andy to pick up Jazzmin Labor Day weekend. Can't believe I am going to see Jazzmin in less then 2 weeks. It feels like she hasn't been gone that long. Hillary is going to come up so we can see our new nephew. We will possibly visit with our maternal aunt and uncle while we're there.

Another bit of news is my landlord wants to offer me a 2 year lease at a 1 year lease renewal price. I just signed my lease renewal for this year - but only did so for one year. It seems a little fishy that they'd make such an offer. But, of course, I am going to take it - at least this way I don't have to worry about my rent going up next year or signing another lease renewal.

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Candids from Illinois