Okay, don't worry, I'm not going to post a list of everything I'm thankful for. I usually feel like I am the most blessed person I know and it is probably true.
We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with Dale, Candy and their kids. I don't think Eline really liked most of the food, especially the stuffing and the green bean cassarole, but lots of American kids don't like them either!
There was no snow so the kids didn't get to go snowboarding as planned. They played the new updated version of the Game of Life and played soccer on the X-Box. It was a nice, quiet day.
On Friday I had to work at Old Navy, which was my first exposure to Black Friday shopping. It was crazy! People actually stood in line, in the cold, for up to 4 hours to get a cheap little mp3 player loaded with Old Navy music! It might have been worth $20 at most! We did have some good deals on clothes, though. When I got off I even took advantage and did a lot of Christmas shopping. With the deals and my discount I did pretty well.
We had a house load of girls over on Friday, and that went well. I think we'll do that once a month. But I need some ideas for games or activities the girls can do because movies get boring after awhile. So post a comment if you have any suggestions.
Eline is doing well, except she just found out that the Exchange program is probably not going to allow her father to come here to visit in February. This has nothing to do with the recent issues, because her father has known this for about a month and didn't tell her. They told him they think she'll want to go home with him if he comes. I don't know if that's true or not, but in reality he doesn't need their permission to come to the US, so we'll see if he comes anyway.
It is the last two weeks of the semester so I have tons of papers to write and finals to prep for so I'd better get off the computer and head to school. Mary
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Good Day
Today was a good day! Eline's parents and AYUSA have completely supported me so I think things are looking up in that area. She will be getting a warning letter from AYUSA so she will know just what she needs to do to be able to stay here.
I am accepting some responsibility (not all, by a long shot) and we have both agreed to work harder to make this situation work. On Friday I am having "Girls night" at my house. Both Eline and Chelsea can invite 3 girl friends to come over and watch "Chick Flicks". We will have pizza, sodas, snacks and movies.
I am also going to work to get to know Eline's best friend better, so Becca will be eating dinner with us at least once a week.
Eline is currently grounded for missing her curfew, but I will make an exception for "Girls night".
I did tell her, however, that if she misses her curfew again she will have no TV, computer, telephone (except with her parents) and I will notify AYUSA who will probably put her on probation, which is one step away from sending her home. AYUSA did say that sending Eline to another family is not an option at this point. They reviewed my rules and chores and have determined that Eline will not have an easier time with another family.
So, I am hoping things will get better after this. If it doesn't I know that I've done everything I can to make it work. Mary
I am accepting some responsibility (not all, by a long shot) and we have both agreed to work harder to make this situation work. On Friday I am having "Girls night" at my house. Both Eline and Chelsea can invite 3 girl friends to come over and watch "Chick Flicks". We will have pizza, sodas, snacks and movies.
I am also going to work to get to know Eline's best friend better, so Becca will be eating dinner with us at least once a week.
Eline is currently grounded for missing her curfew, but I will make an exception for "Girls night".
I did tell her, however, that if she misses her curfew again she will have no TV, computer, telephone (except with her parents) and I will notify AYUSA who will probably put her on probation, which is one step away from sending her home. AYUSA did say that sending Eline to another family is not an option at this point. They reviewed my rules and chores and have determined that Eline will not have an easier time with another family.
So, I am hoping things will get better after this. If it doesn't I know that I've done everything I can to make it work. Mary
Monday, November 19, 2007
I'm about fed up!
With Eline! She complained to the exchange program rep that I am too hard on her when it comes to chores. She told me a few days ago that she had cleaned the downstairs bathroom which she shares with Chelsea. I went in to do some laundry (it's also a laundry room) and saw there was still toothpaste in the sink and a big wad of hair on the floor. I told her she had to go back in and take care of those two things, and she got really upset and told Chelsea I expect too much from them.
As for her chores, she and Chelsea rotate chores, which are really pretty easy. One week Chelsea cleans the bathroom downstairs and dusts and vacuums the family room. The next week she takes out the trash, and on trash day takes the can to the street (its on wheels so it's easy to move), and dusts and vacuums the living room. They alternate these chores each week. I think you can see that each girl really spends only about 20-30 minutes each week on chores.
I had told Eline and Chelsea I arranged for tickets to The Nutcracker Ballet so Eline could see it. So the other day she comes home and telles me she went to the ballet with a friend so won't be going with us. She spent the weekend in SLC with her friend, and came home last night and said she wanted to go to Idaho for Thanksgiving with her friend, even though I had told her we had made arrangements to have Thanksgiving dinner with another family. Heck, I practically invited us over so Eline could see a big Thanksgiving dinner, and now she wants to ditch us. Well, honestly, at this point I don't care. Unfortunately for her AYUSA requires 10 days notice and a written request for exchange students to travel with someone other than their host family, so she's probably stuck with us.
I did a survey from AYUSA last week which asked: Does your student regularly shown their gratitued for being hosted by your family? I had to honestly say that besides the first day when she thanked us for having her she has not thanked either of us in any way. I finally decided it was because she probably feels shortchanged. All the other AYUSA host families in our area are wealthy. And I don't just mean they have a bigger house (which isn't too difficult). All of them (5) are very wealthy families and two of the students live in houses with housekeepers, and have no chores at all. Two of the families are taking big trips (one to Disneyland and one to Hawaii) and paying all their student's expenses.
Eline wants to be part of the flag team at school and asked me to pay the $250 fee. I told her she needed to ask her parents and her mother actually told her to ask me for the money. This is not what I signed up for. The program requirements are for me to provide food, shelter, an American family experience (I am supposed to treat her like a member of the family and not as a guest) and to reasonably accomodate for school activities (like driving her to practices, etc.) In return I receive no money. The only thing host families get is the experience of having someone from another country in their home and giving them the opportunity to experience American High School.
Eline makes it difficult to fulfill my commitment to make her part of the family. She is gone much of the time and if I tell her she needs to stay home complains to the program rep or she stays in her room, or goes to a different room to use the computer or watch TV. Even if Chelsea and I are watching the same program on TV that she is, she still prefers to be in a different room.
I guess it's time for ME to call the AYUSA rep and maybe consider a new placement for Eline. This is putting a lot of stress on me that I don't need and I don't think Chelsea and I are getting anything good out of this. Okay I'm done for today.
As for her chores, she and Chelsea rotate chores, which are really pretty easy. One week Chelsea cleans the bathroom downstairs and dusts and vacuums the family room. The next week she takes out the trash, and on trash day takes the can to the street (its on wheels so it's easy to move), and dusts and vacuums the living room. They alternate these chores each week. I think you can see that each girl really spends only about 20-30 minutes each week on chores.
I had told Eline and Chelsea I arranged for tickets to The Nutcracker Ballet so Eline could see it. So the other day she comes home and telles me she went to the ballet with a friend so won't be going with us. She spent the weekend in SLC with her friend, and came home last night and said she wanted to go to Idaho for Thanksgiving with her friend, even though I had told her we had made arrangements to have Thanksgiving dinner with another family. Heck, I practically invited us over so Eline could see a big Thanksgiving dinner, and now she wants to ditch us. Well, honestly, at this point I don't care. Unfortunately for her AYUSA requires 10 days notice and a written request for exchange students to travel with someone other than their host family, so she's probably stuck with us.
I did a survey from AYUSA last week which asked: Does your student regularly shown their gratitued for being hosted by your family? I had to honestly say that besides the first day when she thanked us for having her she has not thanked either of us in any way. I finally decided it was because she probably feels shortchanged. All the other AYUSA host families in our area are wealthy. And I don't just mean they have a bigger house (which isn't too difficult). All of them (5) are very wealthy families and two of the students live in houses with housekeepers, and have no chores at all. Two of the families are taking big trips (one to Disneyland and one to Hawaii) and paying all their student's expenses.
Eline wants to be part of the flag team at school and asked me to pay the $250 fee. I told her she needed to ask her parents and her mother actually told her to ask me for the money. This is not what I signed up for. The program requirements are for me to provide food, shelter, an American family experience (I am supposed to treat her like a member of the family and not as a guest) and to reasonably accomodate for school activities (like driving her to practices, etc.) In return I receive no money. The only thing host families get is the experience of having someone from another country in their home and giving them the opportunity to experience American High School.
Eline makes it difficult to fulfill my commitment to make her part of the family. She is gone much of the time and if I tell her she needs to stay home complains to the program rep or she stays in her room, or goes to a different room to use the computer or watch TV. Even if Chelsea and I are watching the same program on TV that she is, she still prefers to be in a different room.
I guess it's time for ME to call the AYUSA rep and maybe consider a new placement for Eline. This is putting a lot of stress on me that I don't need and I don't think Chelsea and I are getting anything good out of this. Okay I'm done for today.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Lots happening here!
I couldn't believe that its been since Oct. 23rd that I blogged last! I really am a slacker!
On the 27th Chelsea and I went to see the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert in SLC. It was a sold out concert, but we were lucky enough to get floor seating which put us about 20 feet from the front of the stage catwalk. We saw everything really well and Chelsea had a great time. Because they taped a segment of the Hannah Montana show the night before, the whole cast was at our concert and they were about 10 feet from us. Miley's sisters were with sound booth guys so they were only about 2 feet from us. So I guess it was worth the $56 per ticket it cost. There were people in our section who paid $800 a ticket! Now I love my daughter, but I would never pay that much for a concert, for her or anyone else!
My mom and dad came to visit the same day and we had a great time visiting. Dad put up a rack for Chelsea's snowboard for her and mom cooked dinner most nights, including her world famous meatloaf! I didn't get much homework done while they were here but that's okay, I just have to work a little bit harder. :)
On Halloween Chelsea and her friends went trick or treating. I told her this was the last year, she is definitely too old for this. Eline went also with one of her friends. Lots of people told her she was too old, but when she explained that she was from the Netherlands and this was her only opportunity to trick or treat they gave her loads of candy!
I went for an ultrasound on the 22nd, I think and they didn't find the spots on my liver, so I am having a colonoscopy tomorrow to see if they can determine the cause of my abdominal pain. What fun!
School is going well. It's getting close to the end of the semester so I have lots of papers and projects coming up. I hope I can get some of it done tomorrow after my procedure. Hope I'm not too drugged up! :)
Work is good. I just got trained to be a cashier at Old Navy. It's amazing how these new computers/cash registers work now. There is very little for the cashier to do, as long as you push the right button! I think I actually prefer working the floor, folding, straightening and helping customers. At least you get to move around. Standing in the same spot for hours really hurts my back. But it's a job and it's paying for Chelsea's trip to Disneyland, so that's okay. I really like the managers and the other employees, so it is a fun place to work.
Well, that's about it for now. I'll try to be a better blogger in the future! Mary
On the 27th Chelsea and I went to see the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert in SLC. It was a sold out concert, but we were lucky enough to get floor seating which put us about 20 feet from the front of the stage catwalk. We saw everything really well and Chelsea had a great time. Because they taped a segment of the Hannah Montana show the night before, the whole cast was at our concert and they were about 10 feet from us. Miley's sisters were with sound booth guys so they were only about 2 feet from us. So I guess it was worth the $56 per ticket it cost. There were people in our section who paid $800 a ticket! Now I love my daughter, but I would never pay that much for a concert, for her or anyone else!
My mom and dad came to visit the same day and we had a great time visiting. Dad put up a rack for Chelsea's snowboard for her and mom cooked dinner most nights, including her world famous meatloaf! I didn't get much homework done while they were here but that's okay, I just have to work a little bit harder. :)
On Halloween Chelsea and her friends went trick or treating. I told her this was the last year, she is definitely too old for this. Eline went also with one of her friends. Lots of people told her she was too old, but when she explained that she was from the Netherlands and this was her only opportunity to trick or treat they gave her loads of candy!
I went for an ultrasound on the 22nd, I think and they didn't find the spots on my liver, so I am having a colonoscopy tomorrow to see if they can determine the cause of my abdominal pain. What fun!
School is going well. It's getting close to the end of the semester so I have lots of papers and projects coming up. I hope I can get some of it done tomorrow after my procedure. Hope I'm not too drugged up! :)
Work is good. I just got trained to be a cashier at Old Navy. It's amazing how these new computers/cash registers work now. There is very little for the cashier to do, as long as you push the right button! I think I actually prefer working the floor, folding, straightening and helping customers. At least you get to move around. Standing in the same spot for hours really hurts my back. But it's a job and it's paying for Chelsea's trip to Disneyland, so that's okay. I really like the managers and the other employees, so it is a fun place to work.
Well, that's about it for now. I'll try to be a better blogger in the future! Mary
Monday, November 05, 2007
I'm a Blog Slacker
I just noticed it's been about two weeks since I have written anything on this blog. I am in a hurry to get off to school so I won't be able to update right now, but for you faithful readers here is another blog for you to read. If you aren't laughing so hard you are crying, in about 30 seconds after starting to read this entry I think you might be dead. Just a parental warning: The "A" word is used several times and the "F" word is used once, so I guess I'd give this a PG-13 rating, although any respectable 3rd grader has heard worse! Enjoy and let me know if you thought this blog was funny. To get to the blog I'm talking about, just click on the title above: "I'm a Blog Slacker". There's a link to the other blog there. Mary
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