So Sweet

Valentines Day is just around the corner as all the florists and jewelers having been reminding us for at least the past 2 weeks. The kindergarteners are also in a tizzy over exchanging cards with each other. And my are they ever proud of their ability to put their vows of love into words. I was the grateful recipient of one such proclamation and nice as the notes and hugs are....I still hope that the HB 2458/SB 6376 which address limiting class size at grades K-2 and giving educators the 3%COLA that taken from us in the '03-'05 budget, both pass. Tuesday is the deadline for writing to your WA legislators regarding these bills. Give the teachers in your life a Valentine; send an email! Go here to see a video of why class size matters; although you would have to be pretty dense if you didn't understand the concept of LESS kids meaning MORE time for each child from the classroom teacher. In the video the teachers say they have 25 students and I am envious; we have 28 in each of our kindergartens! Large classes also impact how available teachers are to meet with parents to discuss questions and concerns about their children. More kids take more time, plain and simple. As for the 3%pay raise, we deserve it and it is absolutely critical if we want to attract and keep new teachers. On a personal note, my husband found out last Wednesday that he is one of the 750 Macy's office employees in Seattle that will be out a job sometime this spring. Yes, that 3% would be appreciated more than ever in this household. While I am on a political roll, you KNOW I am just glowing with excitement over the huge Obama's huge success in the Washington caucuses yesterday! As to you nay sayers out there who think his speaking skills mask deficits in his knowledge of international policy and issues; you are selling him short. This man is very intelligent and I am certain while the learning curve would be steep, he CAN do it! Besides, with his ability to communicate he could do wonders in changing the image of the U.S.abroad.
So what did we do this weekend? I went to Esquin and bought a bottle of this and a bottle of that. Copywriters for wines and plants have me pegged. I read their descriptions and I just can't resist buying. Other than that I am not much of a consumer. I also browsed second hand stores for mid century end tables. I bought the perfect lamps, now I need the tables. Is that backwards? Oh, I need the shades too!
Last night we joined our friends Joe and Val in Kent for dinner. As always the food was fabulous. A ginger beef stir fry and a black rice salad (very tasty, it had avacado and orange in it) with coconut sorbet for dessert. I intended on posting the salad recipe but Blogger may not be saving my post...if you want the recipe, leave a comment.