Making our own cat post

Picked up a new kitten this weekend (hey...what is another animal? Am I right??).

She is so pretty!! Hiding right now (shucks, doesn't it figure!).

But, another cat means another cat litter box. We have dogs, and our dogs like to treat the dog like a snack tray ("ohh....almond rocha! Sure, I'll have some!"), and then come give me kisses. No thank you!

With our other cat, Furby, we have her cat box up on a shelf. Since we need a scratching post anyways, how about incorporating a large scratching post to hold the cat box?

Scratching posts are crazy expensive! Fifty to over a hundred bucks for one. Are you kidding me?! It's a couple of two by fours, some plywood, and carpet. It's nuts to me.

I sweet talked hubby.... I purchased carpet scraps today ($10), and hubby fab'ed something up in about an hour. BOOM! Here it is. Total cost to me out of pocket today was $10. Everything else was scraps around the house.

I love me a good deal!!

The more things change....

the more they stay the same.

Odd how that happens!

My oldest son plays hockey. And this year, he has been invited to skate practices with a high level team (he is 15, most the kids on the team are 18 to 20). This is a break for him, a chance to be on the ice, learn some skills and be seen by the coaches. Mostly, to gain better skills and hopefully get a foothold in the coaches mind for next season.

The bad part? He would miss two classes four days a week. And his school doesn't allow for early release for sophomores. What is a mom to do?

I could home school him, but that isn't my first choice. I tried calling the school counselor, met with the principal, neither met with any success. I applied for two different charter schools. He had attended a charter school for his 7th grade and half of his 8th grade years, doing his classes on the Internet, and meeting with his teacher twice a month.

This program was successful for him in the past, and allows for a lot of flexibility; he can do lessons at night or early morning, even on the weekends, he can do work ahead of time if he has games out of town, etc. He simply missed fellow students and wanted the social element that I can't give him at home.

But we have come back around to the web academy again. Funny, when the public school told me "no, he cannot have early release. I guess you can work out a program with the college or attend a private school" my thought was "NO! Those aren't my only options! I can home school my son (I am college educated, he is smart, we can figure something out) or we can charter school (the best choice, as it is still part of the public school system and is accredited, earning him normal high school credits that transfer back)"

Full circle. Back to a form of "homeschooling".

My teen son, the one who earlier this spring told me I needed to get a "real job" is now telling me he is glad I don't have a "real job" so that we have flexibility to do all this. Darn toot'n son!! And THIS is why I don't have a "real job".