Skunked

Last night, Garbanzo ran outside around our bedtime. We didn't worry about it too much, as he'll come meowing to the door in a few minutes to be let back in. This time, he didn't.

Around midnight, I woke up and saw him at the door, so I let him in. I vaguely noticed a smell, but I let him in. Then the smell hit me, and I realized we had a skunk problem on our hands. I corralled Garbanzo to the laundry room, to minimize contamination and come up with a plan. I noticed he was wet when I pet him, so I grabbed some paper towels to squeegee him off.

Then the smell kept getting worse. I moved him out to the garage. Very quickly, the garage became foul. R suggested that he needed to get outside ASAP, but he was hiding under the van. I opened the side door, and open the garage opener to scare him out and to get some fresh air in there. He ran for it.

I did some other tidying up, left the garage door open, and went back to bed soon enough. Clearly, this was not a problem I could deal well with in the middle of the night.

For the rest of the night, he sat outside our bedroom and howled. And stank.

We spent this morning trying to eradicate the smell from the house. Amazing stuff, skunk spray. A little goes a long way. We are making good progress, but it still persists around the house. From his short time in the garage, both of our sealed cars became rank.

R found the Mythbusters' approved anti-stink solution, and Garbanzo was freaked out enough to let her clean him without much complaint. He smells much better, but I think he got hit in the face, and it was hard to wash there.

Ned

Ed is the last surviving tadpole. Ned didn't survive the shock of moving to the new tank, I think.

PS. It turns out that Ned survived, and Fred and Ed didn't. Title updated.

Fred, Ed, and Ned

Today is EJP's birthday. He's 5 now.

Aunt E sent him a unique birthday gift that is prefect for his creature loving mind. Bull frog tadpoles. They arrived in the mail last night. E named them Fred, Ed, and Ned.

Unfortunately, Fred didn't survive the night.

RCP has now bought supplies, such as a tank and food, and is putting together their environment now, in hopes of saving Ed and Ned. If all goes well, we'll have a couple bull frogs for a couple years.

GATE

Gilroy Unified School District has a couple programs to be proud of. One is the Dual Immersion program at Las Animas Elementary, which over the course of 5 years, teaches both English and Spanish. We are very excited that EJP will be one of the participants in the fall as a kindergartener.

Another program is the GATE program at Rucker Elementary. This is a 3 year program that focuses on challenging the best students to learn more depth and better study skills than the traditional education. We had hoped that SKGP would be a part of the program, but she was denied. However, we have a chance to appeal the decision. Basically, they want to know why they should re-look at their decision.

It occurred to me that with the help of my very smart, well spoken readers, we could write the best darn appeal they've ever seen. If you'd like to help, I've created a Google Doc, and spent 3 minutes writing some thoughts. You should be able to edit it by clicking on:

http://docs.google.com/a/pacehouse.com/Doc?id=ddbqfpjj_329583xjngj&invite=f8psv6g

(Let me know if that doesn't work!)

That's our bee

GILROY'S ARTICULATE SOLUTIONS WINS TOP HONORS AT COMMUNICATOR AWARDS GILROY, CA, May 28, 2008 – Gilroy's distinguished marketing and design firm, Articulate Solutions, is proud to announce it has received three top honors at the 2008 Communicator Awards, the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals. The awards competition, now in its 14th year, is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an exclusive organization of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, advertising and marketing firms. "Receiving these awards is a true testimony to the level of work my team strives to achieve every day with each client," said Articulate Solutions creative director Katherine Filice. From an incredible pool of more than 8,500 entries, Articulate Solutions scored two prestigious Communicator Awards of Excellence, for its Rancho Abeja logo for local developer Wellington Corporation, and for its book cover design for Tarawa's Gravediggers. The company also took home an Award of Distinction for the City of Morgan Hill's recycling program illustrations. Tarawa's Gravediggers author William L. Niven commented, "I have been unexpectedly honored to have associated with such a fine firm as Articulate Solutions. Their contribution to the creation of my book has been significant and profound." "With the Rancho Abeja mark, the team at Articulate Solutions has brought together a concept which combines the worlds of corporate branding and intricate design in an aesthetically arresting way," said David Pace, Director of Acquisitions & Sales for Wellington Corporation. "Congratulations to Katherine Filice and the talented members of her team by earning yet another design award for their marketing efforts on behalf of the Wellington Corporation." For more information on the Communicator Awards, visit www.communicatorawards.com. About Articulate Solutions Articulate Solutions Inc. has helped businesses successfully develop effective communication and design strategies since 1991. Helmed by Filice, the firm has garnered numerous awards including gold medal honors at the International Davey Awards and the Summit International Awards for its creative accomplishments. Whether it is a strategically planned communications campaign or a simple brochure design, the award-winning team at Articulate Solutions will make sure your creative work, works for you. To obtain information on the services provided by Articulate Solutions, visit www.articulate-solutions.com or contact Katherine Filice at (408) 852-3510 or katfilice@articulate-solutions.com.

Hola!

We got the letter from the school district yesterday. EJP has made it into the Dual Immersion program. Hooray! So, for the next 5+ years, half of everything he does will be in Spanish. Reading, math, social studies, PE (a joke, I think.). The program has teachers that only speak each language to the kids (and parents).

Luckily for him, RCP has picked up some conversational Spanish in her career. If he just relied on me for help, he'd be in deep trouble.

Eva The Model