Moving on?

Q graduated on Friday and is off to Girl's State to act as the attorney general. She managed to eliminate bribery and give 5% more say to the student body at her high school. She also managed to annoy a certain Council Advisor to the point that a decision was made that the SBO chords would be withdrawn, then restored, then canceled, then restored, then given but couldn't be worn, then tossed to them in the tunnel right before they grabbed their diplomas. So they got to wear them for the final 10 minutes of graduation.

I suppose since they couldn't spank them, or take away their birthdays, this was the only way to strike back at a council that stuck together to try to bring about change. As a mother, I am very proud of the stand that they took in the face of angry adults. We cannot always control outcomes. We can only control how we act (and react) within the process we have been given.

PROCESS. That is what this whole deal has been about, and the message is yet to be heard. The "Chord Chontrovery" was just another incident in which the whim and will of an advisor can change the expectations and outcome without due process. That gains were made in ethical behavior (No More Bribery) and input from students (5%) are good things, but these changes were gained outside of the constitutional process. That means that next year bribery could be reinstituted and things can once again de-volve.

So now that Q has followed the process and done what she could within that process, it is time for me to go and be heard so I can move on as well. That well intentioned ballot tampering occured is one of the topics that I have to address with administration.

Q returns next week, works for a month, then is off on a three week senior trip to church history sites with her friends. We get her home for a month then she is off to BYU! I look forward to seeing where her life and convictions take her.

The house will be a lot quieter (and cleaner) but we will miss the fun and excitement that she is.

Hot off the presses. . .

Er, I mean advisor computer: The current version of the High School Constitution, updated and ratified last March, except not very well, because it clearly states that the elections "are under the direction of the Student Body Officers" and says nothing about the % breakdown, or an election committee. This document does not support what the students have been told and now that a hard copy has been coughed up cannot be altered without going through a specific process.

P.S. I just hate it when under the color of authority leaders give the answers as they want them to be and not as they are. I shout for joy when actual documentation bubbles to the surface.

Da da da dum. . . the plot thickens.

Diplomacy

The kids had the big meeting with the Queen. They presented their proposal and were told. "You have NO SAY in the election process. That is the decision of the election committee. YOU are not allowed to talk to the committee - everything must go through me." She did relent about discontinuing bribery as part of the process. (Mighty big of her I think.)

At first she was unwilling to divulge the membership of the election committee but conceded that it was made up of the advisors and the administrators. As for the Constitution: The only updated copy is kept on the Advisor's computer and the updated version supports her story. (Except that any amendments would have gone through a process that is much more than a simple edit on a computer.) Oh, she has yet to produce a copy of that constitution or any supporting documentation about when it was ratified.

After much talking, the Advisor relented that she could support some of the change, BUT that it would be up to the committee. She asked that the proposal be put into writing and she would take it to the committee. The proposal was submitted and of course denied, based on the objections of ONE advisor.

Q went to the dissenting advisor to set up a meeting and was met with this:

Advisor: "Were you at the state capitol last night as part of a protest? I am pretty sure I saw you on TV."

Q: "Um, no that was not me."

A: "That's a good thing because such behavior would be unbecoming for the office of Student Body Officer.

Q: "Ok, I don't see what this has to do with setting up a meeting, because certainly I would have the right to protest, but still it wasn't me, and I would like to set up a meeting."

The Advisor could not find 10 minutes to meet for a week. And some pretty good sleuthing found some news video of some college students protesting (in costume) against BRIBERY. They left dollar bills, while dressed up to represent lobbyists. I must admit that the girl dressed up as the alcoholic beverage at certain angles was a dead wringer for Q.

BWAHAhahahah! The irony was just too much for me.

The meeting with dissenting advisor, will be followed by a meeting with administrators, which will likely be followed by a student petition and a bid for a new constitutional amendment. The last quarter of High School may prove to be entertaining.

The Coup

I have remained silent on the Student Government front. Maybe it has been because I feared for the academic safety of my Senior, OR maybe it was because she said something like "I can handle this." So, I have let her. Except I have written some pretty lengthy letters to advisers and administration that I have never sent. I have watched Q struggle and I have watched her fight. Most recently I have watched in amazement as she has planned and carried out clandestine meetings with members of her council in order to overthrow the current form of student government.

Whether she is a high school terrorist or revolutionary is in the eye of the beholder. Lincoln once said: “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.” She is trying to liberate her school from the tyranny of the administration and advisers.

It all started when she decided to run for Student Body Officer. It seems that the Advisor had a difficult time with the council a couple of years back and so went to the administration and had the (s)election process changed. Instead of students leaders being elected by students, because the students might select leaders that have ideas that differ from the advisor and administration, they decided to stack the deck. When Q got her election packet it outlined the process as follows:

Leaders will be (s)elected based on the following 100pt system:
5% Application. Neatness, grammar, completeness, and the ability to follow instructions. Graded by the advisor.
30% Teacher evaluations.
40% Interview - with advisor, administrator and 3 of 9 outgoing Student Body Officers.
25% Student body vote.

In essence 75% of the decision making process was in the hands of about 13 people, who were not going to be members of the student body the following year. Oh, and did I mention that the candidates were asked to bring bribes to the interview.

Q has bided her time and picked her battles. With the elections coming up in the next month or two the time has come to make a change. The student council has been meeting secretly (seriously at like 6:00 a.m. on Saturdays) to try to come to a consensus of a workable new form of government. The smoking gun is the realization that the change in government was never passed through the house of representatives and the constitution reads that the election process is "under the direction of the Student Body Officers."

Under the current system the top ten point getter's are SBO's and then the advisor assigns them a position after "a trial period" through the summer. Umm, does anyone else see a little too much power in the hands of one person?

During the trial period last spring Q was called in to meet with the advisor. The advisor was displeased with Q's clothes. "Now that she is representing the school she can't look like she buys her clothes at a Thrift Shop." It was further explained that the president of the United States would wear a suit not dress up like Uncle Sam. . .

Ok, but the problem is Q's wardrobe consists almost entirely of clothes picked up at thrift stores, scavenged from grandparent's, and put together in other inventive ways. Sometimes I admit after she comes home with her latest find I will say, "Umm...that has got to be one of the ugliest shirts/sweaters/coats I have ever seen." But they are modest and clean and somehow when she puts it all together it works. (At least enough for High School.) I was livid. Q stood toe to toe and asked specifically what outfits they found offensive. When they couldn't articulate a particular, she moved that the discussion was over and when they saw her in an offending outfit they could talk to her specifically about the outfit and she would see if she was willing to compromise. She went on to point out that in the High School setting she would probably make more inroads with the student body dressed like Uncle Sam than President Bush. . . But I digress.

It has been one mini battle after another where the will of one has been imposed upon the council and the masses. Q has ignored, made speeches, written letters, and affected some change. Now she is looking to change the future of student government at her high school.

There are more secret meetings and I have been typing up their propaganda. So, I will keep you posted. I am not sure how much change will happen, but I am proud of them for pushing back in appropriate ways. Long live Q and her council!

Eruption of Corruption

One afternoon when Q was running for SBO she came home rather EXERCISED. It seems that the out going Student Body Officers told the candidates that they needed to bring bribes to the interviews. AND the better the BRIBE the better the chances are that the candidates would make it through to student body vote.

They were signing up for an interview time when this happened and interviews were worth 40% of the total score to decide who was going to be on student council.

She was sure she could come up with a really cool, clever, witty bribe but that was not the point. The point was that it was wrong and she didn't know what to do. She was also MAD that this would even be considered. I questioned if it was just a joke, or maybe a test to see what they would do. Apparently the advisor came into the room and confirmed that they were expected to bring "tokens of appreciation" since they would be spending long hours at the school conducting the interviews.


Hmmm. . . I could understand showing appreciation for long hours spent. I cautioned against using the word bribe with the adults since it might offend them. Suffice it to say we came up with a really cool, clever, witty gift bag labeled "appreciation" and all the items in the bag were related to Q's campaign theme.


She made SBO and vowed to personally not accept bribes or tokens of appreciation at interviews next year. She hoped that she might be able to convince the other officers that the practice of soliciting bribes was...um, uncalled for...unethical... and in the real world ILLEGAL.


FAST FORWARD:


Q received her packing list to attend a student council leadership conference. This was on the list:

• Bribes and special attention for advisors

I asked if it was a joke. Q said she wasn't sure but either way it was obnoxious. I agreed. Then the last meeting before the trip the advisors elaborated. One said they wouldn't specify what she wanted, the other asked for lots of COKE. I tried to call the advisor to ask if the bribery was required, or optional. The advisor was not home and did not return my call.

Q decided NOT to participate in the BRIBERY. She did pack some "Thank you" cards and will offer them instead, along with a carefully worded explanation of why she chooses not to bribe.

I had a dream last night that she was dismissed from Student Council for her "insubordinate unwillingness to participate in assigned bribery." In my dream the meeting Pres and I had with the advisor and the administration and then the school board was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure nothing so extremely awesome is going to come of all this.

Disney Part ???

I always start out with such great intentions.

We had fun. Buffy puked all the way home.

The End.

Disneyland Trip Highlights part IV

Getting in touch with our inner Disney



Tuesday morning we headed to the park feeling like we were way ahead of the curve. I mean we had already hit most of the "A-ticket" rides the night before. President and Q treated us to the first of many interpretive dances as we got off the bus. This became a frequent ritual (much to the chagrin of Buffy - Soooooo embarrassing.) By veering to the left and merging into the "early entry" line when it was no longer early we got into the park well ahead of those who had been waiting a lot longer.

BJ & I headed left to pick up fast passes at Indiana Jones while the rest veered right to ride Space Mountain. Unfortunately, the little guys with the ropes had different ideas and we got stuck on main street for a few minutes. When the ropes dropped, we were off to the races. BJ and I with fast passes in hand ran to Astro Blasters then met up with the Space Mountain crew. We checked attractions off our list at a blistering pace. Short lines and a judicious use of fast passes kept us hopping and happy.

Every time we encountered someone who seemed to have forgotten that this was supposed to be "The Happiest Place on Earth," I wanted to offer them a complimentary viewing of Prez & Q's Inner Disney Dance routine. But I doubted it would give them the same joy it gave me.

We snacked through lunch then about 5:00 p.m. severe "I've-got-to-eat-this-very-second-paralysis" set in. We needed food! lots of food and fast. We decided to walk to Captain Kidd's all you can eat buffet.

NOTE: DO NOT EAT AT THIS ESTABLISHMENT UNLESS YOU ARE ALREADY ILL.

I was amazed that the salad bar which consisted of lettuce, carrot sticks, celery sticks, and an empty container of peas - that I could not scrape one pea out of - could look so inviting. Even the watered down Ranch dressing had an odd appeal. Aunt Snarkier bit down on a hard piece of mashed potato and broke a molar clean off. She was left to smile in the manner of an Anaheim Hillbilly for the rest of the week. Oh, poor Aunt Snarkier. She was kind to the restaurant and blamed the tooth on Space Mountain.

We returned to Disney with much dancing and full stomachs.

My niece broke her thumb on the Matterhorn once and got all kinds of free shwag and fast passes. We tried to get Snarkier to smile for the nice people at the first aid station, but she would have nothing of it. "But snarkier, we might get FAST PASSES!" we pleaded.

Then Prez met up with a couple who had won dream fast passes and a nights stay at Walt Disney's suite by sitting on a bench near Alice in Wonderland. His (our) quest for a Disney Dream was about to begin...

Disneyland Trip Highlights Part III

So, we made it to our hotel in record time. 9 1/2 hours, which if you do the math proves that President may have accidentally exceeded the federally mandated speed limit from time to time.

We checked into our cheap, clean-ish, hotel that used rusted staples to hold up the bathroom wallpaper. Because the two (not queen as advertised) beds were comfy, I declared the room extremely. . . adaquate. Then we hopped on the shuttle to Mouseland.

When we planned the trip (in like 15 minutes) we were thinking a day of travel, 3 days Disney, and a day of travel, the end.

The only deal we could find on Disney tickets was a 5-day hopper for the price of 3. Seemed like a waste at the time but our early arrival proved fortuitous and I think we were at the park by 3:30 p.m. (?) By taking advantage of fastpasses and the ridiculously short lines on a monday night we rode on like 7 attractions and ate dinner in four hours! SWEET!!!

We returned to our hotel for a night of restful sleep, anticipating a full day of Disney Dreams on Tuesday. When we got there the fun began. . .

Cognac\koan-yak\noun: An alcoholic beverage distilled from white wine and found under the seat cushions of wretchedly uncomfortable sofa beds in hotels that were once deemed. . . adaquate.

Q started ripping the cushions of the sofa to get the bed ready when a very suspicious looking bottle was revealed.

"Ummm...what's that?" I queried as I walked closer. "Oh, it's cognac..."

Then BJ wanted to know what HiZack was and Buffy informed her it was Beer. I informed Buffy that whoever left the cognac there would be offended that she called it beer. Then BJ, who is eight, asked me if it was liquor...hard liquor. Which caused me to stop and stare at her because I don't think it is hard liquor but I just never understand where her vocabulary comes from. Then Buffy informed us that she would never sleep on a sofa were a Big Old Fat Beer swilling (is that even a word) Guy had sat. I was amazed by the fact that she could not decipher the difference between Beer and Cognac but could decipher the gender, weight, and age of the owner of the alcohol. She was appeased when she was allowed to sleep on the floor which she believed to be much cleaner than the inside of the sofa bed. Then I discarded the partially "swilled" bottle of Cognac in the garbage. The end.

Except then the next morning I realized we had missed our photo-op and fished the bottle out of the garbage so we could perform the reenactment. Except that Buffy wasn't actually all the way awake and wouldn't say the funny things she said the day before.

THE END

Disneyland Trip Highlights Part I & II:

Dry heaves part I.

Buffy is a little sensitive. Many things cause her to dry heave. If she were a superhero that could possibly be her superpower. Our first pit stop included an un flushed toilet. Which is really an understatement, because it was pretty vile.

Buffy used her super powers to leave the restroom and dry heave throughout the gas station. I used my mommy powers to try to flush the toilet with my foot. Unfortunately, I only caused the vileness to overflow into the only remaining good stall. I felt kind of bad having to report that there was a problem in the restroom. There is no way that attendant gets paid enough to deal with what was in there.

Buffy proved her superhero holding powers and decided she didn't really need to go.

Return of the Dry Heaves and other Theatrical Performances, Part II.

About 7 hours into our car trip it was time for pit stop #2. This gas station was in the middle of nowhere and I was a little nervous at what we would find. Though the outside looked a little seedy, and they offered a meal deal that consisted of two mystery hot dogs and a 32 oz. soda for $2.79, the bathroom, a single seater was clean and working. Hurrah!

Some of us girls were huddled outside the door to the women's single seater (Buffy was delayed trying to harness her superpowers), when a man we will call Brutus entered the men's facility. He did not close the door, (always a suspicious action.) Once inside he seemed to enjoy himself very much. Q and I exchanged glances and tried not to laugh. Buffy came by and wanted to know the scoop, but Brutus looked pretty menacing and since we could very clearly hear him. . . we were pretty sure he could hear us too.

Then Buffy went into the bathroom. No sooner had the door closed, when loud and recurring dry heaves started reverberating through the gas station. We were doubled over, tears streaming down our faces, trying to muffle our laughter when Brutus walked out of the men's room. HE WAS NOT AMUSED.

As soon as Buffy recovered, we got the Heck out of nowhere. Just in the nick of time. Da da dum.

Still to come:

• Getting in touch with our Inner Disney.

• The quest for a million dreams.

• Shattered dreams.

• Be ye therefore thankful for DRY heaves.

And so much more!