School Starts August Here in the Valley

School starts in the Valley August 8 which is pretty crazy since we have 110 plus degree temperatures now. Yet again kids are not the priority its more about those stupid tests that are really not measuring much of anything and consuming way too much of the teaching time.

My daughter ad her friends have  been ready to go back to school since July. I think that's  so they can come together with their friends. Schools are not like when I attended and we could walk a couple of blocks and you're at school. We walked to both elementary and middle school (we called it junior high).

I had to deal with a major meltdown when we received the class school schedules. I do have to give the Scottsdale school district a plus on getting the info out to the parents. We have schedules and the entire school calendar before school starts. None of this monthly guessing game nonsense. Back to the meltdown,  baby girl was not placed in Mandarin Chinese. This led to major boohooing and my daughter rarely gets upset. So Mommy had to visit the school to find out why she got none of her electives. The schedule was reworked to add AP Mandarin (She's really very good). She hopes one day to visit China through one of the exchange programs so she can really test her skills without Mommy present. (Little Ms. Independence)

We know several families from Mainland China here in the Valley and they have graciously offered to talk with when ever she wants to practice. We recently attended an event and one of the families grandmother was there and baby girl got to Dialogue with her. She was elated because "Grandmother" complimented her on her mandarin.

Baby girl is turns thirteen next month. I am an "old school" mom and want to encourage her femininity something too many girls seem confused about. Off we went to get manicure,pedicure and her hair done.  We wear our hair natural so she wanted to try a press and curl. She loved it. (Local trade schools and skills centers are great places to go because they are supervised and graded so they do an excellent job at even better prices). We went to Maricopa Skills Center on Buckeye.

Everyone has sales going on so I bought basic supplies and will finish up as soon as the teachers post their lists today or tomorrow.

All in all a good summer. How's you summer going? Made some memories yet? Still have time for a staycation or weekend road time? Get those memories made that is what your kids will remember and hold on to. Think about what you remember best, even if you resented it at the time. I'll best its one of your fondest memories now. Even the IPhone-Generation needs that. So shut the computer down, cut off the gadgets and go made some memories. Smile

As always you can click on the title to purchase from my store.

China Closing Turquoise Mines

by Jake Woolley, Marketing Content Development Group, Exclusively for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads®


Fire Mountain Gems and Beads has always had a passion for turquoise. You could say it's in our blood; after all, it is the favorite stone of owner Stuart Freedman. In the early '70s Stuart was a gemstone hobbyist, cutting rough turquoise into beautiful cabochons, which later resulted in sales and a small storefront. Essentially, that's how it all began in 1973, a love of turquoise resulting in a successful wholesale jewelry-making business


Turquoise is produced from a number of locations worldwide, notably in the southwest US, Egypt, Iran and Tibet with the largest supplier of the stone being China. With over 75% of the turquoise market coming out of China, jewelry makers stop and pay attention when they hear that the Chinese government has closed quite a few major mines and will be strictly supervising the production of several others. This mining moratorium has placed a halt on production in the Chinese provinces for a minimum of 3 years and quite possibly longer.



There are several reasons why the mines are closing and questions have been raised as to how it will affect the prices and availability of turquoise.   Contd .http://bit.ly/oRIu5w

 
As Always you can click on the title to go to my store.

Artist Tinyan Chan

We went to the Scottsdale Artwalk last night. We "discovered" the paintings of chinese artist Tinyan Chan . His paintings were amazing in their detail of Hong Kong and the countryside of China.

In his bio His family left China and moved to a small village in Africa. He states" The simple village life he experienced gave him a sense of tranquility that has permanently influenced his art."

His work was so awesome Baby Girl could not stop commenting on it she was so moved. (Herself a rising artist). Pictures on the web do not do his work justice. You have to see this Mr Chan's work in person to be able to truly appreciate it.

He now lives and creates in Canada. The title is a link to another gallery on the web that has his work since I never received an email with pictures from the local gallery.