OMG! Thar she blows?

So you're 42 year old David Sheridan of New South Wales and your kite surfing along and WHAM! He had a camera attached to the sail of his kite board and caught this picture of a whale just below him, who moments later will give him a bit of a whack on his head with its tail. David said it was more like a "push" and though he was shaken up, he expected more from the impact of the tail.

Weird CSI Las Vegas

Any CSI Las Vegas fans out there? I thought last week's episode was a little strange. Of course it had Lady Heather in it. What did I expect? All the psycho babel about dominants and submissives was bizarre too. Who'd thunk they had those types of businesses out there--even in Vegas? As far as I'm concerned, that's one thing that happens in Vegas that can stay there!

End of another semester

I'm coming to the end of another semester and oh the cries of despair can be heard for miles. Students I haven't seen in three weeks are emailing in desperation, "Is there any way I can pass?" Ah life it gets in the way of so much. For starters, life gets in the way of a college education. Some students work two jobs. Some have a baby and are unmarried. Some help support the three families living under one roof. They all want a college education, but life gets in the way and makes it hard. Some just goof off and don't come to class because that's they way it is. Twenty years from now they'll wake up and say, "Why in the heck did I do that." I was the dedicated student who didn't miss a day of college for two years while I worked two jobs. I know how hard it is. I do have a hard time extending sympathy to these students (although I usually do) because I don't understand where they're coming from. I don't understand why they don't understand they're failing because they haven't completed any work in over a month. But then that's silly old me.

Just say NO to the phonebook

The phonebook is absolutely useless! In Tulsa we get a six inch thick phonebook every three months. I needed a phone number today and after several minutes of trying to find it in one directory I switched to another. Then I said fugetaboutit! I googled it and had the number I wanted in 1.8 seconds. Who needs a phonebook I ask? Not me. I have the power of the INTERNET!

Well look who it is...

Since I've been blogging on about the nine year old I thought I'd put up the most recent picture of her. She wanted to be something scary this year. She even had drops of blood from the corner of her mouth. No princess here. Only a scary nine year old girl.

Dumb assignments

This is another post about my nine year old who is in third grade. She often gets take home assignments from her teacher that are not age, grade, or skill appropriate. She has an assignment due Friday that I think is far above her skill level. She has to write a persuasive paragraph. Now, I teach college writing and know for a fact this is a skill some college students have yet to grasp. But back to her assignment...she has to write a persuasive paragraph, in the form of a letter, as though she were a turkey trying to convince folks not to eat her for Thanksgiving. AND it has to be typed. The teacher encourages them to talk about tryptophan and how it makes a person sleepy. Sure all third graders know about tryptophan. They even know how to spell it. Don't get me wrong. I think the idea is cute. I just don't see my daughter doing the work. This is a parent assignment! I don't like parent assignments. I already have enough work to do! There are some high stakes with this assignment too. The authors of the top three persuasive letters get to eat a special pizza lunch with the teacher. You think the real writers will show up?

Oh boy...

Oh boy did I mess up! You know when your children are in grade school they come home with lots of papers every afternoon. My nine year old was so excited when the basketball form came home. "Fill it out mommy," she said happily. I told her I would. I didn't. The deadline has passed and she can't play. I called and asked even, since it was just a few days past the deadline. She's been out at the goal practicing for hours each day. She loves sports. Now I'm in a tough spot. The league clear across town has a few openings left. Do I drive her across town to play or do we just let it go? She will be sorely disappointed. Why didn't I just fill the form out!

It's DONE!

This election is finally over. It seemed to go on longer than any other presidential election. Folks are dancing in the street and others are crying in their drinks. Whoever you chose, it's done. It's finished. Barack Obama will be the 44th President. Some say things will get better now. Then there are also some who said now the Democrats have a hold on the purse strings things will get worse. I dislike using the word "things." By that I mean the economy and the state of government. A lot of people invested their lives in Obama and his Hope for Change. Whether you did or not, it's time to put everything else aside and unite so we can make this country strong again--for everyone. It's not blue or red, black or white. It's just us--people.

Vote baby vote!

I get excited about voting. The first time I could vote it was for a presidential election. I have voted EVERY time I could since I registered to vote. That I can vote and express my opinion without shoving that opinion in someone else's face is a powerful privilege. Both men and women died so we could have this right and I'm grateful for their sacrifice. I honor that sacrifice they made by exercising my right to vote. I teach college students and many times they don't see the point of voting because they don't think the ISSUES affect them. Then they also feel like they're not informed enough on the issues to make the right choice. (Funny how this doesn't stop them from doing anything else). Knowledge is power...how true this is. The issues affect us no matter what age we are. You can understand what the issues are and make an informed choice--if you're concerned enough. So stand in those long lines tomorrow and honor those who gave up so much so we could have a say...no matter how small that "say" may seem.

Training Update

Okay then...I'm six weeks into my program with a personal trainer. So far I've lost eight pounds and six percent body fat. I think that calculates into 13 pounds of fat that I've sweated away now. When you hear you've lost only eight pounds after all the hard work, you may be inclined to be a little disappointed. BUT when you do the math for the six percent body fat that has left the body, you just might feel a bit better. I'm doing the weight training in conjunction with the cardio. That's four hours of weight training and 180 minutes of cardio a week. I walk four miles on the other days while I'm at work. That's going from classroom to classroom and from the parking lot. College campuses are big! I take Sunday off. It's not easy, but I want to get in better shape. I quit drinking sodas about seven months ago. I'm also not a big junk food eater to begin with--if you were wondering if I changed anything else in my diet. My level of activity was very low and my metabolism in the pits. My recent activity has improved my metabolism. When I go to bed at night my stomach is making a rumbling sound. I'm not hungry...that's just my metabolism revving up. I know many people complain exercise makes them feel tired. I hear you! I felt extremely tired the first week. The tiredness does go away. You have to work through it. Eating something every two hours helps also. That old adage about not eating between meals is bull. That just makes you feel like you're starving to death by the time you finally get to eat. Then you overeat. I try to avoid falling into this trap. We get busy and before you know it lunch time has come and gone. I always try to eat lunch now and I ALWAYS start off with breakfast even if it is just a yogurt. If you want to get in shape, you can. It's not out of reach.

Happy Halloween All! It's complicated...

When I was younger, Halloween was a fun, uncomplicated occasion. I got dressed up in something I scrounged up from the closets in the house, grabbed a pillow case, and headed out the door to meet up with my friends and collect goodies. Parents mulled around driveways and front doors talking with one another. They didn't come with us unless we were babies and if you were older than first grade, you didn't need your mom along for trick-or-treating. We rang doorbells and were greeted with smiles and homemade goodies. Who remembers "real" candied or caramel apples? What about popcorn balls? My friends and I didn't look for the houses that gave out full sized candy bars, but we "smelled" our way to the houses that gave away the fresh baked goodies. Then we ran around the neighborhood scaring each other until we were exhausted and our mothers called us home. Another thing that was important was our city always had Halloween on a Saturday no matter what day the 31st fell on. This was important because there wasn't any homework to do or bedtime that had to be met.

Nowadays, things are a bit more complicated. Halloween has become the "evil" day. It's the devil. I never once felt this day was evil or thought of the devil more than just another costume. It was fun. We got to dress up and ate lots of goodies. Also gone are the homemade treats. Even if you baked anything these days it would probably get thrown out for fear of poisoning. I know we went through a phase of having to x-ray candy (healthy, safe levels of radiation) because some jerk somewhere decided to put a razor blade in a candy bar. Then there's all the kids who've developed allergies. They have allergies to peanuts, chocolate; heck I'm sure some have been forced to have an allergy to fun. I know these allergies are serious. When we lived in Iowa we couldn't bring any homemade treats to school ever because so many folks were cooking their meth in the same pots and pans they made little Billy's school treats in and kids were ingesting meth!

It's complicated. The school has banned it and gone are Halloween parties (Christmas parties too, but that's another post). Why does this occasion have to be anything other than fun and why did we have to go and ruin it? Why did someone have to put a razor blade in a candy bar? Why do have to go and buy $60 costumes for our kids? What's wrong with two holes cut in a sheet? Ah, we've come so far...

Effigy Smeffigy Sarah Palin

I'm not going to discuss politics here. So if you were looking for that sort of discussion, keep on searching. What I do want to discuss is the disgusting nature of people. What makes it okay to hang anyone from a noose in front of your home? I guess freedom of speech and the fact it's your own property does actually. Okay, so I know my rights. I also know a wrong when I see it. This is morally wrong by my standards. Sarah Palin may not even give a flip if she's hanging from a noose in west Hollywood. I do. What happened to respect and constraint? I feel like I want to do it and I'm protected by the law. So why not have a dummy hanging from my roof? Yeah! I'm empowered. Are you really? Or are you just making a spectacle of yourself? By the way, John McCain is above her in the flue of the chimney, which is on fire. I should have the right as a human being not to have my likeness used in a negative or positive way unless I give permission. What's next? Will neighbors hang each others' likenesses from roofs and trees if they don't get along? It's a step backwards for humanity. During days like these all we need are steps forward--together.

"People need to help each other and that's all there is to it."

It's a simple enough statement. On a day when you turn on the news and all you hear is one terrible story after another, it's good to hear a story that touches your heart not out of sadness, but out of goodness. A woman in Dennison, TX lost her home in foreclosure. She went to Dallas as a last paragraph of the story of her life with her home so she could say goodbye. Maybe she would catch a glimpse of the person who'd buy her home. Understandably, she was crying and upset. She wasn't making a spectacle of herself, but she was crying. A woman nearby asked her why she was crying. She told the woman she was crying because she'd come to say goodbye to her home. This home was featured without a picture in the auction booklet. The woman who asked her what was the matter decided then and there to buy this home if she could. She got the home for less than $30,000. Then she told the woman who was the previous owner to get ready to move back in. They'll work out the details about payment and for now a woman and her family have a home again. If you want to read this story here's the link. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa081026_mo_auctionangels.151177f7c.html

To Train or Not

I've recently started an exercise regiment. I almost called it an exercise program. It's definitely more like a regiment. I've just finished my fourth week. At two weeks, I'd lost 3 percent body fat. I go three times a week for one hour with a personal trainer. I then go and do cardio for 45 mins. So I'm at the gym for an hour and forty five minutes three days a week. I also go one more day and do just the cardio. I feel stronger. Of course I wish I had more miraculous results. I'm like the rest of the world and I want an instant fix. Who cares if it took me nine years to get this way. I want to look fab in six weeks or less. I'll stick with it even though I'm a bit impatient. It's a bit tough some days. I'm sweating buckets. I went to the gym recently and my trainer was off at some competition and I was left to figure it out on my own. Let me say I was less than productive. The trainer does help me keep focused on the task. He knows how to adjust all the machines without having to read the instructions several times! I know I get a much better workout with the guidance of the trainer. So if you're looking to get back in shape a personal trainer is a good way to get started. I'll keep you posted on my results.

Fall Break

What is fall break? I never had one when I was in school or in college. It's quite common now. Some students just started classes in August or September and it's already time for a break. Please and good grief! The college where I teach doesn't have a fall break, but the school systems in the area have this break. Other colleges in the state have this hiatus also. I think it's bizarre with just a few weeks or a couple of months in we need a break from it all so soon. I'm not sure what we're advocating here. How many working folks get a fall break? I'm positive many of us wish the stock market were on fall break. What about the presidential candidates? Isn't it time they took a break from the traveling and talking? My point is that in the real world there isn't a fall break. The only break we get from work is a week of vacation--if we're lucky. For some the only respite is a sick day--without pay. What do working parents of grade school children do with their kids during this time? I guess they trade a week in school for a week in daycare instead. Administrators and teachers sat around thinking of ways to get in-service training days in during the school year so they wouldn't have to waste precious summertime days and this is what they came up with. Oh, I'm sure they could dig up some statistics that say students perform better with frequent breaks--I say it all sounds a little bit like bovine fecal matter to me.