Category: education

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We made it through

Well my children and I both made it through the first week of school and every one’s still happy.  I can’t help but wonder just how long that’s going to last but hopefully it will last at least another week or two.  Hey, it could happen!!

My daughter has always loved school but the boys, well that’s a totally different story.  See they like to be out playing or doing what they want to when they want and school sort of puts a cramp in their style.  That’s okay because they complain that I cramp their style too.  I must be doing something right then.

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It’s almost back to school time!!!

Our children go back to school on the 25th and I can’t wait.  I’m a whole lot more excited about it than they are.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a wonderful summer but it’s also been a LONG summer with all of the kids home.  We have to go out today and make sure they have all of the school supplies that are required for their grades and even pick up a few things for other kids in need of school supplies.

My children were on that list a couple of years so now it’s time to return the favor by passing it along to others in need.  That’s what community is for, to help when you need a helping hand and then return the favor when you can.

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School shopping!!!

Well it’s time for back to school shopping and I am so looking forward to it.  The kids aren’t as happy as I am about it but they’ll get over it.  Once they get back to school and see all of their friends that they haven’t seen all summer, they’ll be happy.

It’s just the thought of going to bed before midnight and getting up early that they are complaining about right now.  I guarantee you that they will be up on the first day before I am, all excited and ready to go.

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Maybe one more get away before school

We had a blast in Florida but now I’m thinking about taking the kids to Gatlinburg.  There are lots of Gatlinburg vacations we could take before school starts back and the prices are really good. Not to mention, I love the mountains in the summer because it’s not so darn hot there.  I guess I’m weird but I prefer the mountains in the summer heat.

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Boy can I relate to this

I too worked for Home Depot and can very easily imagine one of my children doing something like this!!

Here’s what little Mary Smith turned in for her first grade homework.

Well POO I lost the picture!!!!

The homework was checked by Mrs. Jones, the teacher, and returned home.
Here’s the reply the teacher received the following day:

Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.  I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit.  I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it.  Her picture doesn’t show me dancing around a pole.  It’s supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot. From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.
Sincerely,
Mrs.  Smith

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This is very important. It only takes a few seconds

This is a very important email I got from my mother who is a nurse about a Proposed Mastectomy Law Change and was written by a surgeon;

I’ll never forget the look in my patients’ eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn’t grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet ‘Thank you’ they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman’s breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain after wards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let’s give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress now. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it really quick! The Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill is important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you’re receiving this, it’s because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There’s a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It’s about eliminating the ‘drive-through mastectomy’ where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

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What a beautiful Saturday!

Today was one of the first Saturdays that the sun has shined all day in a long time.  I thought it would be a perfect day to take my children to the park for a picnic.  They had a blast.  I packed their favorite sandwiches, chips, pickles and juice for them and then threw in some watermelon just for good measure.  The kids played so hard and had a blast.

We haven’t had so much fun in a long time.  I even got on the playground equipment with them.  There was an old mill there that they used to grind corn into cornmeal and the kids were fascinated by it.  I hope we have another great weather day on the weekend soon because there are a lot of parks that aren’t that far from us to explore.

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Important day in history

I am a bit of a history buff and just found out that today is a day to be celebrated in history.  See, today marks the celebration of the ACLU  anniversary of the US Supreme Courts decision on student free speech.  Here’s how it started:

On Tuesday, the non-profit organization the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a video and press release commemorating 40 years since the landmark Supreme Court of the United States decision involving freedom of speech in the case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. The Tinker case was decided on February 24, 1969. The case involved students in Iowa who chose to wear black armbands with peace symbols in protest of the Vietnam War – in violation of a recent school board policy. In their statement, the ACLU compared issues of freedom of speech in the Tinker case to a more recent case, Gillman v. Holmes County School District, where a school district in Florida forbade students from wearing rainbow symbols in school in support of LGBT rights.

In the Tinker case, John and Mary Beth Tinker and another student decided to wear black armbands with peace symbols to school in protest of the Vietnam War. The school district heard of the students’ plans and decided to ban armbands in school. The three students case were represented by the ACLU of Iowa, and in a 7-2 decision the Supreme Court ruled for the plaintiffs.

Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas wrote in the Opinion of the Court: “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights…at the schoolhouse gate.”

Unfortunately there are too many young people today that think there’s nothing they can do to make a difference.  Well these kids did just that.  They made a difference.  We all can make a difference if we do it right.  There should never be violence when we feel something needs to change.  There should only be peaceful means to make the changes we feel are important.  Violence never makes a positive change.

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Can you see it?

Have you heard about the comet that will be visible to the naked eye?  It’s amazing to me and my children.  We have been looking for it in the sky but have not seen it yet.  Can you see it from where you are?  Here’s what the news had to say about it:

For the next few days, a newly discovered, green-tinted comet will be visible by the naked eye in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Comet Lulin, with the official designation of C/2007 N3, was discovered in 2007 and astronomers say that this is the first time it has visited our solar system and may well be the last.

As it makes its way around the Sun, an astonishing 800 gallons of water will evaporate from the comet every second. In each 15 minute period, it will shed enough water to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool. It will come within 38 million miles of Earth at its closest pass, making it visible to the naked eye and even clearer with binoculars or a telescope.

The best viewing time for people living in the northern hemisphere is after midnight when Lulin will be at its highest point in the sky, or 40 degrees from the morning horizon. Current estimates peg the maximum brightness at 4th or 5th magnitude, which means dark country skies would be required to see it. No one can say for sure, however, because this is Lulin’s first visit.

Astronomers from NASA and the United Kingdom will use the Swift Telescope to study the comet and its composition. Astronomers also say to see it while you can because this could be the first and only time it passes through our solar system. It’s estimated that if it returns, it will not be for another 1,000,000 years.

“We won’t be able to send a space probe to [the comet], but Swift is giving us some of the information we would get from just such a mission,” said Jenny Carter, at the University of Leicester in England, who is leading the study. The comet was discovered using the Lulin Observatory in Taiwan by astronomers Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng.

It amazes me that they know so much about something like that.  It makes me feel like we are not alone maybe.  Who really knows what’s out there?  Maybe one of my kids will grow up to be an astronaut or someone that will help in discovering more about what truly is out there.  That would be totally awesome, you know.  That’s the amazing thing about children, you never really know what or who they will grow up to be.  I have heard a lot of people say that they wouldn’t bring a child into this world the way it is today.  Well how do you know if they might be the one that helps make the world a better place or not?  You don’t so hope is one thing that every child brings into this world I feel.  I don’t think I’m the only one that thinks that way either.

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This really made me stop and think

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preachers visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, ‘Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.’

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.  Words can strengthen you or not but a lesson without words is one that will touch you in ways words can’t.  I guess the saying “Silence is golden” would apply here because the silence taught far more than any words could have.