Will I have a bed on November 8?

I feel adventurous. This feeling doesn't come around very often - maybe that's a good thing since I'm on the downhill slide to senior citizenry. Nevertheless, the cause is due to my own time mismanagement. I am attending a conference the second week of November out of town, and guess what I forgot to do? That's correct - I forgot to make hotel reservations where the conference is being held. Now there are no rooms available at that particular hotel.

So I went online in search of area hotels. I'm not extremely familiar with this part of the state, and although I found many places listed, I'm not sure what's closest to the location of the conference. I gave up fairly quickly, and I think I'm going to just wing it. That's right, I'm going to drive up there and just see what's available WITHOUT a reservation. I'm sure my husband who never would consider such a plan will sorta freak out, but I'm not worried. I'm optimistic about the endless possibilities...hopefully, I won't end up in the bus station or in my car, but, I'll let you know how it works out. Here's a thought-I can ask my sister, who loves internet research to do some hotel shopping for me. There's an idea...

A Russian concert experience

I'm sorry I haven't posted recently. I've been a little weary. But I notice my brother, who has sorta been through the fire this last week is posting. What a good example he sets!

Tonight my son and I attended the Wichita Symphony Orchestra concert. We have season tickets again this year, and I enjoy it very much. Of course, going with Dan is always an adventure. He's really the classical music specialist of the family. This evening as I listened to Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini", Op. 43, I admired the guest soloist, Lilya Zilberstein. She's a Russian pianist now living in Hamburg, Germany and what an extraordinary talent! The second half of the concert was the "Symphony No. 5 in D Minor", written in 1937 by a modern Russian composer, Dmitri Shostakovich. Take note of this, from the description in the concert program: "Emotional release comes in the form of a Scherzo. Here, Shostakovich's wry, sardonic sense of humor comes through, possibly taunting his worse critics." Did you know that Shostakovich had a wry, sardonic sense of humor? It's amazing what music communicates to the listener. I'm glad I read the entire description of this symphony before I heard it played - it was an amazing work.

The other work played, which I just wanted to briefly comment on, was one I had never ever heard of. It was called "Iron Foundry", composed by Mosolov. In 1926-1928, Masolov, a Russion composer, wrote a ballet called "Steel". It was intended to highlight the surge of industrialization going on in the Soviet Union during that time. "Iron Foundry" is a piece from this ballet. During this amazing piece you can close your eyes and imagine a steel factory, with all the noise from the machinery coming at you loudly and discordantly. The orchestra uses percussion and dissonant violins to create this illusion. I noticed one of the percussion players waving a large piece of sheet metal, which added even more realism to the experience. It was an odd piece, but one I won't soon forget.

'The Great Mattress Maneuver"

Characters:
Father
Mother
Daniel
Joshua
Rebekah
Tiffany
Michael

Setting: The house, Sunday afternoon, 1:30. Father and Mother are on the road, traveling back from a weekend away.

Prologue
Daniel: Mother, I'm way too tall for a twin bed. I would like a full sized one.
Mother: Yes you are tall. However, you will not be able to get a full sized box spring upstairs to your room. Remember, our stairs has a 90 degree turn from the landing.
Daniel: I can do it!
Mother: No you can't. Please do not attempt this, it will result in failure.
Daniel: I can do it!

ACT 1
Scene 1
Daniel: It's a Sunday afternoon and I have nothing to do. I think I will buy a new full sized bed.
Joshua: OK! I can help!
Rebekah: Huh?
Scene 2
Daniel: Hi Michael and Tiffany! I'm going to buy a full size bed! Can you help carry it in?
Michael and Tiffany together in unison: We'd love to help!
Scene 3 (At the Furniture Store)
Tiffany: How much do you mark this stuff up?
Furniture store man: 25 to 75%.
Daniel: I'll take this one!

Act 2
Scene 1
Daniel: (Surveying back of pickup) Woo hoo! Look at this great new bed!
Rebekah: Can you get that up the stairs?
Daniel: It has a 5 year guarantee!
Tiffany: Can you get that up the stairs?
Joshua: It's got quilting!
Scene 2
Michael: (huffing and puffing) I don't think it's gonna go up.
Joshua: (huffing and puffing) No can do, man.
Daniel: (huffing and puffing) We MUST get this up the stairs!
Mother: (answering cell phone) Hello?
Rebekah: You should see what's going on here!
Mother: We're turning around and going back to Branson.
Scene 3
Daniel: It's not going up the stairs!
Tiffany and Rebekah: We told you so.
Joshua: It's a GREAT mattress.
Michael: I'm a fireman. I will come up with a plan. Do not worry.
ACT 3
Scene 1
Michael: So, if we can't get it up the stairs, we have to find another way INTO the room. Hmmm. Oh, look, a second story window! It goes right into the room!
Daniel: Here's a ladder!
Michael: Let's remove the entire window! From the house! The frame and all!
Tiffany and Rebekah: Are you CRAZY?
Joshua: What a great idea!
Daniel: I am too tall for a twin bed, you know.
Scene 2
Joshua: (pointing to window) So, how do we hoist the box spring up there?
Michael: Get a rope! Get them wimmen upstairs! Get ready to push!
Rebekah: Huh?
Tiffany: It's easy! We'll tie the rope around the box spring. The boys will push it up the ladder from the ground. We'll pull it from the upstairs opening where the window used to be and haul it inside! It'll be great!
Rebekah: Huh???????????
Scene 3
Tiffany and Rebekah: PUSH!
Michael, Daniel, and Joshua: WE ARE! You pull harder!!!
Scene 4
Rebekah: Look at this carpeting! You tracked in mud everywhere! Look at this! Clean it up!! Before mother gets here!
Mother: (answering cell phone) Hello?
Rebekah: Where you are?
Mother: I'm pulling in the driveway.
Rebekah: SHE'S PULLING IN THE DRIVEWAY!
Scene 5
Mother: Look! See mud and shoe tracks on carpeting!
Father: Look! See Michael hoisting the window back into opening!
Joshua: Look! See our problem solving skills in action!
Michael: Look! See how this window will just barely fit back in here!
Tiffany: Look! See what these Neanderthals did!
Rebekah: Look! See what these Neanderthals did!
Daniel: Look! I've got a new bed!

Postlude
Rebekah: (to Daniel and Joshua) Get in the car. Go to Dillons. Rent a "Rug Doctor". Get all the cleaning supplies. Bring it home. Clean up this mess on this carpeting. Return the rug doctor.
Daniel: Ok.
Joshua: Ok.
Mother: The mud is nearly gone. I am happier.
Father: The window is back in. The Cowboys will beat the Patriots. I am happier.

Note: Final score: Patriots 48 Cowboys 27
THE END.

Canon in D through my head

We just got back from a weekend spent near Branson - and because we've discovered an inexpensive "jewel" of a place down on Indian Point, we had a wonderful time. I would never in a million years actually STAY in Branson. This little place on Indian Point, Hunter's Friend, is well worth the time and trouble it takes to get there. It is NOT a 4 star motel. We met two of my brothers and their wives there - and although some had problems with weak shower flow, some had problems with lumpy mattresses, some had problems with noisy neighbors for awhile, it STILL is great staying there in order to avoid the Branson madness. 35.00 a night. How do you beat that?

We did see "The Haygoods", a high energy musical group of 7 brothers and 1 sister who entertained us exceedingly well. Check out their videos on YouTube. The "Canon in D" is worth it, even if it takes awhile to download on a slow connection. I LOVE Dick's 5 and 10 store in Branson-stocked with more than 40,000 items (the affable sales clerk told me) in what seemed to me like about 1000 square feet, maybe less. The excursion train was kinda cool. Lots of trees. As one brother enthusiastically commented, "If you've seen one tree, you've seen 'em all..." And dinner at the Keeter Center at the College of the Ozarks was the highlight of the trip for me. What a wonderful time! Very good food. Very good service. Very nice atmosphere. Very conducive to visiting. Very wonderful live violin music. Very good coffee. Just VERY GOOD. (In case you hadn't noticed those adjectives before.)

So I'm back home, went to an inservice today on emotional disturbance. You know you're back to reality when you get to do that the very next day after coming home from a weekend vacation.

Reason #3

Continuing on with the third reason: "My Bubble, My Rules"
According to author Lynne Truss, one of the great principles of manners, especially in Britain, is "respecting someone else's right to be left alone, unmolested, undisturbed." She calls it the concept of distinguishing between public and private space, and, stating the the cell phone is by far, the biggest catalyst in blurring the lines. Anytime, anywhere, we can listen in on one-sided conversations where anything is the topic-business arrangements, lunch menus, criminal activity, and why someone doesn't like one's mother-in-law. The title for Reason #3 came from Bart Simpson, who one time explained his boorish behavior by stating, "Hey, it's my bubble, my rules." When we're out in public, we're in our own little bubble, in our own little world, and in our own little world, our own rules govern our behavior. So what if I am having a disagreement with my spouse over whether to invite his sister to Thanksgiving. You get to be part of that too, whether you want to or not, because I'm having this conversation behind you, at the checkout line in Dillons. The ironic part of this is that if I said anything, you'd tell me to mind my own business. Well I'm SORRY. You made it my business when you encroached upon me with your what should have been private discussion of why you can't stand your sister-in-law. Truss says it used to just be CIA agents who walked around with earpieces and "preoccupied, faraway expressions, regarding the little people as irrelevent scum. Now...it's nearly everybody."

My son works for a major auto parts supplier. He went with us to a funeral home Thursday evening to pay respects to a family who unexpectedly lost a loved one on Tuesday. We were there visiting for 30-45 minutes and during that time, he had his cell phone turned off. After leaving the home and getting back into the car, he turned it on and found that in that length of time, the store had called him 8 times. I was aghast. And grateful he thought to turn it off.

**************************************************************************
I've been busy at both schools this week. In this job, a lot of unexpected, unplanned things come up, and you often cannot stick to what you had planned to do when you arrived at work that morning. Then, you get that "I'm behind" feeling, which is a major cause of life stress - I have an outbreak of painful canker sores on my lip which I think, are in part triggered by that stress. It's not just me, my sister-in-law was telling me yesterday that she spent 5 days at her job trying to clear her desk. My husband has a job where the phone rings multiple times in an hour-he used to keep track of the number of phone calls in a day and it was not unusual for him to get 30 or more in an 8 hour day. It's all about dealing with interruptions, isn't it! When I think about interruptions, I think about the gospel of Mark. Read through that book in one or two sittings some time, there are only 16 chapters. Note the number of times Jesus was interrupted, either when He was teaching, walking somewhere, going to church, praying, eating, or speaking with someone. And note His reaction to the interruptions. I had a friend who once told me that interruptions are opportunities for ministry. What do you think?

Reason #2

2. Why am I the One Doing This?
In this section, author Lynne Truss says that in our society, we, as consumers, are required more and more to handle our own problems. I was talking to my brother and sister-in-law about this the other day. In the old days, you could call up the company, talk to a real person, state your problem, "I am calling because you've sent my bill to the wrong address three times now", and that person would apologize, and direct you to someone who would actually help you. I related an incident that happened to me, not too long ago, when I called our district office to speak to someone. I said, "May I speak to Cathy Clover (not her real name) please?" The secretary said, "She's not in today." Period. That was it. Simply, "She's not in today." No offer to take a message, no information regarding whether or not she might be in tomorrow, no nothing. There was not even a perfunctory, "I'm sorry." So then it was up to ME to extract this information from the sealed vault and then decide whether to email, call back, or leave a message. Another example: In lining up to take care of business, you discover you're in the WRONG line-you SHOULD be in the cash only line, or in the credit card only line. Or, you go somewhere to resolve an issue, and you are told that person is only there on the 3rd Tuesday of months which have a "b" in them, only if it is not raining, and, it is up to YOU to remember that. Truss says that in asking customers to perform more and more functions of a business (Online banking anyone? Self-check in? How about pulling your own tooth out?), businesses are actually considering us as "co-op employees". They tell us is for our convenience, but it's actually for theirs.

My primary care physician is in a rather large practice, with probably 15 or 20 other doctors. When you call his office, you wade through a phone menu that first separates the new patients from the existing patients. Then from there, you can select if you want an appointment, or if you want to call your physician-nurse team, or if you need to speak to the business office, etc etc, then from there, you select WHICH physician-nurse team, or WHICH business office, then you get to press whether you have an insurance claim pending or if you have medicare, etc., THEN you get to leave a message on somebody's voice mail. Yeah. This is for MY convenience. I think the ultimate, though, is that the city set up "satellite offices" for you to conduct your car tag/property tax business, with extended hours and actually maybe, close to where you might live or shop. Then they tack on a surcharge for this convenience. You have to PAY for the priviledge of customer service. If you don't choose to pay extra, you can take 1/2 day off work and park with the hundreds of others, wait in what you hope is the right line, and finally reach a station where the stars will have lined up just right and you can transact your business with a minimum of surliness from the clerk who hates her/his job and can't wait to get home to watch "Survivor".

We aren't living in Mayberry anymore. You can't stroll down the street past Floyd's barbershop and go into the sheriff's office to pay a parking ticket Barney gave you last week. (Speaking of paying tickets, you should try to navigate your way through City Hall to conduct buisness. Be sure to again, request at least 1/2 day off work.)

I realize as part of a large school district, that I'm one of those you reach after working your way through a menu of choices on the phone, and that I have inconvenient office hours as I work at three different schools and depending on what school your kid goes to, I may or may not be at your kid's school when you have a question. Believe me, I understand your frustration. But I at least, return calls and apologize for my crazy schedule, dictated by someone bigger than me. That's more than you'll get from AT & T.

Reason #1

In her book, "Talk to the Hand", author Lynne Truss discusses six areas in which the human race is getting more "unpleasant and inhuman" day by day. She defines these areas as six reasons to stay home and bolt the door - perhaps figuratively, perhaps not.

#1. "Was That So Hard To Say?"
Truss deplores the state of manners in our society-and the infrequent use of the words "please" and "thank you". She notes that the rituals that once were in place for showing gratitude are now in sad disrepair. Hold a door open for someone and it's unusual to hear a thank you. However, I think maybe in the midwest, we still do this a lot of the time. And the place that surprises me the most with polite door holding is QuikTrip. Yes, that busy convenience store where people are rushing in for drinks, snacks, or a myriad number of other items - it is not unusual for the person in front of you to hold the door for you as you go out, particularly if you have something in your hands. I'm always amazed at that. And, it's contagious. I always hold the door open for the next guy. Even if the person coming out IS a guy.

Reason #2 next post. Stay tuned.

In other news, I have 3 special education staffings this week. To complicate matters, a long time church member and friend died yesterday, and her funeral is Thursday. I have been asked to provide music, but I'm afraid I will not be able to as one of those special education staffing meetings is the same time as the service. And Friday is another inservice day-I get to hear about suspensions and expulsions for half the day, and review crisis plans at both schools the other half of the day.

Sympathies extend to my daughter, whose faithful companion, Alex, a guinea pig she had for five and a half years died. My daughter, for some reason, has a real affinity for guinea pigs, and has had them in her life ever since we got her first one for her for her birthday when she was in the 3rd grade. She babies them, spoils them rotten, and they want for nothing when they are in her care - in fact, they communicate exceptionally well with her in squeaks, chirps, grunts, and noises that only she can understand. I never did get on good terms with Alex as he bit me once, but he was sure a nice looking tri-color pig, with a personality all his own.

A Civil Civilization

Whatever happened to civility? Kindness? Manners? British author Lynne Truss writes a spot-on account of the trend in our society of uncivilized, rude, and ill-mannered people in, "Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World, or, Six Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door." While I was home on Tuesday, I read this book in one day. (You can order it from Amazon for as cheap as 1 cent plus shipping, or check it out of your local public library.) In this laugh out loud and enlightening treatise, she explores reasons why we are in such a state, not only in Britain, but in the USA as well.

I'll be talking about this in blog entries to come, so stay tuned for the six reasons she gives, good reasons I might add, of why we may often feel like staying home and bolting the door. For example, here's her thoughts about one possible cause of our unseeming behavior toward each other: "One hesitates to blame television for all this because that's such an obvious thing to do. But, come on. Just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's not true. People being vulgar and rude to each other...is TV's bread and butter." I agree. The TV show "Survivor" is a good example of betrayal and knife in the back stabbings, however, even it isn't as bad as some reality shows.

So let's discuss civility and human kindness. Whatever happened to please and thank you, to genuine customer service (where you call a number and actually get a human to talk to), where your bank knows your name and the guy you let get in front of you on Kellogg during rush hour waved his gratitude to you? Stay tuned.

Blech

Oh man. This cold, or perhaps allergies, I'm not sure, finally got me. This morning it's been nothing but cough, cough, cough, blow nose, cough, sneeze, concurrently with headache and scratchy throat.

I'm at home today as I didn't want to cough and blow my nose in a 2 hour meeting this morning, and in a 2 one hour meetings this afternoon. You're welcome. If you're sick, stay home! Although I am scrupulous about handwashing and using hand sanitizer, some little germ got through. Little things can topple big things. End of story.

The Sounds of Silence

This week looks like it's shaping up to be a busy one. Tomorrow I'm meeting with a WSU professor in the afternoon. I have several other meetings this week, plus an all day workshop to attend on Friday, so I'll be out of the office all that day.

I'm evaluating a student from another culture-I'd tell you which one but this student is rather unusual and I need to protect his privacy. I'll call this student Maxa. Maxa was born with several physical deformities, plus had an unfortunate accident when he was younger resulting in two broken legs. Maxa's culture is not very tolerant or accepting of children who are less than "perfect", and his mother has reacted to this child's "imperfections" by sheltering him, and by doing for him even those things Maxa could do for himself given the opportunity. He has been coddled throughout his short life, and allowed to do whatever he likes. Consequently, he has behavior which is not acceptable-when told "no", he fights. When playing with other children, he doesn't share, he grabs toys and pencils. He pushes and is a bully. Maxa does not have social or academic English language skills. He has sensory deficits and an unusual deformity of his hands and feet. Evaluating him will be a challenge, but the big hurdle will be to find someone to translate so that my results will make sense to his mother. In discussing her child with her, I really have to be cognizant of the fact that the native culture she grew up in does not allow for children to be "different". Hence, I have a meeting with a WSU professor of this same culture and ethnicity. I'm hoping he can help me understand how I can best communicate to this mother about her son, all the while keeping in mind that I must say what needs to be said, and she must understand what is said.

It is hot and muggy tonight. After a cool day in the 50's yesterday, it got warm today-up in the 90's. And this evening at 10:30, it still hasn't cooled off much.

I wonder what I'd be doing tonight if I didn't live in the city. If I lived outside of town, I bet I'd be sitting on my porch watching the stars come out. Listening to the sounds of the night-and I'm not talking about traffic, horns, sirens, airplanes, and trains. Sometimes my soul aches for peace and quiet. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever find it.

"Pilch" vs "Filch"

So, I've revamped the blog. I realized that I have problems writing in this journal because I've always defined myself by my job title. I figured not much else was interesting about me. And I dunno, maybe there isn't. But now that I'm starting my second year on the job, and I'm not in school any more at Wichita State University, maybe there's more that I should discuss on these virtual pages. I take comfort that not too many people read this blog anymore. It doesn't really bother me that I've lost my faithful reader friends who used to check in once in awhile (I miss you guys)! But your lives go on. You have more interesting online activities to pursue than this sometimes boring, sometimes retrospective, sometimes confusing look at life.

So here we are on a Saturday afternoon. This morning was distribution day for Angel Food Ministries at our church and I was the person in charge of making the unpopular decisions. I left about 1:00 with two of my kids who also volunteer (we were the last to walk out the door after clean up) and so I took them to lunch. I really enjoy being with my kids, it seems we are all friends, and can have a good time laughing at our, and others' foibles along the way. (BTW Daniel, "pilch" IS a word meaning: "an infants wrapper worn over a diaper." In the context you used the word in, you meant "filch" i.e., steal, purloin, take, swipe, lift, snaffle, pinch. EX: "Mom, I'm going to FILCH that trash can from that other room and bring it in here", not, "Mom I'm going to "PILCH" that trash can ...etc.)

Frips and Fraps

Someone told me that my Saturday post just now showed up today, Tuesday on my blog. I don't know what's going on with that-when I posted Saturday, I took a look at the blog and it was on there, so, go figure. One of those internet anomolies.

Today was busy for me. I got to go to a meeting this morning, then this afternoon, I: observed and worked with a kindergartener who is 7 years old, but yet, is unable to write his name, recognize any letters, or hold his pencil correctly, counseled a student who had an "accident" at school, tried to fix a pair of glasses for a student which needed a screw in the frame, gave a little time and a package of Smarties to a troubled kid for a good day, met with a mental health worker regarding another troubled student, visited with 3 teachers, and, periodically checked on a second grader who came to school so mad he could spit nails about something going on at home, but de-escalated and had a good day. Oh, and helped with 2 suspensions, both for fairly major infractions. There ya go. A somewhat typical day. And, I got to leave at 4:45, which was good.

My son tells me he doesn't read my blog entries because they are way too long. Fine. I'll try to write oftener and shorter. (Maybe.)

Somebody asked me how my health is, since I deleted my health blog. Fine just fine. Last A1C was 5.7. If you're diabetic you know that that is an excellent A1C number. (Waiting for applause.) THEN, my youngest son, a Starbucks junkie (when he has the money) bought a "Java Chip Frap" for me when we were out running errands last Saturday. Applause can stop. I looked up nutritional info on the net. A small one of those (which, you can't get anything "small" at Starbucks, the smallest size is "Tall", does this make sense to you?) was wonderfully refreshing, and, had, (wait for it), ...40 grams of sugar in it. There are 4 grams of sugar in one teaspoon. Putting my math skills to work, I deduced that in one small tall Java Chip Frap, I ingested...ta dah! 10 teaspoons of sugar. I may as well have had a can of real pop, which I have avoided like the plague for the last 3 years. So I told him this, and he looked at me and said, "Well! You cannot do that ANY MORE!!" No kidding, Jack. No more.

Life is good. Even without Java Chip Fraps.

This 'n That

I think I'm about ready to be recouperated from having a 3 day headache and some dizziness-all due to a sinus problem I had no idea I was having. As I explained to the nurse on the phone, I have no drainage, either throat or nose, and had no idea I even had any kind of sinus problem, except for the awful frontal and on top of my head ache which consumed my energies since Wednesday. I thought Thursday that it might be a migraine, however, after taking some sinus pain and pressure decongestants on Friday evening, finally today, I have a little relief. So, maybe it WAS sinus problems and not migraine problems. I dunno. It hurt so bad Thursday night that I would have gladly handed you my head on a platter to do with what you will. So, I didn't go to school Friday, and my son (who has strep) and I made a sickly couple of people in this house.

I've got stuff to do at both schools, so Monday will see a busy week. We have 4 staffings scheduled at one school in September and a couple at the other school, so there's no time to let grass grow under my feet. I've had a week now, to get used to new management styles at both schools, and new staff at both schools, both of these things are sometimes difficult to adjust to, but flexibility must be a part of this job. The "new sheriff in town" is doing a great job, and for the most part, has been well received. There are a few parents who do not appreciate her zero tolerance policy, but they will soon either grow to appreciate it, or transfer their children to another school.

Last night (ironically trying to get to a theater to see "Evan Almighty"), we had rain rain and more rain, and it was very welcome. I kept hoping we would get some heavenly precip so I wouldn't have to water the tomatoes so extensively, but I really waited too long. The one tomato plant is showing signs of distress as the leaves are yellowing, and some tomatoes I picked this morning had mold on them.

I got my car back from the shop and it's just wonderful how it drives now, 1200.00 later. It SHOULD, for that kind of money. The work on our leaky roof will start next week, so there's a lot of money flowing out of our household-actually, there's a lot of introductory offer credit card checks flowing out of our household. If I have to borrow money, I sorta like those 4% interest rates.

Well, I'm going to the fruit store to see if there are any home grown peaches left, then to do some other errands. I like Saturdays, but they go by fast.

A good day

First week of school is over. First DAY of school was this past Wednesday. In "Dodge City" (a reference to the school with a new "Matt Dillon" in town), we suspended a kid at 1:45pm. First day. Thursday the sheriff suspended 2, and Friday, she told 4 kids to go home early. I told her it was getting worse, and she said that actually, she was anticipating suspending at least 10 on Friday, so she thought the day went fine! Her zero tolerance policy will get a workout in the next two weeks, as many of our troublemakers are still on a "honeymoon". There's another situation developing with a student who is never picked up on time after school. She sadly waits in the front of the school for sometimes as long as an hour. Not surprisingly, she is one of our students who also has behavioral issues (she was suspended the 2nd day of school), but yesterday, she flew into my office after the bell rang and announced to me that she had had a good day. When I inquired about her day and gave her a thumbs up, she said, "I had a good day because I did NOT get into trouble!" And grinned at me. Knowing quite a bit about her, I know that school is about the only place where adults care what happens to her. As her "village", what an awesome responsibility we have!

Two blogs are not a good idea

Don't send me an email telling me my health blog link doesn't work because I deleted it. I found it difficult to post to TWO blogs (imagine that). I think someone in my family, or even more than one someone told me I was ambitious to try to keep up with two. I may try again sometime, but for now, we'll just see if we can post on this one regularly. Yeah. Post regularly. What a concept!

So I've been through 4 days of inservice. I have one more to go, tomorrow, then school starts on Wednesday. For you teachers, I know inservices are not your favorite thing to do, and they are for sure something I approach with dread. We were in the library today, discussing data points, local, district, and state assessments, curriculum changes, yadda yadda yadda. Nothing was really applicable to me and how I do my job, yet, I was required to attend. Now, I will say, I have been to a few meetings over the past several days that WERE applicable to me, and not only that, were, get a hold of yourself, semi-enjoyable. For example, tomorrow is "BIST" training, and I'm looking forward to learning how to implement this new behavior program at one of my schools. Also tomorrow night is open house, and I will be in attendance at an assembly, where our new principal is going to not only welcome parents, but make her expectations for their children very clear. It'll be interesting. She was assigned to us to help us get things under control and my oh my, I am so very impressed with this outspoken, talented, and firmly compassionate educator! I hope to have good news to report all year from this little formerly hopelessly dysfunctional little school.

In other news, as it is in most of the central region of the United States, it is hot hot hot here. We had buckets of rain and more rain from March to July, now it's hot and dry and even though it's August, in Kansas, and it's supposed to be hot, people seem to be surprised by this turn of events. "My it's hot!" That's what ya get when you live in AC most of the time. When I was a kid, I didn't know it was unbearably hot. I just knew it was summer, and there were all kinds of things to do outside. Building treehouses, jumping off an 8 foot step ladder onto a gunny sack swing suspended in the air, picking rows of green beans and digging potatoes, skating, (remember the metal skates that you needed a skate KEY to tighten, and that pinched your toes?), playing in the dirt, riding bikes, playing "hide and seek" or "kick the can", even making mud pies once in a great while were all to be had, just by stepping out the back door.

Well, enough reminiscing. This will make me nostalgic and I don't wanna go there!

Are you enjoying any garden tomatoes? I finally had several that turned color all at once and although they are kinda ugly and cracked, they really taste pretty good. The grape tomatoes are nice and sweet. Enjoy the last vestiges of your garden, and your hot hot summer-beautiful fall will be here before you know it.

Vacation is about over!

Wow. It's been like 3 weeks since I've blogged. Good heavenly days. It's just been one day right after another. !

My brother blogs much more faithfully than I do, and I enjoy reading what he's been up to on a daily basis. Maybe I think he has a more exciting life than me, and in some ways, he does. He's WORKING this summer, and I, well, I did not have to be employed. How cool is that!

Speaking of work, I get to go back on August 8, which is next Wednesday. I did make a visit to both schools this last week, and met with both principals, as well as the psych coordinator downtown. All meetings were productive, which is not what I'm going to be able to assert after 5 days of inservice meetings, the 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th, and 14th. School starts here on the 15th, which is fairly early.

Have any of you heard of "BIST"? It stands for "Behavior Intervention Support Team", and is a program one of my schools is adopting in order to deal with problem student behavior. The website is http://www.bist.org/index.html . I get to attend an all day session in order to learn about this program. I gotta tell you, this school needs to do SOMETHING in order to get things under control besides just a change of staff. In MY day (don't you just love it when old people like me start out sentences with, "In MY day...") you could get in trouble in school for: chewing gum, if you were female-wearing jeans or slacks, closing a classroom window, not showing up to class without parents calling in, backtalking a teacher, and printing assignments rather than using cursive writing. At this particular school I'm at, one day last year we had a student bring marijuana in a pocket in his shoe, and another student bring a pellet gun. All in one day. We expelled several students, and there were many days that cops were throughout our building. Neighborhood shootings were in the news. Yet for the most part, teachers did an admirable job.

Did I say I'm looking forward to this year? I am. I really am.

Work work work

So, how many days before I go back to work? It's looming over me like a, a, an ax? Well, not quite that bad. Let's see. I go back August 8, so it's 3 weeks from today. Aaauggh. I STILL have two closets to clean out, however, I've managed to keep somewhat busy this summer. I've volunteered some at Maude Carpenter's Children's Home. I've done some landscaping and kept up the yard work. However, I have not done much reading, nor have I practiced the piano like I thought I would.

We have 5 days of service (great. I LOVE sitting on those child size wooden chairs in the library all DAY), then school starts on the 15th. I'm hoping to spend some time at each school's inservice as there is new significant staff at each place. Actually, I hate to admit this, and if you accuse me of saying it, I'll deny it, but I think I'll sorta be ready to go back to work. There. I said it. Although I enjoy just sorta putzing around, and setting my own schedule for the most part and being lazy some, and doing all those things that come with "vacation", I really have to, well, there's no good way to say it, but I really have to work at working. Like many others, my natural inclination is to avoid work, however, I'm thinking about a movie I saw yesterday. "The Ultimate Gift" made the point that the ability to work and even work itself, is a gift. If you haven't seen this movie, I would encourage you to rent the DVD. It'll be worth your time.

Wasting time

It's time to update my now discouraged readers about what's been going on since, oh, when was the last time I posted? June 22?

I've gone to a nephew's wedding and helped to rennovate a house that my brother owns...not just ANY house, but the house we grew up in. My brother bought it after my parents died and raised his own boys there until he moved a few years ago. It's located in a small town south of here, and to everyone but just a few, it's a nondescript run down little house on a piece of property not worth much, but to me, it means more than that. Realistically, my brother really needs to sell it instead of renting it out, and I truly hope he can sell it. It has become a liability to him as renters have not been kind to it. So, I did all sorts of manual labor I'm not used to, but since all my siblings were there and other family as well, I enjoyed the work.

The wedding was very nice, and a big official welcome to Katie, the woman who is making my nephew "Mike" (I always called him Michael, but things change...) a happy man. I hope to get to know Katie - there hasn't been much opportunity to just visit. I think I scared her off at our first meeting, and she's not sure what to think of me, but hopefully, she'll realize that I'm not that horrifying to be around. I would discuss why it is that Katie got scared, but, let's just say it involved an old cat and a betting pool.

Not a lot happening in the school psychology field. I realized I have less than a month to go before reporting back to school (aauggh!!) and many more things to accomplish before then. For example, I'd like to at least get ONE ripe tomato off of ONE of my tomato plants. Would that be too much to ask? Maybe.

I hate to admit this, but I've been wasting some time looking at YouTube. Specifically, I've been watching old Johnny Carson clips, and here's the link to one classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpVjW30I-YU
I've watched this twice now, and it just cracks me up. If the link doesn't work, go to youtube.com and search for "Copper Clappers". So that got me started watching other Carson clips - check out the one where the marmoset sits on his head.

Watching these old clips got me to thinking about that comedian-pianist, Victor Borge, so I searched for him on YouTube and watched some of his schtick. Remember him? I've about decided you can find anything on the net.

A Three Act Play

Just when I think I've about got a handle on understanding my eccentric oldest son, I get to experience a new high. Imagine a parking meter post, without the parking meter. In other words, a pipe sticking out of the sidewalk where a parking meter used to be, about 3 inches in diameter. As you will note, the pipe has no end cap. This post is located in downtown Wichita near a busy street corner. And so, the story begins.

Characters: Mom, Bruce, Rebekah, Joshua, Daniel

Setting: Downtown Wichita, 12:30 pm, corner of Waco and Douglas

Occasion: Three adult children, grateful for their father's influence, guidance and fun times over the years, decide to take him out for lunch along with their mother and give him the Father's Day gifts they have purchased.

ACT 1

Scene 1

Mom: Here we are kids. This is where your dad would like to eat lunch.

(Parks the car along Waco, heading north.) Let's wait on the corner for him as he will be walking from work.

Kids: Swell!

Mom: Here comes father!

Kids: Father! (Hugs all around.)

Scene 2

Rebekah: Here you are dad. Presents new portable CD player.

Joshua: Here you are dad. Presents new coffee cup.

Daniel: I already gave you my gift ON the day. (A pair of khaki shorts.)

Bruce: Thank you! I'm so grateful for such wonderful children!

Scene 3

Mom: Joshua, why don't you take the gifts and put them in the trunk of the car. Here are the keys.

Joshua: Okay. (Walks to trunk, opens it, puts gifts in trunk. Closes trunk.)

ACT 2

Scene 1

Mom: Joshua, what are you doing? Let's go eat! (Pointing to the Broadview Hotel across the street.)

Joshua: Um, I have a problem. (Looking in parking meter pipe, laughing.)

Mom: What is it? (walking over to Joshua)

Joshua: I, um...(points in pipe).

Mom: Aaauuggghhh!

Scene 2

Mom surveys pipe. Keys are down in the pipe about 8 inches from the top of the pipe. Joshua is attempting to stick his hand down the pipe to retrieve the keys.

Mom: (Too dumbfounded to use any words to express thoughts.)

Daniel: HA HA!! Let me take a picture!

Rebekah: What have you DONE, you dork!

Bruce: Well, we gotta think of SOMETHING...

Scene 3

The family walks to the restaurant. Joshua is made to understand during the walk that he must figure something out to retrieve mom's keys. While waiting to be seated, Joshua asks the desk clerk for a wire coat hanger, and is informed that they only have wooden hangers in their hotel.

Joshua: Hmm. I guess I could walk back to the house and get a hanger.

Mom: I guess you could.

Dad: I'm hungry! It smells like chicken in here!

ACT 3

Scene 1

Joshua arrives about 30 minutes later with a wire hanger.

Dad: I'm going to watch this.

Daniel: I'm going to watch this.

Mom: I'm too nervous to watch.

Rebekah: I'll stay with you.

Scene 2

After several minutes, the men come back in the dining room triumphantly exalting over the successful fishing expedition.

Joshua: Look! (Waves keys at mom)

Mom: Great.

Joshua: We also fished around in the pipe for other stuff...(tosses a single key for some sort of briefcase on the table.)

Mom. Great.

THE END

Of wet carpets and city life

I'm sitting out here on my screened in porch, hoping that in this 90% humidity, my carpets I just had cleaned this morning will dry. We've been farkeling with carpet cleaning since Tuesday, when the guy started the job by spraying everything with "pre-treatment", then went out to start the steam machine, and it wouldn't stay running. Long story short, he finally came back this morning and finished the job, so since Tuesday morning, we've had things picked up and stacked waiting for the cleaning, now, we're still not put back together because it will be a YEAR before the carpet is finally dry. But it looks much better. I paid extra for "Scotchguard", but as I was writing the check out to the man, I wondered how I would know if he actually did "Scotchguard" as he said he would.

Rain, rain, and more rain. The yard is, in the next couple of days, going to get way out of control as I haven't been able to mow. Basements which never had problems with water seepage are flooding. Everything is damp, moist, and mildewy. Farmers are not able to get the wheat harvest underway. Even if they could get in the fields to cut the wheat, the grain would have too much moisture to be acceptable. What we need is, and I hate to say this, but it's true - we need about a week of 100 degree sunny weather. The farmers would love it, as would my wet carpeting.

As I'm sitting here, listening to the birds in the trees, I'm thinking that living here isn't so bad, then I become aware of all the other city noises crowding in around me. I am within about 6 city blocks of one of the busiest thoroughfares in this city, and there's always, 24 hours a day, the nondiscript sounds of thousands of cars a day from this road which wafts onto my peaceful porch. Then you've got helicopters circling, airplanes both commercial and military as McConnell is south and east of here, and if that isn't enough, there's a train crossing just 2 blocks away. For many years we had a fire station within what looks to me like a football field's distance away. You can almost always hear sirens, and let's not forget car radios as people drive by with their windows down. Do you ever get tired of noise? I do. If God's willing, and works it out, someday I hope to leave the cacophony of the city. I'll invite you to come out to my place. We'll sit on the porch and drink coffee, and take in the sounds of life away from Wichita. That'll be a welcome change.