Rachael's trip

Friday, July 30, 2010

Plans and Prayers

There is an old joke about a man in a flood. He sits on his front porch as the waters rise - a row boat comes and offers him a ride. "God will take care of me" the man answers. A little while later he is sitting on the sill of a second story window - a motor boat comes and offers him a ride. "God will take care of me" the man answers. A few hours later he is sitting on the roof top - a helicopter comes by and offers him a ride. "God will take care of me" he answers. Later that evening he meets God in Heaven and asks "Why didn't you take care of me?" God answers "I sent two boats and a helicopter!"

I am feeling a bit like that man right now. I am supposed to go back to school for my doctorate in the fall but, things aren't falling into place. I am wondering if I am missing the boats and the helicopter. I had three stipulations that I set forth before going back:

  1. The house would be cleaned and reorganized (row boat?)
  2. I would hire a cleaning service to come in at least every three weeks (motor boat?)
  3. I was not going to pay my self - I want a grant or loan (helicopter?)
None of those things have happened. In the meantime, I keep running into other opportunities that have little or no cost that will help me to hone my craft. Am I thinking about retirement too soon? Does God have other plans for me? I have a feeling that I need to step back and listen.

Friday, July 9, 2010

The Great Refrigerator/Freezer Clean Out

Yesterday was the semi-annual great refrigerator/freezer clean out at my house. Now, not that I don't clean out my refrigerator periodically - but, twice a year, I take everything out, even the shelves,  wash the refrigerator down inside and out, and put everything back. I do this over Christmas break and then 1 time in the summer.

Its amazing to me the little bits of leftovers I can find that no longer look like human food. Things that have been hiding in the deep recesses of the far back upper shelf! What was that round green thing? Who knows what it must have been in its former life?

The darned refrigerator is the kind that beeps at you when you leave the door open. So amidst all the hard work, I have the negative reinforcement of that darned beeping going off. Even though I could intellectualize that this beeper could be ignored...I found myself trying to work quickly so that I could get the door shut and not have to listen to its incessant tone.  After awhile, I heard myself arguing with the nagging beeper - "I'll be done when I'm done...",  I told the cruel beeper over and over again. It was almost as bad as arguing with the GPS when I miss a turn off. (But that's a completely different blog post all together.)

All in all, the day was a productive one, I finished the refrigerator/freezer, went swimming and even managed to put together a nice supper.  This stay at home mom stuff is for the birds! When does school start? I need the rest!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Fox News and the Founding Fathers

I don't pretend to be an expert, but, I am a Civics teacher and I DO have a history degree. Does Fox News scare anyone else like it scares me?

On one hand, I am proud to live in a country where people are allowed to express their opinions. People have the right to be as controversial as they please. On the other hand, I am concerned about the propaganda that is espoused by that network under the guise of conservatism. Glenn Beck scares the #$%% out of me. I sometimes feel that he is Goebbels reincarnated. I admit - he is a master manipulator - hmmmm just like the Nazis? Is that why he is so afraid of them?

I got to thinking this weekend about our Founding Fathers and Fox News. How would they have treated these men if they were around today. After all, Fox News is conservative - Loyalists were conservative - so using logic, Fox News would have been anti- revolutionary. After all isn't liberalism sometimes used as a synonym for revolutionary? I can hear Glenn Beck now ranting about George Washington showing up at the Continental Congress dressed in uniform. I am sure he would have been against such a display and obvious attempt for attention. isn't that liberal after all? Would that blonde chick be googling words like tyranny? Obviously she would "pretend" she doesn't understand what it means...like she pretends not to understand anything else...

Take the time to remember that our founding fathers stepped out of the box...gambled their lives, their fortunes, and their honor - which many of them lost. They were the radicals of their time. They took on the strongest military in the world and won. They were revolutionary - or is that liberal?

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Canada Days 5 and 6

The last two days of our little adventure were mostly spent in the car. Rande was determined that this road trip would only take two days...he just about killed me. We made scheduled stops at Lake Placid, Chocolate World in Hershey, PA, and Macado's in Blacksburg. I took a few pictures but mostly these were very uneventful days.

Now that we are home, I find that I am very tired but glad that we made our trek up north....I enjoyed myself and I am finding that I already miss the jazz festival and Canadian Beer.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Canada Day 5

Spent the day walking and watching the main city of Montreal. There is a unique blend of old and new in the downtown area. We started by walking to the corner grocery and buying some Canadian biere and coffee to bring home. Later, Rachael showed us an underground shopping mall. We ate lunch at McDonald's so that I could add another tray liner to my collection.

I know eating at McDonald's outside of the US sounds a little "off" but, I collect the tray liners and laminate them to hang on the walls of my classroom/office. I use these to teach geography. Kids can connect to a McDonald's tray liner because they have all been to McDonald's. I have them from several different countries now.

We wandered back through the jazz festival and bought a couple of souvenirs from the tents. Since it was mid-afternoon, the jazz festival was still going strong but it wasn't as crowded in the tents.

After dinner, we spent the rest of the night at the jazz festival listening to some incredible and unique bands. One was an eastern European big band style group and the other was a mixture of Native American and French. I loved them both.

au revoir à Montréal