Only 33 Days Until Cruising!

And then the vacation posts will officially begin...

But until that time, I will continue "practicing" my blogging with emphasis on the "Musings" part (whilst dreaming of the "Travels" content!)

Today, two items of notice that you might not have seen:

• "Unusual marriage ends in death-by-exercise" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29791289/ Initially I thought this article was going to totally support my belief that one is only granted so many heartbeats in this life and I'm pretty much of the opinion that I don't want to use them all up with exercising (that being said, I'm at 80+ days on my WiiFit!) Turns out this 30-something married a 70-something and then forced him to literally swim himself to death in order to get his inheritance. Whew! That's one way I don't have to worry about going - a) I don't really have anything that Gerry would inherit from me (not that it would take me very long to be exercised to death) and b) it won't work the other way because Gerry's in phenomenal shape (well physically anyway :0) ) and I'd die of old age waiting for him to exercise to death!
• Those of you looking for new job opportunities given the current economic climate might consider relocating to Rhode Island: "Pole positions: Strip club holds job fair - ‘Foxy Lady’ club in R.I. looks to fill openings in bad economy" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29791612/ The owner is looking to fill 30 positions - bartenders, waitresses (only attractive ones need apply), floor hosts, managers, and disc jockeys. He's hoping that the downturn in economy will make prospective employees less prudish about shedding their clothes to make a buck. I guess it's all in a day's (or in this case night's) work...

tw

There But For the Grace of God...

My heart truly goes out to the family of Natasha Richardson. Falling down on the beginner slope seems like such an innocuous thing to do it is nearly impossible to believe it can have serious consequences. Just blowing my knee on the "bunny hill" I was extremely lucky! By all accounts it appears that we have not only lost a wonderful actress but a great human being all too young.

On to other news...

A high school in Dallas, Texas has come up with a rather unique way of having its students settle their differences (and simulataneously provide the staff with entertainment): "Texas high school held cage fights, records say - Staff allegedly staged 'gladiator-style' brawls for troubled students." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29774152/

The school maintained a mesh cage in the boys' basketball locker room which "security monitors" would have students settle their differences...all while allowing the staff to enjoy this "gladiator entertainment".

And we wonder why kids are bringing/using guns in school?????

tw

Happy Bithday to Me!

Saturday (March 14th) was the official beginning of my birthday weekend!

I love celebrations! I'm Irish and we Irish can turn any occasion into a celebration (think "wakes") but seriously we will celebrate anything - so a birthday such as mine (so close to St. Paddy's Day) has double party potential! It's never been about getting presents and such - I just love getting together with family and friends for festive food, great conversations, the occasional playing of games and lots of laughs. Nothing beats it!

Sarah, Fredrik & Mattias came down from Canada for the weekend. In fact, Mattias helped make crepes for my birthday breakfast. He is such a bundle of joy (and energy!) and continually delights. But this morning I was far more taken by watching the amazing young woman and mother my daughter has become. I'm proud and astounded by the loving patience she demonstrates with little Mattias. Without hesitation she got right down on the floor with him so that he could be "mommy's helper" and because of this year and half of love and devotion, he in turn has become an intelligent, thoughtful, loving 18-month old boy who adores his parents. I'd like to think she learned some of that from me but since I've yet to see her ever get frustrated with him (despite the 18 months of sleep deprivation!) I really rather doubt it! :)

Saturday afternoon and evening was spent celebrating St. Paddy's Day with the traditional corned beef & cabbage dinner accompanied by not one, not two but actually three jello salads (lovely to see that someone has been reading my posts and was desperate to show me that jello is achievable). The menu was rounded out with Marne's fabulous (and traditional now!) Irish Soda Bread and Michael's Guinness Chocolate Cake. Gerry provided bartending services with his famous (and perfectly poured!) "Black & Tans":

Naturally a St. Paddy's celebration wouldn't be complete without those souls brave enough to try the annual "Irish Car Bomb" drink. It involves dropping a shot glass filled with 1/2 Irish Whiskey and 1/2 Irish Creme into a 1/2 pint of Guinness (that's the easy part!) and then drinking it down....quickly (this ain't no sipping drink!). The tricky part is keeping the shot glass from knocking your front teeth out! This year we had 4 participants:

First Michael showed them how it was done. Then it was Mark's turn to belly up to the bar. Next came Gerry clearly attempting to save his teeth. Finally it was Chris's turn (no doubt his first) and he showed them that it could be done in only a matter of a few seconds!



I have my own version of this tradition - it involves a 1/2 pt. of Irish Creme with a shot glass filled with 1/2 Irish Whiskey and 1/2 Guinness. I drink the Irish Creme and just look at the shot glass - much tastier!

The day was completed with birthday phone calls from Jenny and my sister Margo and the weekend topped off with a delicious brunch in Seattle followed by some serious "couch time" (aka snoozing) in the afternoon - a completely enjoyable weekend. I'll never understand why all people don't love birthdays as much as I do!

tw

Thanks, But No Thanks

Dear President Obama,

I see that you have proposed lengthening the school year as part of your education plan.

I believe that you mean well. Education in this country is a travesty, however, increasing the number of days our kids spend there is not the answer. Instead I propose you consider how the time in school is spent.

In my local school district, educators spend far too much time on what we will call "non-teaching" items - complying with state requirements for "seat time" but not really fulfilling any educational goals. Our state mandates 180 days of education for our children. But I wonder how many adults realize that this "day" of education is defined by only a few actual hours, meaning that you could send your child to school at 8:30 am and have that same child home after a FULL DAY of school by 11:00 am! It's not the number of days that's the problem - it's the definition of DAY itself!

And then let's look at those 180 "days" - due to union negotiation and district mandates, our teachers are required to complete, attend or in some cases just have time off for lesson planning or "personal" days. This means that we have an unusally large number of "sub" days - days in which a substitute teacher is there for some or all of the day. While many teachers do prepare a lesson plan for their subs to follow, I think we can all recognize that a day with a substitute is going to result, optimally, in less than a full day of education for these students and, more often, is a complete waste of a day while the kids spend time watching videos, dvds, reading or in study hall. The problem here isn't the number of days - it's the quality of the days spent in school.

Finally (at least for this post), let's look at the actual number of days in school. Because we typically start after Labor Day and have now had to allow for "snow days" (thank you globally warming!) our schools are "in session" until mid-to-late June. Everyone - teachers, students and parents - are ready for school to end by that time...or earlier. Teachers are only paid until the end of the day the last day of the school year. They aren't staying any longer than what they are paid for so in order to get everything accomplished to physically close the building, students are released after only 1/2 day (of course this still counts as their 180th full day of education).

Having those few precious hours without students is not nearly enough time to get everything done, so students are actually released the entire week after 1/2 day of education (and they are actually ENCOURAGED not to attend at all) while high school seniors are actually given a full week off before everyone else!

Still this is not enough time to get everything packed away for the summer so teachers collect all textbooks around the 1st of June! While I don't believe all learning must be done via textbooks, apparently the teachers do and so our students pretty much spend the entire month of June without any educational instruction taking place. The number of days isn't the problem - it's our expectations for the teachers in our schools that needs to be addressed.

President Obama, nobody could possibly agree with you more than I when you say that our schools are failing. We need a total overhaul of the system - not a cosmetic repair - to make certain that our children get the quality of education that is going to make them competitive, productive employees and innovators for the future. The education process demands the same focused attention and revision that is going to re-invent our economic system and our health care system. Anything else is merely a rearrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic and is not going to stop this ship from sinking.

tw

Go Zags!

That was certainly an interesting victory - the game was over before it ever began as Gonzaga led 1-0 before the tip off! I was unaware of the "dunking" rule and even Gerry (fount of all sports related arcane knowledge and trivia) was surprised. It seems you can't dunk the ball in warm-up, a fact that one St. Mary's player will NEVER forget. One of the refs was standing right there, spotted the infraction and charged a technical foul against St. Mary's BEFORE the game!

From that point on it was classic Gonzaga ball - the players spend the first 15 minutes of the 1st half finishing their warm-up and then it's game over for their opponent. Fun stuff!

GO ZAGS!

tw

Uh....Not This Granny!

What to do when your mother (grandmother to your children) turns 84? Carol Brown of Lake Okeechobee, Florida came up with a rather unique gift idea - certainly one that is "unreturnable" and most likely "un-re-giftable".

Carol wanted to give her mom the chance to once again "ride on the back of a boy's motorcycle" like she had done in the 30's. She advertised on craigslist for someone to "Come Give Granny A Ride On Your Hog" and Ron Borowski of nearby Palm Beach County said "you bet."

See June Brown has cancer and the doctor has told her and her husband of 64 years that she doesn't have much longer. This may well be her last birthday and it certainly was one to remember. Carol was afraid her mother would be frightened if a stranger rode up on his Harley so she waited until the day before the big event to even tell her mother about her gift. June spent the remainder of that day calling everyone she knew to tell them about it!

The next day she paced up and down the block, waiting for the sound of the motorcycle. When Ron showed up they spent quite a bit of time making small talk before he asked if she'd like to go for a ride. At first she said no but with some coaxing and assistance from her three daughters, she was eased onto the back of bike and off they went.

It was a memory neither she nor her family will ever forget! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29568715/

Now as a grandmother of an 18-month old and soon-to-be grandmother to another grandson, I'm all about creating memories. I'm just hoping that my kids remember that the only time I rode on the back of a boy's motorcycle when I was a kid I burned my leg on the exhaust (I think - I've studiously avoided all things "motorcycle" since that time!) and I'm not looking to recreate that memory at all! (But I wouldn't turn down a nice cruise!)

tw

Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Okay I must admit - the news this week has been, to say the least, interesting. I mean I passed on commenting on "Octo-Mom" (that's just too easy a target) and on the guy who tried to propose to his girlfriend by putting the engagement ring in her Wendy's Frosty (in her defense, there's just no way to eat that thing thru a straw!). I haven't even joined in on the latest "A-Rod" bash fest!

But today..."Blaine guard won't say 'please', sprays driver" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29533580/

Apparently, the driver is a "frequent flyer" who crosses the border several times per week and in nearly every case, the border guard is courteous. In this particular instance, however, the border guard asked the driver to turn off his engine. When the driver asked him to "say please" first, the guard sensing immediate danger and an international terrorist, grabbed his pepper spray and shot the driver in the face...welcome to America!

This definitely bodes well for the increased trafficking that will occur less than a year from now when all the world is trying to get to/from Canada via "The International PEACE Arch".

We are doomed...

tw