Yesterday I went for frappes and fries with a friend from high school. We were hanging out talking about…umm I don’t really even remember what when this man spoke up. We had been discussing controversial topics (religion and politics) because the only person in the area was a man with headphones on, so I assumed he wasn’t listening. Then, just as it was getting time that she needed to leave, the man took out his headphones and began talking to us. He told us that women aren’t leaders because God made man first and it’s God’s plan for women to be second. He also told us that child support is unbiblical. Not everything he said was troublesome to me (he did say that relationships are about the hard times, but then he made it seem like he thought “his woman” should put up with him being homeless and jobless and not doing anything about it, so…). He ended (at the point that both of us had to leave) by telling us that men have it harder than women in life. We just said that we had to go, and we walked out, but…
Later my friend emailed me that she was sorry about what that guy said. I replied…
Whatever friend, you didn't tell the weird guy to come to McDonald's today at six and put in his headphones, but not play any music and then listen to what we were talking about and pipe up with some random stuff about I don't even know what and yell at me that men have it harder than women and that child support is unbiblical. Whoa, I think I just wrote my next blog entry!
Anyway, she thought that I was “T.O.ed” about it and even posted on her blog that she thought I might have something interesting to say about it. Here’s what I have to say about it…Hey at least stuff happens to me. Sometimes I feel like people often challenge my opinions about politics or religion in this manner and it reinforces to me that I need to really pay attention to what’s going on in the world around me. I can’t just say random senseless stuff, because at any moment I might be called upon to back up my opinion and I can either have facts at my disposal, or I can sound ignorant. All of which goes back to the religious discussion that she and I had, which in part was about Christians witnessing to an atheist friend of ours and the friend witnessing back in his own way. As long as everyone is respectful and you have facts at your disposal, it’s fun. All that said, it’s better when it’s among friends, not a stranger telling me things that I just want to laugh at.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
A Very Long Post About the Library. And Torture! And Work.
Why is my AWARD –WINNING library useless when it comes to books on the Black Plague? I use the term in to mean a very specific event in Medieval Europe, the common usage of the term, an event that some estimate killed as many as World Wars One and Two combined (not including the Holocaust). Doesn’t that seem like an something that should be covered? Instead my library (which is fairly large and amazing) has three books on the topic in the adult section. Combined they are about 200 pages, all with the amount of information you might find in an Eyewitness book (you know these books right? They are mostly pictures with some lengthy captions that only cover what you probably learned up through middle school). If you have some ideas about where I should look, let me know. Especially if you know of any scholarly books that would include information about Jews and how Jews were treated during this period (Semitic history is my particular interest in history, and this is a time I would like to know more about).
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Every morning my class starts with the Pledge of Allegiance. This has been going on since the first day of summer, and yet this morning was different. This morning, my class stood for the Pledge and several of my kids began acting up, speaking in silly voices, playing around, etc. My plan for this, one of the last days of summer vacation, was to say the Pledge, take attendance and let them go. Instead, we began a discussion on what the Pledge means. I got as far as explaining the words “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America” mean (essentially) “I promise to respect my country” when “it” began. “It” is my understanding of my children’s political backgrounds. One of them said, “Why should we respect this government? The government sucks.” Another added, “Our president is terrible.” Then it really began. “People only voted for him because he’s black and they wanted the first black president.” “He’s not black stupid. He’s Hawaiian.”
Whooooa. Hold on kids. Let Miss Tina talk. And so talk I did. I talked about why our government is good. I talked about how we have privileges, and with those privileges come responsibilities. I think they understood that, coming as it did mere weeks after our discussion about heroes (thank you Peter Parker!). I explained that one of the privileges is that we don’t EVER after have to share who we voted for, but that I wanted to share with them. I told them that I voted for President Obama and I could guarantee I didn’t vote for him because of his skin color. That I didn’t know anyone who voted for him for that reason, but that perhaps some people did. However, there are some people who refused to for him because of the color of his skin. That outraged my class. We’ve talked about segregation and people like MLK, so they understood what I was saying. They wanted to know why I voted for him, so I explained that one of those responsibilities is to be an educated voter, and that I agreed with him about more stuff than McCain. They wanted to know what that stuff was. I asked them what they knew, and you guys these were their answers…“He thinks we should kills babies who are six months old.” (Please note I asked for this one to be repeated, assuming I heard it incorrectly.) “He let the people who knocked down the Twin Towers go free.”
So I felt I had three choices. End the discussion, and let my kids (age 6-9) go about with misinformation. Talk about abortion to my small children. Talk about torture and 9/11 with my kids. You guys, I have always felt that if I CAN answer a question I should. I couldn’t just end the discussion and perhaps their curiosity about politics. I talked to my kids about torture. We talked about the war in Iraq (we probably should have been more sure about their participation in 9/11). We talked about what torture is (hurting people, or threatening them, to make them tell us stuff) and why we shouldn’t do it (not nice, doesn’t work, agreed we wouldn’t). We talked about the consequences (other countries might do it to our guys, makes people not like us). I told them that President Obama did NOT want to just let the people who “knocked down the Twin Towers” go free. They asked intelligent questions, they listened to what I had to say, better than they had all summer. I tried to give them facts. I tried to keep my opinions out of it because I don’t want to make them think any specific thing (Inception!), I want them to form their own opinions as they get older. But, I talked about torture to my class!!
This afternoon, I got to mention to every parent what we talked about. There were two main responses. One, was “oh, okay” the other was “Good for you Miss Tina”. So I don’t think I’ll get in trouble. Even my boss didn’t seem too worked up about it when I told her. However, I think I need to find myself a high school to teach at fairly soon, because if I’m going to talk politics, I think I should be doing so with older kids. Six years old is too young for me to have to make the call I made this morning!
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Every morning my class starts with the Pledge of Allegiance. This has been going on since the first day of summer, and yet this morning was different. This morning, my class stood for the Pledge and several of my kids began acting up, speaking in silly voices, playing around, etc. My plan for this, one of the last days of summer vacation, was to say the Pledge, take attendance and let them go. Instead, we began a discussion on what the Pledge means. I got as far as explaining the words “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America” mean (essentially) “I promise to respect my country” when “it” began. “It” is my understanding of my children’s political backgrounds. One of them said, “Why should we respect this government? The government sucks.” Another added, “Our president is terrible.” Then it really began. “People only voted for him because he’s black and they wanted the first black president.” “He’s not black stupid. He’s Hawaiian.”
Whooooa. Hold on kids. Let Miss Tina talk. And so talk I did. I talked about why our government is good. I talked about how we have privileges, and with those privileges come responsibilities. I think they understood that, coming as it did mere weeks after our discussion about heroes (thank you Peter Parker!). I explained that one of the privileges is that we don’t EVER after have to share who we voted for, but that I wanted to share with them. I told them that I voted for President Obama and I could guarantee I didn’t vote for him because of his skin color. That I didn’t know anyone who voted for him for that reason, but that perhaps some people did. However, there are some people who refused to for him because of the color of his skin. That outraged my class. We’ve talked about segregation and people like MLK, so they understood what I was saying. They wanted to know why I voted for him, so I explained that one of those responsibilities is to be an educated voter, and that I agreed with him about more stuff than McCain. They wanted to know what that stuff was. I asked them what they knew, and you guys these were their answers…“He thinks we should kills babies who are six months old.” (Please note I asked for this one to be repeated, assuming I heard it incorrectly.) “He let the people who knocked down the Twin Towers go free.”
So I felt I had three choices. End the discussion, and let my kids (age 6-9) go about with misinformation. Talk about abortion to my small children. Talk about torture and 9/11 with my kids. You guys, I have always felt that if I CAN answer a question I should. I couldn’t just end the discussion and perhaps their curiosity about politics. I talked to my kids about torture. We talked about the war in Iraq (we probably should have been more sure about their participation in 9/11). We talked about what torture is (hurting people, or threatening them, to make them tell us stuff) and why we shouldn’t do it (not nice, doesn’t work, agreed we wouldn’t). We talked about the consequences (other countries might do it to our guys, makes people not like us). I told them that President Obama did NOT want to just let the people who “knocked down the Twin Towers” go free. They asked intelligent questions, they listened to what I had to say, better than they had all summer. I tried to give them facts. I tried to keep my opinions out of it because I don’t want to make them think any specific thing (Inception!), I want them to form their own opinions as they get older. But, I talked about torture to my class!!
This afternoon, I got to mention to every parent what we talked about. There were two main responses. One, was “oh, okay” the other was “Good for you Miss Tina”. So I don’t think I’ll get in trouble. Even my boss didn’t seem too worked up about it when I told her. However, I think I need to find myself a high school to teach at fairly soon, because if I’m going to talk politics, I think I should be doing so with older kids. Six years old is too young for me to have to make the call I made this morning!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
New Jeans, Fun at Work, and Empty Wine Bottles
Last fall I spent ELEVEN shopping trips over SEVEN weekends to buy TWO pairs of pants for ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY dollars. It was terrible, and I was in tears by the time I bought them. It was December, and I’d been wearing one pair of jeans since it got to cold for shorts or dresses everyday. I could find jeans that fit at the waist, but they were two sizes to big in the hips, and three sizes to big in the thighs. This year I wised up and started early since I don’t enjoy wearing $60 jeans to teach preschool. Things get ruined all too easily there. Last night I cashed my first (and only) full time paycheck and got myself down to Burlington Coat Factory. No jeans, but two new sundresses I’d been wanting that had been $50 each were now marked down to $12. So, now that I was feeling pretty good, I walked to the Fashion Bug in the same shopping center. You guys, I LOVE Fashion Bug. Everything they sell, they have in both misses and plus, and they sell them together, so I don’t feel all segregated. Plus they have these buttons in the dressing rooms, one outside the door to page someone to let you in, and one inside the room. The inside one is so that you can buzz for someone to come get a different size or whatever. It’s nice. You know what else is nice? I got two pairs of jeans for $51. And there were several other pairs I liked, but I didn’t need more than two pairs for the moment. Hooray!!!
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Friday I’m taking my class to Lincoln Park Zoo. Today I wanted to watch The Lightning Thief movie. We just read the book, but my kids don’t sit well, not to read books, not to watch movies. I may have accidentally given them the impression that going to the zoo depended on sitting quietly through the WHOLE movie. Turns out that movie has very little in common with the book, but when I really like a book (and I REALLY like that whole series) I want the movie to be different enough that it’s hard to compare the two. It was a good movie, and it was nice to get to watch the whole thing at work.
My class goes back to school next Wednesday. Which means I go back to half time hours. Which is nice on the one hand because I would like to sleep in again, but on the other hand, it’s a huge drawback in pay. Fortunately, there’s a rumor at work (confirmed by the co-worker but not the boss) that one of my coworkers will be leaving for greener pastures by the end of next month and I will be offered her hours. It would mean getting up even earlier because the coworker starts a half hour earlier than I do, but the benefits are huge (I could move out by early next year!!)
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I ran out of my favorite wine. I bought several bottles, but only one from each winery we stopped at. My favorite is a spicy, sweet red from Contessa Winery called Dolce Vita. I’ve been drinking a glass almost every night for the last week. Today I poured the last few drops into my glass. I tell you this information less for your benefit than for mine. This way, when I have time to go back up there and buy a new bottle I won’t forget exactly what I want. Although, I really like everything I bought, so it’s possible when I open the next bottle that will be my new favorite. In which case when I run out of that, I’ll have to tell you about that bottle.
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Friday I’m taking my class to Lincoln Park Zoo. Today I wanted to watch The Lightning Thief movie. We just read the book, but my kids don’t sit well, not to read books, not to watch movies. I may have accidentally given them the impression that going to the zoo depended on sitting quietly through the WHOLE movie. Turns out that movie has very little in common with the book, but when I really like a book (and I REALLY like that whole series) I want the movie to be different enough that it’s hard to compare the two. It was a good movie, and it was nice to get to watch the whole thing at work.
My class goes back to school next Wednesday. Which means I go back to half time hours. Which is nice on the one hand because I would like to sleep in again, but on the other hand, it’s a huge drawback in pay. Fortunately, there’s a rumor at work (confirmed by the co-worker but not the boss) that one of my coworkers will be leaving for greener pastures by the end of next month and I will be offered her hours. It would mean getting up even earlier because the coworker starts a half hour earlier than I do, but the benefits are huge (I could move out by early next year!!)
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I ran out of my favorite wine. I bought several bottles, but only one from each winery we stopped at. My favorite is a spicy, sweet red from Contessa Winery called Dolce Vita. I’ve been drinking a glass almost every night for the last week. Today I poured the last few drops into my glass. I tell you this information less for your benefit than for mine. This way, when I have time to go back up there and buy a new bottle I won’t forget exactly what I want. Although, I really like everything I bought, so it’s possible when I open the next bottle that will be my new favorite. In which case when I run out of that, I’ll have to tell you about that bottle.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Vacation Pics Part Two
I wanted to post some of the pictures from the vacation I took with my mom. Despite my complaining, it was special to me. The cabin we stayed at (belonging to my uncle) is where we went on vacation every year when I was a kid until I was 14 (when we stopped taking family vacations). My dad is buried up there, which is why we went when we went (my mom likes to be there for his birthday). So, enjoy these pictures.
This is the cabin my great-grandfather built. It has no running water, still uses an outhouse, and is three bedrooms, but I love it. Clearly so does my uncle, or he'd probably "improve" it.
This is the view from the one morning I was up in time for the "sunrise". Note it's still not really a sun rise, so much as a "the sun was still low on the horizon". I am not a morning person.
This is the lake at night, a view I much prefer over the early morning!
This is the lake. It literally takes 1.5 minutes to wake up in the morning, change from pjs to swim suit, brush teeth, and walk to the lake. In other words, it is close, which is a very good thing!
Neelix agrees with me that the water is very nice indeed. The two of us spent probably 80% of our waking moments in the water. He likes to play fetch, and it is super funny to watch him go galloping after the ball, chest deep in water, and suddenly step in the muck.
My other favorite thing to do up there is go for "romps" with the dog. I take his ball (we lost six tennis balls in five days OR three tennis balls in one day, whichever way you prefer because both are true) and we walk through the woods. This is partway through my favorite walk.
Same day, same walk, now with dog.
This is Blackwater Falls a water fall about ten minutes from the cabin. My mom apparently used to go there with my dad (which I don't remember AT ALL but whatever), so she wanted to go there. It was super hard to get to, especially with the dog (we couldn't leave him alone, remember the chewing?) leading the way. My mom can't hold him on his leash, but he's usually very good for me, and it's not really his fault that we were walking on slippery rocks all slanted at about an eighty degree angle, so... But I think it was worth it because it was so pretty.
This is the cabin my great-grandfather built. It has no running water, still uses an outhouse, and is three bedrooms, but I love it. Clearly so does my uncle, or he'd probably "improve" it.
This is the view from the one morning I was up in time for the "sunrise". Note it's still not really a sun rise, so much as a "the sun was still low on the horizon". I am not a morning person.
This is the lake at night, a view I much prefer over the early morning!
This is the lake. It literally takes 1.5 minutes to wake up in the morning, change from pjs to swim suit, brush teeth, and walk to the lake. In other words, it is close, which is a very good thing!
Neelix agrees with me that the water is very nice indeed. The two of us spent probably 80% of our waking moments in the water. He likes to play fetch, and it is super funny to watch him go galloping after the ball, chest deep in water, and suddenly step in the muck.
My other favorite thing to do up there is go for "romps" with the dog. I take his ball (we lost six tennis balls in five days OR three tennis balls in one day, whichever way you prefer because both are true) and we walk through the woods. This is partway through my favorite walk.
Same day, same walk, now with dog.
This is Blackwater Falls a water fall about ten minutes from the cabin. My mom apparently used to go there with my dad (which I don't remember AT ALL but whatever), so she wanted to go there. It was super hard to get to, especially with the dog (we couldn't leave him alone, remember the chewing?) leading the way. My mom can't hold him on his leash, but he's usually very good for me, and it's not really his fault that we were walking on slippery rocks all slanted at about an eighty degree angle, so... But I think it was worth it because it was so pretty.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Vacation Part Two
So my mom and I left for Michigan at about nine Saturday morning. It took us nine hours to drive to my uncle’s cabin in Michigan. I already told you about some of the disasters the happened while we were there. I did get very excited about getting to see the Northern Lights on Tuesday Night. It’s on my life list. Sadly, there was cloud cover, and it mostly looked like search lights in the sky (I’m not scratching it off). Then there was supposed to be a repeat Wednesday night, so we went out to see it again. Alas, the dog and I had seen both a bear that day (from about ten feet away) and I stupidly told my mom about seeing wolves (like fifty yards away when I saw them). So, when Neelix got all freaked out and growly, she made us go in, in case there was a wild animal nearby that would like to eat us.
By Wednesday I was ready to come home. None of my family was up there with us, so it was just me and my mom. We don’t like to do the same things, and I was bored. I read twelve books between Saturday night and Wednesday night. Thursday I woke up super early, and we left by seven. An hour from the cabin my mom realized that she had forgotten to turn off the gas. Fortunately when she called my uncle he mentioned wanting to go North this weekend, so we didn’t have to turn around. Now I’m home, and I can’t wait to go back to work on Monday. I think I’m a loser :(
Pics later!
By Wednesday I was ready to come home. None of my family was up there with us, so it was just me and my mom. We don’t like to do the same things, and I was bored. I read twelve books between Saturday night and Wednesday night. Thursday I woke up super early, and we left by seven. An hour from the cabin my mom realized that she had forgotten to turn off the gas. Fortunately when she called my uncle he mentioned wanting to go North this weekend, so we didn’t have to turn around. Now I’m home, and I can’t wait to go back to work on Monday. I think I’m a loser :(
Pics later!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Things I Saw On Vacation
Now, I'll have real stories later, but right now I'm exhausted so I'm making this brief. Here's a list of AWESOME things I've seen since Saturday...
-the fact that my camp lake has sunk so far that the dock no longer reaches to the water
-a mosquito so big it left not just a giant red bump on my leg, it left a 3mm hole where the stinger thing was
-a hummingbird that I thought at first was a bee
-a pack of WOLVES. As in real life wolves
-a bald eagle
-a bear. A cute fuzzy young bear not twenty feet away from me and the dog. The dog thought it wanted to play with him.
-a bumper sticker that read "I brake for hobbits" complete with that symbol that the cast and crew of LOTR are rumored to have had tatooed on their bodies. I brake for hobbits too, especially if they look like Eljiah Woods ;)
And now I am going to go watch some TV, unpack, and reorganize my DVDS (which I find relaxing).
BTW, in case you couldn't tell, I'm home!!
-the fact that my camp lake has sunk so far that the dock no longer reaches to the water
-a mosquito so big it left not just a giant red bump on my leg, it left a 3mm hole where the stinger thing was
-a hummingbird that I thought at first was a bee
-a pack of WOLVES. As in real life wolves
-a bald eagle
-a bear. A cute fuzzy young bear not twenty feet away from me and the dog. The dog thought it wanted to play with him.
-a bumper sticker that read "I brake for hobbits" complete with that symbol that the cast and crew of LOTR are rumored to have had tatooed on their bodies. I brake for hobbits too, especially if they look like Eljiah Woods ;)
And now I am going to go watch some TV, unpack, and reorganize my DVDS (which I find relaxing).
BTW, in case you couldn't tell, I'm home!!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Vacation Catastrophes
So, I'm here in Michigan. There is no cell reception. There is no internet unless I drive for a half hour. All of my family that I was told would be here, are not here. MY mom insisted on dropping the dog off before we went grocery shopping, which was dmb because he then tried to shew his way out of the house. My mom also told me that you couldn't accidentally lock the key in the house because you had to turn the key to lock the house. She was wrong. So, when I stepped outside to use the OUTHOUSE (!!!!!!!!) I locked us out of my uncle's cabin. It took us three hours of trying to pick a lock to decide we were going to have to just break a window. Today I drove thirty three minutes to buy a book which the bookstore did not have, pay some bills with their free internet, and write a little something for all you people. Hope you enjoyed it, because tomorrow Mom has to go to Milwaukee (more than half way home) to get some things to fix the door and the window. Also, late last night my best friend called me. Her mom had noticed that my garage door was open and she wondered if our petsitter had left it open. No, my mom drove 400 miles away from my house with the garage door open. And yelled at me for leaving one car door unlocked in case our petsitter couldn't get in (so she could get to the garage door opener).
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