Today I was playing around with the itinerary for my DC vacation (yeah!!!). So I was on Google maps figuring out distances and potential "layover" cities and such. After I had made all my decisions about where we're staying, I still needed to have everything punched in so I could figure out mileage (for gas costs and stuff). Here's what I had entered...
A. My Town, USA
B. Youngstown, OH (layover!)
C. Alexandria, VA (that's where the house we're renting is)
D. Gettysubrg, PA (side trip)
E. Washington, DC (final destination)
F. Alexandria, PA (have to figure out driving times from actual departure place)
G. Milan, OH (layover)
H. My Town, USA
I figured out the mileage and such, and then for fun, I started clicking icons. When I clicked on "walk" it says "21 days, 14 hours or drive in 1 day and 6 hours" (the subtext here is clearly "Are you INSANE!! Do you know how many miles that is?? Oh? You don't? Here let me show you, it's 1654 miles!!!! Drive your car, dummy!!"). When I clicked on "public transit" it says "Walk 1 minutes from [my address] to [my address]". Nice job Google, maybe I wanted you to figure out a train schedule for me!! Hello! You always offer to do way more for me than I asked, except apparently when I want you to!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Still Sick :(
Well, I WAS feeling a little better, but I didn't call in sick today, even though I probably should have because I knew one teacher had the day off. It's a good thing I didn't call in, because THREE out of the twelve teachers or aids at my work were out today. I did get to go home early because we were still a little low in kids (thank goodness for spring break!!), but I spent the whole day feeling a little discombobulated. Tomorrow I can't call in sick either, but I think I might ask another teacher if we can spend the day with her, just for the extra eyes on top of my sore ones. Here's hoping I feel better soon!!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
102.3
Last week the vast majority of the kids at my school were out sick. By four wee usually had about ten kids total. Everyone had a mid-grade fever and some coughing. I don't get sick usually, but still I joked "Kelly [my boss] is going to be in trouble next week when the kids all come back and the teachers are all out sick!" Today I have a chesty cough, sligh dizziness, a headache, and a fever of 102.3. Guess it wasn't all that funny after all!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
In Which I Ramble About My Fav Vacation EVER
You may know how much I love history. Indeed, if you’ve ever talked to me, you do know how much I love history. Yet, somehow, I have rarely had the opportunity to see the monuments of the history I study. I’ve never seen the pyramids of Egypt, tasted true Greek food in the heart of Greece, smelled a real Moroccan bazaar, heard the cacophony of voices and tongues inside the UN, or knelt in the grasses of Africa as I knelt to take a picture of a wild elephant. These are all things I would love to do. Yet I have had some opportunity to walk the paths of history.
For spring break 2008 I refused to attend the typical drunken Florida party of some of my peers. Instead my friend Andrea and I went on a whirlwind tour of some of America’s greatest history. We had five days to travel in, but since we were driving the first day was taken up in driving from Chicago to Chambersburg, PA (just outside of Gettysburg). Since I had never seen the mountains, Andrea kept laughing at me as we were driving, I would point and say “Is that a mountain?” “My dear Padawan,” she would laugh “That is a hill.”
It was a whirlwind trip, and I will try to convey that in the following pictures.
(Not much time for sightseeig is not the same as not seeing anything AWESOME)
Day 3- Washington DC
For real, that protestor is protesting nuclear war. And the guy on the roof? Yeah, that's a sniper on the roof of the White House!
The National Archives house our Constitution (which I think would be better off posted where every congressperson has to see it at the beginning of every day, but that’s beside the point). I did not take pictures there, in that most revered of rooms, but someone else did take a flash photo, and was promptly escorted out of the room by one of the FIVE guards in the small room.
After that Andrea was exhausted, but I was determined to see the Supreme Court which is located just on the other side of the Capitol Building. When I was there I saw a small group protesting Roe V. Wade on the court steps, which was pretty much on of the biggest highlights of my trip. I asked if I could take a picture.
Day four- Philadelphia, the city Andrea had been raised in. Yet, she had never seen the Liberty Bell. First thing in the morning, we rectified that oversight.
Next up was Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Our trip ended with some antiquing (wow the East coast has way better antiques than the Midwest!) and a thirteen hour drive home, but it left me with a mind set on returning.
All that was to say, the time has come to plan this year’s vacation. Kristin and I are headed to DC in September!! Her brother Eric is going with, and we have nine days this time. Five for DC, one for Gettysburg, and one for Philadelphia (and two for driving). I can’t wait!!
For spring break 2008 I refused to attend the typical drunken Florida party of some of my peers. Instead my friend Andrea and I went on a whirlwind tour of some of America’s greatest history. We had five days to travel in, but since we were driving the first day was taken up in driving from Chicago to Chambersburg, PA (just outside of Gettysburg). Since I had never seen the mountains, Andrea kept laughing at me as we were driving, I would point and say “Is that a mountain?” “My dear Padawan,” she would laugh “That is a hill.”
It was a whirlwind trip, and I will try to convey that in the following pictures.
(Not much time for sightseeig is not the same as not seeing anything AWESOME)
Day 3- Washington DC
For real, that protestor is protesting nuclear war. And the guy on the roof? Yeah, that's a sniper on the roof of the White House!
The National Archives house our Constitution (which I think would be better off posted where every congressperson has to see it at the beginning of every day, but that’s beside the point). I did not take pictures there, in that most revered of rooms, but someone else did take a flash photo, and was promptly escorted out of the room by one of the FIVE guards in the small room.
After that Andrea was exhausted, but I was determined to see the Supreme Court which is located just on the other side of the Capitol Building. When I was there I saw a small group protesting Roe V. Wade on the court steps, which was pretty much on of the biggest highlights of my trip. I asked if I could take a picture.
Day four- Philadelphia, the city Andrea had been raised in. Yet, she had never seen the Liberty Bell. First thing in the morning, we rectified that oversight.
Next up was Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Our trip ended with some antiquing (wow the East coast has way better antiques than the Midwest!) and a thirteen hour drive home, but it left me with a mind set on returning.
All that was to say, the time has come to plan this year’s vacation. Kristin and I are headed to DC in September!! Her brother Eric is going with, and we have nine days this time. Five for DC, one for Gettysburg, and one for Philadelphia (and two for driving). I can’t wait!!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
In response to Jeff
This past week, as I sat at dinner with a good friend, she said something to me that really struck a chord. Or rather, her husband gave her a message to give to me, that really struck a chord. Apparently the two were discussing me and he said that I believe more than I let myself believe (in regards to Christianity). I was going to come home and write a fun upbeat post about all the fun that I had with my friend at dinner, but then I wanted to meditate on what exactly it was that had been said, and what it meant, before I wrote about it. I like to take things seriously.
I think in some regards this is accurate. I know, especially during the “holy” holiday seasons (Advent and Lent/Christmas and Easter) I wish I believed. I really enjoy teaching those things to my students. I look forward to attending Christmas Eve and Easter morning services (the only two times I can be counted on to go to church all year). I’ve often said I would probably attend church (or would have given it up less readily) if there was a good, full Sunday morning service style service, but offered in the evening (maybe during the week- like a Thursday night would be good). Not the Bible study style service my old church offered for evening service or Wednesday night, but a real full on service. But do all those things mean that I believe?
I have a hard time thinking that someone who is powerful enough to CREATE the entire universe, would also care about the little dramas of MY life. Why would any all-powerful being want a relationship with me? Or really with any of us? If the Bible truly is the infallible word of God, then there are some ridiculous things that God went through just to have relationships with us. Even taken as the highest form of creation, as a species we are not all that amazing.
I have a hard time believing that there is a God who would give people the power to think, and who controls the laws of nature, who would then create a world where those very laws of nature can be used to make it hard to believe. What about all the evidence for evolution?
I have a hard time with any group that looks at what their God has called wrong (homosexuality), declares that God doesn’t make mistakes, therefore he didn’t make those people that way, but he did make babies that are so sick they never take a breath on their own.
All that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t believe or that I don’t believe, it just means that it’s hard for me to believe. So, is my friend’s husband right? Could I believe, if I’d let myself? Maybe. But I’m selfish, and I like my own little sins and I don’t want to give them up. Perhaps I’m giving up greater blessings by refusing to give up my secret sins, and perhaps as I mature and think more about this, I’ll change my mind. For now all I know is that I’m possibly open to persuasion. But, dear friend who started all this, don’t take that as an invitation to gang-witness to me. You’re better off approaching it as gently as if I were a wild deer, because although I’m thinking about it, I’m skittish about the whole subject!
I think in some regards this is accurate. I know, especially during the “holy” holiday seasons (Advent and Lent/Christmas and Easter) I wish I believed. I really enjoy teaching those things to my students. I look forward to attending Christmas Eve and Easter morning services (the only two times I can be counted on to go to church all year). I’ve often said I would probably attend church (or would have given it up less readily) if there was a good, full Sunday morning service style service, but offered in the evening (maybe during the week- like a Thursday night would be good). Not the Bible study style service my old church offered for evening service or Wednesday night, but a real full on service. But do all those things mean that I believe?
I have a hard time thinking that someone who is powerful enough to CREATE the entire universe, would also care about the little dramas of MY life. Why would any all-powerful being want a relationship with me? Or really with any of us? If the Bible truly is the infallible word of God, then there are some ridiculous things that God went through just to have relationships with us. Even taken as the highest form of creation, as a species we are not all that amazing.
I have a hard time believing that there is a God who would give people the power to think, and who controls the laws of nature, who would then create a world where those very laws of nature can be used to make it hard to believe. What about all the evidence for evolution?
I have a hard time with any group that looks at what their God has called wrong (homosexuality), declares that God doesn’t make mistakes, therefore he didn’t make those people that way, but he did make babies that are so sick they never take a breath on their own.
All that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t believe or that I don’t believe, it just means that it’s hard for me to believe. So, is my friend’s husband right? Could I believe, if I’d let myself? Maybe. But I’m selfish, and I like my own little sins and I don’t want to give them up. Perhaps I’m giving up greater blessings by refusing to give up my secret sins, and perhaps as I mature and think more about this, I’ll change my mind. For now all I know is that I’m possibly open to persuasion. But, dear friend who started all this, don’t take that as an invitation to gang-witness to me. You’re better off approaching it as gently as if I were a wild deer, because although I’m thinking about it, I’m skittish about the whole subject!
Friday, March 18, 2011
For Billy
Tonight I went to what I was told was “some sort of lecture about bullying”. What it was and what it was about were not made at all clear to me, but a friend of a friend was in it, so I went. I am so glad that I did because it turned out to be very cool, and about something very important to me. It wasn’t a lecture, it was a performance. There was an art auction, a dancer, singing, a comedian, it was great. It was Be: The Exhibit part of For Billy. The website describes it thusly, “BE: the exhibit is a one-night-only artistic installation aimed at combating homophobia and teenage bullying in the Chicagoland area through art and activism.” It was a powerful, moving night and I’m so glad I got the chance to go.
People, my two year olds bully. Why can’t we step in and teach them right now, that it’s not okay so that by the time they get to middle and high school, it’s not an issue? Why do we wait until it’s an engrained behavior? We can’t just tell ourselves that it’s okay because we were bullied in school and we turned out okay, so our kids will get through it too. Bullying has progressed so much even in the ten years since I was in high school. Now people live their lives anonymously on sites like Facebook. And anonymity breeds stupidity. Kids seem to think there are no consequences to what they say online, so kids who used to be able to come home and get away from bullies encounter it even more online. There is no refuge. No one should be singled out and teased, threatened, or bullied. We are the responsible adults now, and we need to teach our children that this is not okay. Whether it’s because of sexual orientation, weight, skill set, whatever, we need to be aware of this and we need to be working to stop it.
People, my two year olds bully. Why can’t we step in and teach them right now, that it’s not okay so that by the time they get to middle and high school, it’s not an issue? Why do we wait until it’s an engrained behavior? We can’t just tell ourselves that it’s okay because we were bullied in school and we turned out okay, so our kids will get through it too. Bullying has progressed so much even in the ten years since I was in high school. Now people live their lives anonymously on sites like Facebook. And anonymity breeds stupidity. Kids seem to think there are no consequences to what they say online, so kids who used to be able to come home and get away from bullies encounter it even more online. There is no refuge. No one should be singled out and teased, threatened, or bullied. We are the responsible adults now, and we need to teach our children that this is not okay. Whether it’s because of sexual orientation, weight, skill set, whatever, we need to be aware of this and we need to be working to stop it.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
A Cake Emergency
My word this was quite the day! Today I, along with another teacher at my preschool took my children to the local park. While we were playing, a little girl whom I’ll call S kept letting go of the swing and jumping off. Then she would cry, because she hurt herself (she’s 2). I finally told her she couldn’t go on the swings the rest of the day. A few minutes later, another girl whom I’ll call A almost got knocked in the head trying to force someone off the swings so she could have a turn. I told her she couldn’t go on the swings. Then I went to another part of the playground where some children were throwing sand and sat near them. While I was sitting there I texted another coworker about lunch. A few minutes later I noticed both S and A were on the swings getting a “starter push” from a stranger. After a bit of deliberation, I decided not to say anything because I didn’t want the lady to feel she had done anything wrong by “helping” and we were leaving in about 2 minutes anyway. When I called my children to me, I hollered “Thanks” to the lady. I found out after I left, she yelled at my co-worker (and used the F word!!) and demanded to know my name and where our school was. Then she went to my work and yelled at my boss, saying I had called a child “idiot” and “punk” (I call one of my boys “pun’kin” I think that’s what she heard for that one). She told my boss that if I wasn’t fired, then my boss is a bad director and that if she saw that at her preschool she would immediately remove her children. Also that if my boss didn’t fire me, the lady would have to do something about it. I’m not really sure what the lady was so upset about, other than she didn’t feel I was adequately supervising my children. So my boss and her boss and I all had to have a meeting about it. The result is that we are going to write a “self-improvement” plan (I’ve had other complaints because I’m “loud” so I think that’s what my boss is taking from this). I’m not fired (yet) but I was left with the impression that my boss and her boss wish I would quit.
I ate cake for dinner. Good thing I was suddenly struck with the urge to buy it while I was grocery shopping last night but then not the urge to eat it when I got home yesterday!
I ate cake for dinner. Good thing I was suddenly struck with the urge to buy it while I was grocery shopping last night but then not the urge to eat it when I got home yesterday!
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