That's right, in Texas, it is usually an ice day, not a snow day. My eastern friends would laugh to see school called for such a little precipitation. When I taught at Waverly School (Northeastern Pennsylvania) in the seventies and eighties, you had to be wading knee deep in snow before school would be called. Here in Texas, we never get those kind of snow falls, but we do get ice. Give me snow any day. You can be somewhat in control of your car on snow, but not ice. With all our bridges and overpasses here, I don't think that ice is going to melt all day today. In fact, Channel 8, the ABC affiliate just reported that it is melting when treated but then is refreezing--imagine that. Maybe what they are using to treat is NOT working the way it should.
Personally, I am glad they called school off today. I know some of my friends would rather have that extra spring day, but I prefer to stay safe and warm at home today, instead of on the road with some crazy drivers. I hope it melts by mid afternoon as I have to get to the grocery store to buy some treats for our Bluebonnet voting party on Thursday.
It's official! There were over 700 accidents in Dallas just during the morning rush on Wednesday, January 28, 2009.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Tomorrow is the beginning
Tomorrow marks the beginning of change in this country. The inauguration of Barack Obama evokes so many feelings in so many people. As we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King today, I can't help but think how proud he would be to celebrate tomorrow's events.
As I watched the We are One concert in celebration of the inauguration, I was so moved by the performers and their songs. I lived through the civil rights movement of the 1960's, first as a child, then a teenager and finally as a college student when Dr. King was assassinated. I am not sure anything else shaped me so much as those events. And the music of that time still brings me to tears. An aside, weren't Bettye Lavette and Jon Bon Jovi fabulous singing Long Time Coming? If you missed it, its on youtube.
I am thrilled that this nation is finally living up to the tenets of its foundation, ...that all men are created equal and endowed by the creator with certain unalienable rights. I understand men to mean all humans, and this would have also been an historic day had Hilary Clinton won the election. The time was right for Obama, his words inspire and unite and that's what we need right now. I pray daily for his safety and for his ability to lead us out of the great economic crisis we face. The fog that was the last eight years in Washington is lifting and we can see our future. Let us all work to make it happen, to end the greed and avarice by encouraging an economy that leads all Americans to prosperity, not just the wealthy.
As I watched the We are One concert in celebration of the inauguration, I was so moved by the performers and their songs. I lived through the civil rights movement of the 1960's, first as a child, then a teenager and finally as a college student when Dr. King was assassinated. I am not sure anything else shaped me so much as those events. And the music of that time still brings me to tears. An aside, weren't Bettye Lavette and Jon Bon Jovi fabulous singing Long Time Coming? If you missed it, its on youtube.
I am thrilled that this nation is finally living up to the tenets of its foundation, ...that all men are created equal and endowed by the creator with certain unalienable rights. I understand men to mean all humans, and this would have also been an historic day had Hilary Clinton won the election. The time was right for Obama, his words inspire and unite and that's what we need right now. I pray daily for his safety and for his ability to lead us out of the great economic crisis we face. The fog that was the last eight years in Washington is lifting and we can see our future. Let us all work to make it happen, to end the greed and avarice by encouraging an economy that leads all Americans to prosperity, not just the wealthy.
Monday, January 5, 2009
First Day Back to Work
I'd been looking forward to it for several days. I enjoyed my time off, but was getting just a little bit bored. Eric and I had made plans to switch cars this morning as the small car needed to be inspected. Dylan and I were on the way to the big car when he suddenly decided he better make a trip to the bathroom before leaving. I thought I'd load up the car, start it and go wait for him inside. After all it was 32 degrees and rainy this morning at 7 AM. When Dylan and I came back outside to get into the car I discovered that the car doors were locked, with the car running and the keys inside. I have never done this before and this was the wrong time to start as the second set of keys for this car had been lost by my son. My husband and son tried to pop the window enough to get to the lock, but instead ended up shattering the window. I wasn't around to see that part, since Eric had given me the keys to the other car and sent Dylan and me off to school. Thank goodness DJ had his back pack. I, on the other hand, had nothing--no purse, phone, drivers license, work keys, fob for getting into the building, coffee, lunch--just my coat and car keys! Let's just say it was an expensive day--and left us all slightly off kilter--you know how it is when your day starts off wrong.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Do you ever wonder?
...why we make the choices we do? What is the catalyst that pushes us in one direction or another?
I've recently become quite active on my Facebook account. Why not? I was home for two weeks, plenty of time to catch up with old friends, see family photos and check in with my alumni groups. So, pretty much all week I've been doing just that. Today, it dawned on me that I could probably find one or two genealogy groups to join, so I began a search and joined a few of them. As I continued the genealogy search, I found several names of a people who were family researchers too. One was from my hometown, was close to my age, does genealogy research and shares my birthday of January 7. So, I took a chance and sent her a friend request. After all, friends have been made for lesser reasons. She wrote on my wall, I wrote on her wall, you know how it goes, then we started emailing. By the end of this evening we were both amazed at the low number of degrees of separation. It started with her grandson dating a second cousin of mine, continued with her daughters attending the school district where I taught Then there was the fact they had lived in Texas for four years, but the clincher was when she mentioned her sister's husband whom she thought I might know because we grew up in the same neighborhood. Well, not only did I know him, I lived across the street from him and he was my second cousin. Small world, you say--we said it, over and over again as we marveled about how we met because I took a chance on Facebook to ask a "stranger" to be a friend. Moral of this story--sometimes we lead with intuition or heart as some people call it. We are impelled to make choices that are not necessarily based on reason and sometimes those choices are the best possible ones we could have made.
I've recently become quite active on my Facebook account. Why not? I was home for two weeks, plenty of time to catch up with old friends, see family photos and check in with my alumni groups. So, pretty much all week I've been doing just that. Today, it dawned on me that I could probably find one or two genealogy groups to join, so I began a search and joined a few of them. As I continued the genealogy search, I found several names of a people who were family researchers too. One was from my hometown, was close to my age, does genealogy research and shares my birthday of January 7. So, I took a chance and sent her a friend request. After all, friends have been made for lesser reasons. She wrote on my wall, I wrote on her wall, you know how it goes, then we started emailing. By the end of this evening we were both amazed at the low number of degrees of separation. It started with her grandson dating a second cousin of mine, continued with her daughters attending the school district where I taught Then there was the fact they had lived in Texas for four years, but the clincher was when she mentioned her sister's husband whom she thought I might know because we grew up in the same neighborhood. Well, not only did I know him, I lived across the street from him and he was my second cousin. Small world, you say--we said it, over and over again as we marveled about how we met because I took a chance on Facebook to ask a "stranger" to be a friend. Moral of this story--sometimes we lead with intuition or heart as some people call it. We are impelled to make choices that are not necessarily based on reason and sometimes those choices are the best possible ones we could have made.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year
Wow! Another year passes as I drift dangerously close to the opposite shore. When I was a college student, who'd have thought that I'd be writing 2009 on my checks--when I write a check that is. Things have certainly changed in my life time. Let's make a list of things that have happened between 1950 and now--no particular order.
color television
stereo
8-track tapes--bomb
microwave ovens
cd
video tapes and players
dvd's
digital cameras and digital videos
cell phones
youtube :-)
personal computers
laptops
online banking
LCD projectors--changed the face of teaching
Activboards--also a big change
blogs, wikis, myspace, facebook--any online personal interactions
Please friends, feel free to add to my list--if you can remember that far back. I look forward to your comments.
color television
stereo
8-track tapes--bomb
microwave ovens
cd
video tapes and players
dvd's
digital cameras and digital videos
cell phones
youtube :-)
personal computers
laptops
online banking
LCD projectors--changed the face of teaching
Activboards--also a big change
blogs, wikis, myspace, facebook--any online personal interactions
Please friends, feel free to add to my list--if you can remember that far back. I look forward to your comments.
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