Summer Plans

1) Visit my very ill sister in an insane, almost unbelievable and crazy disfunctional living situation . And look forward to it ... Yeah that is nuts.

2) Visit my Mom who is relatively healthy and my step dad who is beginning to show signs of dementia. Again... I'm looking forward to it. I love them. They are the pillars of strength I lean against and can't imagine life without them but know I will deal.

3) Spend time with Jamie, Ryan & kids.

And, drum roll please, the number one , top of the list summer plan(s)

4) Get to know Dan again. Spend time with Dan doing the things we should have/ could have done in our 20's. Like go camping, ride his new four wheeler 2 up, go to state parks, Iron world, The Hockey Hall of Fame, go fishing early in the morning and again in the evening.

Drink an ice cold beer not because he or I need to de toxify from a stressful day, but just because.

Decide for the heck of it to go eat at the little cafe across from the Fishing Museum in Little Falls because when we ate there a few years ago we talked about how exceptionally clean it was & that it's funny that it's hours are from 5 am to 2 pm.

Summer 2009. Welcome.

I had something to post but I forgot.

It was something that I was going to divide into two separate blogs.

Oops. I'm very brain tired. :(

Have you read the headlines on the front page of today's paper?

"Math Test no longer required for seniors."

But students must either pass or fail exam three times to graduate.

Oh for crying out loud. I give up.

Edit... . "It's inherently incoherent." Kent Pekel U of M's College Readiness Consortium.

Edit.... Oh for crying out loud. I give up, am curled up in bed & sucking my thumb.

Danielle's back!!

Danielle just got back from Costa Rica with Zach's family. Zach is the oldest of five(?) should know that by now but all I know is she's back safe & sound. I talked to her on Sunday and they had a good time. Who wouldn't?

M

Returning to chidhood.

So for the last two weekends Dan & I have taken a Sunday afternoon drive. Today we drove to & through St. Nickolas, Marty, Watkins, South Haven, Fair Haven & Annandale. Comments such as " oh, the corn is just coming up or it's been a good year for the lilacs, or now if you turn right here, it will take you to Richmond" were common place.

We stopped to eat at a Mom & Pop diner in Annandale where there were three men eating in the booth behind us. Their discussion included things such as "I pulled a wood tick off my back yesterday and it still hurts. Yeah. It's been a bad year for wood ticks. Look at that traffic going East. It just gets worse every year. ".

I'm trying to forget that one of the three guys didn't know that West Virginia was a seperate state from Virginia and not just Virginia's capital.

Why childhood? When I was a kid we took Sunday drives.

I'm not quite sure how Dan & I or whether Dan & I will continue with this ritual, but for now it is at least something to blog about.

Oh. And Mom, if you read this, I will expect to hear what you and Dad talked about & whether or not you put that Sunday, rolled rump roast in the oven before or after the drive. :)

M

I have officially decided I love my team.

It's official. I love my kids and my team. I am still excited to teach that science and discovering new things is an absolutely spine tingling experience and that curiosity rules the universe.

Through thick and thin this school year, I have hung in there and not given up on the goodness of kids, adults and parents ( I haven't quite decided whether parents belong in the kid category or adult category) & I've had to let go & let God more this year than many others in the past.

When I was a younger person, I think that I equated "letting go" with "giving up". As a matter of fact, I know that I did. Since I was never a quitter, I rarely let go.

Some people might see this revelation as wisdom. I don't. I'm not sure what it is but that too matters not to me!!! I am enjoying the last weeks with my students and I am proud of that.

Mary

Odds/Ends

Have fun in Costa Rica Danielle. Don't kiss any pigs.

Jessica...... can't wait to have you home soon. Buster hearts you.

Jamie. Tell me what is so bad about laying in bed with a spray can of whipping cream watching COPS. It could be worse. I could be borderline diabetic. Oops? What were those last test results? Damn!!!