Today was an interesting day. I woke up late (my little alarm clock is still MIA from the trip to Amy’s for the birth event). And, I stayed up too late last night working. So, the kids were 10 minutes too late to catch the bus. (They catch the bus at 5:35 a.m.)

I called Wayne to tell him that I’d need the car a.s.a.p. to take them to the school, which is 45+ minutes away from where we live. Since Wayne works nights, and gets off work at 7:00 a.m. and it takes him 45 minutes to drive home, it takes awhile to deliver the kids to school. At 9:00 a.m. I managed to get Alexzandria to the elementary school. I asked about the attendance policy since it had changed this year and since the student handbook section on attendance was not in agreement with the “handout” received on attendance at the beginning of the year (both were sent home the same day).

Apparently, unlike most parents, I actually read that thing every year before signing the sheet saying I’ve read it and agree to it. Granted, this year, due to typos, misspellings and mutually exclusive clauses, I made some notes on WHAT I was agreeing to before turning it back in… but I read it.

So, I was a bit surprised when I was told that Alexzandria, having arrived at 9:00 a.m., would be counted absent for the entire day…

(more…)

This weekend, I was on “baby watch” — meaning I went up to my sister’s house and spent the weekend hanging out with her so my brother-in-law (a great guy who has been right beside Amy for the duration) could get out and go fishing and hiking and doing some solo stuff.

And, this weekend, there was a tragedy that touched far too close to home.

John (Amy’s hubby) is great. And, I know (even if they don’t) that it will be QUITE awhile before they get “solo time” again. Besides, I wanted to spend some time with her one-on-one (and a half).

We worked on a mobile for my new nephew, Ezra on Sunday. I only spent time working on the computer on Saturday. It was a great weekend. Ezra has proven to be a bit shy and although he was due the middle of last week, he’s not quite ready for his big debut. So Amy and John wait. I must say that Amy is considerably more patient and accepting of the whole “baby overdue” thing than I ever was. Both my boys were three weeks late, and Alex was three days late and I was a bear once I hit the “overdue” mark. Amy, as usual, is gracious and accepting. She has an older soul than I do, a wiser one.

On Sunday, we were listening to the radio and heard about the plane crash in Lexington.

I quickly did a scan of my brain to see if I remembered anyone I knew planning a trip, and thankfully, came up empty. Later, it was reported that there was only ONE survivor. Yet later, it was reported that those onboard that had perished had died from fire — not smoke. And my own horror at the prospect of burning alive came into full focus. I prayed that it had been quick for them. What else can you pray for?

I called Wayne (who had been roofing at his father’s over the weekend) to tell him to take a different route to a friend’s house that he was planning to visit Sunday afternoon. It was “gaming day” with the D&D guys. I usually go too, but I was on baby watch.

Wayne had spent the night at his brother’s house and had already heard about the crash. He also knew that Versailles Road had already been reopened. What he didn’t know (at that point) was that he knew people who were on the plane.

When he got to gaming, one of his friends who used to work at Gall’s in Lexington told him that four of those onboard were from Galls. They were headed to help out with the Katrina efforts. One of them Wayne knew fairly well, another… quite well. One of the ladies was someone that Wayne admired and considered a close friend. She was also the last woman that he asked out before he and I started dating. They had remained friends through the duration of his employment at Galls.

Needless to say, he was in a blue-gray funk all day. We talked about it at length last night. You know, there’s really nothing you can say when your spouse loses a friend — especially when the loss is so unexpected, so violent, so horrible.

All I can do is say a prayer for her and all those on the plane with her. All I can do is wonder, if Wayne hadn’t quit working there to work closer to home… would HE have been one of those on the plane? All I can do is shudder and realize, once again, how fragile, how temporary and how fleeting life really is… and try to be more thankful of each day, each moment, each opportunity I have to live with and enjoy family, friends and those that touch my life in a positive way.

I’m not-so-proud to say that my own elementary school… Edna L. Toliver School in Danville, Kentucky was displaying THIS earlier today:

It’s stuff like this… and I don’t just mean the spelling of “Scool” — but also the spelling of “Libary” that just makes me beam with pride. And yes, I’m sure that throwing more money at this “Reading First” school will help improve the spelling issues. I’m sure it will… aren’t you?

*Rolls eyes*

Only the government (and dishonest car mechanics) try to convince you that when you have something horribly broken, that you can fix it by throwing more money at it.
Case in point, I just got a copy of a press release from Kentucky Rep Mike Harmon’s Office (I’ll cut and paste it below for those of you who want to see it). It states that educating our children is a priority of the 2006 General Assembly. So far, sounds pretty good… then I read on.

I see statements like:

The most important part of educating our students is ensuring that we have qualified personnel in our classrooms…the General Assembly needed to do more to ensure they are adequately compensated.

I feel that maybe rather than increasing salaries, we should increase expectations. To heck with CATS testing… I am tired of school systems dedicated solely to teaching to a bogus exam. Why not try…. EUREKA!…. Teaching!?!?!

Why not actually teach every day of the school year? Why not teach age-appropriate material (rather than, for instance, having a 16-year old excellent reader spend two weeks in his English class reading Black Beauty aloud?) Call me crazy, but why not spend that time actually CHALLENGING the kids to learn something new?

If some of the kids need a book on the level of Black Beauty — give it to them (and SHAME on our school system for allowing that to happen in the first place) — but don’t make ALL the children read that same book. How HARD would it be to assign reading that is done outside of school and then break down the class into 2-3 level-appropriate groups to discuss their level appropriate books?

If I were the teacher in that class (and I have no professional teaching background at all) — I’d select three books of different levels with similar primary themes and assign them to my class based on reading level. They would read the books for HOMEWORK and then return to class to discuss the thematic similarities and differences as a whole class. Yeah, it may be a bit more difficult to teach that way than to have a whole class drone on reading aloud from a book targeted for 9-year-olds… but if a person doesn’t want to teach, why are they THERE?

How about HCR 214 which “directs a study on how to effectively provide assistance to schools not meeting established goals for student achievement to be completed by the Interim Join Committee on Education by December 1, 2006.” How about I just share the notebook my son is keeping for my edification right now? How about the course of his “coursework” over the last three weeks of school — after the tests, when the teachers quit teaching — be offered. Skip the expensive study — have your kids keep notes on what they are actually DOING in school. Drop by and have a surprise visit as a legislator. These are public schools — just GO THERE and see what’s happening.

Heck, if everyone did that enough, maybe the “free days” and the days at the park (my daughter had her THIRD full day at the park yesterday). The biggest concern we, apparently, should have about her education is whether or not she’s getting enough sunscreen to avoid burning.

HJR 145 – Develop a strategy to improve student’s understanding of the Constitution and the democratic process. Yeah, let’s do that. Maybe these kids will get angry enough that they will actually go out and vote. Maybe with another study, they will learn to be less apathetic about the system and they will believe that they actually matter as individuals in a democracy. Yup, explain to them how the Electoral College works, exactly, and hope they still have the urge to participate in that system. Give them the history about how presidents can, and have, lost the popular vote and still win the presidency. Yeah, that will give them a reason to want to participate. Great idea! And let’s throw some more money at the system and have some more studies on this one too! OR… maybe we could have a class on governmental change and how to create that on a grass roots level. Maybe our “civics” courses should show how things are and how, historically, change has occurred and how change can be implemented NOW. Hmmmm… but I’ll bet that wouldn’t be supported, would it?

HB 589 – Health Education – Dangers of UV rays. Yeah, this one needs to be given to the teachers that keep kids outside all day rather than teaching them at the end of the school year. Note previous mention of my Son’s sunburn one day last week from an “all day out” and the above mention of the third day in less than two weeks for my fair-skinned daughter. Yeah, and maybe this education needs to be given (as a requirement) to the teachers as well. Personally, I’ve taught my own children about this. Even at 8, Alex understands.

HB 197 – End of course examinations – Hmmmm. What a novel thought. Actual FINAL EXAMS that count. Wait… hold on… didn’t we already have these? I could swear that when I went to school we actually had final exams during the last week of school –and unlike TODAY’s “finals” — they were CUMULATIVE exams and the COUNTED (big time) on the final grade in every class. My son tells me that his “final exams” — the few that are being given, are over new material or, per the teachers “don’t count unless everyone does poorly” — yeah, that one left me scratching my head too. Final exams people. It’s pretty self-evident, IMHO.

HB 646 – Wellness and Physical Activity Program – Cost 2.5 million. This is going to be, what? Education on how we should get regular physical activity? Why not just HAVE regular physical activity as a part of the morning regimen at school? Why study it more? What are we going to do, use more VIDEOS to teach healthy lifestyles? And what does this actually DO? Look it up. It creates another commission. Lovely, and effective, I’m sure. Trickle down, theory, anyone? Yeah, me neither.

I’ll just leave my thoughts on the Teacher Pay Protection bill silent. I won’t mention my feelings about a society in a condition that this even occurs to legislators. For now, I’m pushing away from the computer and going on a hike. For now, I’m going to try to push the sorry state of Kentucky Education and the equally sorry situation wherein Kentucky Politicians continue to chase their tail (or get indicted) out of my mind. Right now, I’ll take a deep breath.

And can someone out there tell me, again, how it’s NOT all about the money? Anyone??

*Breathe in, Breathe out, Breathe in….*

Read the Full Press Release Here:

by State Representative Mike Harmon

Educating our children a priority of 2006 General Assembly

This session, we moved forward on a number of education issues that will help ensure that our children – no doubt Kentucky’s most precious natural resource – receive a quality education that prepares them to not only enter the job market, but to conquer it.

As I have said in previous columns, the most important part of educating our students is ensuring that we have qualified personnel in our classrooms and schools. However, although we have some of the finest educators in the nation, the General Assembly needed to do more to ensure they are adequately compensated. By providing salaries that are competitive with neighboring states, we can attract new faces to our classrooms while keeping the educators we have now.

This session we were able to include a much awaited teacher pay increase in the budget. Specifically, the budget includes a 2 percent pay raise for teachers in this upcoming fiscal year and an additional $3,000 increase in 2007-08. Classified employees will also receive a pay raise of 2 percent during 2006-2007 and 5 percent the next year.

The budget also includes full funding for the Read to Achieve Program, a program aimed at improving Kentucky’s literacy rates. A $50 million bond issue was included within the two-year spending plan to be used towards putting more computers in the hands of public school students. We also moved to reopen the KAPT (Kentucky Affordable Prepaid Tuition) program for new enrollment this fall. KAPT provides parents, family members and those interested in a child’s future to contribute to a college account at today’s rates, wagering on future tuition increases.

In addition to the budget, we also passed several other pieces of education and child-related legislation. Here are a few summaries of these bills:

HB 79 – Retirement Contributions for Certified Employees called to active duty. Requires a local board of education to grant a leave of absence to a certified employee who is a member of a state National Guard or a Reserve component ordered to active military duty by the President of the . The local boards of education are also required to pay the employee’s retirement contribution for the period of active military duty.

SB 51 – Teacher Pay Protection. This legislation will require any teacher or school employee who is assaulted while at work to continue receiving pay and benefits for up to 100 days after the assault. A doctor’s statement will be required as proof that the teacher or employee cannot return to work for them to receive paid leave offered under SB 51.

SB 130 – Student testing. Under the provisions of SB 130, the state would pay for and require all high school juniors to take the ACT, commonly required as a college entrance exam, under Senate Bill 130. The measure would allow sophomores, juniors and seniors to take the WorkKeys test, geared toward students who do not plan to attend college. Students’ testing fees would be paid by the Department of Education the first time they take the ACT and/or the WorkKeys tests.

HCR 214 – Student Achievement Goals. Directs a study on how to effectively provide assistance to schools not meeting established goals for student achievement to be completed by the Interim Joint Committee on Education by December 1, 2006.

HJR 145 – Civics Education. Requires the Council on Postsecondary Education, the Kentucky Board of Education, Education Professional Standards Board and other P-16 partners to develop strategies and a timeline for improving Kentucky students’ knowledge and understanding of the Constitution of the , and the democratic processes.

HB 341 – Education Technology. Directs the Department of Education to conduct a study to determine costs, benefits, feasibility, and implications of adoption of specifications for statewide education data designed to facilitate the exchange of information among different instructional and administrative software applications at the local, state, and federal levels.

HB 589 – Health Education. Encourages public schools to include age-appropriate education on the risks associated with exposure to ultraviolet rays within the existing health curriculum. House Bill 589 also requires the Kentucky Department of Education to provide instructional resources, including information from national standards and health organizations.

HB 197 – End-of-course examinations. Creates a pilot program in approximately ten schools throughout the state for standardized end-of-course examinations in Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry. The pilot program is set to take place during the 2007-2008 public school year.

HB 646 – Governor’s Wellness and Physical Activity Program. HB 646 establishes a health, wellness and fitness program for Kentucky that would promote a healthy lifestyle among our citizens. While the program is not specific to children, younger Kentuckians are a targeted audience as the number of Kentucky children diagnosed with diabetes and lifestyle-related health disorders has increased dramatically. The estimated cost to implement the initiative is $2.5 million.

While I intend to continue updating you on what we accomplished this session, I hope you will not hesitate to contact me if I can provide additional information on our work, to share your thoughts or regarding a state government matter. I can be reached at home or through the toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181.

You know, there’s something to be said about being a Southerner. I never really gave it any thought before.

Sure, I figured that folks in the larger cities were rude and obnoxious. The thing is, that’s never been proven with the clients I’ve had from the “big cities” — so I’d pretty much let that idea go. I figured that people were people, no matter where they reside.

Well, I think I was wrong…

You know, in Kentucky we say “please” when we ask for a favor… even one as small as passing the salt across the table. In my homestate, for all its foibles and educational issues right now, people still say “thank you” when you do them a “good turn.”

Back home, when someone comes to visit you offer food and beverage. It’s just a given. You never ask people to stand, you scurry to get them a seat. Men open doors — and women say “thank you” when that happens.

Now, maybe Pops is right, maybe it’s a bit different out here in the west… in the land of the rugged individualist and “cowboy” mentality. I dunno. All I know is that I miss “thank you” and hearing “bless you” when someone sneezes.

My mother sent me the following news release via email, while I’m out here in Colorado. It’s probably one of the few things that could possibly get my dander up in such a relaxed and beautiful place.

It’s nice to know that a few people with personal agendas, who were hell-bent to cut the legs out from other good, existing programs are rewarded with the moneys they were seeking. And I truly appreciate MY tax dollars being used to do so. It makes me proud and happy.

Can you hear the irony dripping from my fingers as I type this? (more…)

Yesterday I wrote. All day I wrote.

Today is “errand and chore” day – I have laundry to do, we are going to clean up the 5th wheel, vacuum and clean the bathroom and scrub the stovetop… but yesterday, Pops went 4 wheeling with a neighbor and I was left to write to my heart’s content.

And write I did… nearly 13 pages on a new story. And not just rough pages either, they have been edited through the first initial pass. It’s a dozen full pages and a partial (the 13th) with some “spill-over” paragraphs.

Yesterday, it didn’t seem so important to determine where life was headed, I was having fun finding out where life was headed for my characters. Yesterday there were no literal mountains to climb, there were literary ones. And the “what am I going to do with my life” got put on hold for several hours.

And overnight I must have worked some of this out in my dreams. I’m a firm believer that dream-time is used to sort and to let the subconscious do it’s thing (something that it does well) and to make waking hours a bit less stressed and a bit more sane.

But I’ve noticed lately that over the last few weeks, probably a couple months or so, that my dreams aren’t the fanciful flights of weirdness that dreams usually are. I no longer find myself in imaginary houses that I somehow know well, or people I consider my friends and family that are unidentifiable upon waking (but who seem to be a mixture of several people I know). Nope, lately, my dreams have been pretty vanilla. I haven’t been flying. I haven’t been falling. I’ve spent my dreamtime doing average day things, dealing with people I actually know and working out issues that are crystal clear (and are the same ones, not even disguised, that I work on in my waking hours.)

Simply said, my dreams have been fairly boring extensions of my daily life lately.

I think it’s because I’ve been exhausting myself when conscious, and my dream time has been altered to give me a bit of sane time. *shrug* Either way, I think I’ve figured out a few things. I’ve been thinking alot about the things I wrote in Friday’s Blog — the things that I pieced together — and I think that perhaps I’ve already selected my mountain. I selected it some time back, but didn’t realize that the decision had already been made until this weekend.

You see, I’ve been writing for years. Even when I worked at the hospital, I spent my time finding new ways to communicate information, ideas and support to cancer patients, the family of those patients and the donors that helped to support our initiatives and our programs. For me, writing is one form of communication. Communication is what I’m all about. Writing is my favorite form, but not the only one I use.

So perhaps the mountain isn’t a writing career. Perhaps the mountain is a mountain of communication — and as I go up the mountain, I prefer the views from the “writing side” of the mountain. That would be MY side of the mountain. But one doesn’t scale a mountain up the sheer cliffs (unless one likes heights and working much harder than is necessary to get the same results.) I prefer to start at the base of my mountain and circle it, climbing
in elevation gradually and seeing the views from all sides and from different heights. But, by doing this, when I reach the “writing” side, I get all excited.

Those are my favorite views. But, since I enjoy the other views too, I feel selfish to want to limit my views to just that one. And, that side of my mountain is a bit more treacherous. The footholds are a bit less stable. There’s loose gravel. And, I can see that so many, historically, that have tried to scale just that side of the mountain are lying in heaps at the bottom.

So, I get worried and scared and feel that maybe I’m not the best mountaineer afterall, and I ease to the other side and pick up the path that circles around the mountain. I enjoy all the views and I gaze in wonder from each successive level — until I come back to the writer’s side of the mountain. This side always takes my breath away. I stay and climb here a bit, until I feel the first foothold give, the first gravel sprays down the side… and then I ease over and circle the mountain again. And the higher I get on the mountain, the better I like the view — but they are ALL good views.

So, with all that said, I think that maybe my life isn’t in need of selecting a mountain. I think that’s already accomplished. I’m enjoying my calling… so much so that I feel guilty from time to time — in between bouts with fear and doubt when I hit the writing side of the mountain.

But a wise person once said “Do something that scares you every day.” So, I plan to write something, anything that is fiction every day. Writing on the blog is not scary. Writing articles is not scary. Writing websites is not scary. Writing brochures, property descriptions, ad copy, ghost-writing… none of that scares me. But fiction… that’s scary and exhilarating at the same time. THAT moves me. Now, sometimes my non-fiction excites me, if I’m in a groove. If the words are flowing and I’m feeling the energy build… but non-fiction is easy for me. It’s not the same rush, because it’s not the same challenge. And I love the research portion of non-fiction, and was worried for many years that I’d lose that if I “made it all up” — but the truth is, I used the Internet multiple times during my intensive writing day yesterday. I had to look up when Labor Day happened, the meaning of certain character’s names, I had to see a virtual tour of a loft apartment in an unfinished state. I had to look up information about how factory windows in a certain time period usually looked. And there were dozens of other quick, but essential bits of information I needed to congeal my ideas into a feasible adventure in fiction.

You know, the mountain metaphor has really helped me. Climbing up and looking out and over, has put my life in perspective and has given me the much needed “AH-HA!” moments that I came here hoping to find. But I thought I’d have to dig deeper inside of me to find them. I thought I just needed to get away from the daily demands – even the ones I adore – in order to give myself the stretches of time needed to sort it all out. Uninterruptedtime. Long, luxurious blocks of time. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had those.

And I’m beginning to think that I need to finish out the cabin on the farm and retreat to THERE a day or two a week to write. If I can’t do it where the phone rings and the kids squeal, where my husband asks questions and clients email me- then perhaps I need to decide that it’s important enough to me, that I’m important enough to grab ahold and claim certain large blocks of time in my own life. Maybe it’s time I feel less guilty for doing what I want to do, and I learn to balance what I want (what my soul really needs) with what everyone else needs from me. Maybe now, I can do that. We have been here a week (tomorrow) and I’m making so much inner progress. I’m writing more than I’ve written in ages, and I’m finding options and solutions to continue this progress when I return to my “normal” life.

I also think a retreat like this every year is probably something I need to be able to keep my writing fresh and keep my energy flowing. Time will tell, but it seems to be the answer I was seeking. I’m starting to feel more certain. I’m starting to enjoy the path I’m on and I’m beginning to recognize that it’s the path I’ve chosen, not one that I’ve simply stumbled onto. And I think I’m going to be much less “freaked out” when I realize that I do enjoy the scenery from all sides of this particular mountain – and that’s ok, it’s not a requirement that I stick to a single side and scale just one cliff. But now, maybe I can also be ok with spending a bit more time on the scary side of my mountain, realizing that I can still circle through the other sides and make another, and another, and another pass at the writing side without fear that the writing side of the mountain will disappear if I take my eyes off it for a few minutes. I now feel confident that that side will remain in that same place, and it’s only me that circles around- it’s inevitable, having chosen THIS particular mountain, that I’ll be able to locate the writing side again, and I’ll be able to do so any time I want.

That brings me a great deal of relief.

I must say, I had a blast yesterday. And right now, I’m probably going to go and write a bit more before Pops wakes up.

Yes, I have laundry to do today, I have cleaning that needs accomplished, and I plan to go down to the shower house and soak under a hot shower until my entire body prunes up. (I promised myself that I’d do that today, since here in the camper, our hot water must be conserved or the shower turns cold before soap is rinsed from my hair.)

And I will do all these things today… but right now, while the place is still quiet, and even before I get breakfast or a shower….l think I want to go and “peek in” on my characters and see what they are up to. Samantha and her Nana need to have a real “heart-to-heart” conversation… and I think this morning is when they need to have it.

Have a great weekend!

The retreat is going well, although the last three days have been spent working, even though I’d planned only to work Tuesdays and Thursdays through this month, while on retreat. I need to spend the majority of my time writing, researching and coming to some conclusions.

But, when a client has a crisis — what’s a good girl to do?

So now, after stomping the multiple client fires, I’m ready to settle in. And, in between work hours today, I chatted with Pops a bit. About my future, the direction of my career and the fact that I don’t really know if I’m more afraid of success or failure if I pursue a fiction writing path.

The fact is, I’m had alot of pretty lofty goals in my life. And, I’ve reached almost all of them thusfar… (more…)

Mom and I got back to town at around 3 a.m. this morning. By 8 a.m., Pops (who had gone to bed early) rolled me out to begin the preparations for the last trip I plan to take for awhile. It took most of the day to get things ready.

It’s kind of nice to turn the business phone off, to not have the office phone ringing constantly. I am enjoying the break, but there is still so much work to do, such late hours and so much of my time spent traveling lately. I love to travel, but I’d like it more if my kids could have been released from school a bit earlier. I wanted them to experience this with me. Alex loves Colorado, as does Derrick. They will hopefully be able to come out later, but with all the other events of the summer, they may not.

Derrick has been telling me, as has Alex, all the things they are doing in school right now. The “free periods,” the playing cards in math class, the time outside (Derrick came home burned Friday, he stayed outside so much). The one thing missing? School work. For THIS my children are refused release for a family and EDUCATIONAL trip. Arruuugghh!
I’ll deal with that more later, but for now…

We are on the way. We have made a pitstop in Bowling Green to pick up a 4-wheeler to get higher up the mountain than we could on foot. My Uncle has one he’s loaning Pops. On the way, Pops and I are arguing politics, national security, our right (or lack of right) to be in the Middle East, how art should NOT (in his opinion) cross the line to political activism (unless that political opinion is one he shares, apparently) and… we are having a good time.
My husband looked exhausted when I kissed him good-bye and I’ll be missing him, Alex and Derrick terribly before I cross the state line. I just know it. But, for now, we will continue to count the things we forgot to pack and keep moving west. Until later…

I’ve been planning to attend this event for several years… ok, probably approaching (or exceeding) a decade now. But April is always so busy and there’s always a reason why I can’t… it’s always time or money, isn’t it? Back when I had the time, I didn’t have the money. Now that I have the money, it’s hard to make the time — until this year. For my birthday, my parents, sister (and her hubby) gave me a full pass to the Women Writers Conference in Lexington, Kentucky. It’s hard to say no when it’s a gift… so I get to enjoy the conference — guilt-free! :O)

The event begins this afternoon and runs through Sunday. I’ll blog about it a bit, if I’m not too exhausted after each day. I expect it to be rather draining and (hopefully) inspiring. Of course, this will rekindle the fire to write fiction that I’ve just recently managed to calm. Funny how those things happen, isn’t it? Like karma sending me signs, methinks.

I talked with my children about school last night. My son, now 16, attends Russell County High School. This is CATs testing week. So, you may wonder, what’s “testing week” really like? Apparently, the kids work 90 minutes per day. The rest of the time there is drawing for prizes, they watch television and DVD movies, go outside and “hang out” and get extra bonus points (up to 60) to add to their class scores for showing up for school and appearing to attempt to do well on the tests (this involves not staring into space or filing in ‘just anything’ to hurry up and be finished with the exams). How’s that for rewarding? And how effective is CATS testing? Not very. Of course, many of us have suspected as much all along. You can’t teach to the test, unless you are first teaching. Right? Testing…

It’s enough to make me just beam with pride. This is to go on for two weeks. They are doing NOTHING in classes. There is no homework. There is, however, a free-flowing supply of sugary treats being passed out and those obnoxious vending machines that are supposed to stay turned OFF during the school day are back to being plugged in constantly. It’s not enough to teach to the tests, it’s not enough to deny children educational opportunities in order to collect a paycheck for them.

Equally impressive is the job that our state government is doing for our children’s long-term future. How forward-thinking of them to sell out our children for political gain now. It makes me so proud. Maniacally proud. That’s what it means when you see red, right? Overwhelming pride? (more…)

For those who are concerned about junk food in schools, you may be interested in the following legislation: (more…)

I’ve had an incredibly busy week. I’ve not even blogged (and today is Thursday!) One of the many things I accomplished yesterday was going to get my son signed up for his classes for next year at the local high school. While there, I had a conversation with the principal about the possibility of Derrick leaving a couple weeks early to go to Colorado with my father.

I figure that a trip out west would probably be more educational than the last two weeks of school. I remember how little was actually accomplished the last couple of weeks, and apparently even less is accomplished these days if the tales my children tell me about watching movies and “free days” are valid.

The response I got was a bit surprising… (more…)

I’m back in my home state again now. Florida was nice and I did make some wonderful progress on the book.

I also made progress with getting to bed at an hour before the a.m. and I even took a couple naps during my time away!! Naps, I say! I think they boost my creative juices… yeah, THAT’s the ticket! If I’d managed to squeeze in a dozen naps, the book may well be complete my now ! :O) (more…)

And with that final post in May of 2002, I took down the farm site and continued my journey toward a successful business from the center of the 25 acres in the middle of nowhere.

My eldest son did end up moving in with his father, which was the most difficult loss I’ve ever endured. Both Derrick and Alex still live here on the farm with me.

I quit trying to build CumberlanDunes and launched Wicked WordCraft to follow my bliss and concentrate my efforts doing what I enjoy most — writing and marketing consultation. It took off almost immediately. Wicked WordCraft grew at an amazing clip and at the beginning of 2003 went multi-national in clientele.

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February was not the saving grace that I had hoped it would be. It actually got worse. The contracts didn’t pan out. The money was painfully non-existent. The credit card I used to start up the business and to survive while getting things set up and while having no income approached the credit limit.

I had the staples in the pantry – but we were now using powdered milk and powdered eggs that I had purchased as emergency stock some time back.

Meat was a dream, although a few cans of “spam” remained and there were lots of beans. There was a great deal of rice in the diet and lots of oatmeal and pancakes. I didn’t have the usual stock of applesauce and fresh fruit for the pancakes and waffles – so we used standard syrup.

I no longer enjoyed cooking. The variety wasn’t there. I was discouraged. I’m a fresh fruit and vegetable and tossed salad kind of eater. This was different. It wasn’t comfortable.

I found a Garfield comic that pretty much reflected my own situation: In the first square, Garfield is reading a newspaper and two spiders are crawling on the table. Spider number two says “You may squish me, but you’ll never squish my spirit” The next frame is a big “Ker-Splat” and the final frame is spider number one looking at spider number two saying “How’s your spirit, Stewart?” to which the flattened spider responds “Bite me, Mikey.” (more…)

Guess I never really considered myself extremely patriotic. In fact, I’ve always felt a bit guilty about the number of resources we, as a country, consume. My lifestyle reflects my concerns. What I can’t change nationally, I try to change in my own home, on my own farm, with my own kids, and in my own way.

But the terrorist attacks day before yesterday – September 11, 2001 — caught me completely off guard. It never occurred to me that such things would even happen. I’ve never felt insecure here, in the USA, before. I’ve watched the atrocities elsewhere, I’ve been saddened by them. I’ve been offended by them. But, somehow, they remained so far away – so removed from what I know.

I’m now torn in how I feel. Part of me feels guilty for believing that we should be ‘above’ such things, that we should never have to dirty our hands with such dealings. I didn’t realize how “snotty” my views were sometimes. Other times, I wonder why we should be, by birth in this great nation, above what so many throughout the world endure every day. (more…)

The last week of June and the WHOLE month of July have whizzed by! All the good things possible have happened – with only a minimum amount of negative situations – just enough to make me appreciate the good. And, there was blessedly few “non-descript” or neutral days.

My self-made deadline for getting some income for the business was July 2001. If I didn’t have any contracts or VERY strong prospects by that time, I was going to have to give up the dream of working, living and teaching the children here on the farm. I would have to go and find a “real” job. And there are few prospects for me in this tiny town. There may not be any. I was having nightmares of flipping hamburgers….only this town is too small even for a burger joint, so I’d have to commute for even THAT job. Snicker.

But, on June 30th – the 11th hour, so to speak – I landed my first contract! I landed the second one the next day and the third one the following week. It’s not enough to live on yet, but there are other prospects popping up and I’ve really beefed up my marketing plan. (more…)