What in the world?

You know how some days you just really, really wonder what is wrong with people? What have we become as Americans (well, inhabitants of the planet earth in general) over the last few generations that causes so many people to act in ways that make you wanna say WTF!

GO HERE

No, really, you could GO HERE TOO

Now, had enough?

Well, in that case, you should definately GO HERE to unwind (best viewing time is 12-4 am Eastern or 4-8 pm Eastern, and be patient because it's offline a lot, but your first glance at a live giraffe in the middle of Africa drinking from a pond and I know you'll be hooked just like me :-) )

My Brain Hurts

All summer, when I felt like I was getting my ass kicked in Calculus 2.....well it turns out I might as well have been on vacation. 'Cause what's really killin' me are my classes this semester! I have never had so much homework. Most of which I avoid doing because I just don't "get" most of it. I'm going to have to break down and start working with a tutor and let me just tell you how much that kills me!

Like I have time in my life for a tutor. Like I am actually going to get off my butt and try and find one next week (you know, in all my spare time).

Next week I start observing a geometry class.

Have I mentioned that I can't wait for this semester to be over?

I am so tired. At the end of the day I am just plain mentally exhausted.

Idiot is off camping this weekend. I'm just so glad he agreed to take on this whole cheerleading project. Let's see, he's taken her to precisely....oh right, ZERO games! I know, I know, I'm not really complaining because I like to be involved. But geesh, if you tell your kid you're going to do something you don't turn around and make plans to go camping (and then make her feel guilty because she doens't want to go camping with you). GRRRRR

So, Princess gets to have Sweetie over for a sleepover tomorrow. We'll pick her up after the football game and pig out on junk food and watch movies and listen to the Cheetah Girls CD, all the while dancing around the living room like idiots.

Did we all see Gray's Anatomy on Thursday?!!(it was really, really good Christy :-P) How great is this season going to be?!! Not much else is drawing my attention this season. I did watch Studio 60 on Sunset Strip. I think that's a maybe, but it makes me wish West Wing was back. I watched Law & Order tonight, and I wasn't too impressed. Feels like it's going to be Numbers here on Friday night, except maybe when the reruns come on. I didn't watch ER, didn't even interest me. And I DON'T do any of the reality TV (which drives my mother crazy every time she misses a show and asks me what happened).

My allergies are killing me, i have to take so much medication to be able to breath that i can't stay awake (she says as she types at 1:30 am.....but that's because I slept so long this afternoon!)

Man, I can't even follow a complete thought through, can I? I better go crawl in bed and rest up for sitting in the rain at Princess' game tomorrow *sigh*

The good and the bad

It's always good to get the bad news out of the way first. So, the bad news is - my internet was down all weekend! A girl could suffer serious withdrawl symptoms!

But, the good news! I had a ton of homework this weekend, and without internet I got a ton done. Plus, it was a gorgeous weekend! Princess had another 4:00 football game so we didn't have to drag ourselves out of bed early AND we got to enjoy the perfect football afternoon.

You should have seen the game, it was priceless. We got to the field and the boys were already on the practice field warming up so the girls grabbed a corner and started stretching. Once the game before us got done the boys headed over to the playing field and the girls followed in close order. When the boys realized that the cheerleaders were coming to their field there were many shouts of "hey, we have CHEERLEADERS today!" (I have never laughed so hard in my life - you should have heard them!) But, it was cute. The boys were thrilled, the girls were thrilled and we even won the game 22-6. Ya can't beat that!

Fashion DON'T (and other rants)

So, it was cold and rainy again today. Not complaining TOO loud because we do need the rain. But does it have to rain the hardest at the exact moments I need to walk from my vehicle all the way across campus to get to my class? Why don't college campuses have parking lots adjacent to their largest classroom buildings? Why are the best and biggest parking lots on the side of the campus that has the football field? Where, may I add, there are NO classrooms?

Ranting about the rain. Do they NOT teach young drivers how to drive anymore? Leave extra space between you and the car in front of you when it's raining this hard because you WON'T be able to stop. There is a TON of water on the road and you are going to get yourself hurt! (mostly because I am going to slap you silly if you cut me off one more time....) AND have automatic lights made us freakin stupid? When it's dark and raining and gray (especially if you have a silver car people!) turn your damn lights on. AND when the power goes out, that light at the busy intersection that's out - yeah, it doesn't mean you can drive right through it because the car in front of you went through it, it's a four way stop! Or have the rules of driving changed since I went through drivers ed?

....and that was just my drive TO school :-)

Now, fashion police. If you are older than me and have obviously had a couple kids (or a couple too many cases of beer) you should NOT cut the bottoms off your t-shirts so that you can wear them 1/2 an inch above your jeans and let your roll of fat jiggle for all to see. Next, if you are a poor college student and the only pair of shoes that you have are flip flops (you know the cheap kind with the annoying hard piece of plastic that goes between your toes)I don't care HOW cold it is, please, please, PLEASE, do NOT wear socks with your flip flops!

I am now going back to figuring out how a vector of origin relates to the centroid of a flippin triangle (can you tell I am more than a little stressed right now?!)

9/11/01

Did you know that MSNBC ran the Today show coverage live this morning.....the rerun from 2001? I wish I would have known. I didn't get to see it the first time and I would have liked to have seen the whole thing. As it was I didn't turn the TV on until 11 and by then the events had all transpired. (Although I did get to see Katie Couric ask a Congressman if Congress was indeed meeting today and if so, where...oh yeah, the Capitol building was a possible target, so let's just announce on NBC where all of Congress is at the moment, brilliant journalism!) But, I digress.

I have looked all over to see if there was a master list somewhere of all the bloggers posting with the 2,996. Many of the people on my AOL alerts, and my Bloglines have posted wonderful tributes....I wish I would have made a note of all of them so I could share them with you. They were, after all, everyday people just like the rest of us.....people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

UPDATE: No wonder I couldn't find the master list for the 2996 project, I suspect the site is especially overloaded today....but you can access the list through a cache. Here's the google memory

Today is my dad's birthday. 59 this year! Hard to imagine having a birthday on such a "historic" day. I suspect we will have dinner and cake and enjoy our evening as if it was any other day.

I stayed home from school today. I was seriously in need of a mental health day. Taking classes all summer was just too much, and my break between summer and fall classes was NOT long enough! So as soon as the kids arrived this morning we were off to school and then I came home, layed on the couch and enjoyed the quiet. It was delicious!

Now, there are many wonderful tributes out there, but as I mentioned, I didn't bookmark any of them. So let me leave you with a choice of these two sites (they are both very similar so you can pick one or the other) Jimmy put one together 5 years ago, and another one more recently. Enjoy!

His Blog
On AOL

Finally!

Finally! I finally got the pictures to load! I know you've all been waiting patiently *giggle* So I present to you the first day of 3rd grade. This is Princess (left) and her best friend in the whole world. Sweetie & Princess are crushed this year because they don't have the same teacher. Somehow I think they'll survive! And I'm quite sure they will remain fast friends despite the separation during the day :-)

Next I guess I have to share. Cheerleading pictures *sigh* Lucky for them they were adorable, but it was a rare occassion when they were all doing the same moves or saying the same words! But, they had fun, and really, that's all that counts, right??
It was only 60 here today and a chilly wind. Our team lost 8-0. The only bright spot in the day......it wasn't raining by the time the game started. She has to go to another game Tuesday night. It better be warmer!!

Warp Speed

On a lighter note, 40 years ago today Star Trek hit the air waves.

When Enterprise was cancelled last year it was the first time in 25 years that there was no Star Trek series or movie in production or development.

Isn't that unreal?

Call me crazy now, but I LOVE everything Star Trek. Beam me up, Scotty. I Love the crappy original episodes with unbelievable plots..damnit Jim, I'm a doctor not a bricklayer..., love Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and even Enterprise. I even admit to loving all the movies (yes, including the really BAD ones!). OOPS, forgot Voyager, I never really did catch up with that one, but the few episodes I did see, yup - loved 'em!

Let's hope for another 40 years of nerds dreaming and reaching for the stars, and most especially attending Star Trek Conventions. Because, hey, if we're all at the convention center at least you know where to avoid :-)

But, until that next convention let's lay in a course, warp factor 4

Engage

Public Schools

There was a little blurb on the radio station that I listen to. It was talking about the growing trend of restricted recess. You know what I mean. First teeter-totters and merry-go-rounds had to go because they were too dangerous. Then we needed to make sure there was 6 inches of wood chips under the swings and other playing equipment because that was too dangerous. Next it was dodgeball, TOO DANGEROUS! Never mind punishing the few kids who are ruining it for everybody because they are mean and like to inflict pain. Anyway, so the blurb on the news said a local school district has now banned Tag as a recess game. Too dangerous, afraid somebody will get poked in the eye or pushed too hard, or they will be so busy trying not to get tagged they won't be looking where they are going and run into something. PLEASE stop the insanity! I've heard reports that include some school districts have banned recess altogether - and not to gain more teaching time but because it's too dangerous. This is a very good thing to teach our kids. Let's not work together to make a system that works, let's just bow to the lowest among us and avoid anything that may result in a lawsuit. Yeah, that works for me - NOT!

On a similar subject. Our local police forces are sponsoring a gun buy back program this weekend. Now, I'm all for getting guns off the street and I'm sure there are plenty of statistics that say the buy back programs work. BUT, and come along with me now. They are offering to give debit cards in exchange for these guns (because money is the only incentive that "works"). Well, what about the rest of us law abiding citizens who DON'T have illegal firearms in our homes? Dang, I could use $100 to spend at our local Meijer store. But hey, let's just keep rewarding the criminals. We're doing it on a lesser level in our school systems so why not in the entire community through the police force. Yeah, that works for me too.

(As usual, I should be working on homework.....can you tell I'm rushing right off to do that?)

One of the classes that I am taking is a class called "Math Activities for Secondary Teachers". As part of this class we need to do 20 hours this semester of class room observation. The placement options were posted today and they were ALL grade A high schools (where we, as new teachers have NO hope of getting a job). Well, this should be useful. Let me go and observe this "great" teacher who is teaching math to kids who already want to learn. That should be useful in my teaching career. I e-mailed my teacher and asked her if she could find me a placement in a city school. I think she probably gagged on her coffee because her reply was that nobody had ever asked her that before. She said she's look into it. I'm guessing, however, that for the next 10 weeks I'll be sitting in the back of some Upper Middle Class 100% white AP Calculus class (or something eqully dull). Gosh, the other kids in my class will really get a good taste of what teaching is like, won't they?

I sound bitter, do I sound bitter? I guess the two articles on the radio about recess and the gun buy back just sent me over the edge today.

From the sounds of it, Jimmy has had enough too - you should go read his latest post

Since I didn't have breakfast, maybe I'll go find myself somethin' for an early lunch. (That way I can avoid that homework just a little bit longer!)

Respite

Thousands of parents across the country are full of mixed emotions today.

BACK TO SCHOOL!!

You're happy that you don't have to hear "I'm bored" one more time. You're happy that your job as chauffer is now limited to after school. You're thrilled that education is back in the forefront of your child's mind.

But, you'll miss them (ok, not all the time, but the house does seem blissfully quiet today).

Princess started 3rd grade today (really, she did, I have pictures that sort of prove it, but camera is NOT cooperating). She looked adorable! I'm not sure she really wanted to go, but by the time I picked her up I saw nothing but grins :-) She can't wait to go back tomorrow. They all got the cutest little "homework organizers" as gifts from their teachers. She feels so grown up! Now if I can just get her to fall asleep tonight!

Last night was the longest ever. She was so worked up about school she couldn't fall asleep. And then woke up at 5 this morning with a tummy ache. I wasn't sure she was going to make it to school. Ah well, she's good and exhausted now and when she gets back from idiot's and crawls in bed she is going to fall asleep in about 2 seconds.

Back to school for me tomorrow (and gosh you'll be surprised to hear I have only finished about 1/3 of my homework). I'm gonna be up late tonight - with nobody to blame but myself!

Labor Day

The work force is what makes America great. It's what makes us different from so much of the rest of the world. If you're lucky enough to find a job and work hard, you can "live the American dream". You can have a family and a house and food on your table - so many choices that most people in the world can't comprehend it when it is explained to them. They simply have no frame of reference for a WalMart!

And I know it's not Memorial Day or Armed Forces day, but let's say a special prayer for the soldiers who are out there on the front lines, who have worked every day they have been deployed, only enjoying a rare "day off".

Enjoy a few words about the war from the point of view of a soldier and go

visit John

No homework for miles

I didn't do a lick of homework today! I should feel some pang of guilt for procrastinating - but all I'll probably feel is frustration as I spend Sunday, Monday & Tuesday trying to finish it. And that, of course, is assuming that I start it tomorrow.

We spent most of the day at my mom's house where Princess amused herself helping Papa scrape paint. They worked on the front picture window and the frame around the garage. They might even get it painted this weekend. My mom will probably die if they do - my dad is not one that is known for finishing projects that he starts. Several times today her refered to princess as a slave driver! rofl Throughout the day we played Zooreka on and off. This game rocks! It's a Cranium product and it's tons of fun. If you have kids you need to have at least one Cranium game in your inventory!

The rest of the time (you know, when I SHOULD have been doing homework) I was reading Godless by Ann Coulter. She cracks me up! (and in a good way). I can't say I've ever leaned to the left in my political views, and I seem to lean more right the older I get. Well, except for the gun thing, I really don't get the gun thing. Mostly what I don't understand is why 70% of the country claims to be Christian and yet we sit silently and hide our light in a closet instead of taking a stand. And, ok, reading Ann Coulter and Christians taking a stand don't exactly have anything to do with each other, it's just sort of where my brain went today.

Have I mentioned that I'm taking Princess to see the Cheetah Girls in concert in November? ACK! 36.50 a ticket PLUS THIRTEEN, yes THIRTEEN dollars in fees! for a stinkin concert (i guess disney knows how to make money!) I'm bringing reinforcements in the form of Sweetie and her mom and we are going to make a night of it. If you're going to get fleeced in Detroit it's always good to go with friends :-)

I got Batman Begins on sale today at Target for ten bucks. That doesn't have much to do with the rest of the post, but gosh what a deal!