My Dogs are Mooing

Tomorrow, for the first time in six weeks, I will be leaving work early.  I will not be putting in a 13 hour day.  I will not have to work with my middle school students to figure out how to build a robot for the BEST robotics competition in only six weeks, and I will not have to worry about sending out reminder emails or arranging for t-shirts to be made or putting together lunches for students.  I will not have to find a way to borrow tools and return them, and I will not have to haul large pieces of wood and plexiglass to a shop teacher.  While I'm thrilled to have my life back, I have to admit that in many ways I'd like to have those six weeks back again.  Why?  Because despite everything we did to build the robot, we still ended up without one.  And, quite frankly, that sucks. To be clear, our lack of robot had nothing to with lack of effort.  I had parents and students put in long hours and give up their nights and weekends.  The team was so generous with their time, en

These last few weeks have been some of the most stressful I've had a in a long time.  The start of robotics competition season was extremely exciting, and as much as I enjoy the process I have to admit it's also extremely draining -- physically, mentally, emotionally.  Add to that my role as a youth group adviser, classes towards my master's degree, and time spent volunteering for the Gifted Association of Missouri and it's a wonder I get any sleep at all; I leave early every morning and never make it home until well past dark.  Once home my mind races with things to do, calls to make, emails to send.  Taking the time to write this post is one of the few things I've done for myself in the last few weeks. Maybe that's why, then, I received several random compliments and praises today when I needed them most.  I'm not sure I believe in the whole fate thing, though I don't knock people who do.  However, I have to wonder why today of all days.  A parent wh

Back in the classic days of SNL Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd used to do a segment on Weekend Update called "Point/Counterpoint", which would begin as a current events debate but generally devolve into insults about their, ahem, personal characters.  Today was a Point/Counterpoint day -- minus the jabs at my integrity. Point -- I donated my old collection of classroom books to a worthy place.  Eight years of books equals a lot of boxes. Counterpoint -- I live on the second floor.  My car is on the first floor.  A lot of boxes of books had to get from the second floor to the first floor. Point -- I went on a walk and found an abandoned license plate by the side of the road and turned it into the police department to be returned to its rightful owner. Counterpoint -- It was really hot today.  Why did I go on a walk? Point -- The police officer who collected the plate from me was appreciative. Counterpoint -- He was probably more appreciative that he was done dealing with

It's been far too long since my last post.  I thought about writing several times, but my brain had other plans.  A lot has happened recently, and my mind has definitely been all over the place.   A new nephew.  Changes at work.  Returning to school for another master's degree.  A fender bender.  Meeting a celebrity.  And that's just the beginning... My life has certainly maintained its roller-coaster tendency. Some days the ride is exhilarating, and other days I wish I'd never even entered the amusement park.  I suppose that's natural though; the road not taken, indeed.  If you had asked me a year ago where I'd be, I never figured I'd be here -- whatever here means.  The impact of changing one part of my life has bled into the other areas, and taking on a new role as a student has me examining all of the other roles of my life in a different way.  My instructors have repeatedly talked about keeping life in balance and not letting work override everything

Yesterday was the Go Girl half marathon.  I was privileged and honored to spend 13.1 miles with some extremely special girls. The weather was perfect, and as the ladies started gathering around the starting line there was a great spirit of excitement.  My friend Andi and I saw matching shirts, cheerful signs, and tutus (hey, this was an all-girls race!).  There was even a spontaneous Zumba warm-up before the race, courtesy of Mark Livesay and the Ultramax team.  Once the race started we kept telling ourselves we were just on a nice long walk.  Emphasis on the long part. About three miles in we caught up with two young mothers pushing strollers.  They were part of a mothers' group based out of Fort Leonard Wood; military wives teamed up for races and called themselves "warriors with strollers".  One woman, named Sunny, was embarking on her first half marathon.  She would run in short bursts, telling herself she could make it to the next stop sign or the end of the bloc

On my refrigerator is a card from one of my first mentors in education.  We met three years ago at a conference; at the time, I was new to gifted education and desperately trying to find my footing.  She and I immediately clicked, and we've been friends ever since.  I see that card constantly, and it always makes me smile.  It's written in her beautiful, formal style and offers words of encouragement and advice -- with a little sass tossed in, as only she can.  The card also ends with the exhortation to "email me sometime, will ya?"  Unfortunately those emails have slipped lower and lower on the priority list.  Every time I see that card I tell myself, "I'll email her tomorrow..."; however, tomorrows have a way of passing us by. Tonight, though, I decided things would be different.  I sat down and wrote her a letter.  It seemed a strange choice -- I actually committed to taking the time and effort to catch up with her, yet I chose the least convenient

Those of you who know me know I don't normally comment on current events.  It goes without saying that in these kinds of instances people are grieving, or praying, or thinking about those affected.  Tragedies inevitably lead to discussions about what comes next -- why did it happen?  Where do we go from here?  What can we do to keep it from happening again?  Some events, like Hurricane Katrina or the tornado in Joplin, leave us confused and lost; how can we make sense of something that no one could predict or control?  The shootings at Sandy Hook or Virginia Tech lead to debates on school safety and gun control, and sometimes those debates devolve into finger-pointing and demands that may be impossible to fulfill.  Then, of course, there was 9/11 -- the ultimate game-changer. For those of us who have been fortunate to never have been directly impacted by events like these, it's easy to say "what if..." and wonder how we would ever possibly cope.  We think these thin

I've always had a soft spot for folks who work in customer service.  Having spent five years in high school and college doing the salesclerk thing, I know how difficult it can be to work with the general public.  For all of the nice, polite, appreciative customers out there, you can bet there are even more who are rude, pushy, and self-absorbed.  I know firsthand how much patience and fake smiling it takes to make it through, so I try to be extra respectful.  Two different salesclerks today, however, made me briefly reconsider. Salesclerk #1 had the best of intentions.  Really, she did.  She was smiley and friendly.  As I was checking out, though, she made a big production of telling me how much money I had saved today.  No big deal, I suppose, until she followed the amount up by telling me, "good job!".  I realize that for some couponing and saving money are not just hobbies or ways of life, but art forms.  However, I was not a puppy who just tinkled on the newspaper;

I had the ultimate pleasure of visiting Charleston, South Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina during my spring break.  While I could go on and on about the sights and the food (oh, man -- the food!), I'd rather talk about the people.  I met some amazing folks who, although I will never know their names or see them again, made me think about life in a different way. There was the woman  who did more than just confirm that we were on the right street -- she took the time to give us complete directions to where we wanted to go.  She didn't need to do that; when asked a simple "is this so-and-so street?" she could have nodded or barked out a quick "yes" before heading on with her day and her life. Four different shopkeepers took several minutes to answer our questions and advise us on places to go and things to do.  Their tips would prove invaluable, and the time they spent probably cost them more than what we paid for the coffee we drank or the time we sp

I realize it's been a long time since my last post, but life has been so eventful that it's kept me away from my writing.  There have been so many things going on that I could write about -- and I still may -- but for now I'm focused on the (semi) new year.  It seems like every January I make certain promises to myself about how things will be different, better, new.  I'm going to stick to that new gym routine, I'll train for this new race, I'll visit those new places, I'll put myself out there and try new things; every year new resolutions emerge and I find myself struggling to keep them.  I manage to follow through on some, but others tend to quietly fade away.  Part of me gets excited for the new challenges, but another part of me wonders about my motivation.  Am I trying to be better than I already am, or am I looking to forge an entirely new path and reinvent myself?  I also get that the whole idea of new year's resolutions can seem a bit silly.  If