My Dogs are Mooing

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;