I smell like smoke and there is marshmallow in my hair :)

Did you know?

John was the only disciple present at Jesus's crucifixion! The others had all apparently fled. Some of the women who had been following him were there (yay women!). As much as I would like to say that I don't, I can relate with the other disciples on this one. I tend to run when things get difficult.

Oh to be a girl

I’ve never been much of a “girly girl” and actually was a tomboy for a few years. And I do my fair share of complaining about the injustices and inconveniences of being female. But sometimes, I have to say, I do rather enjoy it. 

There is nothing new under the sun

When the sun rises in the morning, we say, “it is a new day” and it gives us hope. But the thing is, there is nothing new about it. The sun shines over graveyards and junkyards and backyards that all were in existence during the night, and the night before that, and the night before that. At the start of the New Year, we all make resolutions we know we will break in 3 months or less. Yet we are convinced that just because the earth has orbited the sun, something new will happen. Well, guess what? The earth has orbited the sun at least 6,000 times!!!

Not to be completely cynical, new things are happening every day. I think they just don’t wait for some magic time or day. Babies are created and born. Strangers become friends, and friends become lovers.

Because of the time it takes light to travel from space to earth, some of the stars we see have actually died and yet we can still see their light.

In the song Nothing Lasts Forever, Brett Dennen speculates that the sun could have burned out and we wouldn’t even know. Scientifically, we’d find out pretty quickly if this actually did happen, but it’s an interesting thought. PS look at this singer. He looks like he’s 16 a(he's 30) nd plays guitar like Dave Tamkin and sings like a black woman, hahaha.

Falling asleep to the sound of sirens

I rode the El for what was probably only the 4th or 5th time in my adult life today. By myself. Yes, by myself. I am home and in one piece so it's ok (really)! :)

Everyone has taken a picture of the bean, the Sears Tower, etc. My goal today was to take unique pictures of Chicago.

My Adventure

Today I drove up to Waucanda and visited the Lake County museum. Then I walked around the forest preserve there and explored the area. I saw some deer, horses, and a cardinal. I visited 3 playgrounds. It was fun!

Spring Break!

Today, I...
- slept in!
- saw an old friend
- listened to Switchfoot really loud in my car
- got some TMP stuff done
- ate my new favorite food, Panera macaroni & cheese
- cuddled a puppy and a bunny
- stopped to take pictures of the Menards garden center :)

I want a yard with a puppy and a garden, without the work of weeding and house training!

Happy 1st Day of Spring

Psychological report of Steven Kazmierczak

On February 14, 2008, Steven Kazmierczak opened fire in Cole hall at Northern Illinois University, killing 6 people. Recently an extensive report was released detailing the entire event. There is a large section on Steven's childhood and psychological state which I find interesting. It was a tragic event, and I am proud of the community's response. I think there are lessons to be learned from it.

"Kazmierczak’s elementary and high school teachers referred to

him as being an underachieving, impulsive person who lacked motivation and required

structure.

It has been reported that Steven was an underachiever throughout his primary and secondary school years. Some of his teachers reported having suspicions he may have had a learning disability or an attention deficit problem. Steven was described as appearing to have difficulties concentrating. Additionally, he was reported as having a negative attitude, and as behaviorally careless and impulsive. These conditions were seen as complicating his ability to learn.

At least one instructor believed Steven’s early writings contained themes of violence and found them to be inappropriate. There is anecdotal evidence that Steven was bullied during his early school years. Likewise, there are reports that he picked on others during this same period. His family sought an evaluation of Steven through school officials, but their request was denied

It is reported that Steven and his mother, during his early years, spent a

great deal of time watching horror movies. The themes and images contained in the movies were said to be grossly violent and macabre and of questionable suitability for a child of Steven’s age at the time.

 Steven attempted to commit suicide or made suicidal gestures requiring him to be hospitalized for a total of nine (9) times before his eighteenth birthday."

Now, I am not saying by any means that any kid who watches a scary movie or is and underachiever or gets picked on is destined to be a school shooter someday. But it just irks me that when my 5 and 6 year olds come in to school taking about the Chuckie and Saw movies, threatening to kill themselves, and displaying other inappropriate behaviors, and I report these to school support staff, it gets brushed off by parents and postponed by the school who refuses to "diagnose" any sort of disorder in kindergarten. 

It breaks my heart the issues today's children have to deal with and how often they are not given the help they need.

It's a beautiful day

U-46 cuts

Over 700 teachers are being cut from district U-46 today. Well some of these will be rehired, it still means larger class sizes for next year. Secretary and clerical positions are being eliminated, making more work for teachers. School nurses are now at 2 schools meaning half the time a building will not have a nurse (because the kids only get sick/hurt when the nurse is there, right?). Our school social worker is going from having 2 schools t0 4. With 4 schools, she will simply not have the time to deal with student emotional needs, only shuffle paperwork. I would think the number of school shootings alone would urge us to have more social work, not less. Librarians will be at 2 schools so they will not have time to read to the kids, only check out books. Many librarians have spent their careers developing programs to do with classes in the library that work on vocabulary development and skills for the ISAT. Kindergartners will not have art, music, or PE next year.

What are we doing to our educators, who graduate full of passion only to be treated as a commodity? Educators are some of the most hardworking people I know. Do they not deserve to have job security, fair pay, benefits?
Most importantly, what are we doing to our children? They are our nation's future. And yet we take more away from them and expect more with less. It takes a village to educate a child. 1 person can not do it alone, let alone with a class of 33 children.

nothing less will save the day

Done!

I had never really had a desire to read the Bible in a year. I thought it would be rather tedious and difficult. In July of 2008, Rafal and I were looking for some structure in reading the Bible together. I did some research and found this plan. (Here it is in a PDF)

What I like about this is you don't get "stuck" in one book, if you are in Leviticus one day you know the next day you get to read something different. And most days, you only have to read 1-3 chapters, it is very doable!

There were times when the reading seemed much more in my head and not my heart. And there were large and small stretches of time  when I got distracted by the world and missed my readings. But another nice thing about this plan is you can begin/end/pick up whenever.

It is a bit convicting that when I find a novel I love I can devour 100 pages in a sitting, but with the Bible more then 4 pages seems like too much. Still working on my faith, but at last, 1 year and 8 months later, I am done reading through the entire Bible. Now what? :)

Gonna take a walk outside today, gonna see what I can find today

 

  

  

  

  

 

Life is hard...

...So is taking a picture every day. 2 months and I'm already losing inspiration. Any ideas/suggestions for future pics I should take? I like to feel like people actually look at this crap.

The clouds in her bright blue eyes

 

The clouds were pink tonight.