Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Can You Spell Education?

Apparently the school my children attend believes it is spelled o-p-t-i-o-n-a-l.

I almost asked this morning when I dropped the kids off if all the classes would be watching the inauguration, but I didn't. Because I assumed it would have been mandatory to see history in the making. It was a no-brainer to me that the children would witness a terribly important and POSITIVE day in United States history, live. Not on the evening news after it was all said and done.

I blew it.

If I had known that the big screen television was to be placed in the small conference room off of the cafeteria and that the students would have a choice to play after they ate lunch or watch as the inauguration unfolded I would have kept them home. And educated them. And they would be better for it, maybe not today or even tomorrow, but at some point in time they would recall that their mom forced them to watch Inauguration 2009 and they would feel proud for being a part of today in some small way.

Instead they will just remember that it was really cold, Diezel got his hair cut after school and their mom was a-n-g-r-y and d-i-s-a-p-p-o-i-n-t-e-d about what didn't happen at school.


****My fourth grader did see a portion of it and talked more about Yo-Yo Ma than President Obama, but maybe that is because she was whisked back to class DURING President Obama's speech and she saw the entire performance of Yo-Yo Ma.

Inauguration 2009

Riveting and tear provoking.

Need I say more? (Except that I regret not keeping the children home from school today. They should have seen all the coverage that led up to the actual swearing in of President Barack Obama.)

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Buchtie Day


Today would have been Buchta's 10th birthday. We have celebrated each year by baking Buchtie (others call them Kolache) with Aunt Mary, the master of Czech pastry. If Aunt Mary was unavailable we would suffer through my attempts and delight in a semi-hockey puck-like version of the yummy treat. After all our hard work Buchta would humor us by balancing one on her nose, flipping it in the air, catching it and then gobbling it up.

We'll be baking Buchtie in her honor this weekend. I just don't know who I can get to attempt the nose flipping trick. (Maybe has been a failure at this particular feat)

WE MISS YOU BROWN DOG!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

You Had Me @ "Challenge"

I like challenges. I'm a bit competitive, in a friendly way of course. I would never yell, "You suck!" at you while playing Euchre if you lost a hand or two. If I gloat, I do it quietly, but I'm more competitive with myself than my neighbors unless you happen to rub me the wrong way before a race.

So when it comes to resolutions I do better during Lent because 40 days of suffering is a challenge to me while an entire year is a lifestyle change and I'm too old for that. For 40 days I can pick something really difficult to give up and know that it will end. Like a hot, hilly 10 mile trial run-I'm bound to hit the finish line sooner or later. So when I came across this I thought what an interesting and atypical dare it would be for me.

Our marriage is in a good place right now but Chesaning thought Parshallburg Bridge had a good foundation too, so I figure if I can make the important things in my life a bit stronger I can only be better for it. And really, 4 days into the 40-day Love Dare Challenge and it hasn't been difficult at all. I didn't tell Vinnie I was participating in the challenge and that makes it even better because he isn't expecting anything and when you don't expect anything that leaves room for being pleasantly surprised.

In case you don't check out the link here is what the first four days involved:

Day 1-Resolve to say nothing negative about your spouse today.
Day 2-Do at least one unexpected gesture to your spouse as an act of kindness.
Day 3-Buy your spouse something that says, "I was thinking about you today."
Day 4-Contact your spouse sometime during the day and ask how he or she is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.

It may seem kind of cheesy but it has actually been kind of fun to check my mail first thing in the morning and be given a quest that forces me to be present in my marriage all day long or at least during my run while I plan what my "gift" to Vinnie will be that day. Sometimes it is too easy to plod along with our spouses until a crisis is evident or a romantic getaway has been planned. These 40 days will require intentional interactions and I don't think I'll be backing down anytime soon.