Random Pictures

Some random thoughts from around my world this week:

I found these purple beauties while out walking this week.
Honestly, it was the 28th of Feb. and 70* outside.  Is this weather crazy, or what?

I finally managed to get a picture of a train engine as it steamed by!

Getting ready for Robotics tournaments.
One of the big "things" at FRC Robotics Tournaments is button collecting.
Each team gives away buttons every year.  Here, you see the button backs.
The kids have already made 2,000 buttons in anticipation of our two regional tournaments.

The State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
I know it's not your normal view,
 but I love the play of light across the carpet!

And finally, a sweetie from the animal shelter.
This little beauty was a month old when this picture was taken.
This same night, we met a professional football player who was adopting
an animal from the shelter to take home.
How can you not love a guy who adopts from the shelter?

A Disturbing Trend

I was part of a discussion the other night, and I'm going to try to share with you the horror some of us felt over the course of this conversation.

Someone found a facebook page, where her daughter had listed herself as "The School Slut"... with the tagline "If you have an STD, you got it from me!"  The Twitter page was even worse.  Although she used a fake name on the Twitter page, she had listed her cell phone number along with the tagline "If you need a good roll in the hay with no strings attached, call me!"

This young lady is all of 14 years old.

Lately, it seems as if being a slut and sleeping around are goals for young girls to achieve.  Those that choose to wait are being teased and mocked for not "being with it"  or for "being babies" or "scared". 

Really?

Sex is a highly emotional event for anyone. How can a 14 year old understand the implications of choosing to engage in risky sexual behavior?  How can they understand the deep emotional implications of what they are choosing as a lifestyle.  Even more, how can they mock others who have not chosen the same path as them?

Oh, the aggravation of it all.

We see constant images in the media of girls who have gone wild.  Teen Mom, while it shows some of the difficulties of having children at a young age, does not go into the deep emotional turmoil a child goes through when they have sex before they are emotionally ready for it.  The Jersey Shore- that horrible, horrible, horrible mockery of all that should be glamorizes drinking and the bad choices that go along with it.

I occasionally watch television, and when I do, I am shocked at the messages the mainstream media is sending our young children.  Glorifying sex and drinking as a teenager has now become passe.

I know I'm in my forties, but back in the day, I am certain that there were kids engaging in sex while still in high school.  I do remember stories circulating starting when we were Juniors in high school, but I don't remember these stories when we were in middle school.  I also don't remember television and movies glorifying teenage sex.  The Dukes of Hazard had a beautiful Daisy Duke wearing short shorts while working in a bar.  Dallas had very rich people making very bad decisions.  I remember some fooling around on Dallas- but it was between married people, and not between teenagers.  Welcome Back Kotter and Happy Days showcased the lives of teenagers, but never did the kids engage in sex.  They engaged in pranks on teachers and each other, and talked about dating.  But the graphic images of sex never happened.  Never once did we see The Fonz running around half naked.  He was always fully dressed in jeans and leather jacket.  (With a white t-shirt underneath.)  While John Travolta got his start on Welcome Back Kotter, we never saw him unclothed, either.  Every once in a while, he would flip that gorgeous hair back out of his face. 

Somewhere in the last decade, the powers that be in Hollywood decided to move the age on consent in the movies and on television lower.  Instead of showcasing older actors portraying teenagers in humorous situations, they began portraying younger actors (who were either still teens, or just barely out of their teens) in more adult situations.

And somewhere along the line, we as adults stopped putting our foot down.  Instead of saying "no" to those images, and those shows, we allowed our children to watch them.  We gave them televisions with cable connections for their own rooms.  Gone are the days when there was one television in the house.  Even worse, we've given our kids access to the internet.  Many of us have given our kids laptops or desk computers located in the child's room.  In doing so, we have lost control over what our kids are seeing or doing on their computers. 

It is time to take back control.  Truly - move down to one television in your house.  Move the computer into the kitchen or family room and turn the screen so that everyone can see it from everywhere in the room.  We are the adults.  We are not in this journey to be friends with our kids.  We are in this journey to raise responsible adults.  We want them to make the journey to adulthood relatively unscathed.

Remembering My Dad

Up until he was 60, Dad was a runner.  And a vegetarian.  He served in the military for 20 years, and when he retired, he went back to his hometown out in the Mid-West and worked teaching the underemployed job skills that would help them get a better job. 

When lung disease finally began to take it's terrible toll on him, he had to stop running.  He still ate healthy, with the exception of the occasional chocolate milk shake from McDonalds, and a Peanut Buster Parfait from Dairy Queen on his birthday.

The steroids that he was on to help him breathe bulked him up.  He was barrell chested for the last three years of his life, and he would sit on his knees on the floor, leaning over the coffee table to help him breathe.  The doctors call it tri-poding.  For the last year of his life, he was unable to sit up, and unable to walk on his own.  He had to use a scooter to get around his own house, and couldn't use the bathroom or take a shower on his own.

Dad also smoked two packs of cigarettes a day from the time he was 19 until the doctors put him on oxygen at the age of 61.  I think between the cigarettes and the chemicals he was exposed to in Vietnam, he had a potent chemical combination in his body, swirling around and doing damage to his lungs.

Dad has been gone for 6 years now.  His lungs were so bad that he had been prohibited to have general anesthesia during surgery.  This is the day when his appendix ruptured.  He was rushed to the hospital, and left with no choice, the doctors had to put him under general anesthesia and operate. 

He lasted a while after the surgery.  He died the last weekend in April.  They weren't easy weeks for him, but we did get a chance to go out and see him one last time, and spend time with him and say our good-byes.

So, why am I bringing this up, you ask?

Good Question.

Lent began yesterday.  Christians around the world are fasting for the next 40 days.

If you smoke, I encourage you to give it up for Lent.  Not for the full 40 days - I do understand how hard that would be.

BUT- you could start with one of two days a week.  Fridays and Wednesdays.  OR, you could not smoke from sunrise to sunset.  Or, you could use a nicotine patch. 

Please.  If you smoke, consider what I'm asking.  I lost my father when I was 40 years old.  He missed the graduation of his oldest grandson.  He is missing the incredible FRC Robotics competitions that his middle grandson is involved with.  (And my father would have been passionate about that.)  He's missed his granddaughters' passion for photography beginning to come to fruition. 

Give yourself a present for Easter this year.  The gift of some quality years of life.

A Reprieve From Classwork

In January, I decided to return to school.  Five classes shy of finishing my Master's Degree, I was done with excuses.  I applied for readmission and continued my journey through the online world of classes.
I am working on my Master's Degree in Library Science, with the eventual hope of teaching in a School Media Center. 

The problem is that the school I am attending online is out of state.  So, once I finish this degree, I still won't be finished.  I will have to take the classes to be certified in my state, and complete my student teaching experience. 

It's funny.  I'm already a certified teacher, and I do substitute teach on a regular basis.  However, I get to take another round of the Praxis exams, and take even more method classes and student teach AGAIN....  There are times when I am just not sure it's worth the effort.

Classes are coming along.  This quarter, I'm taking a class about Academic Libraries.  What with the addition of e-Books, e-readers, and the rise of electronic databases, the library world is quickly changing.  We are seven weeks into this ten week class, and our professor had to change the reading list for this week because so much has changed since she wrote the syllabus in December. 

The learning commons at Wesley Seminary.
This is the view down to the second floor.

The best part of this class has been the visits to academic libraries in my region.  I recently visited  the library on the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.  Oh my gosh, this library is downright beautiful.  Newly renovated, the first floor includes a beautiful learning commons and new study rooms.  Okay, I freely admit that I am a library geek.  I love to visit libraries.  I love the books, I love the musty smell, and I love the atmosphere.  This building took my breath away.  Big open spaces on the main floor, with multiple stations for laptops.  Chairs with arm tables for holding books were scattered throughout the first floor.  A lovely cafe off to the side, with a coffee pot, and tables for groups to sit and collaborate completed this serene picture. 

It almost... almost...almost.... made me want to pursue another degree, just so that I could go sit in that beautiful library.

The Fine Art of Being in a Picture

Over the holidays, I attempted to take a picture of my mother with my kids.  I don't think I'm out of line, attempting to take a picture of my Mom.

We don't have many pictures of her, and I do like to take pictures of the kids together.  What is better than a picture of the kids with their grandmother?  She is 80 years old.  I don't know how long she is going to be with us, but I would like to have pictures of her while she is still with us and in good health.

Turns out, quite a lot is wrong with that thought.

My mother yelled at me for taking her picture.  I have two shots of her with her hand over her face, and one with, well, shall we say a "one fingered salute"? 

That bothered me no end.  All I want are some pictures of my Mom with the kids. 

Last week, I was sorting through yet another old batch of pictures that were sent to me by one of my cousins, and I found pictures from his parent's 25th wedding anniversary, held way back in 1979.
Looking through those pictures made me smile.  I looked back at pictures of my Aunts and Uncles who are all gone now.  Looking at their goofy grins, making faces, hugging their kids, and posing with their relatives brought back such joyful memories.  I couldn't help but look at the pictures of my cousins.  We were all in our teens back then.  Tall, thin, and gangly, we were quite a motly crowd.  Sporting our bell bottoms, funky hair, and odd color choices.. we thought we were the bomb.  I laughed until I cried at some of the memories those pictures stirred up.

And then, I saw it.  A picture that just stopped me dead in my tracks.  It was a picture of my mother.  The party was held in the church basement, with the pastor attending.  Standing in the middle of a circle of chairs of people was my mother, bent over and mooning the camera.  Not wanting her picture taken, she had chosen to moon the entire party.  At someone's 25th anniversary party.  What a horrible way to be remembered.  When I called my cousin to thank him for the pictures, I asked him about the picture of my mom. 

"You know that picture always bothered Mom."  he said.  "All she wanted was a picture of the entire family so that she could look back on it an smile at the memory.  And your Mom, well, what can I say?"

I apologized profusely, and he responded.  "It's not your fault, honey.  Your Mom is who she is.  It's just a shame that she doesn't want anyone to remember her for the good parts of her life."

I carried that thought with me through the week.

This week, I was taking pictures at a Girl Scout event.  I saw a friend I haven't seen in a couple of months, and after we hugged and talked, I took a picture of her. 

I now have a beautiful picture of my beautiful friend with the most amazing smile on her face.  To me, she looks beautiful.  I can't get over how happy she looks.  When I do think of her, all I see is her gentle spirit and the peace and grace on her face. 

And so, when my daughter went to take my picture today with one of our cats, I had to think twice.
My hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and I'd just finished scrubbing the bathroom.  I took a deep breath, grabbed the cat, and smiled for the picture.

I don't think it's the best picture of me, but my daughter loves it.  "It's you Mom!  Don't you see the way your eyes crinkle when you smile?  And you've got a little dimple on one side!  Oh I love that dimple!"

And it made me realize something.  It's not about how good or bad I look in the picture.  It's about the memory that the picture is for someone else.  It is how they see me, for good, or for bad.  It is up to me to be graceful about having my picture taken, and to be who I am when they take the picture.

What right do I have to take that memory away from someone else?

Mailing a Potato Chip

The annual Physics Phestival is coming up at our high school in two weeks.

The kids do all kinds of fun physics activities as part of this festival- catapulting marshmallows across the parking lot on homemade catapults, building bridges out of spaghetti, etc.

By far, the most anticipated/dreaded portion of the Physics Phestival is the mailing of a single Pringles brand potato chip.  The Pringles must arrive in one piece to the school, and it must be consumed after the package is opened.

The rules are deceivingly simple:
1) Rectangular boxes only.  No mailing envelopes, tubes, cylinders, and plastic baggies alone will be disqualified.
2) Maximum weight = 100 grams.
3) The packaging material may not be of the commercial variety.
4) The package is to be mailed through the USPS using First Class Mail.
5) The package can not have been mailed from the post office across the street from the high school.

Extra Credit will be given for:
1) The least massive successful device.
2) The successful package mailed from the greatest distance.

I've heard stories over the years of how these chips have been mailed:
One young man put his chip in a plastic baggie and took it, addressed and all to the post office across the street from the high school.  The post office then walked the chip (in it's baggie) across the street to the school.  (The reason for rules #1 and #5)

Another enterprising young person covered their chip in shellac.  Five layers of shellac.  They then put the chip in a cut-down version of the pringles container and mailed it to the school.  (Reason for the rule about having to eat the chip.)  That was also the same year another kid set their Pringles chip into one of those hard plastic blocks that look like paper weights.  (Again, now we know why the kids have to eat the chip!)

I think that the hardest part of this project is meeting the weight requirements.  Getting a package in under 100 grams (That's about 3 ounces!)  is harder than you think.  The boxes alone, with nothing in them, weigh close to 3 ounces as it is.  The key is in the packing material.

My daughter's chip was mailed out yesterday.  It came in at 99 grams.  Close, oh so very close.

I'm currently on the lookout for a smaller box.  She can earn 25 bonus points for mailing a second box, following the same rules... only... it must have LESS mass than the first box!  Challenges, challenges, challenges.

So... how would you ship a single Pringles chip? 

Happy New Year!

I've been vowing I would write this for a day now.... Funny thing, though.  When you have three kids home for the holidays, you don't often get access to your own computer!

I hope that everyone who reads this has a wonderful, joyous, and healthful new year, full of many surprises and wonderful new things. 

Our year began at my Mom's house.  My sister and I gathered there with our respective broods.  Six cousins in all, with only 6 years separating the oldest child from the youngest.  The kids are quieter now at gatherings than they used to be.  They don't play with blocks anymore.  Instead, they huddle around in the basement, playing video games and singing karaoke - and eating!

We had a wonderful lunch- a make your own fajitas bar.  Considering that one of the cousins in now a vegetarian and two have food allergies, we felt safest having all of the food separate from each other.  That way, the kids could build their own food around their own needs.  It worked really, really well!  We are going to have to do that again!

Our New Year's Eve was a little different.  We (meaning me and my husband) actually thought we were going to be alone for the first time in 18 years.  We made some tentative plans, but then decided to go ahead, stay home, and just enjoy being at home - ALONE!

All of the kids were out of the house by 7.  At 8, we got the call from our daughter.  She wanted to come home.  She had no interest in spending the night at her friends' house.

At 10, our oldest child walked back in the door.  He and his friends had been gathered at Ian's house to play Magic.   They decided they were going to have a tournament.  Problem was, when you start your tournament at 5, you're done by 10.  Several of the kids decided that they wanted to go fight the crowds at the Baltimore waterfront to see the fireworks.  Oldest child thought a warm house and a snug bed just after midnight sounded like a better option.  

Middle child stayed overnight at a friends' house.  However, when he found out yesterday morning that both his sister and brother had been home, his response was "Oh man, if I'd known they were going to be home, I wouldn't have spent the night at Scott's!  I would've been here!"

We did have a really nice time.  We rented the movie "The Help", ate popcorn, and watched the Baltimore fireworks on t.v.  We were all tuckled snug into our beds by 1 a.m.

And we ended up spending New Year's Eve together with most of our kids.  It was a truly magical evening!