Had one of those great afternoons at the island with the kids. It was a little cool (by northern standards… downright freezing by our own), very sunny, relaxing, and fun.
I’ve posted all of these pics to Flickr, but I decided to fool around with my gallery plug-in again (even though I haven’t worked out how to shed the link underlines in the photos that show up in Safari –…
It’s too nice to be outside, but lunch is too short to stay out. It’s a classic worker’s delema, but not one I face often. Most of the time I’m not paying close enough attention, holed up in my little corner of invisible, government service. Today I’m a little burned out – thus the walk-about at lunch. Life’s been a little harder lately, intruding on my…
Someone asked me the other day if Beth was in junior high. When I said yes, this person went on to share some of their horror stories about that age: boys pulling girl’s hair, the physical awkwardness, etc. I nodded my head, but I was thinking that was just the tip of a very large iceberg. To be fair, this person was just making small talk in passing, not engaging me in a serious, drawn out…
I can still be surprised by things my daughter says, even after eleven years. Here’s a snippet of a conversation between Cheryl and Beth.
“You know Beth, in another six or seven years you may be living on your own.”
“Not in this economy. I wouldn’t be able to afford to live on my own.”
She may be gaining on Cheryl’s height as we watch, but she’s…
We pulled Beth out of her school yesterday. We’re not opting for a private school though… well not exactly. There’s a charter school down the road that a bunch of folks at church recommended. Today’s her first day… wearing a uniform. I’m working really hard to repress all of the bad associations with school uniforms running around in my mind.
It may turn out for…
I gave up writing reviews some time ago. I’d never been happy with them. At some point I decided I’m not very good at them and my days as an amateur critic* came to and end. You may have noticed the book cover in this post, wondering if my decision to give up writing reviews lasted less than fifty words.
Don’t worry friends, I’m not going to torture you with a review, but I…
I’ve always believed in public schools, even if some conservatives in Florida don’t. I’ve been skeptical of our system of school grading, high stakes testing, and quasi-privatization – ushered in by Bush the Smarter. Now picture me this week: considering the idea of pulling my daughter out of public school. It’s eating me up inside.
So how did I come to this place…
Friday evening my daughter asked me what we were going to do for Labor Day.
“Nothing,” I said.
“We’re not going to do anything to celebrate?”
“That’s right.”
“Why not?”
“Eh” (note: I’m surprised she let me get away with this one.)
“What is Labor Day?”
“Do you want the long answer or the short…
Beth brought her new red belt home tonight. Now she starts down the home stretch to her black belt. In her school, red is the last colored belt. There are two intermediate levels which can take six months each to achieve before she’d begin final preparation to test for her black belt. She’s a little worried about having enough time to get in training, with her academic schedule already…