In their honor...

In honor of the women and men who gave their service and their lives so that we can live according to the dictates of our own consciences.

Taken June 14, 2004 at the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Hope your Memorial Day is peaceful and restful.

"Graduation"

I don't know why society has somehow decided that every achievement of any size or shape has to be celebrated as if it were the discovery of the Salk vaccine. It is a celebration that these beautiful kids have completed their first year of formal education, but let's not call it a graduation, please. They have 12 years to go, for crying out loud. They're the class of 2022!

Anyway, diatribe about celebrating mediocrity aside, it does kind of melt your heart when your daughter lights up like this when she sees her parents! THAT is worth celebrating.

Finally flowers

This lilac bush has been in our yard since we moved in nearly six years ago. It was ugly looking and overgrown, so I hacked it back practically to ground level. Because I have the opposite of a green thumb, what I didn't know was that at the particular time of year I was pruning it, I was cutting off the flowers. This year is the first time we've had blossoms of any number on this particular bush. (Sigh)

I can't concentrate

Actually, my problem is more than I'm bouncing around from one book to the next without finishing anything. I guess I'm looking for that captivating read that sucks me right in and holds on until the end. You know the kind.

Actually, I started The Beekeeper's Apprentice last night and it's looking promising.

I promised to read Life of Pi, and Interred with Their Bones. They're still on the docket, but pushed back a bit, I guess.

And of course there are the several recommendations from my friends. I'll stop by the library a bit later to get those too.

Ah, summer (though you wouldn't know it from Idaho's weather these days).

I did it...

... I turned in grades today. That means that I'm free... free as a bird*... for the summer. Bring it on, baby!

*AKA, The honeydew bird-- lots of "other" stuff to do. But no "school" stuff, per se.

An April Fool

Why blog anyway? Why do I feel a little guilty when I don't blog? It's really Mark Brown's fault. He started his smart, funny, interesting blog a couple of years ago, and I found myself thinking (as I so often do), "I want to be like Mark." So I made a blog.

Then I didn't even really post anything in my blog for something like a year. I put up a picture of my cutie pie, Catie Pie, but that was it.

Then, as I approached summer a couple of years ago, without the prospect of teaching (which I'd done EVERY summer for like 5 or 6 years), I found myself wanted to wax poetrical or whatever every so often. It was a way to start my day, to mouth off, to make hay, to say hey, to make a little scene on the side of the information superhighway (or whatever we're calling it lately). AND, a couple of people I really like started reading and posting responses. Not a bad way to spent a part of the day.

Trouble is, of course, that teaching 5 or 6 classes REALLY gets in the way of regular blogging. For me anyway. (One Pat Murphy, and one Mark Brown seem to do okay at doing that, though.) So I just do my best-ish, and move ahead. Onward and upward, as best we can, right?

Anyway, I didn't post a single thingle in April. Hence the title of this re-entry into regular blogging. I missed a WHOLE month. Sheesh.

Good thing Pat Murphy did better. Head over there and read about the life of an academic in upstate NY.

More soon.

Summer Reading List

Is it premature to start compiling my summer reading list? Classes are done, finals are almost over, graduation is in a couple of days. I'd say it's time.

I'm reading The Alchemist for our he-man, shoot-em-up, macho gun club, I mean book club. Life of Pi and Interred with Their Bones are in the docket (actually, I've started both of these, but they're on hold because of grading and the gun... uh, book club book).

What else should I read next week after I turn in grades?

This boy needs shoes...

So we're in the mall a couple of days ago, shopping for shoes for two of our boys. FinishLine is having a promotion called Resneakerize. Send in a picture of your skanky shoes and maybe you'll win a giftcard. So I snap a pic of Cameron's shoes and fire it off to them via email.

Fast forward to today. I get this note in my inbox:

On 5/1/10 you sent Finish Line a photo of your old shoes in hopes of getting resneakerized.  Well, we chose you as the winner!  You will receive a $100 Finish Line giftcard that you can use instore or online. 

Congrats and thanks for participating in our Shoe Shots Promotion! 


How cool is that?