Category Archives: country

Day 25: Patience

country, Family, teaching, travel, , ,
Patience is a virtue. Sometimes, I just need to be patient. The past couple of days have been days when I need to exercise patience with myself, my family, our puppy, but especially myself. Twenty-five days of summer vacation with fifty-seven remaining, they require patience.

There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation,
‘Till school comes along just to end it,
So the annual problem for our generation,
Is finding a good way to spend it
Like maybe…
Bowling for Soup “Today is Gonna be a Great Day

The opening of the song says it all…really there are varying days in my family. For me, I will go back to school on Thursday, August 19 that gives me fifty-seven more days. My kids on the other hand start school on Tuesday, August 24, and so do my students, which gives them sixty-two more days of summer vacation so we have a problem how best to spend it….. Continue reading Day 25: Patience →

Day 15 and 16: Takeoff and Landing – Day 1 in Paris

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Day 15 – sixty-seven remaining – Saturday, June 12 began early. The next week will count. June 12. Julie had arrived the night before and was sleeping in the guest bedroom. William had a boy scout CPR training beginning at 8:00 AM, Olivia had a softball game, and we had to be at O’Hare to catch our flight to Paris by 3:00 PM. It would be a busy day as the kids met and shared some time with Grandma J. Continue reading Day 15 and 16: Takeoff and Landing – Day 1 in Paris →

Day 3: Memorial Day

country, Family, history, , , , ,

I am an historian. I majored in I earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in History at the University of Houston. I remember coming home from school in 3rd grade back in Sugar Land, Texas and asking my mom why World War II had started. From the point – I was a hooked reader. I could not get enough to read and learn about World War II. The movie, Patton, was in the theaters that year and I remember watching it with my dad at The Palms Theater in Sugar Land. I have watched the movie many times since then and enjoy listening to the soundtrack.

Of all of the days of the year that should count – this is one. I had planned staying home in Wheaton for Memorial Day, but my plans changed. I had really wanted to be in Versailles, Ohio for Memorial Day but I did not make the trip with my family on Friday because of the concern for making my in-laws sick (again) and instead drove to Ohio after the Indy 500. Memorial Day in Versailles is special. It is special in Wheaton and other towns and cities across America, but it is especially so in Versailles. My first Versailles Memorial Day was in 1991 and we continued for many years stopping in 2007 and choosing to stay home when William began marching in the Wheaton parade with his Cub Scout troop. It changed the tradition but not the meaning.

Continue reading Day 3: Memorial Day →