Category Archives: adventure

We’re here…

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my ridiculous hat…

Spring Break 2013. Every year I look forward to this week on the calendar. It’s a break from the normal and an escape to a slower pace. For the kids, and my students, it’s a break from school and signal that the end of the year is near, very near. I am certain they had a day count going to the time when the bell rang and they could rush home and begin their break. I worked to make sure that the day was full of learning and had enough structure to keep them focused and tuned in. For the most part, I was successful, when we come back next week the sprint to the end begins and I’ll have to deal with another day count. Continue reading We’re here…

President’s Day Challenge

Seal_Of_The_President_Of_The_United_States_Of_America.svgToday is President’s Day. It’s the holiday to celebrate all of our presidents, but in particular George Washington’s birthday. I remember in elementary school coloring pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and learning stories of their exploits of how George chopped a cherry tree down and couldn’t tell a lie and Abe was an honest self-educated man who chopped wood. I don’t know if these tales are true, but I do know that these two presidents led our nation in a time when its citizens were uncertain of how events would turn out.

And so being the wise nation that we are, we celebrate our heritage and history by letting the schoolchildren out of school for the day. Now, in the interest of transparency, I do personally benefit from this holiday and all of the other holidays, as well. I am a teacher. However, being a teacher does not imply an endorsement of our holiday practice. Now that that is out in the open, I can continue. Continue reading President’s Day Challenge

President’s Day 2013

this morning's report....
this morning’s report….

It’s another three-day weekend for me and a four-day weekend for the kids both my own kids and my students. Monday is President’s Day and schoolchildren across the land have the day off. I think those days should be spent in school, but I’m a minority voice. My school district has parent-teacher conferences Tuesday and the kids are off while we meet with parents to give feedback, praise, and some serious honesty about how their child is performing (or not) in our classes. My kid’s school district had an in-service day Friday – so we both had a long weekend. What it really does is to provide an excuse to spend time recreating, so we left town and headed north for snow and winter outdoor fun. Continue reading President’s Day 2013

Sixty degrees in a week

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this alerts other museum patrons to steer clear!

A week ago, it was cold and freezing rain and ice was bearing down us. This morning it was lightly snowing. In between, we’ve had a sixty-two degree day, rain, near zero temperatures, sub-zero wind chills, and our first significant snow – a paltry two and half inches.  It is difficult to believe it is February in Chicago. Continue reading Sixty degrees in a week

Movies and the Oscars, and thinking, too

hellfightersHellfighters with John Wayne was one of the first movies I remember watching as a kid. I saw it at the Palms Theater in Sugar Land when I was in first grade when we were preparing to move to Venezuela. I saw many movies at the Palms; it was the kind of theater that every small town had with one screen, a concession stand, its walls were painted with a tropical theme lit just right before the movie began to give the feeling of being somewhere besides Sugar Land, Texas. I remember the children’s movies I saw there, but Hellfighters was for adults and there was something about watching movies with real action like oil well fires. It was hardly a great movie, but I remember it well. We even saw it at the theater in Venezuela, it was in Spanish with English subtitles, but they had cut the part at the end about Venezuelan rebels. I have seen it many times since and I even have a copy in iTunes my brother Warren gave me a few years ago.

I stopped going to the Palms when I got my driver’s license and I didn’t need mom or my bike to get me to the movies. Continue reading Movies and the Oscars, and thinking, too

Shaken or stirred

bond logoI did not want to leave, I never do. The last day at the cottage is always the most difficult – especially over winter break. I had a few errands and other odds and ends to do before I left and B and I went through the kid’s skiing pictures and sent some off to be printed. I finished my thank you notes, wrote short notes to my mom, B’s parents, and a cottage neighbor and got them in the mail with the photos. I ran some final errands before packing the Tahoe and driving home last night. It was full with just enough space for W and Ivy. W was comfortable and watched a DVD he had gotten before Christmas and Ivy had just enough space to stretch and lay out. It was a perfect night to drive home – dry roads and hardly any traffic. We made good time and by starting late, we were able to spend almost a full day at the lake before leaving.

The road disappeared before us Continue reading Shaken or stirred

Resolutions, renewal, and reflection: New Year’s Day at the cottage

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the cottage Christmas tree!

It is mid-morning and my plan to wake and write early, didn’t come to pass, because I didn’t wake up, didn’t set an alarm, letting my body let me know when it was time to get up and get moving. But, that was it, when midnight struck that meant it was time to get some sleep, much needed sleep.

Our plans for New Year’s eve were dashed a bit and it was quiet at the cottage. So, we had to ring out New Year’s night in the same manner we would have rung in the night before, a backup plan. We had the traditional New Year’s Day dinner – roast pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes, the tree was lit and it was festive. Continue reading Resolutions, renewal, and reflection: New Year’s Day at the cottage

Winter Break

Ivy sleeps, no worries
Ivy sleeps, no worries

Like most, no all, teachers, I eagerly waited for Winter Break. I knew how many days there were between Thanksgiving and break. I worked at making the learning count, while still counting the days until I could breathe. I dreamed. I made plans. Then, I got sick and ruined it all.

Since I have been married, I have spent Christmas in Ohio with my in-laws. I could not have chosen better in-laws, truly. There have been only a couple of times when I woke in my own bed on Christmas morning, and those were times when one of us was sick – me, B, or the kids, and travelling was just not a good idea. And, then we eventually made it to Ohio a day late. This year it was me. This year I had made it all the way to the last Friday Continue reading Winter Break

Veterans Day – Semper Fi

Today is Veterans Day. It is celebrated on the eleventh day of the eleventh month; the day also marks the remembrance of end of the First World War. There is no coincidence.

Private Robert N. Watkins, USMC, my dad

Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

As a young child, there were two topics, which I constantly read – World War II and football. I could not read enough or learn enough about the war. I was fascinated, and I still am intrigued by history. My dad helped foster this learning and I remember watching Patton at the Palms Theater in third grade. At the time, I thought it was a great movie. I have watched it many times since and have the soundtrack in my music library.  I am listening to it as I write this morning. I still think it is a great movie about a great man, who like many was flawed, but did what was needed when it was needed most. Continue reading Veterans Day – Semper Fi

5:04 PM, October 17, 1989 – 23 years later

image courtesy of Wikipedia

23 years ago, I had tickets to Game 3 of the World Series. It was the San Francisco Giants vs. The Oakland A’s. There are a few things in life that you’ll never forget, and going to a World Series game is probably one of them. Yet, that is not what I remember the date for, it was 23 years ago today that I was in a major earthquake.

I moved to the Bay Area in 1987 and B moved out there a couple of years later in ’89. She worked for Macy’s in the electronics buying office for the west coast. I loved baseball and I enjoyed watching games on TV. It was BK, before kids, Continue reading 5:04 PM, October 17, 1989 – 23 years later