A Chat With a Former School Superintendent

Yesterday, a gentleman came into the flower shop to send a gift to a dear friend who was celebrating his 80th birthday. When he gave me his credit card, I recognized his name as that of the superintendent of schools during my high school years. The 60s were a turbulent time to be in charge of the schools--race and sex education causing the biggest stir. He told me that when he started his job, 3% of the staff was African American. He recruited teachers at Black Colleges, and by the time he retired, 10% of the teachers were Black. I'm proud that my children and I attended a school system comprised of many diverse cultures. This Superintendent and his board piloted a sex education program for 5th graders in a few of the elementary schools in the city. 1200 people crowded into a meeting held in a gym--a meeting that lasted from 7pm til 1am. The district was opening its second high school, but the building was not completed. We shared the existing high school in two shifts from 7am til noon, and 1pm til 6pm. I attended the second shift and enjoyed sleeping in and doing homework before class, then riding with my boyfriend to school in his Opal.

Impressed

Yesterday afternoon, I drove to the park in a nearby city for my daughter's high school softball game. The sun shone but it was cold, so I put on my winter coat, hat and gloves and wrapped myself in a blanket. We outplayed the other team and came home with a win. One of our players was running across home plate when she caught her foot in the depression and fell, twisting her knee. As the coaches attended to her, I noticed that the players on the other team had dropped to their right knee. I was particularly impressed. The only other time I had heard of such a display of sportsmanship was when two members of another team carried an opposing team member around the bases after she twisted a knee. I told one of the women how impressed I was with both her good attempt to catch a fly ball and her team's show of sportsmanship and wished the team a successful softball seaason.

A Walk Around the Block

The sun was shining, white fluffy clouds in the blue sky. I situated my mother in her wheelchair, rounded up her sunglasses, grabbed a throw, and we headed out into the beautiful day. We stopped to chat with several neighbors who took the time from their yardwork to visit. We said hello to other walkers enjoying the fine day. Such a pleasant way for my 84 year old mother and me to spend the afternoon!

Researching Climate Change

I am reading Sir John Houghton's book "Global Warming." I downloaded it to my android tablet. At the present, he is explaining how carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane contribute to the greenhouse effect. I would like to attend the conference on climate change in Chicago this summer.

On another note, the register did not record the cash taken in on a split sale, combo cash/credit card. The $50 is causing trouble for the accountant. I could take it off his hands and have a nice sushi dinner. :)

Climate Change

50 years ago, when I was growing up, I would walk to the park to ice skate in November. Or my dad would freeze the backyard, and my brother and sister and I would play hockey with an old broom and wadded up newspaper. We would enjoy the rink for months--from November til March. I've noticed that the prolonged cold spell has disappeared, and this year, the snow didn't last, and the temperatures soared to the 80s in March. Certainly I would rather be warm, but I am uneasy--the hot temperatures in March indicate a climate change. I have spoken to two other persons who attribute the topsy turvy climate--normally cold places spiking hot temperatures and vice versa, to people and their effect on the earth. To better understand climate change, I would like to attend a conference.

Last days

Nancy is my sister's mother-law. She lived in Texas until a few years ago when she came to live with my sister and her husband. Nancy loves mystery books, "The bloodier, the better!" she'd tell me. She went to the Humane Society and adopted a cat. She hoped for a lap cat, but chose an independent wild cat, who comes in to eat and then is gone. She visited with us at my parents' house on holidays. Nancy has been in and out of hospitals and rehab for the last months and now, the end is quite near. My sister brought her home yesterday to live her last few days.

Tournament Day

I had packed my sports bag and lunch, and headed out into the beautiful spring day. The sun shone brightly in the early morning sky. I arrived at the venue to see that the trailer with the mats and other equipment was parked at the curb I helped carry in the equipment, directed by the tournament director as to the preferred placement. The tournament began with Little Ninjas, 3 and 4 year olds, breaking boards. I then helped referee the high and long jumps. A quick lunch break, a change into my uniform, and it was time to compete. My niece and I competed in family forms, a synchronized floor routine. There were 7 other groups. We did not medal, but received an honorable mention. I know now what the judges are looking for. There were 6 other competitors in my division for forms. I ki-yuped and showed the judges four combat forms. Placing was not a sure thing, but I won 3rd place, a bronze medal. Icing on the cake! More important were the positive comments from the other competitors. The tournament director convinced my friend to spar with me. She borrowed some equipment, and we were first to spar, She called it, "Geriatric Comedic Effect." Hehe! We sparred for two minutes, she made some good kicks and punches to secure points. She was declared the gold winner. I won the silver. I helped load the equipment back into the van and headed home, so happy to particpate in a sport I love and happy to spend the day with supportive friends.

Tornado

Last evening, a tornado touched down destroying or damaging 100 homes. Fortunately, everyone is safe. The irony is that today the sun is shining brightly in the blue sky. A young man came into the flower shop to buy flowers. He told me that the creek near his home had flooded, creating a lake and that it totaled his car. I told him how sorry I was, and that I couldn't do much, but would give him some flowers at a discounted price. How to help the families whose lives were so drastically affected by the tornado? Maybe I can't do much alone, but together as a community we can accomplish a lot.

A Realization and A New Adventure

Someone has scolded me (boss, customer, sister) the last three days in a row. It almost makes me want to live by myself on an island, and enjoy contact with the flora and fauna. However, being alone with my own thoughts is detrimental to my mental health. Instead of working through the bruising, I dwell on it. It is other nice considerate people that distract me and reassure me that there are pleasant folk around.

I called to make an appointment for my yearly physical only to discover that my nurse practicioner is heading off on a new adventure, to an allergy clinic. Best wishes to her!

The only constant in life is change. (my boss' quote)

A career move

For the past seven years, I have been working at the main floral shop. Last week, I offered to manage the small branch store. This means giving up zumba and Saturday morning forms and sparring class. I will miss those activities. However, I find it a challenge to make the store viable, and to be able to try a fledgling hand at designing. The president of the company had a long chat with me last Friday. He was impressed with my floral designs and offered suggestions to improve them. I will begin working three days at the branch store next week. The president of the company was hoping to provide continuity by having two managers, each working 3 days. I will miss my coworkers at the main store.

Trying to face life with faith, hope and courage

When I was 7, my dear grandfather gave me an inspirational book. He had drawn lines on the flyleaf with pencil, and after carefully printing out his message, he erased them. " By the teachings....may you meet life's challenges with faith, hope and courage." The beginning of this year has been particularly difficult. Many sacrfices, the death of a dear friend, home invasions and stolen laptops, unexpected expensive dental work, children with stolen ID and difficult life changes... So today I dusted off my grandparents' gift to me an read his message. I read a blog recently about a police officer who was shot in the face. Though the doctors tried to save his vision, he was blinded. He lost his job, wife, sight. In agony, he eventually took his own life. Am hoping to be there and make a difference for the Davids of the world.

Up Bright and Early

Woke up early, so decided to get up and enjoy the early morning quiet. A busy day. My friend's birthday was a week ago, and I want to send her a card with a money gift. Had to wait 'til pay day. However, I now need to go to the bank and the store to get some stamps. Nothing is ever very easy. Have a problem at work. I coded an order incorrectly; it needs to get to another shop immediately for delivery this afternoon. Will leave work a few minutes early to make a dentist appointment. Then off to the high school to pay the "pay to play" fee and mandatory insurance fee. A short break for dinner and then referee training for hapkido/taekwondo and my hapkido class.

The Lobby

A few months ago, I began chatting online with some friends from all over the world. Mostly, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. I like to learn about other people and their countries, and to share a laugh or two. I enjoy getting away from my life for a few hours. Sometimes at work, I will discuss another coworker with my friend, and of course the other worker is not there to defend herself. Yesterday, on the chat site, a friend commented that she nearly shot herself in the foot opening a wine bottle and after several glasses, became outspoken. The other women made her apologize and she eventually left the lobby. After she had left, the women discussed not only her, but other women on the chat site. I will not participate in a discussion of other people online, no matter how I behave at work. It is unfair to discuss other people when they are not present to defend themselves. I will not be drawn in to the "Mean Girl" attitude, nor will I take sides. I seriously considered leaving the site, because of the 6 or so women who cannot get along.

A Color Delight

Learning the new Asus Tablet

As you know, my laptop was stolen off my dining room table. Yesterday, hubby brought home the replacement product, a stylish new Asus Transformer Prime Tablet. We adhered the zagg sheet to the tablet, set it in its new dock, and tried to figure out how to turn on the device. Yelling for help from our 17 year old daughter (who crawled out of her crib tech savvy), she accidently turned it on. Lordy! It must have 50 apps. Polaris Office, Netflix, My Books, My Music, Google Earth, Google Maps... I tried to get on to one of my favorite sites, but the server could not support it, so drove everyone on the site crazy by ringing the doorbell 15 times! Sheesh! Finally got into the site only to zoom myself into frontiers I've never explored before! Tablet tutorial, here I come!