Human Decency

I'm glad to see that human decency will prevail. As I had mentioned earlier, I do not feel that California's Proposition 2 is/was/should have been a political issue. It still passed. Animals now need to be treated humanely. That should have been a no brainer, but it still took normal, every day people to vote to force those animal abusers into having some common decency. Go figure, if you are making money off of the animals, wouldn't it be in your best interests to take care of them. Apparently not. Well now you all have to. I am glad to see that no matter how much of a downward spiral the world seems to be going down, there are those out there who do have compassion for the animals who depend on us to look after them. It took millions of dollars for and against this issue to force the humane treatment of these animals. Too bad those caring for the animals weren't born with that gene. Would have been a lot easier. If you have no emotions for animals, maybe you should find another line of work.

Baking

Yeah, I got to bake cookies today!! If anything can cheer me up, it's cookies. Well, not really cookies, but the dough. The weather has been bad, my mood has been down, so what else is there but baking?? Oatmeal cookies were Monday, yesterday were Banana Nut Muffins and Orange Walnut Breat (now those two were for my mother who can't eat anything with flour) and today it's Chocolate Chip. Realizing how much baking I've done makes me go "no wonder you're not losing weight", except 1/2 wasn't mine and was given away, the oatmeal was for my husband, and the chocolate chip was for my son and me. Now you all know why I don't bake that often. Cookies, since no one seemed to want to get me a cake to drown my sorrows in....oh well, not that I need it anyway. Back to the oven..........

Education

As the work force tightens up and the competition for the few open positions narrows, I have come to realize the added importance of higher education. I was on a local college website looking at their on-line classes and calculating in my head the cost. While the fees to enroll in the college come to around $50, it is the per unit price per class that will kill you. Of course, the books become a whole other subject.... Junior college, is of course much cheaper and a good place to start on the accummulation of units/credits. For me to get the 24 credits for a major in accounting (let's not cover the lesser courses), it would cost $480. The bulk of the cost is the units. Interesting allowance they have at this school for those still in public school. Any student attending K-12 can enroll in the college and the per unit fees are waived. A child can enroll in the college for about $22. So aside from the $22 and the books, their higher education is free. It could be a great opportunity down the road for those who are interested. Of course they are limited to 7 credits per semester (and PE doesn't count), but over 3 semesters it sure can add to a great savings.

Too Close to Home

Ok, I'm watching Jay (yes, Jay, he's still got some months left), and here come the political ads. I am not into politics but there are two initiatives that have caught my attention. One is Prop 8, the gay marriage (yes, let's all guess where I stand on that), and the other is Prop 2. In my opinion neither are actual political stances. One is pretty much spelled out in the Bible, and the other one involves animals. Now, second to children, animals are my passion. They are helpless creatures at the mercy of people; meaning adults. The proposition on the ballot is involving (to simplify as I really have no idea) animals for human consumption and their humane treatment. Hens for their eggs, cows, chickens and pigs for well, thsemselves.... While the commercials are horrifying, and well, basically makes me want to go vegetarian (and I tried that, but am not into beans, eggs, tofu, or well, let's face it...vegetables so I starved)... I just noticed where the clip was from. The inhumane treatment, which was at the forefront of the news and the like was taken from the town next to us. I would like to know how, specifically, how to open a home for children (i.e. foster children, orphans, etc) and combine it with an animal sanctuary. I happen to know that there is land out in that area... basically farm areas, open lots, etc... Not generalities, as I get bogged down in the legalities of stuff. What can be done to help not only the children, but also the animals; those who cannot speak up for themselves. By combining the two, you are not only helping both as separate entities, but you are helping the generation of children look beyond themselves and help those who also cannot speak for themselves...teaching compassion for others. It is a win/win situation for both. How difficult and how expensive would it be. Helping the children and helping the animals.... there has to be a way to combine the helping. I know it's out there..... These images just horrify me, muchless the kids who watch (yes they run earlier in the day as well). I have to be able to do something for both.... I saw the People's Court today which involved a pure bred Pit Bull and it's breeding and health issues. Harvey Levin (the lawyer) pleaded with people to adopt from a shelter. He said an adopted animal would never forget. As an owner of many a shelter adopted animal I totally agree. All of my adopted animals are eternally grateful. They know where they've been and don't want to go back. By helping those forgotten animals... and yes, even some of the forgotten children, it starts a chain of positive events that can only benefit them, but ourselves as well. I'm not really good with conceptual ideas, but once I'm given a direction I'm much better at following the path and going from there.

Hello????

I believe that would be a wake up call to me. And I don't know how long this blog will be up, but we'll see. I had a brief discussion with my sister this afternoon and I was pretty much put in my place. Now, I am not saying that as a bad thing. I have had many hours to re-evaluate my advice to her, and I have pretty much realized that I am giving her advice I should have applied myself a long, long time ago. She is at a crossroads in her life (but has pretty much figured out which way to travel). I want her to go down road A, but she has found road B to be the better route. While I may disagree, (as only an older sister can do), I had to analyze why I wanted her to take road "A". I have spent a lof of time today trying to figure out her choices.... you know the analogy.... walk a mile in my shoes...blah, blah, blah.... My only hope is for her to be happy and not to make the same compromise decisions I have made.... Apparently, I am superimposing my life on her as I have come to realize. I made many choices in my life out of bending to other people's opinions and not standing up for my own life, and I want her to be able to be free to make her own choices. While I may not agree, disagree, or even have say, I have to let her make her own decisions and sit quietly by (or well, not that quietly, but I'll try). We all have to live our own life, for good, for bad, or for the ugly. It has made me analyze my own life's decisions, and well, I don't know how well I've done, but at least I am the one who made them. I have to live with the consequences, as we all have to. I may look back with many regrets, and yes, I probably would have made a hundred different decisions, but the two things I can never regret are my two children. For them, I have to thank God.... without Him I never would have had them, and for that I am forever grateful. So I realize that we do make a lot of our decisions based on how it would impact our children. While we can't live our lives for our children, whatever we do in life does impact them. Great!!! Something else we can screw up.... All we can do is...do our best, pray for it to work out, and hunker down, and hope our kids won't need years of therapy overcoming our shortcomings....

Are You Kidding Me???

Ok, so my husband is a tv addict. So we watch not only a lot of tv, but lots and lots of commercials. There are two that drive me insane. One is where a woman is talking to the female symbol on the bathroom door. Excuse me, but if you are talking to the outline of a woman, you have a lot more problems than some bladder control issues.... The other is for some sort of deodorant. It shows a woman trying to avoid white marks on her "little black dress". One way of avoiding those telltale signs is to dive from a high rise building head first into her dress. Or the other way is to use this deodorant. As the woman is pitching, face first, downward into her dress, the words "don't try this at home" appears. Hello, do you think any sane woman would do this???? Give me a break. I am really hoping that women, worldwide, have a lot more brain cells than that. Right now, those two commercials, aside from the typical political ones, are driving me crazy. Give the women of the world a few more brain cells.... the political ones, well, that's a whole other blog....

STAR Testing

My son got his STAR testing results back (a little earlier, but we are dealing with forwarded mail), and I found out I am not that bad of a teacher. Since this was a 5th grade test, he was tested on Language Arts, Math, and Science. He scored a "proficient" in Language Arts. To be honest, I am thrilled as that is his worst and least favorite subject. Proficient in this context is considered above average. Math he was way above average. In one area he got 100%. Since he is home schooled I am extremely stoked because, well, with me as a teacher I didn't expect much, especially in Math. He did really well and I am so proud of him. The interesting part was Science. He scored a "basic". He was lower in that subject than both of the others. What makes this interesting is that was the one subject I actually sent him to class for. His school has "on-site" classes you can take. I signed him up for Science because that is an area I am not comfortable teaching. A bit too complicated and lab oriented. So, ironically, the one subject he actually went to school for, is the one subject he scored the worst in. I taught the other two and he scored above average, and way above average. I do have to give credit to him because he is very smart, but overall, I'd say...apparently homeschooling hasn't ruined him. Let's not delve into the social aspects... This is a purely academic related post. He had been stressing since he took the test for his results and is extremely relieved about his scores. I am just relieved that the low areas were not something that could be laid at my feet. My inadequacies as teacher are numerous and I need all the comfort I can get.