connecting with my students

Hands down, my students' favorite TV show is "Family Guy". And, as I admitted to them, I have not seen even one episode, though I do know it is an animated show. Well, in my night owl mode tonight, I decided now is the time to check it out. If all of the show is this funny, I may have to start watching it.

and out it came...chapter 1

Yesterday Titus' principal was offering to help pull out those wiggly teeth. "I have a special tool in my office that can pull those right out. Come on, Titus." "He's just kidding Mom", Titus informed me. I guess they didn't need any help.

Shortly after lunch, Titus realized that he now has only one wiggly tooth. Oops. So the search began. We had stripped the beds for the weekly laundry and a first look around the house yielded nothing. But just as I started to vacuum under T's bed, I spotted the missing tooth. There it was, hiding out under the bed. Boy was Titus glad. "Extra money for the weekend!"

Here's the obligatory gap toothed grin pictures!

Titus' First Soccer Game

Tonight the Pythons played to an exciting 2-2 tie in their first game of the season. Titus played goalie for the first half of the game and was 1-1 on saves. He also struck a few wonderful poses for the adoring soccer mom. He had a lot of fun, which is the important thing, right? And all in all, it was pretty well played - kids went the right direction (most of the time), remembered not to pick up the ball (almost all of the time), and did their best (all of the time).

It was a perfect evening - California weather, as we like to say.

Reporter Ray Brings It Home Again

Yesterday Ray attended the Missouri Press Foundation's award banquet in Columbia. Continuing in his award-winning tradition, he brought home an honorable mention award for best story in education. The piece was one about a local middle school adding vegan lunch alternatives to the menu in response to the request of several students. Here's what they said about his article.

"For some, this would've been 'in other business' in a school board story. Good eye to see potential here."

In addition, the paper he writes for was selected as the number one paper in its class (papers with the largest circulation) of weeklies.

It is exciting for him to working for such an outstanding paper and a group of talented colleagues.

The current award is based on articles he wrote from his date of hire, August 1, 2007, through the end of the 2007 calendar year. I expect he'll get more awards next year when they have 12 months of stories to select from. Can you tell I'm proud of my hubby?

PS. Speaking of being proud. Titus recently was evaluated for the gifted education program in NKC schools, called Sage. The report indicates his IQ is in the top 0.4% of the population. Pretty cool, huh?

What I Love About Sarah Palin

Believe it or not, I am a Sarah Palin fan. Especially after watching her interview with Charlie Gibson.

SP definitely is a woman of great courage and vision. She conveys the strength that one could easily follow. I like her for that. I like her for standing up to public scrutiny and believing in her self. I want to be like that. I am in some ways. And in the ways I'm not, I am challenged to forge on. (I'm also curious about her inner dialogue. Does she ever doubt her self? Does she ever think she can't make it in the face of criticism, criticism that says "you're not good enough"?) Sarah Palin inspires me because she is a woman who has and continues to stand in sectors historically occupied by men.

For all of that I say, "Go Sarah! Uh-huh! Go Sarah!"

But that is where it ends for me. I love Sarah Palin the figure, but would never want her to represent or govern the United States of America on a international level. She knows about Russia because she can see it from Alaska. Well, what does she know? She already backed herself into a corner committing our country to war against Russia should they invade Georgia. Which they did. Crap. Another tough talking saber-rattling leader.

She thinks we can march right into Pakistan without their consent or cooperation if we have reason to do so. Yikes. Now we're warring with Pakistan too. Think of it. What if Russia, her next door neighbor, brought their military right into Alaska in pursuit of someone they were hunting ineffectively for 7 years with all of their military force destroying homes, infrastructure, civilian lives - rounding up "evil doers" and holing them in Russian prisons - all with no regard to our wishes. We are all spooked because Russia is doing military exercises with Venezuela. How does she think the rest of the world sees us?

And then there are the bureaucracies and efficiencies. What? I could talk in such generalities about what our government should do.

So my objections are not to her. I really do kind of like her. I admire a lot about her. The problem is she is ignorant when it comes to national domestic issues and international issues.

My husband always likes to use the phrase "The Peter Principle" - when one rises to their level of incompetency. They work their way up to increasingly larger stages - say, PTA pres, small town mayor, governor of the least populated state in America - and because of their success they get an opportunity to do something for which they are imminently unqualified. SP fits the description, wouldn't you say?

mccain highlights