06.28.07
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 8:20 am by Angie
Yesterday was an interesting day, now that I look back on it. It was pretty much a normal day until I made the daily trip to the post office box where I found an invitation to a wedding. You know how sometimes companies create a junk mailing that tries to imitate a fancy event. That’s what I thought this was because I didn’t know of anyone getting married.
I had no idea what is was for…it took reading all the way down to the young man’s name when I realized it was an actual wedding announcement for a young man whom we’ve known since living in Mandeville. We were neighbors from about the time he was 5-6 until he was a senior in college. The interesting thing about him is that he is highly gifted. As a boy, he was intense. My son played with him from time to time and always came away stressed but happy. What is so rewarding about receiving this invitation is the young man that he’s turned into. He had a little sister born when he was in high school. The affect on his emotional and social growth was phenomenal. He’s going to make an excellent husband and father.
When you are a parent of a gifted child, all you can think about is getting through each day doing the best that you can to meet their academic, social and emotional needs. I never thought about having young adults, meeting that special someone getting married, securing a job. Gifted children do grow into gifted adults.
Later, when I got online for my email we received another wedding announcement. I know I have never received two announcements in one day. We had just seen this couple, sailing for ten days with them and 13 of our other friends. Our history with Sabrina started when we agreed to host a German student for an entire school year. She was 16 at the time. Sweet, curious, independent, flexible and very willing to share her culture with us and to partake in our culture. She eventually became the big sister for both my own two children and nearly an adopted daughter for us. We are super excited for her and Michael!
To round out the day, we had supper and drinks with several more friends. One young man, around 22 years of age, came with a friend. After our introduction, I learned that he had been in the Marines and had been married and divorced once already. During the discussion, I remembered that in a few days, Dave and I will be celebrating 25 years of being married to each other. I even mentioned how my grandparents had been together for over 70 years now during our conversations. All the day’s events caused me to reflect on the broader aspect of how and why some humans of the past select one individual to live with for a great length of time and how that way of thinking may be changing with the present culture in our world. Information, technology, scientific discoveries, increased population will affect our relationships with one another. It will be a challenge for our children to live with the same expectations that we had in our generation. But hopefully, the notion of caring deeply for another will remain foundational. I wish the best to every young couple out there thinking of making a lifetime commitment. It will take work, patience, cooperation and knowing that the ‘grass is greener’ right where you are!
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05.23.07
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 9:10 pm by Angie
I had an interesting thing happen on my way to Baton Rouge to help my son pick out a new apartment for the fall semester at LSU. I left Houston around 11 am and had to make two stops during the four+ hour drive. The first stop went off without a hitch. I’m still left wondering when will gas stations create a pump handle that does not require one to use two hands to keep that costly gas pouring into a gas tank. It had been lightly raining for most of the trip but the last 20 minutes was a solid downpour and I needed another stretch break.
The second stop at a Shell convenience store found me following a skink (or lizard, for all ya’ll not from the south) down the potato chip aisle in the convenience store. Mind you, he was dressed for the occasion, dressed to match the motled brown and gray tile beautifully. I happened to look up at the cashier and said, “Did you know you have a skink running down your potato chip aisle?” She thought I said ‘a snake’ and ran completely around the checkout counter, all the while saying, “if there is a snake in this store, I’m leaving.” Now, I’m a very soft spoken person so I could understand her confusion, so I was nice enough to say in my most effective teacher-voice, “no a lizard.” She calmed right down and laughed at the confusion. I poured my self a cup of hot coffee, looking for the well-dressed patron but he had scurried away somewhere. As I approached to pay for my beverage, I noticed a local policeman chatting with the cashier. It’s a good thing I didn’t take advantage of my accidental diversion….
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05.09.07
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 8:43 pm by Angie
I want to announce to the whole world that I’m proud of my grandparents! They are celebrating their 70th year together as husband and wife on May 10th. My grandpa was 22 when he married my grandma of 18 in dusty Kansas in 1937. They have been directly responsible for the lives of three children, eight grandchildren and oodles of great grand children. My grandpa has a great sense of humor and my grandma can discuss baseball and politics with the best of them. If you think times are rough for relationships now, try living through the Dust Bowl or working in the lead mines in Colorado while supporting a young family (with orange crates for furniture). They’ve come a long way and planned well for their later years. Picture Caption: That’s me in my daddy’s arms.
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04.12.07
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 7:32 am by Angie
I’m preparing to go on a vacation to see my daughter who has been studying in France for her junior year in college. Wow, what an experience for her! She’s written about the food, people, culture mishaps and the interesting sites. It is almost positive that she feels a real connection to Paris because she really doesn’t want to come back to Texas. And really, in the long run she may end up living and working there in her future. But first, she has to finish her degree at Tulane. I picture her like a baby bird peering over the safe edge of the nest, eager to jump out and try her wings. She just needs a little more time and knowledge and she’s on her own.
My son, however, is at a decision point in his life right now. He’s out looking for employment in far away places like California and New York and Austin. His progress has been more like the contented puppy lingering next to familiar places and people. It’s his time! We’re excited for him and for all the possibilities out there that are open for him.
Raising dependent young children to independent young adults. How did we get from one point to another? I wish we could bottle up whatever we did and sell it to anyone who has concerns about getting their children from point A to point B. I wish we could bottle up this, refine it and require it for all those struggling parents and struggling children. But then again, maybe the struggle is the most important part.
While Adam and Amber struggle with life changing decisions in their future, I get to watch. I’ve made some life changing decisions in my past and they worked out ok. I’m sure their decisions will too.
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03.18.07
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 4:23 pm by Angie
IMG_1220
Originally uploaded by afrench2.
It is so nice outside right now. If you haven’t been outside to enjoy the nice weather, shame on you. It won’t wait for you. If you live in the south, you only have a few days to be outside. It’s now or never!
We’ve picked an outside project to try to complete before the weather turns hot. This our front circle. Those stones…we moved them all. I moved the little ones, Dave moved the bigger ones. That dirt and sand, we moved it too. We still have several loads of dirt to bring over, several loads of flagstone and some planting to do. It’s expected to rain Wednesday and Thursday this week, just like it rained last week Friday and Saturday. Those prints you see in the walkway is the neighbor’s dog. He’s huge and he’s only a puppy. We’re hoping that the fencing (we are adding a 24 inch high wire fencing to the railings) will keep him out and our dogs in. That is the other spring project.
So, get outside! If you need something to do, head over to Texas. We got plenty!
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03.14.07
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 6:49 am by Angie
Looks like nearly all zillion school districts in Houston go on spring break the same time. Dave says the office is really quiet this week, workmate’s and their families are off skiing somewhere, probably. I was thinking about how important a break is to teachers. Some people think that a teacher’s yearly schedule is ideal; working shorter days, getting three months off. That’s not really true. Teachers need that break from the intensive day to day demands and schedule in their classroom.
To show for my spring break, my husband and I have nearly completed the landscaping in our front circle. It has large square rust and gray colored stones outlining a curvy walkway that leads in and out of the circle. It will soon be filled with flagstone that is reddish in color peppered with white leftover limestone from the house. We’ve made a large garden bed and filled it with native Texas plants and so far, they are still alive. And I’m hoping that the small white concrete bench will lend the area an informal invite to walk the path and come sit for a while. The whole project has been quite enjoyable. Lugging large stones and next to a zillion loads of dirt and sand into the space, planning the design and spending the money hasn’t been a drain on my mental and physical system, it’s been a boost.
The other thing we have to show for this spring break is a fence. Now, we aren’t doing the work ourselves but we sure are paying for some quality work out there. The 3 rail white vinyl fence (just like you see in the country magazines) is being installed by a master. You can tell. He wastes no movements, works methodically, checks his work frequently and talks little. In an essay I wrote for an undergraduate course, I called this type of person a ‘maestro’. Someone who is a master of his/her chosen field. My goal is to someday be a maestro in the field of education ….. but it is hard to give up days working at my own pace, creating something visibly pleasing.
Taking breaks are part of the process of becoming a maestro. It gives one time to regroup, rethink and reflect on their live’s goals. Spring break is a necessary thing if we, as a society, want to increase the quality of teachers working with its students. Problem is, most teachers are working even harder during their break catching up on unfinished projects, housework, appointments or working with their own children. What teachers truly need is a break from all their responsibilities. A trip somewhere, time to sleep in, time to read a book for leisure (instead of planning lessons for the next week or month), time to work towards something they enjoy. We all need it, whatever field we are in!
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01.03.07
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 9:27 am by Angie
It was great to learn more about my ‘writing’ buddy, Nancy on her weblog. I always knew she had far and wide experiences. When you read some of her writings you get a sense of it.
Tagged. The word brings to mind the constant games of tag we played in our front circular yard in Holly, Colorado with my two brothers and best friend, Melveta. Freeze tag was my favorite because you had to stop exactly in the position you were tagged in and you had to wait for someone to unfreeze you. Somebody always did because the more kids running around during the game, the more fun it was. Being tagged in the cyber world is similar. “You” has been chosen as the Man of the Year. It’s a funny choice, but at the same time a good choice. Anyone can post anything from radical plans to deep dark adolescent secrets that never made it past the bedroom door in years past. We’ve been ‘unfrozen’ and the ‘game is afoot’ which brings me to addressing being tagged. Here are a few interesting things about me: Read the rest of this entry »
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12.17.06
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 6:47 pm by Angie
My husband just coined a new term: “urban camp”. That’s what he is calling our apartment. Let me explain. For us, our main place for our belongings is our country dwelling. It’s where we have our roots. Our city dwelling is smaller and sparser. It’s like our urban camp. We have some kitchen tools to cook with, we have some of our clothes there, just enough to dress properly for our day jobs, a few pieces of reading materials, minimal channels on the tv, and a very nice bed. Even the dogs have their second set of dog bowls. Our city dwelling (urban camp) is where we go to exist during the week, the country dwelling is where we go to relax and live. We also have come up with a name for our country dwelling: Chateau-ed-teau (we are still working on just the right spelling of it). If you can’t figure out what this in reference to you might have never smacked your big toe on something in the middle of the night as often as my husband has…..
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12.11.06
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 8:48 am by Angie
The National Council on Teacher Quality has a brochure that outlines what makes an effective teacher. What I like about this publication is that it looks at the research before it makes a general claim about what makes an effective teacher. I was also interested in their finding that teacher literacy was the most effective indicator of student acheivement. So, keep reading and writing and keep those kids reading and writing. It may feel like you are not making any gains in the education of your children but research shows that you are! And it doesn’t hurt to brush up on those ’soft’ issues that make a great teacher such as the ones outlined on page 12 of the brochure.
http://www.nctq.org/nctq/images/nctq_io.pdf
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10.27.06
Posted in Random 'Munchings", Writing Entries at 11:23 am by Angie
It’s true! It was a dark and stormy night last night. We enjoyed a cloud to cloud lightening show for at least 30 minutes. At first, we sat outside under our small back porch, but when a loud crack sounded to the right of us, we scampered inside. Our bedroom has three large windows facing near direct South. We opened the blinds and continued to watch the storm march across to the left of our natural television. The last flashes were still quite bright but well off in the distance. There wasn’t much rumble in this storm because all the action took place high in the sky.
(Click the picture to see it better)
Now, its early morning. Bright, bright sunshine, muddy patches of grass and glistening sparkles of water in the small pond at the end of our property. Exactly opposite of the night. One can easily relate to the purifying sense that the morning and sun brings to a difficult night that many authors uses so dramatically in their writing after this. I have to remember that I live on the Texas plains now, and not in the Louisiana swamp. There are lots of similiarity with the trees, grass and water yet it is so very different. The wind blows here nearly everyday. Some days, it’s light and breezy; today, it’s blowing with much more force as if the rid the land of the nasty storm of the night. I am sure the only good use of the wind is to power a sailboat! Otherwise, it causes me to chase a stray box or lost trash can lid, forget any sense of styling hair, and sidetrack the sun’s rays.
Too bad the ‘dark and stormy night’ was last night. Tonight is the date we celebrate Halloween which really is a non-holiday that everyone treats as a holiday. Maybe this is God’s way of letting us know that the weather is not going to help set the mood. Fall is definitely here.
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