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| Tuesday, April 19, 2005 |
| When I was a kid... |
Two of my kids are in track this year. One of these kids is not really much of a jock, she is more intellectual but she enjoys running so she has joined cross country in the fall and track in the spring. Being the involved parent that I am, I went to most of the cross country meets and attended all of the track meets that I could. I showed up at the first one and I was stunned. There was hardly anyplace to sit down.
Let me regress a minute by saying I was in track for a couple of years before I just admitted to myself that I was in no way a jock, and never would be. At our track meets we were lucky if the coaches showed up, much less parents, grandparents, cousins, your boyfriend's best friend's neighbor from another state. Jeeze!
Now I took this in stride...it was the first track meet maybe everyone was coming out to have a look-see. I went to the second track meet today...thankfully at a biggger stadium at Rocky River High School. Same thing, lots of parents and grandparents. The concession stand was open, they were using the PA system to announce events. It was amazing.
Now I come to my little rant that my friend Orange, who is a teacher, will appreciate. Why can't we get these same parents, grandparents, neighbors and so on involved in the kids academics as we can in their athletics. OK, so cheering on an A is not as much fun as cheering on a runner or a football player, but in the long run it is so much more important. We will pass a levy that will improve the sports areas but can not pass one to get new books. Don't get me started on the administration that figured that the sports were more important and put that on the ballot first.
This is going to end up rambling so stop here if you are bored, but I need to get this out because it just bothers me!
We set athletes on a pedastle. We pay them millions of dollars, we buy their products, we let them know that they are who we would want to be. When they fall from grace for one reason or another we villify them. Many of these athletes come from poor backgrounds. Athletics was the only way for them to get out. Why do we villify them for doing whatever they have to do to stay on top. We made them that way by worshipping the all mighty sports arena. They have nothing to really fall back on. We all know that schools in poor areas are generally sub-par. For many of these athletes, if they have a college education its a joke.
Back to the junior high level. I saw father's there that I am sure took time off work to come, will they take time off to come to the band recital? The choir concert? Probably not.
There probably isn't an aswere to this. It certainly isn't the pen colors our teacher's use (see Orange's rant on this at http://fbitn.blogspot.com/)
But somewhere we need to get across to parents and people in general that sports is not the answer. It's a past time, a hobby, not a way of life. |
posted by Raven @ 12:00 AM  |
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| Monday, April 18, 2005 |
| My Wall |
I have this one wall, next to my bed that is all mine. No one else really sees it. Visitors generally are not up in my bedroom. I can put anything on it I want. After 5 years of living in this house I was looking at my wall and wondering what people would think of me is they should see my wall. I have a plaque my sister gave me. It's porcelain and shaped like a heart. It says sisters are forever friends. I have the red hat poem that is matted and beautifully framed. I bought that at "Show of Hands" at Great Northern Mall. I also have the picture from the Spencer Tunick photo shoot last summer in Cleveland.
Above all of these things I have a shelf that has a Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls sitting on it. They are about 2 1/2 feet tall that I got when my grandmother died. Sitting between Ann and Andy is a My Twinn doll of me when I was an infant that my mother gave me.
Certainly a wide variety of things. Some of them would cause a person to think that a child or teenager hung things on the wall. But then you see the picture of people's rumps and the red hat poem. The rumps show a little wild streak and the red hat shows repsponsibilty.
Someone just looking would think I am a split personality. In a way, I guess I am.
When I think of myself, I still think of myself in my late teens, early twenties. I do not think about the gray hair of the emerging spider veins. In reality I am marching my way to middle age. That is the responsibility for the kids, the house, and everything else involved in being an adult.
Looking at it now I think my wall shows who I was and where I'm going. Middle aged but not yet ready to grow up! |
| posted by Raven @ 12:56 AM |
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| Tuesday, April 12, 2005 |
| Happy Birthd....oh whatever... |
Blah...As usual I have managed to get a cold on my birthday. I have spent more birthdays sick than well. I can remember some birthdays when I was a kid that I wasn't allowed to have cake because I was so sick. That's pretty devastating for a kid.
Right now I have a really stuffed up nose and feel kind of run down. The run down feeling could be coming from not sleeping real deep because of the stuffed up nose. Plus I have to get up with the kiddies. To top it all off I have to go sit at my daughter's first track meet today. Oh joy. It's only about 60 degrees with a wind so I will be cold. (Yes yes Orange, I know how warm it is down there, I don't want to hear it!)
After I get done wasting my time on here I have to go and try to find the daughter's gym shorts as it is part of her track uniform and she has managed to lose them during the last week. Blah...
I have so much to do and all I feel like doing is curling up on the couch with one of my cats and become vegetative. But, the kids demand to eat, be driven places like school, and so on.
Well, I'm going to go burn some eucalyptus, maybe that will clear out my head. |
| posted by Raven @ 12:59 PM |
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| Thursday, April 07, 2005 |
| Not Working |
| OK many things in my house are not working. The lights in my bathroom (no they aren't fixed yet), my hair dryer, me for that matter am unemployed and thus NOT working. But, there is one thing essential that needs to work is the checking account. That has to work. Not balance necessarily, just be close. Well, my husband generally handles the bills and the checking account. Today we found a BIG error in the checking account. Hubby is gone to Albany so I have to take the check book and work backwards. Another problem is sometimes he combines entries and just puts misc. in the description section. THIS IS NOT FUN!!! Most of my working experience is in the accounting field and I hate this. So, today I told my hubby that I was going to take over the bills and checkbook. If for no other reason than when there is a problem I am here and can take care of it. I hate doing bills, but I hate trying to decipher my husbands entries more. |
| posted by Raven @ 12:20 AM |
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| Wednesday, April 06, 2005 |
| Sleepy |
| Well my sister is now married. It was a beautiful wedding in Las Vegas. Hubby and I went out without the kids, they stayed at their mom's house or friends houses. It was a wonderful time. Only problem is trying to readjust to being home. There is a three hour time difference between our home and Las Veas. So, three hour change there, three hour change coming back, and daylight savings time all within 3 days. My internal clock is so screwed up it doesn't know what to do. I get tired in the morning, wide awake at night...help...I'm stuck on Las Vegas Time. That should be it's own time zone. Where you go to bed at 4am, get up around 9am, go gamble, come back for a nap and then get up and stay out until 4am again. Sooner or later I'm going to have to get adjusted. For now though...I wish there was a casino around for those 2am awake times. Walmart just doesn't cut it. |
| posted by Raven @ 9:49 AM |
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