Adteacher

Today has been so great! I had a moment when I decided that "enough is enough". I am tired to death of not having enough time in my life for creative output. I am going to challenge myself, and when that happens, usually something good results. I have been putting so much energy into other things... teaching and planning for my new job, worrying about administrative tasks, house remodeling, the wedding a few months ago, my students and their needs and activities, and the list goes on - I really want to do something about my lack of creative time. So I went and got some art supplies and I spent the afternoon today drawing in my new sketchbook. I am posting the results online elsewhere for my own use, and when I am ready to share some of it, rest assured I will. Today I just reacquainted myself with my motor skills and my pencil. After so many years of concentrating on the computer and not much else, it was nice to get back to some real nitty gritty drawing. I'm rusty, but ...

So today I could talk about our Thursday field trip, which by the way, turned out great! But rather, I believe that I will save that topic for when I have some pictures to accompany the story, and instead I will talk about how to be nice to people you really don't like and to just be more positive in general. That is a real challenge, isn't it? I know some people who are not the greatest. Grumpy, negative, don't have the same standards that I believe in, or maybe they are even unscrupulous. I try as hard as I can to be nice to them when I deal with them. Some days I am more successful, sometimes less... it kind of depends on whether I am at my best or just the average version of me. I try not to demand perfection in this area of myself, but I do try as hard as I can to be consistently nice and to take a positive tone. Why? A few good reasons come to mind, and I think it is pretty easy for me to outline them. First, it seems that no matter ho...

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me. If you are old enough to remember the good old Aretha Franklin hit called "Respect", then you know what it is that I refer to. Actually, I think it is incredibly important to know what respect is all about. I don't know if it is just me, or if it is true that society really is getting a little less respectful these days? I remember as a kid, I was expected to say words like thank you and please, and those were ways that we were trained by our parents and teachers to be polite. I hear less and less polite language on a daily basis these days, and yes, I know that things always change, but what I have to ask is if is it really good to change the stuff about our world that was going right? Is there anything that is wrong with a little old fashioned respect? To me, respect is several things. I think respect for others typically starts with self-respect. It really does begin with the Golden Rule - who ever had a bad result with ...

Today's entry? Just an indulgent note intended for those dear family members I love from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for spending your Monday night with me for my birthday. I know that everyone is very busy and we all get pretty tired out after our workday. It was great to have all of you together for dinner. Thank you. I love each of you very much. The photos are a little grainy because it was dark and all I had was my iPhone, but these were the faces looking back at me after they sang Happy Birthday to me at the Cheesecake Factory, and it was one of those moments when I just felt very lucky to have them all. I have made it through to the age of 52 with a husband I still love to bits after 32 years of marriage and three kids and a new daughter in law who still not only speak to me, but seem to kind of like me most of the time! Not bad.

There seems to be a really huge number of photos that I need to post right now. I don't really know how this happened, but it's a great problem to have! I am going to give myself a birthday present and post some of the recent photos from my son's wedding to his lovely bride, Hailey. The wedding was back in March, but we are starting to see the finished photography just now, so I will share a few that I particularly like. The photographers did a great job of capturing the mood of the day - there are hundreds of photos, and I can only share a few, but I will share some that I like because of the fact that they are so candid and unposed looking. Hailey and DJ have been married for a few months now, and those smiles have not faded from their faces! It makes me very happy to know that they are together and are doing so well. Each of them have recently gotten promotions, she with Marc Jacobs line in Fossil watches, and he at TM Advertising. He received a senior level position, ...

 I promised a few more shots of the bear today, and so here they are. Nick has a very special relationship with the bear, as you can plainly see. They have gotten very close this year, and when he graduates in a few weeks, I'm sure that the bear will really miss him. (He always gets a little weepy this time of year when he thinks about how many seniors will be leaving soon. He can bearly stand it...) More adventures from the bear's field trip are coming tomorrow. I don't know. What is the deal with people doing weird stuff with their dogs? It's kind of a trend on the internet right now, and groomers are dyeing and sculpting dogs into creatures that they probably don't like to be. Don't you think this dog looks embarrassed? It's so sad that they don't have the power to say, "hey you, stop doing this. I don't want to be a skeledog. I just want to be a regular guy, and this is outrageous." Oh man, I really would like to start a group to prot...