miracles are welcomed

especially those of a statistical nature!

I bought my token $5 worth ... actually even filled in some of the numbers instead of going all random (my attempt at exerting some 'control' over a terribly uncontrollable situation)

The odds are 1 in 195,249,054 ...

not very good, are they. Unless, of course, you're looking for a miracle!

*sigh*

In a way, I'm really glad these are the only statistics I'm contemplating right now.

So in a way, I have my miracle ...

he always knows

Max, Mr. intuitive, observer supreme, current dog of less funk and filth ALWAYS knows when I'm leaving for the weekend.

He 's like glue to my side and dogs my footsteps the entire time I'm rushing about the house trying to sort out items for the trip.

The coup de grace is when the "big bag" gets hauled out of the attic.

*key dramatic music*

He HATES that big bag with the flowery handles ... absolutely despises it! Poor fella probably thinks that this time (out of every other time) I'm never coming back!

And no amount of reassurance by Pos and the kids can convince him that that ain't so ...

am i the only one who struggles with this ...

As a middle-aged woman, who should be hitting her emotional stride (so to speak), and happily rejoicing in some hard earned confidence, why am I still bugged by body image garbage?!

I mean, I'm incredibly lucky that I'm healthy, active and still have unrestricted use of my ankles and knees. I can run, frolic, skip and canter with the best of them but somehow find myself skidding to a stop when I catch a glimpse of my little bumpy frame in the reflection of a passing mirror/picture glass window. *Ugh* I have no idea why I can't reconcile myself with the realities of physical aging (I mean, my chubby tummy is a well worn symbol of the three babies I gratefully carried to term; my ample backside is a familial gift of thriving genetics; my stocky legs are carry-overs from, I'm positive, good solid farming stock).

But personally, I think one of of the biggest reasons I have such a hard time with these silly imperfections is because of several cultural factors.

Take exhibit A:
There is absolutely NO way I could EVER look like this (unless I undergo the knife several times!)

But take Exhibit B:
Now we're talking! In my humble opinion, the ancients had it right all along ... big, bulbous and beautiful! I really should focus on old measures of beauty and start filtering the ridiculous versions we have today!

be careful what you wish for ...

Yikes! What the hell was I whining about last week!

It's been like 90+ flippin' degrees since the weekend and we're dying slow, sluggish, brain-fried deaths around here! I can't believe I was complaining about the cooler climes just a week ago! The weird part is that we were getting 99 degrees reported on our local bank signs and out west their getting pummelled with several inches of snow. Wacko, I know!

And the truly sucky part is that it's supposed to drop again (into the freakin' 50s) by Thursday! I simply have no idea what to expect any more. I just need to get over the fact that I'll need to continue rotating between my winter and summer wear for the next couple of weeks and forget ever getting my internal temp regulator sorted out.

*sigh*

where's spring?

I feel like I'm never going to experience nice weather ever, ever again!

I got two -- count'em TWO -- beautiful days this month and the rest has been like a scene from Blade Runner (a dreary post-modern nightmare with lots of rain, wind and perhaps psycho androids lurking around corners!).

I've been sick and tired. But mostly sick -- a dysentery kind of sick -- that leaves one desperate for some kind improvement.

And it really doesn't help that the weather really sucks!

whoo wee! where'd the week go ...

Wow! I totally blew off my customary "beginning of the week" post [*I must have been sleeping at the wheel or forgetting to drink my coffee or not getting enough sleep or completely knee deep in other stuff]

ooo ... ooo ... pick the last one! please, please ya gotta pick the last one!

Yep folks, knee deep in other stuff.

I've been baking like a shackled slave in the kitchen everyday; I think I'm breaking a world record with how many sticky buns I can crank out in less than a week. With such tremendous success at my daughter's "snacks by the tracks" fundraiser last Saturday (and the numerous compliments regarding my buns!), I just couldn't disappoint this weekend's post office crowd and potential fund raising contributors by not showing up with the "goods".

And in addition to all of that, I had an unexpected conversation with the boys' 8th grade teacher regarding the final geography unit and that had me dusting off my old GGS notes and doing some major tweaks to my proposed Guns, Germs, and Steel curriculum idea.

So for your viewing pleasure (and because it represents what my brain's been on for the past few days ... beside brown sugar, cinnamon and fast-rising yeast!), my proposed pitch of how to teach 8th graders Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel:

GGS – Geography Lesson summaries

An actual story of global conquest:

• The famous battle at Cajamarca – Peru in 1532
• Why was it the Spaniards conquering the Incans and not the other way around?
• It was a conquest based on willingness, ability and necessity!

What it takes for man to survive:

• Man’s basic needs
• The need to travel in order to fulfill those basic needs

When man moves from surviving to thriving:

• Hunter and gatherers become settlers – the rise of nations
• The good (innovations and discoveries in the arts, science mathematics, astronomy and architecture to name a few), the bad (political systems, social hierarchies, introduction of rich vs. poor), and the ugly (dictatorships, spread of disease, and war)
• Ultimate motivator in developing societies was the desire for more – more wealth, more stuff, fame and glory!

What in the world does geography have to do with all of this?

• Moving in the right direction – longitude and latitude and having the right climate
• The shape and terrain of continents – allowing people and ideas to move
• Having the right stuff – access to valued and usable natural resources

Back to the people:

• How food helped change the world
• How disease helped change the world

Looking at the connections:

• The theory of how people’s natural wants and necessities had such global effects
• The example of Europe

Playing the game of Global Risk:
*student assignment

[and kiddos, if you're lucky and I remember, I'll post the longer teacher version with the cooler notes so we can *discuss* this stuff!]

more syrupy reflections

I tell ya, I've been experiencing some pretty amazing confirmations that life is darn good everywhere I turn:

• All my friends are hale and hearty and for the most part in good spirits.
• I just got offered an incredible summer position at our local museum running kids' camps from now until I'm probably too senile or tired to do the job
• My daughter's fund raising efforts have blown both of us away! We have both been incredible humbled by the show of financial and emotional support she has been given thus far.
• In spite of the intense anxiety-laden news saturating the news lately, I feel like Teflon and haven't allowed any of it to touch my core of optimism (just call me Pollyanna!)
• I'm physically feeling like I have pounds to go before I can reacquaint myself with my optimal pants size, but honestly, I could care less! I still run three times a week, play field hockey every Monday and can hustle through the school hallways without breaking a sweat.
• I can find just about anything to laugh about everyday.
• My kids' antics have me rolling my eyes instead of making want to ship them off to Siberia. I've only just realized that I have less than a decade before (feasibly!) they'll all be gone and living on their own.
  
• My husband is still a great guy to be around ... even after 18 years and three kids.
• I'm really appreciating the "now" ...
  

So as far as I'm concerned, life is good!