HOMESCHOOLING: THE UNSPOKEN REALITY

This is another reason that homeschooling isn't for everyone.

EDUCATION REFORM: CRUISE TO NOWHERE

Being an educator scares me more each day. It's not the quality of the children who stumble onto campuses; their parents who don't pull their weight as positive influences; or even the measely combat pay that shows up in my bank account each month that frightens me. What frightens me is the fact that we now have people assigned to a committe to help reform the educational process. Committees can be effective when stocked with the correct personnal, but this committee reeks. "Good ole boy" syndromes gives off a stench that would gag a maggot and the air is swirling with the stench from some of the handpicked members. Just looking on the role sends shivers down my spine. I will highlight one, for now, and leave the final conclusions to the enlightened readers I find here.

First up is Randy Vivian. He was the CEO of a local non-profit, where he served as a figurehead. His abilities never did measure up to what he self-proclaimed as to his talents. A lot of hot air and not much in the way of actual accomplishments, unless glad handing is considered an accomplishment.

Other members of this committee meet the critera of rich, out of touch residents of Victoria.

There are a couple well-qualified, generous with donations members and for those I am thankful.

We won't really have reform in the educational sector until this good ole boy system (which now includes "good ole gals") gains insight in the real working public and their concerns and interests.

I noticed that there weren't any regular teachers on the committee (if I missed a name, I do apologize) and those are the people who show up everyday to make a difference in this often crazy educational system we have in VISD.

NO CALENDAR NEEDED: I REMEMBER

As a nation we all have certain dates that bring back memories, some kind and some painful. We have December 7, 1941; July 20, 1969; September 11, 2001; and others that have remained in our hearts.

Besides these and other group dates, I have acquired some dates which have etched into my heart. I know that this isn't unique to me, as we all have our own milestones, but I wanted to share just a few of mine. Feel free to add any more that have caused you to become the person you are today.

May 1969: Graduated from the best high school that no longer exists.

May 1976: Received my Master's from the University.

March 1979: Met Mr. Right (and not just Mr. Right Now.)

July 1979: Married Mr. Right for me.

September 1981: Gave birth to our beautiful girl.

May 1982: Handed over our precious girl to the surgeon for major surgery.

May 2000: Our fantastic girl graduated from high school.

May 2004: Our stupendous girl graduated from the university.

March 2005: My incredible mom was released from her life of pain and suffering.

February 2007: Our remarkable daughter married her sweetheart.

September 2008: Our family suffered the effects of Hurricane Ike.

May 2009: Best souvenir from any cruise arrives--our grandlove.


Sure more happened before May 1969 and since May 2009, but I am not writing a book, just a memory jogging blog.

Thanks for joining me on this short jog.

FIGHTING FEAR: A TOUGH BATTLE

Now is the time for all of us to become free of the fear that has kept us from joy, from creativity, from peace, from the courage to be honest. It is time to do the inspired thing, which is to live our life's purpose.

~ Joseph Bailey

WORSE CRUISE STORY: THIS TOPS MY STORY

The ship's owner and operator, Louis Cruise Lines, said the vessel was struck Wednesday by three "abnormally high" waves more than 33 feet (10 meters) high that broke glass windshields in the forward section on deck five, which is one of 10 used by passengers. Two people died and 14 were slightly hurt, the company said.

Large waves are not rare in the Mediterranean, but ones that size occur only once or twice a year, said Marta de Alfonso, an oceanographer with the Spanish government.

This accident happened in an area of the Mediterranean called the Gulf of Leon, which is known for big waves when storms hit.



Kind of ironic that I just wrote a blog about our experience on a cruise during Hurricane Ike and now there's a cruise ship that has suffered severe damage from huge waves. Hopefully, the passengers received helped with getting home (both financially and securing transportation) from the cruise line. I know that there have been deaths and I feel so sorry for the families affected by this tragedy.

These rogue waves brought to mind that old movie, "Poseidon's Adventure." Cheesy movie, but who would have thought it would come true in a sense.

CARIBBEAN EXPERIENCE: MOTHER NATURE'S TRIP

Yesterday, I had a little laugh because of The Victoria Advocate. Dicovering something in the paper that is laughable usually involves the sloppy writing skills or the lack of editing. This time, the choice of story material was the source of my amusement. Nothing was wrong with the story, as such, it's just that I read it and thought, "If they think that is a vacation negatively impacted by weather, boy do I ever have a story to tell." So, here's my vacation story.

My husband and I love to cruise and discover new cultures. In 2008, our daughter and son-in-law were able to join us. Excited phone calls between our households coordinated packing and excursion plans. Walking onto to the Carnival ship and soaking in all the lights, sounds and smells alongside these "cruise newbies" amped up the appreciation factor for both of us. We had never been on this particular ship before, but it didn't take us long to get the lay of the decks.

Dining in the fancy dining room wasn't something either of the two guys would do willingly, but to appease us, they gussied up and tolerated the fancee-smanzee eating experience. My daughter and I enjoyed the ambiance, food and vibrant personalities of the waitstaff. This birthday would be one our daughter wouldn't forget any time soon.

While we sailed peacefully across the placid water, there was a small storm forming out in the ocean. However, on board our ship the Calypso band entertained, dinners were served, towel animals greeted us in the evening and deck chairs were arranged. No sounding of alarms penetrated the security of the ship, until the morning that we were scheduled to visit the Cayman Islands.

Up since early morning, we awaited the tenders to take us into shore. The turtles' sanctuary was to be one of our destinations, along with Hell and the beach. White caps should have served as our warning that the weather was in charge of all of our plans. Because of the danger for small boats in the bay, this port of call was cancelled and off we went back into deeper water. For over a year, our daughter had waited to go to the turtle sanctuary, but Mother Nature denied her that pleasure.

Shrugging off the dissappointment and turning our attention to the next port of call, we arranged a dolphin encounter for our daughter and husband in Cozumel, Mexico. Having the day away from them, my husband and I took time to revisit favorite shopping locales. Drizzle and muggy weather didn't slow our expedition down one bit. Not only did we rediscover the familiar, but we found other interesting niches for unique purchases. Returning to the ship, we learned that the dolphin encounter far exceeded any expectations held by our daughter. Once again, our son-in-law participated and tolerated an experience that made his wife ecstatic. He was a great traveling compaion, who didn't expect anything and appreciated everything.

Electricity buzzed throughout the common areas of the ship, as people continued to check the progress of the little storm, which had matured into a deadly hurricane. Passengers were summoned into the theater for an announcement late in the afternoon. At this point in the week, Ike hadn't decided where to come ashore, so we were safer waiting an extra day in Cozumel's port. We always knew that cruising was an adventure, but an adventure with some control. At this point, we realized that we had no control over anything.

Spending another day in port, gave my husband and me time to regroup mentally. We knew that we were safe, and yet the little hairs on the back of our necks started to itch. If the storm came ashore in Texas, we probably would be looking at complete devastation of our homes, work places, etc. Reminding ourselves that we and our "kids" were safe allowed us to relax a tad. Material things can be replaced, albeit a hassel to do so; it is possible to regroup as long as the loss is material and not personal.

Waiting is always the worse and the next day we were told that we weren't able to return to Galveston, as there was no Galveston left. Plans were still be forming, so as soon as the ship's crew knew anything, we would be advised. Thinking of traveling from another port back home brought uncomfortable possiblities to mind. But never in my mind could I have imagined what we were told at the next meeting. There would be no arrangements provided by Carnival Cruise Lines for our return to our departure port. We would cruise into New Orleans and the rest of the trip home would be at our own expense and it was up to us to make the travel arrangements.

Shock was soon replaced by anger and then panic. Here we had four people to get home, vehicles left at Galveston were probably swept out to sea, and we had traveled with cash only. Through many hours on the phone and a very generous friend (see blog about guardian angel) airfare was arranged to fly from New Orleans to home.

Stumbling off the ship in a daze, we were told by Carnival Cruise personnel that they hoped we had a good trip and please travel with them, again. Filtering my words, I did let them know that this was the first and ONLY time Carnival would be in our plans. When my daughter heard, "Well, she could have been nice about it," she said to the girl, "You don't know my mom, that was nice." Laughing about this encounter brought us to the area in New Orleans where we waited for our luggage and shuttle to the airport. Soothing our stressed-out nerves was the welcome we received from people who understood what being displaced felt like. All the people in New Orleans were kind and welcoming to us and that helped us get through the rest of our day.

Different flights took us from New Orleans into Houston, Texas. By the time my husband and I arrived in Houston, exhaustion was somewhat tempered by the fact that we were so close to home. Relaxing and waiting for our out going flight to home was short lived when we discovered that our co-pilot for our "puddle-jumper" plane hadn't shown up for work and the flight was cancelled. Due to the fall-out of the storm's damage, Houston was now on curfew and we were stuck at the airport until morning.

Freezing temperatures and no place to sleep in the airport made the hours creep by until finally in the early morning we were able to get a call through to our son-in-law who willingly rescued us and drove us home. A few minutes in the car, and we passed out from exhaustion. Walking into our home was the best feeling in the world.

Hot, soothing showers relaxed us enough that we were able to recharge our batteries and begin the process of dealing with the rest of our losses. Vehicles were lost and insurances were battled for replacements. Unexpected trip expenses were repaid to our friend and our travel agent helped us file the necessary paperwork for reinbursiment.

Many losses were not recovered. However, we brought home the best tiny souvenior ever, our grandlove. Even though he was conceived in foreign lands, he is an all American little boy.

I guess that Mother Nature did have the best plan, after all.

SODA: SIN TAX'S LATEST TARGET

When we went to the grocery store over the weekend, we discovered that if we would purchase beer, it would be cheaper than purchasing brand name soda pop. Something is wrong with that fact and now the price is going up in some areas to help fight obesity and other health concerns.

Health issues are increasing at an alarming rate and the focus is now on sugary drinks. Let's face facts here, though, soda pop isn't the only factor to blame. Something that is so obvious to anyone paying attention in the food stores is that if you buy products that are good for you, like whole wheat pastas and bread, you will pay a lot more than if you buy the white, unhealthy varieties.

Same for the better cuts of meat, the ones with less fat cost much more per pound. Hamburger prices increase dramatically as the fat content decreases. Want to buy healthy foods? We all know to shop for high fiber, low sugar, and fresher products. Been to Whole Food Market lately? I've been and eventually walk away realizing that to shop healthy demands a much healthier bank account than I currently own.

So, the solution to childhood obesity will be to take all the junk food off the school campus and tax the soda in the stores. But until we get the kids up and moving more on the playgrounds, instead of hooked up to something electronic, we are going to see more childhood obesity and health issues.

When the parents provide the food at home, they are working with meager budgets. Yes, it healthier to purchase whole wheat products, organic farm products, and low-fat content meat; however the dollar doesn't stretch like it used to and people have to make a choice of quantity over quality.

Taxing soda pop would be fine with me, if the healthier foods (100% juice for example) were cheaper than the juice flavored drinks. If there will be a sin tax on the "bad food" than bring down the price of the healthy foods.

Here's what some EXPERTS have to say on this issue. Feel free to leave your own experiences or advice on my blog.

Think I'll go and have some sweet tea, while I'm waiting around to hear from you all.


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"Advocates of a tax note that sugared beverages are the No. 1 source of calories in the American diet, representing 7 percent of the average person’s caloric intake, according to government surveys, and up to 10 percent for children and teenagers. These calories, they point out, are worse than useless — they’re empty, and contribute to a daily total that is already too high.

“What you want,” says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, “is to reverse the fact that healthy food is too expensive and unhealthy food is too cheap, and the soda tax is a start. Unless food marketing changes, it’s hard to believe that anything else can work.”"