Spring/Winter Break

Well, this was my official last day of spring break which should more appropriately be referred to as "winter" break due to the snow storm that we were subjected to last Friday. For people that are in education, a wave of sadness (dare I say depression) sets in as our vacation draws to a close. This phenomenon occurs at the end of summer, in November after Thanksgiving break, in January after Christmas break and in spring whenever Easter falls. Now I know that nobody wants their vacation to end but I really feel that there truly is a difference in the way that people in education view time off as opposed to the rest of the world. Having been outside of the educational realm for several years, I can speak from my own experiences that I never had these type of feelings. Perhaps that is because typically one does not have as much time off as "teacher types" do. I could be completely wrong....

As I sit here waiting for the Badger/Davidson game to begin, I feel a wave of sadness come over me . Where did all the time go??? Wasn't I just anticipating having the next 10 days off???? What have I been doing over the past week or so???

All good things must come to an end as the old addage goes. I am thankful for having had the opportunity to get caught up on some of my reading, being able to catch up with friends, getting my house "slightly" in order and for the fact that I was able to sleep in. I feel a cold or a sinus infection coming on - just in time for my return to school! Such is life. I hope the rest of my teacher friends return safely from their travels. For those of you who went to warm, sunny, tropical places (I'm jealous but I won't admit that to your sun-tanned faces)- I hope you're not toooooo SUNBURNT. It really stinks to have to put a sweater and long pants on over your PINK, peeling skin!

Stolen car.............

Does this happen to you???? Do you have trouble locating your parked vehicle in public places? I am notorious for not remembering where I park my car in a public parking lot. It doesn't matter where I am....it could be church, Pick N Save, Target, the mall, wherever. I can NEVER find my car when I come out of wherever it is that I am. It never fails! You'd think I could at least remember where I park my car on Sundays because the church parking lot has numbers at the end of each row. Whoa -let me take that back. In my haste to get into church on time, I never even think to look back at the numbers. I'm too busy weaving my way through the throngs of people who are leisurely walking in with their families.

There was a time that I actually thought that my car had been stolen. I was at the mall and I could have sworn that I parked my car in a particular location. I walked around in circles for about 20 minutes before I decided to take a walk to another section of the lot. I was overcome by panic at the thought that my car had actually been STOLEN! I went over in my mind whether or not I had locked my vehicle (I check my door lock about three times to make sure it is indeed locked). My car is rather non-descript so I thought why would someone want to take MY car when there are plenty of Lexus', Beemers, Shiny new SUV's, etc. that are far more appealing than my 2002 Subaru. I am happy to report that my car was not stolen that day - it was just another instance of my "parking lot amnesia" cropping up.

There MUST be a name for this?? There must be some psychological term to describe this phenomenon. I'll have to check the DSM V to determine the clinical term used to categorize a person that suffers from this syndrome.

Second Day of Spring

Yesterday, March 20th, was the very first day of spring. Many people in the state of Wisconsin (as well as most of the Midwest) were looking forward to this day because of the long, snow filled winter we have had. This year our snowfall total is one of the highest in our history. I guess I shouldn't complain too much because we have lucked out in the last few years with very mild temperatures and only minor snowfall accumulations.

The last thing I needed on the 1st day of my "SPRING" break was to have to literally shovel myself out of my house. What is that all about????? I just came in from sweating my head off attempting (I say attempting because the snow is the heavy, "great for snowball fight" snow) to snow blow my driveway. Let's just say that things didn't go so well. I felt as if I was in a wrestling match with my snow blower as I tried to remove the 10 or so inches of wet, heavy snow. I am sooooooo done with the cold temperatures and the fluffy white stuff.

When is the first official day of summer???? I'm afraid to ask - at this rate I still may have my snow shovel and my snow blower on standby!!!!!!!!!

Warning from the DPW

Like most Americans, upon getting home from work I check my mailbox to see what the mailman has delivered. Last week Friday I was surprised to find a slightly crumpled, grease stained note in my mailbox from the garbage man. It was a standard issue form with various possible options that could be checked off for the resident or residents of the home. I glanced down at the unfamiliar form to see what the problem was. There was a hand-written note indicating that I needed to put my garbage bag in an actual garbage can because apparently some nocturnal critters had decided to grab a late nite snack at my expense.

After thinking about this garbage situation, I deducted that my garbage bag had only been sitting at my curb for a total of 15 minutes in the morning - every Friday morning I put my garbage outside on my way to work @ 7:15 a.m. (of course I'm always running late so the garbage was probably only sitting there for a total of 10-12 minutes). In my mind I'm thinking that there is absolutely NO way that an animal had ripped open my garbage bag in that short amount of time. No way, no how. I was perplexed................

Later that evening I was still thinking about the "not-so-friendly" note from my local DPW (imagine me still ruminating over something that happened earlier in my day?!!! Surprise, surprise!). All of a sudden a monumental light bulb went off in my head......it was not a 4-legged critter that had pawed his way into my garbage bag but rather a 4-wheeled blue Subaru Forrester that had done the damage. In my haste to get to work, I ran over the garbage bag (I did recall hearing an odd sound as I peeled out of my driveway but didn't think twice about it. I blamed the sound on the 4 inch thick block of ice that was at the end of my driveway). All I can say is thank goodness it wasn't that time of the month because there was debris EVERYWHERE! I'm sure the garbage man appreciated that fact as well because if that were the case, it would NOT have been pretty. Gross! There are still remnants from last week's garbage along the curb in front of my house. Needless to say, I'm very grateful that the ice has melted at the end of my driveway because now I can pull straight out my driveway and avoid hitting my poor garbage bag (oops, I mean CAN...I don't want to irritate the garbage men. Who knows what the wrath of the DPW could mean to a local resident).

The Wheels on the Bus............

I just returned from a bus trip to Madison to watch our girls basketball team compete in the WIAA state tournament. Our school has not been to the state tournament for 25 years so this is quite an accomplishment for our team (for any team for that matter!). In order to avoid having to sit in BORING meetings all afternoon and to avoid burning a personal day, I OPTED to be a chaperone. There were 3 adult chaperones on our bus to watch over 40 + high school students. I must say that overall, the behavior of the students was rather civilized to my delight. I did take exception to the kid that walked on to the bus and said "What the F---!" when he saw how many people were on the bus. Do you actually eat out of that mouth???? The other comment that I took offense to was a student inserting "J.C." into his sentence as he was complaining about a driver cutting into our lane. Thank goodness he doesn't have his driver's license YET because once he does, I have no doubt that HE will be the one that doesn't seem to have a working blinker on his car and he will be playing frogger on the road (for those of you that are of the "X-Box" era, you probably have no idea what frogger is).
Unfortunately our team lost by 3 points after a valiant comeback in the 4th quarter. The ride home was far less pleasant than the ride up to Madison. This can be attributed to the following factors: a disappointing loss, the fact that we were on the road during rush hour (compound that with a back up due to an overturned semi.....ughhhhh), horrible music , an annoying kid sitting in the aisle across from me and the fact that whoever designed buses did not anticipate long-legged people having to endure bus rides longer than 20 minutes. As a result of my trip to Madison, I have suddenly developed arthritis in both of my knees as well as a huge kink in my neck due to the horrible angle at which I was literally wedged into my seat.

For children 4 feet tall and below, these seats probably feel like 1st class (minus the thin little stewardess delivering beverages and top grade snacks). For humans that are 6 feet tall (give or take an inch or two) this was anything but a JOY ride!!!! Does anyone know where buses are manufactured?? When my head was wedged between the window and the cushion that was digging into my knee caps, I tried to locate the manufactured in tag that you find on stuffed animals, small trinkets, toys, etc. I thought for sure that I would find a tag that said made in Taiwan or Korea or any other place that does not have a large population of taller people. I mean, come on.....they clearly did not have the best interest of all individuals in mind when they designed the seats.

Morality

Are we born with a sense of morality??? I've pondered that question for some time now. How come some people seem to operate with a moral compass while others are left directionless?? Why are some people conscious of living their lives within an ethical framework while others do whatever makes them happy, regardlesss of how their actions impact those around them? Is this a product of our modern day culture where our society is self-centered, power hungry, materialistic and focused on bigger and better things?

How can 2 people that grow up in the same household behave so differently when the same morals and values are impressed upon them from early on??? These individuals are taught to treat others with respect, appreciate the things that you are given, tell the truth and to do what is "right". Are we taught to be moral people but choose to live our lives contrary to this or is it that some people are born with a greater sense of morality?

Have you ever wondered about this?? I'm still trying to figure out the answer to this question. If anyone has an answer, I'm willing to entertain your thoughts. How does one explain the differences in human behavior as it relates to morality?? Can it be tied in to the argument of nature versus nurture??? Is there really an "answer" to this question??