The Day the Music Died

Today has been twenty nine years since John Lennon was murdered in the streets of New York. I was only a little girl then, but how vividly I remember this great loss. What a sad day indeed. I hope that we have learned something in the past twenty nine years.

National Board Certification

As of today I am now a National Board Certified Teacher! Scores were released today, and the second time was the charm for me. :) I am so very thankful that this process is over, and I have finished. Yeah!!

The Winner’s Cup

So last night my kids came home from Bible study with ec Magazine in hand. The new issue is out, and I did not even realize it! My article appears in the November issue. (This is actually a picture of September's issue, but I couldn't find a pic of November...sorry) The article is about Humility. It is the third such article that I have done for them. Man, it sure is nice to see your name in print...and I mean that in the humblest of ways. :) Perhaps I need to reread the article...

Turning the last corner of the track, you lengthen your stride down the straight away, and you pick up the pace to finish strong. You lift your face toward the sun and raise your arms in triumph as you stick out your chest to meet the finish line. You finish the race first, several lengths in front of the second place contender. The crowd cheers loudly, and they are applauding for you! What an exhilarating feeling! Excellence and perfection are marvelous qualities to have in your game, your performance, or your presentation; however, how you handle yourself the next day can prove to be the most difficult hurdle to jump.

Developing your talents and becoming the best that you can be are exactly what God wants for you. After all, he is the one who blesses each individual with particular gifts needed for the plan that he has for their life. Each of us has a cup from which to drink in our lives. Jesus’ cup or plan for his life was sacrificing himself making a way for our forgiveness. It was no easy cup either. Even Jesus who had lived a perfect life and excelled in every area, acknowledged that the cup he faced with the Crucifixion was difficult, but he humbly surrendered his life. While in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed to the Father and yielded his own life to God’s plan for him. Jesus prayed, “…nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

Jesus was perfect and gifted in all areas. Even at a young age he was very knowledgeable and was able to teach Biblical scholars about the Bible. He lived a flawless life. If anyone has bragging rights it would be him.

However, he demonstrated by example the need to remain humble even when gifted with the ability to surpass others. It is important to remember that even though we might be talented with earthly abilities, as Christians our reward should be heavenly. God has chosen a specific path for us. That path is not about lifting ourselves up for others to see, but it is about other people seeing Christ lifted up in our lives. Certainly we should become the best we can be in all areas of life so that we can best be used by God; however, we should remain focused on our walk with Christ and not become distracted by pride or self importance.

Humility or having a modest opinion of yourself is one of the first hurdles in striving for Christlike perfection. Humbling yourself and accepting your cup or Christ’s plan will bring honor and self worth in the end. In Proverbs 22: 4 the Bible says “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.” Sounds pretty rewarding. As we “finish our course” let’s remember that the winning cup in our life’s race is humbling ourselves before Christ and allowing his love to shine through us for others to see.

The Importance of Spell Check

Being the word junkie that I am, you may not find it surprising that I visit my public library frequently. I love the library, and in our city we have a marvelous library services department. I am so very fortunate to have such a resource. With that said, I have a little story for you. :)

So, recently I needed to return a book that I had read that was borrowed from my local branch. My oldest child was going in that direction, so I asked her to slip the book into the slot to be returned. The book was On the Rez by Ian Frasier, a book about an American Indian reservation. I am very interested and enjoy reading about contemporary American Indian issues and political concerns. (Don’t get me started…there are already other posts about this subject…)

So off she goes, book in hand to return it. This was about three days before the due date. So the day right before it was due, I received an email stating that I needed to return the book or renew it so that I would not incur late charges or penalties. Thinking that the bookkeeping just had not caught up with the computer or that my kid had forgotten to return the book, I renew the item.

I interrogated my child that evening to find that she had indeed returned the book. I chalked it up to a time lapse between computers and personnel, and I forgot about it…for a while…until I received a second email on the day prior to the new renewal date stating that I should return the book once again. I was promptly agitated and shot off an email to the generic email address listed in the reminder message. I stated that I had returned the book, and I told them about renewing it so as to avoid a late charge, etc. etc. Ok…so I was courteous, but firm in my assertion that the book was returned and that my library record should be rectified.

I received an email response several minutes later. As I read, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. The girl with which I work came over to the desk and read over my shoulder, and we both laughed so hard we were crying. This is the response from the head librarian in charge of the circulation desk at the largest library in town.

“I called the Princess Anne Library and they found the book on the shelf. The item is now checked in off of the library record. We apologize for any incontinence.”

Not sure what she was thinking about as she was writing, but it was sure good for a laugh that day for me.

Instant Karma

As a parent you learn to at least try to be patient with your children. You listen to their woes, you dispense advice, however you are often dismissed. So it goes.

Last week I had the rare opportunity to feel a bit of vindication as a mom in the dismissal category. My middle child was assigned an independent reading project for her English class. She was to choose a novel from an assigned list that the teacher had given. We reviewed the list together, we chose a novel, she informed her teacher of the choice, and I advised her to get the book from the library. This is where the dismissing part comes in…

Yes, my child was born a procrastinator. She never went to get the book. She put it off, and put it off continually. Imagine that. As time was beginning to become short, I looked for it myself in the school library, but it was not on the shelf. So last week she finally went to the public library to check out the book, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. Her sister took her to the local branch of the public library and waited for her to get the book.

She searched the electronic catalogue and was thrilled to see that there was one last copy available. Alas! She jotted down the numbers and headed to the shelf to retrieve it. As she approached the shelf her glee transitioned into disappointment as she scanned the numbers and her eyes came to rest on the book in question.

Now, let me tell you. When my child entered the door of the house with this book I practically fell over from laughter. Karma is a wonderful thing sometimes. She came into the house, looking very dejected with the most monstrously huge novel I have ever seen in my life. It turns out that the only copy the library had left on the shelf was a picture book version of the book within an anthology of six Jane Austin novels. While the book has the full version of the text of Pride and Prejudice, this thing looks like it weighs about thirty pounds. I could not help but laugh.

I am such a mean mother. I just hope that she learns a little lesson about procrastination from lugging a humongous book around while trying to read it. I told her, amid loud guffaws of laughter, that this happened because she did not listen to her mother.

Maybe she will learn… Just maybe…

Krakauer's Newest Release

I have been waiting.

Waiting since 2003 for Krakauer to come out with another book.

Two years ago I heard Krakauer talk about a new book, and I heard rumors that it would be about Pat Tillman. I was intrigued.

Two years ago. It’s been a while. I am betting that it was worth the wait.

And so today is the day. After numerous postponements, numerous delays, Krakauer’s newest book Where Men Win Glory; The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (originally entitled "The Hero") is slated to be released today. Originally, it was to be released in October 2008, then January 2009, and then finally September 2009. It’s been a long time coming.

I am very anxious for my pre-ordered copy to arrive. I LOVE Krakauer, and I find the subject matter of the book riveting as well. I am very interested to see what he has to say about the loss of this young man as well as the loss of many of our soldiers.

I anticipate devouring this book upon arrival. I will keep you posted and give a review once I finish!

Blog Changes

Well, I am just posting a quick note here for readers. I decided to change the format of the blog today. It seems that some really strange stuff was going on with the blog. Over the course of the past week or so several weirdo's have posted things that were rather disconcerting to me. Since I do occasionally post general information about my family, kids, etc. I decided to change the "permissions" for the blog and only make it available to invited readers.

The information that I put there is not specific and I may be over reacting, but I would rather be safe than sorry. The blog will still roll over as a "note" on my Facebook page, and any of my Facebook "friends" will still be able to read it there even if not invited on the blog site.

If you know someone who likes to read the craziness that I put down on paper but cannot access the blog, tell them to email me. I will invite them as I see fit. Or I may not. I am all powerful in my small little blog world you know. *insert sinister laugh here*

My Sister, the Psychic

Do you know any of those people whose life is constantly inundated with chaos? You know the type…there is always something crazy happening to them. There’s always a story to tell…you know those people right?!?

I am one of those people.

Of course I have a story for you.

And so, it was my husband’s birthday this past weekend. Bless his heart; he always had a birthday right at the opening of the school year. A fate worse than death for a child you know.

Well, as sort of a birthday celebration/last hurrah before we delve into the arduous school year schedule my husband and I took a short overnight trip on the motorcycle. We checked the weather, arranged for my sister to have the children, and made a hotel reservation. The weather was gorgeous, my sister was happy to have the kids over, and the hotel was accommodating. We were very excited. The Skyland Drive beckoned.

We attended church Sunday morning, and then dropped off my car at my sister’s house before hitting the open road. It was just beautiful. We meandered all around the back roads of Virginia, visited a very nice antique shop, and had a lovely dinner at a restaurant in Gordonsville, Virginia and checked into the hotel.

Monday morning we awoke early, and we were cruising down the Skyline Drive before 9 a.m. All was right with the world. By two we were headed back down 460 E and our trip took a turn for the worse. Oh my.

It all started with a little rain. Not too much you know…just a little sprinkle. We had been watching the weather for several days and had seen that there was no rain headed our way of which to speak, so we didn’t worry too much at first. But it continued. It rained harder. It began pouring. Did I mention we were on the motorcycle? Yeah.

I had my rain jacket that I had only really brought for warmth. The jacket did little for my jeans. When I was finally able to peel them off they weighed about 50 pounds.

We finally reached my sister’s house. Tom dropped me off and hurried home to get the bike out of the rain. I got out of my wet clothes, but only had pajamas to put on. Since we were only going for over night, I just planned on wearing the same pair of jeans both days. The motorcycle is rough on your clothes, and I hated to ruin two pairs jeans. Alas, this left me with only pajamas to put on at my sister’s house.

When I exited the bathroom from changing, she had a good laugh at my expense. She chuckled aloud of the sight of me standing in my pajamas and bare feet (Tom had taken my only other pair of shoes with him in his haste to get the bike home, and my boots were soaked.) I hurriedly helped the kids collect their items and load up the car. I voiced my concern about my appearance aloud to my sister before exiting her front door to leave.

She stated, “I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean, whose gonna see you unless the car breaks down or something.”

We can all expect her to have her own 800 number soon for callers to find out their future.

I left her house in the pouring raining. About a mile from her house as I pulled away from a stop sign and shifted from first gear to second, my car cut off. I coasted off of the major highway that I had just entered. I was half on the road and half off of it. I tried to start the car several times to no avail. I tried to call Tom. He was apparently still on the bike trying to get home and unable to answer.

I called my brother in law. He came with jumper cables. Bless his heart too. I didn’t need jumper cables. He’s a great brother in law, but I know as much about cars as he does (which isn’t all that much). He helped me push it out of harms way into the driveway of a nearby house. I feel confident that the people who lived there had made popcorn and were pulling up the LazyBoy to the front windows to watch my saga unfold. I swear I saw the curtains move, but no one ever came out to offer help.

Sighing heavily I exited the driver’s seat and popped open the hood to survey the unseen damage. As I stood in my pajamas and bare feet up to my ankles in water on the flooded driveway, I stared into the engine of my car, sheets of rain waving over me. As the passing traffic whizzed by with rubbernecking drivers, I pushed a few wet strands of hair from my faced, and decided to call Triple A.

I gave the AAA operator my number and information. She said that she would call me back with more information and a time when the wrecker would come for the car. My brother in law took the kids back home with him, and I waited for the call back. And waited and waited and waited. I finally called them back. The Triple A lady had given the towing service the wrong number. Of course she did. Why wouldn’t she?

The tow truck finally showed up and took my poor car to a Honda dealership as I stood in the rain in my pajamas and watched it leave. *Sigh* Thankfully the tow truck drive tactfully neglected to comment on my attire, or lack thereof. Good thing for him.

Did I mention that all of this occurred on the night before school starts? Yes, my nine year old son was finally able to shower and get into bed about 10 o’clock last night. No, he won’t be tired on the first day of school. Everyone lets their nine year old's stay up until ten the day before school starts.

Needless to say, I was exhausted after the two hour intense, unsafe, and drenching motorcycle ride, and the pajama wearing, bare feet stint I did in the pouring rain with the car. I was very happy to close my eyes and attempt to sleep.

I am thinking that this is all entirely my sister’s fault. She’s the one who told me that it would be just fine to drive home in my pajamas. I think that I will blame her. Besides, think of all the money that she will be making in her new job as a psychic.

Losing the Walmart Battle(field)

As I was taking a look at the news earlier this week, I came across an article which informed readers that they could chalk another one up for Walmart.

Much to my chagrin, I learned that the ongoing battle for the Wilderness Battlefield in northern Virginia, an historical site from the War Between the States, was lost to the huge department store chain. Despite the concerns of community members, voters, historians, environmentalists, and one of my favorite actors ever, Robert Duvall the town council voted to allow Walmart to build a "supercenter" literally on top of part of this historic site.

I have mentioned this previously hereand discussed how I L-O-V-E Robert Duvall, who by the by just happens to be a direct descendant of Robert E. Lee...not too shabby. He lives in that area, and he was an adamant objector to the building of ONE MORE FREAKIN' WALMART. Well, you know...cause there are just not enough of them.

I found it ironic that the people in the picture have signs that say, "Keep our $$ in our county." Uhhh...Yah. Do you know anything ABOUT Walmart?!? If they did and truly wanted their money to stick around their community, they would be "Keepin' It Weird."

Oh well...progress you know.

Finding Your Long Lost Love

Today I read an article in which the founder of Papa John's Pizza has finally rediscovered his long lost love. What a lovely story. And when I say lovely, I really mean that I am jealous.

I have heard the advertisement for years about how this guy sold his muscle car to start a pizza chain, and now he has a huge franchise that has stores all over the country. And of course they still use the same wholesome and quality ingredients in their pizzas...yada, yada, yada...

Well, apparently the owner of Papa John's was finally able to locate his long lost love, the muscle car, this week. He purchased it from the guy for $250,000 written on a gigantic check. And, of course, it is a Camaro. Now...while it is a '71, not my favorite year because of the change in body styles, I would be happy to drive such a machine. I know that he is so very happy. What a fun find!

What a lovely story about true love and living happily ever after. *sigh*

Nancy's Kid, the Rock Star

The girl with which I work every day, Nancy, has a daughter just a little older than mine. Nancy and I are the only two ITRT's, Instructional Technology Resource Teachers, so we work closely together...and have very official sounding titles. :)

This past weekend her daughter Kat went to a show at the NorVa. This is a clip of the show. She was called on stage and played guitar with the band. Way cool! Go Kat!!

There's No Place Like a Teepee

As I was drinking coffee this morning, I ran across this article about a couple who is selling their house and moving into a teepee. Since I spent a large chunk of the summer in a tent myself, I was intrigued. You can take a look at the video and article. For me I think that the most surprising element of the article was the comments by readers. As of the time when I am posting this link, every single comment was positive regarding the decision made by these folks. I found that rather surprising.

Can't say that what they are doing isn't appealing. Some days I think that I would like to do the same. People joke Tom all the time because of our traveling out west and his desire to move out there...they say, "What, do you want to be a cowboy when you grow up?!?" His standard reply is, "No, I'd rather be an Indian." There is truly something to be said for living simply.

I thought that it was an interesting article. Guess we will see how these people make out...good luck to them!

Go West Young Woman

And so I am finally back from our big trip out west. *sigh*

We had such a wonderful time. Our family traveled all around UT (and briefly in CO) and camped the entire month of July. We saw so many really beautiful and inspiring things! I can hardly wait to bore you all to tears with everything that we saw and did!

I am sorry that I left you hanging...I did not drop off the face of the earth. I just had so much junk to do to get ready to leave (Did I mention that I have three kids?!?) that I forgot to tell everyone that I would be away for a month. Sorry about that...

I am currently in the process of catching up on the gazillions of things that occurred (or did not occur) in my absence. Once I get myself straightened out (yah right) I will post all about the trip. It truly was too marvelous for words though I will attempt to describe it :)

I look forward to catching up on what all of you have been doing with your summer as well!

Wordless Wednesday

Hee, hee, hee...

Confession Tuesday, or the Great Snozola Debacle

I know that it is confession Tuesday. I don’t wanna confess. So here’s a story for you. Just another regular, normal ol’ evening in the Harrell household.

Last night Tom and I ran up to Barnes and Noble for a little while. I had been waiting for a couple of books to come in (Three Cups of Tea and The Time Traveler's Wife), and they had them in stock. I wanted to get them before we leave on "the big trip" so that I would have some reading for the road. So off we go.

The children stayed at home. My son, the youngest, is eight. He stayed with his sisters who are both teenagers and who baby-sit regularly for him as well as nieces, nephews, neighbors, etc. No problem.

Tom and I arrived at home books in hand. We open the door, and my son is lying on the couch with ice on his nose. Hmmm…ok. So, I ask for the story. My oldest was in the shower and saw nothing. She only exited the shower, clad in a towel and dripping upon the screaming in the living room. The middle one, very nonchalantly, says while shrugging, “I don’t know what he was doing, but he stabbed himself.”

This was stated as though there was no reason at all for any concern from his mother.

Of course, being the calm and reasonable person that I am, I refrained from panic or outrage. I merely resorted to a slight tone elevation in my voice. And by slight, I really mean tons.

So, it appears that while trying to take a tag off of something with the largest pair of scissors known to man, practically akin to hedge clippers, my son stabbed himself up inside his right nostril. There was much blood, and his little nose swelled completely shut on that side. Thankfully, the blade did not exit the other side of the nostril and pierce his nose all the way through. (While I am aware that nose piercing is in style these days, I hardly find that it is trendy to do this yourself with rather large scissors. Call me crazy...)

So there I was for the evening…bag of ice in hand holding it to the swollen and bleeding nose of my son debating back and forth as to whether or not the doctor could put stitches up inside of an eight year old nose. Eventually it did stopped bleeding, and we dodged the trek to the emergency room. Bless his heart; he will have to finish up these last couple days of school with a swollen and sore nose.

I think that... just perhaps... it’s time to brush up on the babysitter class information. But really you know…it’s not like they were babysitting. It was only their brother.

Yep, just another regular, normal ol’ evening in the Harrell household…

Confession Tuesday

When I went to check the news this morning, I came across this video on the local news website. They were featuring a local car show which is being held as a fundraiser for the local food bank. Now, of course, I have already mentioned my L-O-V-E for the Camaro. You can read about it here or here. This little clip gives an overview of the body styles of the Camaro, and shows you the newest model which you can apparently take home for about twenty four grand. So I am collecting donations... :)

World's Greatest Daddy

This year for Mother's Day, my father made cards for each of his three daughters. He did this stealthily, and then he gave them to our children so that they could give them to us on Mother's Day. He made a decorative, but blank insert for them to sign and write their sentiments. All of our cards were customized just for us.

My sister Mary Ann's card was all about UNC because she is a big sports fan and is all about University of North Carolina. It had funny pictures of her and her husband with UNC players while they were getting autographs. It had pictures of her two kids dressed in UNC clothes from head to toe. And, of course, the card was Carolina Blue.

My other sister Joy's card had Disney characters with funny little sayings. It had her prom picture in which she and her husband are standing next to Cinderella's carriage going to the ball. It had her children's heads pasted on various Disney scenes. It was really cute.

Below is my card. It is just precious! I laughed so hard! My Dad is so thoughtful...I have the greatest Daddy in the world! As a side note...the 70's were a scary fashion period...oh my.

Front of Card (me as a baby with my mom)

Inside of Card

Back of Card

And Now for My Next Book...

I know that I am slow to get on the popular fiction bandwagon. If it is an Oprah book, chances are, I have not read it. It’s just not my thing. I prefer nonfiction generally, stuff that many people would find boring.

However, I was encouraged by several people to read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. So, Friday as I was leaving school, I stopped in the library and picked it up. I went home, went about the usual routine, and when I had a minute I sat down with the book.

I got up about four hours later. I found it to be a riveting book. Very difficult content, not easy to read about many of the things that happen in the book, but it was a beautifully written novel. Just beautiful. Insightful as well. The author gave me a perspective on Afghanistan to which had not previously been exposed. He caused me to think about things in a different way. I truly enjoyed the book even though it was not easy to take in some of the events in the plot.

It’s not for the faint of heart, but I would highly recommend it. I am taking home A Thousand Splendid Suns this weekend, and I can’t wait.

Wordless Wednesday

This one for for my friend Mark...look out for those alligators buddy!

Confession Tuesday

And for today’s confession?

I have Bruce Willis lust.

Yes, I know he’s bald. Yes, I know he is middle aged. Yes, I know all of this. I just can’t resist that smirk.

How did this happen you may ask? Well, it all began with a little show called Moonlighting. Yes, I was a faithful, nay dare I say, addicted viewer to Moonlighting. Every Tuesday when I was a teenager, I would lock up at the little outdoor recreational store where I worked selling canoes and backpacks, and I would drive to my boyfriend’s house. At 9 p.m. we watched Moonlighting together. I guess he watched Moonlighting. I secretly watched Bruce. I could not care less about Cybil.

That show was marvelously written. I loved seeing what the writer’s had for us each week. The sexual tension in the show was great, and the dialogue was witty and sharp. Recently, I have discovered that Netflix (again…let me just mention how much I love Netflix…) has all of the seasons of Moonlighting on DVD. We are currently on season three, disk two. :) The Atomic Shakespeare episode. We watched that one last night. Love it!

My Bruce love rekindled. Of course, once Die Hard came out, I felt betrayed. All kinds of people figured out how great he was. How dare they say they like him?!? Have they been watching all along? I think not. Did they risk missing curfew and being on restriction for about a million years to watch Bruce. No. Well, I certainly did. Every Tuesday, I raced home as soon as the credits rolled hoping to beat the lights in order to get home within the five minute window my parents gave me. Later then 10:05 and my social life for the week was over. It was worth the risk just to see that smirk.

Yah, I know. Three kids and one divorce from Demi later, I still think he’s all that. Maybe lost the edge a little, but he still has the smirk. *melt, sigh*