Anti-Litter Letterboxers

Woohoo! A group of letterboxers in my area are enthusiastic about my idea to adopt a road for litter clean-up. :) Pictures of me in a stylish, neon-orange vest to come in the future. :D

Letterboxing and Oil Changing and Racist Math?

I attended another letterboxing event this weekend....my last for a couple of months. :) Spectacular fun was had by Olivia and myself. I'm not even sure how many letterboxes I found since some of them haven't technically been planted yet. I did manage to get two plants accomplished myself. I've also decided to host my own event in March....an Easter themed hootenanny. I'm sure I'll be a basketcase in the planning of that. :)

Today was quiet and uneventful. I got the oil changed in my car, caught up on phone calls and worked on creating some letterboxes. After dropping Grace off this evening, we headed back home to enjoy a peaceful evening with Viva Pinata.

Earlier this week I went to the county MATHCOUNTS competition. (Yes, I know....how nerdy am I that I coach MATHCOUNTS?) I was horribly alarmed to see that our school was the only one in the county that didn't have a solid white team...what's up with that??? I'm alarmed that for one reason or another, only white students seem to be participating in this program in most schools. Are minorities being discouraged? Are they not signing up for some reason? I don't guess it's something you would exactly start an outreach program for, but it just seemed so stunningly wrong to me. Any ideas out there?

Nonprofit of the Week #3

The nonprofit for this week is one that is well known to many...the Make A Wish Foundation. The reason I'm mentioning this popular organization is that there have been rumors that they have gone bankrupt because one child wished for neverending wishes. That was actually a story reported by The Onion, which many of you know is not a true news organization. For those of you who are not familiar, The Onion is meant to be satire/giggle-worthy (not always successful). I wanted to help spread the word that Make A Wish is not actually silly enough to bankrupt themselves by giving one person unlimited wishes. Geez.

Fantabulous Extended Letterboxing Weekend

I spent the majority of yesterday and today on letterboxing quests. Yesterday I braved the crazy-cold with Dina, Jenn and Ellie to find some letterboxes in local parks. Today, I went to Asheville and joined Olivia for some "drive by" letterboxes. It was waaaaay to cold for us to even think about actually going for a hike. Maybe we're just weenies. :) That left me with a total of 18 finds and 2 plants over the two days. Woohoo! Next weekend, Olivia and I are attending a letterboxer gathering (yes, I know how nerdy that is and I'm okay with it) where there should be oodles of new boxes. Woot!

It's back to work with me tomorrow....kind of a three day week for me because I'll be at a Math Counts competition on Friday (translate: not at school).

John has to travel to Oregon tomorrow for work....send prayers for safe flights and travel. :)

Have a great week, everyone!

Blizzard 2008

John and I were so impressed with the snow "storm" today that we thought it deserved a name. Maybe Harvey or Sam. :) Our one to three inches turned out to be a pretty snowfall with no accumulation thus far. Frank, however, was alarmed by the situation...

If you look very closely, you can see snowflakes on his back. Take note of the massive amounts of snow piled around him. Yep, I'm sure glad we had bread and milk. We would have likely not made it through if we hadn't prepared appropriately. Ah well, maybe next time.

In other news, Simon the Cat has taken to wearing fancy jewelry and prancing about the house.

Believe it or not, I am not the one responsible for this moment of animal dress-up....nope, this one is actually brought to you by John. I think that means I've converted him to the dark side. Insert maniacal laugh here.

Nonprofit of the Week #2

This week's nonprofit organization is Friends of the Pine Ridge Reservation. This organization actually helps several different groups in improving the lives of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Just some brief info I found about this reservation....

• made up of two of the poorest counties in the United States
• infant mortality rate is 5 times that of other parts of the nation
• average age of death for men is 47

To find out more about the reservation, read this Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Ridge_Indian_Reservation

Family Visit and a Little Rant

I got back last night from visiting my mom and my sister. I had a great time chatting and hanging out with my mom. We got a lot of things accomplished for her....getting her medicine ready for the next month, filling insulin needles, paying bills....that sort of thing.

My sister and I spent some time going through scrapbooking and craft stuff so that we can donate a lot of it to charity. We ended up with so much stuff that we've had to revise who is going to get it....no way can we afford to ship it to South Dakota like we had originally planned. I'm sure we can find somewhere local to one of us so that it can be dropped off rather than shipped. I also got to see her pet frog, Fred, for the first time. Very cute little guy. And I discovered that my sister and her husband make their own wine. John and I aren't wine drinkers, but I promised we would try it. :) I was lured in by the super pretty blue bottle. Entertainment was provided by way of my brother-in-law being attacked repeatedly by small children...never fear, he was able to fend them off.

I even managed to plant two letterboxes and stumble upon a park that I had no idea existed. Woohoo! And now John and I are going to spend the day being slugs...well, except for going to the grocery store and knitting. :) Grace went back to her mommy's last night because she has a funeral to go to. :(

Tomorrow, I get to give my students the second nine weeks reading test. And Tuesday they have to take the math test. That's right....two days per nine weeks (more for other grades) lost to testing that is supposed to prepare them for the big test at the end of the year. That's No Child Left Behind at work. These kids, their teachers and administration are under so much pressure to pass this one test at the end of the year that is supposed to give some indication of what was learned that we actually have to waste instructional time doing district testing to practice. It makes me furious. School isn't about education anymore...it's about one set of test scores. Grrr. I could go on about this for hours, but I'll spare you. :)

Happy Sunday!

Politics

I've spent the better part of this evening educating myself on presidential candidates. After reading until my mind is almost numb, I think I've made my choice. Of course, the choice fell right in line with my first instinct anyway. Because I don't particularly enjoy political debate, I'll not announce my choice, but I do encourage everyone to read up and educate themselves on the possibilities. Frank has been at my side all evening trying to influence my opinion...something about a write in vote for the Taco Bell dog. Nutty creature.

I'm not sure why, but this presidential race is captivating my interest much more than previous elections. Perhaps because I've gotten a bit older and more aware of my surroundings? Or, maybe, because of my job...I have become much more concerned and aware about issues in education and poverty. It could just be that I've fallen prey to the media's masterminds of hype.

Here's a picture of Frank giving a little talk on what he considers to be the key issues....meatier dog food, squeaky toy safety and, of course, the underfunded Dogs in Space program.

Nonprofit of the Week #1

I thought it would be interesting to seek out a nonprofit organization every week to share with any readers I may have. This week I'm going to highlight an organization that my sister led me to...Carnivore Preservation Trust. They have a 55 acre facility that provides a haven for rescued kitties of the large variety. You know those poor tigers and lions that you hear about on the news that some dummy thought would be a good pet? Or the abused animals in poorly run zoos and circuses? This is where these big ole kitties go to be safe and well taken care of. Very cool. Educational tours are available (it looks to be by appointment only). I've already decided to take John and Grace to visit when the weather gets a bit warmer. I hope you check it out...there are some super pictures of the cats on the site, as well as tons of educational information.

Now let's see if I actually remember to do this every week. :)

The Best Weekend of 2008 (So Far)

This has been a fabulous weekend in terms of letterboxing. There was a letterboxer gathering in Asheville that Olivia and I attended on Saturday. We found 13 letterboxes and I planted 2 in the world. We also met several very nice letterboxers and were able to visit with some we've met before.

Today, I went out into the world with Dina and "found" 3 letterboxes (I was with her when she planted them, so it's not as though it took serious ninja skillz or anything) and planted 4. And then there was the Japanese lunch...yummy.

So a weekend total of 16 found and 6 planted....not bad at all. Time to replenish the tower of 'boxes. I have so many ideas....I'll never manage to make all of them. One idea is inspired by this picture (which I'm just sharing because I think it's funny)...

John and I went into the world of shopping today...always frightening. :) We found a replacement digital camera for the one that was stolen in the great robbery of 2007. We're very pleased with it...it cost the same amount as our last one, but is far superior. Time has a way of doing that to technology.

We also did a great deal of discussing our next trip to Hunting Island State Park. Ahhhh....camping on the beach - I can't wait to go back. Of course, that probably won't happen until August, but it's still fun to plan. :)

Have a great Monday, World!

Rest in Peace, Fudge

John, Grace and I visited the Carolina Raptor Center this past summer to learn about all of the amazing raptors here in NC. While there, we adopted a small screech owl named Fudge....cute little thing. We found out today that Fudge has passed away. That little owl accomplished a lot, though...how many birds of prey get to play such a part in education???



We are now the proud new adoptive family of Hermes the Screech Owl.

A Knittin' Good Time

I have been knitting like a crazed yarn junkie the past few days. I have completed another block for the Warm Up America afghan. I'm posting a picture, but I haven't blocked it yet...the edges still look cattywampus....it will look better later. :)

I've also been making stamp pouches for my letterboxes. Those of you who letterbox will appreciate this...

Yep....that's a stack of nine letterboxes all ready to go. Stamps carved, logbooks made and stamp pouches knitted/crocheted. Woohoo!

John and I have been participating in the most unusual of activities for us...purchasing and consuming healthy food. There are actually things in our home with words such as "organic" and "veggie burger." Just one of the facets of our "live better" plan.

Reading sidenote: I'm almost finished with The Historian...it's a great book and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and/or vampire lore. I've also finished reading Framework for Understanding Poverty for work...some of this book is just common sense, but some of it is very enlightening. Anyone who works with an economically diverse group (especially teachers) would probably gain insight from this book.

Celebratin' and Goal Makin'

As promised, we actually did have a small celebration for Frank's big day. I mean, it's not everyday that a pooch turns 2. A story in pictures....

The gifts are set out for the birthday boy....

He looks at his haul in awe....

Of course there was a little something yummy for the humans involved....while Frank (and Simon) enjoyed some scrumptious animal food, John, Grace and I had some cupcakes. :)

In other news, I'm off to a fabulous start with my goal for 2008. I spent about 3 hours today knitting for the Warm Up America afghan that I'm working on with some awesome ladies from Atlas Quest. Here are some pictures of the two blocks I've finished so far and a third one that's in progress.

It's back to work with me tomorrow. I hope everyone had a great first day of the year!