Drew is almost here!

I am going to be a grandmother again on October 23. Yesterday my daughter and Drew were blessed with a family shower. My younger daughter and her husband represented Gran and Papa D. My daughter's blog helped me visualize the grand occasion.

Drew's birth brings back special memories. I was obsessed over older daughter feeling left out when younger daughter was born - a feeling not unique in my situation. I enjoyed reading books to my older daughter daily; this special time brought me joy. How could I continue this traditional story time when I was away from her? I decided to audio tape my reading those stories to her. The page turner was a simple bell being rung. Even if this did not help her, it did convince me that I would not be missed as much.

My older daughter allowed me to give Clayton a big brother shirt to assure him that he was not to left out.



I am so blessed with amazing daughters, son-in laws, and the first two of I hope many grandchildren.

Galveston Pre-Ike

My grandson visited the beach in Galveston when he was younger. The water is often less than pristine, but he does not seem to care. This picture at sunset was an amazing reminder to me of God's amazing power. I choose to remember Galveston through the eyes of a child, not post Ike.

After Ike

Ike has left his mark on south Texas. He was only a Cat 2, but his destruction was more like cat 4 or 5. Ike was huge. I can still hear the crashing and moaning of our trees and house. The eye was eerily silent. Then he rived his motor again. Thankfully, our fence and broken limbs were the only destructive remnants of Ike at our house. We had to do without electricity for five long days. The first two were typical Houston - hot and humid. The last three were unseasonably cool. Open widows at night provided welcomed relief. All of Houston was not so blessed. The unruly lines for ice, water, and gas were everywhere. Tempers had a short fuse. Fist fights and even gun shots were not unusual.

My younger daughter and her husband offered us refuge when their electricity came on in Day 2. Their house is a fairly newly constructed home. My wheelchair made it difficult to maneuver around in their home. A hospital bed is a necessity for me; therefore, returning to our hot house was the only option. Medical emergency power need must be register for with our electricity provider, paperwork filled out by me and my doctor, documents returned, and then and only then will the request be even considered. I was quite perplexed. I had registered my need for assistance with the city and county. I did receive phone calls of concern by both.

Galveston felt the most destruction. Only 60% evacuated. The other 40 stayed on the island. Galveston had weathered worse they thought. The evacuation was reminiscent of Rita.




Ike struck with a vengeance. The west end was destroyed. People clung to rooftops and each other as the surge engulfed the usual hussel and bussel of the gulf shores. Visions of Katrina slapped us all in the face. Will this serene cost line ever return?

Ike

This is a picture of Ike from space. His size and wrath are scary yet amazing. The storm surge will be the worst. Only 40% of the occupants of Galveston evacuated. Even as far away as we are from landfall, I am uneasy. We evacuated for Rita, and it was chaos. Please pray for all of us in the path of Ike.

God Of This City

An ex-student had this music video on his Facebook page. Thank you, Jonathan, for sharing. A city can represent our world as we know it. There are more things that we can and must accomplish.

Plagiarism?

I'm normally am not political, but when Joe Bidden was nominated as Vice President, I remembered using him to teach parody, satire and plagiarism. Read the following and draw your own conclusion:

"Plagiarism can have catastrophic consequences for one's career as a student and even later on in life—and the higher one's ambition takes one, the higher the stakes. In 1987, for instance, Senator Joe Biden, who was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, was accused of plagiarizing passages in speeches and interviews from the oratory of a British politician, Neil Kinnock. Here are some of the passages in question:

Kinnock (original)
Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university?
Was it because our predecessors were thick? Does anybody really think that they didn't get what we had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment? Of course not. It was because there was no platform upon which they could stand.
Biden
I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? Why is it that my wife who is sitting out there in the audience is the first in her family to ever go to college?
Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? . . . No, it's not because they weren't as smart. It's not because they didn't work as hard. It's because they didn't have a platform upon which to stand . . .

It turned out Biden had also borrowed passages from old campaign speeches by Robert Kennedy and had inflated his academic record. But oratory has a long tradition of borrowing and even "heavy lifting," as speechwriters call it, so Biden stayed alive in the presidential race. The last straw, however, came when it turned out that twenty years earlier Biden had received a failing grade in a law school course for plagiarizing a legal article (he'd given a single footnote while lifting five full pages from the article). Biden said he'd been unaware of the appropriate standards for legal briefs, but the public was unimpressed. His campaign collapsed and he withdrew from the race. "

College Nuts and Bolts
http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/plagiarism.html

I thought Harvey was unique...

I thought Harvey was the only Lab that hated water. A friend sent me this video from The Animal Planet. Here's proof that Harvey is not unusual. (Click the forward arrow to see the video.)

Grandchildren are a gift

This is a 4D sonogram of my second grandson. How can anyone look at this angel and not believe that God creates miracles? This precious child is - and has been since conception - a gift. Just looking at his smile is confirmation of that truth. I cannot wait to meet you, Drew. You are blessed to be born into a family of amazing, loving, godly parents and an equally unbelievably incredible big brother. Even though your big brother is only 3 1/2, he will be your protector, your teacher, your best friend.

I am in awe.

Truly Amazed

The starting of school always brought a mixture of excitement, apprehension, and unfortunately dread. Can I share life lessons? Can I modify my goals to the unique makeup of my students? Will I continue to look at each moment "outside the box", not relying on standard educational techniques? I was - and still am - determined to continue to grow as a teacher, mentor, and friend. With retirement, does that end?

I hope not. I have people in my life that I see physically, people that I share my perspectives in an online group of which I am a part, people that I have taught, people that I love. Life has many twists and turns. May we all be like my precious grandson and be truly in awe of even the simplest parts of life.

Through the eyes of a child...

When our younger daughter married a little over 14 months ago, our then two year old grandson was the ring barer. The wedding coordinator expressed serious doubts about the wisdom of this choice. But my daughter assured her that he was mature enough to handle the responsibility. The Perfect Child did an incredible job - even if he was bribed into practicing his duties by carrying a Shrek action figure on the ring pillow down the aisle. As the happy couple left to begin their married life, my daughter chose to have bubbles blown instead of the traditional rice or roses thrown at the conclusion of the gorgeous celebration. The picture above is my grandson's glee as the bubbles rained down on him.

As I reflect on the wedding, I realize his innocent perspective is what I should remember when I evaluate life's joys and disappointments. Life journeys are to be a learning experience; we are to use even the most disheartening to make us grow. Wisdom seems to come as a result of discouragement. I often am a slow learner. I need to be pounded on the head before I "get it". I am learning to be focused on the end of the journey, not on the many road blocks I may encounter.

Oh, to be a child again...