Hey Anonymous. This one's for you!

This comment was in reference to my post about my predictive text not allowing me to swear in text messages.
Just thought the people should know.

Anonymous said...
I wouldn't care for that kind of freedom of expression. Is that what you plan on feeding your sweet Sullivan when he gets a bit older and can copy cat your every word or deed? Seriously, is there something more meaty to blog about or do you persist on keeping up with your image? Like your Obama post that spiked up 80 something comments?

(first of all? the post wasn't about Obama...but whatever - and the post just inspired another post which garnered a whopping 85 or something comments. last time I checked, my high was 11.)

And you wouldn't care for that freedom of expression? Really? Interesting...I wonder if they'll try to pass a law about that as well. Protect the sanctity of our ears and all...

So friends, apparently not everybody shares our sense of humor about foul language on text messaging.

For further reference? anonymous comments are completely pointless. All that means is that you're willing to say things like that, but not brave enough to just admit who you are.
and leave my child out of it. sweet sullivan? sounds like something you could get put in jail for - that's totally creepy.
although I'd rather he know what the words meant than go using them behind my back because he thought I didn't approve.

Ready? Shit! AHH! Go running for the hills. I'll have you know that the word, "shit," for example, in other countries is considered no different than saying, "darn" or "excuse me?" In the Netherlands, I heard "shit" used from the pulpit. Whatever your perspective.

Whether or not he chooses to use them is going to be up to him. Although, I'm not exactly sure how privy my son is to text messaging, and mine in particular. Our kids live in the world, I hate to break it you, and unless I keep him locked up in the basement with myself and the rest of our family (actually, he'd probably have to be locked up with you to avoid all the evils, apparently), he's going to be exposed to anything that someone will share with him. I'd rather be the one he learns from, actually. Not some creepy little kid named Billy who pins him down in gym class and elaborates on the finer points of life.

And, for your information, every other word out of my mouth isn't a swear word, but I happened to be one of the kids who came home from school one day and asked my mom what f**k meant. And when she told me? Lord knows that it's not one I frequent.

I would be offended that you don't find my blog "meaty" enough for your taste except that I don't really care. Aren't I free to write about whatever suits my fancy? I don't remember checking any boxes on Blogger.com agreeing to specific content allowances...

I appreciate the fact that this is a public place. You're free to write whatever you want. But if you don't like it? Don't read it.

And keeping up with my image? Well, that has been a challenge for sure. Maybe you could send me a few pointers. What else would help?
Let's think....
I could pontificate about the value of a public school education. (slanderous!)
I have thoughts about the faiths of our founding fathers. (Oh stop!)

any other ideas? I just love to stir up the pot.

hmm...and it's a good idea I have one of those traffic meters...let's go see who stopped by this morning.

So if I weren't already a raging liberal based on my thoughts on abortion, government, and Harry Potter, we went and bought a hybrid this week!
It's a gently used hybrid, but earth-friendly nonetheless.
That along with our 85 year old new home (we settled this morning and were in there right away trying to figure out where to begin our journey of renovations...) has really launched us into a whole other realm of life.
What to do next?
Buy a boat perhaps?
Go on a Disney cruise?
The possiblities are endless. (well, as endless as our bank account which has taken a pretty big hit as of late.)

Craigslist...

"Wands at the ready! We are seeking "professors" and assistants to lead our
Harry Potter clubs and one night events. Our programs are currently geared to
ages 7-12 and occur in the evening, many on weekend evenings, set-up and
clean-up required. Current background checks needed.
If you are enchanted by the idea of immersing in nights of Harry Potter
mania creating potions, making wands, dueling wizards,
teaching defense against the dark arts and
shopping at Honeydukes then send us an owler of interest
(or email...or call 610-648-0405!).
Dark wizards need not apply!"

David just sent me this posting he found on Craigslist. How funny? I think we'd make a great McGonigal and Dumbledore. Actually, I'd probably be more akin to someone in the Malfoy family, what with my bad temper and all....I'd be flinging those forbidden curses right and left. It would be dangerous, for sure.

On Friday, Sullivan's PT recommended we take him to "Everybody's Park" in Horsham. I'd driven by it before, but always thought it was just sort of a cute little name to mean that everyone is welcome to do their business there.
Anyway, it's a park designed specifically for kids with special needs - the equipment is user-friendly and it is all completely ramped - nice and wide.
Perfect for a little boy to walk through with his Dad.
The entire ground of the place is covered with recycled tire flooring so it's super bouncy and new-walker friendly. Definitely go check it out - kids of all ages and backgrounds were enjoying the space - I imagine that it's even better during the week when all the older kids are in school.
The walking is getting better - he becomes a little more courageous each day...our boy is definitely NOT naturally inclined to be a risk-taker, which makes us (and him) all the more proud of his little accomplishments.
One more week as a Stay-At-Home mom - while I'm excited to get back into the classroom, there are some obvious worries - I'm just trying to enjoy these last days with him. (sniff sniff - as if these are our last days together, give me a break!)

since when has text messaging started censoring my language?
shit for example - the predictive text does not recognize it.
bastard, a favorite, is also not known.
thank you at&t for preserving the sanctity of the art of text messaging.

interesting And supports my cause - double plus

A Conservative for Obama

My party has slipped its moorings. It’s time for a true pragmatist to lead the country.

Leading Off By Wick Allison, Editor In Chief

THE MORE I LISTEN TO AND READ ABOUT “the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate,” the more I like him. Barack Obama strikes a chord with me like no political figure since Ronald Reagan. To explain why, I need to explain why I am a conservative and what it means to me.

In 1964, at the age of 16, I organized the Dallas County Youth for Goldwater. My senior thesis at the University of Texas was on the conservative intellectual revival in America. Twenty years later, I was invited by William F. Buckley Jr. to join the board of National Review. I later became its publisher.

Conservatism to me is less a political philosophy than a stance, a recognition of the fallibility of man and of man’s institutions. Conservatives respect the past not for its antiquity but because it represents, as G.K. Chesterton said, the democracy of the dead; it gives the benefit of the doubt to customs and laws tried and tested in the crucible of time. Conservatives are skeptical of abstract theories and utopian schemes, doubtful that government is wiser than its citizens, and always ready to test any political program against actual results.

Liberalism always seemed to me to be a system of “oughts.” We ought to do this or that because it’s the right thing to do, regardless of whether it works or not. It is a doctrine based on intentions, not results, on feeling good rather than doing good.

But today it is so-called conservatives who are cemented to political programs when they clearly don’t work. The Bush tax cuts—a solution for which there was no real problem and which he refused to end even when the nation went to war—led to huge deficit spending and a $3 trillion growth in the federal debt. Facing this, John McCain pumps his “conservative” credentials by proposing even bigger tax cuts. Meanwhile, a movement that once fought for limited government has presided over the greatest growth of government in our history. That is not conservatism; it is profligacy using conservatism as a mask.

Today it is conservatives, not liberals, who talk with alarming bellicosity about making the world “safe for democracy.” It is John McCain who says America’s job is to “defeat evil,” a theological expansion of the nation’s mission that would make George Washington cough out his wooden teeth.

This kind of conservatism, which is not conservative at all, has produced financial mismanagement, the waste of human lives, the loss of moral authority, and the wreckage of our economy that McCain now threatens to make worse.

Barack Obama is not my ideal candidate for president. (In fact, I made the maximum donation to John McCain during the primaries, when there was still hope he might come to his senses.) But I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history. I disagree with him on many issues. But those don’t matter as much as what Obama offers, which is a deeply conservative view of the world. Nobody can read Obama’s books (which, it is worth noting, he wrote himself) or listen to him speak without realizing that this is a thoughtful, pragmatic, and prudent man. It gives me comfort just to think that after eight years of George W. Bush we will have a president who has actually read the Federalist Papers.

Most important, Obama will be a realist. I doubt he will taunt Russia, as McCain has, at the very moment when our national interest requires it as an ally. The crucial distinction in my mind is that, unlike John McCain, I am convinced he will not impulsively take us into another war unless American national interests are directly threatened.

“Every great cause,” Eric Hoffer wrote, “begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” As a cause, conservatism may be dead. But as a stance, as a way of making judgments in a complex and difficult world, I believe it is very much alive in the instincts and predispositions of a liberal named Barack Obama.

(The article is online here.)

Had a visit with our old friend Dr. Rychik today. Have I mentioned yet how much we love him? Sullivan now greets him with a big smile and even a hug.
Things are looking great - his pulse is great all the way down in his feet, which means that the arch reconstruction is doing its job. His weight is great too - it jumped up from the measly 5th percentile to the 25th percentile...whatever that means. Better than going down, I suppose.
We'll be looking at the spring of 2010 for the third and final part of his heart reconstruction - although that's pretty far away, there is a light at the end of the tunnel - we just can't see it too well yet. But it's there...

1. I got a teaching job, finally - thanks for nothing, Philadelphia School District. I start on the 29th of September - I pushed it back so that for the next week we could focus on the next exciting news:
2. We close on our new house in just over a week! I am SO excited to start ripping down wallpaper, choosing paint colors, sewing curtains. I'm daily inspired by a blog called Design*Sponge and can't wait to get to work.
3. They're ripping up the sidewalks on our street (ironic since our street has one sort of sad streetlight and there are streets all over the place with No sidewalks, but whatever) and so when Sullivan went down for his nap yesterday, I guess they started jackhammering. Convenient. (I happened to be out - this news is via my Mom) Anyway, it immediately woke him up and he started shouting "truck, truck, truck" from his crib. His version of truck sounds more like, "Duk, duk..." I feel sometimes like he just gets cuter every day. He is this incredibly funny sweet kid. Just like his dad. (collective aww.)
4. I'm now officially a resident of Montgomery County (after mainting my NY residency for the past 16 months) and a registered Democrat. Congratulations, me. The beauty of it all, and this was a shock - I'm extremely wary of beaureaucracy - it took all of 15 minutes. Walked in, filled out the papers, took a picture, signed a couple things. Done.

and oh yeah.
Sullivan can walk!
getting up to walk is a different story, but the man can move.
hallelujah.
the only bad part of this is that now we are phasing out his PT whom we (and he) has come to love. we shall miss her!

politics...

I've been shocking myself lately when I think about how my views have changed over the past 10 years. I try to think about 20 year old Sarah and about what she thought was important and valuable, and it was such nonsense.

As I come to my own conclusions about politics and such, I've come to a few conclusions:

1. I hate when politics and (conservative) religion are mistaken for each other. It makes it really hard to discuss or debate political thought when one's faith are all tied up in it. So you think abortion is wrong and you refuse to vote for a candidate who has a pro-choice vote? What's to talk about? Since when does being a Christian = conservative republican. Thanks, in part, to my friend Annie Lamott (I wish we were friends) I can see that being a Christian doesn't mean you have to talk and look a certain way. The end is the same, but the means are up for the taking. I'm just afraid that people are missing out on so many other things that are important and that will impact generations for a lifetime and then some.

2. This whole abortion thing has me the most befuddled. I have to say that I've been moving farther and farther away from an alignment with a pro-life movement. (I've never been super into any of it anyway...) I don't know, though. I guess I think two important things....a. The government has a responsibility to uphold the ability for citizens to choose for themselves. b. abortion is just not a black and white issue. it's so much more than just some irresponsible lady walking into a clinic to get rid of an inconvenience. fact of the matter is that before roe v. wade, the leading cause of death among women were botched abortions - they had friends do it or they tried doing it themselves on the bathroom floor. I guess it's just more of a symptom of other social problems, and getting rid of it won't solve them. Tell me why the majority of Pro-Lifers offer abstinence as the only reasonable birth control? Anyway - I hate abortions - I've seen it and it's awful but truth be told, neither side is blameless - I guess I've just decided that the issue is more complicated than I wanted to admit and I think that the freedom to make an informed decision yourself is something I don't want to lose.

I guess this election has me thinking a lot, and I think it's kind of sad that so many are willing to settle for the norm. The same old thing. It would be amazing if there was finally something to look forward to - a positive change just in the way people think when they walk into a polling booth.

And that is all I have to say, for now, about the election. I'm sure you have some thoughts of your own, and I'm sure you'll love to post them. Can't wait :)

not exactly an update, but humourous nonetheless.
we read a heartbreaking story in the Inquirer this morning about the sad lack of teachers in the Philadelphia School District. How the poor children had to go to schools with vacancies totaling 160. How the rise in gas prices and the competitive nature of the suburbs are luring teaching away from the city. Who wants to drive to these jobs?
HAHA.
I promptly sat down and wrote a letter to the writer - the poor district who can't find teachers? How about the 450 teachers on a waiting list? How about the district sits around on their thumbs and hasn't hired teachers ready to teach? How about some conspiracy so that teachers have their salaries pro-rated - because a substitute will have been in my class until I get hired, I won't be paid for a full calendar year of teaching!
It was a sad little article to be sure. Meant to tug on the heartstrings and make people feel bad for the vacant human resources waiting room.
Give me a break.
On second thought, maybe I'll run for mayor....or superintendent. Do you have to live in the city to acquire one of those positions?

The Philadelphia School District is jacked up. It's absolutely amazing that a district that services so many children appears to put them last on their list of priorities. The bureaucracy and "their way" of doing things is completely archaic and ... well ... dare I say lazy?
As someone who has been approved to teach in the district, I have no choice but to sit and wait until they fill "high need" positions. In my mind, a classroom without a teacher is high-need whether there are 30 positions open or 85. But no. Foreign language is more of a high-need area. Only because they have so much more trouble finding teachers to fill those positions. Grade level teachers are a dime a dozen, I'll give them that, but I'm actually high up on their list of over 450 candidates. Give me a job already! The first day of school is tomorrow.
I was reading an article about why large urban school districts have such trouble attracting highly qualified experienced teachers and one of the largest problems is a late hiring timeline.
The district would rather pay a substitute teacher to start the year with my future students rather than just stick me in somewhere. Anywhere. I actually want to teach in the city, if you can believe it.