Our Little Angel

We lost our little baby- Hunter two weeks ago.  He was truly my baby and our family will miss him.  He had the best personality and he always made me smile.  When he was puppy he was given the nickname "El Diablo Blanco".  He was a terrier, so he did bark and attack the door when someone was outside, but he was the sweetest dog and we all loved him like our son. 

Hunter had cancer.  We thought that he had an injury to his back and it turned out to be a tumor.  He was in a great deal of pain and he lost the use of his back legs.  Fortunately the downhill slide came quickly and only lasted one week.  He went in for back surgery and never woke up.

Our family was devastated.  It was the week before Christmas so while getting a dog as a present might have been a possible idea, there wasn't any time to search.  Enter my buddy Heather at work.  Her sister-in-law had just discovered a dog that had been living in a drain pipe and they couldn't keep her.  She was a mess.  she smelled like a sewer and her fur was all matted.  She basically looked like Chibcha from Star Wars.  She was afraid to use the bathroom outside.  She was afraid to use the leash.  She was very afraid of men. 

So here is our little Christmas miracle.  She is the most loving little girl.  Her name is Lulu.  She has really become a part of our family quickly. She has the cutest little face.  She hardly ever barks.  She is coming along fantastically with potty training and she also goes into her crate when we leave the house. We are so fortunate that we had Heather looking out for us.  Lulu is the best present we have ever received and we our definitely blessed!

The tragedy in Sandy Hook

I have tried to avoid watching too much of the news this weekend.  I can't express the sadness that I feel for the families and all the people in the town of Sandy Hook.  I can't believe the audacity of the shooter -killing little children.  This just shows that the shooter was mentally unstable.

Folks- mental illnesses and guns do not mix.  We are going to have to do a better job identifying and treating people with mental illnesses.  I am a teacher and I know that I frequently find out about students with mental illness quite far into the school year and I am am certain that many pass through my class room with no diagnosis.

I am the child of a parent with schizophrenia.  I can tell you that if we had a gun in our home when I was a child the chances that I would be writing this today would have been  slim to none.  There is no stopping someone when they are off their meds and their adrenaline is pumping.  My father could hardly stop her when she was attacking him. I think the weight difference was about 150 pounds.  She was very scary when she was off her medicine and she hurt both my sister and I on several occasions.  Today she takes her medicine and she can have some sharp-tongued verbal insults but the physical abuse has stopped. 

When someone is over 18 and they have a mental illness their family can not force them to go to the doctor. They are free to be as crazy as they want to be. the treatment often makes these people very fuzzy and sleepy and they don't like this.  When they start to feel better and hear less voices in their heads they tend to stop taking the medicine and that is when the trouble starts.

If the second amendment allows for you to protect your home with a weapon-why would you really need a gun  that was semi-automatic?  Couldn't you protect yourself with a handgun that holds 6 bullets?  We have got to do a better job with gun control.  Like Chris Rock says- tax the bullets. If you had to pay $2000 per bullet you wouldn't waste your money on drive by shootings.  I know that humor is not what is needed right now-but he has a good point.  Bullets and weapons should not be so easy to attain.

Another Gun Tragedy- Hello NRA- time to wake up!

I won't even bother to pontificate- When will we learn that when guns are available to the general public-the result will never be what a moral society should expect? 20 children died- wake up  you fucking stupid people!

Now that the endless campaign is over and the election is over let me send a plea to our president to please try to accomplish a few key issues to save our legislative process. 

Mr. Obama-
I gladly donated $500 to your campaign last June.  I believe that you are the person to get us through the financial debacle that we have been in since 2008.  I am a teacher and believe me, that sum of money was difficult to part with.  When I believe in a cause, I think that you have to give until it hurts in order to be a part of the solution to the problem.  I don't have anything to do with religion so therefore I tithe for charity and social causes.  I want to see this country take positive steps towards social issues-which I believe was the reason you won the election.  I also want us to move congress into the 21st century.

Here is a simple list of issues that I would see as important in order to move us Forward!

1. Stop some of the outdated laws that control our election process.  Get rid of the electoral college. Now is the time to get rid of it.  It helped you win the election this this round,but it is an outdated relic of the 1700-1800's.
 
2. Stop Gerrymandering- look at this district in your home state of Illinois.  Does this look like a fair district?  We know that the basic difference in the house and the senate is states have 2 senators, so that Alaska has as much power as California in the senate, but the gerrymandering to gain house seats needs to be stopped.

3.  Put a real limit on money spent on campaigns.  Who wins in the ad spending- the networks!  I will make an analogy to the nuclear arms race.  Why did the US need 30,000 nuclear weapons when 20-30 would annihilate the whole human population? Because we had to have more the "evil empire".  The same is true of campaign spending.  If you have a budget and get rid of super pack spending, money could be saved for running this country.

4. Invest in education.  Currently public schools are battlefields.  We are allowed to have 36 students per class in Georgia. No child left behind did some serious damage to our public schools.  We couldn't make progress unless we kept all students in school. The truth is that if there isn't a fear of being expelled from school, there really isn't discipline.  Without discipline, the students have too much control of the school. I am not saying that that a majority of the students are like this.  I love the diversity in our high school, but a small portion of "thugs" can really stop us moving in a positive direction. I have been teaching for 31 years and I can't handle a class size this large every day.  So many important programs are being cut and this is our future.  I realize the federal government can't get involved in every state-but something has to be done to save our schools.

I believe that this election proved that a majority of people want equality in gay rights, women's rights, minority rights.  I think the republicans now realize that they can't stomp on the will of the minorities, because they are now a majority of our country. I approve of the the way that you handled many of the social issues.  Hopefully, we can now focus on fairness for everyone. I am scared of the debt crisis. I hope the congress will now work together with you to lead us over the "fiscal cliff".

Mr. Obama- I wish you the best and I admire your tenacity. Keep us on track and move us forward as a country!

Frankensandy

I grew up on Long Beach Island in NJ.  I remember hurricanes. We used to have at least one per year when I was in high school.  Sandy only registered a 1 on the hurricane scale, but she packed a punch. This beach is now gone.  The rocks on the jetty are God knows where and who knows when things will ever be back to "normal".

I love this picture because it has my Daddy in it.  He passed away four years ago and I miss him.  He would be devastated by this week's events. He was a terrific role model. He worked diligently at m high school.  He was a guidance counselor and he really cared about the students.  He helped a whole generation of students pick the right college.  He was knowledgeable, he ran the SAT tests and he made certain that everyone had a schedule in the age prior to computers.  He arranged the schedules for every student at Southern Regional High School (over 2000) by hand.

I have worked as a teacher for the past 31 years in Dekalb county Georgia and I have only met one counselor that even came close to my Dad.

I am sorry that I strayed from my original point.  I really wanted to thank the people in charge of LBI for having the foresight to turn off the gas and to have mandatory evacuations. They saved a lot of human lives.  The island can be rebuilt.  When I was two we had the only storm that came close to Sandy. The storm of 62 wasn't a hurricane and it devastated the island.  I grew up knowing several kids that had lost their dads in this storm.   Their dads were policemen or firemen and they lost their lives trying to save the others that tried to weather the storm.  I don't remember that storm, but I do remember my dad bought our house because it was on a street that didn't flood in 1962.  Good thing he didn't have to be around to see a storm that was actually worse.

If you read this, please consider donating to the Red Cross Relief Fund. There is not much we can do to help physically.  The causeway bridge is closed and who knows when cars will be allowed on the island.  At least your money will be channeled directly to shelters and people who really need it.

Rest in Peace- RHONJ

 

Well a few days have passed since the final installment of the Jersey housewives reunion.  It was quite a ride. I just don't see how Teresa can go back to this show for another season. I think if she wants peace in her life, it is time to drop the housewives. 

 

 

I think that four against one is a pretty difficult for anyone to handle, but I mean couldn't you just admit that you hurt someone or you wrong about just one thing?  I have been a big supporter of Teresa, but I can't do it any longer.  The time has come for Teresa to leave the housewives.  She needs to think of her kids.  She needs to heal her family.  She has made enough money to live for a while.  I want the old Teresa that was fun and happy.  I miss that Teresa.  That reunion was really tough to watch.  I like all the jersey housewives and their families.  They are "real".  They say "go scratch"- that is real jersey-all the way!

Teresa- heal you family. Have fun and please don't worry, your fans want what is best for you!  It is time put your family first!

Has the Zombie Apocalpse already Started?

Does this scene look familiar?  As an educator- I am around teenagers all the time and I have to say that I find it very disturbing at the direction we are headed in terms of social skills.  If you notice in this picture the parents are the ones that are setting the standard for their children.  How are these children going to grow up to be leaders and have positive social interactions, if their parents are tuned out at the dinner table?

I am not a text- er and I get grief about this all the time.  The truth is I go to faculty meetings, events, dinners etc. and I watch all the flying fingers and it bothers me.  There are so many people that are tied to their phones that they are totally missing out on the world around them.  It is truly rude to be having drinks with someone and they are talking to you and texting at the same time. I am not a perfect person, in fact I struggle with interpersonal skills because I didn't learn them as a child, but I can recognize that we are raising a new generation that is even more self- involved as the last one. 

Don't get me wrong- there are still teens out there that are caring and appreciative.  I am lucky to teach quite a few of them.  But the trend is definitely moving towards more kids that are so involved in their electronic worlds that they have lost the art of conversation.  I see kids that receive gifts and they have no idea to express their gratitude.  They also have no idea how to speak to someone on the phone because they have never had to.

Is this the true Zombie Apocalypse?  By the way- looking forward to the third season of "The Walking Dead" tonight!

 

Which one of these is truly scarier?  I wonder?