February always seem like a whirlwind. Maybe it is the two missing days, maybe it is the shorter days so that it seems all I do it get up, go to work, cook dinner, go to bed and start over. I am not sure, but it flies by. Here we are 5 days in and I asked someone yesterday how their new year has been, like 2017 just got here. February is the month of love, so I wish it was longer. We find out about colleges in March, so I wish it would fly by. Such is my life.
If you have been paying any kind of attention, you know we have a new president and at least half of
the country does not like him. I personally think he is a salesman and everything he does is motivated by the highest bidder. I have so much to say about how he has the potential to cause the fall we have been saying is coming for years for the US. However, no effect is without a cause, so suffice it to say for now, we are reaping what we have sown. An ignorant, uneducated populace who sees the return to the "good old day" that none of them lived through as the answer to their problems.
We have underfunded education for at least two generations allowed college degrees to be the only way you can have a decent life. But the cost of that life will keep you from truly living. So, we have an angry, divided nation of people who can't afford to better themselves in the traditional way of education because the one they can afford has been devalued. Solution? Start by following the model that works and scrap the rest.Our city has one of the top elementary schools in the nation and what has made it great? Mandatory parental involvement. I admit I am part of the problem in my city as my kids go to private school. Why? Because the school we are zoned for was a failing school when they would have entered high school. Could I have gotten involved and joined other parents in making it a good school? Maybe. Was I willing to sacrifice my kids education for that improvement? No. Hypocrite much? Yes! In my defense, it is going to take the families with kids that start in elementary and move up to improve a school. The elementary in the zone is already a great school. Middle school and high school should be just 6 years behind that if they keep parents involved.
On a positive note, I have watched my daughters get even more engaged. They are both involved in Amnesty International and were recently involved in creating an activist group. They gathered with their friends to march and attended a vigil to protest the Muslim ban. I have hope the generation that is in high school and entering college will be the level of fired up that we have not seen on social issues since before Bernie entered the race. After all, they are the grass roots voters for our next election cycle.
I have worked hard on getting my goals achieved in 2017. The fam and I did a 28 day detox of spinach smoothies, salads and no grains. All of us feel so much better. I took a felting class at Chattanooga Workspace, which was fun, and I have read a lot of books. Here's the update and some shots from the local Women's March held in January, which I marched in along with my husband, daughters and mother-in-law.
Happy February!
If you have been paying any kind of attention, you know we have a new president and at least half of
the country does not like him. I personally think he is a salesman and everything he does is motivated by the highest bidder. I have so much to say about how he has the potential to cause the fall we have been saying is coming for years for the US. However, no effect is without a cause, so suffice it to say for now, we are reaping what we have sown. An ignorant, uneducated populace who sees the return to the "good old day" that none of them lived through as the answer to their problems.
We have underfunded education for at least two generations allowed college degrees to be the only way you can have a decent life. But the cost of that life will keep you from truly living. So, we have an angry, divided nation of people who can't afford to better themselves in the traditional way of education because the one they can afford has been devalued. Solution? Start by following the model that works and scrap the rest.Our city has one of the top elementary schools in the nation and what has made it great? Mandatory parental involvement. I admit I am part of the problem in my city as my kids go to private school. Why? Because the school we are zoned for was a failing school when they would have entered high school. Could I have gotten involved and joined other parents in making it a good school? Maybe. Was I willing to sacrifice my kids education for that improvement? No. Hypocrite much? Yes! In my defense, it is going to take the families with kids that start in elementary and move up to improve a school. The elementary in the zone is already a great school. Middle school and high school should be just 6 years behind that if they keep parents involved.
On a positive note, I have watched my daughters get even more engaged. They are both involved in Amnesty International and were recently involved in creating an activist group. They gathered with their friends to march and attended a vigil to protest the Muslim ban. I have hope the generation that is in high school and entering college will be the level of fired up that we have not seen on social issues since before Bernie entered the race. After all, they are the grass roots voters for our next election cycle.
I have worked hard on getting my goals achieved in 2017. The fam and I did a 28 day detox of spinach smoothies, salads and no grains. All of us feel so much better. I took a felting class at Chattanooga Workspace, which was fun, and I have read a lot of books. Here's the update and some shots from the local Women's March held in January, which I marched in along with my husband, daughters and mother-in-law.
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| This is one of my friends. |
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| It's a generational thing, I believe |
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| The march was attended by women and men of every single demographic in Chattanooga |
Happy February!
2017 The List
- Read 100 books : have read 7 and hope to finish number 8 by book club, Tuesday night!
- Join an exercise group of some sort (social): Not yet!
- Take a class of some sort every quarter: Stab, Stab, Stab! Felting for Relaxation!
- Get my home office cleaned up: Nope
- Run a race with friends (Ragnar, relay marathon, something): Signed up for a 100 mile relay in December!
- Spend more time with my girlfriends (Dominique, Ann, Toni, Debbie Sue, Lisa, Stacey...): Have had two girl's nights, gone to a birthday party! Good start!
- Take a trip with Steve somewhere neither of us has been: Thinking Portland, Maine
- Do one thing that really scares me every quarter (this will be easy, I am terrified of a lot of things.... mostly to do with water): Not yet...
- Resume the dates with Delaney and Ellie : Ellie and I went shopping
- Spend more time with my parents : Parents came to Got Talent!
- Spend more time with Steve's parents : Started a bi-monthly dinner with his mom, hope to see his dad soon
- Attend church more regularly: Twice in January
- Volunteer every quarter other than at GPS : So far...nope
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