My Thoughts

I am constantly reminded and often times amazed at how traffic reflects social relationships in our life I am headed south on Capital of Texas Highway and traffic is heavier than normal. In situations where traffic is heavier than normal, you get your wide variety of crazy drivers. It's comical really that this yuppie woman believes that by speeding up, cutting over quickly, cutting people off  and then flipping people off will somehow make the traffic magically open up down the road somewhere and allow her to pass carefree and quickly through the congestion.''' Life mirrors these traffic tales moments.  In life, there will be obstacles, many obstacles.  Sometimes the obstacles are just bad drivers.  Other times, the obstacles are other things, minor or major. There are the people trying to get into the lane of traffic, people trying to turn out of the lane of traffic. There are bicyclists and road construction and people trying to get to school and b...

I find it absolutely amusing, maybe even a bit irritating when I get behind a car moving 10 miles under the speed limit and making it impossible to pass.  As traffic builds behind us, I calculate the distance to the exit ramp and realize I have no time to go around. The minute the road opens after the merge into Ben White, the car then speeds up making it almost impossible to get around, again. I was following this Honda on South Mopac stuck in the exit- left -only lane for probably about a mile. I could not get around them because it's a one lane.  What's the obsession with wanting to be in the lead?  I have met a lot of people in my life like this as well. I don't think these "in the lead" people understand that just because they're in the front of the line doesn't mean people are following them.  I guess I was mostly irritated because I normally can drive to work on autopilot. The complacency is dangerous.

I read a news article that stated the Aquaphor is falling again even after some substantial rain this year. Seriously? Let's talk about the basics of supply and demand with 100 people a day moving into Austin. It doesn't take a genius to understand that the small amount of wate r that does exist is getting demanded more and more. I think the new movie "Interstellar" will have so much potential to tell people the dangers of our carefree human race. The greatest threat to the United States does not come from immigration, it comes from for our poor policies related to food and water usage and distribution. It is almost too comical to listen to people complain about things that have no bearing on our future, either in the world or just within the United States. If you have 10 gallons of water, that is enough water for one person for 10 days or enough water for 10 people for one day.  It's basic math.   More people will need more water .  Water ...

original date 2/10/14 Being able to develop and maintain a cross curricular design shouldn't be that complicated.  Most schools already ask other subject areas to assist English Language Learners by having students write more and learning how to do short answer responses appropriately, but I think that assistance needs to flow the other way as well. The specialization in education has put up walls between subject areas, and you rarely see students learning about history in English class or utilizing the text from a science class textbook to talk about force as it relates outside of science.  I have sat in those professional development meetings where teachers in different subject areas know so little about what goes on outside their specialization. I think often about education in the 1970s when students stayed in one classroom longer.  These generalists had opportunities to truly develop relationships with students and to impart a wealth of information.  I...

At the heart of all my desires lies hidden my thirst for companionship, and in all my adult years as I have sometimes desperately, sometimes frantically, often times confused, searched for some ideal - companionship was the one thing I needed and craved the most.  This is not a fact that I speak about often, rarely sharing with others.  Like protected treasure or tightly guarded information, this secret desire can emerge in tangled midnight memories or misty daytime whispers. Hating to be cliched, I suppress and guard this information daily.  I am a fraud. It's ironic that I can see it now more clearly at 46 and then I could at 16 or 26 when I thought I knew it all or 36 when I was raging against the world and the unfairness of it all. Wisdom is like that.  It is ironic also that I am more alone now than I have ever been.  If I ponder that fact too much, it can lead to some dark days. Yet, I am in love with this city; as I drive the streets crowded with...

You must devote yourself to prayer with an open mind and a grateful heart. What are you devoted to? What gets the most of your time and attention? We should devote ourselves to our walk in our faith and devotion to prayer and service. We get so sidetracked - you know those detours - lost sometimes, even that we forget where we're going.  It's easy to do. Somehow each of us needs a daily reminder, the daily devotion, that allows us to remember what we should be doing. At times, we can each be the prodigal.  I remember the first time I read the story.  Asking myself if I possibly had ever been - or even currently was - a prodigal, I realized that each day we are all the prodigal.  In life, we are struggling on each step of our journey.............struggling for truth, direction, confidence, patience, faith...........the list is endless.  So much negative talk enters into our path, and we soon find ourselves on a horribly destruction detour. ...

I just watched Whitney do an ROTC interplay competition with the military parade; it was incredible. Three hours out in the beautiful spring sunshine here in Austin - it is a gorgeous day and one could not ask for better weather. I do not begrudge my daughter the three hours that I sat in the sun on bleachers for her,  nor do I begrudge getting up every Saturday morning early for the last two months for her -  it is part of the privilege of being her mom. If I can say anything to inspire parents of young children it is to get involved with what your children are doing, put the time into them at the beginning because if you don't, you will end up putting time in at the latter part but not necessarily in the way that you want to. Let me explain. When Melanie and Kaitlyn were little and I became a single working parent,  me being a part of their extracurricular lives was not always possible. I did what I could. I did not abandon them nor did I just not go. I...

Today, I was finally offered a teaching job after 8 years and hundreds of applications, emails and rejections.  All the emotions running through me collide, and I can barely believe it's real.  I have worked for a long time to become a teacher - it's 15 years in the making.  It's all too surreal. And today, I watched my daughter attempt to bring her life back on track, watched the humiliation and disappointment as she had to accept that the easy road she was hoping to find does not exist.  As a parent, as a teacher, I want to reach out and grasp hold of her dream, of her life, and make it all better.  Not wanting her disappointment to overshadow my joy, I was lost in complete confusion. More and more, I remind myself that I cannot be a martyr to a cause that I do not fully support.  I have not defined what the cause is, but a small voice continues to whisper, "Do not be a martyr." --------------------------------------------------------------- M...