Quote:

“Some parents try to build a fence around the ocean and some parents simply teach their children to swim.”
I really like this quote but can’t remember where I read it.

 

Highlights, both sad and happy:

My cousin’s teen daughter died this past month.  She’d been battling brainstem tumors for four years.  I’d last seen her when she was three years old. She and my son ran around Lake Michigan, charging down steep steps to the water, building ditches in the sand, and picking out their own videos to relax to before running off for another adventure.  She was intelligent, friendly, and curious about everything. My son had such a good time playing with his second cousin he still remembers their days together.  Since then we’ve followed her life on the family website.  Even after her illness her parents and brother continued to fill her life with fun, interesting activities.  The family went to whaling watching in Washington State, pushed her wheelchair through volcano tubes in Hawaii, had parties for her and all her friends, watched her paint, and worshipped in their close-knit church community.  She lived a short but full life and I feel enriched for briefly knowing her.

 

January was a kid-filled month.  Every Friday the Internet gaming café (aka our basement) was full of teen boys playing World of Warcraft or Rock Band. On several days pre-teen girls played The Sims or watched Gossip Girl in our living room.  When the boys went out, the girls claimed the basement as theirs and played hour after hour of Rock Band.  Our busiest Friday was the night I ordered over $100 of Chinese food to feed 8 teen boys in the basement and 6 pre-teen girls upstairs.  Lots of fun.

 

Fiction Books Finished:

**** Rebel Angels, by Libba Bray

**** Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan

 

Non-Fiction Books Finished:

*** Healing Your Sinuses, by Ralph B. Metson, M.D. with Steven Mardon

 

Still Reading:

Literacy In America (almost finished!)

 

Movies:

***    Live In Maid– on DVD in Spanish w/ English subtitles

**** Juno– I actually went to a movie theater for this one.

***   The Simpsons Movie– on DVD w/ French dubbing and English subtitles. 

 

Music:

Kate Nash

Sia

Sara Bareilles

Regina Spektor
Songs etched in my head from listening to hours of Rock Band: “Paranoid” by Garbage, “Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by the Clash, and “Creep” by Radiohead.

 Sub Jobs:

½ day- music teacher

2 days- 1^st grade, Ms. J’s class

1 day- sub sampler (2 hours each in K,1^st, and 2^nd grade classes)

2 days- computer teacher

1 day- 2^nd grade, Ms. W’s class

 

TV Enjoyed:

Most of my TV watching is on DVD now.  Please let the writers get a fair deal soon!

*** Gossip Girl– Can’t wait until the strike is over & my daughter and I can watch again

*** Ugly Betty– Season 1 on DVD with Spanish dubbing and English subtitles

*** Smallville– Season 1 on DVD with French dubbing and English subtitles

*** Dead Like Me– Season 2 on DVD

**** Friday Night Lights– Not quite finished with my Tivo’d recordings