Good Day Sunshine!

I woke this morning and felt like I had had a great night sleep and was rested for the first time in weeks after having my 1st sinus infection since surgery last December.

It was one of those days, for the 2nd time this week, where I woke up and just knew it would be a good day. It didn't hurt that I had the Beatle's Revolver album circulating throughout the morning with Good Day Sunshine playing despite the rainy mist falling outside.

The puppy was fairly swift in doing his outdoor duty (yes, I was tempted to write doody) and that enabled me to only be about 10 minutes behind schedule by the time I got out of the shower. I managed to leave for work right on time which I haven't done in about 2 weeks.

It's rare to have those blissful days where work isn't bad, in fact it is going pretty well. I'm swamped with Junior Class stuff (Homecoming Class t-shirt orders, U-crew fan club t-shirt orders, float building meetings, Post Prom meetings with the principals, etc) and my job site visits with students which have ramped up.

I suppose the point of this particular blog is to report that looking at the bright side of things is the best way to live your life.

Dwell on the negatives (and I think I've been doing that the last few days) only causes bad days. Which can turn a bit more long-term when there is a stalled low frontal weather system over the great lakes region causing gray, rainy days for nearly a 2 week period! Sure, I could have complained today about giving up my prep to meet with my juniors. And the fact that I'd been visiting kids for 1 1/2 hours after school when I would rather be at home taking a nap or playing with the puppy. Or realizing that by getting home near 4:20 allows me less than an hour before I'd have to workout which means the dog may get mad and destroy more areas of my apartment (he'd burrowed into the wall and shredded a portion of carpet last week in the evening when I didn't give him enough attention).

But no. The meeting went great. The kids are creative and want to make things the best they can. My students were all doing great things at work. I had a quick chat with my sister who sadly had to attend to my niece who was causing a few issues in the cleanliness department. And despite not working out, I can sit here tonight and watch Piccolo sleep on the top cushions of the couch back sound asleep with his fluffy tail hanging down the side. How can that not make your day better?

So take the time to look at your day and find the good points. They are there. You just need to pull back the curtain!

Remembering Our Generation's Day of Infamy

I love history. You know this. I also believe solemn dates need to be observed and remembered. As a people, Americans remember the big days - 4th of July (Independence Day) and we remember Veterans Day (in November).
But do remember when Pearl Harbor Day is?
Chances are, you don't know.

I find this fact incredibly sad. Pearl Harbor was the original Day of Infamy for our country. It was December 7, 1941 and was passed as an official holiday (remember the term comes from holy day) only in 1994. Perhaps that is why so many people don't know the date. We don't get a day off. But I bet you those folks who lived through that period of history remember hearing about it.

Perhaps it is that my grandfather was in the military and I have heard a large number of stories about his service. From WW2's Battle of the Bulge to his action in the Korean War. From my dad, who during high school lived in Hawaii and vividly recalls missile drills living on the base there and seeing military equipment lining the streets near Honolulu, years after World War 2 had ended.

I had a brief discussion with a friend yesterday and she argued that we've made 9/11 too big, that we are ignoring the thousands of other horrible things going on in the world. I remarked that Americans tend to put a major focus on certain anniversaries, 10-year anniversaries in particular. I agreed with her that we did put a large emphasis on this. However, shouldn't we?

The attacks on New York and Washington are among the largest terrorist attacks in human history. Sure there have been attacks in Egypt, the UK, Spain and numerous other places in the last decade. But this attack was on our soil. On our flag. On our way of life. It was big.

I remember 9/11/01 vividly, although some things have lost clarity over time. I was living on Geneva Terrace in Chicago at the time. I know I took the red line to the loop that morning, sometime around 7:45. I don't recall if I walked to the Fullerton stop or if I took the bus to the Division stop (which is more likely). I recall people talking about plane crashes and New York. I assumed they were talking about a movie of some sort. I got off the train at Jackson and walked to the eye doctor, where I had a scheduled appointment, just steps from the Sears Tower.

At the doctor's office they were playing the country station, US99. Not long after my eyes were dilated the radio dj's started saying "oh my, oh my," "a 2nd plane has hit the towers in New York." It was at that point that the office assistants, both women, started panicking. The eye doctor (this was my first and as you will read, last visit) started swearing at the women. He was saying stuff like "Shut up! They are joking. It is shit. Pull yourselves together." It's not the stuff you want to hear from your doctor, especially as my brain began to put two and two together with what people on the train had said and what the radio was broadcasting. With this doctor screaming profanities and the radio now saying Chicago was a potential "next target" I wanted to get out of there.

What I walked into when I got to Jackson Blvd. was beyond anything I'd ever seen. People, filled the streets. Traffic was practically stopped because they couldn't drive through the crowds. All the major skyscrapers in Chicago had been told to evacuate. People were crying, screaming, trying to hail cabs & buses. There were no free cabs. Buses, what few could get through, were packed like sardines. It was closing in on 9:30am and there was no way I was going to make it to work on time at 10am. I was going to have to walk the 2 miles north to work.

All along my route up Clark Street people were telling stories about what they'd heard on the radio or seen on TV. I was nervous because I hadn't seen or heard anything concrete and didn't want to believe what I was hearing until I had real evidence. The fear in the streets was palpable.

I got to work around 10:30. September 11th was my boss' birthday, that too, I remember. He was still hoping to celebrate, but he hadn't seen the streets of Chicago's Loop as I had. Celebrating a birthday didn't seem likely today.

We were given the option to go home early that day at work. It was a nice gesture and several people did go. I think I stayed until about 4:30, but that is a bit fuzzy. What I did between my arrival at work and my departure, I don't recall. It was probably every day, normal activity. Calling radio stations, faxing press releases, putting budgets together. We had festivals coming up in Virginia and Ohio. We had tour dates for other artists as well. It was those things I was probably just checking up on and pressuring to get those final tickets sold.

I watched 9/11 coverage for days afterward. I stood outside for the moment of silence that was held with 2-3 other coworkers a week after the tragedy. We stood by the fence on Goethe & Wells, next to the baseball field belonging to a grade school.

The following year, during the week of September 7, 2002, I was in Washington, DC with my parents before heading to Richmond, VA to work an REO Speedwagon show we had at Kings Dominion Theme Park. I remember our rental car had a New Mexico license plate and as we drove near the Pentagon, we could see a memorial service had been set up with chairs and a giant flag was flying. Dad drove the car really close to the Pentagon and we reasoned that we could just say we were tourists from New Mexico and had taken a wrong turn, should we get stopped. In the event, we turned around and drove a circle around the building, remarking how strange it was to see it still being repaired. In Arlington, where my grandparents had lived for several years, a race had been organized called the Memorial 5k Race. Our hotel was on the route and we got free pins in the shape of a pentagon with the word Remember and the date 9-11-01 with the 11 portrayed as the twin towers of New York and the 3 cities affected by the attack around the border of the pin. I have worn that pin every year since.


Back to today, I watched the services at all 3 locations and observed the moments of silence, just as people in each of those places where planes devastated the earth observed a moment of silence. One when each plane hit. One for when each tower fell. The bagpipers who circled the Memorial Fountains in New York where the Towers once stood made me think back to my grandfather's funeral at Arlington Cemetery in 1997. The service then was filled with pomp, a horse-drawn carriage, military escorts and gun salutes. The bagpipe core reminded me of that day. It made me understand what the families who were drawn to the Memorial were thinking and feeling, remembering their loved ones. Remembering the day as I lived it. So safe compared to the millions who were in the streets and buildings of New York that day.

We must remember. We must not forget. My students were, at the oldest, 7 years old the day we went to war against terrorism. They've grown up with a country at war, yet not affected by it, except those with loved ones in the military. They don't understand the emotions and the impact we who remember felt that day. The images, which are not shown except on rare occasions now, due to their very graphic nature, many have never seen.

I hope someday soon we can bring our troops home. I wonder how those in Iraq are doing as their country tries to recover from our war there. Will they ever be like America? Will the teenagers there have the technology we have? Will they worry about boyfriends, soccer games, going to college as much as my kids do? Do they now? Will our service men and women be in Afghanistan for decades to come, just as we've had troop in South Korea since the end of the Korean War, decades ago?

We can't wait for others to change the world and just sit and hope. We need to show and do. Use today as a day to look forward and take action. For those that can't. For those that already are. Vote. Write your Congress members. Use your head to really see how you feel about how things are going rather than listen to the TV pundits and your parents and friends. Be your own voice.

I'll continue to do the same.
KB

The No-Blog Summer

Yep, I've been gone for a few months. Did you miss me?

I began this blog as a way to track my memories of starting my full-time teaching career and my move to Urbana in addition to the other randomness that constitutes my life. Turns out that I turned the lights off on the blog this summer to enjoy a teacher's bliss - summer.

So in an attempt to keep things fairly short, this blog will be mostly in pictures with a few notes here and there. Let's dive in!

In June I got a new companion for my home and quite a little buddy he is. My puppy, Piccolo (which means small in Italian) is constantly making me laugh and when he wants to be, is incredibly smart.


















Also in June my beautiful, wonderful niece was born.
July brought cousins in from Italy. Lara & Martina enjoyed an entire week in Chicago on their first trip to America. We had a BLAST and I did things I never thought I'd do. For example, we went to the 103rd floor of the Willis (Sears) Tower. I've never once been inside the Sears Tower and I have a fear of falling so that was amazing. We hit every major museum in the city, the zoo and even a baseball game. And laughed a lot. Apparently I say a few things incorrectly. And they learned a lot of new words and tried a lot of new foods.



















I was fortunate to work 3 shows this summer and attend 2 of my favorite shows, REO Speedwagon and Sister Hazel.



































And thus the summer concludes. I'll expound on these a bit more at a later date. Once I get my teaching legs back next week!

June is Awesome!

I watch a lot of How I Met Your Mother so if you read the title of this post just as Barney Stinson would, well, then you get the gist of how great June has been.

June is officially my favorite month. It's the month where my summer vacation starts. It's the month I got my puppy, Piccolo, who has been just an adorable, small, bundle of fur and fun. I laugh constantly. He sleeps funny, often on his back with paws twitching when he dreams and he loves to chase his tail. He caught on to words like sit and "high five" right away. I'm impressed every day how much a little pup can make your life fuller.

June is also the month my miracle little niece entered the world. I look at pictures of her constantly. Maddie is so precious, small and has eyes that just soak up everything around her. Holding her was such a pleasure. (I can't wait til I have a little baby someday! Don't worry Maddie, you'll have cousins at some point!) Her Mom & Dad are doing great. I'm so thrilled for them, too!

June was also the month of celebration for weddings. My friends Mandy & Matt got married at the end of May (almost June) and it was such a celebration. Coworkers David and Allison got married yesterday and it was wonderful to witness their relationship from "officially dating" to "we're engaged!" to the actual ceremony. It was also nice to see all my coworkers over the holiday, especially all gussied up!

We're only half way through the month so I am sure there is more in store. Although, I don't know how many more blessings a person can receive in a 30-day span! It has been a great reminder that although there are big things that I wish I had, there are so many other things that I already do have that make life simply perfect.

I am living the dream.
KB

Accomplishments

What a week!

I had a laundry list of things to accomplish when this week started and so far, most of them are complete. It finally feels like the summer is coming. I'm in the tunnel and the light is more than just a a small hole at the far end. It's now giving a soft glow, slowly reaching towards me as I reach it. This almost sounds like something a person expecting Judgement Day tomorrow would say, actually. Let's get the facts here guys: We weren't told a specific date by God.

Okay back to the post.

I began the week with the following tasks to do:
1. Enter all birthdays people had bought to put in the student planner
2. Scan all the ads for the student planner & create 5 pages of ads for my department to put in as a shameless plug
3. Submit the entire planner to company to print
4. Turn in all my finals for those taking them in the Learning Center & Lecture Hall
5. Find a place for Prom 2012
6. Find a place for Post-Prom 2012
7. Collect $$ from kids selling candy for class of 2013
8. Go to middle school next door to try and sell birthdays for the student planner (failed, by the way).
9. Grade any leftover items
10. Find a vet
11. Register for Puppy class
12. Finish tallying all of my student work hours and make copies to give to students
13. Submit course to possibly teach this summer
14. Do laundry
15. Bake cookies for students

Yep, lots of things, outside of the ordinary clean, cook, take out trash, etc. Let's just say I have gotten everything done EXCEPT #5 & 6, which are both works in progress.

I made Italian Wedding Cookies for all my students today. Actually, I've made them in batches all week. Always nice to give a little "love" to kids when they are stressed out. We do that with babies & puppies, don't we?

I've been meeting with my Sophomores all week to discuss picking next year's Prom location, now that we finally have a date. One student and I went to visit our current top choice. It felt weird and I always swore I would never have a student in my car, ever. It was the only way though and all went just fine. It was a nice space and hopefully big enough. The lady in charge of the space is VERY nervous about hosting us. Right now I'm hoping that our other 2 possibilities work out better. I think it will still go smoothly but it's best to have all party's involved to go into happy. I recall many a concert where the venue was NOT happy with us doing a gig at their place. It made life difficult.

In other news, we've made a LOT of progress on the Dual Citizenship hunt. Between Mom's investigations (and my prodding) and my contacts, we've found that my great-grandparent's marriage cert DOES indeed exist as does my grandfather's birth cert, both of which I will need to prove citizenship descent. The ONLY missing piece at this point is my great-grandfather's birth cert in Italy. I'm really struggling to find it but I may have uncovered a few details. I'll make a new blog on this mystery soon.

Puppy planning is the other big thing on my to-do list. I still don't know which of the 6 pups in the litter I am getting and had hoped to know by now. I pick the little one up on June 2nd. I've got a car booster seat (cool!). Amy is giving me her dog crate (her dog, by the way, is named Bacon and is my current favorite puppy!). I signed up for puppy training today. The people at PetSmart are so helpful. Plus a former student was there who I had in Law last semester. She said he learned so much and still had all the resume examples I had given her. And that she had gotten the job because of my help. THIS IS WHY I LOVE BEING A TEACHER! I also bought some puppy treats and a few mini tennis balls. In addition, I have a heartbeat pillow, a little toy that you heat up in the microwave to help the dog sleep and a doggie bed and bowls. I'm nearly ready. Last weekend I prepped the bathroom which is where Piccolo (my dog's name means small in Italian) will be starting out and adjusting to new life. I also cleared a corner in my living room to put the doggie bed and toys.

Obviously, my list was mostly school-oriented stuff up above but I'm getting so many other things done. I got my bike turned in to get tuned up prior to Bike the Drive next weekend. I got my oil changed on the car. Got gas for the drive to Chicago for Mandy & Matt's wedding. I did 2 seriously tough turbokick workouts and am still sore.

So there you go. Awesome week. So much done. And so much more to look forward to.

6 more work days (4 with students). Bring ON SUMMER!

Ciao,
Kristen

Liftoff

Today, Shuttle Endeavor lifted off for its final voyage towards the stars. I made the decision last night to show the launch in my 1st hour class. It took place at 7:56am Central time, just before 1st period began.

I was hesitant because anyone from my generation or older can remember the Challenger explosion. All those classes tuned in to watch the first teacher, Krista McAuliff, soar to space only to explode just seconds into the flight. Nonetheless, I went forward knowing that this was history they may never see and just might remember. The 2nd to last Shuttle to ever orbit the earth. Atlantis will be the last one from this NASA program.

I had just 2 students at the time of the launch. One had never seen a Shuttle launch. The other said he'd seen it on tv before, but I have doubts he had seen the real deal LIVE on tv. It was textbook perfect. Around 8am, the boosters were deployed and just after the announcements concluded for the morning, the main rocket booster had been loosed. At that, I started class and moved on with my day.

A normal day in most ways. Perhaps these kids won't remember. But just maybe they'll think back on those 8 minutes and remember that they were in high school to see one of the last Space Shuttles liftoff. You never know what kids will remember. I'm sure something will stick.

Next week is finals. One of my traditions is one of those things that "stuck" with me from Mr. Haut, my favorite science teacher. He gave every student a sheet of paper to use on the final exam. You could cram as much as you wanted onto it and write really small (not very useful) or just a few key terms you couldn't remember from studying (very useful). I recall using my ever-present color-coded system for chapters, terms and formulas. When it comes to finals, I give my kids that same 1/2 sheet of paper (color coded by class) and let them write on it and use on the final.

So we're down to 10 more school days, 9 with students. I can't believe it is here already. 4 more days teaching/preparing for finals. 4 giving finals. 1 cleaning my room and 1 just wrapping up the year with whatever I hadn't already completed.

Liftoff to summer in (days) 15..14..13...12.........

Crossing the Finish Line

Another big weekend in the books for 2011!

I spent the better part of Saturday morning on 1st street prepping for the 10k race and part of the Illinois Marathon race events. It was my 1st 10k and I have been training since February! I posted many months ago that I was going to challenge myself to get fit now that I'd had a successful surgery back on Dec. 30th. As I drove toward the race I caught the National Anthem on the radio which signaled the start to the festivities and the beginning of the wheelchair race.

The walk to the starting line from where I parked was pretty chilly. It was about an eight minute walk as it turned out. I didn't park where I had planned (at the iHotel) and pulled into the first parking lot I saw still had tons of spots. Turned out I didn't focus enough on where I parked because it took some time after the race to figure out exactly which brown brick building I had parked near of all the identical buildings in the Research Park area on 1st.

I jumped, stretched and pumped myself up for about 20 minutes while waiting for the GO! signal. I'd been cold at one of the last Shamrock Shuffle 8k's I ran and felt really tight as I ran that race. I was doing all I could to stay warm. The half marathoners were lined up behind us and the marathon runners behind them. It definitely felt weird being at the front of the line! I'm used to being near the back. The announcer told us to high-five our neighbors and with a final good luck to the guy in the orange shirt next to me and a high-five we then turned towards the starting banner and mentally began the countdown...

When the GO! signal was given, I headed out telling myself, "don't go out too fast! Pace yourself!" I say this every race and I have been fairly good the last 2 races I ran to heed this advice. I thought I was doing well at the start because everyone, and I do mean everyone, was passing me up! After noticing the large numbers of people whipping past me looking confident, I began to feel my body's motion. I felt my legs, the feel of the road and then checked the iphone I was running with to see what my pace was (10:13?!?!!!). Wait, was that correct? Yup, I was running WAAAAY to fast. Despite the runners blazing trails past me, I was still motoring. I hit the 1 mile mark just over 10 minutes into the race and a few feet later got a lovely cramp in my right side just below my ribs.

Darn it! I wanted to prove I could run the whole darn race. That was now out of the question since I knew I had to walk if I wanted get back on track in this race. With 5 miles to go, I gave myself a 3 minute walk, massaging my side to help it along (that probably did nothing but it mentally made me think I was doing something helpful since I couldn't be running).

I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and I think that cramp was one of those things. As a result, I spotted some runners near me who were going about the same pace as I was. One was a gentleman in his 50's with a blue race shirt and a yellow headband. The other a girl in a pink shirt that had a cute running saying on it (which I never got around to reading!) And so it was, for the next 5 miles, I kept those two folks in my sight and ran.

For the most part, I ran all 5 miles. There were a few hills and I decided that I'd walk barely slower than I would running up the inclines so I walked up the hills. I was a bit embarrassed on the hill just after the turn from Armory (which had the biggest uphill climb of the race) and then south onto Prospect which had traffic stopped. Here I am walking, with about 1 mile to go, past cars of people who were probably watching us as we ran past. It was enough to get me to motor up the legs again and keep pushing.

We neared U of IL's Memorial Stadium and my thighs and calves were burning. I was ready to complete the race but just wasn't quite there yet. We turned in towards the Stadium and just before we hit the tunnel leading into it I decided to sprint. It was about .1 mile and I knew I could do it. I wanted to make an entrance. Who wouldn't? As a swimmer, I was always great at finding a few drops left in the tank to push myself as hard as possible and finish strong. I used that same method to complete this race.

I finished in 1 hour, 11 minutes and 57 seconds. The only other time I had gone the full 6.2 miles was the weekend before, on a glorious afternoon along Chicago's lakefront and on that occasion I had gone 1 hour, 20 minutes, barely able to run much of the last mile. I was so proud of this race. And it really, really was a big accomplishment.

It was also an accomplishment to come home, grab a 2 hour nap and then sit in a car for 2 hours as I drove up to Chicago! I had stretched dozens of times since running the race but getting out of that car was tough. As my Dad, who has run 5 marathons, said to me, it's got nothing to do with stretching - it's lactic acid. Yup, it sure was. Painful but such a great feeling. It is your body saying "thank you for pushing me." I actually wanted to run a long run again today. Yes!

My weekend ended with a lovely shower for my little sister. She will always be my little sister, although as adults I feel like we are equal in age. It is great to see her happy and to imagine how much her life is going to change with a baby girl in the house in just a matter of weeks. Baby Sip got so many great gifts and I think Momma was really touched. She's going to be a great mom!

By the way, sorry for being away from this place for so many days! Lots of fundraising and meetings with my Sophomores, a Banquet for my Coop students, another Banquet for Rotary which sponsors awards for some of our Business students and finally Prom this weekend which I work with my Sophomores. I'll be back soon with news on my new family addition, a puppy.

Enjoy May guys! It will be cold here tonight but warmth is on the weather forecast for the weekend. Bring on Summer. 28 Days away!

Kristen