Miscellaneous Missives

Planning on arriving early to be one of the first in line, I cycled to the Minneapolis American Indian Center to see Bernie Sanders.  Needless to say, I was not the only one who biked to this event.  By the time I arrived (an hour early) the line was already long.  As I changed out of my cycling shoes, I chatted with people in line.  Soon it was a group of us talking and feeling excited.  Someone mentioned it felt like a Wellstone crowd.  I think that says a lot and maybe even says all.  Sanders feels genuine and intelligent.  Once inside, space filled quickly and even standing room was sparse.  As an older couple from my church came over to say hi, I gave one of them my chair and sat on the floor.  Everyone in the group did the same.  The crowd seemed kind and generous, my kind of people.  Without going into specifics, today made my resolve stronger.  I will stick with Bernie until he wins presidency or gives up the go...

I am thankful for The Practicing Life:  Simple Acts, Sacred Living by Sally Howell Johnson. As many know, I've been meeting with three ladies in a Sabbath group once a month.  It started a during lent a couple of years ago.  I feel these ladies keep me grounded and keep me thinking about spirituality and life. but I'll admit we're an eclectic combination.  This month our process was to read The Practicing Life: Simple Acts, Sacred Living  and decide a practice we could follow for the month of June.  I am reading the book as I would a devotional one reading/practice each night.  Of course I did not finish the book.  While others methodically chose their practice, I knew I wanted to do the one I read last night.  Then, as I listened to others, I wanted to do other practices over the summer months. Basically, I've decided to start with one that involves taking a picture each day of June of something of which I am thankful.  Although i...

The rain is subsiding. At noon , while I was drinking my hot mocha, looking at #twintuesday (Bravo ladies), and staring at the weather forecast, I look up golfer's elbow (I think I posted about my golfer's elbow...) online and tried to find a better answer than rest and ice.  Basically, I want a magic pill, but I know this probably isn't possible.  Instead I email my PT (whom I haven't visited since my shoulder injury).   Sooooo.... I injured my wrist... wore brace for two weeks then an additional two weeks only when biking.  I went to the orthopedic on Thursday, and it's healing well.  When I talked to her about my elbow pain, she said it was golfer's elbow.  I asked about doing exercises, and she basically said I was doing enough.  She told me to stretch and ice. It's causing quite a bit of pain (not just when I'm biking).  I get that it's already being challenged enough with biking and playing golf (start tomorrow).   ...

I awoke fairly early this morning (for a "vacation" day) ready to conquer the world.  By 9:00 I felt as though I had taken care of everything that might get in the way of my school planning.  Unfortunately, I also turned on my computer at 9:00, and I've been sucked into the vortex ever since although it's almost time to get serious.  How does one spend 1 1/2 hours on the computer?  Basically, it was the following: 1) Facebook 2) Feedly (my news aggregator... all news read) 3) Goodreads (had to look at book suggestions from last night) 4) Hclib.org (downloaded on of suggestions) 5) home email 6) school email (started looking at wonderful ideas that were shared) 7) Blogger (It all ends here!) I believe I am not ready to be productive.  Have a great day.

This long weekend started with a text from a dear friend Friday morning.  It was my friend J who had lost her sister a couple months earlier telling me another one of my dear friends had also lost her sister.  The calls and contemplations have been a little surreal. Instead of going on a bike ride outside today, I decided to go to bike into spin class.  Basically, I made the decision because I really like the instructor , Brian, on Sundays and because it's raining outside.  When I walked in, Brian said, "You know the weather's bad when some people come back.  Those that said I'll see you in the fall.  I'm biking outside all summer."  I smiled and reminded him I did make it through every day in April outside.  As class finished, I looked at Brian and said, "I should have biked outside.  I think it would have been drier."  It was a compliment that made him smile.   The truth is I needed this tough work out both mentally and physica...

God's Country from Last Weekend Teacher secrets... I've been lagging in the teacher secrets category, but I know a secret that I really can't share until Thursday when it's official.  Unfortunately, after Thursday it won't be a secret anymore.  Let me tell you this.  Recently, I emailed a colleague with a congratulations on her new job.  In all reality, I didn't even know if she had applied for the open job.  In the email, I said I wanted to be the first to congratulate her.  Yep, I was the first.  1) She applied for the job.  2) She was offered and accepted the job.  I'm soooooo smart. I also am making a prediction about tomorrow's MAP testing.  Our entire building is doing it on the Chromebooks at one time.  My prediction is absolute mass chaos.  I predict that there will be internet issues and at some point testing will cease at least for some students (if not major groups of students).  I hope I'm wrong because ...

Tonight was book club.  I chose the book, Lila, and the location.  My choice of location was the Pizza Luce in Hopkins.  Although I've never actually eaten at that particular Pizza Luce, I pass it frequently on my bike, so it seemed like a good location.  Honestly, when the location was set, I had dreams of sitting outside discussing the book, drinking beer, and eating pizza.  Alas, it was 44º when I left on my bike for book club.  Unfortunately, I read it as 64º.  Although my biking apparel was perfect for 64º, it was not adequate for 44º.  Since I knew we'd be sitting inside, I brought another layer to wear during our discussion and decided to wear it home. The reviews on Lila were mixed.  I gave it a 4 of 5 and thought it was beautifully written.  Others, like me, were disappointed in the lack of chapters.  Some wanted more action, I think, and were dissatisfied with the choice.  At least it was fodder for a good discus...