To Be Like Tony

Tonight is one of my favorite nights of the year because of our church's approach to Halloween.  I have not always been a fan of Halloween; however, this changed when we moved to North Minneapolis, and Kerry became the pastor at Faith Baptist Church. They did this odd event on Halloween called "Trunk or Treat," and I am a fan of keeping the event going year after year.  The idea is that a bunch of people from the church decorate their trunks in the church parking lot and hand out candy to kids in the neighborhood.  Each year, we have 400-500 kids come through the parking lot along with their adults who then head into the church garage to enjoy our coffee and cookies.  The event shows the neighborhood that we care, gives families a great "one stop" shop, and allows us to share the ministries that we have with families through some information available in the garage.

A few weeks ago, my son invited me to a Facebook event for youth group members titled, "Trunk or Treat - Tony Mueller Edition."  He informed me that I did not have to participate.  He had invited me so that I could share with another youth group mom so that she could make sure her kids knew about the event.  This afternoon, Josiah and the youth/music minister at our church worked hard on pulling together the final details of an awesome youth group trunk.

They succeeded.

The "Tony" trunk was a hit at the event for those who know Tony and for those who saw Tony himself.  All of the youth group kids at the trunk, along with a couple of youth sponsors, dressed like Tony and had beards like Tony.  One of the youth sponsors assisted in getting the beards thanks to some Vaseline and coffee grounds.  It resembled a flash mob of just Tonys.  The rest of the trunk was decorated in pictures of Tony as well as Tony-isms (boo-ya, Yaht-zee!, and awwwkward....) By the way - the real Tony is the one in dead center.  He is the original and the only Tony.

Imitation can be a good thing.  The original Tony is a great person.  He stands for what he believes in, he serves others, he works hard, and he is genuinely kind.  Honestly, I am pretty satisfied with my son wanting to be like Tony.  If Josiah would have all of these qualities as a young man out in the real world, I would be pretty proud as a mom.  When we imitate someone worth imitating, it can be a worthwhile endeavor.  As a parent, I am blessed to have great role models for my children such as Tony as well as the other youth group leaders at our church.

Special thanks tonight to Tony, Mark, Jeanette, Steve, and Tara.  You all rock!

My Wedding Ring is not an Accessory

On the way to church today, I realized that I had "no" jewelry on.  This was in part because I left all of my jewelry at the Happy Host Inn last week at the end of the wedding weekend.  I left most of my shoes, all of my toiletries, and most of my jewelry.  Honestly - with all four of us loading the two cars that we had in Grand Forks for the wedding, it is amazing that we did not leave more items there. Rick mailed me my shoes and toiletries, but I really did not want to chance losing the pearl set that Kerry gave me as a wedding present.  Because of that, I have no earrings and no necklaces.  As we walked to church this morning, I noticed how bare my earlobes and my neck felt.  I rarely take off my earrings, and I almost always wear a necklace to church.  It just felt strange!

I commented to Kerry and Beth about how I was not wearing any jewelry, and Beth responded by saying, "You have your wedding ring on."  She was right, but I do not see my wedding ring as an accessory! Without missing much of a beat, I quickly retorted that my wedding ring is not an accessory...it is just part of who I am.

Over sixteen years ago, Kerry and I exchanged rings as a token and pledge of our willingness, with God's help, to stick together through think and thin.  In those sixteen years, we have had our share of ups and downs, things that have threatened to tear us apart, and times when we asked ourselves what we had gotten into when we said, "I do."

I currently cannot remove my wedding ring as the increase of weight over the past few years has trapped the ring onto my finger.  I cannot remember the last time that I removed the ring.  On Friday, I had an MRI and worried that they may want me to remove it.  Fortunately, I did not have to do so.

Whether I could remove it or not, though, I would not want to do so.  The ring on my finger identifies me as the wife of Kerry L. Bender. That is who I am and who I intend to be...for better or for worse...'til death do us part.

My wedding ring is not an accessory; it is part of me.

Great Mother/Daughter Day

Start some laundry.

Hang out in pajamas while jamming to Adele.

6+ hours of errands with the girl including lunch.

Started out sitting outside...too cold! Got a great picture and posted to Facebook, though.

All of this adds up to one exhausted woman.

G'night....

Facebook Stalking Superfan

I love the Civil Wars.

I have known about this "folk-pop duo" (as Letterman called them on Wednesday night when they performed on "The Letterman Show") who really do not like to have a label attached to their work for a long time...since they were created, really.  As Sara Kelm shared in her blog titled "Rock Stars Need Grandmas Too," I have some connections to this duo.  Read the blog to find out.  :)

When I started following them on Facebook (click here to be able to follow them too), they had very few fans, but that fan base grew quickly in a matter of a few weeks.  They now have 98,000 followers, but I think that will go up super quickly.  In August 2010, they came through Minneapolis and played at a place in Uptown that, at the time, was called Sauced.  It has since changed its name to Cause.  On that night in August, there were less than 100 people in the bar with a $7 cover charge for the the show, and Kerry and I shared a table with other people who had connections to the duo.  It was a great night filled with haunting harmonies, brilliant covers of the Jackson 5 and others, and an appropriately minor version of "You Are My Sunshine"; we bought a few copies of their 4 song EP so that we could share the great music with other people, and Kerry started a round of snapping during the cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." By the way, we did get a giggle from Joy over that move as well as - if I remember correctly - an evil eye for making her giggle.

Things have really changed in the past 15 months as the Civil Wars have skyrocketed in so many ways. They have performed on "The Jay Leno Show" ... twice. They have been the opening band for Adele in the US as well as in the UK.  This week alone has been a huge week for the duo.  The NY Times featured them on the front page of the Arts Section.  They performed on "The David Letterman Show."   And, if I'm remembering correctly from my Facebook stalking self, they played to the largest crowd at their show in New York last night.

Even though I could be accused of only personally cheering this duo on because of personal, family connections, I am not like that.  I like quality music with lyrics that make you think and music that is hard to pin down in a genre.  That is what they have going for them.  Here in Minneapolis, I have heard them on radio stations that "tote" different genres.  Each song that they write will appeal potentially to a different crowd of listener, and that makes for an excellent band.  When my own teenagers and their friends like the same band that I and those in every other generation like, that is a pretty good sign that - as long as the Civil Wars keep writing music - they will have a fan base for many years to come.

And, thanks to Facebook, I can continue to stalk them daily and share with my own friends at least once a week about this fantastic "new" group who is taking the music scene by storm.

By the way - their full length CD that was released on February 1, 2011, is available in Target and Best Buy stores as well as on Amazon.com and iTunes.

Joy and John Paul are in the middle of a tour deep in its depth and breadth of the US. I will see them with friends in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Nov 8, and my family will see them in Minneapolis (aat the State Theater!!!) On Wednesday, Nov 9, while I am presenting at a conference in Indianapolis.

PS (Minnesota fans): their Studio C performance of "Poison and Wine" is on the 2011 sampler. So fitting, really!!

Music Transposition

Kerry has agreed to be the saxophone player for the Fridley High School production of "Footloose."  He will be playing both the tenor and baritone saxophone parts.  The problem?  We have no baritone saxophone.  We don't have a tenor, either, but the local Schmitt Music store is loaning us one.

I agreed to transpose the baritone sax music into the tenor sax key.

When I was in high school, I took a music theory class from the great Ken Sherwood. The kids who are currently in choir at Red River High School refer to him as "Grandpa Sherwood" as the current director is his son, Brad, whom they call "Mr. Sherwood."

Anyway - twenty years ago, I would have easily transposed music.  It's not hard to raise notes a perfect fifth...at least it wasn't twenty years ago. Tonight as I sat down to my task, I realized how easily we forget skills that we do not use.  I have not written music or really used much of my music knowledge for about ... well ... twenty years.

Thank goodness for the internet and its ability to share information with me.  Thank goodness as well for free programs that will actually do the transposition for me.  I highly recommend MuseScore, available as a free download, to anyone who needs to write music or transpose music.  It was not hard to figure out thanks to some youtube videos, and I have already completed the task at hand.

The pastor will be playing his heart out at all Friday and Saturday performances of the musical.  Woot!

New Digs

How do I love my new office?  Let me count the ways...

1. There are walls.


2. There is a door.


3. There are not any other people in it.


4. My favorite desk of all time is there.


5. Its view reminds me of Scotland (possibly my favorite place - EVER).

Did I mention it has a door?  And I can close it?

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Note: downside is that the internet is not functional - yet.  That will be remedied soon.  I hope.

It's All About Me...

[slideshow]

Ok - it's really not...but it is.  I'm writing doing this blog today so that I have proof that I got all dolled-up for my cousin's wedding and had great photos taken.

 

Present Truth or Future Truth?

On a daily basis in my position of Dean of Students at Minnesota Virtual High School, I complete enrollment verification forms for my students. These forms are for a variety of reasons such as Social Security, county funding, or child support.  The forms ask two important questions:  1) is the student enrolled in school?  2) is the student in full-time attendance.

Most of the time, I can answer the first question positively; however, I often have answer negatively to the second.  Thankfully, the Social Security Administration is about to define full-time attendance for online schools, and this will give me something to lean on.  Right now, I have my own definition (I wrote the policy).

When I have to answer negatively to the second question, I make a phone call or send an email to the student or the parents to let them know exactly why I will not be able to complete the form for them.  This usually results in the student going to a different school that will allow them to receive their funding.  Sometimes, though, the student or parents try to negotiate with me.  In fact, they frequently beg me to "just sign the form."  I do not think they realize that I can't "just sign the form." When I sign my name to something, it needs to mean something.

I have been in email conversation with an eighteen year old student who has spent so much time emailing me that I'm close to saying,"The amount of time you have spent emailing me could have been spent on a class!" This student's most recent email promised that, if I would just sign the form, she would do some schoolwork this weekend. In her mind, simply saying that she is going to do work equals doing work.  What she doesn't realize is that there is a difference between present truth and future truth. The forms are not asking me if the student will be in attendance.  The forms ask if the student has been or is in attendance.

There is a huge difference!

I literally complete twenty of these forms each week. I devote an entire day to the forms many weeks.  And I bemoan the fact that I am doing them.  I rant and rave about students who are simply enrolled in school to get their funding but who have no intention of ever completing their high school diploma.  I throw verbal fits about how these students need to get a clue, to wake up and smell the coffee, and to realize what life is all about.

Tonight I informed this student that I could sign her form only when what she promised to do became what she actually did.  As I hit send I realized that these students are just like me.

I, too, have many "future truth" moments. I will lose weight - in the future.  I will go to the gym - in the future.  I will quit drinking Coca-Cola - in the future. I will get more rest - in the future.  And each of those future truths seems like a present truth.  If I could just convince everyone else around me that this is true, maybe it would happen!

When I put aside my judgmental hat, I reallize that I am not that different than they are.  The only difference is just that I am better at pretending to be good at life than they are. I truly do have "my act" together...and they do not. Their flaws are simply more visible than my flaws are.

Being Honest

Blogging every day is a lofty commitment.

Days like today make me wonder if I am up to it.

Church - Gift Opening - Drive Home - Unpack

Yikes...

Manicures

Yesterday I took my 87 year old grandmother for her first ever manicure.

Gramma Lois grew up in the thirties when money was scarce. She would never spend money on painting her fingernails.

While I understand this mentality a little bit, I do not think I can fully understand how she feels about dropping $10 on something so frivolous as a manicure.

Today at the wedding, though, she showed everyone her beautiful nails and told them all about how it was the first time she had ever had someone else do her nails.

I think she likes being spoiled. In fact, I know she does. She has a beautiful ring and watch set that my grandfather gave her years ago. She loves to tell everyone about this.

Spoling an 87 year old is easy...and fun. :)

Wedding Rehearsal?

I am currently sitting at the wedding rehearsal of my beautiful cousin Johanna. Tomorrow she marries her man, Nick. We are thrilled to bring him into our family. As my grandma said,"She could not have found a better guy." I agree. He is perfect for her.

As I sit here I had a thought: why do we have wedding rehearsals, but we do not have marriage rehearsals or life rehearsals?

Just a thought...

Beauty Shop!

The wedding of my youngest cousin on my mom's side of the family is on Saturday.

The dresses are finalized, and the ties are chosen. Beth and I bought her jewelry and shoes today. Tomorrow we will have our nails done.

The only thing that seems up in the air is hair. So Beth and I did something we have not done in years...we played beauty shop,

Not gonna lie - it was a blast!

Feeling Valued

Yesterday my boss handed me keys to my new office. Not only do I have a key to my office, I also have one for the entire sweet so that I can get to my office whenever I want.

I have an office!

It is somewhat disappointing that my main office will no longer be Caribou or Panera, but I won't miss all of those student files that will be in real file cabinets as they should be.
The point of this blogging moment is to give space to thinking Souls who workZmZn

I thibk I shoulg go to sleeop

Facetime

The huz and the boy have i-Stuff (an ipad and an ipod) with software called "Facetime."  Siah's ipod just jingled in the dining room, and he said to Kerry, "Oh - I just missed a Facetime from you."

Then they rang each other up again and had a little conversation with one another via their electronic devices.

While this is not typical in our house, I do wonder if it will become more typical.   I already use texting to communicate from bed when the tv is too loud in the basement.  Why should I get out of bed when I can just send a message?

I think it is interesting that the software is called "Facetime" - as if the developers knew that we need more time in face to face interaction as our electronic devices create more and more ways for us to have fewer and fewer ways of communicating with one another.

I would love to elaborate, but I need to go spend some time in person - face to face - with the huz.

I Love My Job!

Here is how my day went today (minus anything related to family):

1. Answer a lot of emails...a lot of emails.

2. Go to a meeting...a phone meeting.

3. Follow up on more emails.

4. Get truancy filings prepped for counties on 5 students.

5. Confirm enrollments of 7 students.

6. Make phone calls from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to the 15 students who are in the first stages of truancy.

I have to admit the phone calls are the most fun.  Tonight, I talked to parents of 6 middle school students.  Each of them attempted, at first, to defend their student.  After I spoke with the students, though, the tune changed.  What had begun as, "Jonny would never skip an entire week of school" turned into,"Well, the Playstation3 is going in the closet for the next month."

These conversations are what give me the most excitement.  It is not at all that I wanted to "catch these kids in the act" but rather, I wanted to enlighten their parents to the ways of their children.  One parent actually said, "I wonder what else he has been lying to me about."  Too bad a computer chip can't reveal that to her ... yet.

I do not think that any of these parents are bad parents, but they are a part of a growing trend of parents who believe their kids first and have to be convinced of their kids' guilt rather than the other way around.  It is not that I want to believe the worst in my kids all of the time, but I have a pretty healthy understanding that sin lives in all of us.  Because of this sinful nature, we have a tendency not to tell the truth...to lie.  Lying gets easier the more that we do it.  If a child has been lying to her parents for years about small things, it won't be that hard to do when it is a bigger thing.

Our society has so many issues right now, but I truly believe that most of the issues stem from the fact that young adults are out of control, have a poor work ethic, and don't take responsibility for their own actions.  And why should they?  Every time the school called their parents to say that they were in trouble, need to come to school more, and need to work harder to get better grades, their parents have taken the kids' sides in the argument.  We now have an entire generation who have or are about to start raising their own children, and that generation does not know how to take responsibility for themselves.  How will they be able to teach this to their children?

Unless those who see this problem start fighting against the enabling behavior that exists in parenting, we are soon to be doomed.  I am fortunate to work for a school that wants to take a stand against behavior that allows students to fail in their classes by simply not even logging in.  I am empowered to make phone calls that shed light on these issues, but it is super hard work.  I cannot believe the list of excuses that I get for the student not attending (did I mention that this is online?) school.  If the student's leg is broken, the student can attend school by sitting at the desk or by holding the laptop - on their LAP!  If the computer is broken (many of which are provided by the school, by the way...), the student should be going to a friend's house or a library to get some schoolwork done.

I feel as though we are fighting a huge battle, and I do not know how this will turn out.  But parents need to parent.  They need to start parenting now.  I'm not so "doomsday" to say that they need to do this before it is too late, but maybe I am... maybe I actually wonder if, perhaps, we have already lost the chance to turn it around...

I hope not.  I really hope not.

Today's parents need to start parenting now so that we can get things turned around.  Now.

Employed or Enslaved?

My huz is a fab preacher.  I know that I am probably a bit biased, but it is the truth.  He is in the midst of a series on 1Corinthians and a section of the series (right now) titled "You Are Not Your Own."

Today's sermon's text was 1Corinthians 6:12-20, "Honoring God with Our Sexuality," and was explicit enough that the children's minister took out student from 6th grade and under.   While I could highlight the sermon, it would be best if readers would wait until Tuesday and listen themselves.  All of his sermons are posted online: http://faithmpls.org/Site.Worship.Sermons.go.

The thoughts for this blog post came from one line in his sermon.  Kerry described the city of Corinth as one filled with sin and fornication.  The line that made me think really hard, though, was this: "There were about 1,000 prostitutes employed at one of the temples."

In recent years, our family and our church has had the opportunity to learn about and to partner with organizations in raising awareness about human trafficking.  One of the most interesting things that has come out of this for me is the truth of something that I had always felt in my gut: for the most part, women do not choose to be prostitutes, strippers, etc.  There is something soul-stripping about these acts...I have always felt that these "careers" must be ones out of desperation or a complete and totally distorted image of oneself.

Over my years of teaching, I have had students who were strippers; none of them felt they had any other way of supporting themselves.  They weren't "good" at anything else. They have felt trapped and unable to get out of this form of employment.  Many of them started out in abusive homes, were runaways, found someone who would "take care of them," often became addicted to drugs, and became enslaved to this line of work by their dependence on this person because going home after what they "had become" was too overwhelming for them to imagine.

As Kerry preached this morning, I wondered to myself, "Had these women chosen to be temple prostitutes or was this an early form of what we now call trafficking?"

So - were they employed or enslaved?  And if they were enslaved, does this not add even more meaning to the text itself?

I think it does...but just what...I'm still pondering....

Trying to Do One Too Many Things

Sleep in...it is Saturday.

Have breakfast at Emily's with the family.

Stop at Sear's en route to dropping off Beth at tech for the musical.

Run errands.

Run errands.

Run errands.

Drop off food from errands at home.

Take shower and get dressed in school appropriate attire.

Go back to Fridley High School to take pictures of the musical rehearsal.

Run home to get dressed and do hair for wedding.

Attend wedding.

Grab Beth from rehearsal en route to reception.

Attend and enjoy reception.

Come home and blog (I just typed "blag").

Just another day in paradise...

I am tired and really ready for bed, but honestly - I would not change a thing.

Loved every minute of it.

Theater Photographer?

As a mom, I find myself doing some of the strangest things. Last night, I found myself in the Fridley High School theater taking pictures of rehearsal. Why? Because a few weeks back I said I would write press releases...and those are due this coming week. What makes a great press release?

Great pictures, of course!

Below are three of my favorite photos from the photo shoot that had a total of 143 photos in it.  I am having a hard time deciding which photos to submit to the press, and I may need to take more pics tomorrow to add to the conundrum.   I just asked Kerry and Siah how to spell conundrum; Kerry's reponse was, "P-R-O-B-L-E-M."

Nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am also the ticket mom.  I just like having titles.

Production dates:  11/11, 11/12, 11/17, 11/18, 11/19 - all at 7 p.m. in the Fridley High School theater.   You can find me in the box office each night no later than 6:30 p.m.  You can pre-order tickets by sending me an email (adults $9; seniors and students $6).  General admission (not great seats) can be purchased the night of the shows.

Note: Some content may not be appropriate for younger children.

Changing Boiphrens

A year ago, my favorite ever LG Lotus flip fone from Sprint died a horrible death.  It was literally ripped apart.

The demise of the purple Lotus (yes - think about the Greek imagery) had started earlier in the summer while Kerry was on sabbatical.  I had dropped my favorite phone over and over and over again.  About mid-July, the phone's screen had gone all "retro" on me.  The picture that was my screen seriously had issues.  I guess when we drop our phones, their brain cells start to go all nutty and have issues relating what color they are supposed to share with us.

In September, the phone started having additional issues.  Flip phones are rather rugged phones; I think I need a rugged phone after what I put this phone through!  However, even the toughest phone can only be dropped so many times before its guts start to spill out.  I had never seen the insides of a cell phone before this.  It was a fascinating experience for me.  I wish that I had a picture of my phone because describing it is really hard.  Imagine a flip phone in two pieces with the filament film or whatever that connects the bottom (keyboard) to the top (screen).  I just went looking for the phone in two pieces so that I could take a picture of it, but I must have finally given up on the nostalgia the last time that I cleaned my closet (6 months ago??) and have thrown it "in the bin," as my Scottish friends would say.

Once the phone was broken into two parts, it was useless.  I realize that this seems obvious to everyone, but I actually tried to make it work again!  Alas, I lack all ability to fix anything electronic...let alone something that is pretty much impossible...and my phone had met its end.  That very evening, Kerry and I went shopping for a new phone, found a temporary replacement, and then the wait for the new Blackberry flip phone began.

Exactly 30 days later, I swapped my replacement phone for the sleek Blackberry flip phone which was hailed by most as a dinosaur for grandmas who worried more about not butt-dialing than phone greatness.  I loved the phone, though!  And everything that we love must have a name.  Think about it...I love my kids; we gave them a name.  I love my dog; he has a name.  Some people love their cars enough to give them names.  Certainly the phone needed a name.

I put out a call on Facebook for help with naming my phone.  I just spent the last few minutes scrolling down on my wall to get to the posts about naming my phone, but I spend so much time on there that I only got back to about a month ago before I gave up and returned to blogging.  Anywho - I had lots of great suggestions from the Facebook Nation (at least the little county that I call my friend list), and it sparked some wonderful banter.

I settled on the name "boiphren" because of a convincing post by my husband.  I think he initially suggested "boyfriend" and shared some great thoughts about how much fun it would be to use this in conversation.  I can't remember the exact wording of his great stuff (again...too annoyed with scrolling in Facebook - why is there not a search function?!?!?!!?!  Sure, Mark, you made it "better," but not better in ANY way that was good for me.  Whatever, you abusive relationship pusher, you.)....oops...sorry - interrupted my own sentence with a tangent. Yikes, so Italian of me.  Did I mention that I'm Italian (insert hand gestures and loud facial expressions here)?

What was I saying?

Oh yes - Kerry had some great wording about using "boyfriend."  For example: I had to replace my original boyfriend with a new boyfriend.  Or - I am so upset that my boyfriend is not working; I took him to the Sprint store, but they could not figure out how to get my boyfriend to work.  You get the idea...

Yesterday, my boiphren died.  He won't charge.  He won't work.  He has pictures and contacts that I want to get from him, but he won't give them to me.  I thought he was working out just fine, but he coincidentally stopped working at the same time as some Blackberry outage.  It sounds like something different is happening with him than with anyone else's Blackberry. Nonetheless, it was disappointing.

Oddly enough, I had been sort of annoyed with the boiphren anyway.  All summer long, he was getting dumb texts from some weird number...it would happen all night.  He was keeping me up at night waking me up when he would get a text from this dumb number.  Sprint and I had talked about how to fix him, but nothing worked.  I finally talked them into sending me a new phone (not a boiphren; I was not ready for a new relationship, so I put off naming the new phone).

The new phone was a refurbished purple Lotus (see top of post and get the irony).  Yesterday, when my boiphren broke up with me, I went to my room and pulled out the purple Lotus that I had kept in case this ever happened.  It's always good to have a spare cell phone around.  We never know when our boiphren is going to leave us unexpectedly.

I think I'll forego the naming of the purple Lotus.  It just seems wrong to let him get too close too soon.  And maybe if I never love the phone, it will never hurt me like my boiphren did.

Note: I will likely visit Sprint at some point in the near future and see if they can fix the boiphren...I do love him more than the purple Lotus.  For now, though, I can accomplish the necessary with this phone - making and receiving phone calls (with a few texts and emails thrown in).

Testimony Revisited (by guest blogger, Josiah Bender)

Greetings, my name is Siah, and I'm playing the role of epicke blogger today.

As some of you may know, I take a Law and Order class, and it uses terms like "testimony" all of the time. I found this intriguing; I, as a Christian, find myself saying "testimony" as well, but never for the same reason as one might in a courtroom. But the more you think about it, the more you find this great connection between the "testimony" of law and the "testimony" of Christianity. In law, a testimony is given about the events that have occurred at a crime, usually pinpointing a suspect as the criminal.

Now, let's shake away some of the extra stuff and get down to the basics of that. A testimony is essentially a statement of what someone has experienced.  Well, hey! That's what a Christian testimony is too! And it's not always the "and then I hit rock bottom, but Jesus came into my life and now I'm great" stuff. That's a great testimony, but sometimes a testimony is just telling people what you've experienced with Jesus. Now, you might wonder what experience you're supposed to talk about. Well, here's another interesting word in both law and Christianity: witness.

In law, the witness gives the testimony. In Christianity, we think of a witness as someone who professes Christ's love. So, it's simple. If a testimony is given by a witness, and a witness talks about Christ's love and how he conquered death for our sins, then your testimony should describe your personal relationship with Christ and personally what it means to know that He died and rose again for your sins.

Matthew 10:32 says "Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven." Be a disciple - acknowledge what He has done for you, and tell others of His love and mercy. This is what it means to be a witness. This is what it means to give a testimony.

Blogger's note: My son rocks, doesn't he?

Speech Mom - Speech Coach

When Josiah started high school, Kerry and I pretty much forced him to choose a sport in which to participate.  He chose cross country.  Although the boys's team needs him to run in order to receive a team score, the pressure of typical team sports do not exist in cross country.  For the most part, cross country is an individual sport.  And we like it because it fosters skills that he will use for the rest of his life in order to promote a  healthy body.

The activity that truly grabbed Josiah by the then-non-existent tie and pulled him in to the point that I do not remember how my son survived without it was debate.  The type of debate in which Patrick Henry participates is not a one student against another student set up.  Rather, Josiah and his debate partner work together against another team of two students.  When one of them is not there, another student can step in to assist; however, it is different and feels more like practice than a competition.  Josiah and his partner became a dominating force last year and even made it to the state tournament last spring as a freshman and a sophomore.

We were happy with the activities that Josiah had in his life, but he was not.  He wanted, like his sister has, a speech team.  Speech, though a complement to debate, is very different from debate, uses different skills, and has a different sense of competition to it.  Josiah desired that complement.

If my kids want to do something and it is beneficial for them to do so, I want them to be able to do it.  A year ago, I started asking around at Patrick Henry High School about starting a speech team.  Initially I was met with resistance, but then things started to click.  I thought it would happen in time for the season of 2011.  But somewhere something fell apart, and it never happened.

On Friday afternoon, I sat in the assistant principal's office at Patrick Henry High School, and she gave me not only permission but also her support to start a speech team.  *Happy Dance*

And now the reality of this has hit.

I am the coach, but there is no stipend for that.  I am the coach, but there are currently no students on the team.  I am the coach, but I do not know what I am doing!  Fortunately, Beth's coach has offered to mentor me, so that is helpful.  But really?  The woman who has "slowed down her life" is now a speech coach!?!?!?

Did I mention that speech meets are on Saturday mornings and the bus leaves at 6:40?  A.M.!?!?!?!?!?!

There is no funding for the speech team, and students from Patrick Henry High School cannot all afford food let alone an activity fee so that they can participate in speech.  So - now I will raise funds.  I figure if ten students participate, it would cost about $160 per student to pay for their registration fess and wages to judges.  Now I just need to convince some people to donate or sponsor the speech team.

Oh yeah....I can do that.   Right?

Inappropriate Halloween Costumes

I love my husband and his support of my blog.  I have to thank him for this blog post's content because of his commitment to me and to reading CNN online.  Without those commitments, this blog post would not be possible.

Any time the word "inappropriate" is used in a title, we naturally assume racy pictures, bad language, or other things that I should probably not blog about.  But the inappropriate that I am about to discuss has nothing to do with sexually inappropriate concepts or bad language.  In fact, in our current culture, I think that I have become rather less concerned about those things (though they are still an issue).  What I am becoming more and more concerned about is the way that we mock certain issues due to our lack of understanding about physical and emotional issues that others (or ourselves) have.

The cnn.com blog post that Kerry emailed me was titled, "Sexy Anorexia Halloween Costume Controversy."  The article discusses a Halloween costume titled 'Anna Rexia.'  The costume itself resembles the 'naughty nurse' costumes that seem to plague the costume aisles at Target and Wal-Mart; however, this one crosses a different line for me.  Mental health is not something that we should mock - especially not in a Halloween costume.  By the way...today is World Mental Health Day.

While we expect school-aged children to make fun of others, we still educate them and attempt to stop the mocking behavior.  Often their making fun of others stems from a lack of understanding of the issue with which another child deals.  Students who trip the student with cerebral palsy in the hallway usually need to be educated about the physical struggles caused by the disease rather than punished.  This typically changes the behavior.  If it does not change behavior, then consequences should follow.

I am not concerned about the children in our culture as much as I am concerned about the adults in our culture.  This concern that I have only is validated by this Halloween costume.  As adults, we also have these same tendencies of mocking that which we do not understand.  The problem with this, however, is that adults shape culture. Adults are the creators of these Halloween costumes.  Adults are the ones who are now responsible for perpetuating insensitive behavior that should be educated and then punished in school aged children.

I am outraged, and I am glad to have a blog on which I can share my outrage.  By the way, the costume came out in 2007, but enough people complained about it that the manufacturer stopped making it.  I am sure you could buy it on ebay, though.

What is next?  Major Depression?  Bipolar?

Please.

Grossing Out Beth

My husband is a great cook. We had friends over for dinner and a board game last night, and he made delicious pizzas - buffalo chicken, thai chicken, cheese (with big slabs of mozzerella), and an apple pie dessert pizza. Often, he looks at the leftovers in the refrigerator and gets inspired to make something new out of something old. He is a true artist.

Quite frequently, Kerry needs assistant chefs to pull off his creations. Beth and Siah are at his side to make sure that all gets finished on time. They have learned tricks of the trade by doing this and, at times, try their own hand in the kitchen. Although not every creation is successful, they have had some delicious outcomes. A great example of this is Beth's dessert soup which was all the rage at last year's youth group Soup Off fundraiser.

This afternoon, Kerry prepared a dinner for the youth group and college/career group at church that definitely is not Domino's pizza! He put together a dirty rice dish with chicken sausage to accompany deep fried seasoned turkeys. Beth offered herself as an assistant. Before she knew what she had agreed to do, she started massaging and rubbing the turkey with seasonings and oils that are sure to make it flavorful. I had no idea what was going on in the kitchen, but I heard shrieks and hollers...within seconds, Kerry instructed me to get my camera so that I would have an awesome picture and story for today's blog. I think somewhere between saying, "Dad, I can help...." and putting on an apron, Beth realized that helping meant touching the dead animal. She actually started talking to the turkey and walking herself through what she was doing.

Sunday afternoons tend to be filled with family moments. While the cooking is going on in the background, there is also a competitive board game set up on the dining room table. However, because of the contemporary worship service at church tonight and Siah's commitment to assist that required him to be there early, our board game is currently on hold...most likely to be picked up tomorrow. I would like to be able to say that I am currently in the winning position; however, even if that were true, it would not last long.

These are the types of days for which I am thankful and that I look forward to enjoying as much as possible.

Oops

I need to add blogging to my to do list each day.

Oops...

Not blogging

Stomach bug.  Thanks, Beth.

Blogging at 10:10 p.m.

This is a bad blog post. Sorry, Becky...

The past two weeks have knocked me off of my socks. Actually, if I think about it too much, the beginning of the school year has been rough.

I have never started a school year in this position as a dean of students in charge of attendance. This is hard...

The curriculum company that supplies the curriculum for my school had a major upset with a new student information system. This is sooooo not fun.....

We were given permission to hire two additional staff members in my department. We offered the job to two people, one accepted, but one turned us down. The district then had a hiring freeze. More long story here...the good news is that the new hire is awesome. The bad news is that I still would like one more person....

About 10 days ago, one of the secretarial staff who supports my team reigned so that she could pursue other options. Her timing was awful. Her last day was the Thursday before her colleague got married. Thankfully, support staff member two (who got married) put a week of work between her wedding and her honeymoon. The great part about this is that she has been able to train the other person's replacement.

The awesome news is that my school has leased more office space...I get an awesome office with a door to close while I have those hard conversations with people. It also has a window that overlooks a "plaza" and then Nicolett Island.

The question I ask myself once a week or so is, "Do I like this job?"

The answer is a loud YES!

I have made it to every cross country race that Siah has run this year...at least by the time he has crossed the finish line. My boss supports me being at opening night of Beth's play even though it conflicts with a work conference.

I love my job because it allows for balance in my life. Sure - it takes time....what job doesn't? But it rocks more than any job I have had so far since we have returned from Scotland.

And that is what is on my mind at 10:39 p.m. on Thursday night....I guess this isn't such a bad post.

:)

Irony

On our way to the Apple Store tonight, I read that Steve Jobs had passed away.

This is irony at its finest.

Inconveniences

I had a long work day.

It started with a 7:15 a.m. departure for court in the awesome town of Red Wing. I love court appearances, and I love Red Wing. Unfortunately, today I only had time for the court appearance. As I drove out of Red Wing, I did consider squeezing a bit of toothpaste from the day and enjoying a walk in the downtown area. But common sense kicked in...

Boo for common sense.

I headed in to the office where I bounced from meeting to meeting for a few hours before I finally plugged in my laptop and got some work done. Work = sending emails. A few hours later I packed up the laptop, picked up Beth, and headed home.

I cooked dinner for the family.

After dinner I set up the laptop for the evening round of blogging and Facebook. As I repeated my ritual of setting up my "space" at one end of the dining room table, I realized that I had left my computer cord at the office.

How inconvenient!

As a friend stated las night, this is a "first world" inconvenience. How sad that this is true. Along with Caribou being out of a favorite flavor, my car needing an oil change, or my favorite pair of jeans needing to be washed, this is not an issue that truly threatens my well-being.

Time to shut up and deal.

Fortunately for tonight, though, one first world problem (no cord) has an answer for the "need to blog" catastrophe. Thanks to a software developer for Blackberry, I can blog on my phone.

Marketing Day Turns Into Life Lesson

Today I wore my t-shirt that sports the "Minnesota Virtual High School" logo on it.  When I work somewhere, I love to have stuff that has the logo on it.  I am a complete superfan.  When I worked at PACT Charter School from August 2003-June 2005, my advisory class had t-shirts for the advisory softball games in the spring.  We had a "Bender" (click here to see the entire line) as our mascot.  When I worked at Wolf Creek Online High School, I had fleece vests and fleece coats to wear out and about on visits.

I had a reason for wearing my t-shirt today, though, as I attended what I thought was a strict marketing event.  I love marketing.  I think it is a blast to talk to people about the possibilities that are out there in the school world.  I love asking questions and directing people down the paths that would work well for you.  I love talking about what I do and why I do it.  It is great fun!

However, when I arrived at the event called Youth Connect located at a Greek Orthodox church in South Minneapolis, I realized that this was much more than a marketing event.  The event's purpose was to connect youth who are homeless or highly mobile with resources such as employment services, housing assistance, and education.  Obviously, I was representing a school and providing information about education.

Earlier in the day, I was feeling sorry for myself because I was overwhelmed at work.  Emails plagued me.  Phone calls interrupted me.  People annoyed me.  One of my assistants resigned, and today was her first day not in the office.  Another of my assistants got married on Saturday; she also was not in the office.  I fought about the philosophy behind our attendance and truancy policies (which, by the way are founded in Minnesota law...) with a co-worker in another state and with a parent.  The day was, as I had predicted when I awoke, going poorly.

As I started talking with the youth who attended the event, I started realizing that my "poor me" attitude had no place.  Surrounded by others in the fields serving youth, my eyes were open - once again - to the plight of youth...in Minneapolis.  In our metro area, there are over a million youth aged 16-21 who are in need of services.  One million students who need employment, housing, or education assistance.  Many will not sleep on a bed tonight.  Many only have what they carried today.  Many only ate what was served at the event today and do not know when they will eat again.

As I drove home, I reminded myself of the truth that my children would eat dinner tonight with two parents who love them, that they have more clothes than they need, and that they will sleep in a bed in a house tonight.  I have much for which to be thankful.  I also was reminded that there are many who need much.

Blogging is Like Exercise

Blogging is like exercise or any other discipline.  If you say you are going to do it every day, you have to do it every day - whether you like it or not.

And like exercise, reading my Bible, and praying, I should do it in the morning to start the day correctly as well as set it as a priority.

Maybe tomorrow?

Not Happening

Exhausted.

Oops - Media Glitch!

Yesterday's post did not post. It was not good anyway...