so I’m relaxing about this whole blog thing.

Mom’s hanging in there. She is doing the best she can with all things considered. I will go into more detail in another post…

I realized this morning that I just need to relax. Not worry about the eloquence of my posts and just use my blog as a daily communication right now.

Spam sucks. My highest number of spams on Wordpress in one day towered over 250. In one day! Thank goodness for the wonders of Akismet! Y’all can post comments again. I’m sorry that I blocked you before, but I thought it would make a difference with the spam. it did….but only in such a way that the spammers seemed delightfully pissed by my first action, and so they countered that action with one of their own. Somehow, they quadrupled their spamming operation, and it just became too much to bear. Like I said, with the discovery of Akismet, I’m back in business, baby!

We’re moving, too. That’s a big thing. The house (yep. I can touch all four exterior walls and run and play in the back yard if I so choose) is absolutely wonderful in the middle of an ideal community for our children. So…that’s taking a lot of my time.
But so what.

I’ve learned, I’ve taught, I’ve begged others to see that writing daily is necessary for countless reasons. And yet, I have not practiced what I have preached.

So be it. Let the crap factory reopen as I publish whatever I damn well wish to publish on my blog….just as long as I agree to do it candidly and daily….

Love to all, as always.

Rus

My daughter can see it on the horizon: Freedom like she’s never known before.

For weeks now, she and the other 71 fifth graders at her school have been a little more electric at the thought of graduating from elementary school and moving on to the next level. Visits by the various middle schools that she and her friends will go to have made their big shows, sharing with them all of the new activities, options, and freedoms that will be available in the fall.

There’s after school drama, step teams, honor societies, sports groups, and even a “radical ropers” team that blows you away with an amazing display of choreographed jump roping to upbeat pop music.

She and the others are ready. They have been king of the hill at the elementary school for half a school year, and they see that freedom just a few months away. Will I dance? Will I act? Will I play soccer? Field hockey? Basketball? What will I do with all of that free time now that I’ll be getting out of school nearly 70 minutes earlier every day?

I, on the other hand, see all that freedom for her as well and hold my breath. Although I am excited for her–even thankful that she’ll be offered so many new opportunities that she just doesn’t have right now (but is certainly ready for), I am having just a teeny weeny tiny bit of trouble facing the fact that, indeed, my little girl is growing up.

Last night, I sat in a large auditorium at her new middle school and listened to competent teachers (I bashed every one of them, by the way, as they talked to us–You aren’t good enough to teach my young daughter! How old are you, after all? And what’s up with talking to me like I’m a stupid parent afraid to let his kid move on???). I criticized every one of them. Judged them. Made up my mind that, no, this was not the school for her. I even drew little sad faces next to each of their names on the program as they spoke to us. Sure, one or two of them got the straight-line for a mouth (I guess they were ok), but everybody from the principal down to he counselor got a less than satisfactory rating from me as they spoke.

*sigh*

But then I came home, and I saw the look in her eye as she asked me if I thought that the principal was just about the coolest grandmotherly type person EVER, and what did I think of the classrooms, the auditorium, and the lockers. She asked me about the extra-curricular activities, the really great young teachers that she can already relate to, and the Mascot that’s ferocious enough to scare away any other middle school in the Baltimore area.

I saw that, despite all of my childish poopy-face drawings I might have scribbled next to the people who will be caring for my growing-up little girl for the next three years, she was going to be more than okay at this school.

I was the one screaming all the way down the hall….I don’t wanna go to middle school!

Maybe they’ll tell the kids at an early assembly just how hard the transition is for us parents, and it’ll be their turn to draw poopy smiley faces on the program as counselors warn them that this is a critical time in a parents’ development through early let-go adolescence.

Certainly I don’t think that I’m alone…I’m sure that when that big ol’ yellow bus pulls up to the front of my house in late August, I’m going to be the one dragging my feet all the way to the front door….

No!!!!!! You can’t make me deal with this!!!!!

I won’t I won’t I won’t!

But she will, and there’s nothing I can do but step aside and let her be happy and free as she graduates from more than just elementary school.

Oh–and maybe give those old, those young, and those patronizing teachers a second chance… right?

(I don’t wanna!…)

Right.

yikes.

Well, the unthinkable happened, and after a week of sobbing over the loss of the Colts over two decades ago and vowing revenge once and for all, we lost the game.

This city, my friends, will be in need of deep psychological assistance in the coming days, months, and even years.

Heck, it might even be another two decades before we get some closure on this situation.

Hey, it was a good game, we got beat, and it’s over. My goodness, fellow Baltimoreans, please tell me that we can all move on with our lives now that this game is over.

Please?

Therapists with any background in PTCD (post-traumatic Colts disorder) need not bother with any application process. Just get here. And quick. you are guaranteed to make a ton of money off of us as we try to grasp how such a devastating thing could happen….

(To “Looks Like Rain,” from The Dead’s 12/29/77 show at Winterland)
On my desk rests a helicopter, broken in two places where my wife stepped on it yesterday afternoon. It rests, on its side, with one half of its landing gear nearby; next to the black piece of plastic is the wooden shank once holding the back propeller. All three pieces rest in the shadow of a bottle of Elmer’s Wood Glue and a thin tube of Instant Krazy Glue, still in its original package, waiting to be put into service. In a few hours, I’ll apply the glues, turn three pieces of toy into one once again, and let it rest for another 24 hours before letting it fly once again. It seems all too simple, really, to fix what is broken.

Wouldn’t life be just a little different if that’s all it took to mend the broken parts? I a little dab of Elmer’s and a drop or two of Krazy Glue?

I’ve been up most of the night with my five year old. She is trying her best to fight off the cold her younger brother gave her, but her defenses are not strong enough. At around 3 this morning, she and her immune system succumbed to the bug, and she spent the remaining hourse of pre-dawn light throwing up, pleading for sleep to find her once again, and wanting nothing more than the burning pain in her throat to go away.

Nothing to do but hold her through it while my wife did her best to keep little Braeden asleep. If he would have awakened, it would have done us in completely.

So, I’m back. To be honest, I didn’t really want to write this morning, but I can feel myself slipping into a lazy, self-piteous way, and I know I’ve got to do a better job at disciplining myself to stay focused this week. The one side of me tells me to take it easy, finish reading that better-than-ok book by Stephen King (Lisey’s Story); the other side tells me that I’m being a lazy bum and I need to stay focused if I’m ever going to do something substantial with my writing.

What motivates me most, of course, is my children. I want them to have the security that I have not yet provided them, and I want them to have some pretty good experiences while they are still in their younger years. There’s a house that I’m pining after in one of the local historic districts, and I keep thinking about how right it would be for us to live there. It’s modest in many ways, but it’s got the yard we’ve been wanting for them, and it certainly has more space for us to spread out (and definitely at least 4 bedrooms, which is an absolute necessity now that we’re a family of five).

So, I need to discipline myself to get there. To make it happen. To kick it up another notch with my writing and get to that historic house with the bigger yard and the 4+ bedrooms (oh, please let there be just one more room for my writing room).

That’s why I’m just back, I think. The blog’s probably going to be of a different tone as I try a few things out, so please be patient with me as I work through this.

I’m glad i wrote this morning. . . .(”Minglewood Blues” closes me out for this entry…)

Ugh.

Ok. It was an experience. I’ll give it that much.

But to sit in a room for 8 hours without a single jury pool being called for selection?

A major disappointment today as there was complete inaction on behalf of the need for jurors for upcoming trials.

Here’s to a better Friday, all!

4:15 a.m.

Uploaded my still incomplete novel a few moments ago….Total word count submitted: 51,777. I’m feelin’ really good about this. Second year in a row I’ve written 50K in the month of November, although this work is still unfinished–unlike last year’s book, which I was able to type “The End” on 11/30 and feel like I had a complete draft to play around with. I’ve still got a good 15K to go for this book before those lovely two words can be typed after three hard returns and a shift to the center of the page….

Now, I should probably try to get an hour or two of sleep, because at 9 I need to be at the courthouse for jury duty….That’s right! They selected numbers 50 through 687. And because I’m number 625, that makes me the big jury winner….

Wouldn’t that be great if they gave you juror door prizes or parting gifts?

And special thanks go to Juror no. 7, who leaves us today with a brand new blender and a $20 gift card to Kameras R Us! We think he did just a great job of intimidating Juror no. 2 to change her vote to convict! Congrats, Juror no. 7! We hope to see you back here real soon!

Ah, yes. Sleep is a definite priority for me right now!

I’ll update when I return. I can’t wait! I’m taking HP and the Half-Blood Prince with me, as well as my Moleskine Reporter’s Journal (I have a Moleskine for every occasion!) and “plenty of quarters for the vending machines” as the district court’s recorded message advised me to do in my special instructions phone call….

Enjoy the day, all! And for those of you who are wrapping up your books or who are blogging for the 30th straight day….waHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Congrats to you!!!

In about three hours, I will be placing a call to our local Jury Duty Hotline, where I will learn my fate to see if my number–that’s number 625, to be precise–falls within the group of numbers selected for duty tomorrow morning.

Mixed emotions on this one.

The teacher in me doesn’t want to leave my kids for a full day (or more). Writing sub plans is a chore, and I really feel like I’m in a good groove with my classes. I don’t like rocking routines that are still in their youthful stride.

The writer in me is ready to deal with the devil to get selected for a juicy trial. The experiences I will gain are virtually limitless: the potential jurors, the interactions with the lawyers in the selection phase, the actual trial, seeing the defendant, working on a verdict with the other jurors, the reactions in the courtroom when the verdict is revealed….Even if I have to sit in the “pool” room all day and not be selected, that experience itself will be worthwhile….

The Nano writer in me craves and curses the opportunity. If I get called in, but not to serve, then there’s tons of time to finish my book (a little less than 7K to go). If I get called in and put on a trial, then my chances of finishing are diminished significantly (unless I do a super-write tonight and git-r-done that way).

I’m up for it, whatever happens. I know most people shudder when their number comes up (not That number, the jury one), but I see this as great material for writing…

I’ll know by 4:31 either way!

Good day, all:

The four-day break was beyond wonderful with my family, and yesterday HG (my 10-yr-old daughter) and I dreaded the return to the grind. But we reminded each other that it’s all in the attitude in which we approach the Monday-morning return…

I’ve always had a challenge in keeping a healthy balance between work and home. As a teacher, I throw myself into my classes and into the clubs I’m involved in. As I head back to school this morning, though, I’m doing my best to remind myself that I can give of myself fully while I’m there, but I can do that in the concentrated time that I’m supposed to be there, and then I should head back home. Too many days after school have I lingered behind, believing that there was just one more thing (or two, or three) that I had to do.

So: Today I’ll leave school by 3:30, beat most of the rush-hour traffic, and return home to my family, where I can resume this wonderful run of days with them.

As I said, it’s all in the attitude. I’ll work hard while I’m there, but I live more fully when I can spend more time at home…

Here’s to a good Monday to everyone…May it be a happy, balanced one!

Are you already out there?

Have you been standing in the lines outside Best Buy, CompUSA, WalMart, or Target since 11 last night? Waiting to buy that plasma TV for $199? Or how about that laptop for $99? Hmmmmm????

And if you were out there, was it worth the wait?

I have to ask because I was not out there. I drove by the lines of people, jumping up and down to keep warm, and I followed the streaming spotlights that swirled in the late night Thanksgiving sky. But I did not stand in the lines. I just…well, I just couldn’t do it.

This is the first year that I’ve noticed Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving day, and I feel like the sanctity of that one Thursday in November has been tread upon, dirtied even, in a market’s effort to steal you away and say, Hey, buying these tvs really is more important than being with family.

I don’t know. I feel like I’m being old-fashioned about this, maybe even a little nostalgic. But I remember Thanksgiving as that moratorium on all things commercial. It was the calm day before the big storm hit, but at least we could count on that peace; at least we could move from one family’s home to another with relative safety that the streets were free of crazy shoppers or consumers with motives other than finding that elusive jar of cranberry sauce still on the shelves at the one store still open in town for such emergencies.

About a block from my house, CompUSA opened its doors last night at 8 p.m. for its special 8-till-midnight sale, and it worries me that next year it might be 6 to midnight, or what if they offer free turkey dinner to the first 100 people who are in line by noon to celebrate their doors opening at 3? I can just hear the promo ad now:

That’s right! CompUSA’s got your best interests in mind! Now you can get the best of both worlds! Bring the whole family and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner–on Us! It’s our gift to you as you join us in celebrating our first-ever Thanksgiving Dinner Day Sale, where you get a meal and $250 off your choice of plasma tv! This Thanksgiving, you can pass the pumpkin pie in Aisle 3, where we’ve got the NFL Tripleheader playing in stereo surround sound. Don’t miss this opportunity to be our guest and celebrate this most special day of the year–in Hi-Def! CompUSA: the company that brings families together!

And you know what else? Who in the world really gives plasma screens for christmas? I would bet a good chunk of money that many of those tvs that were bought last night and this morning have already been ripped free from their boxes and are being installed in time to watch this weekend’s NFL matchups.

So I ask you: Does CompUSA and the others have your best interests in mind, or theirs?

Silly question, I know.

One quick other thing before I run to CompUSA (just kidding…): Last night, over the best turkey dinner I’ve had since last Thanksgiving (go figure), I confessed to my friends that I have never, ever seen a James Bond movie. And so, the familial celebration continues today, as the Fam and I go over to another Fam’s house. The kids’ll watch Cars while we watch Bond, and I cannot wait for the experience.

Yeah, the movie will be great. But being with friends on this anything-but-black Friday is what makes this holiday great.

Enjoy your Friday, all! And be safe out there! It’s not going to be pretty!

Today’s just one of those days…I’ve got my engine on, and I’ve been cleaning like crazy since I woke up about 25 minutes ago. There’s no school today, no inservices, no planned meetings. It’s like today’s the 366th day of the year, and I’m not going to throw it away and take it for granted.

First, there’s my basement/office/cat living quarters/laundry room that needs a good overhaul. I really didn’t take advantage of the time I had last summer to give it a good cleaning from top-to-bottom, but I think a solid two hours or so ought to put this place iin contention for a before-after contest…

Second, there’s the kitchen. This place needs a purging, first-rate and cut-throat. The beloved cereal boxes with exactly three ounces of Cheerios, Total, and Oat Flakes left in them must meet their fate in the bottom of a big black trash bag. The dozen or so salad dressings, all with less than a portion-size remaining in the bottom of their respective bottles, can go the way of the big black bag.

Finally, there’s the yard. Welcome to the cemetery for all things plastic and cheap. Little Tykes ought to consider this sacred land a historic burial site for its many characters who have fallen victim to the vicious blade of the push mower. I’ve got green tarps, black grill covers, bubble wands, disney cups, neon watering cans, three beep-beep cars, two scooters, and a multi-function plastic playset that eats half of my yard.

Quoth this Raven: NEVERMORE! NEVERMORE!

If I have the courage, I’ll take before-after shots. Otherwise, you’ll just have to trust me on this one that, by day’s end, I will be victorious as SuperCleaner! Able to anhiliate dirty rooms in a single cleaning!

er–i better get to work!

Have a good Monday, all!