Hiking Mt. Beacon

Mike and I hiked to the top of Mt. Beacon this morning. It was more strenuous than I thought it would be. Nice enough, but I doubt I'll be returning.

We saw the remnants of the old pulley that raised and lowered the trolley up and down the mountain,
and some very beautiful views of Beacon and Newburgh. These pics are all taken with my phone so they're not the best, but you get the idea.

Welcome Back

I wandered through the forest of internet and was separated from my blog. It's easy to do, but I'm glad I found my way back. I've reconnected with many friends, old and new, through Facebook. I've been merrily pinning things to my boards on Pinterest. Managed to avoid Twitter, although I know many who never make it past that pit. I enjoy the internet, a lot. But I feel like I'm going to have to carve out some time for it and use the rest of my time for myself and my family. My responsibilities are being fulfilled, but I think that if I want to get to another level, to heighten my 'self', I'm going to need some time to dedicate to reading, learning new things, and developing current skills.

It seems selfish to post an entry only to say "I don't have much time to spend here", but I think that by putting some boundaries up I'll actually be able to be more productive here.

Latest Reads

Shooter by Walter Dean Meyers is a book intended for a teen/young adult audience. It's a fast read (one day), but I certainly wouldn't recommend for anyone under 15. It's a good example of 'If you don't stand for something you'll certainly fall for anything.' There's a variety of examples of bad parenting and teens feeling alienated from peers. Leonard, one of the leading characters, who is actually deceased, is a real head-case with propensity for violence. I was on edge waiting for Cameron or Carla to truly stand up to him, but even when they did it was short lived. I'd like a follow up to see what actually happens to Cameron after this tragedy. Does he grow a spine? Can he improve his relationship with his parents? Would he continue to attend the same school? How does he explain his complete lack of affect? The book is a tragedy in the traditional sense. All the characters are flawed and there is no happy ending.


Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby is about Theodore Mead Fegley and his struggle to fit in somewhere despite his incredibly high I.Q. and his always being considerably younger than his peers. The book is written with Fegley's college graduation as the pinacle and we get to see all major events before and after his entering college. Mead is not likable. Although he becomes more so as he tries to mend his relationship with his Aunt and Uncle and finally stands up to his mother (back off lady, sheesh!). You think he's losing his mind, or you are, as things progress because he starts to hallucinate a bit. I liked all the math references and his trip to Bell Labs (Yea New Jersey!). You wouldn't need to know any math to understand Fegley's obsession. Due to some adult situations I would not recommend for under 17.

New Dog

Here's our new dog, Ozzie. He's a complete love. We found him at the Middletown Humane Society, which was a great location. They had a lot of great animals including chickens, rabbits, birds, reptiles, cats and dogs. Ozzie and his sister, Ruby, had been surrendered by a family who no longer had time to care for them. I appreciate what this family did, because Ozzie and Ruby were so sweet you could tell they had been truly cared for. He sleeps with his belly to the sky and loves to carry his bone around. He's great on the leash, nice to everyone he meets, and is great with Frank. He's a nice new addition to our family.

Unconditional Love

I used to be a real hot-head when I was younger. Days were marked by ridiculous arguments, feelings of betrayal, outrage, and an occasional fistfight (over a boy, of all things!). I'm such a different person now I can barely remember the absurd justifications I had to behave in such manner. I would like to say that I changed as a result of getting older, but I have met a lot of people, older than me, who still live life this way. They nurse hurt feelings and plan ways of exacting revenge. This isn't a good way to live, it's not the path to happiness, I've never met anyone who behaves this way and is content.

The biggest changing factor in my life has been that I've come to know the Lord. Unconditional love only comes through Him. Once you learn what it looks like, how it feels and some minimal skills in self restraint you can begin to treat others with unconditional love too. Through this process people can begin to truly feel content and happy, under any circumstance.

When you rely on people to meet your needs you will be sorely disappointed. Only God can love you unconditionally and fill you to overflowing that you can share that love with those around you. Neighbors, coworkers, family, spouses, children, are all going to say or do something at some point that will cause you emotional pain or distress. If you don't have Jesus you're going to take those things to heart, but there's another way! Love them. You don't need to analyze anyone's thoughts or actions, you don't need to question motives or plan your next move. Just love them, truly, and pray that God will be with you to help you.

Amazing Challenge

A few months ago I was listening to NPR in the car and they were interviewing a woman who was visually impaired and had a PhD in physics. It was remarkable to hear the struggles she went through to learn math and physics, which you can imagine involves a lot of visual aids.

As God would have it, I now have a visually impaired student in one of my Algebra classes. I've been searching for resources, but there is very little available for sighted people. I found a great web site in Texas by a woman named Susan A. Osterhaus. I've spent quite a bit of time searching her site just trying to get a handle on what sort of training I would need in order to work with a visually impaired student. It seems there are two different forms of tactile learning for the blind, English Braille, which is used for reading and writing words, and The Nemeth Code, which is used for math type learning. I haven't yet been able to locate any proper training in New York, but I will continue to search.

Nibelungenlied

Quite by accident I started reading a book that my DH keeps called Nibelungenlied. I'm enjoying it thoroughly.

If you don't want to click on the link and read about it, then I'll just tell you, it's the translation of an epic poem in Middle High German. It's about a powerful knight Siegfried, his murder and the subsequent vengeance by his widow Kriemhild. Anyone who enjoyed Iliad would enjoy this. The chapters are short, so I can get one in before going to sleep at night. It's quickly paced so I haven't hit a boring spot yet. The names are a bit tricky, but I could recommend it for high school age and up.

Job Opportunities

There's another full-time opening where I work. Maybe they'll fall in love with me, give me a job, and buy some of my ebay stuff.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Face of Jesus

This is pretty neat, when you study the face of this picture you'll see it's made up of moments from the life of Jesus.

Frank and Mom

This is a beautiful picture that Frank came home with for me the beginning of 5th grade. I've had it hanging at my desk and since I had to vacate said desk today I'll take this opportunity to share some art. This is a picture of Frank and I sitting on the grass watching the sun set.

Thank you

Thank you, Lord, for giving me this wonderful day. A day filled with splendor and sparkle. Thank you for giving me a roof and food and a precious family. Thank you for giving us your word as guidance and reminder to true happiness.

Thank you, to my husband, for being such a good husband. You are the Yin to my Yang. You are the rock to my whirlwind. Thank you for cooking and cleaning and working and being so silly. Thank you for being still.

Thank you, to my mother, for being a source of strength. Thank you for being a kind and firm mother. You have been a shining example of motherhood. Without your love I would have never been given such an insight to the love of the Lord.

Thank you, to my sister, for being things I am not. Thank you for loving my opposing nature. Thank you for being my teacher and my friend.

Identity other than parent

I must admit that I have a difficult time forming my identity away from my child. I really love Frank (of course) and I spend about 50% of my time away from him, so you'd think that it wasn't that big of a deal. But I find that most of my time away from him is 1)planning what to do when we're together, 2)killing time til he comes home 3)thinking of ways to help him get the most out of life. I'm sure other people have this problem. I'm not one of those who has nothing to talk about but my kid, but I will say that I smile the broadest when I am talking about him. He just brings me such joy!

Oh Blog, Why Have I Forsaken Thee

Okay, the colder weather is setting in, so I guess I can start to give you some updates again.

I was passed over for a full-time position with my current employer. It's unfortunate, but I'm hopeful that it won't happen twice. I like being there, and I'm enjoying teaching again. I think it's someplace that I could work permanently, now I just have to convince them. Adjuncting has been good because I'm knitting a lot and starting to think about math again. Hard, thought provoking, vomit inducing math. You know, the good stuff!

My dog is getting older by the minute. I can actually hear him getting older right now. His old bones are shaky and rickety. He can barely get out of his own way. Walking him takes a tremendous amount of patience because he is sooooo slloooooooow. I feel like such a heal when I leave him during the day. We set up doggie playpen in the living room and he moans and howls in there all day. He seems to be less stressed out than he was being locked in the bedroom all day. "Why do we have to pen him?" you may ask. Well, he does wear a diaper, but they don't make a diaper that covers the rear portion of a dog, and we just couldn't spend the rest of our lives steam cleaning the rug.

Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I'm looking forward to it, I just wish I had some decent dishes. Mine are all chipped and scratched. I guess they're better than paper plates.

We started watching The Prisoner on AMC last night, starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen. Love it! It's definitely got that kooky 70's sci-fi feel to it, but we had our eyes glued to the show the entire time. I've never seen the original, but I'm a bit curious now. I wonder if my mom has seen it. Mom?

My darling husband took me to the Hobby Lobby this past weekend. My girlfriend in Mississippi was always showing me such fab things she got from Hobby Lobby, and with that sassy southern accent I just loved the way should just rattled off, "oh, I got that at the HobbyLobby", so I was very excited. It was nice. Like a giant Michaels and HomeGoods in one. The yarn selection was big and we bought a puzzle to do together. I signed up to get coupons, so we'll see if I can keep spending to a minimum.

Frank and I are going with my mom to Baltimore this weekend! We're very excited to see Tina and Andy and go to the play.

~Toodles~

Touch My Monkey!

Okay, he's not mine, but I did make him for someone's baby. He was pretty easy and I think he's fabulous.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

"When you have known someone your whole life you don't need a lot of warm-up time to get into a big argument. All the foreplay has been done years ago, and so the battle sits in your memory like stove gas awaiting the match." from Breakfast With Buddha, by Roland Merullo

A Prayer by Frank

This school year the students at my son's school faced a bit of a tragedy because their beloved school nurse Patricia died of cancer. She worked right up until she could no longer, went into hospice and passed away within two weeks. It was very upsetting to Frank and he was sure that no replacement could be found because "She was the best, Mom. She won an award". The children were given an opportunity to write a letter to Patricia's husband, here is Frank's...

Insomnia

sleep, don't allude me
i long for your tender kiss
come quickly to me

Dogswalk and Project Linus

I finished two more blankets for Project Linus. They were assembled from the squares that the beginning knitters at Mount Saint Mary College had created. It was a real drag putting them together. I will not do that in the future. It took me a year! Literally! If I had known they were going to make so many squares I would've just had them make blankets.


We went on the annual Dogswalk at Bear Mountain Park. Here we are with the Fothergills and Sox (short for Red Sox), Robbie, Nixon and Maggie. My mom was the photog so she's not in this pic, but she came with Maggie. The dogs did great and slept the rest of the day. The weather was decent, not too hot, and it rained only a bit towards the end. We were finished by 10:30. It's so neat to see all the different breeds of dogs there, especially the extremely large and small ones.

Travel Plans

DH and I are going to Atlantic City to celebrate out anniversary this year. In the process of looking for a reasonably priced room I came across this on a bed and breakfast search site.

This beautiful house is right at the top of my hill. It's such a great reminder of how beautiful my city was. It makes me so happy to see things turning around.
It's a bed and breakfast in Newburgh called The Pickerel Rush.