Back to School

Wow, I can't believe summer's almost gone.  It seems like it flew by, with the two conferences I attended this summer, the girls and their two weeks in Colorado, and my graduation in Phoenix - followed by a short vacation in southern California.  The girls have been back in school three weeks.  They are part of Georgia's newest online public school - Georgia Connections Academy (GACA)- and are enjoying it. 

The girls are not newcomers to online education; they attended Colorado Virtual Academy and Georgia Cyber Academy - both schools using the K12 curriculum.  With the switch to GACA comes a new curriculum and online learning management system.  As a learning coach, it is very easy for me to navigate around but I am noticing some interesting differences in the system, which I like. 

The girls will get to meet other GACA students this week at a bowling event - I can't wait to meet other parents and kids, not to mention the teachers and staff!

Whatever the start of this new school year may bring, I play for blessing and prosperity for each person who reads this.

Miss you, Mom....

Today is the 11th anniversary of my mom's passing.  I've thought all day about how to mark the anniversary and what to write about tonight and thought it fitting to tell a little about my mom.  I still miss her, but the grief gets easier to deal with as the years pass.  My oldest daughter was just 2 years old and I was expecting my youngest child when my mom passed unexpectedly. 

Let me tell you a little about my mom.  She was one of the sweetest people I knew, but if you made her upset you'd know about that too.  Ever since I can remember, she was the one I went to for questions and advice.  Quite frequently she would be running out the door to choir practice, Bible study, and church, and I relished the time when my oldest daughter was young and we were able to spend weekends with my parents. 

This picture was taken when my mom and dad took a cruise to Alaska just 2 1/2 years before my dad passed and 3 years before my mom passed.  It was shortly after this cruise that my dad was diagnosed with stage 3 prostate cancer.  For the next 2 1/2 years, as dad went through treatment and eventually lost his battle, it was mom who was there to care for him.  Mom had a reserved strength that shone through during this time.

After my dad passed, mom did something she never dreamed she would be able to do - she took a trip with a music and drama group from our church to Bangladesh.  I still have the pictures and her notes from the trip.  She was gone for my daughter's 2nd birthday, but we celebrated a few days early before mom left. 

After mom returned from Bangladesh, she and I took a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, where I was born.  We drove by the house on Denver Street where we lived and spent some time sightseeing around town and visiting old friends. 

A couple of weeks after we returned from Texas, there was a weekend in which mom attended Women of Faith on Friday and Saturday, sang in the church choir for 3 services on Sunday morning, and attended a planning meeting of a Christian chorale she was singing with on Sunday afternoon.  She still found the time to come over to our house and watch the Broncos game with us.  She wanted to leave early before it got dark, though, as we lived on the opposite side of town.

When mom went to leave, her car wouldn't start.  My husband went out to the car to help her with it.  Once it got started, mom came back in one more time to give my daughter a hug.  Being 2 years old, my daughter was a little reluctant and my mom said, "Awe, break grandma's heart..."  Finally, my daughter let her have a hug and my mom left.  Little did I know that was last thing I would hear out of my mother's mouth.

The next morning, I got the call from my brother that my mom was at the hospital after having suffered a heart attack.  I won't go into the details of the following 4 days, but, on September 24, 1999, my mom passed. 

Although I still miss her, each day gets easier and the memories are good ones now.  If you still have your mom, cherish every moment with her.  If you do not, cherish the memories. 

Welcome, Fall

It's officially fall - my new favorite season.  Although it doesn't feel like fall temperature-wise where I live, leaves have been falling for weeks.  The mornings and evenings are a little cooler and we're not running the air conditioner in the house as much.  I can't wait to see the yellows, reds, and oranges on the trees in our neighborhood.  The kids are back into their school routine.  Our family has a few birthdays in September - my mother-in-law's today, my sister-in-law's in a couple days, some of the girls' friends - fall birthdays are fun.  September is also a special month to me as it marks the anniversary of my mother's passing - September 24 will always be remembered in our household.  My favorite uncle (my mother's little brother) passed away September 10 of this year, almost 11 years to the day of my mom's passing.  I like to think of them in heaven now, with their parents, joking about the good old days.  The beginning of fall has many fond memories for me and for my family. 

Coke vs Diet Coke - one of my pet peeves

I thought I'd write about one of my biggest pet peeves.  You'll probably laugh when you read it, but it really gets annoying after awhile!  Okay, here goes...... one of my biggest pet peeves is when I order a regular soda in a restaurant and the server brings a diet soda instead.  Okay, are they trying to tell me something?  Even if I were on a diet (I'm starting one next week, by the way), I would not drink diet soda - GROSS!  I was on a mystery shop recently where I ordered a regular Coke and the server appeared a couple of moments later with a Diet Coke.  When I said I had ordered a regular Coke, she apologized profusely and went to get the correct drink.  Now, this next part is really funny.  She returned with ..... drum roll, please...... a Diet Coke!  As soon as she got to the table with it, she realized what she had done and finally brought the regular Coke.  This is just one of the times something like this has happened to me.... I think I'll stick to water from now on. 

Our Family's Summer Vacation

This summer, our family took a major road trip for summer vacation.  We started out the first day by driving to Little Rock, Arkansas, where we saw my Aunt Trisha and Uncle Richard, whom I hadn't seen since mom's funeral.  As an added bonus, my cousin Luke and his family are home on furlough from Kenya and we were able to see them.  After spending a night in Little Rock, we drove to Omaha, Nebraska, for Joel's family reunion (mother's side).  We were able to visit with family that we hadn't seen in several years.  One of the girls ran a fever most of the time so that cut down on the time I was able to spend with others.  After spending two days in Omaha, we drove to Denver to spend a few days at Joel's parents house.  The highlight of that was celebrating our oldest daughter's 13th birthday with ALL of her cousins (well at least on Joel's side of the family).  I also got to take my good friend Karen to the Hard Rock Cafe in Denver and we got to see our good friend Lori Cooney and her wonderful children - Sean, Shannon, and Ashlyn.  From Denver, we began the journey home.  I wanted to drive through Oklahoma and Texas, so we spent a night in Guymon, Oklahoma, where my mother graduated high school in 1953 (I think I'm correct on the year).  The next day, we drove to Dallas, where we stayed at a nice Homewood Suites in Plano.  After spending a night in Plano, we drove to downtown Dallas and visited Dealey Plaza and the site of John F. Kennedy's assassination (pictured above).  After spending some time there, we drove to San Antonio, Texas, where we spent the night.  The next morning, we went to the Alamo and the San Antonio Riverwalk, two things I have wanted to do for a long time.  We had Puffin (the dog) with us and entered through kind of a side entrance.  After walking through the courtyard where the twisted oak tree is and out to the entrance courtyard, we were informed that pets were not allowed in.  Oh well, at least we got some good pictures before that.  After our time in San Antonio was up, we began the long journey across I-10 from one side of Texas to the other (passing through Houston) and into Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where we spent our last night of the road trip (and Joel's birthday!)  We were less than an hour from New Orleans but decided against driving in so we could make it home at a decent hour.  Everyone was so glad to be home and in their own bed, and Puffin finally was at ease and not worried that we were going to leave her somewhere strange. 

Today's Victory in Georgia

I am happy to write that today, the Georgia state school board approved 9th grade for Georgia Cyber Academy, the online public school which my children attend.  This comes after GCA's charter application for 9th-12th grades was denied on June 18 and after two other online schools approved to open in Georgia backed out due to the low funding amount provided by the Charter School Commission.  While this is definitely a small victory for online education in Georgia, we need to persist in pursuing fair funding for all virtual schools coming to the state.  Currently, GCA receives around $3200 per pupil in Georgia state funds, when, compared with the average traditional public school funding of $8908 per pupil, is merely a drop in the bucket.  The issue is that local funds do not follow the students to virtual schools as is the case in other states with virtual schools.  I think that the Charter School Commission is supportive of virtual K-12 education and will hopefully work to identify the fair funding number.  I have learned that five virtual schools have applied in the 2010-2011 charter application cycle, so am excited about the prospect of adding more virtual school options in our state.  To read more about virtual education in the state of Georgia, visit http://www.gavirtualed.org/.