Okay, the Parents Are Speaking

And this is a follow up to my letter to my governor. I am also just editing that letter by taking out his name and inserting other key policy makers on this whole virtual school crisis. Several of us parents have galvanized and are communicating through a yahoo chat group. If you have ever thought that virtual school doesn't meet a need or doesn't have a place in the public school system, here are what others are saying:

"We began Orca 3 years ago when our son was waiting a kidney
transplant. In the last year we have spent most of our time in
Portland due to complications of the transplant. Orca has been a huge
blessing to us as our son would not have received much of an education
without ORCA. It has allowed him to do school work anywhere and
anytime! You can't get that at public school.He has maintained a
87-91% grade throughout his transplant, and complications. Now that
says alot about ORCA and it's ability to work for families. We will
not return to public school period. Here's to hoping that ORCA will
still exist."

From another mom:

"My daughter complained she could not hear her teachers for the other rude children in school. Her grades suffered because of it. I volunteered in school to see if this was correct. It was the truth. The teacher complained that they could not do anything about it for fear of being sued. The other reasons was the grade scores of the test in our school was low. Gangs are all over this our schools in our area.

My daughter can not handle stress at all. She just shuts down and won't do anything. She loves to read and to see her suffer with regular school was sad.

Then we found out about ORCA from a friend who had her daughter enrolled in ORCA because of ADHD. So we came to ORCA. She is doing better and she loves going to class now before I had to push her out the door for regular school.

We also sent my Nephew to go to school through with ORCA because of his sleep disorder. He just started and is loving it that he can get a full nights sleep and then go to school when he is fully awake. He said it is easier to concentrate on his work.

I just see this way of schooling a benefit for all. The kids that can not function in regular school can come to ORCA, that way they can learn at their own pace and not some standard someone set up for the normal kid that can handle stress and doesn't have health problems that may interfere with the teacher and the other kids.

Please keep ORCA around."

And yet another one:

"Without ORCA my daughter would not be getting an education, PERIOD!
We tried several different "schools" and various avenues —two years and
about a thousand or so dollars later, my daughter was no better off
than she was before leaving our local high school; as a matter in fact,
she became so withdrawn from everyone and everything that her future
looked rather bleak indeed.

Until we found ORCA, that is! My daughter has learned so much more
through ORCA. She is thinking of, and looking forward to, the future
now. She plans to attend college and is currently making arrangements
to visit a college campus or two.

Before ORCA, I could not even get her out of bed, much less off to
school or to her home-studies. She has a bright future now, please
don't take it away from her! Keep ORCA open!!"

So granted, I use ORCA because of the icky schools near me. Others have found it meets a health crisis in their homes. Especially those crisis that require so much from parents that traditional homeschooling would be too much.

At this point, it's a fifty fifty chance I can go to the capital on the 9th. If anyone out there wants to watch my preschooler that day until about 4-5 p.m. please let me know. He would be in preschool from 9 to 1 p.m. Wish us luck and please pray. This is actually quite scary to many of us.

Too Bad the Department of Education Can't See This

After our lessons today, BH got wind that JM and I were playing an online skills game of smashing tomatoes while doing math. Yes, Connections Academy has some fun things for learning. And so I let him go at it. Keep in mind, he doesn't have mouse skills, or left click skills. Well, he picked it up pretty fast. Results were a completely giggly three year old.

And Here is My First Letter to the Governor of My State

They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Good thing I love writing. I am flaming mad today after getting an email from our school's representative.

Short summary here, the virtual school JM "attends" now that I call homeschool, is on the verge of being squelched by none other than the Department of Education (DE) in my state. Basically, Connections Academy in my state was approved to be a school in 2005, the DE stepped back and thought twice about what was just approved. They decided that to start a virtual charter school in our state that 50% of enrollment must be from the district the school is in. Well, that would summarily disband our school.

CA fought hard to be "grandfathered" out of that ruling. It was understood in 2005 by CA, legislators present, and everyone in attendance, that ruling was with perpetuity. Nope. CA was required this last fall, out of the blue, to reapply for that grandfather clause, and it seems that the DE really wants to disband CA. And one can only wonder why? How dare this virtual school show that schooling can be done cheaply, effectively, without the traditional classroom that requires tons of wasted money.

Anyway, several of us CA parents have banded together in the last few days on a yahoo group and shared the letters we are sending to our legislators. Here is what I am sending tomorrow to the governor of our fine state:


Dear Governor:
I am the mother of two young kids, living in XXXX. We are in the middle of our first school year as a Connections Academy (ORCA) family. Let me give you a bulleted break down of why we chose Connections Academy for our family, and why the impending Legislative session to decide whether the “grandfathered” clause ORCA has applied for is imperative to families like ours.

We took a full year to come to the decision to utilize ORCA for our oldest son who is now a second grader. These reasons are as follows:

• The local public school our children would be required to attend is substandard. The elementary school and the high school are on the state’s “red list”. The junior high was recently closed, so we are unsure where he would have to attend.

• I graduated from college. My husband is finishing his Ph.D. Education is excruciatingly important to us. Education affords a person a future that has opportunities. We didn’t like what our local schools were offering our family, with no solution in sight.

• My husband and I recognize we have one chance to educate our children. We do not have time for our local schools to figure out how to raise standardized test scores, fund their schools, lower class sizes, etc. Our kids need a quality education now.

• We considered traditional homeschooling and found the task incredibly daunting and expensive.

• After discovering and researching Connections Academy, we were ecstatic, and even under the impression that since this was a “public school” the state stood behind this creative endeavor. Our naivete was quickly lost.

Having read the history of Connections Academy and their contentious relationship with the DE, I am sorely disappointed. The DE has done nothing but strong-arm and bully ORCA. It seems we are returning to the alley behind school for yet another fight over what?

From a parental standpoint, I cannot see why the DE has been so contentious? Here are my thoughts on that:

• The DE has a unique opportunity to recognize that virtual schools are the education of the future. With the onset of the Internet, online college degree programs, global economy, etc., I can only surmise that virtual schooling will almost become a standard for education. Why in the world would DE want to stop that? Why wouldn’t the DE want to partner with ORCA? ORCA has shown in the past five years nothing but success. Success both nationally and statewide. Yes, I know the DE has started it’s own virtual school. I haven’t seen the successful scores, numbers, or lack of contentiousness from that program that I have from ORCA. So no, I won’t be enrolling my kids in a program that was created as a knee-jerk reaction to ORCA.

• The ODE has the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of the future of education. But instead, from where I am sitting, they are stuck in their mindset that ORCA is some kind of threat to them and must be disbanded. Does that seem extreme? Well, no one seems to question ORCA’s grandfathered charter other than DE. No one has fought that charter harder than DE.

• Why would the DE want to be so critical? Honestly, from my parental point of view, it looks like the DE is threatened by ORCA’s success. If ORCA continues to succeed and actually educate Oregon’s children with little or no tax payer money, what happens to traditional schools, enrollment and, yes, precious taxpayer funding. Yes, I believe this all boils down to money, and yes, I think the DE is threatened by ORCA’s success. ORCA’s success would show that kids can be educated well and that all the funding that we have thrown at the ODE is a waste.
  

So, my big-picture question to you? What side do you support? Keep in mind, there doesn’t need to be sides here. ORCA has time and time again asked for dialogue, meetings, input and help from the DE with little or no response. The DE has drawn the battle lines. Mr. Governor, you must choose.

Will you support a side that has established a cutting edge, technology based, future pointed education model? Will you support Oregon’s kids having an alternative to education that will bring excellence to their future? Oregon’s future? Will you support a program that has shown itself to be open to the legislative process, understood fair play in the politics of this endeavor, and open to scrutiny? Will you side with the “underdog” on this issue?

Or will you show support for the education system in this state that is positively falling apart? If you can’t see it, I can. Mark my words, it needs triage and a Band-Aid won’t fix it. Will you support a stodgy ODE that is rooted in tradition, lacks future thinking for education, and seems more interested in funding and being a political entity. It seems more interested in staying in cahoots with teacher’s unions and lobbyists. The DE is the bully in this situation and their behavior towards ORCA substantiates that. No one need dispute it.

Personally, the title of the DE seems to me they should be more interested in educating my kid right now and they aren’t. They seem more interested in silencing success. I don’t have a good, public education available to my family by the DE. I do with ORCA.

I promise you this, as long as XYZ Schools continues in it’s downward spiral, my children will never step foot in their classrooms. As long as the DE continues to be a heavy-handed prizefighter, with lack of vision, my children will never step foot in a XYZ classroom.

Cordially,
AMG

More School Stuff

I have a very specific opinion about public schools. What is put in front of me in the news does not help either. I am very aware that I am only hearing the bad news. I know there are great schools out there. I know there are heroic teachers out there. I think those are becoming the exceptions rather than the rule these days.

Two new tidbits of information that I have discovered that tells me what we're doing is probably the right thing.

1) Did a candle party last month for a group of women in the city directly north of me. All of them were teachers from the same school district in that area. They also were from all over the country. And they were all in their mid 20's. Young, vibrant, excited young educators. What caught my eye is one gal literally lives right around the corner from me. I asked her why she decided to not work in our school district.

She tried! What made her want to move here was her husband got a career making job here. Once that was established, she contacted the local school district and was told, "You really don't want to work here. If you do get hired, you'll be pink slipped after a year anyway." (Pink slip means laid off.) Wowsa! So my school district would rather not hire new blood or even let this gal put in an application.

This gal then took the next step and did a search of school districts within 20 miles of here. She found the district she works for now and called them. Much different response! "Oh we would love to talk to you. We have a booth at your upcoming job fair next week. Please talk to the recruiter there and give them your application!"

Big difference. My school district does not recruit, does not want new educators, and turns away new teachers. The school district north of me is actively looking for and paying for recruiting to other parts of the country. They want new, young, educators. They do not turn away people.

2) Okay, enough about the state of my school district. How about in San Diego? It has just been discovered that fluently speaking Spanish students are taking AP Spanish classes, and many are questioning such redundancy. Think about that for a second. Why? Well, click here to see what some are thinking.

I agree with all the points brought up by critics to this kind of education mentioned in this article. To pad GPA's because AP classes quickly raise GPA's. To pad GPA's so students have a good looking transcript for colleges, who perk up when they see A's in AP level coursework. Redundancy as well as complete misuse of such resources.

One person definitely brought up a point in this article that I think is worthy of note. This kind of hideous use of skimpy school resources teaches kids how to "work the system". How to abuse a system for their benefit instead of what it was intended for. Considering that California has lost about 8 1/2 million in their education budget, this is wasteful.

And to quote my good friend on this issue, "Even on my worst homeschooling day, my kids are getting a better education than they would in a public school."

We had a hideous week last week in school, and I doubted myself for a bit. "Am I doing the right thing? Is JM learning? Maybe he would do better in a classroom?" Well, a chat with the hubbie helped. We listed all the pluses that were happening. JM has good grades right now. His teacher was a huge support to me last week when I just dropped my head on the desk and cried. She gave me a shoulder to cry on and some new tools. JM would definitely use the classroom setting to dilly dally and get out of doing things. He would also be completely distracted by his peers. For sure, he would not have the grades he has now, and certainly would be at academic risk.

On our worst day, he still learns.

Tabitha, Our Sweet Cat: 1992-2009

We made the decision today. It was time. Tabitha's bladder issues have worsened over the last month. Badly. Our basement basically had become her cat box because of her renal failure. Her pleading meowing told us she was in pain, no matter what we did to help her.

So farewell sweet kitty. As a human, God has given us a huge responsibility to "watch over the animals" and make sure they are cared for. I hope we did that for you. I hope the decision we made today honored God's decree. We are glad you are no longer in pain.

Thank you for being a great companion, leg warmer, cuddle bug, and source of entertainment. You are so missed.

Just In Case You Haven't Laughed Hysterically Today

David had a little oral surgery done....and well, the drugs had their affect as well. It must have been a doozy of a surgery. I have major things done in my mouth, and my dentist refuses to dope me up with anything other than novacain.

The Weirdest Day...

8 a.m.-I awake to the thumping and jumping of JM and BH downstairs. Who needs an alarm clock when you have boys?

9 a.m.-Drop off BH at preschool, he is bouncy all the way across the parking lot right into class.

9:15-noon-Homeschooling. Keeping an eye on the clock since we'll need to pick up BH at 1:00 p.m.

Noon-BH's teacher calls. Uh oh.....She tells me that BH was playing at recess and.....can you feel the lump in the throat? I start filling in the blank, got a split lip on a rusty toy, ran into the street, etc. I hate motherly feelings sometimes. So much anticipation can really ruin the actual conversation. But I digress....BH was playing at recess when he curled up on a bench and fell asleep. She said so sweetly, "I don't think he feels good and maybe he should go home early." I was still back at "he fell asleep" while at recess? Ummm...heck yes, I'll come and get him because something is really wrong.

12:15 p.m.-Sure enough, you see what I arrived to. He was crashed out on a couch. As I tried to pick him up, he had vomited and was hot to the touch. The little guy has a high fever.

I get into the car and call the doctor's office. Yes, they want to see him at 3:15 p.m.

12:30 p.m.-Arrive at husband's work to have some things mailed from their post office. Find him in the lunch room and give him the update. He agrees to come home soon. Love the helpful hubbie!

1:00 p.m.-Arrive at home, settled the toddler. Try to focus on some kind of homeschooling. But then the hubbie arrives. Focus lost. Make lunch for kids.

1:30 p.m.-Try to finish book report. And because it has writing and creativity, it is a battle. Time starts to warp somewhere between this time and the next increment. However during this time, we have our second vomiting episode.

2:15 p.m.-BH starts complaining he is hungry and doesn't feel sick to his stomach. So we give him some noodles. They come right back up. Sigh.

2:45 p.m.-After cleaning up, BH and I head out the door.

3:05 p.m.-Arrive at the doctor's office, and BH is perking up. He is no longer hot to the touch, and isn't in feverish delirium.

3:45 p.m.-Yes, that appointment was at 3:15 p.m., but we were seen 30 minutes later. And BH feels fine. I tell the doctor, "We are here to pay a co-pay!" He still does a good once-over, and I appreciate that mainly because fevers freak me out a bit. I have had several friends have tragedies with their kids and it started as a simple fever. Doctor also does a pretty thorough questioning of BH over the playground. Doctor thought it was simply mysterious for a child to just curl up and fall asleep during such chaos.

4:15 p.m.-Home. BH is fine, and really complaining of being hungry and lunges into the noodles again, and they stay down.

4:30 p.m.-BH is being scolded for jumping on the furniture.

Yep, it was the fastest fever and weirdest day in a really long time.

From the Chicken Folks....We Bring You "Flightless" Birds

I had to share this! This picture was posted on my little chicken community's yahoo group the other day. Lady is frantic she can't find her chicken. It is dark and they are searching like crazy fearing the worst. And then she looks up.....

There she is, well over fifteen feet off the ground, and they still can't figure out how she got up there. No, the ladder was for the husband to try and get her. That is, after they poked her with anything long they could find--roofing material, brooms, fishing rods, etc. She didn't budge. He got up the ladder to get her, and she gracefully flapped and swooped down onto the driveway. Little stinker!

So, if you think chickens can't get very high off the ground. Think twice! It may also be one of their few defenses. Reading this gal's story made me laugh so hard. Plus it made it clear to me, I might want to keep my girl's flight feathers trimmed.

Did You Hear About This?

Did you hear about that horrible high school girl's basketball game back in January? Where the one good team (Covenant) just routed the second team (Dallas Academy) 100-0. The team that lost was a team that was a school of very few players, girls at risk, low income. The winning team was also a Christian school. Not cool on so many levels.

It was a total route where the girls just kept making huge plays, running up the score, and the coach egged them on. The lack of sportsmanship was appalling. Since then the school has forfeited the game, per the principal's request. The principal has also apologized. The coach did not apologize and has been fired. Appalling. Here is a editorial about the story, click here.

And then I come across this article today of two rival boy's teams near Milwaukee, WI. Oh my word, I sat here at my desk and cried. What class! Hats off to the coaches who encourage their team members to act with class, dignity and sportsmanship. These boys just built years of character in one basketball game.

Did you click on the second one? I know, the Kleenex needs to be nearby huh?

Beaver Delivers!

And the chicken curse seems to be lifting. Beaver has been laying eggs in the last few days. Her eggs are very typical of a hen beginning to lay, they are small. As you can see hers next to Goldie's, there is a big size difference.

One odd thing happened the other night. I went to lock up the ladies, and found an egg yolk and white sitting in like a gooey egg shell in their roost. It's like the egg was laid too early with a gooey shell. How odd! I posted to my chicken yahoo group asking if I should be alarmed. Actually, happens occasionally in pullets beginning to lay, no worries. Whew!

Where did that white egg come from? It's one of the last ones from when we were buying eggs awhile back. As you can tell, we would rather use our ladies' eggs than store bought.

So, we are enjoying coop peace and quiet right now. As spring approaches, the rats come out, so you'll be hearing some fun news about that. Yes, I said rats. Please go way back to the very beginnings of this blog under a post called "Food Chain". Once we have a nice day, we'll take the dog outside, have her sniff out the compost pile, get her on the scent of rats, lock the chickens up, arm the hubbie with the pellet gun and shovel, and shake up the compost pile. Make sure the rats know where they aren't welcome.

Yes, in your mind somewhere is that phrase, "You might be a redneck if.......".

Movies I Have Seen Recently

Okay, I love movies. I have missed them desperately since having kids. I have movies from Netflix sitting dusty on my entertainment center. But I have had the chance to see a few recently, here are my quick reviews:

* "Gran Torino". Great flick! It was not at all what I expected. It addresses a violent subject with little gratuitous violence. Clint Eastwood is still hot.

* From the IFC channel, "The Weight of Water". There are some very gratuitous sex scenes in this one. Several F bombs. Interesting story line if you can get beyond the offensiveness. It is has a lot of stars in it, Sean Penn, Josh Lucas, and Elizabeth Hurley. Yes, she can act when she is not flaunting her body, which she does in this movie. Again, you have to look beyond that and watch the story line carefully, it's intriguing.

* "Shop Girl" has Steve Martin and Claire Danes in it. It is dark. It's about an older man who wines and dines a younger, very naive girl. She falls in love with him, he uses her for sexual favors, and she figures it out. It has a great message. It is well acted. As far as I could see, there are no gratuitous sex scenes, which is nice considering that it's about a sexual affair.

* I have "Lake House" with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock sitting on my entertainment center. I am tempted to just not watch it. Everyone says it's bad.

* Good movies for Black History month....here is my list: Antwone Fisher, Glory Road, Remember the Titans, Radio, The Color Purple, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, and Mississippi Burning. That is off the top of my head, so I am sure I think of more later.

And These Are The Days of Our Lives.....

This is a follow up post to my January 22 post regarding the sex scandal in my city. Basically the gay mayor had sex with an intern just days after the intern turned 18.....allegedly. Please, feel free to go back and read it by clicking here.

The story absolutely plays out like a soap opera. Since then, the mayor finally grew a spine (yes, let's go with that.....) and started acting like a mayor. He has a whole "city business only" persona right now. He won't answer any sex scandal questions. Darn! We all have to wait like six months before we can do a petition to remove him from office. Whatever, the scandal is entertaining in the meantime.

The latest? Beau Breedlove (no joke that is the guy's name) who was the 18 year old intern at the time, has now almost upstaged the mayor. I still laugh at his name mainly because I am sure someday a screenplay writer for a sickening soap opera is going to name their next rogue Beau Breedlove once they get wind of this nonsense.

He is doing a nude photo shoot. Click here. I kid you not. I could not make this stuff up if I tried. If I could, it would be in the trashy romance aisle anyway.

Lord, it's time to come get us!

Tuesday is the Day

Okay, I just checked our local PBS listings. Tuesday morning, okay really late Monday, however you want to split that hair--at 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, will be one installment of the compelling documentary "African American Lives". I am not kidding, this is beyond wonderful.

The next episode of it will be on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. where it's "African American Lives" all about Oprah. Because she is Oprah, she gets her own special title for it. Whatever, it's still good, and they talk to other celebrities other than Oprah.

Again, I totally recommend these documentaries in particular, I am not sure the concrete reason why, but they are heartwarming. Plus, this is fairly recent history. Only within two or three generations, we can trace back to slave roots. I do feel we need to appreciate that and glean whatever fresh history we can from it.

Get ready for a tear or two.

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

Dr. Joseph Aldrich, home with the Lord, where we all belong.

Dr. Joseph Aldrich, or Dr. Joe, as we all knew him was the President of Multnomah University for I don't know how long. He was the president when I was a student. He was the Billy Graham of the Pacific Northwest. Several years ago, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and took a big step back from ministry. This morning, his ministry continues in the hands of the Lord.

I will remember him as a dynamic speaker, not ashamed to shed a tear when speaking of difficult things, and preached a very practical lifestyle of evangelism. No foofy, lofty words. Just put a verb in your words, and get going in your ministry.

I pray for his close-knit family as they say goodbye to Dr. Joe. I also pray for his larger family, which spans the globe. His influence is far reaching, and for that, he has many jewels in his crown.

Thank you, Dr. Joe.

Scandal Turns to Joy

Forty years ago, a Boston firefighter dared to give mouth to mouth resuscitation to an African American 2 month old baby, and saved her life. No regard to what people might think, he just did it. In a city that was rocked by the violence of the civil rights movement. Get ready to cry, hats off to this wonderful man.

Click here for the link. Watch the video, and grab a tissue. Heroes all around us, and it's fun to read about them.

For the Full Flock

Okay, I talked to my chicken supplier. The great gal that matched us up with Goldie and Beaver last month, all in hopes of having a happy flock with Lizzie. She took the same kind of long sigh I did when I told her of Lizzie's sudden death. All that work seems wasted. But again, I am glad she had some happy times in the last few weeks, not being eaten by a raccoon or being tormented by our two mean leghorns.

Chicken Supplier Lady says she has chicks "under lights" right now and will be ready in about 4 1/2 months. They need to be 20 weeks or so before they can be given to a new home. That sounds fine to me. So, I know a few friends have mentioned maybe starting a flock this spring. If you want to contact this lady to get some pullets, now is the time to reserve your girls. I wholeheartedly recommend her birds. I can get you in touch with her, easily. Pullets, remember, are teenaged chickens, just on the verge of beginning to lay. What is nice, you didn't have to raise them from chicks, which is a lot of work.

She also pinions them for you. Both Goldie and Beaver came with their flight feathers clipped, so they can't fly. Chickens are not flight birds, of course. But they can sure flap up to the top of a fence and escape. So having those clipped keeps them from escaping, and it doesn't hurt them at all. Several of my chicken friends have lost birds from escapes like that. Again, I am very very pleased with Goldie and Beaver, and happy to wait out a few months for a third.

Unless someone suddenly gives us a chicken, I am happy to wait it out for a new pullet. I have absolutely loved our two new gals. They are sweet in disposition, not mean, curious and spry. So, we will need to do introductions again in a few months, and I think it will be easier because we have done it before AND the weather will be much warmer, hopefully.

So the coop soap opera continues. We have had fights within the coop, and fights from outside sources. We have love/hate relationships. We have had a mysterious death. It's drama that no soap can match.

And We Say Goodbye....

This morning, I went to let the chickens out of their roost, and found our beloved Lizzie curled up and passed away. She looked like she honestly died in her sleep.

And what a shock! That was the last thing I expected to find this morning. She has been doing so well since our big raccoon attack in November, getting along great with our new chickens, acting very happy. I am glad she died peacefully and not at the hands of a predator. I am glad she died having new chicken friends and not enemies.

I am sure that something internal happened, because I have kept a close eye on her old wounds since November. I am sure some kind of infection or internal injury caught up to her. We wouldn't have been able to do anything about that kind of thing.

In the whole scheme of the food chain, I realize that chickens are at the level of feeder fish. They are very disposable. But in our little slice of the world, they are our pets and friends. So the kids are having a hard time this morning. I am having a hard time this morning. Lizzie was a sweet chicken. She would sit on your lap and let you pet her. She cooed when you pet her, and she endured a lot.

We will miss her.

Who Came First? Rosa or Claudette?

And what sparked the civil rights movement? Depends on who you talk to and what you're reading. Emmett Louis Till's lynching certainly started something in Mississippi. Rosa Parks started the bus boycott in Alabama that certainly started civil rights in Alabama, with Martin Luther King's endorsement.

But did you know Claudette Colvin threw a bus fit before Rosa? Well, it was several months before that Claudette did technically. But, civil rights leaders wanted to pick their battles wisely. Unfortunately for Claudette, she was a feisty fifteen year old at the time. She was dragged off the bus by police kicking and screaming. Additionally, a few months after the incident, she was pregnant by a much older man. I have to give credit to civil rights leaders, they wanted to make sure the person who would represent their cause in court would be a bit more polished.

But you know what, the bus boycott was in the making and set the stage for Rosa a few months after Claudette. It was not just Rosa who was frustrated over bus rules, and Claudette shined a light on that.

So while she wasn't immortalized like Rosa, we raise our hats to Claudette. It gives us hope that feisty teenagers can accomplish much and even get their moment of fame decades later. Here is the link where I found this little known piece of history.

In Need of Bravery

Okay, it's weighing on my mind, and I just need to do it.

I need to compose that letter to BH's birthparents, to be sent directly to their home. This is a follow up to my previous posts called "Crud, crud, crud!"

What is my objective? To send them a letter offering to make our required letter/picture updates sent directly to them.

Why am I shaking nervously over this? Because up to this point, I don't know how much, if at all, his birthparents have gotten the previous updates. Those have all been sent to the now-defunct adoption agency, which they would have needed to go and pick up. It was a neutral territory, and very common in adoptions for adoption agencies to be the neutral third party. Now that ABC is gone, that neutrality is gone. Best scenario, they have the updates, and are mad that ABC shut down. Worst scenario, they haven't gone to get the updates, have moved on, and would feel intruded upon with this weird letter from me in the mail directly to their home.

What can I do? Send the letter in very gentle wording, inviting, and encouraging. I will also send the letter with my attorney's return address on it. Why? So if junk flies, he'll be my first line of defense, and he offered!

Why else am I shaky? Honestly, these are extremely nice, hard working people from all that I know of them, although I have never met them. I don't want my letter, which may come out of nowhere for them, to upset them. Or upset the whole "we've moved on" thing that we all hope happens to our kid's birthparents. I don't want it to take them back to the hard spot they were in when BH was born.

So, prayers please! I need to do it soon, because his next update is coming up. So are my taxes, so let's not talk about the checkbook that needs my immediate attention. That is happening Monday night.

PBS Heads Up

For those of us in the Pacific Northwest, please keep your eyes out for these three documentaries this week. For those of you not in this area, please check your local PBS guide for a couple of good documentaries that I absolutely recommend.

1) Better Hour: The Legacy of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was a staunch abolitionist and a devout Christian. I only caught the last half of this last year and it wasn't shown again. Please check your listings for it. It is on at 3 am this Friday, 2/6. So, either set your tivo, or stay up, take your pick. Honestly, I don't have tivo, so I may be trying to set the VCR!

2) Local PBS folks, this Sunday night, 2/8, at 11 pm, is a local documentary called "Local Color" which was done in 1991 talking about our local struggle for civil rights, the sacrifice of both blacks and whites to make that happen. I am really excited to see this.

3) Also at 3 am is a series called "Slavery and the Making of America" and that is going on all this week. So again, set your VCR/tivo if you can. Again, I only caught the last of that last year, and truly enjoyed what little I did see. It is a series that chronicles slavery from start to the Civil War, and even beyond that to Jim Crow law and the civil rights movement.

I need to figure out my vcr again. I am going to miss these if I don't get on them!

Great Movie to Start it All Off

I inadvertently watched this movie today. I was watching it while coaxing BH to take his nap. It was on the IFC Channel (Independent Film Channel, 550 on DirecTV). We like to watch independent films and have seen a few good ones, but watch out. Independent films can be a disguise for some pornographic things too. But if you find a good one, it's great to see movies that aren't typical Hollywood cookie cutter movies. It's also great to see famous actors that we all know (James Spader, Hillary Swank, Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, etc) doing really different things.

Anyway, this was on this afternoon, and the description had the story line being about a husband who displays homosexual tendencies. Um, yes, but it's so much more than that. It is also about interracial relationships during the 50's. I won't give it away, but yes, there is a homosexual story line, and it's not glorifying. In fact, it's quite devastating. You will see one kissing scene of two men kissing, and it's when she's about to walk into the office if you want to take a sec to look away. I pretty much ignored that story line.

I was incredibly intrigued by the story line of the interracial couple and how dangerous that was in the 50's. How much of a sacrifice it was to continue such a relationship, and what hardship could befall such a family.

Fascinating.

There are no sex scenes in this movie. No violence, a few F bombs. For an independent film, quite refreshing! I hope it's shown more this month. One nice thing about the IFC channel, no commercials. It's literally like watching a DVD.

What a great movie to stumble upon as I begin my African American history month search for good stuff.

The Winner (according to our family's vote) Goes To!

Worthy of a Repeat

My favorite chili recipe of all time. See November 7, 2007 post for the history behind my chili recipe. I just realized too, I did an homage to it for last year's Super Bowl. It's a perfect chili for Super Bowl Sunday. Many times I feel like it's Thanksgiving morning on SB Sunday's because I get up eat breakfast, and start making a feast.

Enjoy!

5 slices of bacon
8 ounces hot bulk pork sausage
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove of garlic
1 or 2 dried red chili peppers, seeded and crumbled
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
two twelve ounce cans of Coors beer (okay, we cheat a lot and use Hefeweizen,
or a good amber ale)
one 12 ounce can of tomato paste
one 16 ounce can of pinto beans, drained

Cook bacon till crisp; drain and set aside. Brown sausage. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of drippings, set aside. In reserved drippings, brown the ground beef, onion, green pepper and garlic. Add bacon, sausage, pepper, chili powder, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir in beer and tomato paste. Bring to boiling; simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours. Add beans, simmer, covered, 30 more minutes. Serve with shredded cheese and chopped onion.