I don't eat Chick-fil-A & I don't have a basement

...But I appreciate some, or a lot, of what this person has to say:

<written by a stranger, shared by a friend (AD) via Facebook, and blarg posted by me>

"In The Basement"

Hi, I'm Mat.

Here's the jewel that greets front door guests, now:

Rapture in the blender

Recipe

• About two bananas, sliced.  The browner ones, the better.
• Roughly 1/2 cup ice
• 6-8 ounces of any type milk, yogurt, Greek yogurt, etc.
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• Optional:  Nutella, chocolate syrup, etc., to taste
• Optional:  small amount of Splenda
• Seven year old not included

Hey, lady.

"What color would you like for your nails, lady?"
"Would you like another pina colada, lady?"
"Hey, lady, would you like another week at the resort on the house?"

We only "heard" two of the above statements, regrettably, when I traveled to Mexico with my dear, dear, DEAR best friend Andrea.  She and I go way back.  Here we are crashing a news desk during college:

Among Andrea's rainbow of talents, she is a fitness instructor in her meager spare time.  When Andrea invited me to join her on a jaunt to a resort in Cancun, as a "working" vacation, I purchased my air ticket quick and with more intention than a waxing technician in a hurry and with no time to fret over your sensitive upper lip derm.  Andrea taught pilates classes a couple of times per day and we enjoyed the remainder of the time studying Middle American Anthropology.  I mean, sun soaking, snorkeling, wave running, parasailing, shopping, dining, walking, working out, and sleeping.

It is probably obvious, but Andrea had a simple task of convincing me to obtain my group/aqua fitness instructor certification so that I too can commandeer my own Caribbean coup of a vacation.  She will be MY guest on our next resort excursion!  Besides, becoming a water aerobics teacher will help me remain active.  As I heard Gov. Ann Richards once state at a speaking engagement, "when a woman makes an appointment, she will NOT miss it."  She said this as a way of encouraging us to remain fit through accountability.  I for one would not relish the repercussions of standing up a pool full of retired ladies (insert stereotype).  Here's evidence that Andrea's role in our vacation did involve a degree of "work:"

This is my favorite photo from our vacation, resulting from a literal ambush of Mexican blankets, sombreros, and faux guns:

Here are more Cancunigan photos:

Beach Life

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got

These are admittedly a combination of cute and serial-killer-who-pieces-together-notes-with-newspaper-cuttings-scary.  

Here's where said rocks have made their home:

Family, remember the giant mint plants growing behind the ice cream shop in Arkansas?  This is one of my favorite additives to iced tea.

These lil sprouts are from seeds and I look in on them periodically like a mother hen:

There's no cat in this house.  Yet.

Nostalgic green moment - prepare your landscaping fabric for any dewy drops.  The plant in the photo below is what a gift from my Mudda, for my 21st birthday, resembled.

 

(not my actual plant)

Lemme tell ya, folks, there's a darn stellar reason why this is called a closet plant.  This thing can survive a nuclear meltdown (I suspect) and still stake a strong come-back.  The equivalent of a nuclear meltdown in my care (insert obvious reason:  owner neglect) apparently took this baby out several months ago but you can see that 21 (that's her name) is rebounding nicely:

Green onions, anyone?  You can even grow these in a simple glass with water if you don't want to trouble with a pot and soil.  I started mine with a bulb from a package of store-bought green onions.  These puppies grow quicker than a dirty sock, in a petri dish, sprayed with orange juice, in the sun.  Chop off your desired quantity as you're stirring up dinner, and, voila! 

Anyone have any feedback on wild strawberries?  There are some growing in the yard, and I'm tempted to dig 'em up and plant them in pots.  I'm skeptical of eating "wild" berries, though, after reading Into The Wild and "Hunger Games." It's entirely possible that these aren't wild, though, and just the gift received from birds making pit stops along their travels.  Whatever they are, they are currently just bebe berries.

Side trip for those who entertain:  The Pinspiration of using water balloons, frozen, as an alternative to ice (that can only be used once), was a hit at a recent gathering of mine.  Give yourself plenty of freezing time, however, and place them in a freezer location where they have a wee bit of room to expand.  

Or you'll wind up with some frozen stuck in precarious places:

Because I can't restrain myself from sharing

My last post was education oriented and such is this one, too.  (enter station identification pause for those who would like to turn the channel)

If you're an educator or in a similar profession and in need of some "oomph," click here:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/06/15-6

Gratitude to Charley for sharing that!

If you're an educator or in a similar profession who has ever heard "I think I'll get my teaching certification, you know, just as a fall-back choice in case my corporate career doesn't work out, or if we have children soon and that way I have the same schedule as them," babbled from a friend (and I quote that, verbatim, from someone I knew at the onset of our current economic decline), then read this:

http://www.musingsonlifeandlove.com/2010/09/13/the-hardest-job-everyone-thinks-they-can-do/

If you're anyone who may have ever questioned the dedication of children or teenagers (admit it, we all have at one point), or questioned the reasons some of them appear "gangsta," silly, squirrelly, or like misguided "losers," then read this post contributed by a fellow colleague of mine, who is currently teaching urban-ish high school summer school, and who is also a fellow PHS Wildcat of mine:

"I almost cried today! I had a student walk 3 miles to summer school this morning because the DART bus driver drove by him and wouldn't let him on the bus... He was sweaty and a bit stinky, haha, but he WALKED all the way to school! One of the moments when you are reminded, once again, that our students don't magically plop down into our classrooms with no problems of their own. And they DO care. Not all the time, but they will care if YOU care :-)"

"Shut The Door And Teach" - unknown

While in Belize, we had the opportunity to visit one of the few area public primary schools (if not the only public primary school), Holy Cross.  Despite its public status, education is still not cost-free for children.  This school does provide the lowest tuition possible, though, for the less advantaged children of San Pedro.  I feel very fortunate to have visited the school and the perspective it refreshed for me - and my real passion for education and WHY I teach; and Charley graciously made it possible for a replacement Internet router to be provided to the school so the students' computer program will resume again in the fall.

The teachers, who earn roughly 7k US Dollars annually (on an island where housing rent can run substantially more than that each year), face harsh challenges with each new crop of young students.  The volunteer coordinator on campus explained to us that babies and toddlers are often, well, frankly bored before they attend school (if they are given the opportunity) as parents are busy working (or, in some cases, dysfunctional) and not able to provide any background knowledge to pre-kinders.  So, students typically don't enter K or 1st grade with any academic verbiage or skills.  "Take your crayon and trace the letters you see on the paper."  ---what's a letter?  What does it mean to trace?

If students progress well through the 8th grade, they may be given the opportunity to attend high school.  That depends on scholarships or financial assistance, though, as high school costs run higher than primary tuition.  Donations are the bulk of scholarship balances, and donations are heavily affected by economic turns in and outside of Belize.

Suffice it to say, I would have LOVED to have had some of my American students along this tour with us as an eye-opening, real-life lesson in how fortunate we are to have our - though flawed - U.S. public education program.

The tour also reminded me that no matter what rubbish is going on in the ivory towers of school administration, government officials with zero education experience meddling in our schools, or poor parenting negatively impacting student achievement, it's ultimately my job to just shut the door and teach my rear off.

How on Earth do they organize their bikes so well, and by size?!