Secular Confessions

[daylilies]

Wow, that's interesting!

I finished that book I mentioned a while back called the War of Art. It was all about motivation and resistance. I really enjoyed it up until the end when he started talking about God and destiny and how you're disappointing God and angels and muses if you don't sit down and do what you're destined to become. The rest of the book was nothing like that. He did mention in the beginning that he believed in God, but made little to no mention of God or destiny or any of that until the last section. I actually felt a little pissed off that he did that. I was nodding and agreeing with the rest of the book and then that happened. Oh well.

[daylilies]

Last night we got a call at like 9:30. It was a guy asking for DH, who was busy so I asked who was calling. He gave me his name and left his number and said he knew DH when he was about 17. ??? The name didn't ring a bell with DH. Today DH asked me to try to find out who this guy is. I wish he'd just call him back but it does seem weird that some guy he supposedly knew 15 years ago would find and call him out of the blue.

[Cosmosmom]

Bobbie is moping because we won't be able to provide her with a car before Sept. when she goes to college. They have a car here to share, but it can't go with her. Even though I know I don't owe them a car, I'm still feeling like a failure.

Is she going to live on campus? If so, she doesn't need a car. At my one school, there was a lottery to get a parking spot and it was still EXPENSIVE to pay for the spot.
My parents gave me a car and I didn't have to share since my sister was so much younger....and they still didn't let me take it with me to college.

[Cosmosmom]

Yesterday we had taken off work for the second adoption class....but it was canceled due to the nasty weather we had. So DH and I stayed home and finished Six Feet Under....OMG loved the ending. So much better than I thought it was going to be and so completely satisfying. One of the best family drama series I have ever seen.

[daylilies]

Six Feet Under was awesome. The end still gives me chills when I think about it.
So who watched Idol last night? I know who I want to go home...

[Cosmosmom]

I saw bits of Idol. I don't know that I really like any of them....so not totally sure who I want to go home since pretty much anyone could and I would be ok with it.

[Cosmosmom]

I think that I love Michael C. Hall.

[daylilies]

Oh god! Me too. Do you watch Dexter? I keep forgetting he was on Six Feet Under too.

[Cosmosmom]

Yup actually saw Dexter first and wanted to call David Dexter. But David is just so David and as Dexter he's just so Dexter.....fantastic actor!

[daylilies]

I know!

[Bridget]

I feel like a new woman! Sawyer went to sleep at 9pm and then only woke at 1am, 4am, and then 6am right before my alarm went off. Both times he fell right to sleep after nursing. I feel so rested.

[Gwenn]

Last night we got a call at like 9:30. It was a guy asking for DH, who was busy so I asked who was calling. He gave me his name and left his number and said he knew DH when he was about 17. ??? The name didn't ring a bell with DH. Today DH asked me to try to find out who this guy is. I wish he'd just call him back but it does seem weird that some guy he supposedly knew 15 years ago would find and call him out of the blue.

Strange.

So who watched Idol last night? I know who I want to go home...

I want Thia to go home. I think she's too immature still.

I feel like a new woman! Sawyer went to sleep at 9pm and then only woke at 1am, 4am, and then 6am right before my alarm went off. Both times he fell right to sleep after nursing. I feel so rested.

Yay! I'm glad you got some sleep.

[missychrissy]

Yay for sleeping!!

I had a field-trip kinda day. Spent it at Ithaca College's EdTech day. They have vendors showcase their technology that's geared towards educators. Most the vendors give out free gifts, likes pens and whatnot. I also got a light-up super ball, Adobe Frisbee, and my favorite: two 4 GB usb drives that are shaped like baseball bats.

[daylilies]

Yay for sleeping!!

I had a field-trip kinda day. Spent it at Ithaca College's EdTech day. They have vendors showcase their technology that's geared towards educators. Most the vendors give out free gifts, likes pens and whatnot. I also got a light-up super ball, Adobe Frisbee, and my favorite: two 4 GB usb drives that are shaped like baseball bats.

Cool!
Glad you got some rest Bridget.
Thia's not the one I want to go home. I can't stand Scotty. He was okay at first but him turning a Motown song into country was just wrong, to me.
We're watching Aliens tonight so I will not see the results until tomorrow while Josh is at school. I just saw Alien for the first time a couple days ago and I really liked it.

[missychrissy]

I liked what Scotty did...but maybe it's because I grew up with country music? My dad played in a country band and everything. For most my childhood, that was my favorite genre of music. I didn't even like Madonna till I was 14! lol

[Gwenn]

Well, Chrissy, if it's any consolation I still don't like Madonna! And I didn't grow up a country fan, either!

Scotty was okay - wasn't my favorite last night but I really think he didn't have a choice. Country is his thing and he is sticking to it. He definitely knows what he wants.

[Cosmosmom]

double post

[Cosmosmom]

Yay for sleeping!!

I had a field-trip kinda day. Spent it at Ithaca College's EdTech day. They have vendors showcase their technology that's geared towards educators. Most the vendors give out free gifts, likes pens and whatnot. I also got a light-up super ball, Adobe Frisbee, and my favorite: two 4 GB usb drives that are shaped like baseball bats.

last time I went to a conference and in the vendor hall, I came out with some cool stuff too. my favorite was a pen shaped like a femur.

I get to go to a conference in May. Last time was a few years ago in chicago. After that they went to DC and Hawaii which were NOT in our budget. But this year they are in Minneapolis which is definitely in our budget.

[Cosmosmom]

I agree....Scotty should stick with country. He would have sounded really fake trying to sing motown.

And I cannot stand the majority of country music....and I like a good deal of Madonna. Favorite is Like a Prayer.

But what I really like is Nirvanna, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, STP.....very most favorite is Counting Crows. Can you tell my high school years were in the mid 90's? LOL

And I like a decent amount of today's stuff like Gaga,Pink, My Chemical Romance........

[AbbeysMom]

***warning, random***

I confess my armpits smell like that sweet smell from laughing gas they give you at the dentist. It's from the Va Va Vanilla Secret Anti-Perspirant I got in the bargin bin at the grocery store, but I thought this morning that my scary neighbors were trying to gas me or something.

[Gwenn]

***warning, random***

I confess my armpits smell like that sweet smell from laughing gas they give you at the dentist. It's from the Va Va Vanilla Secret Anti-Perspirant I got in the bargin bin at the grocery store, but I thought this morning that my scary neighbors were trying to gas me or something.

Thanks for the warning! I'll remember not to buy that scent!

[daylilies]

Haha, I don't like vanilla anyway.
I like country! But it's not called "Country Idol".

[3andMe]

Last night we got a call at like 9:30. It was a guy asking for DH, who was busy so I asked who was calling. He gave me his name and left his number and said he knew DH when he was about 17. ??? The name didn't ring a bell with DH. Today DH asked me to try to find out who this guy is. I wish he'd just call him back but it does seem weird that some guy he supposedly knew 15 years ago would find and call him out of the blue.

I know there is a lot more stuff to reply to (lesson #1 to take home for me is to not buy antiperspirant from the bargain bin, especially since I have a really big problem with scents), but I thought I would share with you a random thing I read on another forum today that doesn't have anything to do with this - maybe - but is an example of why someone would contact someone out of the blue 15 years later.

I was reading some posts from various people talking about how kids always knew who the 'weird' teachers were at school, and someone mentioned how if she got in trouble and had detention, someone else would inevitably just get in trouble a little while later and end up with detention also, just so nobody would have to be alone with the weird teacher. Sometimes these kids weren't even friends, didn't do anything more than nod in the hall, but this girl said she was really grateful to the few people who got in trouble intentionally so she wouldn't have to be in detention alone. A few other people said the same thing happened at their schools, also with people they didn't know that well, and someone piped up, "Well, why don't you write them a note and tell them." There was some hemming and hawing, but several people mentioned that they would try to contact long-lost acquaintances and let them know they were grateful for a (probably long-forgotten) act of kindness.

Anyway, totally off-topic and kind of random, but I thought it was kind of cool.

I always feel out of the loop when AI is on.

[Gwenn]

Don't want to make you feel out of the loop, Lydia! Should we move the idol chatter elsewhere? It's kind of nice having it just us but we can talk somewhere else if it bothers the ones who don't watch it.

Oh, and that's incredibly sweet and also creepy to think of little kids knowing it wasn't safe to be alone with a teacher. As an educator that makes me really sad.

[missychrissy]

***warning, random***

I confess my armpits smell like that sweet smell from laughing gas they give you at the dentist. It's from the Va Va Vanilla Secret Anti-Perspirant I got in the bargin bin at the grocery store, but I thought this morning that my scary neighbors were trying to gas me or something.

omg, that's too freaking funny!

Oh, and that's incredibly sweet and also creepy to think of little kids knowing it wasn't safe to be alone with a teacher. As an educator that makes me really sad.

Agreed. Poor kids. I don't remember anything like that. Rather, if a certain Mr. M requested a particularly pretty girl to stay after class, there'd be a lot of 'ooooo' ing going on, and later teasing about whether she had a good time or not. I remember once when he had me alone near the windows on the far side of the room and he did something that startled me. I jumped on top of my desk and ran across the desktops to get to the door. He followed. Looking back, I don't think he really was a creep in that he'd actually touch anyone, but he definitely got off on us girls (about 13-15) being scared of him.

[daylilies]

Very interesting! I don't remember anything happening like that when I was a kid, but I didn't have any really creepy teachers, either!
That's sweet that those kids would try to get back in touch so many years later. I actually found a mugshot online of a guy that matches up with the name and the area he's from based on the phone number. He was arrested for marijuana possession on 4/20 of 2006, LOL. He looks a little older than DH, but not much (if that is indeed him).

[missychrissy]

Rich had a cousin call out of the blue. A cousin he didn't know existed. The poor guy grew up in Georgia and barely knew his own father (Rich's uncle on his dad's side). He looked up people in our area with the same last name and just started calling. Rich didn't talk to him, I did. He said he just wanted to know his family. It really made me sad. I remember he talked about coming up and visiting everyone, and I gave him Auntie Janet's number because she's the most social, loving one of all of them (and only in the family through marriage, she married yet another uncle). That's the last I heard of him so I guess he never did come up. It's probably been 8-10 years since he called.

[Bridget]

Way to go PI Kate!
We had supposed creepy teachers but in hindsight I don't remember them actually doing anything shady. Just rumors and such.

I don't watch idol either. I watched one night when my brother was over because he won't miss it. I liked the girl from wisconsin. She sang a Rhianna song and her singing wasn't the greatest but she was a hell of a performer.
I don't mind the idol chatter. My mom loved the show and just the other day I was saying how endearing it was how often we had conversations that went like this:
Mom: Did you watch American Idol last night?
Me: No, Mom. I don't watch it
Mom: Oh, but (insert name of person I've never heard of) was so good! Did you catch the end when.....happened?
Me: No, Mom. I actually don't watch American Idol
Mom: Well I think it's either going to be so and so or so and so. Have you heard her sing? She's so good!
Me: No I haven't. I actually.....nevermind.

[missychrissy]

I don't know why I love AI so much, but I do.

If I had to put in order from least likely to most likely to be a predator at our school, this one teacher would have been at the first of the list as least likely. From my recollection of her, she was nothing but professional and a really popular teacher. I only had her for study hall, but she was my brother's homeroom teacher when he was in 6th grade. When my brother was about 20 or so, it came out that she had molested one of his classmates. I really didn't believe it, but I worked at the county for mental health at the time and had access to information that left me with little doubt that it did indeed happen. It's really scary to think about because even as an adult I'm 100% sure I wouldn't have felt anything 'off' about her.

At the end, it turned out she had had inappropriate relations with 3-4 young boys. 6th graders, no less. They're definitely still kids at that age.

[Bridget]

At my highschool, we had this beloved teacher that worked in the ag dept. Everyone loved him and he was just one of those teachers that would do anything for his students. I never heard nor saw him do anything remotely inappropriate and myself and my friends were around him all the time because we were involved in FFA and he was the leader. We all adored and respected him.
A few years after I graduated some woman came out and said she consentually slept with him back in the early seventies when she was a senior and he was just starting. So he was about 23 years old then. She went to the papers and it was devestating to the community because he resigned in light of the scandal and he was such a pillar in our town and school. I'm not saying what he did was ok, if he did it at all but it really sucked when it all went down.