Happy International Literacy Day. If you are reading this, someone somewhere helped teach you how to do it.
"On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally.
Despite many and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target: some 776 million adults lack minimum literacy skills which means that one in five adults is still not literate; 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.
This year, International Literacy Day will put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development."
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Spidery Fields Forever
Foggy mornings here in Kansas City. The Girl and I took an impromptu photo field trip while the menfolk
of the house slept. We unexpectedly ran across
a field full of spider webs.They were every where.
.JPG)
It is not my nature to frolick about in my pink housecoat in a field full of spiders,
but I couldn't resist those shots of the dew
on the webs.
.JPG)
I could write some touching analogy about how life
is like these webs. Sometimes pulled together
and sometimes not so and pulled together.
But my seizures are flared up, so
I am not really in the mood. Who knows
what is up with that.
Apparently, my own web is little disorderly right now..JPG)
This was a scary shot.
I think it was a girl spider because her
outfit coordinated so nicely. :)
Friday, September 4, 2009
It's all in the name
My mom says she wanted to name me "Veronica" and call me "Ronnie" for short. She got voted down, even before tribal councils exsisted.
I was cleaning the toliets at the church tonight and saw the name "Kohler." I remember a funny story that our buddies told us years ago.
Friends of theirs had a child, a boy, and didn't know what to name him. Of course, having a child is SUCH an UNEXPECTED surprise that I am sure they simply didn't have time to think about something so trivial with such little time to plan for the baby's arrival. Duh.
Anyhow, they couldn't find one (obviously they don't have a copy of the 10,000 baby names book that Juniper gave to us 13 years ago--which we still have--read so much that the cover has been lost years ago). So when one of them used the bathroom at the hospital, they seemingly were struck by the awe and majesty of the idea of naming their child after a toliet....you guessed it...Kohler.
Mr. Fun's dad is the first born son, John, who named his first born son John, who then of course named his first born son John. That family also has a tradition of naming their fourth son Deryk. But only the fourth son of the first born John. So even if I had been a better super mormon and had many more children and one had been the fourth son, I could not name hms Deryk. Rules is rules.
Then there is Juniper, who found out in the 12th grade from a school secretary that she (Juniper) had been spelling her middle wrong her entire life. Opps.
Mr. Fun is named after a modern day apostle.
The Boy was given a good strong Hebrew name from the Bible. I like Seth because he is known to be a carbon copy of his father, Adam. Our boy is very carbony of Mr. Fun...even down to the messy piles all around the house.
The Girl's name comes from a dance recital program we had read at Mr. Fun's nephew dance program. Mr. Fun wanted to name her "Arapahoe". He tried to sneak that name into her baby blessing at church....he chickened out at the last second. Good move on his part.
I saw something sweet at the store today.
I learned from my dad that it is nice to call people by their first names....especially people who are serving you like waitresses or people who work at the bank or wal-mart. When you do, they normally look surprised and you can see they are sorting through their brain to try and place your face.
Today, as I was checking out of the grocery store, the bagger guy was one who I had seen many times. He seems to have autism or some disability,. I have never seen him smile in the seven years I have lived here.
When I pulling out of my lane, pushing my cart to leave the store, I said, "Hey C***, thanks for bagging my groceries." And it happened. He turned a sheepish red, mumbled something, and smiled. A real smile. A happy smile. The kind of smile that makes you think that today his name made him feel special. As dumb as it sounds, today I was really happy for him that we have names. Even if they come from the toliet company.
I was cleaning the toliets at the church tonight and saw the name "Kohler." I remember a funny story that our buddies told us years ago.
Friends of theirs had a child, a boy, and didn't know what to name him. Of course, having a child is SUCH an UNEXPECTED surprise that I am sure they simply didn't have time to think about something so trivial with such little time to plan for the baby's arrival. Duh.
Anyhow, they couldn't find one (obviously they don't have a copy of the 10,000 baby names book that Juniper gave to us 13 years ago--which we still have--read so much that the cover has been lost years ago). So when one of them used the bathroom at the hospital, they seemingly were struck by the awe and majesty of the idea of naming their child after a toliet....you guessed it...Kohler.
Mr. Fun's dad is the first born son, John, who named his first born son John, who then of course named his first born son John. That family also has a tradition of naming their fourth son Deryk. But only the fourth son of the first born John. So even if I had been a better super mormon and had many more children and one had been the fourth son, I could not name hms Deryk. Rules is rules.
Then there is Juniper, who found out in the 12th grade from a school secretary that she (Juniper) had been spelling her middle wrong her entire life. Opps.
Mr. Fun is named after a modern day apostle.
The Boy was given a good strong Hebrew name from the Bible. I like Seth because he is known to be a carbon copy of his father, Adam. Our boy is very carbony of Mr. Fun...even down to the messy piles all around the house.
The Girl's name comes from a dance recital program we had read at Mr. Fun's nephew dance program. Mr. Fun wanted to name her "Arapahoe". He tried to sneak that name into her baby blessing at church....he chickened out at the last second. Good move on his part.
I saw something sweet at the store today.
I learned from my dad that it is nice to call people by their first names....especially people who are serving you like waitresses or people who work at the bank or wal-mart. When you do, they normally look surprised and you can see they are sorting through their brain to try and place your face.
Today, as I was checking out of the grocery store, the bagger guy was one who I had seen many times. He seems to have autism or some disability,. I have never seen him smile in the seven years I have lived here.
When I pulling out of my lane, pushing my cart to leave the store, I said, "Hey C***, thanks for bagging my groceries." And it happened. He turned a sheepish red, mumbled something, and smiled. A real smile. A happy smile. The kind of smile that makes you think that today his name made him feel special. As dumb as it sounds, today I was really happy for him that we have names. Even if they come from the toliet company.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Bob the Builder Award: Rotary and the Mormon Church Ladies
I consider it a good thing that I don't have a problem letting go of things. I am generally happier with less stuff. No living room furniture (lost that battle), no big tv (lost that conversation....happy about it now) and like five things to wear. I am happy when there is less. I even am happy when my zen garden water pond is empty. Drives Mr. Fun CRAZY. I am so hard to buy for that the joke is that whatever you get me, I want to give it away. Lori, one year, got me stamps and stationery. That girl knows me. :)
The funny thing is that I always have stuff in the basement. Lots of stuff. For a couple years, I had more shoes than the Payless shoe store down the street. One year I begged, borrowed and bought every discount used stuffed animal north of the Missouri River. One time I bought 50 pairs of flip flops in a snow storm. Once I collected 280 books, all of which had to be processed by a zillion PTA ladies. Let's not mention the money, the 4 billion canned foods for food drives and of course the medical supplies that have found their way to Jamaica. Oh yeah, I forgot the clothes for the orphans in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.
But this week, I think the current collection is the largest ever. That would be the collection of school supplies. Partially funded by my Rotary Club, and the rest funded by the ladies I go to church with. And we aren't talking about a few rulers and glue sticks. Couple notebooks. We are talking to the tune of 14,954 items(for those who heard the first update, I found 57 more items in the basement). That is every single piece of paper, eraser, box of crayons. And there is still more trickling in. :)
The supplies are going to serve the Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Agency here in KC. It seemed like a perfect fit. We have 8 children living in our congregation who are adopted or in foster care, and you know, all those extra school supplies for those new additions can add up for a family.
The cool thing is that it took so little work on anyone's part. The Rotarians passed around the bucket at lunch and collected $102 with their spare pocket change. The Church Ladies had a pink paper announcement the size of a small postcard asking them to donate. That was it.
September is coat collecting month. All coats. All sizes. :) It will go to service the Don Bosco Center in the city, who serves over 2,000 individuals a day.
It is great to be able to give all this great stuff away....:) Thanks everyone who donated.
The funny thing is that I always have stuff in the basement. Lots of stuff. For a couple years, I had more shoes than the Payless shoe store down the street. One year I begged, borrowed and bought every discount used stuffed animal north of the Missouri River. One time I bought 50 pairs of flip flops in a snow storm. Once I collected 280 books, all of which had to be processed by a zillion PTA ladies. Let's not mention the money, the 4 billion canned foods for food drives and of course the medical supplies that have found their way to Jamaica. Oh yeah, I forgot the clothes for the orphans in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.
But this week, I think the current collection is the largest ever. That would be the collection of school supplies. Partially funded by my Rotary Club, and the rest funded by the ladies I go to church with. And we aren't talking about a few rulers and glue sticks. Couple notebooks. We are talking to the tune of 14,954 items(for those who heard the first update, I found 57 more items in the basement). That is every single piece of paper, eraser, box of crayons. And there is still more trickling in. :)
The supplies are going to serve the Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Agency here in KC. It seemed like a perfect fit. We have 8 children living in our congregation who are adopted or in foster care, and you know, all those extra school supplies for those new additions can add up for a family.
The cool thing is that it took so little work on anyone's part. The Rotarians passed around the bucket at lunch and collected $102 with their spare pocket change. The Church Ladies had a pink paper announcement the size of a small postcard asking them to donate. That was it.
September is coat collecting month. All coats. All sizes. :) It will go to service the Don Bosco Center in the city, who serves over 2,000 individuals a day.
It is great to be able to give all this great stuff away....:) Thanks everyone who donated.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Me and the girl
I am tired but wanted to give something to my adoring fans.The left is me. The right is the Girl.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)