Study Habits

We home school.  Well, part time that is.  We send the kids to school 2 days a week and home school the other 2 days.  Our oldest child Connor, is in 3rd grade and, of course, extremely smart.  He gets that from his Mother.  What amazes me though are his study habits.  The school sends home his homework every day for us to do the following day at home.  That provides a continuity throughout the year.  Being 8 years old he is a boy growing up with video games and other technical distractions that abound in our lives.  What surprises me isn't that he likes to play the Wii, or his Nintendo, or even the iPod, it's that he likes to do his home school work usually on his own.  He already has started to develop the study habits of a boy much older.  He likes to figure out the problems and when he needs help he will come to us and ask.  He takes breaks, gets snacks, and all in all makes our job that much easier.  Now I'm not saying he is on his own.  We are constantly monitoring his progress and making sure he is meeting the requirements set forth by his teacher.  We will even sit and watch him do his work once in a while, but usually he prefers to study on his own when possible.  Could it be his independence is beginning to exert itself?  Maturity a little beyond his years?  Perhaps.  Either way, I am very proud that he has the discipline to accomplish all he does on a daily basis.  I'm not sure if this is something shared by many other boys his age.  No matter, all I know is that I couldn't be more proud of his level of self control for being only 8 years old.   I can only hope he is able to keep this discipline throughout his years as it will serve him well as he gets older.  I wish I had been as disciplined when I was his age.

Random Musings from News Headlines

My thoughts of the latest news cycle headlines...

Obama goes to Copenhagen to lobby for the 2016 Olympics.
   Republicans need to pass on arguing this action.  Going to lobby to bring the Olympics to Chicago is not a big deal.  I say good luck to him.  He's trying to get a major event to happen in the USA instead of another country.  Why wouldn't we support that.  Do I think he would do this if it was Austin Texas?  No I don't.  But let's take a pass on making something outta nothing here.

Polanski fights extradition from Switzerland to the US.
  Get his ass!  He pleaded guilty because he knew he would get a bigger conviction if he went to trial.  Then he flew the country to avoid jail time.  He did the crime and has been living a life of luxury overseas for 31 years.  He drugged and raped a 13 year old girl in 1977.  Maybe the hollywood types think he should be spared the jail time since it's been so long, but that just shows how shallow and idiotic they are.  Just because a large amount of time has passed does not mean you get a free pass out of jail. 

Iran found to have secret Nuclear Facility for enriching uranium.
  So another example of how much trust you can place in the leadership of Iran.  My sympathies to the people of Iran who from what I read are just about as fed up with their leadership as the rest of the world should be.  Maybe Russia and China will wipe the egg off their faces and wide up to the fact that you can not trust a blithering maniacal mad man like Ahmadinejad.  If he isn't reined in he could be the start of WW III.

I wonder if our parents had the same worries about what type of world they would leave us when we were kids?  Or is this something that is indicative of the current state of affairs?

Hugs, hugs and more hugs..

Lately my son Connor has been a daddy's boy. He loves to hang with me. I of course love this. He's a good boy and easy to hang with. But the shift I work has been hard lately. I used to work mornings so I was gone before he even got out of bed and I was home all night. Now on days he goes to school I either have to drive him and his sister to school or I don't get to see him and Sara all day. Lately, when he's home (We home school 2 days a week and he attends school 2 days) and I have to leave for work, he'll hug me 4-6 times before I get out of the door. He'll hug me when I grab my stuff and head to the door. Another one when I get to the door. Yet more when the door is open, another when I step outside and sometimes he'll even walk me to the car for 1-2 more hugs. It's not the kind of "cling to you" hug, it's a "I'll miss you hug and I want to hug you more so I'm with you longer" type of hug. It sure makes me feel good for all the affection yet another part wishes I was staying home because I know it's been hard on him. Eventually he'll grow out of this, but I won't mind if he takes his time. These are the things Mommies and Daddies love to have from their kids. Hugs, hugs and more hugs.

Left Brain Right Brain

So I get home late last night from the Plano Balloon Festival. We get the kids into bed, kisses goodnight, pack my lunch for work Sunday, and get some clothes ready. Since I have to wake up at 3:30am I want to have to do as little as possible to get ready for work so I can sleep until the very last minute before I have to get out of bed. I fall into bed a solid 10:30pm after I set the alarm for 3:30am. Then my left brain starts kicking in.... Dang! All of a sudden I don't feel sleepy. I feel like writing a book. Where did this come from?? I never really thought about writing a book! My left brain starts planning the opening of a book that I should someday write in my spare time. I contemplate getting up to write down my thoughts (who knows it could be a best seller) but decide against it, as doing so would only encourage that side of my brain to continue to act against my well-being. So there I lay, awake. It really wasn't too bad of a start for a new story. So why I ask myself?? Why is it that when I'm ready for sleep, needing sleep, wanting sleep, my left brain sees this as an opportunity to wrest control from my right brain and take my mind for a cruise? Maybe it's because my right brain is starting to wind down and reliquishes some control knowing sleep and my unconsciousness will engage autopilot for the night. Who knows. All I know is that I could have been a writer, had I only been able to stay in that zone of slight-slumber. Dang, no wonder I always wanted to fall asleep in creative writing class in school! If only I had, I would have had a better grade.

Air Travel insights

I work for an airline. I like my job. Those usually are oxymoronic statements, but they are true. In my position I get to see and help with the daily behind the scene operations of the airline on the day-to-day level. With all the news revolving around how airlines are doing a horrible job I have just one thing to say. Poppycock! Airlines are in one of the hardest industries to operate. It's not due to competition. It's not due to environmental issues. It's not due to product quality. It's due to government interferrence and utter fiscal incompetence.
The airlines have pumped BILLIONS of dollars into the federal coffers under the guise of developing and implementing a new Air Traffic Control system. After all, the current one is from the 1950's! Yes that's right. It's 50 year old technology. Did they even call it "technology" back then? And after all these years and the billions of dollars collected in taxes has anything been done? Nope. The airlines are all investing in new technology that is high tech. We spend millions on top of millions to ensure our flights are safe, efficient and economical. Traveling by air has never been safer or less expensive than it is now. But you'd be surprised what we see everyday. The common Customer checks bags, travels occasionally and has few if any problems along their trip. Then there are the business customers. They are the road warriors. They know how to travel to make the most of their flights. What time to go, what to pack, how the system works. They are the ones who are most understanding when weather stands between you and your destination. They realize that it's not the fault of the employee at the gate or ticket counter that the flight is late or broken or oversold. They are the ones that make life easy. Then there are the customers who travel once every 150 years. They check in a transmission for a 1975 Buick and wonder why they are charged extra since it only weighs 140 lbs. Heck, bubba carried it in from the car. They want meal service on a 45 min flight and expect to get a window seat even if they didn't check in early. They can't understand why the person at the gate didn't hold the flight for them while they stood in line at McDonalds. They pack meats, cheese, bottles of wine, and the medicine they need every 2 hours into their checked bags on a 4 hour flight. Then when the flight is delayed due to weather they don't understand why they can't get their bag that is buried in the aircraft belly under 120 other bags. While it's always a challenge serving even those customers, they are our customers and we'll take them the same as everyone else. We try to help "educate" them as we go hoping that as they travel more they'll come to graduate to frequent traveler or who knows even business customer. But until that happens, can't we at least ask that they wrap up and drain that transmission before they check it in?

Weight of the times

Like many people, weight is an issue that has slowly crept up to me after I turned 35 yrs old. I used to be 140 lbs and had a 29 waist size. My gradual increase to 173 lbs and 34 waist isn't a terrible increase but I would love to get rid of some of these little love handles and reign in the belly I inherited from my dad. I hate working out though. We've had gym memberships on and off as the years pass but to be honest even at the peak of usage it seemed we paid more than they were worth. Over the spring and summer I did pretty well. I was going 1-2 times a week (yeah that's pretty well for me) but now that we've trimmed our budget due to the recession it had to go. I'm not sad. It was a great excuse to stop going. Oh the pain of making myself speed walk for 45 minutes or use the weight machines for another 20 minutes. I will miss the crunch machine though. I got to where I could easily do 50-75 crunches at 50 lbs but honestly I didn't see any 6 pack abs starting to show so no matter what I did it seems my belly was just laughing at me about going through all that. How do I know it was laughing? You could see it jiggle.
Maybe it was my imagination but I swear it's winning this war of attrition with me. Or is it a war of nutrition? Anyway, looks like I'll need to find a better way to get some exercise. It may be better anyway, I like walking around outside and Maggie (dog) likes being taken for walks as well. With the cooler weather heading our way maybe I'll actually have the will to make myself get out and get some exercise. Then again, I wonder what TV shows are on.....