VIllanous Vampires Team Thread (Page 78)

Terrific....it is a rain delay....it is already past my bedtime! 

at least I got another green star!

The forecast looks like rain through tomorrow!  

I can't believe I am saying this but I just got a new PR on my 5k run. 22:02

Holy Mackerel, Joe, you are gonna burn through your new shoes! Was this another brick?

I was listening to BBC as they were going over the game, and while they were broadcasting they went to rain delay. I chuckled - what timing!

Good luck getting Cole the stuff he needs. Ugh, how trying. I can't imagine how hard that must be.

Yay for ONE-derland!!!

That's gonna be some race you guys are gonna crash!

Um, er, uh, not much else. Seriously got my running mojo today. I did 10 min runs, which is a big step up, and they felt awesome. Yay! Kept a nice steady pace, really settled in to it. Looking forward to the next few weeks of ever-increasing time/distance!

Since we've had some crappy-school stories lately, I'm gonna share a good-school story, k?

My BFF has two daughters. The oldest is 8, in third grade. She goes to this ULTRA crunchy school, they are vegan, all out in the woods, super liberal, do ultra fun stuff. PLUS, they are wicked hard, very good educational experience. Definitely NOT a softie school, their kids come out of there light years ahead of others, go on to do amazing things (like, say, Ambassador of the US, among others...). Oh yeah, and there are 161 kids. Total. K-12. Third grade is one of the largest, with about 12-15 kids.

One of the reasons G is at the school is for their liberal values. See, my BFF and G's father got divorced last year when my BFF came out. Knowing the public school system, everyone knew that the safest place - both emotionally and physically - would be at a small school with strong values of taking care of each other and respecting everyone. One where the teachers are extremely involved in every thing that goes on. One where they don't let bullying or taunting or any such slide.

Well, they got their first test. G came home all out of sorts, and her father finally got out of her that her best friend, one of the most popular girls in third grade, had said in front of everyone, "Your mom is GAY" and gotten everyone laughing. They all laughed along with her because, well, she's popular, and they're kids, and it's what happens. G, of course, was completely humiliated, and devastated that this girl she THOUGHT was her best friend would do this. Kids - it's what they do.

Well, my BFF heard about all of this and was on the phone at 10 pm that night (when she heard about it) to the teacher. She couldn't get through to him, but called the school ASAP the next morning. She didn't get to the teacher, but to the school counselor/psychologist/emotion-watching-person. Turns out, lo and behold, third grade had their class meeting that morning, and this would be an excellent learning opportunity. The whole class talked openly about what had happened, and how things should go down in the future (i.e., laughing NOT COOL, taunting NOT COOL). Then, G and the other girl met one-on-one with the counselor lady to talk over what had happened, and she helped G say how hurt she was by the comments. By the end of the day, everything was back to normal, all feelings restored, and they were off to the playground. Kids - it's what they do.

How freaking cool is that? Here's a situation that, in a larger school, would go entirely unnoticed, or worse yet, noticed and ignored by the teachers. I suffered through an enormous amount of bullying for every reason possible, far too often at the hands of the teachers. Even when the teachers weren't actively participating, they were watching and letting it happen. And yet, these kids learned that it's okay to stand up for yourself and say, "Hey, that hurt my feelings, you need to apologize." And they learned that it's okay to apologize. And they learned that it's okay to make mistakes. Kids push the boundaries of what is acceptable. They are working out their social pecking order. They are trying to figure out where they stand in the world and where everyone else does, too. Maybe the other girl has heard from somewhere that being gay is bad. But I'm just guessing that having to look her friend in the tear-filled eyes taught her that, no matter how you feel about gay people, taunting is never okay.

Go crunchy school!

Hi team! Sorry I have been MIA for the past few days - I try to avoid the computer when I have time off work! I'm going to try to catch up with all the posts now, I am a little behind

I saw Body of Lies at the cinema last night. It was really good. It had two aussies in it - a very porky Russell Crowe and Vince Collosimo.

Or it could just be my hormones LOL!!!!

Anyway I've got to go now and start my afternoon consults - see you later everyone!

Yay for horsie-back racing! I married into a grandson of Secretariat. Spitting image of his granddaddy, but didn't get the speed. He was a pretty miserable failure on the track, but he's the bestest boy in the whole world, and I love him (and miss him) dearly. He's a cutie, that's for sure!

Oh, excuse me - I should say he's handsome, not "a cutie." He's very regal, like a king. Or so he wants you to believe.