Thoughts On The Eve of the New Year

I suppose everyone has 'resolutions', or at least good intentions to do something different during the fresh start also known as the New Year. I have resolved to not have any resolutions. I'm sick of making then breaking them, then hating myself for being such a loser that I can't even keep promises to myself. I'm pretty good at keeping those made to other people, but never to myself. Exercise, diet, writing more letters, all those resolutions in years past that were never kept.

I am, however, not getting any younger, so I really do need to take better care of myself. Just moving around more would be a good start. Not be so lazy. Get the body moving more.

My church is doing a "Year of the Bible", during which we are given a schedule that will allow us to read the entire bible in one year. I've always wanted to read the whole bible, and have made numerous starts to doing so, but always got hung up around Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Having a few hundred people doing it with me, in only about 20 minutes a day, should make this one entirely doable. I'll keep you posted on this one.

Other than that, I'm just going to take it as it comes. But I wish more than anything for a more peaceful year. As the mom of a kid that will most likely be headed to Iraq within the next two years, I hope that we find some way to start pulling troops out of there.

On that note, I will leave you with a picture of E and his girl heading out for a special dinner the other night. He couldn't wait to put those dress blues on!

Oh, and have a Merry Ducky Christmas

Who knew that each Dec 25 we celebrate the birth of our blessed savior and rubber ducky?

Get your Kleenex out

When we were down at Parris Island for E's USMC boot camp graduation, they had family day the day before the actual graduation ceremony. No one had seen their kid since they left for boot camp. A ceremony was held in the 'all weather building' at which a movie was played showing many scenes of training that the raw recruits had gone through. As soon as the movie was over, the new Marines came running into the building and lined up in formation. It had all the makings of a reveal from Extreme Makeover. There was not a dry eye in the house. Here is the reason why; it was the soundtrack behind the movie: (this is worth watching, trust me)



Utterly manipulative of the Marine Corps, but unbelievably effective. I CANNOT listen to this song without major tears.

THIS is 3rd Grade?!

My daughter, M, is a pretty smart cookie, and is in the advanced math class at school. What that means is that she is in the 3rd grade, being taught 4th and 5th grade math. Now, I was also an advanced math student back in my day, so I can handle anything thrown at me for silly old 4th grade math, right?

Uh, no.

She had a test on the Wednesday and Thursday before Christmas, and was sent home with a review packet of about 8 pages on Monday. She missed school the previous Wednesday so that we could attend E's USMC graduation in South Carolina, and she missed some of the topics. So it was up to me to figure out how to explain things to her. No problem, right?

Uh, no.

Have you ever heard of a 'factorization tree'? Do you know how to figure the LCM (least common multiple, sheesh)? If you do, then kudos to you; I am apparently backwards in my understanding of today's math education, and had to look them up. Luckily we have good old Google these days, and I pretty quickly managed to find out what they are. In case you're dying to know, a factorization tree breaks down any equation into it's prime numbers, which can be multiplied in any order to get the answer, and while the definition of LCM may be pretty self-explanatory, the process isn't, and is waaay more complicated than I would have expected for even an advanced 3rd grade math class. I don't think I did anything like it until about 6th grade or so.

So, once we figured out what these mysteries were, M seemed to catch on pretty quick, and even thought they were 'cool'. That's my girl. She's really into magic, and loves the idea that math has a lot of 'magical' processes to it.

Me too.

PS - When I chatted with her teacher the following day (found out she aced the test, btw, woohoo!), I learned the charming mnemonic 'Dirty Monkeys Smell Bad', which they use to help with long division. I wish I'd had something like that to help me remember how to do stinkin' long division in Mrs Cadwallader's 4th grade class at Wake Robin Elementary School. Might have helped just a bit. Grrrrr..... I was and still am a 'math person', but I had a tough time understanding long division.

Ooh Rah!

E's platoon at attention during the graduation ceremony. The guy in the black belt is the Senior Drill Instructor, or SDI.

Ain't he handsome?

E wouldn't go near the infamous yellow footprints. He said he'd been there once and never wants to do it again. M&L, however, were happy to oblige.

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem. "
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985

He's Almost There

My oldest son, E, is currently in his last week of USMC basic training at Parris Island, SC. At this exact moment, he's on day two of the Crucible, the final challenge of boot camp. Recruits are led through a series of obstacles that test their strength, physical and mental endurance, and teamwork. It lasts for 54 hours, during which they get at most 8 total hours of sleep and little food. They march 9 miles back to base early Saturday morning, then are rewarded with the Warriors Breakfast, an all-you-can eat feast of pancakes, steak, potatoes, good food (probably makes a few sick after what they've been through). Most importantly, they also then receive their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, the USMC insignia, and they have earned the title "US Marine". I wish I could be there to see him get his EGA, but I'll see him next week. Graduation is next Friday, and we'll be able to spend time with him on Thursday for family day.

I find myself constantly thinking "what's E doing right now?" It's impossible to put it out of my mind as I hope and pray that he makes it through this. He's come too far, and done too well, to not finish.

OOH RAH! I'm so proud of him.

Currently Listening to....

Ahh, memories. And great jazz, too. Thanks, Vince.

Seasons Greetings

Picture courtesy of M :)
(btw, I love the bling on the neck of fourth elf/caroler from the left. And also the fact that no one has a NOSE)