Hodgepodge with a Peck on the Cheek

>Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English...here's the list for 2013-

fiscal cliff, kick the can down the road, double down, job creators/creation, passion/passionate, yolo (an acronym for you only live once), spoiler alert, bucket list, trending, superfood, boneless wings, and guru

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why. Go here to read more about how the words were chosen.

 

YOLO, because people usually say it right before they do something stupid, as if living only once justifies folly.   It makes me wonder if they'd be any less stupid if given a second life??

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2. When was the last time you rode a train? Where did you go?

A real train, as in choo-choo, not the metro?  If choo-choo passenger train, then the first and only time was when I was in college. I went from Greensburg, PA, to Akron, OH.     I loved it. Very relaxing except for boarding at night, alone, as a single woman at a dark, unpopulated depot.  I guess my thinking was, "YOLO"! 


3. Bagels-yay or nay? Favorite 'flavor'? Favorite topping?

Yay, taste! Nay, gluten.  Cinnamon raisin with Brummel & Brown's strawberry cream cheese spread.

   This question reminds me of a joke I heard last night:

Why are seagulls called seagulls? Because if they lived at the bay, they'd be called baygulls.


4. 'Tis the season of awards shows...if you could star in a movie already made which one would you choose?
 
 "Roman Holiday."  I mean, I could do at least as good a job as Audrey Hepburn, right? And I sort of look like her, too, right? I mean, we both have hair, eyes, nose,  lips, and curves.   Being the leading lady next to Gregory Peck--how much better could it get?  He was tall, dark, and handsome, heroic, charming,  with a great, low voice.  I heart Gregory Peck.

That said, my favorite movie of his was not "Roman Holiday" but was "To Kill a Mockingbird," which also happens to be my favorite-ever novel, but I digress.  

(Sometimes I think I should change my blog name to "But I Digress...")

5. The move towards single gender classrooms has been making the news in recent months....what say you? Do you think kids perform better if separated by gender and are taught differently or is that discrimination? If you're a parent, is this something you'd support in regard to your own children?

Another great question.   Oh,  but Joyce, you've given me a leg-up onto my soapbox, my friend.

I think kids benefit from being from in mixed-gender classrooms for just about every subject.  The one exception ?   PE.   

As far as mixed-gender classes go,  my wish is that the system would change to having boys start kindergarten at age 7, and girls at age 5.  The maturity difference is so obvious until about tenth grade.  Girls develop mentally, physically and socially sooner than their male classmates, and then parents and teachers seem all perplexed when 14 year old girls are drawn to 16 year old boys. Duh. Have you seen how the average 14 year old boy acts?  In the early grades, boys often get labeled "hyperactive" because they are much MORE active than girls their same age. Well, hey, I don't think God intended for little five-year-old boys to sit still all day and only have one recess.
They're not "hyper"; they're energetic!

As a teacher, I have enjoyed having both boys and girls together for balance and perspective.  And in high school, it's better for attendance. Why? Well,  did you know that teenage girls who are in close proximity  daily tend to get on the same "cycle"?   So you'll have a handful of girls missing school for "sickness" which, roughly translated, often means cramps or you-know.

I think having mixed-gender faculty for every class  past  third grade is essential. Boys and girls need to have both in their formative years.

6. What's your favorite thing about staying in a hotel?

That someone else has cleaned it before me, and will clean it after me.  And it means I've gotten away from home for a while.  Even a 3-star hotel would get 5 stars for that.


7. Do you have a 'word' for 2013? What's the story behind your choice?

Peace.   

Story behind it?  Turmoil of 2012:

I would wake up many mornings without peace, and go to sleep without peace.  I found myself dreading the darkness and quietness of night because I couldn't distract my mind like I could in the daytime. I had peace with God as far as eternal security,  but in the here and now, in my everyday life, I had frequent panic attacks, crying spells, outbursts of anger, and a sense of purposelessness.  Very little communication with real people, just a lot of online snippets.   My role as a mom was changing. Our identities as parents were fuzzy, having three older ones who "need us but don't need us," and one clearly young enough to need us in every sense of the word.  And we were drifting apart as a couple.

I headed into 2013 with a heavy heart; I had hope, but it wasn't steady.  I prayed, "Oh, God, what can I DO? Where can I GO?  Whom can I trust?  When will this change? Why is our world  being rocked?" 

And then God said plainly, "Peace."

In that one word, I felt it.  I sensed this letting go of the need to DO, to have the answers to where, who, when,and why that Satan kept firing at me like bullets to keep me doubting God's sovereignty and love.  Just one word: peace.   I realized that I had let myself be shocked and disappointed and
confused about the fact that I had troubles. Imagine that! As if I'm entitled to a trouble-free life!  Jesus reminded me of what he told his first disciples: "In this world you will have trouble, but I give you my peace, that where I am, there you may also be."

8. Insert a random thought here.

Please pray peace and comfort for my friend, Renee'.  Her mom suffered a massive brain bleed yesterday and has been unconscious and unresponsive since. She is now in hospice.