Rain! Finally!

It's been drizzley and dreary all day, which is great because we need the rain.

Ralph and I are going to NC to see Ed, Heather, Eddie and Julianna! I'm really happy- the "plan" has changed about 97 times, and at one point it seemed that the trip wouldn't happen due to Ralph's work schedule. The darn hospital insists on being open 24/7, and needs ER nurses to staff it. We hit it lucky when staffing called him and asked him to work a Saturday instead of a Monday, which freed up several days for us.

It's a 9-10 hour ride to Albemarle, which is near Charlotte. We're leaving a day early and making a detour to visit with a retired friend of Ralph's. That way we'll break the travel up into 2 days. Coming back, we'll probably have to drive straight thru. From NJ to DC is a really pain, and from DC to Richmond is annoying. We make a right at Richmond, and it's a nice ride after that.

It's almost time for school to start! Staff in my district go back September 1, and the kids come in September 2. I hated school when I was a student. Looking back, I was bored to death. The most valuable class I've ever had was personal typing in grade 8- I type with all my fingers. The accounting class that I took in 11th grade was valuable, and my mom had to insist to guidance that I be allowed to take it. I was college prep, and I guess accounting was not considered to be preparation for college. In my senior yearbook, my history teacher wrote "I trust I spoke softly enough as to not disturb your reading". I got all A's that year and never, ever brought a book home. To me that says the school's expectations were not very high.

My nephew Mikey says he never learned anything new since second grade, and sadly, I think he's right. Because of NCLB (talk about a fiasco) the teachers have to teach to the test, and have no time to actually educate the students. The kids who are readers can self educate.

The other problem is that the teachers are forced to stay on the level of the kids in the middle. The kids below get lost, and the kids above get bored. I have a lot of admiration for teachers. They're sure not in it for the money, no matter what our idiot governor thinks. I don't have the patience to be a teacher to large numbers. One to one, I can do patient education, and I've been guest speaker to classes, but I could never do it all day, every day.

And the beat goes on! (and on, and on)

Holly