We Interrupt this Procrastinating and Exhaustion to post a reminder about the value of EDUCATION!

EDUCATION: It's NOT Hazardous, but try telling that to many "pro-family" but seemingly "anti-education" individuals around this country.

I'm already behind on blog entries and I didn't want to get even more detracted from important entries that need to be made pertaining to some changes with work, a new calling at church, and did I say "changes" at work? That's putting it mildly. However, it looks like I have to still put off those necessary entries for this one, due to something that has been really putting me in a tizzy in the last few days: The complete level of hysteria over our nation's President making a speech to our nation's school children on Tuesday, September 8th. Apparently, many people have forgotten that even if you don't agree with someone on political matters, that they can equally make valuable non-partisan messages with only positive intentions. Here is what I sent to various school officials and media outlets:

As a fellow educator (I am a teacher for a neighboring district) and Queen Creek Unified District parent, I am so saddened, disappointed and plain outraged that QCUSD will NOT be airing our President's positive and non-partisan message about EDUCATION. I am not just saying this because I'm a registered Democrat. My registered Republican husband is just as disappointed and stands behind me and echoes every word. Obviously he and many others on both sides of the political spectrum have enough sense to see the non-partisan value in the President's message.

This is something I cannot say for the choice made by QCUSD, where I've always valued for the high standards of education my children receive. However, this decision by QCUSD does not reflect those same high educational standards. When the President announced he would speak to the school-age children in America about education and staying in school, it was inherent that all children could choose to watch this broadcast or not. The parents of these children could instruct their children to watch or not. But it appears in the Queen Creek Unified School District this choice is not available. Why couldn't they have offered a two-room solution—those who want to watch go to the library, those who don’t go to the cafeteria?

What bothers me also, is the district has not posted anything about this unenlightened decision on their website. To my knowledge, they haven't published this information anywhere. How many parents are going to be sending their children to school on Tuesday, thinking their children will have the opportunity to listen to their President speak, and will find out, after the school day is over, that their child didn’t participate as millions of other school-age children in this nation have?

Yes, there is the Internet. Yes, my own children (and thankfully, my 60+ students in the district I teach for) will still see Barack Obama encourage kids to stay in school, study hard, and make the most of their educational opportunities. They won’t miss out in the long run the blessing that our President is investing in our children’s educations and talking to them about the value of it.

But the underlying message that the President’s speech is somehow wrong, bad, evil, indoctrinating, even brainwashing, is what really has me in a lather. The underlying message that if you don’t agree with Obama’s politics, it’s okay to ignore this very worthy message. And further, that you don’t have to give him the respect that elected officials deserve in this nation, whether you agree with his health care reforms or not.

It is possible to disagree with someone about political things but agree with them about others. I think of the Senate friendship between Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and the late Ted Kennedy (D-Mass). Their political differences were as different as Siberian winters and Phoenix summers. However, they had enough integrity, class, and sense, to agree to disagree and still see the commonalities that enabled them to respect each other and form a long standing friendship. That same class and sense and integrity is not seen in this decision made by the Queen Creek Unified School District, or for that matter, any school district in this nation that is ignorantly making the same decision.

Bottom Line: If you send your kid to school, you obviously care that he or she is getting a publicly funded education. You care that your child is learning to read, write, do math, science, the arts, etc. So when your President decides to reiterate your own message to your children to stay in school and learn the information given to them by their teachers, it may be wise to actually support this worthy message, even if you disagree with him on other issues. And to teach your children that elected officials deserve our respect.

I am not ashamed to live in the Queen Creek School District, due to the education and high values my children receive here. But I am ashamed of the message QCUSD is sending to the bright students and hard-working school teachers and staff who make their living here. It is plain sad that in this state of Arizona with such a low standard of education as reflected by our #50 ranking, that such a message of denying a pro-educational speech is made. Talk about ironic!

Jill Henrichsen Queen Creek, AZ

Tour of the Universe!!! aka the Depeche Mode Experience

This passed weekend I went to my 7th Depeche Mode concert. This is something that should be experienced at least once in a lifetime, and I'm lucky enough to make to 7. I've had the privilege to attend DM concerts with friends, some of the same friends more than once, and my husband for three of them, though the first time he attended with me, we weren't married yet. Chris came with me for this recent Tour of the Universe tour at the US Air Arena (formally America West Arena) in Phoenix.

As usual, DM did NOT disappoint (how could they? It's DM for heaven's sake!!!), even though with this tour, the band was showing their age with some health problems that prompted the cancellation of some American and European and South American shows. 2 of the 5 recent California shows were canceled just in the last couple weeks, so I was VERY nervous about lowly ol' boring Phoenix being canceled. But thankfully, it didn't happen. The DM boyz have been going strong since 1979-80. Now they're 48 and 49 years old. It makes sense that some of their age is showing in what has effected the concert. But other than that, they manage to be completely immortal - if that makes any sense. Their performances are as awesome as ever. And Dave was always adorable, but at 48 he's sexier than ever.

At this passed weekend's show, it was pretty clear in some spots that Dave's voice had issues (that is what prompted the cancellation of San Francisco and San Diego - voice rest), but the show was still amazing. Chris complained a little about Dave having the audience sing some of the main lines and parts, but I have NEVER had a problem with that (Chris is a DM fan by marriage though, so you can't expect him to completely understand. lol) because it's part of the "experience", not Dave being lazy.


The second to the last song was Personal Jesus. Now while that is a major hit for them and has stood the test of time since its 1989 release, I wouldn't have been upset if it wasn't sung (it has been overplayed since its release, so for me, it's kind of been worn out). BUT...the video graphics they used with it were....omigosh...I can't completely be frank with how I felt about it due to the "mixed company" of readers to my blog. But this should do the trick:

Get the point?

And the ANTHEMS of Depeche Mode - at least as far as I'm concerned - Enjoy the Silence and It's No Good (I have added those to the top of my playlist for now), Never Let Me Down Again, and Question of Time. Holy-Climatic-Stellar-Sounds, Batman!! I remember in the Singles Tour in 98' how they OPENED with Question of Time. Rockin. Perfection. Completely STELLAR.

I also added the 2004 version of Enjoy the Silence and further down on my playlist is the standard 1990 version, along with other faves like Wrong, Precious, and so many others. I have so many DM faves, that I always leave something out.

My only complaints of this recent "experience" (it's not a concert. It's an experience): The one person in the whole arena who snuck in smokes and lit up cigarettes was next to me. I thought about ratting him out, but he was such a devoted fan and otherwise very cool and polite, I decided to risk the few minutes off my life his three cigarettes caused, and let it go for the love and devotion of the band.n But if someone else ratted him out, I wouldn't have exactly cared.

And then there was the idiot behind us that would go, "Yeeah!..yeeah!..yeeah!" like an elephant seal with too much testosterone. I almost preferred smoker guy to elephant seal guy.


Other than that....Holy Shiitake Mushrooms!!!! It was awesome!!

One Way to Tell Your Son is Clearly in Kindergarten!

So Chris comes home from work about 45 minutes early (seriously, a treat!), but is grumpy but tells the kids to get in the car so they can go get Tacos for Taco Tuesday at the local dive. Chris was in a "let's go now! go! go! go!" state of mind.

Christian didn't have shoes on.
Chris says, "get your shoes on,"
Christian says, "okay. But I have to do three things first (this is complete with finger gestures, holding up number of fingers as he spoke)

• "First, I have to peeee..."
• "Second, I have to turn off the computer...."
• Third, I -"

Chris cut him off before we got to the third one and said, "stop talking about it and go DO it." I had to go laugh somewhere. But my laughing was interrupted by the fact that there was a missing shoe and Christian was no help in finding it because he was in the middle of the first one from his list: peeeeing

I am hoping to update this blog soon with some fun little artsy examples from my students in these first weeks of the new school year. I took the photos of the artwork, but now I have to pursue actually uploading them and sorting. What didn't help was the first week of school for my students (second week for Christian and Mikelle), some throat/achy thing hit me. It was bad enough to have called in sick if it WASN'T THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL! Then Chris got it the following week. But so far *knocking on wood* the kids seem to have escaped it.

Absence of logic, school "daze", my classroom up for underwire support, and my hair, of course!

I admit how incredibly sucky I have been with this blog. My baby started kindergarten this week, my other baby is a.....(I'm choking up here, trying to get it out...)....FOURTH grader, and the first day for my students is in two days. I am not ready yet, even though I spent 5 hours today in my classroom. That's right, on a Saturday. Thankfully, I brought my crew. I violated child labor laws with Christian helping me transfer some junk from the artroom to an empty classroom for storage of the "stuff".

Isn't this adorable? Chris helping his daddy put up a shelf for me today: Chris also helped with some computer issues that IT never responded to with a work order I filled out earlier this week. Therefore, I just dragged Chris down there to fix the problem. I love my husband!

I still don't get why the school years have started earlier and earlier in the summer. When I was a kid, we started in late August. It was the 3rd or 4th week in August, at the earliest, that I have memory of. Now? Teachers are due back in the classrooms in July and students start at the end of July (like Mikelle and Christian) or beginning of August (such as my students). There's never money for education, but they'll start school at a time that will add more weeks of horrendously high electrical bills due to the air-conditioning being cranked to the max. Go figure. That's the kind of "logic" (<--and I use that term lightly) that exists in this backwards state of Arizona.

This is the same state that our Republican Legislature is cutting more education from the budget (the same Republicans that spout of "family values" but are quick to screw over our children in the classroom). This is the same state that has a Wal-Mart every 3 miles along the 202 in the East Valley. This is the same state that will be building new businesses even though closed down vacant spaces are a stone's throw from the new builds. And why for the vacancy and so many businesses that have closed? Over building and planning on the economy to be rosy all this time. However, more building continues. I.just.don't.get.it. Instead of "getting it" I just have to get out of this state. However, we've been through that. It's probably not going to happen. I have an entry in my January archives with that explanation. Our Wickenburg plan is still in the works, but still not in the near future.

There I go again. Once again, I get on my soapbox of my frustrations with the political and nature of the climate in this state. However, when it comes to the classroom, my students deserve the best Art Education I can give them. Supplies are scarce, and I am looking for additional grants and other resources to help get some funds and art supplies into my classroom. A grant I had good feelings about sent the rejection letter about a month ago, and as much as there are a lot of grants out there, it is difficult to find one that my classroom qualifies to even apply for. There are so many stipulations that often turn what looks to be a promising grant into another brick wall. See? There I go again. That is why I haven't updated my blog like I should. I get into the downers again. I promise it's not permanent.

For information about helping out with my classroom (no donation is too big or small!), please click on the "support my classroom" icon on the top right hand side of this page.

But hey, there is happiness! Last week I got my hair cut and colored again! Well, I couldn't start a new year with scary roots, could I? But I can't get my brows waxed again for another week. Oh well. That's where the tweezers come in. Ouch!

Summer Doldrums. Words from the Cocoon...

...or maybe I should say 'cave'. That's what Chris calls it. I admit I haven't updated this blog in awhile because I didn't want it to be a downer post. The heat has been brutal, and there have been some depressing things going on. Nothing that's changing our lives paths or anything. Just some "bummers", a tragedy involving one of my students, and disappointments that haven't made the pits of this summer hell any better.

Anyway, so I burrow into my cave this time of year anyway, and then get upset when the kids are driving me bonkers along with the cabin fever. So I venture out and then get nauseated with the heat and impatient, cranky and headachy, and then go back in the cave. It's a vicious circle. There's no going hiking or to the park, due to the heat. And I am trying not to run out of money before my first paycheck of the school year, so going to the mall or movies doesn't sounds too good either. I've been better at budgeting my big summer check than last year, but let's just say there isn't much $$$ left! (and it's 95% my own fault, due to um, Oregon vacations and other things to make the summer much, um "nicer". Know what I mean?)

Therefore, instead of going on and on about how evil this heat is (even though it IS in fact, completely evil), here are some 4th of July pictures. The picture above is from the 4th of July when Christian held one of his baby (2nd) cousins. I love how sweet he looks in this picture. Despite all the antics and tantrums and bad moments, this is a side of him that surfaces a lot, and pictures like that are sweet reminders of who he is, even though there are those times I often want to pull my hair out.

Below are three pictures of Christian and Mikelle. The first two taken in the throws of the daylight heat before we left for the annual fireworks nearby at the home of one of Chris's cousins. Despite how much I LOATHE the summer heat and LOATHE Independence Day occurring in JULY (if only Thomas Jefferson could have written and presented the Declaration of Independence anytime between OCTOBER & MARCH! Even April wouldn't have been too bad!), I do look forward to this annual party. We don't have much family left locally, so getting together with family for this event is a lot of fun, and something we really do cherish.

The last picture was taken when the night was nearing an end, and Christian was clearly coming off his sugar high. I promise he is NOT flipping off the camera. He was more than ready to go to bed, and he was even demanding that we go home so he could sleep. Oh, and another factor of this time of year? Mosquitoes. I swear they've developed some sort of immunity to whatever insect repellent you use, and how much of it that is used.

Final Vacation Pictures. Last day, Florence, Oregon 6/18

It's hard to believe that this trip ended almost two weeks ago. (:sniff: :sniff:) Flying out of Eugene wasn't going to happen until 6pm on 6/18, so we headed south from Waldport down the coast passing Devils Churn, Haceta Head and the Sea Lion Caves again with the ultimate goal of heading to Eugene via the coastal and Siuslaw riverfront town of Florence.

(left) Couldn't help but pull over on the side of the road for this picture. Christian's Papa and Grandma Georgia gave him this T-shirt almost 2 years ago, and it is just as appropriate today as it was then!

FLORENCE, OR
Lovely construction work, but here are the signs pointing the distances to all the other Florences in the world. This particular one has the United States Florence, and here in Queen Creek, we're not too far from the Arizona Florence (drove through the western edge of it today, as a matter of fact), so this picture is a accurate representation of how far away from home we were.
Check out the difference in weather from December 2007 with this picture of Mikelle and I from then (Christian is playing on the anchor behind us). You can't tell, but that day it rained non-stop, and Chris wasn't thrilled standing in the rain taking all these pictures. Now HE is someone who is a true Arizona desert rat. Not me. I enjoyed every bit of rainy Oregon weather in frigid December as well as more sunny June:

Christian and I didn't take anymore pictures with the signs, but since we're on the subject, here's one a couple of blocks away (taken December 2007) of the distance to Florence, Italy in both directions:














Anyway, back to this recent trip, here is Christian with the Siuslaw river behind him. The historic area of Florence is along the riverfront. And Mo's seafood restaurant is right there too. We ate at this one in December 2007, but this particular trip, the Mo's in Newport had our patronage.

And this one below makes me crave fried shrimp and clam chowder. Good thing Red Lobster is a little pricey to go on a whim, and Joe's Crab Shack is too far away (over in AZ Mills)!

And so many times when taking pictures on this trip: "Christian, put your shirt down!"

More pictures with the river in the background (and my thick beefy arms and fat face):


And then we headed east to Eugene (sounds like the name of a book or movie!). There was some road construction along the way and we had to sit on the highway for a few minutes. Look at this view (below) of the river that hugged the highway into Eugene? It's so neat that in Oregon, when you go over BRIDGES, there is WATER under them. When the sign says "river" the river actually contains water. Yesterday I drove over the Gila River bridge, but the only way you know it's a river, is well, I just know it's a river "sometimes" and more often NOT a river. There isn't a sign on that particular bridge to indicate the "river". Otherwise, it's a brown dry riverbed that happens to have a bridge over it. And Tempe Town Lake? It has water in it, because they put water in it for about a mile and call this river area a "lake" and the actual water that used to flow in the salt river is all dammed up. How lame is the logic in that? Oh well. At least when driving by ASU on the 202 there is an "illusion" of water that used to flow in the "river".

Anyway, back to this view of the Siuslaw. So nice to know that places like this with the actual color green and the water under the bridge, actually exist!

Bye bye Oregon. Someday, I'll call you my home.

Vacation pictures now becoming yearning nostalgia...

...as I DIE in this heat!

Yes it is the end of JUNE in Arizona, so here we are:

• Looking for trees or any other shade source to park under, even if its a mile from the entrance.

• Having Chris start the car in advance because I won't get in until the air is blowing.

• If I need to go to the store or another errand, I wonder if the task can wait until after 6pm when the sun starts to head down in the west and will have more shady spots behind buildings, etc....

• Feeling my patience running out very quickly as the sweat forms on the back of my neck and my lower back.
  

• Wishing the Declaration of Independence was signed between October and March, rather than July 4th. It would make those Independence Day gatherings all that much more pleasant.
  

• Considering moving the kids and me to Oregon and having Chris come home on the weekends (no, Chris would never go for that and we wouldn't be able to afford him to fly back and forth each week. But man, I fantasize about it!) But I just might do that by myself when the kids are grown and Chris can come up on the weekends!

ANYWAY...here are the pictures of Christian and I enjoying Haceta Head on June 17th.

First, we had lunch on Yachats just south of Waldport. Just like a few days before at Yaquina Head, the day was very sunny (but cool).


A quick pit-stop at Devils Churn on the way down. Seeing it in calm June is much different than the water show we got seeing it in December when we were there for Christmas 07!

The beach just below Haceta Head:

The walk up the lighthouse was a beautiful, woodsy and green 1/2 mile. The trail and view was very worth it. Although, this was the day that Mikelle flew back home from Idaho and Chris had a hard time reaching me by cell phone when Christian and I were on this trail.

The Haceta Lighthouse in view from the trail:

And here is my little "vacation model" in front of the lighthouse.


Christian loved these telescopes. I just never seemed to have a quarter to put in one when we ran into one (note to self: Next time taking a 5yo gadget boy on a vacations with lots of spectacular views, bring quarters!)

Haceta gives actual tours in their lighthouse, which Christian was understandably experiencing boredom to endure. With Yaquina, he could go directly to the stairs and make his way up. With Haceta, he had to move with the tour and wasn't too thrilled to do so. He survived, however, because he did get to eventually climb to the top, just like Yaquina.


Diagram of the French lens. Most of the lenses were from France, except one which is British. However, I don't know which lighthouse has the British lens.

The lighthouse stairway, going up.


View of what makes a lighthouse a lighthouse! Christian was of course, very fascinated.

Heading back down the trail, is the old lightkeepers house, which is a now a Bed and Breakfast. See that large area next to it that is fenced in? That used to be another house that was torn down for lumber! I would love to go back in time and buy that house before it gets torn down!


And the beautiful trail back down. The bridge is the 101 Highway and on the right end of it is a tunnel.


More beautiful green and lush sites along that little trail. I miss all that green! And it's located in a state that cares and preserves its environment instead of selling it to developers to obliterate the land with strip-malls, apartment complexes, cookie-cutter houses and worst of all, Wal-Marts. Oregon knows its beauty and keeps it! Arizona has its beauty, but our inept leaders (local and state-wide) don't care enough to defend it and preserve the Earth that God gave us.
Another beach view from the trail:

Back down by the beach and parking area, here is the view of the Bed&Breakfast. The lighthouse is just beyond the trees to the left.


A really cool sign down by the beach. I love stuff like this:


This is a view of the Haceta lighthouse from the other side of the tunnel (south) just before the Sea Lion Caves. This is one of my favorite view-point/stops along the side of the 101 highway!


Looking down from that same viewpoint, the sea lions playing on the rocks below:


And another shot of the Haceta lighthouse view from that same point, because for some reason when I play with the pictures on the blog they come out blurry, when they're really not that blurry! :-(