GOP Race

My wife is no longer interested in hearing about any of this. She knows I supported Santorum when he was under 1% of the national vote and not even being invited to some debates. Now she knows I still support him even though she "knows" he doesn't have enough money to win. However, I don't think he needs as much money to win. He tied Romney in the Michigan primary by spending 1/6 of what Romney spent. That's because he has more donations to his campaign, even though those donations aren't as large amounts as Romney supporters can afford to give. What Santorum's supporters can do is vote and their votes are worth just as much, even though there isn't as much money behind those votes. Santorum has more people supporting him because he's the better person. That's why I want Santorum to win from among the candidates running. I actually would have liked Romney to have won over McCain in 2008, so I don't think Romney is bad. I just think Santorum is a little better than Romney. Either is better option than retaining Obama.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/exclusive-in-02-romney-touted-d-c-connections-federal-funds/?tr=y&auid=10384409

Blog Award

My friend's blog is up for an award and there is a link on her site for you to vote from: http://silversolara.blogspot.com

You can vote as often as you like between now and February 3rd at 5 PM EST.

Hiatus

The MacBeth and Miss America campaigns are complete. I am ready to return to blogging. I mentioned how reflecting on my previous posts has helped me grow. Recently, I have downloaded everything I had saved on floppy disks to my cloud when I realized we don't have a floppy drive on our new laptop that we got in August. Obviously, I don't use those files a lot since I just realized it now. Fortunately, I had one at work that made it convenient for me do it. Going those all those file names again brought back a lot of memories, especially those whose names I didn't recognize. I had to open them up to see what it was before it came back to me. I was most surprised by how presumptious I was for such a young professional, so focused on the facts and not as sensitive to people's feelings as I am now. I didn't think that at the time, which made me wonder how I may be perceived now in ways that I am not aware of. I wonder how common an experience that is for other people.

New Rick Santorum Ad

This was important to post ASAP, but don't forget about Miss America or MacBeth. Even though it may not have started out that way, this blog is more for others than for myself, which is probably the way it should be. I like teaching and writing is a way to teach, but I seem to be learning more about myself, and my relationship with God, by reflecting on what I have written in the past. Hopefully, the Holy the Spirit can help others get something out of what I have written for themselves, whether it was what I intended to pass along or not.

There isn't a proper structure to follow for blogs, but I tried to adopt a structure. Early on I wrote about whatever was on my mind, often within the theme of what Mary said most recently at Medjugorje. That often became redundant, depending on how much time passed between messages, so then it became whichever daily reading appealed to me most. Then those began to repeat with some of the daily readings being the same as the previous week. So then I focused on the divine office readings which only repeat every two years, when I expect new insights would be relevant. However, other things in my life were dominating my thoughts and I often knew what I was going to write about before reading that days' reading. Therefore, I began just posting certain requests and tried to keep them at the top of my blog, so anyone who visited would be sure to see them.

So I don't know where that leaves me or where I am going from here, but hopefully you and I get whatever it is we are supposed to get from this now and in the future.

Miss America

In addition to my friend's movie campaign below, a former student has asked for help in her quest for Miss America. She's always seemed like a nice girl and is representing Pennsylvania this year. You can vote for her once from any computer (but more than once if you have access to more than one computer) at: http://missamerica.org/videocontest/ Thanks again and I'll resume blogging at the end of this campaign January 12th. Merry Christmas!

Rum Cake

Although my friend's campaign mentioned earlier is still running, I wanted to post this timely thank you to another friend, Jenna. I've been itching to have a reason to write a poem and this did it.

Thanks for the Cake

Students are special
And so is their taste.
Some bring us apples
And others: toothpaste.

Some bring us rum cake,
Not one year, but two.
You have to accept it,
But then what to do?

Some may just pitch it
‘Cause no one would see,
But you passed it on
To someone like me.

So I called my girls.
Around it, we sat.
Then my wife scolded,
“Don’t let them eat that!”

“We won’t eat it all.”
“We’ll save some for you.”
But Google said, “No.”
And I thought, “Who knew?”

Rum, even rum cake,
Is not good for them.
Surely Nance will help.
She’s really a gem.

But she wouldn’t waste
Calories on that.
So late Friday night…
A man and his cat.

We finished it all.
I, the lion’s share.
I offered Fern more,
But she didn’t care.

Wanted to thank you
And didn’t know how,
But after the rum,
I think I know now.

Not good at cooking.
Not much I can make.
Better at poems,
So thanks for the cake.

Forks in the road

I realize my friend's campaign isn't done yet and I encourage you to check it out if you haven't already, but I wanted to thank all of you for reading this and for those of you who write your own blogs. You see, I thought I had wanted a principal job, but turned down the first one I was offered and haven't looked since. I started my path towards a principal position before I was married and had kids. After I completed my master's and certification program, I didn't stop to think if that was what I still wanted until I was faced with the decision. I make enough to support my family teaching and value my time with them more than I would the raise that would come with being a principal. I still imagine what I gave up, but I know someone who gave up his dream principal position to stay home with his kids. It would be nice to have the best of both worlds, of course, but both he and I made the choice God wanted us to make. Hopefully, this blog helps us reach more than we would have as principals or wherever that path may have taken us.