The great debate over Social Studies curriculum standards for Texas continues.  And folks, it's not pretty.  The gigantic headline in yesterday's paper is: "Texts won't cover Tejanos at Alamo."
Yes, only 9 of the 180+ who died at the Alamo were Tejano.  I almost understand the comment from one of those educator types about how students shouldn't ( Read more... )

Contrary to popular belief, I am alive and online.  I'm just, well, tired.  All the time.  The whole furlough thing continues to have ripple effects, and the process of catching up is taking far longer than I ever imagined.  Last Thursday was the first day when my to-do list no longer froze me in my tracks.  But I have a feeling there will still be ( Read more... )

Not that long ago, the state of Texas revised science standards.  And we were in the national news a bit, since evolution was definitely a part of the discussion.  And now, history standards are being revised.  You can read the complete article here
There are definitely some partisan politics going on in the committee, and  a conservative few are ( Read more... )

Once the news of a half-time furlough for the month of August sunk in, I started making lists.  The first list, the more comforting list, was a projects list.  The second list, the one that scared me, was a budget.  But the budget just about broke even (well, at least I'm not any deeper in debt), so I turned my attention to the projects.
When I ( Read more... )

The furlough month is just about over.  For the last week or so, I've been working rush with my dad at the bookstore.  I've worked with him before, and there's something really special about working side by side with him.  We have pretty similiar personalities, at least when it comes to customer service.   And whenever someone says something about ( Read more... )

About a month ago,  I was sitting in a conference room in Mankato, MN, listening to a presentation about the local Syrian community.  The main source about ethnic communities in Minnesota just happened to use Maud Hart Lovelace as a historcial source for information on the Syrians.  My jaw dropped just a bit.  And the following thought flashed ( Read more... )

Officially, the half-time furlough is now half over.  Here's what I've discovered about being on furlough:

• The days off are both busy and not busy.  I made a huge list of projects.  Only a few have gotten done so far.  And yet, the days have been pretty full.  Errands I've neglected.  Birthday celebrating.  Movie watching (at the super cheap places ( Read more... )

I've never claimed to be an entirely normal person.  And sometimes, things get me excited or emotional that makes no sense to others.  Some incidents from the last few weeks:

Thrilled to take a trip to Minnesota.  Minnesota is usually not a state at the top of people's must-see destinations.  And I even had multiple reasons to be excited:  #1 ( Read more... )

Yesterday, I sold my Altima and officially became the owner of a 2007 Honda Civic.  I'm really starting to love the new car, even as I miss my old car.
The Altima has been with me a long time--since the summer before my senior year of college (9 years!).  It was with me through the end of college, grad school in North Carolina, and back to Texas.  I ( Read more... )

This past Monday, my city had the first of two scheduled furlough days for this fiscal year, an attempt to save some cash in a horrifyingly bad fiscal year.  I feel for the employees that are losing a day's pay (though I'm still trying to wrap my head around someone losing $200-$300 for missing one day of work.  Personally, I wouldn't lose quite ( Read more... )