Chatbug Karen

One of the many nice things about working with our friends this past weekend, was the chance to catch up on each other. Our friend’s daughter made the JV team in cheerleading and my friend found out her boss is retiring. Next year will be a busy year for both of them.

My friend’s husband was telling us about some funny things he has encountered while teaching at the college level. One of his students actually came to class smoking an e cigarette! Our friend was not sure weather this was allowable in class or not. I didn’t know that e cigarettes actually put out a puff of smoke. I suppose if it helps the man quit, more power to him.

Our friends brought their dog to help us pack boxes. We got to know this cute little dog a bit better. She is a daddy’s girl!

I am a bit envious of my son. Let me tell you why. I have always been interested in mysteries. When surfing the television channels, I find myself immersed in those crime shows that have clues and build up intensity by allowing us to predict the ending. Help me if I land on a true crime story. I get nothing done for that hour.

My son will be starting law school in August. He is not sure what type of law he would like to practice but I am sure by the time he is finished with school, he should have an idea. There are many types of law. There are general family, criminal and Mesothelioma lawyers to name just a few. Greg seems interested in corporate law.

Any type of law is the deduction of mystery. Presentation of a scenario, analyze the clues, represent the client. I want to do that!

When we visited a law class during our visit to Greg’s law school, I was mesmerized by the professor. The students were given a specific incident and were encouraged to discuss what the law said about the way a legal judgment would be made. I’ll admit it was a bit confusing. Law is a bit like the Bible. It is all left to interpretation. It is up to the lawyer to convince a jury or judge that his interpretation is the correct choice. Fun stuff!

I am too old to start a new career but I am going to enjoy talking to Greg as he goes through law school.

I have an issue with our school system that bugs me. They are pulling programs that are beneficial to our kids and at the same time are spending more money to enhance sports programs. Why is so much attention placed on sports programs in our schools? Do they think our schools will produce a star athlete?

I am not against school sports. I know that so many of our kids are obese and need activity. Sports teach our kids how to follow rules and to work as a team. They learn a lot from sports. It is when other programs are cut, too easily in my opinion, to afford bigger and better stadiums and weight rooms, that I take issue.

The programs that are being cut are what our school calls consumer classes. These are the classes that teach our kids how to balance a check book and why credit cards should be handled with care. Our kids learn the basic homemaking skills like how to cook and how to plan a grocery budget. After reading our local paper, I was surprised to learn all the things that are taught in the consumer classes. It is sad to see them cut from our schools.

Thank goodness we have the Internet. We can get information from websites to inform our youth, if we take the initiative. There is an excellent website that deals with women’s health. It is called Women’s Health Base. It is full of information that covers things like smoking and lung cancer. Other articles include new discoveries concerning breast cancer and heart disease.

The website also has interesting articles concerning beauty, diet & fitness and relationships. Although the website is geared towards women’s health, this website is very informative for those of you looking for information to share with your children not matter their gender. Young adults may find answers to questions dealing with skin problems and healthy dating practices.

We need to pick up the pace on educating our kids, especially if they aren’t being taught these things in school. It all boils down to our responsibility as parents.

Our weather has been lovely this week. It has been blustery, cold, foggy and wet. The great thing about it is that all of our evening appointments, for the past two nights, have been canceled. That means that hubby and I have been able to watch two nights of American Idol! Yep, we have watched Randy, Simon and Paula try to keep straight faces as they listened to some of the worse singers in the world. It has been hilarious. The only thing I would add to our cozy scenario would be, to have a tv mount in our bedroom so that we could be in our pajamas while enjoying all of this hibernation.

The howling wind is rattling the doors in our house. My dogs cannot seem to relax. They think someone is outside trying to get in. School in the northern part of our county has already called for a two hour delay in the morning. That area is having problems with flooding. It is a dangerous time to be traveling. I appreciate being able to stay home.