First Amendment Right?

I saw this clip on Good Morning America a week or so ago about a teacher that had a personal blog but on it, she spoke very harshly about her students.  In her interview, she said that it was never about a specific student but more general venting.  Now, having been a journalism student, I can appreciate the first amendment and all the rights that come with it.  But with those rights, comes responsibilities.

I am also a product of corporate America, as well as higher education.  By this, I mean that with most corporations or businesses, there are social media policies of what you can or can't say in reference to where you work/what you do.  So the thought of randomly blogging about your work already seems a little taboo to me because of this being ingrained in me.  I am also in education teaching college courses - which I know is different than K-12 because I have a little more freedom.  Trust me, I share many frustrations that educators across the country have.  However, there is a line that you just don't cross in terms of things you say about your students.  And while I have had instances, like every educator, where you just want to take your palm to your head, I also have seen the good in my kids.

I had a student G-Chat me tonight for help on a project.  I walked this student through things and was told the following: "Thanks again Kelly, you are a lifesaver!  I really appreciate all your help!"  This same student went on to tell me exciting news of being promoted for something at work.  I have another former student that sent me a G-Chat asking about grammar in a press release they were about to submit and how excited they were for this event and inviting me to this event.  It is things like this that make it fulfilling to do what I do.  I would never think of ranting or publicly posting things the way this teacher did.  I know this sounds like a complete contradiction of the journalist in me.  I guess I see it more as the potential for my students to hear these rants far outweighs the gratification of the rant.

I have many friends of you that are teachers.  What are your thoughts on this incident?  Was Natalie Munroe within her right?  Did she cross the line?  

My Baby is Growing Up Too Fast

Today my little baby Luna will be 18 weeks old.  I see her everyday and I see the scale at the vet visits saying how big she is, but being with her every day, I sometimes overlook just how fast she is growing.  My wonderful neighbor Tania came over the other day to let Scout and Luna out.  She sent me a text telling me how for the first time, Luna looked like a big girl and not a puppy anymore.  I thought I would share some then and now pictures of my girls with you.

The second day we had her at home

The first week we had her

Luna last night

Luna and Scout the first weekend we had Luna

Luna and Scout last night

 It blows my mind as to how my tiny, little butterball of a puppy is now almost the same size as her big sister!

"Books, the children of the brain." - Jonathan Swift

I openly admit that I am a book nerd.  I love books, I have several bookcases full of books.  They are all organized just so.  I can't get enough of them.  I get it from my dad.  My book nerdiness is now to the point that any time Jeopardy has a category based on books, I can usually run the boards on those (especially Newbery Medal books).

I am also one of those people that likes to KEEP their books.  Again a side-effect I think I directly got from my dad.  He starts asking a week after he lets me "borrow" a book to keep reminding me that it is his and will need to be returned.  I have tried the library, but it has on more than one occasion just broken my heart to have to return the perfect book.  My husband tries to make the argument that I will only read a book once.  After all these years together, he hasn't caught on to the fact that some of my books have such tattered bindings because of the number of times that I re-read all my books. 

Thanks to Borders filing for bankruptcy, my local Borders is being closed.  This means sale on books.  Which to me, is about as good as a sale on the perfect pair of pumps!  I went on Saturday morning to see what I could stock up on since the books were on sale. 

I had a basket full of books initially, but opted to pare that down since the sale wasn't as good as it could be yet.  As I was standing in line - which by the way, was about a mile long (glad to know I am not the only local book nerd!!!), I started talking with the guy in front of me and the guy behind me.  We talked for a while, since we were in line for over 30 minutes.  On several occasions, I noticed the guy in front of me scanning my book pile.  After a couple of times of him doing this, I looked down and realized what he must have been thinking.  In my hand I had the following books:

- Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar
- Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (so I can return my borrowed copy that Wendy lent me)
- The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #1: Origins by L.J. Smith
- The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #2: Bloodlust by L.J. Smith
- Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan

After the third time of him looking at my stack of books, I finally said to him, "Yes I admit my reading choices, minus the Grateful Dead, are more akin to that of a teenage girl.  I accept and embrace that!"  He laughed and said he was in no place to judge, he just found my stack intriguing. 

Special Bulletin

UPDATE:

I thought I would share these pictures and video for proof of the snow dusting we got Thursday.  Let me preface this with my girls love snow.  They love ice cubes, and so snow to them is like a giant, edible ice cube.  They also like to do doggie snow angels, which is what Scout was trying to do on the deck in the video - prior to Luna pouncing on her.

The light dusting on the grass provided by my friend Jenn (after a lot had already melted) 

Scout and Luna chomping away on the snow in the chair.

Scout in the snow on the deck (again, much had already melted by this point)

I interrupt your normal programming (for most of you that would be the Duke/UNC basketball game) to bring you this special weather update.  My ankle started to swell some around 5:30 tonight - soooo I am thinking there will probably be a small dusting of snow in the Raleigh area - Enjoy!!

Super Bowl Advertising

Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the Super Bowl ads this year.  Especially in the beer genre, which usually does not disappoint.  I thought this ad was done well, visually:

VW Black Beetle

I thought this one was a good phoenix rising from the ashes commercial, but I don't think it would cause me to go out and buy a Chrysler

Chrysler Imported from Detroit

I also thought the NFL commercial was good showcasing major television shows through the years and how much impact football has had in those.

NFL American Family

My favorite of all the ads though was the Motorola Xoom commercial, especially because the Apple 1984 commercial was drilled in undergrad to us advertising majors as being the epitome of advertising.  We were taught that this was the best Super Bowl ad that had been created.  The Motorola Xoom commercial I thought brought the Apple 1984 commercial full-circle.  

Apple 1984

Motorola Empower Xoom

So what were your favorite ads from the Super Bowl?   

"Everything I know, I learned after I was 30"

Last Thursday I entered in to my last year of my twenties.  I know to some people turning 30 is something they dread.  I have friends that have had serious struggles with the big 3-0.  My husband has been mocking me all last week about how I was getting so close to being old (to those over 30, do not take offense - he has a crude sense of humor)!  However, I am actually excited to turn 30.  

In my 20's, I have encountered enough struggles to last me a lifetime.  I feel like you stumble through your 20s.  It is hard to feel like you are on solid ground so much of your time during your 20s.  

You are in your safe little haven of college, where professors tell you how great you are.  They paint grandiose scenes of what it is going to be like when you graduate.  You are spoon-fed these ideas that you are going to graduate and go to these glamorous parties, working on big client accounts and making the big bucks.  You think that you are easily going to find this great job - that you will graduate and in the same time they hand you your diploma, you get that cushy job offer.  

For me at least (and I know I was very fortunate), I was on mom and dad's dime all through out college.  Graduating and then the months-long search consisting of eight-hour days looking for and applying to jobs is not what I had envisioned.  Then soon thereafter, mom and dad have the conversation of when is the appropriate time for me to start taking over some of my bills.  After countless disappointing interviews, I finally was offered a job that was definitely not the glamorous gig that college described.  I was making barely more than minimum wage, working long hours and stressed out.  I feel like this is the story of your 20s, professionally.  You are trying to find your grounding.  You get knocked back down to reality more times than you care to admit.  It hasn't been until my late 20s that I finally do not feel like I am grasping at straws to make it through a business meeting, and I think that it is only going to get better.

The other part, for me at least professionally, is being a blonde girl in my 20s, people always assume I am young and not to be taken seriously.  Even though I have had positions of responsibility, I haven't ever felt like I was taken seriously.  I have had comments made to me that I am too young to know what I am talking about.  Some people will hear the year I was born in or what year I graduated high school from, and then automatically start to question things I could possibly know or experience I could possibly have.  So as corny as it may sound, I guess I sometimes think that if I am 30, at least maybe some of those comments or questions may subside. 

Then you have personal struggles.  I have lost friends and made new ones.  I have learned the hard truth that certain people come in to our lives for only a short time.  Others are there for a lifetime.  I have been fortunate enough to learn the definition of a true friend and been blessed with some of the best friends a girl could have.  I have had to let people go way before their time and experienced death to a point that I fully understood its true pain.  I had to say goodbye to one of the greatest men in my life during my 20s - my grandfather.  I had my heart broken a few times and broke some hearts along the way during my 20s.  Finally I found my husband, so at least in the romantic department - I got that part taken care of during my 20s.  

My 20s have been full of ups and downs, struggles and triumphs.  I will cherish everything I have learned and experienced during my 20s, but you will not find me being one that is freaking out about being 29, or saying this is the last birthday I will celebrate.  This time next year, I will kick off my 30s with a great bash and welcome the age.  In some respects, I feel like this song is a good representation of your 20's:

Colin Hay, Waiting For My Real Life to Begin