Years go by. Things change.
"Do we have that one, Mommy? What about that one? WOW! THOSE books are on MY shelf! When did you get that one for me?"
"Well, to be honest, I bought those for me, and that one was mine when I was a kid. And so was that one. And this one. And all the Narnia ones, MakesBooksForGrandkids brought back from England for me when he used to go on business trips when I was small. And Boy! I used to get in trouble at school because I would spell words the way they appear in those books, and here in the States, we spell things differently from the way they do there."
"Cool! So can we read this one next?"
"Of course!"
MM wading through some of the more shallow areas.
About two-thirds of the way through the storm. As viewed through the screen.What do your organizations do to boost membership and attendance? What could they be doing better?
Sunday:
Were phenomenal. I only did a few (started late and had several long conversations), but each contact was one of beauty. Here are the top three of the night:
I love me my doors. LOVE MY DOORS.
Mr. Taylor said that leaving them with Mrs. Dunbar allowed his grieving mother-in-law "to hold onto a little of what she lost," while giving him "time to myself and to hang with my friends." She agreed. She craved the children's presence, she said, because they were "a piece of Lorisa," and the tasks of caring for them kept her from sinking into despair.
Thank you for letting me come and speak to you all tonight. I'm so glad to be here representing my husband, Stevens Miller, in his race against Tom Rust for the House of Delegates.
I'm not sure how many of you watched Obama's speech to school children today. I know my son didn't get to see it today, but we're gonna fix that*.
What struck me most about the speech was how much it took from last year's campaign. Obama's message was not "Yes I can". It was, "Yes WE can."
And the school speech was the same. It is the government's, and parents, and teacher's responsibility to make learning as accessible to all as possible, but it is each individual student's responsibilty to take charge of their own education and not let any opportunity pass them by.
Which led me to think about this year's campaign. Are we, each of us, doing what we can help turn Virginia blue? Are we, each of us, doing what we can to make sure that we're not stuck in a nightmare situation where we've got Backwards Bob McDonnell as Governor, Bolling as Lt. Gov, Crazy Cuccinelli as Atty General, and they're backed up by a right-wing republican House of Delegates?
I don't know how many of you know Delegate Tom Rust. I know that on my canvasses - and I'm a canvassing addict - I love me my doors - I keep meeting people who are strong Democrats who think they know Tom Rust. But then I ask them, have you looked at his voting record? And the answer comes back "No." And I say, "Do you think Pharmacists and doctors should be able to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills for adult women?" And they always say, "No." and I say, "Well Rust does. He voted to allow Pharmacists and doctors to refuse
to fill those prescriptions."
And that's before I talk about the Rust/Albo Abusive drivers fees and the voting down of Obama's $125 Million in stimulus money and the broken promise to parents of autistic children.
Every door I've knocked, every person I've spoken to, has made a difference. I can see it. I can feel it.And I need your help. I need each of you, Each. Of. You. to take responsibility for how this election turns out. I need you to set a goal for yourself. Twenty doors a day. Call two friends to go canvassing with you this weekend. Make 10 phone calls. If you can't walk or call, bring food to a phone bank or bottled water to the start of a canvass. Donate money to buy bumperstickers. Agree to take a bumpersticker and a yard sign. Convince your friends and neighbors to do the same. Promise yourself you will do one thing each week. One thing. to ensure we win**.
Since this is a webcast, principals or teachers may elect to retrieve the speech at a later time and with the preparation or related activities appropriate for students at your school level.Which means he's not just saying, "this is disruptive for the first day of school." He's saying, whether we show it at all or not is a function of how loud parents scream at their principals and teachers.
An address on the importance of education, staying in school, and taking responsibility for doing as well as one can in school is an important one. Especially when that address comes from the son of a single mother who got to where he is through hard work and dedication to his school work...Seriously, the taxpayers of Loudoun County have provided televisions for every room of every school. The auditoriums each have projectors and large screens. All the schools have at least 2 of those fancy electronic white boards. How hard is it to pause the day to show a speech on the importance of education given by a man who embodies that sentiment?
I do understand that the first day back at school is a busy one, that there is confusion on all fronts and that another day might be more convenient for showing the address. If that is the only reason LCPS will not be showing the message in real-time then please announce immediately which day it will be shown to all students in every school, otherwise it will appear that we have another instance of [the case of three flightless waterfowl].
I pledge allegience to the flag of the United States of America & to the Republic for which it stands but don't show me the PresidentHaving said all that, I should just have said, "Yeah! What SHE said!" And also, "Yeah! What HE said!" (ht SewCreative who commented on a post on Our Loudoun Schools)
