The SAT...cue ominous music...dun, dun, dun!!!!!

As much as I hate to admit it, I have a daughter who is almost 18 and will be a senior in high school come Fall. I know you are saying to yourself, Terri is too young! There is NO WAY she has an 18 year old daughter! Okay, so maybe you're not saying that, but humor me, huh? :) But I digress. Right now, as I type this, my daughter is at the kitchen table with a test booklet, an answer sheet, and a No. 2 pencil, taking a practice test for the SAT! Why, you ask, would someone put themselves through this on a lovely Saturday afternoon? Because next week at 8AM she will take the real thing.
We have been preparing for a couple of weeks. We have signed on to collegeboard.com and receive the SAT Question of the Day ( I answer them too. I haven't done too shabby, if I do say so myself, except for Geometry. I just skip those.) . We will grade this test and talk through the answers she misses today, hopefully not too many, and last, but not least, we will get a good night's sleep next Friday to be up bright and early and in enough time to eat breakfast next Saturday so that she can dive into the real thing prepared. It's amazing how much importance we, as a culture, place on these tests. They loom over us as the be all, end all, of our value to the Universities and Colleges we will choose to "accept" us. What they don't measure are things that, to me, mean so much more, individuality, character, compassion, strength. So what if you have a 470 in Math. You have an 800 in compassion. Don't get me wrong. I want her to do well but only because we need to meet a certain criteria for her to be where she wants to be for her college experience. BUT..... as far as Mom is concerned, she's got a perfect 2400 in everything that matters.
PENCILS DOWN!

I love to laugh!

laugh - (läf)- To express certain emotions, especially mirth or delight, by a series of spontaneous, usually unarticulated sounds often accompanied by corresponding facial and bodily movements.
Tonight I was eating at Chipoltle with my daughters. If you've ever been to a Chipoltle, you know that there's a lot of metal, metal tables, metal trays, high ceilings. It makes the whole restaurant an echo chamber. Truthfully I can't even remember what got me so tickled, but I started laughing and could not stop. Now, at this point, anyone that is reading this that knows me, is hearing my laughter in their head right now, and they are probably smiling or laughing themselves. For those who are reading this that don't know me, I have this really hardy, loud laugh. If I go to see friends in shows, even if I don't tell them I'm in the audience, they know.
Well,as the laughing continued, people began to look over at the table, and they were smiling too. One person even made the comment, "It's a good thing for people to laugh." It is a good thing, and we don't do it often enough. So next time you find something funny, no matter where you are, don't suppress it, LAUGH!, long and loud and clear!

Where were you three years ago today?

I was sitting at a desk at, of all places, another university, yet I was safe. However, as the news reports rolled in, I felt a kinship with all of those people. I couldn't help but think, "That could have been us." I can remember thinking as those first reports came in, this can't be! They must be wrong!, and then it becomes all too real. I had just started on Facebook at that time, and it was the first "note" I ever wrote. I am re-posting that note from April 2007 in the aftermath of that tragic day at Virginia Tech. As the phrase grew from that day, I will repeat it here: "Today, we are all Hokies!"
Unfortunately EVIL exists in this world. In fact it is rampant! We will all ask, "Why?", over the next few weeks and feel a little less safe than we did two days ago. We cannot control our futures and what happens in this world no matter how many media idiots try to speculate on how this could have been prevented and use this horrible, tragic event to their own political advantage. I close with this quote, "We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow!" Rest safely in those hands Virginia Tech, and so may we all.

Everything I learned about Classical Music, I learned from Bugs Bunny!

When I'm at work I like to have some kind of music playing. I never like total silence. Since my job involves talking on the phone, I always choose classical as that is the least distracting. It's nice "background" music. iTunes has a nice selection of Classical radio stations, and I have stumbled onto a station out of San Francisco that I particularly like, KDFC. They have a great blend of traditional well-known classical, like Beethoven's 5th, but also modern classical, like John Williams' Star Wars Theme. I logged on today, and as I am sitting at my desk I hear the strains of Rossini's "Barber of Seville." Immediately a smile breaks out on my face because the instant image that came into my head was that of Bugs Bunny in a Barber's coat massaging the head of Elmer Fudd. That particular "Bugs Bunny" cartoon is my all-time favorite! Of course that memory brought every other to follow. See if these quotes conjure up memories for you. "Leopold! Leopold!," "Fi-Ga-Ro! Fi-Ga-Ro!," "Oh, Bwunhilda, you're so wove-wy!," "Norf Winds Bwow, Souf winds bwow!" "Kill de Wabbit!" You get the picture! In this PC world of today, my old friend, Bugs, has come under attack for violence, but I never dropped an anvil on anybody's head thinking they would bounce back, and I grew up with the bunny every Saturday morning. I did, however, gain a love for classical music. I just didn't know it. I miss my Looney Tunes. All I can say is, "Thank God for YouTube!" So, enjoy "The Rabbit of Seville."

FORENSICS: It's not just for CSI.

I spent most of the weekend in Harrisonburg at the VHSL (Virginia High School League)State Forensic Tournament. No, I was not at a competition for future coroners. So, lest you are conjuring up events like Fastest Autopsy, or Forensic Evidence Collection, let me set you straight. Forensics is Speech and debate. I was there because my daughter was competing in Prose. She took 5th, by the way. Since I was traveling there to take her, I also got to judge other events that were not in her division. It was a real walk down memory lane for me. I hadn't judged a Forensics competition in years, and I have to say, I was a little nervous, but it all came back to me like it was yesterday. I wasn't just walking down the judging memory lane, but also the days of my high school forensic competitions. Some of my fondest memories from high school revolve around forensics.
I went to J.R. Tucker, and we had the wonderful privilege of having one of the greatest coaches for Forensics, Therese Morse. Ms. Morse came to Tucker the same year that I did. I did Forensics all 4 years at Tucker, and Ms. Morse worked tirelessly to coach us on our pieces so we could deliver the very best performances at our tournaments. Her hard work paid off. She had a powerhouse team. Many times in competitions if the Finals had 5 participants, 4 of them were from Tucker. 3 of my 4 years, 1 or more team members went to nationals. Being in Forensics taught me so much. It built confidence. I was part of a team that supported each other, and the friendships built are ones I still have today. I don't think I ever really thanked Ms. Morse for providing that for me. It's funny when you're a kid, you never see the work that goes into something like coaching a winning Forensics team. It somehow just happens. Now, as an adult, I see what goes on behind the scenes that make things happen. I have seen what happens when there is not someone there to encourage, support and coach a student. Someone who makes sure that all the rules are followed, someone who's there when you win and when you lose with that smile that tells you I'm proud of you no matter what.
So, even though it's been over 25 years since I competed, Thank you, Ms. Morse, for giving so much of your own time to give me such wonderful times and a few trophies.

AMAZING LOVE

When I was in my 20's, I was in ministry at a church. We had a large wooden cross at the base of our property on a hill. It was at the corner of a very busy intersection. Every year on Good Friday, I would go early in the morning and drape that cross in black, and we would leave it that way until the Easter Sunrise service held on the hill. Symbolically, we would take the black cloth down and replace it with a white cloth as the start of our service.
On those Good Friday mornings, standing there in the dim light of dawn, I would step back and look at the cross with the black cloth draped across it. It always made me feel so sad and alone. Everytime I would drive by in the next two days, I would feel those same feelings. If I felt that way 2000 years later, how must the disciples, and Mary Magdalene and Mary, His mother have felt. When they took Jesus down from that cross and sealed Him in the tomb, he was gone forever.
It also makes me think of how alone Jesus must have felt from the time He was praying in Gethsemane, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," until he yelled out to His Father, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Crucifixion is a horrific, agonizing, death, yet Jesus went willingly to His death....FOR ME! There's a line in a Sandi Patty song called "They Could Not." The line goes, "and when at last they took what willingly He gave." They didn't get it. I like to think I would have "gotten it." I wouldn't have let Jesus die alone, but I have 2000 years of hindsight. I am sure I would have been just as scared as they all were.
Do I get it now? I think I do. I hope I do. It's really rather simple. There isn't a lot of analyzing to do. JESUS DIED FOR ME! Why? Because of His Amazing Love.