Upside Down Cats

A couple weeks ago I was required to attend a two hour training at a resource center for child care professionals. This "mandatory meeting" was announced in an email that indicated the training was being held once on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning - our choice which to attend.

Since I didn't fancy a late Friday meeting I opted to attend bright and early on Saturday.

And so did ten other ladies. I arrived to find a line formed outside the center's locked door...

Continue reading "Wasted Time" »

Submitted for your approval: Gina's Quote Du Jour 4/10/08

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. - Fred Astaire

I had no idea the talented Mr Astaire was so astute...

My Sweetie Scott found this quote quoted on Execupundit recently and he knew I would want to comment on it.

Scott knows how I feel about manners - or the lack of them. It's a common topic of conversation when I return home from battling the crowds at the grocery store or debrief after a day spent with the children in my daycare.

I usually come home from my weekly excursion to the supermarket completely frustrated with the state of humanity. What a collection of selfish, clueless idiots I encounter! That's all it takes...two hours among the general public to convince me that the human race is headed down the tubes...

Continue reading "Lost (Manners) In The Supermarket" »

Twenty-one days of NaBloPoMo...I am curious to find out if I will fulfill my promise to write about things for which I'm thankful every day throughout November.

I guess there's only one way to find out...

Continue reading "Curious Gina" »

Today is the twelfth of NaBloPoMo. I have vowed to write about things for which I am thankful each day of November.

Today I am thinking about what it means to me to have been born in the United States. When I was ten years old my sister got me a subscription to National Geographic for Kids. It was my first exposure to people who lived in other parts of the world. I remember having a revelation...that I could have just as easily been born in India or Africa as New Jersey. I tried imagining being me on the inside, but looking different and living differently. It kind of blew my mind, because I had very limited experience with diversity. In my house, those who were different from us were known as Protestants.

Continue reading "Lucky To Be Me" »

While reading Michael Wade's blog, Execupundit, yesterday, I came across his post about the ninety year old author who has just had his first novel published. And I thought I was a late bloomer!

Talk about inspiration! I have struggled for many years with the feeling that I am leading an incomplete life. The work I do with the daycare children is fulfilling on one level, but I have always known that there should be more to my life than that. I am and have more than I can express through my role as daycare provider. I feel like an untapped well waiting to be brought forth.

Continue reading "What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?" »

Here is - hopefully - the first of many installments of "Bitchin' Broads," a collection of writing about some extraordinary women I have discovered.

Occasionally I come across a quote or a snippet of information about a person, and I become intrigued. With my curiosity piqued, the quest to learn more begins...As I grow into my maturity, I seek to fill in these holes in my knowledge, hopefully creating a more well-rounded, interesting me. In the words of my first subject: "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." - Dorothy Parker, (attributed). So, since - according to Ms Parker - I am incurable, I shall pursue my 'disease' in search for an understanding of this most fascinating woman.

Continue reading "Bitchin' Broads - Dorothy Parker" »

We have a nephew starting High School this week... 

That staggering fact got me thinking about first days of school... Recently, I came across this picture of myself, taken on my first day of kindergarten. I thought in honor of C's big first day as a freshman, I'd share this memory of myself really starting at the bottom of the educational heap. I wish C a great first day, and all great days throughout his high school career! I hear that it's possible to have a pleasurable high school experience, even though that wasn't true in my case...

I wonder where I picked up that model's trick of tilting my chin down and looking upward with my eyes? It is supposed to make the subject appear younger. On second thought, could this kid look any younger?