The X-Factor, just one more thing they didn’t tell you before you had kids!

When I was growing up as a kid on Long Island, back in the ‘50s and into the early ‘60s, there was a show on TV we liked to watch called “The Little Rascals”.  It was about a group of neighborhood kids who hung out and went to school together. Two of the main characters were boys named Spanky and Alfalfa and the show centered around the trouble they and their friends would get into. They were always skipping school or “playing hooky” to go fishing. Then the teacher, Miss Crabtree, a pretty young woman, would always have to call the truant officer to go find them and bring them back to school!

When I married and had my first child, I never could have imagined that someday I would find myself facing this type of thing down the road! I didn’t even think there were such things as truant officers anymore, much less that I would have to deal with one! Most of us think that when our children miss a day or two of school, all we have to do is write a note explaining why and everything will be fine, no harm done! Unfortunately this is not the case anymore, when you write the note it goes on file as an unexcused absence, the only true excused absences are the ones where a doctor has been evolved and given his written consent as to why the child was unable to attend school during that time. 

I raised six kids, five of my own, four girls, and a boy along with a niece that came to live with me just before she turned two. I didn’t really have trouble getting them to go to school, although some of them were tardy (or late) frequently, that is until the very last one! She was good up until the age of about twelve when she was in the sixth grade and then something happened! Suddenly everyday was a struggle to get her up and off to school. Sometimes she would fake a stomachache so she could stay home and then be fine later in the day. I took her to the doctor a couple of times, but the doctor couldn’t really find anything physically wrong. She was classified as Learning Impaired and was in Special Ed classes, so I tried to get the Special Education department to have the school psychiatrist evaluate her, figuring I’d start there. My husband was out of work and our insurance wasn’t that great so I didn’t want to waste time and money if there wasn’t really anything wrong with her. I got nowhere with the Special Ed department, one minute the case worker would say how they could write a time allowance into my daughters I.E.P., but when I requested that it be done, she said it wasn’t possible. I started to feel like I was getting the run around!

Every time I would bring her in late, I’d end up in the principal’s office and he was not very sympathetic, he kept telling me if things didn’t change he’d have to take action. I had no idea at the time what kind of action he would take! This went on for almost a month, one day the police showed up at the house, a real life truant officer and drove her to school; it didn’t seem to upset my daughter too much! Then in the mail I received a summons to show up at court and speak to the prosecutor, with whom I had several meetings and didn’t think they had gone too badly until they actually gave me a court date. I then had to appear before a judge who was rather nasty, he basically told me “we don’t like your kind” and truancy would not be tolerated, then proceeded to fine me $300 plus court costs, he told me he never wanted to see me in his court again!  

There are some things they just don’t tell you before you have kids, one thing is that public schools get “X” amount of dollars from the government when they have “X” number of children in their schools for “X” number of days a year and your child or children better be in that “X” number or else! If not, you’d better have a written documented explanation other than the early onset of puberty! Another thing they don’t tell you is that you will be responsible for every “dumb” thing they do and it can cost you some big bucks!

Christmas Aftermath

As the whirlwind of the Christmas season starts to die down, the Christmas aftermath begins with the packing away of all the decorations and trimmings we love to proudly display around our houses. As we start to settle down and think about the coming of the New Year, we should take some time to reflect on the true meaning of it all. We have just finished celebrating the birth of Christ by decorating our houses inside and out, giving gifts, sing songs, making special foods and many other traditions which have become popular over the years. But what is the real story? 

Most of us are familiar with the story told in the bible about the time leading up to the birth of Jesus and even though there is some debate as to when Christ was actually born, we choose to do our celebrating in the month of December on the 25^th. But is that all there is? We celebrate for a few days or a couple of weeks and then forget all about it until next year, just as we do with Santa Claus! We know Jesus was born in a stable with the animals, so it’s that image we show the world by creating a nativity scene or crèche to tell the story, which is a nice beginning, but the story doesn’t end there, we need to take Jesus out of the manger and put Him back in the world during the new year!

Jesus came to earth as an infant, grew to be a man, lived with us for 33 years teaching and setting an example of what God wanted from us as His creations! His legacy is not something that can be put away at the end of a season and forgotten, but something that should continue with us all year long! This amazing being was born to earthly parents and lived an earthly life with trials and tribulations, spent all his time ministering and healing others and then as the ultimate sacrifice gave His life for our freedom and redemption! He rose on the third day, walking among us again before ascending to Heaven to be crowned King! How can we stuff Him in a closet along with Santa Claus, sleds, reindeer, the tree and snowmen? He is alive and while we wait for His return we need to bring Him out with us in our daily lives, showing Him to the people around us in all we do and say, not hiding him as though we are ashamed to be associated with him!

Christ is not someone we only worship on Sundays or on special Holidays; He’s someone who deserves our attention every hour of every day! When we say we’ve changed, we are a new creation; it should be evident to the outside world as well as to God. The idea of being made new in Christ is not only that He redeemed us from our sins or that God has forgiven and forgotten them, but that now we want to be like Him, forgiving, helpful, kind and loving! We don’t have to be the “in your face” kind of disciples that have previously turned people off to Christianity, if given the chance to share do it with grace and humility! 

You can be different by doing simple little things, like letting someone get in front of you in line at the store, letting another car make a turn on a busy street, a smile, a thank you when someone holds the door for you or you can hold the door for another, etc. Just being polite and considerate to the people in your everyday life, shows that you are different, the idea is that when others look at you they will see a reflection of Christ! Let’s learn to be bold, Christ was a man who lived and died for us, we should be willing to do the same for Him!

Ode To A Scaredy – Cat or All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go!

So here it is almost 3 mos. post op after a total hip replacement and I’m dressed for Church, ready to go, got my favorite leather boots on!  It’s raining and freezing cold, but I think nothing of it, until I step out onto my sidewalk with my crutch in hand and start to slip, it’s a solid sheet of ice!  I go back inside, change my boots to snow boots, try again with the same result, so I nix the sidewalk and head out through the garage. So now I think if I just stay close to the parked cars as I walk down the driveway, I’ll have something to grab if I start to slip, but again solid ice!  Then I decide I could just walk through the snow on the other side of the cars to get to the one I want, so I start trudging through it only to realize that I still have to stand on a patch of ice to get in the car!  Now I’m really bummed!  Next, I think to myself, I’ll have to call someone to come get me, but then I figure out that the driveway is so steep they can’t get up and I can’t get down!  Now I go inside and change my clothes!  Drat!  Winter you’ve won this round!   But I’m confident that the Lord knows, that I know, WHERE to find HIM!   His Word is ALIVE & I KNOW WHERE TO FIND IT!  THE B-I-B-L-E!

"Time Of The Season" or "Rhyme or Reason"

"Time Of The Season" or "Rhyme or Reason" - I read a post on Facebook the other day by Rod Argent of the Zombies in which he says "I love the re-working of "Time Of The Season" into "Rhyme or Reason" on Eminem's new album." He goes on to detail his reasons, almost sounding proud that Eminem chose the song instead of coming off mad or upset about the obvious rip off and ends on this note "It has become a TOTALLY different work of art, rather than being a limp cover."

I have to hand it to Rod for taking a sticky situation and looking at the bright side! Being an avid follower of music for over 50 years, it intrigues me sometimes when I hear new covers of the music I grew up listening to. But I must confess I have never been a fan of the practice of "ripping" or "sampling" other people's music into your own which has become quite common over the years. Although I am very familiar with Eminem, he went off my radar years ago and will most likely remain so, but I have to commend Rod for being so wonderfully gracious and kind! I guess he felt similarly when Kiss covered Argent's "God Gave Rock & Roll to You" and had such a huge success with it! Rod Argent you are a true GENTLEMAN!

See full post: https://www.facebook.com/thezombiesmusic

More unnecessary torture!

Back in August of 2009 my son, who works at a liquor store/bar surprised me with tickets to see one of my favorite groups live! One of the delivery drivers was handing out free tickets to see Collective Soul at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville New Jersey as a promotion. So not wanting to waste such an awesome free gift, I immediately made plans with my daughter who had just turned 21 the year before.

So we drive down the night of the concert and after paying $6 to park (nothing is ever really free!), getting in past security with camera intact, we found a spot right in front of the sound board and settled in for the evening. The Starland Ballroom was about the size of a large bowling alley and was converted into a Night Club type venue with a stage set up against one wall and an open floor in front surrounded by at least two or three bar areas and tables. It could easily accommodate well over 300 to 400 people without overcrowding and by the end of the night there was a descent size crowd.

I had never been there before and had no idea what to expect, but there we were right in front of the sound booth. There were two groups scheduled to go on before Collective Soul, so the first one up was a group called Safety Suit and what a shock! The group itself wasn’t all that bad, what I could hear of it, the sound was AWEFUL! There were stacks of speakers on each side of the stage and the volume was up so high you could feel the vibrations pelting your body which was very uncomfortable, not to mention there was so much distortion you could barely make out the music or understand a word that was being sung!

I’m not the most experienced person when it comes to working a sound board, but I think I could have done better! I used to hang with a bunch of people who always formed bands that played gigs out at bars and such; I did some recording for them so I know a tad about sound! I was shocked at how horrible the sound was in a well known venue like this! I have been to outdoor festivals that have had better sound, I went to see Rush at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey and had lawn seats up on a hill and the sound was amazing!

By the time Blackstone Cherry, the next band came on someone had the foresight to turn it down a bit and they weren’t quite so bad! So by the time Collective Soul reached the stage, someone with some knowledge had stepped in and the sound was bearable! Ed Roland, his brother Dean and the rest of the guys tore the place apart! They were AWESOME playing all their hits and almost all the songs off the new album! Ed even did an impression of his dad, who was a preacher, during one song, so I ventured up close to the stage to get a better view of Ed and BAM, I’m blown away! I mean literally being blown away! The AC must have been set on 60 degrees and the ceiling fans on hurricane velocity, it was like being in a wind tunnel! Ok, I understand it was the middle of August and there was a heat wave going on outside, temps in the 90s and humid, but this was a bit extreme! I ended up cowering back by the sound booth until the end!

I’m not really such a wimp, I’m the kind who turns the volume up really loud when nobody is around, but I enjoy having pristine sound, so clear I can hear every note and every lyric! I also enjoy seeing groups play in small venues where one can get up close and personal, I’ve seen other groups in the past with no problem, so I was a bit bummed by the lack of knowledge or maybe they just don’t care about acoustics anymore and volume is all they know!  So although I loved being able to finally see in person one of my all time favorite groups, I left there feeling more like I had been trapped in a torture chamber, than a concert! 

Unnecessary Torture

Lately I’ve been exposed to some things that have felt eerily like methods of medieval torture from the past.  I recently had some X-ray’s taken during which I had to lay on my back upon an incredibly hard table for what seemed like hours, it felt more like a torture rack.  I had my teeth scaled which took hours and felt like torture, then most recently I had a tooth pulled, which took way too long to be released from my gum! 

Way back in the dark ages, when you had to sit in a waiting room somewhere, like a doctor’s office, you would sit around reading a magazine and listening to some piped in music, mostly instrumentals. As the times progressed, they started using radio stations that played what was called “Soft Rock” and lately I’ve gone to a doctor who actually plays his own collection of CDs and I had the pleasure of listening to some Pat Benatar there once. 

But there is a frightening new phenomenon being used in most waiting rooms now a days, it’s called a flat screen TV!  The frightening thing about this TV phenomenon is the programs that are put on for people to watch as we count the minutes until our appointment. Talk shows are about the worst thing to be stuck in a waiting with, they can be very offensive, next would be the classic daily soap opera which has taken a turn for the worst with the addition of more explicit scenes and language, perhaps the least offensive would be the game shows or maybe a nature or travel show.  The Judge or doctor shows are interesting sometimes, but usually just boring.

So what do they put on, but those torrid talk shows, like The View or a soap opera, like The Days of Our Lives, it can make you cringe! It’s bad enough if everyone in the waiting room is an adult, but what about when there are young children present?  It doesn’t seem to matter to the doctors who's in the waiting room, I almost believe that it’s a pass time for the employees, when there is a lull in patients.

I was at a dermatologist with my teenage niece once and there were two young boys who came in with their mother just after we sat down. They were probably both under the age of ten or 11 and at first they were content to play with their electronic toys, but soon they were wandering around the room taking in the TV and began watching what was on. There just happened to be a talk show playing with some actress talking about all the drugs and sex she’d been involved in.  Not exactly something I wanted to hear, but what about these young boys?  Their mother was engrossed in the show herself, when at last she realized maybe it wasn’t the best for her children (or she just got bored) she finally asked if the channel could be changed, although the next show wasn’t much better.

Some places have their own little channel which features info related to their practice, boring but at least practical and not offensive. How do you pick a channel that will be appropriate for everyone?  My personal ideal pick would be music videos, but then again there are some inappropriate videos out there.  I’d prefer videos by Christian artists, but that might upset other people. I don’t think I could stand watching Country music either! Such a dilemma, maybe we should just go back to listening to music and reading! 

I usually bring something to do when I have to sit and wait, a book to read or a word search puzzle to work on, but sometimes you can’t concentrate with some of the junk they show.  I also bring along my iPod, so I can at least listen to my music, but with headphones in, you can’t always hear when they call your name.  I’ve actually almost missed my appointment trying to drown out the TV by turning the volume on my iPod too loud!  I guess there is just no happy medium when it comes to unnecessary torture!