Bright Blue

Another crisp, sunny, blue sky day. Visited Mother, tried to find a cache, watched basketball.

Mother and I looked through catalogs and picked some spring clothes to order- that was fun.

The cache eludes us still. Dick thinks that it's gone.

In basketball, the upsets continue.

I'm Number One!

For at least a half an hour, I'm all alone in First Place in the Gen Family Bracket Challenge! This is so hard to believe, I can't even tell you. It won't last, but it's fun for now. (See link above.)

This morning we went for a ride to the Fife Lake area to scout out a hiding place for a cache. We're working on a Shore to Shore cache series which will consist of 12 caches along the Shore to Shore Hiking Trail from Empire to AuSable. We're doing the four western caches, DinoDuo will do the middle four, and James and Sheryl the eastern section. It's an ambitious project, and we'll all have all kinds of fun doing it.

Ate lunch at the Fife Lake Inn - came home to watch basketball!

FTF

Hey! We went for a ride and wound up being the First to Find a new cache. That's always fun. The cache was at the Acme Park.

It was also fun to drive around downtown and watch the St.Paddy's day pub-crawlers crawling from pub to pub. The craziest thing was that even though the temperature was in the 30s, these folks were walking around with no coats on - and some of the pubs aren't that close together! Oh well, everyone looked to be enjoying the activity, especially the girl with the foam beer mug for a hat, and the people with green everywhere - necklaces, leis, hats, and clothes. We were there quite early, and I can just imagine how things picked up afterwards! We came home and staidly ate our corned beef and cabbage.

Michigan State was blindsided by George Mason U.(?) in their first round tournament game - it's really a shame because State has the talent to go farther in my opinion. It's upsetting everyone's brackets, too. It's a big shock. This from msuspartans.collegesports.com:

3/17/06
Michigan State Falls To George Mason, 75-65
George Mason sure proved it belonged in the NCAA tournament. Despite critical comments by some experts that it should not have gotten an at-large berth, the 11th-seeded Patriots used hot shooting, a balanced attack and a surprising rebounding superiority to upset sixth-seeded Michigan State 75-65 Friday night in the first round.

Morale Booster

My High School girlfriends keep in touch by way of a round robin letter. It takes almost a full year for the letter to make the rounds. There are 13 in our group, and the name of our club was the SLGs. This time, Freda emailed her letter in addition to sticking it in the mail, and the first paragraph really got to me - Freda always did have a way with words! Anyway, these are words that mean a lot to me on the eve of my 70th birthday! Please pardon my sentimentality.
Here's Freda's first paragraph:

I was really struck this time, even more than usual, as I read the wonderful Robin letters, by just how awe-inspiring you all are! And what a fascinating privilege it has been and is to witness and participate in the life journeys of the SLG’s -- girlfriends still, after all these decades. Our letters show deep interests, vibrancy of living, compassion, love, caring, diligence, lots of humor, appreciation of all that we have, and a mental balance and depth of character that get us through the really tough times in our lives (these seem to increase as we age). Three Cheers for the SLG’S!!!

A Day for Errands

Just a few good errands to run today - recycling, library, cruise downtown, visit Mother, Staples, and groceries. It might not sound like much, but it took all afternoon!

At the library I got a passel of genealogy books - I'm working on the Geib family tree - and I can't go back farther than Nicholas. I think I'll have to visit Germany.

It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny late winter day. The bay was deep, deep blue, with whitecaps - a beautiful sight.

Mother's world is shrinking before our very eyes. She sits in her chair in the corner of her room all day long every day. She has no interest in socializing or venturing beyond her door. Her conversation revolves around which caretaker is on duty, who is out in the hall, and how horrible the food is. She's not interested in very much else.

Dick fixed ribs for dinner - what a treat. I think that was the end of the ribs from the last use of the smoker. When the weather gets a little more spring-like I hope he'll do some more.

It's fun watching the first round of March Madness. I'm watching the Michigan game on my laptop. They're leading by 10 at the half.

Update: Final - Michigan 82 UTEP 67

Michigan plays Notre Dame Monday @ 7 p.m. @ Crisler.

This from mgoblue.com:

Chris Hunter scored a team-high 20 points, Dion Harris added 18, and Daniel Horton had 14 as the Michigan men's basketball team handled Texas-El Paso, 82-67, in the NIT first round Thursday, March 16, in Crisler Arena. With Harris and Horton each hitting three triples and combining for 21 points in the first half, the Wolverines owned a 44-34 lead at the break, and Hunter took over in the second half, scoring 14 of his points. Brent Petway added 10 points for U-M, which will host Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Monday, March 20.

Clean and Shiny

My dental hygienist did her thing today, so my teeth are in pristine condition. It was fun to hear how her family is doing, and her plans for St. Patrick's Day. Dr. Kevin wasn't there today, but fortunately we really didn't need him.

Dick had a Medicare presentation this afternoon at Central Methodist. This group seemed more informed than any other group we have seen. There were 25 people there, and most of them were very elderly. One lovely lady was 95 years old. Dick is still feeling the effects of his heart cath somewhat, but he did a great job, and he's glad to be home now!

Jana called on her way to Philly for a conference. She wanted directions from mapquest.

Yippee!

Dick had the angioplasty today with the best possible results! He has a slight enlargement which can be treated with medication - so no surgery and no stents! The Doctor said that he had a strong heart. Yippee!

He's happy to be back home,and he's feeling well. He has to avoid exerting himself for the next week, so we'll be taking it easy.

I picked my brackets this morning. The team I picked to win the championship is not really my favorite, and the Big Ten didn't fare too well in my brackets either, so I'll be making some adjustments - probably right up until the last minute.

Michigan is a #1 seed in the NIT (see link above). Their first game will be Thursday
at Crisler @ 7 p.m.

Blue Sky Day

Right after lunch we went to visit Mother. She's fine. I got her to talk a little bit about some family history - mostly Aunt Nellie Geib and Uncle Frank Geib - siblings of my Grandpa. She has such a good memory of days gone by.

We had a chance to visit with Julius, the 102 year old who lives across the hall. He wheeled in to say hello. He was reminiscing about the big flu epidemic of 1918! He would have been 14 at the time. Margaret, who we think suffers from dementia, wandered in to say hello - she wants to go home to West Salem Ohio, which she says is only 4 miles away. I told her that this was Michigan, and she looked at me like she doubted my sanity. She said, "My mother dropped me off here, and I'm as mad as the dickens." Or maybe as mad as the March Hare.

It was a gorgeous day - temp was 45+ most of the day - blue sky and lots of sunshine. We did a couple of caches in town and then went out on the peninsula to check out the Peninsula Twp. Park and to do another cache. Dick is checking out all of the local parks which have pavilions to help prepare for the MIGO Fall Fun Day next October. He thinks that Chad has already decided to use Camp Greilick though.

We tried to find a cache at Muncie Lakes, but we struck out. We found a decoy cache that said "You're getting warm", but we couldn't come up with the real one.

By this time we were getting hungry, so we went to Peegeo's and had the steak special - it really hit the spot. We were sitting where we could see the TV - I was stunned to see that Iowa had beaten Ohio State this afternoon to win the Big Ten Championship. Those OSU fans are probably crying in their beer.

The brackets for March Madness were just chosen, and Michigan is nowhere to be seen. (See link above.) Oh well, it's just as well - we figure they wouldn't have gone far at all. So now we're crying in our beer, too! Maybe they can win the NIT. (heavy sigh)

Third Weekend of Socials

For the third weekend in a row we were off to a geocaching meet and greet. Today's event was in Houghton Lake (see link above). This one was particularly fun for me because eight of our favorite geocaching buddies were there - four terrific couples -Tim and Susie, Marty and Don, Frank and Peggy, and James and Sheryl. There were lots of other really great old friends there too and several new (really young!) friends.

The potluck lunch was enjoyable and delicious, the kids were cute, the babies were adorable, and a great time was had by all. Dick especially enjoyed watching everybody bowling, or trying to! I think he had more fun than anyone!

We found five caches on the way home, and we were back here by 6:30. A very pleasant day.

Jan Howard

Our old camping "buddy" has passed away. When our kids were little, many Belleville teachers and their families went camping with us in the Smokies every Easter vacation. We sometimes had as many as 25 people from 4 or 5 families walking down a mountain trail. Our funniest stories, memories, and campfire reminiscences almost always involved George and Jan. George had the ability to crack everyone up with his dry wit ("How are we going to torture ourselves today?" and "Throw some Coleman fuel on that fire and we can all spend the night in a nice warm hospital!"), and Jan was amusing in her own way. She will not be forgotten. This obit is from the Cheboygan newspaper:

Janet L. Howard, 65
CHEBOYGAN - Janet L. Howard, age 65 of Burt Lake, passed away Wednesday, March 8, 2006 at Cheboygan Memorial Hospital.

She was born Feb. 3, 1941 in Gary, Ind., to Henry and Doretta (Rasmussen) Irving. On March 14, 1964 in Saginaw, Janet married George H. Howard, who survives.

Janet worked as a teacher's aide for the VanBuren Public Schools for 13 years, retiring in 1994. She and George then moved to their home on Burt Lake where they had summered since 1979. She received a bachelor of science degree in occupational therapy from Western Michigan University, where she was a member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. Janet enjoyed swimming, sewing, woodworking, restoring wood furniture, upholstery, caning, camping and traveling.

Besides her husband, George, Janet is survived by her two children, Kevin (Cathy) Howard of Willis, Mich., and Kristen (Eddie) Antkoviak of Cheboygan; two sisters, Jean (Dr. Wesley) Jackson of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Melissa (Fred) Marria of West Bloomfield, Mich.; one brother, Dr. William (Lori) Irving of Los Altos Hills, Calif.; and three grandchildren, Jack, Ella and Maci Antkoviak. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A Memorial Service will be conducted at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 at the Nordman Funeral Home in Cheboygan, with the Rev. Jeff Dinner officiating. Visitation will be held two hours prior to the service at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions in Janet's name may be directed to Hospice of the Straits.

Tournament Loss

Yesterday's Big Ten Tournament results for Michigan could really amount to two losses - the game, and the tournament bid. We watched the whole sad thing. Dick gave up on them with 12 minutes left in the second half. I didn't give up until 38 seconds remaining. The team gave up long before that. This excerpt is from the msn.com home page:

Most painful loss: Michigan

Twenty-one turnovers and 18 percent shooting cost the Wolverines an NCAA tournament bid. The loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Michigan's seventh defeat in nine games, guarantees Daniel Horton and Dion Harris will play in the NIT rather than the NCAA tournament. Some would like to believe that wins over Illinois and Michigan State keep Horton and Harris on the bubble. But the selection committee strongly prefers clubs with records of better than 3-8 against RPI Top 50 competition and a 5-7 tally away from home.

Dick had his echocardiogram this morning at Grand Traverse Heart Associates. They have a beautiful new building across the street from the Hospital. We'll be doing our bit to help pay for it! :)

Public Schools

For once, here's a rational view of education in the public schools. Some factions love to blame the public schools for all of our nation's ills - it's the fault of the schools, it's the fault of the teachers, etc. Whenever someone acts stupidly, "He's obviously a product of the Public Schools."

Yet how often have we said - my students just don't seem to care. Many parents didn't seem to care - they regarded the school as a babysitter. Dick and I used to say to each other - "I think we care more about these kids learning than anybody else - including the parents, and the kids themselves."

I love this article because it says what we know to be true after spending a combined total of over 50 years in classrooms:

For once, blame the student By Patrick Welsh
Wed Mar 8, 7:08 AM ET



Failure in the classroom is often tied to lack of funding, poor teachers or other ills. Here's a thought: Maybe it's the failed work ethic of todays kids. That's what I'm seeing in my school. Until reformers see this reality, little will change.


Last month, as I averaged the second-quarter grades for my senior English classes at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., the same familiar pattern leapt out at me.


Kids who had emigrated from foreign countries - such as Shewit Giovanni from Ethiopia, Farah Ali from Guyana and Edgar Awumey from Ghana - often aced every test, while many of their U.S.-born classmates from upper-class homes with highly educated parents had a string of C's and D's.


As one would expect, the middle-class American kids usually had higher SAT verbal scores than did their immigrant classmates, many of whom had only been speaking English for a few years.


What many of the American kids I taught did not have was the motivation, self-discipline or work ethic of the foreign-born kids.


Politicians and education bureaucrats can talk all they want about reform, but until the work ethic of U.S. students changes, until they are willing to put in the time and effort to master their subjects, little will change.


A study released in December by University of Pennsylvania researchers Angela Duckworth and Martin Seligman suggests that the reason so many U.S. students are "falling short of their intellectual potential" is not "inadequate teachers, boring textbooks and large class sizes" and the rest of the usual litany cited by the so-called reformers - but "their failure to exercise self-discipline."


The sad fact is that in the USA, hard work on the part of students is no longer seen as a key factor in academic success. The groundbreaking work of Harold Stevenson and a multinational team at the University of Michigan comparing attitudes of Asian and American students sounded the alarm more than a decade ago.


Asian vs. U.S. students


When asked to identify the most important factors in their performance in math, the percentage of Japanese and Taiwanese students who answered "studying hard" was twice that of American students.


American students named native intelligence, and some said the home environment. But a clear majority of U.S. students put the responsibility on their teachers. A good teacher, they said, was the determining factor in how well they did in math.


"Kids have convinced parents that it is the teacher or the system that is the problem, not their own lack of effort," says Dave Roscher, a chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams in this Washington suburb. "In my day, parents didn't listen when kids complained about teachers. We are supposed to miraculously make kids learn even though they are not working."


As my colleague Ed Cannon puts it: "Today, the teacher is supposed to be responsible for motivating the kid. If they don't learn it is supposed to be our problem, not theirs."


And, of course, busy parents guilt-ridden over the little time they spend with their kids are big subscribers to this theory.


Maybe every generation of kids has wanted to take it easy, but until the past few decades students were not allowed to get away with it. "Nowadays, it's the kids who have the power. When they don't do the work and get lower grades, they scream and yell. Parents side with the kids who pressure teachers to lower standards," says Joel Kaplan, another chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams.


Every year, I have had parents come in to argue about the grades I have given in my AP English classes. To me, my grades are far too generous; to middle-class parents, they are often an affront to their sense of entitlement. If their kids do a modicum of work, many parents expect them to get at least a B. When I have given C's or D's to bright middle-class kids who have done poor or mediocre work, some parents have accused me of destroying their children's futures.


It is not only parents, however, who are siding with students in their attempts to get out of hard work.


Blame schools, too

"Schools play into it," says psychiatrist Lawrence Brain, who counsels affluent teenagers throughout the Washington metropolitan area. "I've been amazed to see how easy it is for kids in public schools to manipulate guidance counselors to get them out of classes they don't like. They have been sent a message that they don't have to struggle to achieve if things are not perfect."

Neither the high-stakes state exams, such as Virginia's Standards of Learning, nor the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act have succeeded in changing that message; both have turned into minimum-competency requirements aimed at the lowest in our school.

Colleges keep complaining that students are coming to them unprepared. Instead of raising admissions standards, however, they keep accepting mediocre students lest cuts have to be made in faculty and administration.

As a teacher, I don't object to the heightened standards required of educators in the No Child Left Behind law. Who among us would say we couldn't do a little better? Nonetheless, teachers have no control over student motivation and ambition, which have to come from the home - and from within each student.

Perhaps the best lesson I can pass along to my upper- and middle-class students is to merely point them in the direction of their foreign-born classmates, who can remind us all that education in America is still more a privilege than a right.

Patrick Welsh is an English teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.




Copyright © 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Dr. Dino

For me this was a day of sorting through pictures, reading, playing pogo, and watching TV. And for the sorting through pictures part, I was actually sitting in a rocking chair - which kind of adds to the leisurely retirement flavor of my day.

Dick went to see Dr. Dino Recchia, his cardiologist. Dick is scheduled for an echocardiogram on Friday, and a heart catheterization next Monday. We're playing the wait and see game for now. Dr. Dino thinks that Dick may have a blockage, but I'm putting the emphasis on the "may". Dick doesn't have any restrictions, curtailing of activities, or anything like that - so he's just going ahead as usual.

The Good Life

This is a sunny, blue sky kind of a day - we still have a foot of snow on the deck, but I think winter will be over this week. Rain and higher temps are predicted for the end of the week. I went out walking with my ski-walkers, and it was lovely outside. It's fun to see the bunny tracks in the snow criss-crossing the yard. Things are melting - icicles are dripping and falling off the eaves because of the strong sunlight.

Sharon and Kevin have organized another GenFamily NCAA basketball bracket competition - I signed up for it right away. It's one of the most fun things ever! Now I have to research my picks - I don't think that either Michigan or State will be in the sweet sixteen. John W. always picks State to go all the way no matter what - he might be sorry this year.

Update: 9:15 p.m.

Dick worked all day at the Agency - from 9 to 4. When he got home, he said he wanted to crash and then go out to eat at the Olive Garden! Well, we tried - but evidently it's the most popular place in town these days. There was a long wait, so after about 10 minutes we gave back the beeper because we decided not to wait the estimated 25 minutes. We went to Auntie Pasta's, and had a wonderful dinner. The food was yummy and the restaurant was not crowded.

Tomorrow morning Dick has an appointment with the cardiologist.

Sugarbush

We had great weather today for the Geocaching Event "Sugarbush Pancake Brunch" in South Branch at the home of James and Sheryl. (See link above) It was a sunny, windfree, mild day. There were around 40 people there - new caches, a campfire, 4 horses, and home made maple syrup. I enjoyed talking to Ann Arbor Connie about quilting, and to Mrs. Capt. Bud (Marty the First Mate). New friends are always a Good Thing.

Last year I sat on the bench and waited for Dick to go find the cache. This year I walked all the way to the maple syrup cache with the ski-walkers, and I did fine! Then I returned to the campfire while Dick and the Buds found the event cache and the beaver dam. It was fun watching Clatmandu and Sunshine feeding carrots to the horses. The pancakes were terrific, but the meeting afterwards was the most fun because of the auction and the raffle and the door prize and all of the associated jokes and comments.

The Trip Home

Another cold, crisp day. We did 6 caches this morning before 11 a.m. in the Alma/Mt. Pleasant area. It was a really fun time despite the chill.

Uneventful drive home - OK, I slept most of the way.

Stopped to shop in Kingsley. Northland Foods has become a great place to shop - nice selection of things and great meats.

MiGo Winter Social 2006

This was a very enjoyable 12 hour day! We began by finding 9 caches in the Alma/St.Louis area. It was very windy and cold here today. In a couple of cases I was afraid that the cache contents would blow all over the surrounds. Once we almost lost the lid of the cache container - it blew across the bridge and narrowly missed falling into the river. We were very successful, and found so many so fast it was almost a new record. I'm sure it was a new record for 2006 because we haven't been out caching much at all so far this year.

I used my new ski-walking poles and that was successful too. I enjoyed it, and the poles enabled me to walk along the paths just like a real person. I love it when I can be there to sign the logbook. I look forward to using them more often when the weather is a bit more spring-like.

The Winter Social was well-attended. (See link above) We overheard numbers like 190 adults and 43 children. That's not official. Note to Jana: I wasn't the fattest or the ugliest, but I think I just may have been the oldest. (Family Joke) There were so many darling babies and toddlers there - it's delightful to watch them. WolverineWarriors brought baby Alexis, who is seven weeks and one day old! How much fun is that?!

The main event was a two-hour scavenger hunt consisting of 6 loops - 3 walking loops and 3 driving loops. We opted for driving loops because of the bitterly chilly weather. We did really well, I thought. We did two complete loops and had a lot of fun doing it. We didn't win anything but we really enjoyed it. Dick was especially happy to notice that while we were out driving around, the price of gas in Alma dropped by 2 cents a gallon!

We enjoyed talking to Coychev, Trashcan, Radman, Sleepy Weasel, GeoHills, and UsTwo among others too numerous to mention. We missed DinoDuo - her mom's funeral was today at 1:30. We collected some things for them as souvenirs. Lydia and I had fun cruising the silent auction. All of the items that appealed to me had final bids that were too high. The giant geocoin went for over $160.00!! We were the high bidders on two small items. Both of them were cache containers.

I noticed that there were more men than women interested in the auction, which was amusing to me. At one time I glanced over there and almost everyone at the auction tables was a male wearing a navy MiGo tee shirt and a khaki MiGo hat. There must have been a dozen of them. I think that even the great MiGo quilt had a male high bidder. I kind of wanted the tea set but the other bidder talked me out of it by saying that she wanted to buy it as a wedding gift. I'm such a softie for weddings!

By the time dinner and the business meeting were over it was after 8 p.m. and we were happy to head back to the Comfort Inn, which, by the way, is described as the "upscale" motel in Alma!

It was a day for reflection. While we were doing the scavenger hunt, Susie was at her Mom's funeral, Michigan was losing to Ohio State in basketball, and the price of gas plummeted - all of these concurrently. My mind was pre-occupied by all of it.

This from mgoblue:

Sims Records Double-Double in Road Loss to Buckeyes
Courtney Sims records his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 64-54 loss at No. 13 Ohio State (February 25).

On the Road Again

Dick worked at the Visitor Center this morning, and I went to visit Mother. She cracks me up sometimes - it's hard to keep a straight face. I asked her if she had watched the Olympic figure skating last night. She said, "Yes. A lot of those girls are foreign." Oh please!

Then we got all packed up to head for Alma for the annual MiGo Winter Social. The drive was generally uneventful, although there was kind of a heavy snowfall beginning in Cadillac.

We couldn't find a really good-looking place to eat. We decided that we'd go to Ponderosa since we hadn't been there for ages. It served to remind us why we don't go to Ponderosa!

Outing

The librarian at the East Jordan Public Library wanted to learn how to enroll people in a Part D Drug Plan, so she called the Agency and made an appointment with Dick to meet with her this morning at 10:00 at the library in East Jordan. He told me that if I went with him, he would take me out to lunch! Who could resist? It takes us a little over an hour to drive there, and we had to stop for gas, so we were a little late arriving. The library is on the same grounds with their wonderful new High School that we visited on the evening of November 30.

While he was closeted with the librarians, I was out in the reading room reading magazines. They had some great ones - cooking, quilting, scrapbooking, and antiques roadshow for example. I copied recipes - apricot chicken, buttery garlic potatoes, three beans and sausage in the slow cooker, and rich creamy macaroni and cheese for example. The scrapbooking magazine yielded many websites for me to research, some cyber coupons for nice discounts, and sites for free fonts. I felt it was a very productive 2 hours.

Lunch was at the LumberJack Grill - I just had a burger, and Dick had a taco salad. By now the sun had come out, and it was beautiful for the drive home. It's 35 degrees today - almost feels like spring. Not really.

W for Michigan

Michigan played Illinois tonight, and we never expected a win, especially after the poor showing on Saturday. (Once burned, twice shy.) We were pleasantly surprised - it was a good win - well played and fun to watch. (Daniel Horton, Daniel Horton) This from mgoblue.com:

In a matchup involving two of the top point guards in men's college basketball, it was Michigan's Daniel Horton who earned the spotlight Tuesday, Feb. 21, scoring a career-high 39 points to lead the Wolverines to a 72-64 upset of Dee Brown's No. 8-ranked Illinois squad in Crisler Arena. Horton scored 25 points after intermission as Michigan overcame a 34-30 halftime deficit to post its first win over a Top 10 team since 1998-99. Courtney Sims added 11 points and Graham Brown had 10 rebounds for U-M (18-7, 8-6 Big Ten).