Paw To Pen: My Surgery

Arf Arf to my four legged fans. I will be absent from The Education Depot for a few days. My person discovered a large growth on my leg joint( a location similar to a human elbow) She and the Vet, Dr. Dan were very sad and determined that surgery was necessary to remove and biopsy it. My David person has been very upbeat and has been sending positive vibes all week.

In my absence,I will miss Stuart the mailman, Keisha the UPS lady, the police officer who brings me a dog biscuit every day, the businessman in the store next door who barbecues a lot and always seems to have some delicious bone for me after the weekends. I shall return with a slight limp,and an awkward gait but ready, wiling, and able to accept any and all treats . ARF ARF for now Max

Back To School 2011

The back to school season is getting longer and longer in the metropolitan Chicago area. The Track E CPS schools went back August 3. The CPS Charter schools and some suburban schools start on the 15Th. The parochial Schools go back the week of the 22Nd.. The rest of the CPS schools go back the week of the 29Th. Everyone else will start after Labor Day. I no longer get a summer vacation. I really miss the times when schools were closed for 8 weeks, and I could count on regular holiday vacations. I miss spending time with my children and grandchildren.

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what will be the new HOT item for the school year. Are the students and schools Rockin Into---? Poppin Into---? Are they a Great Crop? Back to School Stars? or a Great Bunch? Do we give Peace a chance? Say no to Bullying? Are we into the Turquoise or Chocolate Brown color scheme? Is it a Jungle out There? Are we Rocketing into Reading? Soaring into Math? or Buzzing about Books?

After the decorations are complete, and the children appropriately welcomed into the classroom, we now have to contend with the new programs instituted over the summer. Two to three years is the maximum until an academic program becomes obsolete and a new one has to purchased at great cost. The schools don't give the children enough time to get used to a particular learning style. There no longer seems to be any consistency in the learning curve. The new buzz in academia is that children do not need to learn cursive writing since they all use computers. They also don't need to learn time tables since they have calculators. Pretty soon we can forget about teaching them to speak, since children will only be communicating with computers , i pads, and cellphones.

I, for one, plan on making sure that my grandchildren know how to write in cursive. They will memorize their multiplication facts and learn all the states and capitals. They will learn the difference between Austria and Australia, They will understand that good manners don't cost anything. I will teach them not to equate money with class. We are living in a global society, and my grandchildren will learn that the the world is a potpourri of colors and textures and dialects. This is my role as a parent and grandparent, to make the world a better place, by making my offspring better people.

To all of the students, parents, teachers, and administrators, have a great 2011 back to school. And please, if you must be absent, be absent because you are making a memory, not because you are sick . A memory lasts a lifetime...a headache, tummy ache, or runny nose only lasts for a day or two.

New for summer

Just in time for summer school and summer camps.Peace Sign decorations . Coordinate your classroom or playroom with planners, charts, stickers, cutouts, and trim. " Have a PEACEFUL summer" "Travel to the 60's" are just a few ideas incorporating these whimsical products.

Max looks for work

My male person, John saw an add for a TV commercial audition for a pet. I guess he thought I qualified so he printed the info out and brought it home. Alpha Mom, Debi thought it was a great idea. My person brother, David, sign me up and took me downtown today. It was a very long and nervous wait. The location was on Ontario...not in a park, mind you, but in a PEE FREE BUILDING. There were animals in the waiting room, animals in the hall, and in the elevator...etc. The smells were unbelievable, and I wanted to mark my territory ALL THE TIME. David did a good job keeping me entertained and keeping me from doing the nasty inside. He is the comedian of the family. Naturally, I am the adorable one so I don't need to do much but look cute.

I missed going to the store with Debi and Nathan (see picture) today. Every other Sunday Nathan gets to come to the store and pass out candy and laminate things. He also will vaccumn and clean the bathrooms. He is a busy boy. If I get the acting job I would be trading one fun day for another. What if I am discovered? What if they want me on TV. What would our customers do if I wasn't around to lick them, Play with the children, or bark at the Postman Stewart. There are some mighty big decisions I may have to make. Woof Woof to you all Love, Max

Facebook

I am finally getting the gist if Facebook. I don't necessiarly care if someone went to dinner or got a speeding ticket. But I am enjoying that I can track down former friends from grammar school (Bradwell)and High school (South Shore and Bowen friends also. A lot of us were split apart during the turbulent 60's. There was a lot of movement in and out of neighborhoods, and the friends we grew up with were suddenly transplanted to a new neighborhood....or gasp, the suburbs. It has been fun reconnecting, and going down memory lame. I recently found a web page on 1968 class of Bowen. I had a lot of friends IE sorority sisters from there as well as from South Shore. If you didn't grow up in that era and years earlier, you probably do not even know about the Sings at Arie Crown, or the sorority and fraternity parties that the sophisticated south siders were attending. The Tea Hut, Carl's, Bob and Jacks, Cunis Candies, the original White Castle on Essex and Bon Tons on Colfax. What great times and memories. I had my first teenage crush on a teacher from Bradwell, And my friend and I would go to Bon Tons at lunch time just to watch Mr Reece and Mr Starnicki have lunch.. We shopped at Seder's and Bramson's and Joseph Shoes and we thought we were all that...which we were. Bye for now.