Psychology Symposium and Psi Chi

April 25. Friday was Proud Parent Day for us. Geo and I were invited to campus to hear the 3 senior Psychology Honors Rearch presentations. Jenn was up first. Her topic - If studies indicate that married people generally have a healthier life and sense of well-being and happiness than those who are single, what about single people who are in a committed relationship? Can the same be said about them? Do they lead a healthier life-style and and suffer less stress compared to those who are single? She researched and presented the results of her own survey and study of about 150 single men and women. Using power point, Her talk was about 40 minutes. Not only were there faculty in the audience, but also other parents, students, and Jenn's good friends who came in support. She presented like a pro. Afterwards she and the other 2 students were awarded personal plaques for outstanding work.

Next was the Psi Chi Induction ceremony for new members and officers. As the Pres, Jenn lead the ceremony and installation of new members. This too was open for any interested people to see.The President of the college was there, so Jenn also introduced him to give his remarks. I thought Jenn handled it all with style, grace and good sense of humor. Geo said if she can do this, she can do most anything...Thank you, Jenn, for all your hard work, and for making us oh, so very proud.

Disability Awareness Day

April 15, 2008. Geo and I had the privilege of attending a state disability conference dinner with representatives from a variety of agencies and some state legislators. The panel included people with disabilities who are successful advocates advancing disability rights, sharing their experiences and vision for future direction.

We learned that the disability rights movement took as its model the civil rights movement and promotes self-advocacy. One of the speakers gave insights into “inclusion.” He has a disability from childhood that is not readily obvious. He was not able to keep up with the other students in school and was put into special education classes. There he found there were many other students with disabilities, but that he needed to take the initiative to share about his own disability with them for them to know him and begin communicating about shared experiences. He began to realize that he was part of two communities – the disability and the non-disability. Just as he needed to share about his disability with those in his special ed class, he needed to be the one to reach out to persons without disabilities for them to know him and accept him. Prior to this, he felt misunderstood and marginalized.

Geo mentioned to me that so often, a usual approach is for society to “blame” the people without disabilities for not accepting or not understanding persons with disabilities, and not “doing more” for them. Self-advocacy places the responsibility on persons with disabilities to communicate who they are and what they need. Successful self-advocacy also increases one’s sense of well-being and worth.

What is needed in society is for any barriers preventing inclusion to be eliminated. Inclusion makes it more likely that all persons will be valued and able to participate more fully in society. It allows people to understand and accept one another and to communicate for the benefit of all.

One speaker said that sometimes persons with disabilities are looked upon as people to be ignored, healed, or avoided. Rather we need to come to know people as they truly are, accept one another and work toward removing barriers that keep us from understanding one another and allowing all to participate as valued members of a community.

All the speakers were persons with various disabilities, including a deaf person going blind who spoke eloquently by signing. He had an interpreter to assist him. All were very inspiring leaders. I came away from this meeting realizing I still have so much to learn by interacting with the disability community.

Ciabatta

My family knows I am not a bread eater. When I was single, I went for months and months without ever buying bread. I married a guy who can practically survive on bread alone.

This year my bread-loving guy gave me (us) a gift of bread from Zingermann’s in Michigan, home-delivered, along with various varieties of olive oil. The latest rustic loaf arrived on March 26, and included Olave organic olive oil from Chile. After warming up the bread in the oven, we served it with the oil. Instant party, and – oh, so good.

Today we bought a loaf of Red Hen Ciabatta, and we enjoyed it drizzled with the Olave. If I’m going to become a true bread eater, this is definitely the way to go. The Ciabatta from Middlesex, VT is made from organic wheat flour mixed with water and yeast, baked in a jet-steam 500 degree hearth to give the loaf a crunchy crust. With a glass of red wine, Saturday afternoon lunch has notched upwards to a new level. Thank you, Geo.

(For a link, click on title.)

Easter Surprise

An amazing Easter lily was delivered to our family on Friday, a gift from Sean. It’s actually three Easter lily plants in one container, and it’s the most beautiful Easter arrangement I have ever seen. It brought a lot of sunshine into our home on an otherwise rather gray Friday. We will enjoy the flowers all Easter season, and I look forward to planting it outside, hoping for more Easter blooms during the summer. Thank you, Sean, for your very thoughtful amazing gift. Happy Easter to you and your family from all of us.

#24

The 25th is our 24th wedding anniversary. Daughter Addie gave us a wonderful gift – a full year’s membership for two at The Shelburne Museum. We look forward to the 2008 Mary Cassatt exhibit, the members’ tour of the Electra Havemeyer Webb VT home, and the 10 Thursday evenings series of events Sunsets at Shelburne Museum. We may even take in the annual members holiday party promising “ warm fires, cocktails, hor d’oeuvres, and holiday cheer.”
Thank you, Addie, for a gift that keeps on giving!

If the campaign comes to town…

Geo and I will be there. And today the John McCain campaign came to South Burlington. Of course, we made our way up to the front. We shook hands with the Senator and he signed not one – but two – of Geo’s McCain cover magazines (Newsweek and US News and World Report).

We were impressed that he makes good eye contact with each person he greets, that he is warm and genuine. In his speech in person, he comes across with more passion than on TV, and that was fun to see. One piece of news he brought with him - the morning edition of the Washington Post noted he has a record of zero dollars of “pork barrel” spending earmarked for Arizona, while Senators Clinton and O’Bama have millions and millions going to their states. Also noteworthy, today is the day Mitt Romney will endorse his candidacy.

This was the fourth time we have seen Senator McCain. Prior times were in Burlington, Hinesburg and Montpelier. We will frame Geo’s covers and add our McCain memorabilia to our collection.

After the rally we headed to Tiny Thai for a valentine celebration. We stopped at Quality Bakery on the way home to buy a cake to share with Adriene.

Jim, This one's for you...

We had a white-out driving home from church today. Cars were slipping and sliding…Glad to be home.

Jenn had knee surgery, repair of torn meniscus. Is recovering nicely. BF Sean is taking good care of her. Today they plan on seeing CHICAGO at the Flynn.

Geo is invited to an overnite conference on Wed and Thurs, near WRJ, on self-employment. He has a telephonic hearing on Tues. And I need to be on the road 2 days this week, post-poned due to hazardous driving last week. Weather has a way of changing plans.

Addie’s working full-time, plus volunteering at ECHO on Saturdays. She’s applied for a residential museum fellowship, so now it’s pray, wait and see. Plan B is in place, so life is good.

Lucy’s loving her romps in the snow, then stretching out in front of our gas heater. Winter has got to be her fave season of the year.

Most of all, we are really looking forward to our trip to visit friends in FLA. We haven’t taken a vacation by plane since 1999! We are soooo happy to have been invited and to share good times.
Thank you, J and K!

Jenn’s Amazing Cookies

Jenn shared a recipe with me, so easy and so very good:

1 box cake mix
2 eggs
scant 1/3 C. oil

Mix into a batter. Spoon onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.
Yields 2 dozen cookies.

She loves these because cookies AND cake are combined for one great homemade treat.
Her favorite variation is using chocolate cake mix, then swirling a little peanut butter on the cookies before baking them.
I just whipped up a batch for Geo using spice cake mix and adding a little molasses to the batter. Perfection.
Next I’d like to try vanilla cake mix, add some almond flavoring, and top each cookie with a slivered almond.
Thank you, Jenn, for another classic!

The Fur Kid

I heard somewhere that pampered pets are known as the fur kids of the household. That would be Lucy. But our fur kid Lucy got into big trouble when we were in church on Sunday. She knocked over one of my potted plants - dirt all over the carpet, reached up to the counter to pull down a few slices of bread, and even managed to bring down a plate of oatmeal cookies to devour them in the living room. (She spit out the raisins.) I was not happy. She and I were not on good terms for the rest of the day. I mostly ignored her. Then Sunday night I started thinking about forgiveness, and that forgiveness is not for people only. I knew I needed to forgive the fur kid. So Lucy is back in my good graces again, the plant is re-potted and the dirt scrubbed out of the carpet. Addie says Lucy had a great time on Sunday, a rowdy party of one.

Tiny Jenna's

One of Jenn’s Christmas gifts to Geo was a home-cooked Thai meal – a gift the whole family enjoyed. She prepared Pad Thai, Chicken and Rice, Sticky Rice with Mango, and a Banana Coconut Milk dessert. Recipes were authentic, those she learned from the Pad Thai Cookery School in Chiang Mai. In the center of the table she was sure to include fresh limes, salt, sugar, and hot sauce that we could add to taste. What a feast! One of our fav restaurants is Tiny Thai; George said we were dining at Tiny Jenna’s. I’d say we need to include a Thai meal as one of our holiday season traditions. Hopefully, Jenn, this was the First Annual. Thank you so very much.

Pajama Packing

A wintry evening last week found Addie and me at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, together with over thirty other supporters and members of the Vermont Council of the Blind. This is the time of year when orders are flying out of the factory with help needed to make sure those deliveries are on time. The Teddy Bear Factory invites volunteer groups to help with packing orders, then donates a generous amount of funding to the groups. We were a hard-working crew with even a few guide dogs in tow.

Our assignment was the Pajama-grams, to pull boxes off the assembly line, take pajamas out of packages, check the orders and to repack for shipping. I was amazed at the wide variety of pajamas, the quality, and the personalized way they are folded into “hatboxes” and totes. Personal gift cards were included with many orders – we had a fun time reading them as we packed. I just know that each person who receives one of these gifts will be very happy and very cozy this holiday season. I had so much fun, I know I’ll want to do this again.

Okay, VCB, how about the Valentine’s Day rush? We’ve done it once, and we can do it again!

Toots

A & J keep introducing me to new music, new sounds.
J seems to like the reggae beat and lyrics. I’ve been a James Brown fan, and so I’m recently drawn to reggae Toots and the Maytals – and where it all began in the 60’s – a great mix of Jamaican soul, rock and gospel. Toots “invented” the genre and gave it its name.
What I appreciate is that an artist of another generation is current, like Tony Bennett and Paul McCartney. I’m not familiar with much reggae, but this is one artist I want to be hearing more of.
For the official check it out here: http://www.tootsandthemaytals.com/