Creamed Corn and Tabasco Sauce

It's one of those titles that makes you click to read the blog just because of the title. I'm not like Aaron Ball who gets people to read regardless of what he calls his post. We just know that even if he title it "Orange" or "Wednesday" that his particularly candid view of the world will be there for us to laugh at. Sorry Aaron but even when you're serious, it's still funny.

So I'm getting really annoyed at teachers who believe their class will be the start of some student's journey into their field of expertise. Don't get me wrong, passion in teaching is critical to get the students involved and interested. But I'm talking college. I'm talking about General Ed classes. These aren't the classes I'm taking because someday I want to get into this field. These are the classes I'm forced to take so I have a "well-rounded" (read more money in their coffers) education. These have nothing to do with my chosen career. Sure some of it is interesting but let's face it, I thought about going into psychology in high school. I never took the class in high school because I had other classes I considered more fun with cuter girls. Dude, chior girls were hot! I also only took the minimum amount of science to graduate. I transfered out of honors chemistry into basic chemistry because the honors chemistry teacher was passionate. I feel the same way about anatomy and psiology. But there isn't another class to transfer into. I'm stuck. I'm sorry but if this were going to be my life's work, I'd want to go to campus and get the full experience. I wouldn't sign up for the online class. I'm in the online class because I need a stupid science credit to graduate. See basic chemistry.

And this is my beef. These are well published, bottom-rung division gen-ed classes. Those interested in the major take them so they can get into higher level classes where the real stuff is, the rest of us take them to graduate. We don't really care like you, the teacher, do. We just want a passing grade and a diploma. SO WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU INFLICTING YOUR PASSION ON ME!!!!! That isn't a question. I don't want an answer. It's like, "How are you?" Sometimes I care but you'll know by the way I say it that I do not just because I say it. My Finance teacher gets it. He cancelled the final because summer semester is so short. My psychology teacher just crammed two chapters into 1 week and dropped an essay. My A&P professor just said get more done in less time. Oh and the final is on campus. And it's 50% of your grade. Seriously? I'm taking an online class for a reason. This is a freaking gen-ed. I'M GOING INTO COMPUTER SCIENCE! I fully expect to get carpal tunnel and fat from sitting at a desk all day typing code. I don't need to know all of the parts of my body that are going to hate me for that. And I especially don't care that the medical field as come up with all of it's own lingo for things. A synovial articulated joint is three words that all mean the same stupid thing!

I could go on. I won't. This is long enough as it is. Someday I'd like to teach a gen-ed. Creative writing or something. I think I'd have one of those classes that is filled on day 3 of registration. Not that it would be an easy A. But because I'd know it was a general ed. I'd know why they were taking the class and teach to that. The kids would love it. I recommend this personal finance class to anyone who needs that gen-ed category. This class actually has stuff I wish I had learned fresh out of high school or just home from the mission instead of 10+ years later when I've learned most of it by necessity. But Dennis Wilson gets that it's a gen-ed. Thank goodness.

What a 4th of JUUUULY!

Life happens and sometimes you can't control it. You just have to go with the flow. And so it was that this 4th of July weekend found me with 4 days off work and 2 weekend days sandwiched in between them.

Thursday we went to the zoo. I like the zoo. It's fun to see the animals and the twins are old enough to get out of the stroller more and they thought that was great. Of course their favorite thing was the snake slide in the kids playground. Michelle wanted to get there early and we did, arriving around 10am. We were done and had lunch and were out of there close to 1pm. Well what's across the street? "This is the Place" State Park. So we went over there and got to look at some of the old buildings and learn about pioneer days and gave my kids some appreciation for how much house we actually have. Michelle loved it because they have spinning and weaving there. I'm fascinated by the architecture of the old buildings. We went into the ZCMI store just as the storm blew in. So we got to sit and watch it dump rain and when it let up a little we darted across the street to the Huntsman Hotel and got ice cream. At this point I was tired and the twins were driving us crazy so we hopped the train to the entrance and came home.

Friday I don't remember much of what we did during the day...quite possible lazed around. That night we had the Round-about of Fire in our neighborhood. Only one announcement was made in Priesthood meeting and a flier was distributed 2 hours before it started and we still got 145 people there. Better attended than some of our more organized ward functions! We had some hot dogs and chips and desserts and watched a great fireworks show considering when the whole thing started we had 5 fireworks. Big thanks and shout out to the Hardy's for donating their stash and to the Wards for sharing the awesome finale.

Saturday we went to Michelle's brother's house for yet another 4th of July celebration. I was surprised at how many people were there...a lot more than last year. It was fun. Rob and Heather did a great job. I was disappointed by how many of those people left before we did fireworks but we still had a great show without them. :) The only thing I wish we had done was bring bug spray.

Sunday we had nothing planned...thank goodness because....

Monday we packed our minivan to capacity and went camping with Michelle's siblings and their families. It was fun despite the chaos of 3 families with 5 or more kids and trying to keep the twins from killing themselves. However, the grand tally of casualties was high in the bug bite department. Ethan and Adeena got eaten alive on their faces. While the rest of them were staying until Wed, we had to get back on Tuesday so I could go to work. Totally worth it. We got to stay the whole day and hang out but still slept in a real bed that night.

While we were there I had a couple of growing experiences as a parent. I tend to be over-protective as a parent knowing what kind of child I was. But Michelle's bro-in-law had brought a big ax and BB guns. So of course they pulled out the big ax to chop wood. Ethan asked and I said NOOOO. But as I watched and knew that this bro-in-law was supervising really well and had taught his kids the correct way to do it, I felt more comfortable. Not enough to let Ethan use the big ax but when another bro-in-law brought out his hatchet for the younger kids, I let Ethan have a whack at it...literally. I also relented and let him shoot a BB gun, much to his surprise. These are good life skills you may never know when you need them. And this bro-in-law, while kinda crazy sometimes is quite safety conscious and has been in scouts for a long time. I think that trip did me some good and helped me to see that my kids aren't going to be 4 or 5 forever. I have some very capable older children and I need to let them grow up like my parents let me. Only I'll do better when it comes time for them to leave home and I'll accept that they may not come back.