Thursday Topics...

Who was it that thought hot flashes AND a period were a good combination??? Augh. As I gradually work my way toward menopause, I am still committed to not using HRT. I don't think it's a good idea... Though my mother feels vastly different. She was just at her new gyne (the last two  - men - retired and didn't bother to refer any of their patients; just "I'm leaving in June, thanks.") and she likes this gal. She's younger, so hopefully she won't bolt.

Anyway, I was shocked to hear that at age 76, my mom was STILL on HRT. I think that's nuts; but she says the doctor said it's ok. She said the doctor told her that HRT "was the reason you have all the energy you have." 

Hmmmmmmmm. Still not convinced. Thanks, I'll stick to a good diet (I mean habit of eating, not "diet" diet), yoga and meditation. Can't quite get used to the idea of using pregnant mare's urine to help me out.

Pregnant mare's urine = Premarin. Seriously. Google it. And on top of that, I'm ethically against how they get the urine. These mares are kept just like veal: in a box. It's nasty and I don't want to be a part of it. 

The whole "fountain of youth" thing is absurd. Your body was made to turn certain things off (do you HEAR that, uterus?????) and I think there's gotta be a more natural way of keeping your vim and vigor than ingesting hormone treatments made from horse pee. Call me crazy...

Semi-Rant on Politics, Terrorists & Education

OK, so I saw a clip of Malala on Jon Stewart. I will confess right now that I love "The Daily Show" but in spite of my enjoyment of the show, this interview will amaze you. This young lady has the Taliban shaking in their boots because... wait for it...

She wants to be educated. 

Go figure. See the clip here. Watch. Be amazed at this young woman's poise and ability to articulate something that nine tenths of American teens consider "a bore." Maybe I'm over-estimating that 9/10ths figure, but I know that American teens for the most part don't seem to appreciate the gift of education we have here. Even in the under-performing schools, they get more than many, many Third World countries get. 

Though I think under-performing schools have their own problems and the education system in general needs a kick in the butt. But not on a business model, thanks. Because people aren't widgets... One size does NOT fit all. Your learning patterns may change as you get older, but it seems to me that if you are one type of learner, you kind of keep that through your lifetime. I'm very visual. I can figure it out quite nicely from a book, but I like to *see* it. And I've always been that way, though I will certainly try other formats. 

I see it in the students I have here at work, and those I teach on a yoga mat. Some of them respond quite well to a verbal cue. Others, I've gotta SHOW them what I mean. 

So we can't just say "This is how we'll measure success" in education because the model is flawed. We can't consider that everyone learns at the same pace or in the same style. Some people freak out at tests. No matter what, they'll freak out. So we have to individualize the way we measure them. 

I'm not talking about handing out "feel-good" grades. Everyone does NOT get an "A" just for showing up. But you have to take into account how people process and then regurgitate the information back for measurement. That's all. 

And of course, be grateful that education is seen as an important opportunity. Because as you can clearly tell from Malala's story -- in many countries, it's not even on their radar. 

What to do?

So I was at my women's group meeting the other night. I have been the group's webmaster for 10 or 12 years; been so long I can't remember. Basically the year I joined, 6 months later I was asked to take over the site. 

For some reason, now that I've "been and gone" as president of the group, I seem to notice a level of cattiness that I didn't realize existed. I mean, hey -I know - women can be cattier than cats!

But at the meeting, one member seemed "off" - she's usually friendly, but lately, not so much. She asked about whether "topic X" was on the website, and I told her I hadn't done that yet. Actually, I was hoping someone in our PR committee would actually write the press release so I wouldn't have to... 

Then she says, "Well, when was the last time the site was updated?" in a very challenging and snarky manner. I said, "Well, let's see...the new yearbook is up there, and we just got that at the last meeting. The new board is up there, but no picture since I haven't been able to get every board member in the same place at the same time."

Mind you, she's involved in "topic X" -- she then proceeds to inform the group that there's an event concerning "topic X" -- coming up quickly. You'd think (at least I would think) that if she was so concerned that "topic X" was not on our site, she'd have shot me an e-mail a few weeks ago (having some manners???) saying, "Hey, can you put this on the website?"

But no. Snarking at me in a meeting is apparently more fun. So our current president said to the entire group, "You know, we could use help on the website since it's been the sole responsibility of only one member for so long... surely there's another techie person or two who'd be willing to offer help?"

Crickets. Particularly from the Cranky One. 

I suppose I could've been snarky back, but I believe that only escalates the situation. Not worth it. Again, let your mask slip - show your true witchy-ness in front of others. No matter to me. I'm just sitting there letting it roll. 

I used to enjoy the snark. But now I don't. I'm just tired of it being all "high school mean girls." But unfortunately, it's part of my job to be involved in service organizations and frankly - I just don't feel like I want to expend the energy right now to join a new one. Kind of "the devil you know" if you know what I mean.

Yoga

Last night, I was back at my regular yoga class, as a student. And the weirdness appears to have passed. Sweetly, my teacher thanked me in front of the rest of the class for teaching for her while she was gone. It was nice. 

And our after-class chat was more like it used to be. 

I'm subbing more (tonight and Friday a.m.) and thankfully, one of the other teachers stepped up to do Saturday -- one of our regular teachers has a child who's ill, and we're trying to keep her classes going because if you continue to cancel, you lose the students. 

We'll see how this works out. I don't honestly like teaching this much while I still have a full-time job, but I also don't like to see something whither away because nobody else will step up to help out. We're in this together. If the studio struggles, we as teachers and yogis struggle. 

Knitting

Almost -- ALMOST -- ready to assemble the charity afghan. I have about 4 - 6 more ends to weave in on the last square. Finally.

Then, I have to continue working on The Fluffy Scarf Project. And I made a huge - HUGE - mistake in the Cathedral Lace scarf.

Note to self: DO NOT TRY TO KNIT A ROW OF LACE when you have a migraine. It just doesn't work. And another note: DON'T TRY TO FROG IT WHEN YOU SCREW IT UP. Need to take this one to my knitting buddies because I think I really did badly and I'm not frogging the whole thing (my first impulse) -- I have about 8 - 9" on this thing already done and I just don't want to start it over.

So once that's all back underway, I can concentrate on ... more knitting!

I might actually be able to pick up the Teal Socks again. Or (gasp!) start something new! Or work on the Nephew Afghan. Or, as Kid #2 reminds me, "Your last son DOES NOT HAVE AN AFGHAN YET." Subtle, that boy... Hey, I have it cast on. 

I guess I'd better get some real work done.