I am woman, hear me roar In numbers too big to ignore

And I know too much to go back an' pretend

'cause I've heard it all before

And I've been down there on the floor

No one's evergonna keep me down again

CHORUS

Oh yes I am wise But it's wisdom born of pain

Yes, I've paid the price But look how much I gained

If I have to, I can do anything

I am strong (strong)

I am invincible (invincible)

I am woman

In the last blog I wrote about boys and their dads. In this weeks blog I think I will focus on the girls, their mothers - and of course the mothers to our boys. You see girls tend not to get as much attention in the High School years as boys. Let’s face it – on the news Friday night it’s all about the boys, but where do the girls get attention.

Well it‘s up to the mom’s of this world to let the girls know how valuable they are not only to the family but to society as well. We can go back in history to the early English scientific observatory where women were not allowed to “publish” their conclusions, to Germany where Maria Winkelmann had to “play” assistant to her husband while making discoveries including a comet she discovered in 1702 - even after his death she was only allowed to continue her research by posing as an assistant to her son. But it is through the continued works by women like Margaret Cavendish and her books that young girls of the 1700-1800’s were introduced to the possibilities of science and math and a life outside the realms of labor and home.


Even as far back as the 1970’s girls graduating high school were pretty much granted four professions, teaching, nursing, secretary or homemaker. Now I do not mean to demean any of those professions, I am just saying it would have been nice to know I could have been a rocket scientist (ok those of you that know me and my math skills stop laughing).



For my senior girls – the world is open to you – you have so many opportunities available, so many options as to where your life can take you. Never settle for anything less than what you want. Never let anyone tell you “you can’t do it”. You have the strength, resourcefulness, and power to be whatever you want. You are women, let the world hear you roar…………


Senior girls that were involved in Volleyball, Softball, band and football and their parents celebrate Senior Night 10/26/07








Mothers and daughters,
Fathers and daughters.
The evidence that God has decided that perhaps the world does deserve another generation........















Every year on Senior Night the mother's get together
and perform a special dance for their sons and daughters. This year was terrific!!! Here's to all the mothers - those strong women who will spend the next few months fighting back tears of saddness that their child is leaving, mixed with tears of joy and accomplishment seeing how their hard work has paid off. Yes you are wise, and its wisdom filled with pain, and yes you paid the price but LOOK how much you gained - you were strong, you are strong and this generation of seniors thanks you!!!!!!!!

Life Passages
There are certain events in our lives when we find ourselves going from one stage to another. When people ask why I teach high School, specifically Seniors, I always reply that I love watching them pass from one stage in life to the next. This year is no exception as I have watched them enter into the “last” of their school year activities:
The last homecoming,
the last float,
the last home football game.

So for this week I am dedicating this site to my students who on Friday night celebrated “Senior Night” with their parents at the last home football game. Each picture represents those moments in life that are a toss up between happiness and sadness – the beginning and the end.


I love this picture of the moment when a dad places his arm around a son, a bonding of ideas, memories and a recognition that they are no longer the little boys who brought home frogs, but now young men that are about venture onto life’s field of college, careers and dreams.

So here’s to memories, fun, sadness, the future, friendships, and a realization that although this may be the “last” of something in their lives, it is also the “first” of something new.

Casey and Abbie

Amanda and the girls





Colton and Louie

Lets hear it for the boys





Katie, mom and dad

Jay will always be remembered.

Every few days I will try to update the site with more pictures of seniors and their parents, the game and Senior life.
I hope you enjoy these pictures.
d

Baseball, Family, and Summer

Ah........... the boys of summer, America's past time, BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!

There is something unique about spending an entire week sitting on a hard bleacher, eating sunflower seeds, and watching your body sizzle from the burning sun, that drives us to say "we love our baseball"..... but we do - day in day out - baseball consumes our lives for over 160 games.
But............ the best game in town is NOT the gazillion dollar paid "pros" . It is the essence of baseball, that vulnerable age where there is no real ego, no "absolute" need to win, no pressure from the parents that drives the kid to early ulcers of stress. The best baseball is in the 13 and younger league. It is the true baseball, pure as it was intended.
Ok - I realize that there are always going to be the overzealous parent who freaks out if their kid doesn't play, or doesn't get the winning out. But what I really mean is the ambiance that is summer baseball.
Heat,
Kids, Baseballs,
parents cheering,
and kids who just love what they are doing.
So why the waxing nostalgia???
I had one the of the best weeks of my life 2 weeks ago when my brother and nephew , Mason, came to Tulsa for the National World Series for the 13 year olds............. Super Series.


Not only did I get to see my brother - who we only get to see about twice a year - we got to watch Mason play ball. We (my sister and I ) were there, morning - 8:00am games, and there at night (10:45pm) when that game started. We were there Sunday through Friday morning................ we were there, cheering, sweating.
There is a peace, a smile that comes over the face when you step out of the scene and just look around and watch the innocence of the world in those kids.

Will any of them go on to the Pros??? don't really know. But what I do know is that there was a lot of love on this team, between the players, the parents, and especially for two Aunts that were just happy to be there.

Venice, Italy

As we continued on our trip we ventured into Venice. Now I know I will probably make a lot of people mad, but to be honest with you Venice was not my cup of tea. I could have been happy doing a one hour tour of Venice, learned about the history and gone back to the mainland. But...

I did learn about how Venice was built on top of trees that have petrified

under water. It was interesting to see the canals, and to know that there are no cars, no firetrucks, no ambulances - those are all done by boat.

The gondolas were interesting. Several of our students decided to take the ride. It was a little expensive but they wanted the experience.

This next part is a little personal so I hope you will not mind my detour from the "history" of our trip. You see, Tuesday May 29th was a nerve wrecking day for me because my daughter was back in Tulsa, Oklahoma having a C-Section for our second grandson!!!! With a 7 hour time difference only meant that I would have more "daytime" to worry. As I have mentioned before I find it hard to go by a Catholic church without lighting a candle, and for some reason I kept coming back to this church so I went inside and in the picture below you can see the two candles on the left - one for my daughter and one for my new grandson, with prayers that they would have wonderful lives, and be happy in the warm love of Christ.

All went well and I have an absolutely Beautiful Grandson named Jason. The next day I was on the bus heading to Switzerland when I took out some paper and wrote the following note:

" Life is good today. Yesterday I became a grandmother for the

second time to a beautiful Jason Riley.

Today I dipped my toes into the Adriatic Sea, and left

Venice behind. As we traveled north west to Verona we

could see the Alps, snow capped - and on my IPod I listened

to Enya and all of a sudden life was wonderful and peaceful.

My kids are asleep, and my life is fine.

The next song was "String of Pearls" by Glen Miller

- thought of WWII and the American Soldiers that had to

fight their way north from Italy to Germany - 60 years later

we sit on a bus, congested on a freeway knowing our

freedom and the cost our soldiers paid. I hope my

kids are able to appreciate their sacrifice."

Church

I wonder what my fascination is with the "Church". What is it about the architecture that I find so interesting. My faith is of the the Protestant church and yet I can not walk by a Catholic church in Europe without going in and lighting a candle..........or two......... and admiring all the beautiful artwork and statues. I must admit there is a peace there as well.

These pictures are from churches in Venice Italy, and Lucerne. Switzerland. These two pictures are from Venice Italy. the one to the left is St. Marks Cathedral.

It is believed that when St. Mark died his bones were stolen and brought to Venice where they were placed in safe keeping at a church later named St. Marks Cathedral. The art work in this church is indescribable as it is all in tiny mosaic pieces - mostly gold. All the churches in Venice have the lion with wings - it represents St. Mark. He is the patron saint of Venice.

This is the protestant church in Heidelburg Germany. We did not get to stop and go in, but it was beautiful even from a distance.

The next few pictures are from the Catholic Church in Lucerne. What impressed me the most was the use of Red Marble - everywhere. What also made this experience so unique was that someone was playing this wonderful large organ that just resonated throughout the Church. It was truly a moving experience.

This is the organ that is in the back of the church - absolutely beautiful.

What a group.......

It finally dawned on me that I have not entered a picture of our group.

Here we are - students, parents and teacher

This is a group picture we had taken at the base of the statue of King Victor Emanuel II of the United Italy. Each day our tour director would take a picture and post it on the Internet for parents so they could see what we were up to that day. They just forgot to tell me to tell them - so I doubt any parents checked the website.



There were some great bonds of friendship that came from this trip. Casey became a friend and helped keep me centered each day. - she has a great personality and is a wonderful young lady.

There is also a picture of her
with Cody H. and several of the others in the background. Cody took over1,000 pictures on this trip.... thank goodness Reasor's is running a 10 cent a picture sale....





Jake and Brittany in front of the statue of King Victor Emanuel the II. in Venice Italy








Here they are at the oldest church in Munich. great looking group of kids..........

Hope they are having a wonderful summer.

Enough life questions....... how about the trip???

Ok I know I have been a little melancholy about life, love, and the mystery of life so now it is time to get focused again on the purpose of the blog. TO SHOW PICTURES...........

The tour's first stop was in the city of Rotenburg ob do Tauber. This city is located in the Bavarian region of Germany.

The town is actually located on the top of a mount overlooking the Tauber River. It is one of the best examples still remaining in Europe of what a Medieval town would look like.
The name Rotenburg ob de Tauber actually comes from the words "rot = red" and "burg = town". As you can see in the pictures the city gets its name from all of the "red roofs".


The city is famous for two street Koboldzellersteg and Spittalgasse. As you can see the streets are very narrow, but are also beautifully decorated.

The town design was the inspiration for Walt Disney studios when they decided to create the movie "Pinocchio".



If you click on the picture you should be able to see the steeples in the background. They are of the church St. Peter and Paul built in 968.

Are we of water of land???

Are we of water or land?

There are times in my life when I am troubled by things I hear and see. I find myself wanting to retreat and find solace in vistas that will comfort my soul. But I have trouble deciding: "am I of water or land?" - Will I find the peace I seek on land or on water?

These are difficult times for me and I am thankful that I have these pictures to focus on for inner peace. I know most of you are saying "what about GOD". Well GOD is in my life and does offer me the spiritual peace that I crave; but I am talking about the inner turmoil that comes with being a part of society. The family, the job, the relationship between people = all of those are wonderful, but as you can see by this picture, life can be full of heavy seas.

This is a picture of the Adriatic Sea - we crossed the sea to reach Venice, Italy. The water was a little choppy as this is the only way into Venice and the water traffic was heavy.

What I seek in life is the inner peace that GOD brings to our lives. The sigh that means "all is right with the world Debbie just relax"I can imagine what it must be like to look out over the view of the lake in this picture. Do the owners of the house appreciate the beauty and majestic show of God's power and love? When they go out on the porch do they "sigh"............




Here's to the rough times that bring us strength. They are what make us strong enough to want to get out of bed the next morning. They are the promise that for each rough morning there is also the peace that comes each night.
The picture is from the Rhine Falls, very powerful waterfall in southern Germany. There is a boat that will take you out to the center of the falls and you walk up to a platform to hang over the falls. It must be majestic, and frightening at the same time, as is life..........


"Am I of Land"???????

Some of my happiest memories are of working in Seattle Washington. Every moring driving to work I could see Mt. Rainer. On this trip we went up 7,000 feet to the top of Mt. Pilatus in Switzerland. The VIEW from this mountain is spectacular. There is a peace that comes over the body when the ears no longer hear the rush of life..........





As I get to this picture I am at peace. There is a beauty that surrounds the soul and I hear that all will be just fine. According to God's plan as it was millions of years ago when he created the Alpine mountain range so that we might traverse the long haul to see how truly beautiful and simple life was meant to be...............

Two views of pain and sorrow..........

There are things in this world that defy explanation. Sometimes its family, sometimes it's emotion, and sometimes it is that feeling that although you were not directly involved you understand the pain and sorrow just by looking at a picture or sculpture. I try not to envy, and yet there are people, sculptors to be specific that I am in awe at what they can accomplish with just a simple stroke of a brush, or nick of the chisel.

There were two events on this trip that showed the beauty, the pain, the sorrow of mankind.


The first is a lion - not just a lion - but a
representation of a group of people who
suffered a horrible loss, and we can see
it in the lion's eye. How unbelievably
talented was that sculptor to know how to
shape, how to caress the pain and
sorrow and express that in a simple eye,
an eye that can say so much to the world.

The eye made me cry, as if it were saying

"I did my best, but I have lost."

Swiss guards were hired to protect French King Louis XVI his wife Marie-Antoinette and their children. When the French mobs attacked the Palace more than 700 Swiss officers and soldiers died trying to protect the royals. The Sculpture was created by Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldson.

It is carved out of a sand stone cliff above the city center of Lucerne, Switzerland.

Dachau Concentration camp Germany

The second sculpture is much more moving, much more of the pain and suffering of man. And yet our eyes are drawn to the simplicity of the sculpture, at first it seems a simple twist of metal, then our brains absorb the shapes and we begin to see the depth of human suffering and pain. We are at first repulsed and our hearts reject what our eyes are seeing, but the brain insists - LOOK, FEEL, REJECT, ACCEPT, REMEMBER...........