Pressing Puzzles

I'm sure the first thought after reading the title is "this isn't one of those weird poem things you'd hear at a coffee place is it?"; I can safely say no to that answer, but there is a deep meaning behind this. On Monday April 15, 2013 I was walking to my car to go home for the day after teaching. I was really tired and as I walked, I wasn't really paying any attention on where I was trending. I was crossing a small grassy area when suddenly I felt an odd thing as I stepped down on my right foot. At once this little baby rabbit screeched out of pain from me stepping on it. It startled me at first, but I kept going and the baby was crying like an irritating car alarm. I turned back to take a quick look, but I did nothing else to help it. I continued to head back to my car and I could still hear the wailing of the rabbit in the distance. I knew that the rabbit was only being instinctive and staying still so predators wouldn't find him was correct, but that...

If " November " was going to be the title of my autobiography then " April " would be the sequel. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you would understand why I would do this. But, for those who are new here are the reasons. To start, my beautiful wife's birthday is in April. Back on April 13, 1989, I took Jaimee out on a date for her birthday. We first caught an early movie then we went to the Pepper Corn Duck Club ( Which sadly isn't there anymore! ). The Duck Club was one the best restaurants in Kansas City. ( By the way, I did have their duck .) It really was a perfect evening, but that was nothing in comparison to the finale of the night. After we were done with dinner, I took Jaimee to a park near one of the fountains that we have all over the city. ( KC is known as the city of fountains...no kidding! ) I sat Jaimee on a bench and then I knelt now and asked her to be my wife. The whole proposal thing was really tricky because I wanted it ...

Being a teacher as long as I have and seeing thousands of students over the years, I have a terrible habit of trying to remember names. There have been times when I run into a former student and I want to so badly try to remember their name, but dejectedly I usually end up having to be refreshed on their name...and many times which school they attended! I really feel disappointed when the student is looking at you in hopes that I would remember everything about them. I guess I can remember when I was younger and I'd see my former teachers and some of them would remember my name (though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing). Although, I have had other teachers not remember my name, but they remember me by my face. So to all my students that I've had or will have, I apologize if I can't remember your name, but understand I will probably recognize you by your appearance. I have noticed that as my wife has gotten older, many people don't realize it...

Unlike the personal storms I've had to deal with in my life, I'm actually addressing real natural thunderstorms and other freaks of nature. I'm not sure if all kids were like this or it's just the way we were brought up, but I've always had been terrified of severe storms. Since the days of me being a child, I remember running into my parent's bedroom whenever thunder sounded around the house. Deep down, I believe this is the reason why I created a superhero call "Thunderbolt" when I was a child to take my fears and make them into something good. When I was really young I remember being in a tropical storm (South Padre Island, TX) and stepping out to see the eye of the storm; that was very fascinating. I think the thing that terrified me the most was tornadoes. Living here in Kansas City we've had our fair share of tornadoes. The sad part was that I had relatives that lived in Oklahoma so there had been times when I was visiting and sure eno...

For once, I really don't think this has to do with my disability, but as I've gotten older I've noticed I've become more of a night owl. I do remember growing up at first being an early bird, especially on Saturdays because I wouldn't dare miss my morning cartoons. When I became a teenager, things started to change in my sleeping habits. I found myself staying up later and when Jaimee and I first got together then we REALLY stayed up late! (That sounds kind of naughty.) As an adult, I've really had to be more of an early bird because of college and later teaching. I will admit that in my college life, there were days when I did stay up late to write term papers, but other than that I tried to get to bed at a good time. I have often thought to myself why I do this? The only thing I can think of is routine...again. It seems if I get started late then it takes more time for me to go to bed. I just can't simply go to bed; I have to do all the little quirky ...

I thought this would be good around Valentine’s Day . I know I've addressed my marriage in general and the love I have for my wife, but in some way this would be part 2. Making a commitment by far is very difficult to do...and mean it! As I've mentioned before I've always tried to make it a point to follow through on any promise and boy is that hard to do. Trying to make a promise to the one you love is even harder! I love the line "for better or for worse..." and of course the two of you stand there together saying your vows, you're not really thinking about the "worse" part of the sentence just the better half. Anyone who has been married knows that at some point, there is always a worse part. I realize no one ever wants to talk about it, but it really is a test to any person’s commitment and marriage. In my case, we've lost family members, had illnesses, had to separate for job reasons, been broke (money) several times; so going through the...

This is my kryptonite, because I have a serious problem in this department. I think this is a problem for a lot of people. It's funny though because I'm not always doing things at the last minute. I've noticed that there will be times when I will do some task at the minute rather than wait until later. I think the issue is my forgetfulness! I do worry about forgetting things and if there was something important I had to do then I might try to do it at that moment. Sadly, there are something’s that even though they are important, I'll put it off for several reasons: it might be that it would overwhelm me, I don't quite understand what I need to do, I figure it would be easy to do so save it for later, I have no interest in it...etc. I realize that there should be no excuses, but I have found that there are certain times when there is a legitimate reason for certain things that happen to people. I guess in many ways I really don't like the phrase 'no excuse...