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I hate using blog space to talk about Sarah Palin but I just can’t help myself this time.  She has set the pace of women back centuries with her run as Vice President and now resigning as governor of Alaska.  Am I wrong or does this look bad for women in general?  Was is it?  She can’t do the job or it got “tooooo haarrrd”?  She can’t make up her mind?  She wants to make a lot of money so to hell with the people who elected her to do a job in Alaska?  She’s just plain nuts? I know, she needs the time to do a lot of studying before her run for president in 2012.  Bottom line is she QUIT.  She’s a quitter!  I wouldn’t elect her dog catcher if she should run for anything again.  That pre-resignation speech was incoherent and gave no sound reason for her departure.  Let me hear from my boomer divas what you think.

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So much has happened this week it’s hard to know where to start… Governor Sanford, global warming bill passes, passing of Farrah Fawcett, shocking death of Michael Jackson. Can someone tell me why the Republicans continue to say they are the party of family values, the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, no premarital sex, etc. when they can’t even live up to those standards themselves?  I am so tired of the hypocrisy!  I hope the global warming bill actually leads to greener lifestyles and green jobs.  What can anyone say about Farrah… those teeth!  that hair!  She was an icon in her era.  Farewell to one who fought a very brave battle with cancer. And Michael Jackson…was it really his time?  He was a man beyond super stardom and a musical genius but still tormented, insecure and unhappy who finally succumbed to the “give ‘em whatever they want” culture of  Hollywood.  And so we begin again…after all tomorrow is another day.

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Is summer finally here?  How do you know when you live in the Chicago area? Is it the sun you may see every third day, the rain, flowers?  The grass is indeed greener.  Maybe that’s it.  Can’t tell by the school kids.  The bus is still picking them up every morning, albeit fewer in number.  The concerts have started in Grant Park.  The Blues was just last weekend.  How’d they do that without KoKo Taylor?  Remember summers as a kid?  We didn’t grow up with central air conditioning.  It was so hot at night you prayed for a breeze from the window or maybe from the hall fan which tried unsuccessfully to cool three bedrooms a once.  You could hear the crickets screaming in the backyard and watch fireflies as they thumped into the screen. Remember turning the pillow over so your head could feel the cool side?  Now that was summer!  Is there another boomer with a summer memory to share?

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Anybody else out there sick of Republicans making a big deal out of the President’s night out with his wife in New York?  Where were they when George Bush was taking vacation after vacation in Texas?  He took more time off than any other president.  Obama is working extremely hard to put this government, our economy, our health care and image abroad back in order.  He and Michelle deserve a night out for goodness sake. I for one have no problem with it.  He has a family! Stop the fake outrage.

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Is anyone else, fellow boomers out there feeling that time is moving too fast?  I just lost a dear friend this past week.  She died suddenly and was only 61.  How do we say goodbye when we don’t have a chance to say goodbye… when we don’t really want to say goodbye.  I keep picturing her smile, her voice, wondering if she felt pain, loneliness in those last moments.  We’ve all experienced death of friends, family, co-workers, but sometimes it just feels too close.  Life is precious and we don’t get a “do over” so tell your friends you love them today. Tomorrow may be too late.

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There are many people in our lives, I like to think, that serve a purpose whether it be immediately recognizable or not. I’ve found that as I have navigated through my life, that relationships are at the center of everything that happens.   I’ve just returned from an annual trip to Phoenix, Arizona with nine girl friends.  Our “waiting to exhale” weekend has morphed into a “waiting to exhale, ya ya sisterhood, Phoenix Phillies whole week of fun, food, exploration and shopping.  I must admit we did our best to stimulate the economies of Phoenix and Sedona.  Girl friends are with you through good times and bad.  They support you through bad relationships, ailing parents, marriages, job loss, a crazy boss, disappointments with children, forgotten promises.  They love you even if they disagree with your choices.  Girl friends become even more important as you age. So choose wisely.  I know I did!

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Earth week begins this week.  Our village held it’s annual Arbor Day celebration last Friday by planting a Red Bud tree.  We had the help of about 30 of the cutest preschoolers.  Talk about fun! Of course we should be looking for ways to change our habits and attitudes to preserve the earth every week.  I’m using less plastic, especially the bags from stores.  I take my own now.  I have to leave them in the car to remember.  Old habits are hard to break! I’ve got biodegradable garbage bags too.  And I’m really trying not to use or at least reuse those plastic water bottles.  Tell me…what are you doing on behalf of the planet?

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Do you remember growing up and helping your mother do “spring cleaning”? It was a time we sorted through old clothes that no longer fit, cleaned closets, dusted places that hadn’t been touched all winter, did a little touch up painting, etc.  As an adult my spring cleaning used to happen over the summer.  That’s when I had the most time since I was a teacher in my first career.  Now that I’m semi retired I have tried to clean, toss and review for tossing every Thursday.  Garbage pick up is Fridays. 

This year I’m going to do a 21st century spring clean up next week.  Notice I didn’t say starting TODAY! I have over 2650 emails in my in basket, some dating back almost five years. Do I really need to save all that?  I have over 2900 emails in my sent box.  Good grief!  I intended to put some of these “priceless” emails in folders.  That didn’t happen so I must not need them, right?  Did I mention I have 3 different emails to clean up? Anything that’s not related to my business, Emersonstreet Books, is history!  I’m lying…but it feels organizing to say it.

I have a second book that should be published by summer and a third book that’s finished and needs an agent.  Have I started my marketing plan?  No. Well it’s in stacks of ideas on my desk, the floor and card table in my office.  That will also be how I spend Spring Break next week.  It’s time to update my list too. And my website needs an overhaul.

Whew! That won’t leave much time for sorting, dusting, painting and fixing up.  And I sooo wanted to get into those closets.

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I want to take this opportunity to applaud Meghan McCain, daughter of  Senator John McCain.  She is one Republican with a voice of reason who has taken on the extremists in the party.  Bravo! She’s not only taken on Anne Coulter, Laura Ingraham andRuss Limbaugh as a contributor to TheDailyBeast.com but on the Larry King show, she stated that she supports the President.  The race is over and Obama won.  Imagine that… a Republican with the guts to say it.  You go Meghan.  I salute you!

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I spent two delightful days last week as the substitute in a Pre-Kindergarten classroom of three year olds. They were cooperative, eager to learn, loving children. They don’t live in an affluent school district but the room is filled with books, learning centers, two computers and fun but educational things to do. By the time these children reach middle school, things will have changed dramatically including the interest their parents will have in their education.  What happens to children to change their attitude about learning and doing well in school between preschool and high school? In the lower grades they believe they can learn…they believe they are smart…are eager to perform and demonstrate what they know and can do. By middle school too many become sullen, difficult, negative and disruptive. Often libraries and current textbooks are not as plentiful at the higher grades as well. Classroom furniture is old, uncomfortable and uninviting for learning. Science labs do not have living things in them or the apparatus necessary for experiments. Even teachers express the loss of hope with the older students. At election time we speak volumes of talk about improving our schools, yet a dramatic disparity in the quality of public education continues to plague our nation. The quality of our children’s educations, and the amount of resources dedicated to our schools, varies radically based on where you live; yet all children must take the same standardized tests regardless of the conditions of their school and communities. Schools are then rated on how the students performed on these tests, regardless of any other factors, such as the number of certified and energetic, creative teachers at the school, parental involvement, the quality and quantity of the textbooks being used, whether modern technology is available, including computers and internet access or the size of the classrooms.  Having access to technology and the internet does not guarantee appropriate use of such tools and resources.  We seem to start the race well but never quite complete with success.  We lose a lot of runners along the way.