Heritage Academy

Heritage Academy ... home to my girls for their middle and high school years.  a solid Christian education. Heritage encouraged them to think, to study, to articulate, to combine faith and learning.  Heritage is unique: it is one of just a few "university model schools" in the country.  Students have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; then are responsible for a heavy load of work at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

My girls were well prepared for college since they had learned how to work independently and diligently; they learned to take ownership of their assignments and their workload.  The staff and faculty at the school are fabulous and all work very hard to provide an exceptional experience for the students.  Electives, sports, mission trips, honor society, praise and worship, theatre ... you name it, you can find it at Heritage.

Here's a shout out to all the wonderful families at Heritage ... thank you for the privilege of being part of this great community seeking to raise up the next generation to love and serve God faithfully!

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA

This is for anyone who lives in Atlanta, who has ever lived in Atlanta, has visited Atlanta, ever plans to visit Atlanta, knows anyone who lives in Atlanta, knows anyone who has ever visited Atlanta or anyone who has ever heard of Atlanta, Georgia.

All directions start with, "Go down Peachtree" and include the phrase, "When you see the Waffle House." 

Peachtree Street has no beginning and no end and is not to be confused with Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Place, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Road, Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Run, Peachtree Trace, Peachtree Ave, Peachtree Commons, Peachtree Battle, Peachtree Corners, New Peachtree, Old Peachtree, West Peachtree, Peachtree-Dunwoody, or Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.

Atlantans only know their way to work and their way home. If you ask anyone for directions they will always send you down Peachtree.

Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola. That's all we drink here, so don't ask for any other soft drink unless Coca-Cola makes it. And even then it's still "Coke."

Gate One at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport is 32 miles away from the Main Concourse, so wear sneakers and pack a lunch.

It's impossible to go around a block and wind up on the street you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls it a "scenic drive" and has posted signs to that effect, so that out-of-towners don't feel lost...they're just on a "scenic drive."

The 8:00am rush hour is from 6:30 to 10:30am. The 5:00pm rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:30pm. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday afternoon, and lasts through 2:00am Saturday.

"Sir" and "Ma'am" are used by the person speaking to you if there's a remote possibility that you're at least 30 minutes older than they are.

A native can only pronounce Ponce De Leon Avenue; so do not attempt the Spanish pronunciation. People will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you. (The Atlanta pronunciation is "pahnss duh LEE-on").

The falling of one rain drop causes all drivers to immediately forget all traffic rules; so will daylight saving time, a girl applying eye shadow in the next car, or a flat tire three lanes over.

If a single snowflake falls, the city is paralyzed for three days, and it's on all the channels as a news flash every 15 minutes for a month. All the grocery stores will be sold out of milk, bread, bottled water, toilet paper, and beer. If there is a remote chance of snow, and if it does snow, people will be on the corner selling "I survived the blizzard" t-shirts, not to mention the fact that all schools will close at the slightest possible chance of snow.

If you are standing on a corner and a MARTA Bus stops, you're expected to get on and go somewhere.

Construction on Peachtree Street is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment, especially when a water line is tapped and Atlanta's version of Old Faithful erupts.

Construction crews are not doing their jobs properly unless they close down all major streets during rush hour.

Atlantans are very proud of our racetrack, known as Road Atlanta. It winds throughout the city on the Interstates - hence it's name.

Actually, I-285, the loop that encircles Atlanta and has a posted speed limit of 55mph (but you have to maintain 80 mph just to keep from getting run over), is known to truckers as "The Watermelon 500."

Georgia 400 is our equivalent of the Autobahn. You will rarely see a semi-truck on GA 400, because even the truck drivers are intimidated by the oversized SUV-wielding housewives racing home after a grueling day at the salon or the tennis match to meet their children at the school bus coming home from the college prep preschool.

The last thing you want to do is give another driver the finger, unless your car is armored, your trigger finger is itchy and your AK-47 has a full clip.

The pollen count is off the national scale for unhealthy, which starts at 120! . Atlanta is usually in the 2,000 to 4,000 range. All roads, vehicles, houses, etc. are yellow from March 28th to July 15th. If you have any allergies you will die.

But other than that, it's a great place to live!

[Source unknown - found it on Facebook!]

Conversations with Siri

Around our house we talk to Siri just because she says such funny things.  Gennie wished her a 'Happy New Year' on the first day of 2013.  I tried to do the same only on the 2nd.  Her response?  "I don't understand.  New Year's Day was yesterday, the 1st of January."  So, I said, 'Okay, so I'm a little late'.  Siri predictable said, 'would you like me to search the web for Okay, so I'm a little late?'

Gennie has been trying to get Siri to tell her a bedtime story.  We all like to say thank you to Siri, just to see how she will respond.

Siri is a very useful friend and personal assistant [most of the time] - though like all of us, she has her moods!

Word of God Speak

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
and the funny thing is it's okay
the last thing i need is to be heard
but to hear what you would say

MercyMe

From Where I Stand

The Tea House

This photo was, I believe taken in early spring [judging by the shade of green in the picture] and we have yet to see it in spring.  We are having fun imagining all the use we will get out of it come warmer weather.

Meanwhile, it makes for excellent storage for the patio furniture.  And for a few laughs whenever one of us suggests that we could use the tea house ... much too cold to even think of going out there now - high of 23 today!

Applied Research

My current grad school class is called Applied Research and Evaluation.  I am really enjoying this term!  I am a bit quirky in that I love spreadsheets and data - not sure why it took me almost 50 years to discover this about myself, but there you have it.  I like data analysis - trying to see what story the data has to tell.

I'm currently working with our admissions department to survey about 50 colleges and universities about their events for prospective students.  Having done the college visits with my two daughters in the last few years, the experience is fairly fresh in my mind.  Some things stood out from those experiences.

In this culture of experience and adventure, what is that makes a great college visit and how can a school attract more students - what does it take to wow this generation?  How can a college help prospective students determine the best fit?

These are the types of questions we are wrestling with - we seek to improve and I have chosen a Google survey as the instrument of my research.

A Blizzard, the Flu, and a Flat Tire

Ahh, the holidays.  Wonderful times, wonderful memories.  The joy of family and presents.  And then the trials and tribulations.  A road trip the day after Christmas this year began late and without a check of the weather.  Alas we were heading directly into a blizzard with 12-16" of snow expected.  What should have been a 7.5 hour drive turned into an overnight odyssey with over 16 hours of road time.  Then we had a marvelous visit with my sister and her family ... A great time was had playing in the snow and enjoying snow sports:  snowshoeing, sledding, cross country skiing, and for some snowboarding.   Unfortunately her husband was sick and unfortunately he passed it on to my daughter.

Time to travel home - complete with one sick person.  A roundabout way and a stop to pick up mom - now we are traveling in 2 cars.  And then a missed turn ... at dinner time on the road on New Year's Eve and we ended up with a flat tire.  Murphy's Law I guess.  Fortunately my wonderful husband quickly put on the spare and we were on the road again.  Finally got home about 11:15 pm.  An 11 hour odyssey this time.  Vermont seems very far away.  I think next time we will opt for a summer visit!  A very tired foursome celebrated at midnight with some sparkling grape juice and retired for the night.  Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013.