Names: "a rose by any other name..."

Just a little rant here--

What is it about names that people feel they have the right to shorten them?  People often shorten the names of places--as if they are too lazy or too busy to say the entire name, but that is not what I am talking about.  I mean the names of people.  They are introduced to "Robert" and say, "Hi Bob, nice to meet you"--Robert does not go by Bob and was never introduced as such.  It is perfectly polite to ask if someone has a nickname or, better yet, they might propose that you call them by a shortened form of their name or another diminutive they sometimes use.  But it is an assumption that you can call them by any name you choose--whether that person wants you to or not.  An example is my 7 year old son--Joshua.  He goes by the name of Joshua and most children call him by that.  Many adults, however, call him "Josh" without asking what he would like to be called.  Or else they ask,"can I call you Josh?"; which, of course, to an adult he says "sure" (what else would he say to a teacher, parent, or school staff?).   They never seem to note that I call him Joshua and that he introduced himself as such.  A parent of one of my students went by Mrs. Johnson and when a social worker asked "is it Barbara?", the mother answered "my name is Mrs. Johnson."  Shakespeare's "A rose by any other name..." lines are not always true.  A name is what defines us, tells who we are from, and how we see ourselves.  A Peg brings up a different mental picture than Margaret, Margie, Maggie, or other name.  I chose to change to my full name as a teenager after a childhood of a nickname; my daughter did the same when she started middle school.  When one reinvents oneself, one usually choose a different name as well.  Calling your teacher Ms. Jones is different than calling her Janie.  Call a person the name they were introduced by; whether it be Ms. Brown or Chuckles unless he or she invites you to call them something else.     

Christmas

It's hard to think about summer as 1-2 feet of snow fall outside the window!  I can barely see across the street.  We are going to leave for our vacation on the last day of school.  That is very stressful.  The last few days of school leading up to the last day are stressful and filled with a million details and paperwork that has to be completed, but I always know that I have a few days after the last day to finish up and pack up my classroom for the summer (everything needs to be packed away in boxes and cupboards because they use it for summer school).  So now I not only have the normal stress and end-of-year work, but I have to somehow get my classroom boxed up before the school year actually ends (teaching without materials-hmmmm), and shop and pack for a 6 week vacation!  Aaaaaaaaack!!!

Oh My Gosh!

Hi! Anneliese here!

We're going to Australia and New Zealand! I can't wait. It will be so cool to see the home of the Lord of the Rings movies, and to perhaps snorkle in the reef. Not only that, but I can't wait to see the Outback as well!! So fun!  

Getting started!

Well, now we've told the children where we're going--which is New Zealand and Australia.  In past travels, I've kept a travel journal of where we go, what we see, our thoughts, etc.  I have over 20 years worth of these in the bottom of a drawer.  Part of the reason for the travel journal was to label the photos when we had them developed.  I can be a bit obsessive-compulsive so everything had to be dated and labeled correctly, then placed in a photo album in chronological order.  Now that we're digital with the photos are on our computer and my husband makes a DVD of the vacation, it's a bit less necessary.  But I still have thoughts and details and other observances of where we are.  And I have a favorite quote:  "how do I know what I think until I see what I've written?"  But last summer, my husband's blog of our vacation made my journal extraneous.  My then-13 year old daughter wanted to blog, but didn't keep up with it very well--always other things to do.  So this year, I will blog instead of keeping a travel journal and let my now 14-year old daughter add to it when the mood strikes her!  My husband's blog, which has details of our upcoming trip is at:  lee-reidfamilytravels.blogspot.com .   I may occasionally blog, but will become better the closer we get to leaving in June.