You Said How Long?

Darren and I have been married for thirty-two years. We have "weathered" many storms together. Charlie, Jeanne, oh, I know that doesn't mean literal weather and real storms, but they count, too. They build history and survival between a couple, as well as some good, shared stories. Stories or no stories,
I don't believe anyone can say that cohabitation is easy, but then again, not everyone has as many strong willed people under one roof as Darren, Nikky, and I, oh, and the dog, Abigail, were. I'm sure that's why Nik moved out and took care of herself at seventeen. She's an amazing daughter. However, in spite of our independent determination and differences, Darren, Nikky and I, and now Nik's family, have a strong commitment and love for each other, that home grown kind that puts down deep roots.

In spite of many hard fought resolutions and solutions reached in our small but mighty family, I am amazed at how long it can take an individual to figure out
some of the simplest notions about oneself as well as partners of many years. For example, Darren has a shop that is beautifully kept. His drawers are labeled. His walls are painted artfully and covered with posters and collected items from near and far. He puts his tools up when he uses them, and keeps everything on shelves and in drawers, labeled drawers. His propensity towards neatness in his garage would make an outsider believe he was that way everywhere. Humpf! I know, make of it what you will, but I needed an onomatopoeia there to truly express myself because for the last thirty-two years, I have been picking up Darren's clothes off the bedroom floor for thirty-two years, thirty-two years, and this week on a side trip to The Container Store, we have reached a compromising solution that has made us both very happy and keeps the floors clean of clothes. After thirty-two years, we bought a clothes tree, or it could be a coat tree, and put it in the bedroom. Tada! It is ridiculous how simple that was.

So here is my next thought: No wonder we have a plethora of unresolved issues between opposing sides that can't seem to be settled in a very short time between going to run for office running for office just got elected to office got to run again for office. Like it or not, that is how the system operates at this time, and we may need, in the future, to revisit that with serious scrutiny. In the mean time, by running for school board, I'm vying for a world of short term relationships making long term agreements .  My lesson learned from the clothes tree is this:  do not lose hope, even through the messiest situations. 

 

 

 

 

The Oliverio, Flores Connection

 

Peace. Love, Linda

Ready to Bloom

 

Ready to Bloom

Just outside the screen door off the back of the house, I have a large patch of flowers ready to bloom. They started as a plant I bought at Publix a few years back and put in the ground after it showed signs of tiring of living indoors.  Now my one plant is a large family, and the patch keeps coming up every year as volunteers. I like volunteers. Speaking of which, I will be needing some in the near future as I plan my campaign. I turned my paperwork in Monday, and I am an official candidate. I think that's exciting. I think I might be ready to bloom.

 

When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.

 Psalms 104:30

 

Peace, Love, Linda

I don't know my email address, but I'll be a great board member...

Ahhh, how does a person prove one is competent for an elected position? Does one give elaborate speeches, boast great accomplishments, climb high mountains and take Facebook photos to prove it?
I'm not sure of those things, but I am sure of this, I should know my own email address. I'm laughing as I write this, but it might be pitiful to some. I edited my last post because I put the wrong email address. In my defense, it is new, but still...

My email address is lboliverio@gmail.com. I am open for suggestions on my new venture and happy to hear from those working in the Osceola School District with any comments, remarks, praises, observations, yadayadaya.  Life is good. Find joy in this day. If nothing else works, you can laugh at me. What district do I live in? That I know. It's District 5!

All who wander are not lost.

Peace. Love, Linda



You Know It Don't Come Easy

Running for public office for some may be a "piece of cake," "a walk in the park," a hmmm...
I'm done with that. I don't feel that way. It's a large responsibility, and I run a business. I know I am capable of working both jobs, but Mama implanted a meme in my head that makes that a challenge. It came from Proverbs and goes like this, or something like this:  Whatsoever your hands find to do, do it with all your might. That means no short changing at the home front, Midtown Cycles or Osceola District Schools, hence, some trepidation.

That's not, in any way, a reason not to run for school board for district 5. It's time for me to do this, and I will do the best I can to run a wholesome, honest race and to work the job with passion. I'm well qualified for this job on many levels, and I have a lot of energy. I'll be fine with the new pace. I picked up my packet at the Supervisor of Elections office this morning, and as I stood at the table, it made me almost want to tear (water from the eyes, not ripping up my packet) up a bit. My journey in the world of education has been filled with great personal rewards and extremely painful experiences, all of which have made me stronger. I would not take any of them back, except maybe some of the "stupid" mistakes I made as a first year teacher. If you have ever been a first year teacher and are reading this, you know what I mean, but I passed that test in spite of a lack of experience, and I worked with "all my might" to be the best classroom teacher and District Resource teacher I could be. I believed in my work so much, I sacrificed my job for a set of principles I could not deny. Those principles involved giving our children the best education possible to prepare them for the
"real" world. Because I spoke up against an expensive, poorly developed writing initiative that set our high school students back in writing instead of propelling them forward, my position as writing resource teacher was taken away, and I was placed in the IMC for the remaining months of the 2009 school year, my fifteenth and last year in education. I'm not running on vindication. I've forgiven all involved. They were only following there principles. ( I want to make a principal comment here, but I'm going to pass) I'm running on an idea, a spark that made me speak up and use my voice then, and that idea never died, it has just moved me into a new arena. I have to follow it.

Enough of that serious "stuff."

I'm just beginning my planning, and my sister Ruthie and Mary Beth came up with this for a slogan:
"From the rubber room to the board room." I'm not so sure about putting it on my signs, but it's just too good not to share. If you have any good suggestions email me at lboliverio@gmail.com. Also, I'm looking for teacher's opinions about "Common Core Curriculum". I would love to hear from you.

An intelligent mind acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. Proverbs 18:15

 

And I took the rode less traveled...

 

Peace. Love, Linda

 

New Testament Commandments

Sometimes I wake up at about 4:00A.M. in the morning, and I have to use the bathroom. I really don't like that at all because it's absolutely the worst time in my sleep cycle for me to wake up and readily go back to sleep. It's as if my alarm jumps ahead an hour and forty five minutes and says, time to get up. However, my body, tossing and turning knows better because it still longs for sleep, and my brain starts protesting as it begins the back and forth deep breathing, calm down, go to sleep, did you remember to do this and that and what does this mean, etc. You know the routine.

Last week I had one such early morning conversation inside my brain, and it went something like this. It's a bit disjointed because that's just how it is. And so my brain said this:
Why do we, of course you know who I mean when I say "we", hold the Ten Commandments( my early morning brain did not capitalized Ten Commandments) so sacred but we (same people) really don't emphasize the commandments of the New Testament that Jesus spoke in red ink like (my awake English teacher brain would say, such as), "Do not overcome evil with evil; overcome evil with good"?  Did Jesus say that directly or was it in one of the apostle's writings? I think Jesus said it. Well, wouldn't the world be a wonderful place if we all tried to just follow that one commandment? Then my brain began to flip-flop into breathe in eight times, out eight times, turn on your right side, no the left. Not working. Well, that comes to the question of the definition of good. Oh no, not this kind of brain chatter. Hmmm... Is there a  working definition for good in the Bible? I think somewhere along that point, I rolled onto my back and fell back to sleep. Now the thoughts are back in my brain again, and I have  homework, but I'm sure there are lots of definitions of "good" in the Bible, and they must tie in with the whole, "the greatest of these is love,". Oh yeah, that's a big one! Put that on your stone pizza tablet.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."  Luke 6:37.... We should not take these commandments out of our schools.
Peace. Love, Linda

The Politics of Leaves

I arrive at the shop early each work day to open the big doors and turn on the compressors and my computer before business hours. In the fall, I sometimes add leaf blowing to the mix. The fall leaves tumble across Midtown's driveway and blow right into our front bay doors if I don't take care of them early before the morning breezes kick up the leaf dancers. I strap on the back pack blower and try to strategically blow the leaves away from the doors and in to the grass areas or the ditch in the front of the shop. If I start at 8:00, I'm usually O.K., but the other morning, I began blowing at about 8:20, and the breezes had already begun to move across the wide span of concrete.  I was in complete control of the blower, moving it to and fro with expertise and practiced skill, but the leaves would rise up into the air, hold for an infinitesimal second and then blow in whatever direction the breeze took them. 

That called for new strategies, so when it happened, I began to brandish the blower in a way that sent the leaves in a direction they already wanted to go but that also complimented the outcome I desired. I was so masterful then,except for an occasional, wild, out of the blue whip that blew up from either east or west unexpectedly, variable winds. Then, it might appear to anyone driving down Delaware Avenue at that particular moment that I was absolutely inept and had possibly never used a back pack blower before.

I think political leadership is often just like that. In the end, I imagine, what matters most is the heart and intentions of the leaf blower holder, and I guess if that fails to get the situation in hand...shut the doors of the shop and go home!

What did she say?

Peace. Love, Linda

An Old Friend

I've been in a battle with home computers and haven't been on my blog in awhile. My laptop systems are defunct, and my stand alone raced with a turtle and lost. It's been to the doctor, but I'm afraid it's terminal. I finally have a computer that works well, and I feel a sense of relief writing in this space. It's as if I am getting in touch with a good, old friend. It's getting late, and I still have to set up my computer and toss around Windows 8.  I think I like it. I am not going to pontificate about something at this time as I usually do, but, of course, I will be back with that. I've been thinking about topics in segments and random thoughts. I will put them together again. Writing is fundamental. Oh, and by the way, Monday of next week, I am going to pick up my paperwork to run for School Board for District 5. Deep breath. Yes, I said it, and I'm doing it. The time is right, and no one is more qualified for the job than I am. I guess this is where I say, Thanks for your support. Find joy in this evening.

Peace. Love, Linda

Looking Up.