So, everyone knows that since Dear Daughter got accepted to both her first and second choice colleges, we've been trying to help her decide which to attend.  Either Clemson University in South Carolina or Drexel University in Philadelphia. 

She thought it best to visit each, and maybe one or the other would stand out.  But when I started planning the trips, it was chaos.  Planes,  rental cars, hotels, etc. etc.  I was so not looking forward to either trip.

However, thanks to Chevrolet, I'm actually looking forward to it now.  We will be undertaking a 8 day road trip that encompasses both University visits.  And we'll be riding in style--a 2010 Chevy Tahoe!!  This will happen in just a few weeks.  I'll even get to stop and meet some of you!  Details to come...  And of course, I'll keep you updated on our progress, through blog posts, videos, tweets, and photos.

Thanks Chevy for sponsoring our trip!!!

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Here's the week, so far--

Monday--Day 2 of Daughter's Birthday--most of you know that she's a leap year baby. So on those years that she doesn't have a birthday, she claims both Feb 28 AND March 1 as her birthday. She stretches it over 2 days. So Day 2 bought more birthday cards, cake and cash!

Tuesday--She gets an acceptance letter from her first choice in colleges--Drexel University in Philadelphia. She's over the moon!

Wednesday--TheTinyJEWELBox is named Best Personal Blog in the Sun Sentinel Best of Blogs contest. I was over the moon!

Thursday--She gets an acceptance letter from her second choice in colleges--Clemson University in South Carolina. We're both over the moon!

Today--I'm sitting outside waiting on the postman. I'm hoping that I win the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes and continue the winning streak...

What's happening in your house this week? Your comments--priceless!!

Today, my daughter takes her final SAT tests. Amazingly, it carries a lot of weight with college admission departments. I'm not sure that I understand why.

Certainly, you need to know the mathematical value of pi to succeed in life, right? And surely, you'll have use for dissecting sentences regularly as a "grown-up," right? I think we should totally reinvent the SATs to make sure our youth are truly ready for life. We can test their knowledge on things like balancing checkcards and changing tires and how to properly behavior in the work environment. Wouldn't that make more sense?

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It's a sad day in my neighborhood. After a lengthy undercover operation, several government officials were arrested and charged with corruption. These officials include a former city commissioner, and the SITTING county school board member, in whose area I reside.

This is the one that shocks me the most. While I've never been particularly fond of her, I have worked with her since I've come to Florida. Last year, another dear friend ran against her and, though I campaigned vigorously for him, he lost. She's been our school board member since 2000 and had much more support and money.

Her house of cards started to unravel last month, when she failed to submit a required financial disclosure statement with the Florida Commision on Ethics Last week, she announced that she was taking a medical leave, but whispers of a pending federal indictment swirled. Then, this morning, she was arrested at her home. She's been charged with bribery, extortion, and wire fraud.

How can we expect of our youth, what we don't expect of ourselves? I'm speechless at this...

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Yep, FOJ Friday is back!!! Let me introduce FOJ Ray Doswell. I met Ray a couple years back when he became a client of mine. He is the Vice President of Curatorial Services for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. And EVERYONE knows that baseball is my favorite sport!

Ray was born in St Louis and spent his formative years in East St Louis, Illinois. Teachers played a huge role in his early life, inspiring him to become an educator. This led to various degrees, including a doctorate in Education.

In case you haven't heard of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, it was founded in 1990 by a group of local baseball baseball historians, community members, business people, and former baseball players. It began as a small, grassroots organization and has blossomed into a major attraction for the city. The Museum preserves the history of African American baseball in general, with emphasis on the professional Negro Leagues that existed from 1920-1960. The Museum tells stories through multimedia exhibits, art, photographs, and artifacts. Ray has been involved since 1995.

His greatest challenge is staying ahead of everything. The museum world has to anticipate learning trends and audience needs 1-3 years ahead of time. Through his work, Ray has met some great folks. While he thinks that baseball fans are amazing, it brings him special joy to meet someone who is learning about the Negro Leagues for the first time, or someone who thought they knew all about baseball, and discovered, after visiting NLBM, that they didn't. He's even more satisfied who has no affinity for baseball, but reallly gets hooked on the history lessons that the Museum provides.

I asked Ray what advice he would give to someone looking to get into non-profit work. Here is his response--

"Anyone who has interest in working for a non-profit organization, especially service organizations and museum, must remember this; LEADERSHIP=SERVICE. You show leadership to your community and your family by the work that you do, which typically involves some level of service towards others. Most times, that work is not glamorous or financially rewarding, but it is so important to always keep the mission of your organization first and foremost in your mind. My work often keeps me away from the actually gallery space and visitors. So, when I need a reality check, I go down from the office to see how people react to what we have provided. I read the visitor’s log and see people from everywhere who appreciate what we have taught them. I get to talk to people of all ages about what they learned that day in the museum. It energizes me to go do the job better."

Ray encourages everyone to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and become members. It's truly a moving experience. While he wants us to support NLBM, he also thinks that it's important to support museums in your own communities who strive to preserve American history.

You can email him at rdoswell@nlbm.com. You can also friend the Museum on Facebook.

Some say today, 9-9-09, will be the end of the world. I would like to hope not. I'm so not finished living. There are many things on my bucket list that I haven't done yet. I'm ill prepared for the end today.

Why do folks believe in such superstitious things? Why do they pass them on to their kids? Yesterday, my son came home from school and asked if I knew the world was ending today. I told him that I knew no such thing. In fact, I was so convinced that today would be no different than yesterday, that I insisted that he do his math homework.

On the other hand, I've heard of everyone from brides to film companies, coveting this date for their weddings and film releases. Everytime one of these triple digit dates comes up, we have this nonsense. Carry on, folks! Besides, my birthday is this weekend and I haven't gotten my flip video camera yet. Surely the world can't end before that!

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Lately, I feel like I've needed the help of readers more and more. Today is no different. Please help me with this question--WHY would you NOT want your child to hear an address from the President of the United States, advising him/her to stay in school and stay off drugs??

Please help me. To me, your own political affiliation should not even come into play. What difference does it make what party the President represents? Isn't this a message that any parent would want their child to hear? Especially coming from POTUS?

I'm very unclear on what the fear is? Will he say something that, when played backwards, will have a new meaning--like Missy Elliott did a few years back? Will he turn them into Democrats? I think he realizes that kids don't vote.

Please. If you have school aged kids in your life and do NOT want POTUS to address them, please tell me why. I simply don't understand. For the record, my kids will be present and accounted for on Tuesday.

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It is only fitting that September, my birth month, is Library Card Sign Up Month. I have been reading all of my life. As a child, the library was one of my favorite places. Didn't really matter what kind of library--Public library, School library--heck, I even spent time at the nearby Walter Reed Medical Library. Don't ask how I got onto Walter Reed's base--that's a post for a different time.

Anyhow, Library Card Sign Up Month has been observed since 1987 and it's the time when public libraries remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all. However, in these tough economic times, I would venture to say that an adult library card is a good idea as well. The cards allow you to check out books for no charge and I can get lost in a book for hours at a time.

Do you have a library card? Does it get much use? Why not? Take some time this month to introduce a young person to the public library and be sure to get a card for yourself as well!

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So, we've bailed out the banking industry, we've invested millions into the auto industry--including cash for clunkers, we're helping homeowners. But why is it that in the world's most powerful country, our education system is far inferior to our European and Asian counterparts?

When are we going to dump some cash into educating our youth? Why can't our kids compete in the areas of math and science? Why are public school budgets being slashed to bare bones all across the country? Why aren't we holding our elected officials accountable for these decisions?

What message does it send to the students--are cars and banks more important than them? Are they truly our most precious resource? Do we have "jacked up" priorities?

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Yesterday, the Miami Dade County School Board voted to name a new North Miami high school in honor of professional athlete Alonzo Mourning, and his wife Tracy. I think that it was quite fitting. They have made amazing philanthropic offerings to the South Florida area, especially those causes that champion children.

Zo founded Alonzo Mourning Charities in 1997. AMC raises money for local programs that serve under priviledged youth. His flagship event, Zo's Summer Groove, is one of the biggest put on annually in Miami. ZSG attracts both celebrities and celebrity seekers, for a weekend of charity events, including a golf tournament, comedy show, and basketball game. Tracy founded the Honey Shine program in 2002, geared towards girls. I've attended a few of Honey Shine's events and they are top notch. They also support kidney disease programs--Zo received a kidney transplant in 2003.

These are just a few of their endeavors. They take "giving back" very serious. The Mournings have been recognized locally and nationally, several times, as Family of the Year. They lend a hand wherever it's needed, though not always public. I'm glad to see that they were recognized in this huge way. They are way deserving.

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Michelle O's commencement address over the weekend starting me thinking--What would I say to graduates if I were giving the keynote address? I think my message would be on the same vein as Michelle's--enjoy life, give back, and don't lose sight of what's important.

Enjoyment is key. Life is much too short and tomorrow is never promised, so live in the moment and see blessings in every circumstance. Don't forget those without whom you've couldn't have made it. Become that person to someone else. Know that being successful does not necessarily mean that you are wealthy. Don't get caught up in the pursuit of money and material things. Realize early that money has nothing to do with happiness. If it did, then Liz Taylor wouldn't have been married 32 times and Michael Jackson wouldnt have a rubber nose. Find things in life that make you happy--family, basketball, toy poodles, whatever! Find those things and enjoy. That's what it's all about!

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I went to high school in my hometown of Washington, DC. It was Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, home of the Colts. While it certainly wasn't a school of elite status, there were many adults who actually saw promise in the students and dared to care. Cecelia Broadnax was one such individual. She was the assistant principal. Strangely, I can't recall the principal's name, but I'll never forget Mrs. Broadnax. Quite often, she would say, "Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn." I'm sure that I heard her say it hundreds of times during my high school years.

That little adage never left me, but I must admit that it was long after high school before they took on any real significance. Over and over, I have found myself in situations where her words would resound loudly. "Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn." And each time, I say to myself, "You're right, Mrs. Broadnax. I have fallen short again," and resolve to do better.

I have no idea of whatever happened to Mrs. Broadnax, or if she is even still alive. But wherever she is, I hope she knows that I heard her and I thank her...

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I have always loved to read. As a child, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Louise Fitzhugh were my favorite authors. I became quite attached to the librarian at my elementary school. I went to visit her house on weekends. By the way, I've looked for her for about 10 years--I think she died. I wanted to tell her how much she shaped my life and express gratitude. But back to the story...

Almost 20 years ago, my oldest daughter started school in Montgomery County, Maryland. It was one of the best schools ever. Her principal, David Rotter, enacted something called DEAR time. It stood for DROP EVERYTHING AND READ. Once a week, he would go to the PA System and announce, "It's DEAR time." That meant that for the next 45 minutes, everyone in the school, from the janitors and cafeteria workers to the students and secretaries--even teachers, had to pick up something and read. It could be a magazine, newspaper, novel, or anything other reading material. But you had to read until he announced that DEAR time was over.

It was kind of weird the first couple times that I experienced it, seeing everyone flipping pages and engrossed in reading. But then, I got the hang of it and started bringing a book with me during my volunteer shifts, just in case Mr. Rotter called for DEAR time. After a few years, he retired and someone else took over. I'm not sure how or why, but DEAR time went away. I thought it was a great idea and I missed it. What could be better for our children than instilling a love of reading and learning?

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