Appreciate a Good Thing Before it is Gone

     I have noticed that so many people don't appreciate what they've have. They are constantly complaining about their life and it is mostly related to their significant other.. I wish I could say that when I had a husband I didn't appreciate a good thing  but well, what I had was not worth keeping and I tried to appreciate it none the less. I get so upset when I see people angry at their "significant" other because maybe things are not perfect. They always want more, they are never satisfied with what they have.

     I tried to be satisfied with what I had when I was married. I was a good wife, kept the house clean, tried to keep meals on the table, took care of the yard and the kids. Sometimes I even worked outside the home to help him support me. I tried my best to make life perfect.

     What did I get back? I had an alcoholic who put his booze before anything else in life, even his own kids. I had someone who talked down to me all of the time. Someone who did not appreciate anything I ever did. Never told me, not even once that I looked nice. Never remembered my birthday, did not recognize me on any other holiday either. Simply put, I was nothing to him.

     I had a husband who was not a good father, he did not help with the kids at all. He got mad if I did things with and for the kids because it took away from him. He got mad if I did anything for myself, when I lost weight and bought new clothes he got mad and accused me of cheating. He made me feel like I was walking on egg shells all of the time and did the same thing to the kids. He got angry if I tried to hug him or hold his hand in public because "he didn't believe in PDA.."

     Even though I was treated that way, I tried very hard to make things work. I tried to make a good life for my kids and myself. I tried until I could try no more. So when I left he was sorry and realized that he did not appreciate a good thing when he had it but, it was too late. The damage was done, I was done and there was no way to repair things. That did not mean I did not still care, it just meant I was done. I was tired of not being appreciated.

     So as I watch people take each other for granted I think back on how hard I tried and I tried for twenty years but there came a point when I could try no more. So everything can come to and end if one person is getting nothing back. The person will eventually decide that they deserve better or that even nothing is better than being taken for granted and the person who was taking advantage will realize that they should have appreciated a good thing because it is gone.

+appreciate
+granted
+gone
+good thing
+Appreciate what you have before it is gone

Enjoy them While they Are Young: They Will Never Be Young Again

     I went for a drive today to take pictures. It was a nice drive, it was also a therapeutic drive. It was sad, beautiful and gave me a sense of melancholy. Many thoughts ran through my mind as I went for this drive.

     I ended up at some of the places  my sons and I used to go. Places where we went swimming, hiking and just hanging out. This got me to thinking and made me  sad that those days are gone forever. I will never, ever in my life get that time back. My boys will never be that young again, we will never spend that kind of time together again. I miss those fun times and that is what made me sad.

     My mind also wandered off to the times when my boys were even younger and we would go to storytime at the library, or for a walk in the park. Or the times I took them to the park so they could play at the playground. Then there were times when I hung out with friends who had kids their age. We would spend the entire day together visiting and  watching the kids play.

     I also got to thinking of the picnics we had in the back yard, or the indoor picnics. The times we made the tents in the living room and the houses we built together with legos or Lincoln logs.

     As I thought about all of these fun things I did with my sons I became a bit sadder because those days are gone, I will never have those boys back. I will never have those times back. That is sad.

     Sometimes I wish I hadn't devoted so much time to my boys and focused more on me, I wish I had done more of the adult things I wanted to do, not because I regret all of the things I did with my boys but because now I feel such a sense of loss and sorrow when I drive to places we used to go or look back on the things we used to do.A sorry at the days gone by...

      Then I realize that I have no regrets, I am so thankful that I decided to put my boys first, I am so thankful that I devoted myself to my sons by spending time with them and doing those fun things. I am glad that most everything I did in life was for them. I am thankful I did this because they are only young once, I can do all of those grown up things I missed out on once they are grown. Once they are grown I will never get that time back and I think of all I would have missed out on, which makes me glad for the choices I made.

     My advice to all parents is to enjoy your kids while they are young, enjoy all they have to offer, enjoy their laughter, their smiles and well, just enjoy them. Those are precious times you will never be able to get back but memories you will cherish forever even if sometimes those memories make you cry.

Mass Killers Need No Names, Call them Anonymous Killers

     In the wake of the mass murder in Orlando on June 12, 2016 I felt compelled to write this piece. The man took the lives of 50 people. This mass killing is being called the worst in US history, the killer is being said to be tied to Isis but, they are not sure. The one and only thing that is certain is that 50 people are dead and many injured by this one man. This one man who felt he had the right to take human lives. People are outraged, as they well should be. If they were not then I would be extremely concerned for our society as a whole. Some are calling for more gun control, others for ban on guns. Some say we need to spread the love, people need to learn to love each other. My thoughts are that more gun control or gun bans will not work and while everyone loving each other would be beautiful, it is not going to happen in the real world.

     So that leaves the problem of how to stop these killings. I may not have the solution but I do have an idea and a thought of what might stop this from happening, stop mass killings from happening, at least in some instances. It most likely won't stop the terrorist groups such as Isis, but they are not the only mass killers, they are not the only ones who walk into crowded groups and start shooting. Many others do the same thing and if this mass murder is not linked to Isis then it may be linked to those who kill for fame. They kill to become known, to go down in history, to become household word famous.. That is what we need to stop. That is what needs to end, and all of the gun control and love will not stop those types of sick individuals. They are driven by the idea of fame and notoriety. Giving them their wish needs to stop, they need to become notih
ng more than anonymous killers. No one should let the name of these evil people leave their lips.

     Gun control and gun banning will not stop mass murders, criminals will still get their guns. Most of them do not acquire them legally so the control and bans just are not going to stop them. We have more gun control laws these days than ever before and it seems to me like the mass murder numbers are growing. This is not to say I think anyone should be able to just walk into a store and buy a gun. I do not think that, I believe we need regulations but this post is not about gun control or bans, it is about the issue of mass killings and gun control is just not going to solve that problem.

     While spreading love, loving each other etc is a wonderful idea. I would love to live in a world where those who disagree with each other still love, still care and still believe in preservation of life. But we don't live in that kind of world. There are still those evil people who kill. They kill in the name of God, they kill in anger and many of them kill to become known.They feel, for some reason that they should be known by the world and  want to become a household name. They thrive and live for this. They are sick individuals and we need to stop giving them their wish by making them famous when they kill.

     Movies have been made about the lives of many famous killers, their names are household words. Some of them even admitted to killing for fame, others died knowing they would become famous. I will not even give them the fame here although they are deceased. They do not deserve that.

     So who is most guilty of giving these people the fame they thrive on? The media, the media plasters the name of the killer all over the news, then people spread it through Social Media giving the evil killer that fame he or she wanted. We have to remember, these are sick people. Many of them are willing to die for this fame. They just want to be remembered forever. To be in history books, to be a part of history which many times leads to stories romanticizing the killer and many people end up "feeling" for the bad guy.

     These people need to become known as anonymous killers, their names should never leak out and the press should never say the name of the killer. .Don't make a hero of them, don't give them recognition. Don't label them at all. Don't even give them the label of male or female. This way they can't become famous, they won't be known to the world and the families of the loved ones whose lives they took can also avoid looking in the history books or watching the movies that make these evil beings famous, these evil beings who took innocent lives with no regard for human life.

     This might not solve the problem but then again it could. Maybe the sick person sitting at home watching the killer who just took lives in Florida become a house hold name, knowing this sick person will be a part of history good or bad. Maybe the person romanticizing about the fame and wanting it for themselves will think twice before committing a mass murder later on for fame if there is no fame for the crime, if the killer is simply referred to as the "anonymous killer" he or she won't find it necessary to kill. I mean, what is the point for people like that if no one will know who you are.

      Of course all mass murders are not committed for fame but, even if this would prevent one isn't it worth it?  Also, why do the murderers deserve fame, the do not even deserve a mention, they don't deserve their name to enter or leave the mouth of anyone in society. The families and loved ones of those 50 innocent people who were killed should not have to see the name of the evil person who took their loved ones from them so needlessly plastered all over the news.

     This said I want to send out my condolences to all who lost loved ones on June 12, 2016. My heart aches for you, I pray for you as you heal from this horrid tragedy and I hope this never happens again.
   
   

Potatoes Share Everything

     While teaching my students how to create stop motion movies I learned that I love creating them myself. So, once summer came I decided to just play around and create some of my own. The actual shots took me around an hour to take. Putting it together did not take near as long.

     I plan to write up a Power Point on creating a stop motion movie. I am going to create a lesson plan to go along with it.

     This project meets so many learning objectives. Students begin with an idea and turn that idea into a presentation. They use their creative thinking, and problem solving skills. Students also will use writing, math and reading skills. Their vocabulary is enhanced and they learn how to present their movie too. I am excited to create this lesson or rather extend the lesson I created for my gifted and talented students already.

     The power point presentation will help those who want to teach a stop motion lesson and also help those learning how to make a stop motion movie. You can use just about anything to create one, all you really need is imagination and determination because the picture taking process does become a bit tedious.

    This movie, Potatoes Share Everything is just a fun look into well, Potato Heads sharing ...just about everything. It has some flaws but it is just for fun. I will create some more professional movies soon...

     Music is by my son Blake Miller
     GSS was a perfect fit for this show.

     Potatoes Share Everything by Kim E. Miller

Elementary Students Stop Motion Movies

     I teach gifted ed and this was my first year at my new job. I am so proud of my students who created some amazing stop motion movies. At the first of the year they watched a claymation/stop motion movie that students at another school created. This was near Halloween mind you. They came up with ideas and then spent the better part of the year making them come to life. I will tell in more detail how to create a stop motion movie, or at least how we did, later on. This post is about my students movies.

     It was a lot of work. One of my student, DL, experienced many issues with the Movie Maker program but she prevailed and made it work. The sounds are what gave her issues. She would put them in one spot, then when she added another sound they would all jump around. Finally she wrote all the sound timings down and I fixed it on my computer. She never gave up though, she would try and try only to have it jump on her. I think her movie Lexi turned out great!

     My other student JB didn't have any glitches but we sure learned how hard it is to get fishing line to tie around clay. The clay is heavy and the line just cuts right through it. She was finally able to make her characters fly though. She never gave up.

     The other students didn't really hit any obstacles. We just all found that creating clay people is time consuming, but the actual movie editing is even more time consuming.

     This blog has been created to share my students movies. They call their production company DR. AJ the DJ which they created using the first letter of their first and last names. Very inventive fifth grade kids. I would sometimes forget they were only ten years old.

     Now kick back and enjoy the creations of DR. AJ the DJ Productions

DR AJ the DJ Productions Presents

Giving Pedophiles Access: The Problem With Shared Restrooms

     It doesn't matter  how you feel about opposite gender people using the same public restrooms, no matter what end of the issue you are on, if you care about the youth of today and their safety you will see that it is wrong. This idea puts young children in danger from predators in so many ways. It is not even a moral issue, it is a safety issue that must be addressed.

     Allowing males to enter the female bathroom opens the door to pedophiles being able to enter a restroom of the opposite gender. A pedophile can now just claim to be transgender and viola he enters the girls bathroom. Inside that restroom are young girls, they are someones daughters and they are put in danger because businesses allow males to enter female restrooms.

     This same issue can possibly happen in a male restroom too. A female pedophile claims to be transgender and enters the boys restroom only to prey on the innocent boys using that restroom. Those boys are someones sons.

     If people do not think this is going to happen they they have their heads in the sand. They are blind and they need to wake up before someone's daughter or son is molested while using a public restroom. Is it that important to transgender people to pee in the restroom they feel is their right gender? Really do they want to put innocent children at risk? Do they care more about where they urinate than about the path they pave for perverts?  Pedophiles are wicked, they are evil and they will take advantage of any situation to fill their craving for young people. They look just like everyone else too, they can look like you or like me, they can even dress as a different gender to gain entrance to their victims restroom. They do not care and this will happen now that they have this new freedom.

     So please people, stop and think about the young innocent children who are being placed at risk by allowing males into female restrooms and females into males. It opens way too many doors that should remained closed.

Some People are Walking Cliche's

     I read this saying the other day that got me to thinking: Dating in 2016 is horrible. Everyone lies. Everyone plays games. Everyone cheats. There's no exclusiveness. There's no trust. It's "what have you done for me lately? If I'm unhappy I'll cheat." No staying power. No building together. Who taught us how to love like this?" 

     My first thought was that this is nothing new, it has been this way for as long as I remember. Yes now days maybe more people split up but that is because it is easier to leave. Society as a whole does not promote monogamy and well, it isn't a shame to cheat and it isn't a shame to lie or split up anymore. It is partly a breakdown of moral values but that is a completely different blog...

     Back to this post I saw, my second thought was that many people are just a walking cliche. They never appreciate what they have and are always looking for something better, for greener pastures. They are the ones who have no staying power, when the going gets tough, the tough get going and they well...just leave. Once they give up what they had they realize that nothing is as it seems and the greener pasture isn't so green after all. So, they want back what they once had. These people always want what they can't have, don't appreciate what they've got until its gone and in the end what they want back might have sailed to a different port. 

     My final thoughts on all of this is that some people just can't be happy, they expect perfection yet are not perfect themselves. They are just never happy with what they have. They always want something different, something better, something more, but they never find happiness.  They want excitement but yet life is not always exciting, it actually can at times be rather dull. So they leave what they have and for a while it is exciting but then that ends and they are back to where they began, looking for something new. 

     So many people don't work at anything because it is just this viscous cycle that goes on and on and they just keep searching endlessly for the greener pasture only to find that the grass is not greener on the other side. It is all the same, just sometimes different shades of green.