The Betrothed

Yesterday we received our long awaited wedding invitation..not so much for the invitation itself but for the wedding that we had hoped that would have taken place long ago. But next month we will go to New York and finally see Steve's brother marry the woman he loves and who has stood by him as he has battled so many medical challenges.

Everyone wants to go. It will be a challenge bringing Naomi as she will be in her 37th week but she loves her uncle. Dontae has never seen NYC or a Jewish ceremony so he's in too.

Tomorrow I am off to Boston to see the precious ones. Oliver was evaluated by the State yesterday and scored the highest possible in every category except spoken speech. I will bring the 'blue car' which he associates with Grandpa. He wanted Grandpa to take him to our garage repeatedly and show him the 'blue car'. It has satellite radio to keep me entertained and I will be zipping through toll booths now with the transponder compliments of the Ohio Turnpike System.
No snowbanks to become mired in such as in my last trip. I anticipate less gas station stops now that I don't have a gas guzzling wagon, handy for carrying cribs, with me. We briefly considered having Steve come with me with Naomi holding down the fort watching the dog(s) but we feel she can't be trusted for more than a day or so.

I had a wonderful massage yesterday centering on my defective shoulder. Although it was slowly getting better with my stretching, this seemed to make it feel even better.

Ann Arbor is now the center of a national reverse racism brouhaha shutting down our newspaper replacement website with people across the country weighing in. A local elementary school principal in an attempt to close the 'achievement gap' scheduled a field trip to visit a African American scientist. Why he couldn't bring the scientist to the school was unclear. The vehicle was only so big so black boys got the first priority and the space was filled with only some of the black girls (the gap is much bigger between boys than in girls). When the kids returned to the classroom, they were booed by those left behind. The principal angrily spoke to the booers trying to justify the situation. The booers main argument "it's not fair!" Parents of those left behind also were furious as they thought a scientist could inspire their kids too. Of course choosing a group based solely on skin color and sex is illegal especially in a public school.

As a scientist that was brought in to 'inspire' kids, I had to laugh that the kids left behind missed anything. I was as entertaining as possible. I had all sorts of demonstrations showing the 'magic' of chemistry and the kids found me fun according to the letters I've received. But I am not sure how inspired they were.

It is raining now just when I have scheduled a long run. Hopefully it will pass soon.