Sore knees and term papers

hi! I'm back! I have a quick reprieve from work. Trying to squeeze 12 months of work into 6 months has been a challenge. I think that I can handle it, although the students wonder why their papers are not graded as soon as they hand them in. Note to all students in the world: unless you are taking an independent study and the only person in the class, chances are that your professor has other students to assist and grade. You are not the only one. Just sayin'

Did that sound a bit salty? Maybe...just a bit of post traumatic stress....needing some therapy....tennis therapy...time to hit a ball or two with my racquet.

On to what is going on....while drinking my coffee this morning, I saw "Meatball Man" on the Today Show. MM is a well known meatball expert. He is running a fund raiser for Covenant House in NYC. This is a terrific cause and MM is the star of the show...which leads me to muse...did he always want the title of "Meatball Man"? Did he say to his mother at the age of 6, "Mom, I see meatballs in my future..." Did mom look at her baby with adoration and say: "Good choice of professions, honey. Let's work toward entrance into Meatball University where you can major in meat." Yes, MM probably has a Bachelors of Arts in Meat.

Why am I going on about Meatball Man? Oh, I don't know. Perhaps I am reflecting on the days when my son would say to me: "Mom, I want to become a marine biologist....but live in Pennsylvania...."  Why not Iowa?

or

"Mom, I want to be a priest. They only work on Sundays...." That lasted 1 minute.....

or

"Mom, I want a job where I can make mistakes all the time..." What mother doesn't want to hear those words?

Of course, the desire and commitment to higher education has turned into a passion for a sport and therefore, the major continues to change and morph into a convoluted journey. Currently, he is taking Spanish, marketing, and two communication courses. This is a bit of a hodge podge and I may see where it leads by the end of next year when he either graduates or is in the minor leagues.

Speaking of baseball, let's go onto the next subject. "Mom, my knees are sore." OK, well then, do not run until they feel better.....of course, this fell onto deaf ears when he reported: "The knees are still sore and I saw a trainer after I worked out." Hmmm...two things...1. he has not been cleared to return to training 2. why the heck would he run knowing that there was something weird going on with his knees?

Where is the critical thinking? Oh, I forgot...there is none.

And so, the big guy comes home on Friday morning for the week and will either be cleared by the doctor or told to stay out of the gym for a longer period of time.

He has time to prepare for the season. His grades are great (yes, that is what I said...great) and he can hit the gym with full force when he is cleared. Until then, grab the remote control and open a textbook, write a paper, get some sleep....I got an idea...call your momma every now and then...She would love to hear from someone who is not complaining that they did not get an A for a two paragraph term paper.

Gotta go read more papers....have a good day!