Greetings, everyone!

Thank you for visiting my blog. I am not too consistent in writing on my blog sometimes, but I will always return to it eventually!

I hope everyone is having a good summer. (It's almost over).

I don't really notice the difference in summer vs. spring anymore. When I taught school, I did so because I knew that summer was the only time teachers could relax, at least a little, before returning to the classroom. But now with all of the red tape and bureaucracy, teachers don't stop during the summer and have to keep attending useless workshops and time-wasting lectures (a FEW of these have value, but not many), just so we can say we did the required 60 hours that the legislators (not teachers) decide we should do.

I'm out of that now. I quit teaching in 2009 and decided to strike out on my own. I had always wanted to be in business for myself and I don't regret that decision, though I do miss working with students and teaching literature, writing, etc.

Both of my parents were great educators. My dad taught for years and then worked as basically Assistant Superintendent for the last few years of his career. He always had very high ethics (he and my Mom are where I got a lot of mine), and did a great job. They just didn't pay him near enough. There were rednecks that called themselves principals that questioned why the district should pay an extra $2000 per year for a Ph.D. (which my dad had--well, Ed.D. which is the same thing for education degrees). So I taught at the same school as my dad for a good part of my career and my 24 graduate hours in Psychology and Counseling actually raised my pay $2000 more per year for the 24 hours, but they only paid him a meager $400 per year for the Doctorate!! What in the world is wrong with this picture?

Regardless, he kept doing a great job and was awarded a plaque of excellence at the end of his 35 years of service, then he even returned and did more years on a PT basis later after retirement. He was very dedicated.

My mother was equally amazing and dedicated to her teaching career. She loved helping people and taught Business Education and Typing, Shorthand, and Accounting in the early part of her career in the mid-70s. As the computer revolution unfolded, her job evolved into teaching computers. She taught CIS (computer information systems, Windows, and other tech courses in the latter part of her career. She introduced me to computer stuff, but I didn't really become a true nerd until 2000, when I learned the entire HTML language so I could have full creative freedom to build websites.

My mom always loved teaching because she loved helping people and opening up opportunities in their lives that they didn't have before. I did a video of her retirement party and interviewed several people, former students, co-workers, and administrators, and they all said they loved Mom and how she had helped the school and the students and had a lasting impact.

I created tons of websites in my hometown area, including the original James Ranch page, McNabb Funeral Home, and several others. Then I moved from my brick-and-mortar studio to a virtual-only business, and it grew even faster after I left the building. 

I miss my parents, but they are still with me in spirit through our walk with Jesus, and I know we'll be together again. 

I saw this butterfly BOBO BIRD watch (see the top) on Amazon recently, and it reminded me of my mom, because we used to go on all of these nature trips and more than once, the butterflies would land on Mom's shoulder or hand and stay out here. And please return. I'll post again sometime in September.