Last weekend Ben took the kids to one of our favorite holidays events, breakfast with Santa. One of my customers, Pasek Corp, has a close relationship with Santa (he works there in the off-season) and they host a fabulous breakfast with the big guy. I couldn’t make it to breakfast this year because I had accidentally scheduled the Pathways wrapping brunch for the same day, but I told Ben to take lots of video so I could watch later. Let’s just say that my position as family photographer and historian is not in jeopardy.

Here’s the sole piece of footage that can be watched without inducing nausea. As you can see, even though Norah had been telling everyone she saw for the last two weeks that she would be sitting on Santa’s lap, Santa’s in the same category with Elmo and Cookie Monster…nice to look at as long as they don’t get too close. She made sure to grab the gift though.

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.Yesterday I asked Aliya what she put on her list for Santa, and she said, “A digital camera, an iPod, and a Nintendo DS.” Hold everything…where’d that DS come from? I told her that Santa wouldn’t be able to afford such expensive gifts and she said, “OK…you can cross off the digital camera.” Um…since the photo printer that came as a free gift with purchase has already been given away to Adlani’s teacher, no-can-do. Ho Ho Ho.

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It’s been a really long time since I spent the day in bed, although Sherry and I used to sleep until mid-afternoon quite often during our single-girl-on-the-prowl days. Yesterday during the Pathways wrapping brunch I somehow hurt my lower back, which also affected my hips, knees, and ankles. I was a hurtin’ unit, as they say in the north country of Vermont. After everyone left I took to the couch around 2 p.m., and moved only as far as the bedroom and bathroom for more than 24 hours. Food was delivered periodically by my enthusiastic servant (who has now told me that since she has an upset stomach I’m her servant). Ben took over my position as chauffeur, and drove Aliya to a birthday party (stopping on the way to buy a gift card) and her dance workshop. I missed two parties but I just couldn’t get vertical. I’m feeling a little better but I think I’ll have to pay a visit to Dr. Gensler, spine-adjuster extraordinaire.

Normally, I would have spent the 24 hours in bed catching up on work, but I couldn’t sit in a semi-reclined position to use my laptop. So I finished a GREAT book I’ve been reading. It’s actually the second great book in a row, so here they are in case your spouse is looking for stocking-stuffer ideas for you.

From Publishers Weekly: Stunning, wrenching and inspiring, the fourth novel by Canadian novelist Hill (Any Known Blood) spans the life of Aminata Diallo, born in Bayo, West Africa, in 1745. The novel opens in 1802, as Aminata is wooed in London to the cause of British abolitionists, and begins reflecting on her life. Kidnapped at the age of 11 by British slavers, Aminata survives the Middle Passage and is reunited in South Carolina with Chekura, a boy from a village near hers. Her story gets entwined with his, and with those of her owners: nasty indigo producer Robinson Appleby and, later, Jewish duty inspector Solomon Lindo. During her long life of struggle, she does what she can to free herself and others from slavery, including learning to read and teaching others to, and befriending anyone who can help her, black or white. Hill handles the pacing and tension masterfully, particularly during the beginnings of the American revolution, when the British promise to free Blacks who fight for the British: Aminata’s related, eventful travels to Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone follow. In depicting a woman who survives history’s most trying conditions through force of intelligence and personality, Hill’s book is a harrowing, breathtaking tour de force.
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From Publishers Weekly: Valentino Achak Deng, real-life hero of this engrossing epic, was a refugee from the Sudanese civil war-the bloodbath before the current Darfur bloodbath-of the 1980s and 90s. In this fictionalized memoir, Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) makes him an icon of globalization. Separated from his family when Arab militia destroy his village, Valentino joins thousands of other “Lost Boys,” beset by starvation, thirst and man-eating lions on their march to squalid refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, where Valentino pieces together a new life. He eventually reaches America, but finds his quest for safety, community and fulfillment in many ways even more difficult there than in the camps: he recalls, for instance, being robbed, beaten and held captive in his Atlanta apartment. Eggers’s limpid prose gives Valentino an unaffected, compelling voice and makes his narrative by turns harrowing, funny, bleak and lyrical. The result is a horrific account of the Sudanese tragedy, but also an emblematic saga of modernity-of the search for home and self in a world of unending upheaval.
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There have definitely been times when I’ve wished for a random lightning bolt to strike down a particular bad karaoke singer, but I’ve always been able to restrain myself from physical violence. I ran across this news article which proves that not everyone shows such restraint.

Man Killed in Karaoke Row
December 5, 2008 – 2:37PM

A Malaysian man died after being stabbed during a row that erupted after he was accused of hogging the microphone at a karaoke venue, state media reports.

Police in Sandakan on Borneo island said that 23-year-old Abdul Sani Doli was believed to have angered other patrons by singing one tune after another, and refusing to hand over the microphone.

A row broke out with three men at the next table, escalating into a fist fight outside the karaoke joint, Sandakan police chief Rosli Mohd Isa said, according to the official Bernama news agency.

Abdul Sani was stabbed in the chest and died, and two men have been arrested in connection with the murder, it said.
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A few weeks ago I spent the entire week at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center, for the annual Door and Hardware Institute national convention. The first three days were a class to become a Fire Door Assembly Inspector. Yes, I have a new set of initials after my name for you to make fun of. I may not be an MD, a PHD, a PE, even a DVM, but I’m an AHC, CDC, CCPR, and an FDAI, which took a total of 40 hours worth of tests to achieve. I know what you’re thinking…BFD, but if you have any doors that need to be inspected, I am now qualified to help you out. Aliya was disappointed that I didn’t get a 100 on my test but accepted my lack of perfection when she found out that I wouldn’t have to retake the class and be away for another three days.

On Thursday, my duties as a member of the convention host committee were to put a bunch of spouses on a bus for their tour of Boston, attend a 4-hour session on how the inspection of fire doors is going to change our industry, and spend a few hours at the opening reception for the trade show. Imagine more than a hundred booths full of the latest and greatest in doors and hardware! What’s more fun than that?!

On Friday morning I finally taught the class that I’ve been obsessing about for months. I had to entertain and educate about 100 architects for 3 hours on the scintillating topic of building code requirements for doors and hardware. Ever since my mother called my architectural college “Cow College” because they also had an agricultural program, I’ve become somewhat of an overachiever within the confines of my career choice. I may not be curing cancer or running for president, but I’m pretty good with doors and hardware. Jenny will vouch for me if you’re a non-believer. So I was nervous as heck about teaching my class – what if I fainted, wet myself, or went into a fugue state? My friend and coworker Bob Karrer helped get me past my bad case of nerves with lots of advice including black pants so the pee wouldn’t show.

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The class went REALLY well, and I got lots of good press and positive feedback…it was even mentioned in the daily newsletter received by convention attendees:

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One of the most popular sessions offered this year was a course offered specifically for architects and specifiers on what changes have been made to the Massachusetts Building Code.

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“Lori Greene did a wonderful job of distilling all the revisions of the code documents and presenting them in a way that’s easy to understand,” said Craig Chabot, AHC/CDC.

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“She’s very professional,” agreed Ron Roberge of Solomon & Bauer. “With a new code coming out this has been very helpful.”

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It was a fun week but I’m very glad it’s over.

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Last week Aliya’s school had a special visitor from Puerto Rico, and I had a chance to have lunch with her and administrators from Wheelock College (I hope they remember me in 10 years when we’re desperate for a scholarship).

From the Metrowest Daily News:

FRAMINGHAM — At Clara Garcia’s class at the Barbieri Elementary School yesterday, the veteran teacher kept two dozen kindergartners enthralled with the sound of a greeting and the appearance of a sea shell.

Speaking entirely in Spanish, Garcia led the class of both English and Spanish-speaking students as they practiced songs asking, “Good morning, how are you?” and comparing the island of Puerto Rico to a sea shell in front of a group of visitors.

One of those visitors said she hopes to replicate the success of Barbieri’s bilingual educational program.

“It’s an excellent model,” said Angeles Molina Iturrondo, dean of the school of education at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, during a tour of the Barbieri School with local officials.

Molina Iturrondo is an advocate for bilingual programs that allow all students to learn a second language while remaining proficient in their native language. She’s visiting schools offering such efforts in the Boston area as part of a trip organized by Wheelock College’s Aspire Institute.

She said Framingham has demonstrated a successful way of bringing bilingual education to the classroom for both English and Spanish-speaking students. Today’s children need to be fluent in more than one language to compete in a growing world economy, she said.

“I truly feel this is important for everyone,” said Molina Iturrondo.

Barbieri has offered some form of two-way bilingual education to some of its students for years, said Principal Minerva Gonzalez, who taught Spanish-speaking second-graders earlier in her career.

Barbieri is home to about 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

In 1990, Gonzalez, then a teacher, and other staff members implemented a form of two-way bilingual education at Barbieri. The program sought to bring Spanish and English speaking students together in the same classroom and receive instruction in both languages.

Over the years, that program would be honored for it achievements by the state’s education department and other agencies, but officials wanted to improve students’ performance, she said.

A revised initiative launched last year puts early emphasis on Spanish language development in kindergarten and first grade, then increases the amount of class time for English as students rise through the grades at Barbieri. By the time students are fifth-graders, they will be taught in English and Spanish on an equal basis.

“It’s becoming essential for (students) to learn more than one language,” said Gonzalez.

At Barbieri, Spanish speakers are continually pushed to improve their native language skills while English speakers get introduced to Spanish. Meanwhile, the English language education component ensures English speakers don’t fall behind in their native language, while Spanish speakers begin learning English.

Educators say another benefit of bilingual education is the relationships between students: Sharing a classroom helps breaks down language barriers between children and allows them to get to know one another.

“The kids don’t differentiate who are the English speakers (and) who are the Spanish speakers … they’re all in the same class,” said Susan McGillvary Rivet, the district’s director of bilingual services.

Because of budget cuts, Barbieri focused most of its staff on the bilingual programs and moved most of its English-only classes to other schools before this school year began. (A single fifth-grade English-speaking class remains so those students can finish their elementary school education at Barbieri.)

In 2002, voters approved a state law that curtailed bilingual education in schools. That law has a specific exemption for two-way programs like the one found at Barbieri, said McGillvary Rivet.

But the law still has an effect on two-way bilingual programs: Local colleges and universities have limited bilingual training for teachers in favor of English-as-a-second-language programs, she said. This makes it harder to find local candidates for programs such as the one at Barbieri.

Instead, the district has to look to states such as California, Texas and Colorado, where degrees in bilingual education are still offered by universities, she said. About 300 programs similar to Barbieri’s are used by schools nationwide. Barbieri also makes use of a state-issued dual language immersion grant to help cover the cost of some teachers’ aides, she said.

Superintendent Gene Thayer, who attended yesterday’s tour with Molina Iturrondo, said districts with diverse populations like Framingham should look at bilingual educational offerings.
“Where it could be done, I’d encourage it,” said Thayer.
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