What you think does matter

While reading my 9 yr old cries My 9 yr old reading a fifth grade level book starts to cry. Ever read a good book? Have you ever gotten so involved in the story, so attached to its characters that you were touched, moved – even cried when something tragic happened to the characters? In fact, I shouldn’t say characters; by this time these are people, friends, and loved ones that you feel truly connected too. I know people cry at movies – but have you ever cried reading a book. My 9 yr old did and it surprised me. When he was younger he would cry during movies: I remember the Irion Giant. The robot was destroyed thought to be dead and my son broke out in tears – scared the wits out of my wife. But I’ve never seen him do it with a book. The book: Dewey the library Cat. By Vicki Myron with Bret Witter Published by Scholastic I was a bit taken back because he is not a fan of reading, he reads because he sees me do it, his older sister do it and I guess so that he doesn’t feel l

Funny old man – I want to be him. I was gathered around with a group of family and friends helping a new local business get started in the neighborhood. Times are tough and smart businesses understand that they have to work with the community if they want to succeed in this economy. So here we were getting to know the owner, listening to him express what his vision and dream is for the local business: a new restaurant called BBQ Topia. He explained how he wanted it to be a community restaurant where people could come eat good southern cooked food, listen to live band music and that it could connect with the community by being open to community organizations that may want to hold events at the restaurant. It was a very interesting time, but the fun didn’t start until an older gentlemen found the owners authentic Mexican hat. This guy puts on the hat and starts dancing – now please, don’t jump the gun, don’t get offended, so please leave the politically sensitive attitude at the do

Life is strange; you never really know what can happen – especially when you’re not looking for it. You know what I mean? Things you thought were impossible or out of your reach – things you thought you would never do: they just fall in your lap. Now, don’t get me wrong: I believe in hard work. I believe people should strive for more, learn as much as one can (that pertains to their goals in life) and that life should always be a progression of ‘learning’. “The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.” ~ Tony Robbins To be honest I am not a fan of luck, I don’t believe things happen just because – yes you can be lucky. Someone can come and give you an opportunity of a life time: but what if you don’t have the skills, the mind set, the work ethic? How can you benefit from that lucky opportunity? Also, luck as in 'opportunities' seem to find people who have the right work ethic, skills set and frame of mind. For instance: A friend

Kindle EBook, slipping into madness - someone kill me already! How did we ever survive without technology – its wonderful right? Not, not if it means little ‘bots’ roam the internet with a pre-written generalized order and end up creating havoc and accounts because there are no human beings that do these jobs. But let me explain my rant before I go on. I am a simple self published author who wrote a book for his two children as a Christmas gift. His children liked the books very much and even the wife (including several other non bias people) were very impressed with the book. So I humbly put it on Amazon and after receiving a few order decided that this being a digital computerized world – people will buy eBooks instead of hard or soft cover (physical books). After I put it on kindle I decided to put it on B&N’s nook, Google books, Kobo and left it at that. Like I explained to the wife – I don’t expect to sell millions of copies but I would like to sell a few. After all,

Me on Live Radio, does my hair look good? Doing some volunteer work at our local radio station: 104.9 FM. Imagine, me on the air! The radio waves will never be the same. Today I and the kids spent some time at the local radio station: Voz de la Verdad. My mother-in-law works as a volunteer at the radio stations office and needing the help - my daughter was recruited by grandma to help with some much needed work. And I – well, I somehow was asked to join in on the fun, I mean work. I mean I was glad to help where ever I could. Of course being the kind of person that I am, I couldn’t help but think of and to start taking some pictures of me “pretending” to be on the air. Check out the picture – I look good don’t I? And that was even before I got my wonderful, I’m too sexy for my…. cool hair cut. But it all wasn’t fun and games. I did learn of few things: being on radio is not what everyone thinks it is. The kids and I learned today that running a radio station, be it sm

How to multiply negative – positive numbers ? Spending the summer getting my son ready for fourth grade math has been an interesting adventure in the amazing world of mathematics. I am not sure if I forgot most of the things I learned as a child or if math has changed so much over the years that I may be out of my depth. Re-learning or learning all this ‘Math’ as I go along has been an interesting series of events. Thank heavens the internet and YouTube are available because without these resources I would be in big, big doo doo. I’ve come to the realization that without the many math resources I have found on the internet or the good math tutorial videos I’ve found on YouTube – I would be lost. For instance I ran into something I completely forgot…. How on earth do you multiply negative and positive numbers? Granted, it’s not something I use in everyday life – but my son will be learning this and he will be expecting me to help him with his homework. My math is rusty – learn

Games can be powerful teaching tools. These dynamic, educational video games engage kids while teaching them important money skills. Money Metropolis allows kids ages 7–12 to navigate a multi-dimensional world, making life decisions that will affect whether their virtual bank account shrinks or grows. And in Peter Pig's Money Counter, kids ages 4–7 can practice sorting and counting coins with the help of wise Peter Pig. "Children love to play games, and these colourful, creative games teach financial skills in a motivational and meaningful way. " –Gary Rabbior, President of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education Money Games Cash Puzzler Money Metropolis Peter Pig's Money Counter Road Trip to Savings For centuries, play was considered a diversion rather than a means for education. But in the early 20th century, scholars like Swiss philosopher Jean Piaget began challenging these notions. He pioneered an educational theory that people build knowledge