friday and saturday

Yesterday I got to work on time... I know, it's very shocking. I'm ususally about 10-15 minutes late, but yesterday I decided to make a concerted effort to be there on time. I'm going to try to continue to do this every day. I'm not sure what exactly I will do with my extra 10-15 minutes, but I'm committing to doing something each day during that time for someone else. It could be working a little harder on my lesson plan to engage my students, running an errand for another teacher, sending an email to a friend who needs some support, or cleaning my room a little for the custodian.

Yesterday and today Obama has been working on the second economic stimulus package. He met with congressional leaders of both parties to determine what needs to be done to get it passed. He's also starting a daily economic briefing just like the daily national security meeting that it already in place.

Today I have decided I will spend part of every week catching up with friends over the phone who I don't get to see. Now this is somewhat selfish, because it definitely serves me as well. However, I want to catch up with people who really are having a bit of a difficult time. Earlier today I talked to my friend Michael O. He has had a fairly rough time over the past few months. He graduated from Carolina last spring, but he's now taking a few prerequisite classes so he can go to graduate school for genetic counseling. During this time, he's taking care of his grandmother who has Alzheimers. He's really helping his family out because they do not have to pay someone else to do it or try to put her in a nursing home. He cares deeply for her, but it is almost shattering him to be there with her as she deteriorates. I need to do a better job of being there for him throughout this process. So today, we talked about the LOST premeire and made plans for when we could see each other again to renew each other.

Although much of what we can do to bring change to America requires sacrifice and responsibility, some of it just requires being more present in our own lives. So, I will jump start each work day by actively doing something for someone else, and I will keep track of my friends who need some support each week.



Eventually I want to write about how these small changes are affecting me and changing me as well, but for now this space is just for my promises to help renew America.