Transcript of Nikki Giovanni's Convocation address
Delivered April 17, 2007

We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.

**These Pictures were from friends, some I took, and some were on the web

Just a Question

If you were going to get all mad at someone and get the balls to call them and yell at them....wouldn't you make sure you had the right person before you started your tirade on humanity?

Better yet, when they told you that you had not called the "Ho-bag" you intended, but rather the town library, wouldn't you stop and think it through?

Nope, that would just make too much sense. Last night while working my little shift at the town library, all innocently doing statistics and checking out books, minding my own business, doing the "stamping 2 weeks" thing...I get a phone call.

I say (in my ever so perky library phone voice) "Good Evening, Kennebunk Free Library, this is Leia speaking, can I help you?"

An apparently, violently jilted, patron started talking over me: "OH yeah right, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it from you..."

I clear my throat, obviously taken aback by the seemingly angry patron, who must be pissed about having to renew a book or something, who is currently still exploding on the phone with various expletives and insults..."Excuse me? Um...this is the library..."

Violent Ho lady: "You know he told me you have been flashing it all over town, I don't want to hear it from you..."

Me: "Ummm...do you know you called the library?"

Phone line goes dead.

2 minutes later same person calls, Leila jumps to the phone,

Seemingly calm patron asks "Do you have a notary at your library?"

Leila: "Nope"

woman hangs up....I can only assume to go drown herself further in her Bourbon after realizing that she just yelled at a librarian for "flashing it all over town"...and then, face burning with the acknowledgment that they have caller ID....

We did not hear from her again last night.....

I finished a book!!!!!

I know I know, it IS totally awesome huh? amongst the death trips of my son, the fighting of my girls, the mounds of laundry and dishes...I finally finished "The Book Thief" -Markus Zusak Recommended by Leila.

I just want to say, it was just a great read. A wonderful heart filling book. I am not a good book reviewer, it ain't my thing, but I can say that it was kind of a cool perspective. The book is written by Death. But I have to say, no one else could have been the voice of this book. It read beautifully, and even though you kind of know where it is going...because you know...it is DEATH writing, it was gripping and lovely. If you click on the link to the Book Thief above, you can read the introduction...it had me from hello!

So anyway, good read, if you are up for it.

An acknowlegement of my real age.

I do believe that I am not 25 anymore...I know this because after I put my contacts in I have to remold the shape of my eye, where my skin has lost all its elasticity and stays all crumpled up where I pull it down otherwise.

I know this because the much in-style tube top has made me have to jump off the fashion train. If I wore one of these, it would be so low that people would wonder how I injured my knees, and why I have them wrapped together like that....

I know this because I can watch touching shows, or adds, or info-mercials, or sporting events, or boxing matches...and get choked up at the beauty of it all. (I do believe that sappiness must come with age...what up wit that?????)

I know this because even though I had a sick desire to watch "Rock of Love" I was so disgusted that I felt I needed a shower after watching it for 10 minutes (This feeling was validated by my other not-25 year old friend Dana) And I will never admit to watching it, but last night, I was TOTALLY pulling for the "old" lady to win...instead of crazy Daisy with her silicone body and GINORMOUS lips, and she did. NOT that I watched it or anything....

I know I am not 25 because now, If I have too much wine, I can no longer get up in the morning and know that the bags under my eyes (large enough now for a substantial vacation packing) don't disappear by noon, but instead grow darker and bigger as the day goes on... and I am hoping that after Saturday night, (when I thought I was still 25,) they will disappear this decade sometime.

But alas, not all is lost, I can still read the YA books that Leila recommends and feel that I have something in common with these characters, we are both searching for something. They are searching for their future self...I am searching for my past self...but, we are both searching... Granted they are searching on the World Wide Web and through their I-pods, and I am flipping through newspapers and 45's but hey, who is keeping track?

Well, with that, I will get on with my old self and eat something soft, like soup for lunch! Have a good old day y'all.

Gotta Love it!

And.....There's the cherry on top!

So, this week has been just stellar...and by stellar, I really mean sucked.

This week solidified my disqualification for "Wicked Awesome Parent of the Year", you know, since my son seems to have a death wish. Kids can be challenging, OK fine, I get it...but I was not prepared for the world of the Y chromosome. I had these two girls. While not perfect albeit...they were relatively safe...meaning that I didn't fear their lives in their own hands.

Henry on the other hand...well, he is a whole other animal. At 1 year old, he tried to crawl out a window in our den, thankfully on the first floor. I was in the kitchen and hear him yelling "HI". It sounded like it was coming from the outside, so I frantically ran out side only to find him smooshed between the screen and the window standing on the sill yelling "Hi" to the birds in the yard...yeah I should have been sufficiently warned at that point...I know. But clearly I am more dense than that.

I have thankfully gotten him to 3 with only minor visits to the Dr. But yesterday alone, He fell top to bottom down the stairs...I came flying around the corner to see him tumbling head over heal and bouncing to the bottom of the stairs only to land on my exercise ball (which he had thrown down the stairs just before he threw himself down) which then bounced him into the living room like a projectile doll. Now you are saying to yourself...here comes the ambulance...no, not yet. He was fine, cried about his chin that had apparently hit something on the way down, but all in all was unscathed, and I think got some joy out of being bounced on the ball.

I put him down in his room, after I made sure that his pupils were still straight and there was no irregular drooling or anything. Only to hear a huge collateral BANG about 20 minutes into his "nap." I ran up stairs to find his dresser collapsed onto the floor with the drawers out. He had pulled them out to use them as steps to getup to the top to get something...thankfully he escaped being crushed under large furniture, and was standing there looking at me, like "did you see that??? that was soooo cool."

I know that you child proofing gurus are shaking your head and wagging your finger at me..but you know what? GIRLS DON'T DO THAT STUFF...How was I supposed to know that the Y chromosome makes 2-3 year old's have brilliant ideas like "lets see if this 400 pound chunk of wood will sustain my balancing act and jumping routine!"!?!?!

THEN... yes folks, the story is just not over yet, I went to pick my girls up at the bus stop. We live on a long dirt road that walks by a little waterfall/pond/death trap, what ever you want to call it. Every day the girls and Henry want to stop and throw stones in the pond. I am always lecturing them on pond etiquette and stream safety...I really am. (my sister knows how weird I am about that!) Henry wants to throw stones in, so I am holding his hand on the low bank, I let go to put my hood up, and SPLASH. Yup you guessed it, my little man falls IN the stream...which is probably 20 below zero because at this point it is flowing with newly melted ice and snow...I yank him up carry him home and put him in a warm bath.

All is well, but some how, I am feeling a little beat up and just done. I have to tell you it was a 2 glass night! (of wine that is)

But the cherry on top? I cut the tip of my thumb OFF cutting my apple. Now I know that I have a tendency to exaggeration, so I can see you all rolling your eyes and saying...oh pie, you are so funny....OK, NOT FUNNY. The top of my thumb now has a divot in it...like what happens when I try to drive off the tee golfing with my mom...yup that is my thumb. It hurts like hell, but I am pretty sure that I didn't mix any thumb with apple...so I guess that is the bright spot.

I am glad that it is Friday and Jamie will be home, because I am going to need help inflating the bubble that I am putting Henry in until he is 25, and searching for thumb pieces on the floor......

Have a good weekend all....signing off to bolt all loose objects down.

Since we are all serious and stuff today...

Here are a few pictures that someone sent me via email...had to laugh...but it hurt to laugh...because I just finished bending over a the gas pump myself this morning!

Those of you who know my Agriculture Educating, Gardening, Farm Loving, bad self, may wonder why I haven't already thought of those sheep....I think my new neighbors would be pissed! LOL