I LOVE These Things: A School, An S+, and A Submarine

Did you feel it? The shift in the season and your closet?

Last Wednesday was the first day of FALL (although you wouldn’t have noticed because it was 81 degrees with 60% humidity in Kansas City).

I LOVE Fall.

It has all of my favorite things…sweaters, pumpkin spice, boots, soups, and football. It truly is my happy season.

And it’s also my busy season. Two kids. Two sports, plus piano, band, Scouts, art and more.

Sometimes I get “frazzled” by all our family has to do in a week and then I remind myself that these are TINY problems compared the majority of the humans on this planet (shoot, even within my state). They won’t cause a war. Make me go bankrupt. Take away my medical care. They are inconveniences. They can be handled (and usually with little more than a glass of red wine when I get home).

And in those “frazzled” moments, I remember that I am lucky.

May we all remember we are lucky.

Here are three things that rocked my world this week.

1. A School.

Late last week, my friend Kristen, TOLD ME that I HAD TO listen to THIS PODCAST.

I’m a fan of the podcast to begin with (after all, it is where “Serial” came from)...it has interesting stories about people from around the country. They usually take one theme and make it all come together in “three acts” as they call it. It’s upbeat. Clever. Thought-provoking.

However, those words don’t describe this episode.

I was listening to it while getting ready on Monday morning and literally had to stop because I was shaking too hard and sobbing too much to put on my mascara.

This episode rocked me to my core.

Here is a brief synopsis.

Right now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white kids. But there’s one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation. Nikole Hannah-Jones looks at a district that, not long ago, accidentally launched a desegregation program. It’s set in Ferguson, MO (Remember, that town down I-70 that had all the riots last year?) at Normandy School District.

I could probably write an entire post on why this podcast rocked me so much. But in a nutshell, it tore me in half. I was both a human and a mother. (Once you listen to the podcast, you’ll see what I mean at the Town Hall meeting.) I was enraged and I was scared. I was a human who wants all people to have an equal shot. And a mother who would desperately fight to make sure her own kid’s shot wasn’t taken away.

If you listen (or listened) to it, I’d love to know your thoughts. Leave me a comment.

2. An S+.

One of my goals for the blog this year was to take more video. And after doing a bit of research, I realized the best way to do that was to upgrade my phone to an iPhone 6S+.

By the way, the Verizon Store is like Nordies for me. I always go in there saying, “I’m just getting this ONE thing” and pretty soon I have a bag of stuff. And for some weird reason my monthly plan always stays the same. #commoncoremath

And I have to say, I’m a bit torn on this phone. I’ve had it a week and I’m still not sure I like it. In fact, I had to make a list of my pros and cons.

PROS:

Bigger screen for 40-year old eyes.
Better camera.
More memory – I went up to 64 GB.
Longer battery life.
Lighter.

CONS:

How do I put it in my pocket? It’s the size of a Kindle Fire.

SERIOUSLY!!! For those that own this phone, how do you do this? You can not put this phone in your back (or front) pocket and not look like an absolute fool.

Do I get a fanny pack? Do I get some tool belt to strap it to? I’m at a complete loss. If you have an answer, I’m all ears…because it is almost a deal breaker for me.

3. A Submarine.

About three months ago I had a conversation with my friend Tabitha that went like this…

Tabitha: “You need to get on periscope, NOW!”

Me: “Whatever. I need another social media platform like I need a hole in my head. Besides, isn’t Snapchat for sexting?”

Tabitha: “It’s not Snapchat. It’s cooler. You need to do this.”

Me: “New technology confuses me. I can’t even run my Xbox.”

Tabitha: “Aren’t you a blogger? You can do this.”

Me: “What? Did you say something? I’m ignoring you right now because I’m hoping you’ll forget about it and we can talk about other things.”

But, can I tell you something…

Tabitha was right.

I’m ADDICTED to Periscope.

Periscope is like a live TV station. In more technical terms, Periscope is a live video streaming platform (owned by Twitter) that allows anyone to video-record and broadcast to anywhere in the entire world. If you have ever been on Skype, it is a similar experience but, instead of video conferencing with one person, you can stream to the masses. (Click here for more information.)

I LOVED doing live television, but I hated driving to the station every week. This allows me to do a think I love from the privacy of my own how.

I’ve been “scoping” every morning this week for between 5 – 12 minutes between 8:30 and 9:00 am. I’d love to have to watch me LIVE. You can download the FREE Periscope App and interact with me (I’m @TheRedefinedMom). If you chose to, it will give you a notification when I’m on. Or can follow me and watch my latest “scope” here via desktop.

The bad news is that “scopes” are only up for 24-hours, but luckily I have another service that will keep all the “scopes” and archive them so you watch them at your leisure.

My goal is to “scope” 3 – 5 times per week. I may talk about what is going on in my life, I may expand on a post that I wrote that is going live that day, or I may just drink wine and get TIPSY. But regardless, I’d love to see you there.

And in case you missed it, here are some new posts from this week.

Things The Whole 30 Books Don’t Tell You — Preparation