Feeling Violated (but you have to wait for it)

Hey Ladies!!! Life has been really busy the past week and I'm reminded how life changes in an instant, even when you knew it was coming! Here's my family at the Jacksonville Jaguars game on October 3rd. Char brought 3 friends and Tim brought 2 and actually 3 of my colleagues from my new school were also there! It was a promotion for my "new" job, Florida State College. $40 bought you a ticket, FREE parking and a shuttle, a T-shirt, and a really, really good tailgate party! (The best part is that they are doing it again on November 21st with everybody minus Char!) So what about Char? Well, I spent a part of this weekend in Ft. Lauderdale which was her last port before heading North! It seemed fitting that I should be there (and don't forget who also lives in South Florida...so a little icing on the cake!) I only sniffled for a minute when Char texted me this... "working with Reece makes me understand what a good mom you have been." She had a great surprise waiting for her in Seattle...Her uncle and his family were there to greet her! This is my brother, John, who she never met! We were raised at opposite ends of the states with our moms and without our father...Well, we managed to find each other and have maintained a really great phone/text/and now FB friendship for years. And yes, I have seen him face-to-face. (He's now friends with my son on FB, so I think there's still time for all of us to be a "real" family, whatever that means!) They even drove her around downtown to the important landmarks, like the Starbucks HQ! Ha Ha! Yesterday she went on a hike and texted me some of the most beautiful scenery...(one day when I really figure out how to manipulate this thing LIKE LYNDSEY, maybe i'll share!) Well, that's all for now. I will be in Cuba from October 22nd through the 31st, but I promise to post before then. I'm still building my stamina from working 2 nights at the college. It's VERY REWARDING because those kids and adults are there for an education! Still, to carve out two extra "not home until 8:30ish" every week is a little taxing, you know! On a personal note, on Sunday, I was in the St. Augustine outlet mall and I bought this big great duffel bag suitcase on wheels at the BASS store. It was marked down to $50. It was for Cuba and I was going to leave it there with a friend who will be making a trip soon. WOULD YOU BELIEVE I CAME HOME AND I HAD BEEN ROBBED? It must have been stupid kids. They took my suitcase, an X-box, and a very old laptop. What is the world coming to? I guess I now have an excuse to go back to the BASS outlet and buy another one, but that $50 really could have bought some great items for my people on that island.....I just have to hope that you really reap what you sow and those people stealing from God will get theirs!

Black Monday (subtitle: He really is a perfect baby!)

So today, I watched Reece. Remember him? My almost grandbaby? The child that Charlotte embraced as her own? Well, he turned one yesterday and he's getting a great birthday present. Monday, he heads to Seattle with his Veterinarian Mommy and MY CHARLOTTE to join his Pharmacist Daddy. Today, his mommy had to work her final shift while his Auntie Char spent time with the male Grubbs in her life, brother, dad, and grandpa. So, I got the kid. AND HE REALLY IS THE PERFECT BABY! His sweet mommy dressed him in a little Grandma's Gator shirt! We headed to St. Augustine which is my perfect place. If you have never been, well let me just say that I count myself very lucky that I can go there whenever the mood strikes. And it strikes oftener and oftener...(I really am an English graduate!) So, we went to an eerie graveyard with headstones from the 1800's, we ate at my favorite place, Columbia House, we walked around the perimeter of a very old fort, we spent some time with Jesus and Catholic monuments at the exact spot that our country was founded, and we laughed in the rain. Reece came face to face with a cannon, got to be held by a very anachronistic looking reenactor, crawled dangerously close to the river, had at least 70 pictures taken, and stole my french fries without asking. Somehow, it just seemed perfectly appropriate for me to be with him as he prepares to steal my child away ON MONDAY because she just loves him so much and wants to help the family get settled. (Or as she puts it, she's dated all the arses in Jacksonville, so it's time to give the West Coast a try!) I think little Reece really gets me! Maybe his little spirit just knew on his 1st birthday, I needed to be with a little man until I can see "our" little Archer who is hanging out in heaven and waiting for us.......Until that time, I am happy because I get to watch some live Jaguars football tomorrow with Tim, Char, and 5 of their closest friends...It's the Koolaid house all over again,...just at the EverBank Stadium downtown!

Fly Away Home (for Joe)

news4jax.com reported it very early this morning. The body of a black male was found discarded in a creek behind subsidized housing. The body had been there for at least a day. The creek was on the "upscale" Southside part of town which is about as far from the Northside and the hood and the Ribault Trojan nation as you can get. Grief counselors were called in to the school. The RIP was posted on Facebook. Homicide detectives are investigating.

This wasn't your typical Monday morning! This weekend I worked at a Jesus thing, a church renewal weekend called Faith Alive in West Palm Beach. It was wonderful and it was over Saturday night at 9:30. Of course, it was 5 hours NORTH to go home or it was 1 hour SOUTH to hear "Welcome home!" from Mr. Man. Did I even have a choice? While we baked in the sun all day Sunday, I couldn't help but be mesmerized and completely captured by the antics of a band of seagulls as they disrupted our view of the horizon. Actually, they WERE the view and they have probably been to the horizon and back a few times. Or as Buzz promised, "To Infinity and Beyond!" I snapped this picture with my phone to remind me to spend time being carefree and to embrace nature 24/7. I also remembered Bach's fable, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I thought about it a lot actually. Well, Jonathan's spirit, at least for today, is embodied in a scruffy bearded, BIG, beautiful eyed, Reuben Studdard voiced, thug, who always addressed you by name and always wore a smile...His name was Joe and he was in my 2nd period class. He had become more disciplined in his Senior year. He had been attending class regularly. I helped him Thursday search and apply for some landscaping jobs online. He loved to rap and had just given a report on a book entitled The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah. The irony is that according to amazon.com the story is a CAUTIONARY TALE protesting the use of drugs and violence by African-Americans in the inner city. I can't really dwell on Joe any more tonight and a life snuffed out too soon, but here's some excerpts from JLS that seem appropriate... (Keep reading until the end for the real eye-opener!)

So this is heaven, he thought, and he had to smile at himself. It was hardly respectful to analyze heaven in the very moment that one flies up to enter it. The memory of his life on Earth was falling away. Earth had been a place where he had learned much, of course, but the details were blurred - something about fighting for food, and being Outcast. "Why is it," Jonathan puzzled, "that the hardest thing in the world is to convince a bird that he is free, and that he can prove it forhimself if he'd just spend a little time practicing? Why should that be sohard?" "To begin with " he said heavily, "you've got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull, and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself."

Today was progress report day. Yesterday, I went through my folder of unread essays, and guess whose essay was on top. Yep.. Joe's! Here it is. The 3rd paragraph is prophetic, in a very sad way!

Name Something that Made a Change in Your Life Something that changed my life was when I witnessed my first homicide with my own two eyes. It numbed me up in a lot of ways. It enabled me to feel all kinds of feelings that I never had like constant paranoia, the lack of sleeping, and of being alone. I started sleeping during the day because I was scared to sleep at night as a result of being traumatized from what I had seen. When I say it numbed me out, it shut a lot of emotions down or into shock. It felt like my nervous system was literally witnessing technical difficulties. I felt like I was just taking up space like I was just there, with no expression on my face, just blank nothing, just pure displacement. It detached me from living a normal life. The constant paranoia did not stop. It was a constant symptom of seeing a heinous crime. It reoccurred hundreds of thousands of times. I seen it so much that I could see myself as becoming the next victim to be killed, gunned down in the streets like an outcast or some estranged bum. Over time, I guess wounds heal but I’m still mentally, physically, and emotionally scarred from the incident. It took away any innocence that I had. It was gone. I was now a victim of things I could not change, the changes being good or bad. I just keep moving on. I don’t beat myself up about it.

50 isn't old if you're a tree!

No that's not Mae West in the picture...It's me showing my stomach (which is refreshing, considering I'm usually showing my A*&!...This past Saturday was St. Augustine day with my former Albanian student (who is in her last year of RN school), Anila...What fun thing about 21 year olds is that they'll go anywhere and do anything...So we happened upon a vintage clothing store run by a woman who probably owned all the 50's pieces! Well, this one caught my eye and the label is Gunne Sax...Isn't that cute? This is a size 9 in old-timey sizes...and I can't show you the back because I COULDN'T ZIP IT ALL THE WAY! Still, what a great dress!!! I am on a search to find the perfect dress for Mr. Man's annual Christmas party...This will be my 3rd time going, and the first as his SO since his promotion as the manager...(Here's your homework! look up the BILTMORE HOTEL in miami...that's where it is every year and it's a truly gay affair!!!) I'm fast approaching the 1/2 century mile-marker. One of my buds (my +1 for all things cultural or food related around Jax) took me out to eat last night and we commenced to doing some thinking about 12-2 and where to have everyone meet up! That is a Thursday, but since I want to wake up with Mr. Man that weekend, probably I should have something for everybody else and I really have to celebrate on the day of the big event!!! So, it's time to start being daring and throwing caution to the wind and embodying the red/purple-AARP carrying-spitting on sidewalk mentality of a Mae West type...I mean she said things like "A man's kiss is his signature" and "An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises" and "I speak two languages - Body and English..." I mean, why can't I channel her inner attitude for my year of celebration??? It will actually begin at Disney World on November 18th at an English teacher's conference...I'm staying at a ridiculously expensive hotel on property, but that's ok..right? So ladies, I'll do my best to keep the blog up (along with my boobs LOL) for my entire year of celebrations.....because I want the both of you along for every adventure...Who knows, maybe the road will take me to yankeetown..... PS....It's also time to cut the apron strings - well actually the apron strings are cutting me! Charlotte, my daughter (the traitor) is moving to Seattle around October 5th for an undisclosed amount of time...My brother lives there! They have never met, but they have become facebook friends (another commercial) so I'm very excited for that reunion as well!!! The great news is that on October 3rd, there's a Jacksonville Jaguars/COLTS game and I bought a bunch of tickets from my college job...For $40, you get the ticket, a shirt, a tail gate, and free parking and a shuttle from the college which is less than 2 miles away...So Tim brings 2 friends, Char brings 2 friends, and I suppose I get to bring 1....sounds like a great TTFN (Tigger, Ta Ta For Now) party!!!!

where there's smoke there's fire - literally

So, officially, WORST DAY EVER! I am really loving Facebook (and Adrienne, just consider the possibility of signing in!!!) It is like a daily (or bi-daily or poly-daily) journal-fest! Today there were two big-time markers that just captured the day, as it were. Before I share with you the big events, here's one of my FB (Facebook) comments for the first one! "Take a chill pill Sis. Relax and listen to the surf. Nothing is more important than your health." This is from my brother in the state of Washington. We grew up with different mothers in different regions of the USA and have only met ONCE in Spokane over 16 years ago. However, we have maintained sporadic contact and when our father died, he went to the Harlingen, Texas funeral and I went to the San Antonio one...So we didn't even get to hang out then! However, FB has really fueled some great communication like this one! We are fortunate at our school to have a full time clinic. This is the exception and not the rule in Duval County! Physically, I've been feeling - well, just pull something out of the air, and it's probably appropriate - so I went and had my blood pressure read....150/94! This is quite high and I can blame it on a State Visit happening in our school on September 14th and 15th. I have quite a lot to do, the equivalent of taking a can of Pledge (a big-ass can!) and polishing up the place, or at least the DATA and making sure ALL our level 1's through 3's have tested in our baseline data...NO EASY TASK, but thankfully, I had to pull my Wonder Woman underoos out of the closet and I've been wearing them...and there are phone booths nearby for the quick changes! LOL But I digress...So, you probably noticed my lovely photo for this post. I know what you're thinking...Wow! Grubbs has never looked better! HA! What does FB have to say? Lots of "Glad you and the furry friends are safe!" and then my brother's all cap rebuke, "NEVER PUT WATER ON A GREASE FIRE!" Yup! I did it! I was really craving french fries, so I turned on the burner and left the room for a very, very brief moment....Next thing you know, FIRE!!!!! Here in the South, it's 2am and I can't sleep. I spent a few hours pacing in total disbelief, spent an hour at a friend's house with some take out and FOUR wheat beers, I need to spend more time in the shower because my complexion and hands are resembling Mr. Man's more than mine, and I am STILL thinking about which kids to test at which periods tomorrow!!!!!!! The good news is today I have a heart doctor appointment! He's probably going to think I went back to smoking... ha ha..So, in an earlier post, you met Josh, my tattooed surrogate son who was in the great picture of my daughter's birthday in June (when I was absolutely rocking the cranberry color!). He wrote, "If I learned anything from my 2nd mom, it's to laugh at life." I think I'm going to frame this and make it my life verse...Matthew 21:16 reminds us that "Out of the mouths of babes....." and even though Josh is pushing 27, he remains one of MY babes with a lesson for me to learn....One of my besties at work (who I was warned NOT to befriend by the poisonous snakes at my school because I wouldn't like her) reminded me, "Work within your means and let the worrying out the door." This is VERY easy, because 1/2 of the doors are WIDE OPEN right now....So ladies, remember your buddy down here, your GRITS (Girl Raised In The South) who is taking some hits but just like the Rockem-Sockem robots, (and our cats) eventually, I always land on my feet!

Flower Power

Good Morning Ladies!

Today is Heavy Heart Day! What in the world does that mean? Well...Tomorrow marks WEEK TWO in Duval County, although I never really stopped working for the district all summer which is a FIRST for me! Heavy Heart Day is a dash of hyperbole (it probably weighs the same, LOL), a dash of a melancholic tone, and a big dash of realism because my 2 daily enalaprils (for blood pressure) and my 1 daily actenol (heart palps) don't seem to be cutting it anymore. My emotional state is affecting my physical state. The dash of hyperbole IS my reality, and my heart seems to be dragging down to the soles of my feet! Wow! Aren't you glad you signed on to my post today! So, check out my picture. and that's me to the right looking all transparent, while still remarkably cute! Here I am in Coconut Grove in South Florida, a wonderful little eccletic shopping/eating/drinking district....and they have Peacock Park where all the residents decorate peacocks! How cute is that! The poster says WE DON'T SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE, WE SEE THEM AS WE ARE. So, when trying to analyze this little "kid art" picture, I'm thinking the BIG flower represents the BIG PICTURE, and the LITTLE insignificant droopy flower (LF - little flower) is me wondering where do I fit in to the grand scheme of things....I suspect that LF just hasn't been able to establish her place in the garden of education, so to speak, and LF is suffering! Excuse my French, but Week One has been a bitch! My new role as Reading Coach (which I started late January of last year) is way different this year. For one thing, I started with the new school year, so I won't have to hear the "you're new. we have a plan, so just do what we tell you." For the five months of last year, I was a glorified admin type and a bobble head...I was looking forward to this year to pioneer some new things with the reading department and to use my expertise, because in theory, that's why they brought me on board! I don't think that's gonna be the case. I mentioned the poisonous snake in my last post and she's back! English background? NO! Reading endorsement? NO! Previous high school teaching experience? NO! More than five years experience in education? NO! Principal Pet? Absolutely! So, we have already had a battle of wills over a Reading Testing Schedule and it looks like she won! What's upsetting is it shouldn't be a win/lose situation since in theory we are all on the same team...However, apparently she got in a tiff with one of my reading teachers OFF CAMPUS and has brought in ON CAMPUS telling me that she doesn't care about my reading teachers AT ALL...isn't that a grown up attitude? (The good news is that I'm teaching a college class again this semester, ENC 1102, and I've already decided to worm my way into a full time gig in that capacity. That's my BIG FLOWER!)...So, back to school tomorrow for a week of testing and defending myself....It seems that education has less and less to do with making sense and being student centered and more and more to do with endless testing, data tattoos, and disgruntled people in charge! I'm going to church now then hopefully I'll feel better and get some great encouragement....Regardless, on Friday, THIS Friday, Mr. Man and I will be together for 5 days in Gainesville and St. Augustine....

But Lot, hubby, HONEY, just one quick look?

So, in Genesis 19:26, a married couple, Lot and Mrs. Lot are fleeing from a burning town! It's being destroyed! There's nothing left! The town basically sucked with lots of "bad" people and L & L got one of the few "exit slips" (Come on! it's the summer but I got to keep up with the Teacher Lingo!) Think of it as THE Golden Ticket of its time, only they weren't leaving on a see-through elevator, but their feet! Well, back in verse 17, the divine Ms. L got the mandate, "DON'T LOOK BACK!" Well, she did? Oops! It was a fatal mistake and she immediately (and literally) became the salt of the earth! ...So, hello, LEFT FIELD...looks like Cindy brought you in as a special guest for this blog! Well, Not really! The divine Ms. L gets a bad rap in the Bible, in the New Testament where there's LOTS (ha ha) of "Remember what happened to HER!!!!!" So she was guilty of bad behavior, specifically, one non-negotiable bad behavior with a really stiff penalty!!! She was looking over her shoulder at her former (we can assume COMFORTABLE) life that was disintegrating, that was becoming dust in the wind, that was literally a mere shadow of her former town, that was....well, was! Can you blame her? What was ahead of her? Well, the Mr. and I guess that should have been enough. It probably was, but then again, it's not like they had a LOT (in my best Jim Carey voice...somebody, stop me!) of time to pack, and maybe she was thinking about the camel hump soup that she had just placed over the far (that's southern for FIRE)??? IDK! I've been LOTtie since January, living in Trojan land by day as a mild-mannered (well, or no-mannered) reading coach while spending my Thursday afternoons in the lab at the Wolfpack. I know that I have been looking back! Well, this week, my new principal called for some help with some workshops. That's a forward! Then, I spent two days at training in new reading programs, etc. and it was housed at Wolfson! (I swear that Barbra Steisand was singing "Memories" over the intercom!) Today, I went to a luncheon for a super-cool secretary that gets to go work at a brand new school!!! YAY for her! She was lamenting about how sad she was to leave, that it was bittersweet, and I just nodded. The Wolfpack just got a brand new principal and by all accounts, he is THE BOMB!!! But I don't think you can return...I mean the poets and songwriters promise us that "You can always go home again," but Work is not Home! Then, I surrendered my Wolfson key!!!! So, it's full steam ahead! Today I also met with another reading coach from the school that is right behind my house and together we planned some programs for our schools. (She's at a "turnaround" as well, and it's a good thing to forge new alliances across school borders!) That's a great step forward! Then one of my Wolfson friends (who graduated from Trojanland back-in-the-day) called to tell me she's transferring and she'll be working with me again!!! That's another step forward, cuz it's always easier when you have a hand, you know? I even had my Wolfpack shirts dry cleaned and I gave them to my favorite Dean and even to the guy who replaced me....(but don't tell, because I still kept one!!!) When the Smithsonian begins constructing the Cindy Museum, they'll just have to include Duval County School artifacts. Because my Time Machine is in the shop, I'm still not quite sure what memorabilia they'll have to choose from...but I know it will be a LOT!

Forgot about Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...LOOK DOWN!

Hello Friends... I am writing you from Tampa, Florida. I have been here since Sunday at an Academy sponsored by the Florida Department of Education (no that's NOT an oxymoron) and the Council for Educational Change. In theory, I think they accomplish many great things...But I digress...One of our "talk-ats" and a seriously slammin' great one talked about FILTERS, you know, that unique set of life experiences that makes YOU YOU, ME ME, and (shocker alert) the rationale behind us seeing things differently.. Before I left on Sunday, I was feeling a little guilty with two pairs of big, brown eyes staring at me and my suitcase while I was packing on Saturday, with their tails wagging. (gotya!!! Tim and Char would have been HELPING me pack....it's my dogs, (wo)man's best friends that were sad)....So, that night, I took them to the Dog Park, which is really the rest stop between Jacksonville and St. Augustine on I95 (which according to fatality records, the I95 strip in Florida is the most dangerous super highway in the USA!) We took about a 45 minute walk in the "Dog-Restricted" area and I decided to view the world from a dog's perspective, or, a DIFFERENT FILTER. There's very comical things to see at a Rest stop. There was a Florida D.O.T. dude, completely in uniform and gun holstered at his side, who was cleaning out his "company vehicle." There was a trucker whose cargo was an Army Red Cross Ambulance Helicopter that I swear looked just like the one on the opening scenes in MASH. There was shrooms and ant beds to explore and well, you know what else they were sniffin' on the ground! They barked at the guy in the little Honda with two really big mattresses weighing down the top of his car and they tried to get invited to a random family picnic, albeit, unsuccessfully. What they didn't notice was this sign about the potentially dangerous Agkistrodon piscivorous conanti (cottonmouth) because of the large FENCED IN (thankfully) retention pond in the middle of the dog park...Just today, at one of the talk-ats, I was thinking about that sign, more specifically the conantis that I have to deal with in education. All of you know that I was recruited away from a school that I loved and served faithfully for six years to be a Reading Coach in late January. But nobody told me about the conantis!!!!! You see, they very often take their human form and appear to us with slippery tongues and slanted eyes and TWO LEGS! and they didn't tell me that I would have to spend FOUR DAYS with one incredibly toxic conanti at this conference, who has tried to clip my wings at every turn in my new school. At least they sprung for separate rooms.....although I still have been sleeping with one eye open...(which probably explains why both eyes have been closed during a few of HER talk-ats....) Ladies, I'm down, down, down right now and I am the illustration of NO JOY IN MUDVILLE, anticipating my new year in the fall with the snake-in-the-grass who exclusively has the ear and eye of the principal.......but at least I'll be in a certain South Florida bed tomorrow night (should I use the snake metaphor, here????) where Mr. Man can make all things better, or at least for 4 or 5 days! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Sandra Bullock Wisdom

Do you remember on Oscar Night, when Sandra Bullock gave a shout out to the "moms that take care of the babies and children no matter where they come from?" I'm guessing the audience thought she was paying homage to her movie, "The Blind Side," (which I still haven't seen) but she was offering a clue to her little Louie that she had adopted a few months back. I would also extend her MOMS to the males and females that choose to love on surrogate children. So why am I in this reflective mood? Well, it's partly because I have been doing my bi-decade spring cleaning and finding all sorts of pix and dust bunnies! This picture was taken in July, 1995, at my cousin's wedding and it's an incredible event! I'm sandwiched in the middle of my parents, Gus and Anna. I had just FOUND GUS a year before and our relationship was always a little rocky, probably because he was on a mission to kill his liver from his days as a Navy boy in Jacksonville! Still, there was a hole in me that would never have been filled had I never met him...To Anna's left is Charles, the man who raised me since I was four. If I was honest I would say that our relationship was a little rocky as well, especially after "their" child came along two years later. Still, because of Charles, I had stability and grew up in the same house until I left home, I had my first car (a '66 Rambler!) and I had a Catholic high school education, and my first job at Southern Bell (he retired with 40+ years) and a few loans-on-demand, and if I was honest, he might have even played a minute part in my daughter's name. Still, it's really tough when you are 8 years old and you have to stop signing your name CINDY LEE HARDWICK and relearn CINDY LEE INGRAM! I suppose Charles really didn't have to step up to the plate, I mean he was 37 when he married my mom, and that was his one and only marriage! During my first year of teaching, I was called to my Principal's office, with the news that Charles was gone. My priest came and picked me up and we went to the hospital. Of course, everyone else had already left but because I was with an "official collar person," they let me view the body. So I told him that I really did appreciate his support throughout the years, even if he was a hard man to love. I think he must have had a wonderful experience at his death because his mouth was slightly opened and slightly smiling like he was really beholding something amazing! I was asked to give the eulogy, which I did, and I used the LOVE VERSES in 1 Corinthians 13, you know.."Love is patient, Love is kind...." Charles showed his love by doing things, usually involving repairs of everything electronic! In fact, after the funeral, all his (and my) Southern Bell buddies reminded me, "Abe put in my surround sound," or "Abe fixed my washing machine," you get the idea. (He got the moniker ABE after Honest Abe!) It was less than five years later when I had to stand at another grave, and this time I heard a 21-gun salute and received his flag. The best thing about Gus (He got his moniker from Gustavos, a man he really admired, and his first employer in Jacksonville) was that he had several relationships after mom which produced two brothers, John and Justin. John and I are facebook friends which is awesome and Justin met our father at the funeral. (Long story for another day..We got to reconnect a year later when his family vacationed in Orlando!) One cool thing is I went to Korea with the University of Florida four summers ago. My father had been a POW, and over twenty years later, John was stationed there, then another twenty years later, I showed up. So it was cool to walk in the footsteps of the Hardwick men! I blogged about my trip every day, and John was my biggest fan! So, I guess you can say I'm the perfect example of NATURE and NURTURE. So, this is a strange blog, but this is where my heart is today!!!

Why I Love Mr. Man (to the tune of..."He Never Wrote a Song for Linda" by Barry Manilow)

So, I just returned from a great 4th of July weekend at Paradise! If you are looking at a map, head AAAALLLLLLL the way down 95 and you'll find Key Biscayne. It's just a breathtaking place. Whenever I return from the six hour road trip, there's always some time for reflecting. I can only talk to everybody on the phone for so long, sing at the top of my lungs for so long, check out rest stops, bite my nails, you get the idea. And that's only the first hour! HA! Well, this trip I was thinking how Mr. Man is a rough and tough "man's man" kindofaguy who has a sensitivity in all the right places! (He would kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but he actually has a poster of JOHN WAYNE in his bedroom!!! That's probably the best metaphor to describe his philosophy of life!) Something you probably don't know about me is that I was in a long term, very long distance relationship for many years with a Cuban named Carlos. We first met over 12 years ago and were each other's rock through divorces, children, church biz (he was an Episcopal priest) and for all those years his name was my password and vice versa. You get the idea. He lived most of his life in Cuba and it was a lot easier for me to travel there! (My own two people accompanied me as teenagers to visit his church and family in Guantanamo and to meet his daughter, my godchild, and they loved him too.) Not to be graphic, but we finally got to consumate our love in August, 2007. In April, 2008, he was gone, due to complications from a quadruple bypass. When he met me at the Havana airport, the first thing he did was forcibly move my head to his chest, saying "Listen to my heart." (As if I hadn't been doing that all along!) We had a great relationship with music and every once in a while (especially in SOUTH FLORIDA) I'll hear THAT song. Well, it happened at the IBIS Lounge in Key Biscayne on Friday, July 2nd. That's me and Mr. Man's favorite hang out and they frequent tunes of the Spanglish variety. I heard the song and Mr. Man said, "You're in Cuba right now aren't you." What could I say? I was busted. I was teary-eyed. So he stood up, I stood up, and we danced...and with my eyes closed we both knew who my partner was, at least for the two to three minute soundtrack... I never shared how I met Mr. Man. In April, 2008, I took a dark-thirty Greyhound from Jacksonville to Miami to catch a flight to Havana to see Carlos who had been admitted to Intensive Care. At midnight, every passenger had to deboard for 30 minutes in Orlando. I reached for an orange juice, and this crazy brown man reached for the same bottle. He was waiting to catch the bus to Miami. He said I had nice calves! Then he asked me why would I be waiting at the Miami airport for four hours all alone when I could hit the beach at Key Biscayne and make a new friend. It made sense to me! So we hung out all morning and he rode a taxi with me to the airport and I waved goodbye. When I arrived in Havana, I WAS TURNED AWAY, the first time that has happened with ten visits over twelve years...When I returned home, I didn't even leave my house for three days, and this was after another long-ass Greyhound ride back home...Carlos died that week. I never got to say goodbye. Then Mr. Man started calling and we began an amazing relationship. So, that's one of the many reasons why I love him...I think you can consider yourself a very blessed woman if you have known two larger-than-life John Wayne types!!! Don't you?

VBS - Day 3 - The Spanish Channel

Here's my newest BFFFF's!!! These are some amazing kids! Because my church is across from the library, Sofia, the littlest one, well her Mami, saw our sign while checking out books! (I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes....Ace of Base ref) They are all cousins representing four separate families!!! It's only Miercoles, or Hump Day in our VBS and we are already this tight!!! Friday is gonna be a sad day!!!! (The joke is that VBS is "witnessing" or ministering to the kiddos, but look who is actually getting loved on!!!!!)

If you Advertise.....they WILL come

So...a funny thing happened on the way to church yesterday.... 40 kids and counting and a host of fabu-riffic volunteers showed up! Here's what you need to know about my church! I am still an Episcopalian in a very conservative Diocese that has been hit hard with the split to "Go Anglican!" When that happened, approximately 90% of our membership left. (That new Anglican congregation has already split!!) Prior to that, there had been a membership flight to a neighboring Episcopal church. So, from our little Epiphany Church, there are former members in three separate congregations. Well, guess what, all three of those have been represented with "children of all ages" at our Vacation Bible School so how cool is that! Not to mention, there's been probably five random families that have joined us, most notably a pair of identical twin brothers whose father and stepmother are both serving in Iraq and they're hanging with Gma in Florida! and "second notably," is the group I've lovingly nicknamed "The Spanish Channel," a group of six cousins (three pairs of siblings) who hail from Puerto Rico and are having a fab time! There's also two good sized home daycares that are joining us, but the best part is both caregivers are volunteering with us all week!!! Then there's all my godchildren who are mostly local (see my picture!) except for the lovely Lauren (who is modelling one of our Sheep Seed Bead Safety Pin projects) who is 15 and lives somewhere called OHIO, who is having fun hanging out and helping! (I hate her because she got to see the new Harry Potter park at Universal in Orlando last week!) So, tomorrow will be HUMP DAY and we'll be celebrating by making Tie-Dye T's so that we'll have our own shirts-of-many-colors to mirror Joseph's coat-of-many-colors. Our "little VBS program that could" has not disappointed and it's been a true lesson in faith for me who has directed this week of "organized chaos." (Besides, it's OK to step out of my HIGH SCHOOL COMFORT ZONE and hang with the extra-small, small, and medium peeps and peepettes!!!!) OH...and it's all documented on my FACEBOOK page....Cindy Lee Grubbs...go ahead! I double-dog-dare you to Friend Me!!!

Raindrops on Roses & Whiskers on Kittens

Yesterday, my baby girl turned 26. She is getting old! Many of her favorite people met at a local watering hole, Mossfire Grill, and I was proud to support the local economy with their $4.25 Raspberry Margarita specials! (My choice of hydration must have been in my subconscious because I dressed in the appropriate color for the festivities!) So why the title? Well, besides paying homage to Julie Andrews, I suppose this picture represents all of my favorite things. (Although I'm sure they would really appreciate being referred to as Thing 1 and Thing 2, even though we are huge fans of Dr. Seuss!) Birthdays are a great time for reflection. If your life flashes before your eyes as the Grim Reaper snags you, well the timeline from toddler to young adult plays like a movie in my head at every one of their birthdays. I'm so glad that I got to meet these beautiful people and play a part in their (arrested) development! With me in this picture is Charlotte (26), Tim (he'll turn 28 on Halloween,) and my surrogate child, Josh (27). He'll tell you that he has two moms....and he does! As they get older, (key word THEY) it's always a cause for celebration when we are all together, which is never often enough! I can't help it. Every minute I'm with them - good, bad, or indifferent - is a gift and a reminder of how I hit the jackpot on October 31st, 1982, and June 23rd, 1984, and about seven or eight years later when I first met Josh!

School's Out for Summer ??????

It's summer time! Isn't that the reason we all became teachers? For the summer va-cay? For all that time working on our perpetual tan? So why am I standing in front of a classroom wall? Did I read my calendar wrong? Did I not get the memo? I want to live the dream (a.k.a., the myth about endless days of reckless abandon in the summer) and channel Martha Stewart Home Improvements all summer or Jessica Simpson and check out Beauty all over the world. Well, happily, I can be both of these women and all I need are able-bodied assistants like Quianna, Ajai, Damaris, and maybe 20 others! My little sweethearts represent students who hope to receive their Associates degree when they graduate from high school as part of the Early College magnent program at Duval County schools. They are all rising Sophomores and there is only one obstacle....passing the Reading portion of the CPT (College Placement Test.) That's where I come in. (I'm sounding a little like the original "Friday" on Dragnet...and why don't we get to "wear a badge?") But I digress....This group of young hopefuls is entrusting myself and three other teachers to bump them up in NINE DAYS with all their deficiencies for the Reading and Math portions of the test. The pressure is really on me and my teaching partner because this is their last chance to pass the Reading portion!! They are giving the Math folks another year. (There's got to be a discrimination lawsuit there somewhere.) So, we read and we practice with paper-and-pencil and we talk about strategies and we practice online and we contemplate and we encourage and we all get to end our day eating in the College Cafeteria. That's a BIG THING if you are in the 14 to 15 age demographic! So, how exactly am I Martha? Well, I'm designing a plan for these peeps and peepettes and trying to build something that's lasting and holds its value. About Jessica? Well, I'm around young, innocent beauties all day, every day (even my guys) and it's rejuvenating for me....(Oh and the Florida State College campus we are at is also home to their Cosmetology School. Check out my NEW DO that was only 8 bucks!!!! It's a teaching college so I had the benefit of Nan the stylist and 2 of her instructors when she kept getting nervous about 45 cuts and 90 cuts....I learned a lot! The $10 pedicure is next week!) Well, let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed when they sit for the test next Friday, and I just pray that I am effectively providing them what they need.....Teaching can be a real nail-biter!!!! (which is why I'll never get a manicure there....I would choke from the enamel...ha ha ha)

Cindy-Lou-Who NEEDS YOU!

Hey Ladies!!!!

A funny thing happened on my way from school last week. Because we are a Turnaround (a.k.a, Troubled) School, we have lots of partners, community resources, state money, etc., for programs for the students. Well, thanks to a generous donation from an alumni couple, the Lastingers, there's some money to invest in higher degree seeking teachers from these schools as well! ALL EXPENSE PAID TUITION FOR THE PROGRAM!! I want to apply for a Specialist's Degree in Media Literacy! They will only be selecting 30 teachers from the 3 partnered high schools in Jacksonville, and I REALLY want one of those spots for myself! And, for those of us who apply by June 30th, UF is going to spend the big bucks ($800) for a four-day GRE-for-Dummies course! I passed the GRE too many years ago for it to count a second time and methinks my problem-solving skills are a little rusty (at least in the mathematics department!) Gainesville is only 1 1/2 hours away (just be careful of AAA's speed trap of the world, Starke, Lawtey, Waldo - seriously, look it up!!!) although the majority of the coursework is delivered online and discussed with the collaborative groups at the individual schools. Do I dare hope for my new study group to be just half as cool and affirming and encouraging as this UNE group? So, here's where I need you! I'm going to post my 400-500 "WHY YOU NEED TO PICK ME" application letter to docshare by Monday which will also serve as my Writing Piece for the course! (2 birds, 1 stone) I have to explain why I want to pursue this degree and what I hope to accomplish. Wish me luck!!! My "writing muse" finally returned from her vacation, so time to put the pedal to the metal!

Isaiah 11:6

My daughter, Charlotte, sent me this text yesterday. It was one of many that she took from her cell phone and it features 8-month-old Reece, who is the son of one her besties, who is also her Veterinarian. (No, Char doesn't require a vet's services because she's human! She's also a vet surgical tech for many of the vets in Jacksonville!) So what makes this picture so special? Why does the title allude to "A Little Child Shall Lead?" And when did Char become my hero? To answer those questions, you need to go back to March when Char and Michelle found out they were pregnant within days of each other. Michelle has been married for many years and was over the moon at the prospect of #1. Char was 24, had her own apartment, her own career, her own insurance, and was near the end of a relationship with someone she had known since middle school. If you have heard about oil-and-vinegar then you get the idea. Still, they celebrated the life they had created! My daughter's pregnancy was a miracle. Her ovaries have been a major problem since Day One and she had her first cyst surgery when she was in her teens! A little more than a month later at a normal doctor visit, there was no heart beat, followed by the pain of "delivering" a few days later. She had been playing around with the name Archer. We would have loved him! We do love him! All of us still carry his sonogram picture. Charlotte went to Michelle's baby shower and came home very sad. In September, little Reece was born. What did my girl do? Well, she could have held on to her pain, her deep sadness, her grief, and mourned forever. But she chose LIFE! She has become "Aunty Charlotte" and has custody (ha ha) every Monday. (It's a babysitting gig, but honestly, I think she would pay Michelle for the privilege!) There's a lesson to be learned here. Wallowing in self-pity hurts the wallower the most. It takes an immense amount of bravery and courage and "adultness" to leave a comfort zone of justified hurt and honestly CELEBRATE another person's joy. (P.S...last month, my very young niece had a little boy. Guess who bought her the pregnancy test? Guess who had previously gotten her a job at her veterinarian's clinic? Guess who was her primary confidant from week to week? Guess who dragged her mother to the delivery room waiting room? Guess who handed her mom a tissue on the way home because you know, I would have LOVED to have met Archer!)

The Past IS Prologue

These two handsome guys are my son, Tim, a very young 27, and my cousin, Douglas, an even younger 51. Yesterday, My son and I made a trek to Tallahassee to celebrate the high school graduation of Doug's son Ryan. Tim practically lived in this house from 2001 to 2003 (translation: ate there a lot and used the laundry facilities on occasion) when he was in school at Florida State University and he grew quite very fond of Doug. While my cousin is legally blind and only has his peripheral vision, he has ears to hear and a heart to love. I am preparing for tomorrow evening's ENC 1101 class and Descriptive Writing! One selection I am using is an excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Here's the suggested Pre-Reading Journal Entry for this assignment from The Longman Writer.

Growing up isn't easy. In your journal, list several challenges you've had to face in your life. In each case, was there someone who served as a 'lifeline,' providing you with crucial guidance and support? Who was that individual? How did this person steer you through the difficulty?

I realized that for Tim, this picture represents one of his anchor people, throwing him a life raft when necessary, a swift kick when needed, directions home regardless of the time, and a confidant. (Doug also has the coolest folks ever who invited Tim to a Duke/FSU basketball game!) So, why the crazy title for this piece? Did MY past provide a prologue for Tim's future? Actually, this is a case of history repeating itself for the better! Doug's dad is Jack, my wonderful Uncle Jack, my awesome Uncle Jack, my gift, the one man who can redeem a whole gender of absentee males, etc., I've mentioned in previous posts that he is battling Parkinson's. Yesterday I spent several hours with him, and even in his weakened condition, I feel so enveloped in love and acceptance and self-worth with just one hug! I mean, if he loves me, then I know I am made of GOOD STUFF! I am absolutely elated that Tim can take up this the mantle as the young "Grubby" grasshopper with the next generation of Ingram men as his mentor. I'll be back on July 10th, when my life slows down just a little, for another touch! and if you are so inclined....say a prayer too, for my Uncle Jack, and for your ANCHORS!

From Prison to Palace

Well, the summer is almost here and what does that mean for anxious parents? Kids are under foot 24/7! Many churches in the summer offer a Vacation Bible School and this year, I'm so proud that our little "church-that-could" is presenting THE best program ever! We offered a Blue-Ribbon VBS for 10 years in a row. Than, our church fell apart, and four years later, after licking our wounds, the 30+ members who stayed behind decided it was time to offer something to the community and the ticket is VBS! Since I'm a teacher, it was unanimously decided that I would chair it (and no, I didn't get a vote!) I decided that preparing for this endeavor would be a teaching tool for me as well! Now that I'm a READING COACH, I am in the business of putting myself out of a job and empowering teachers! That was my philosophy with VBS and I wanted 100% participation from every family! Amazingly, that has not been too difficult, because when people are asked, encouraged, affirmed, and not given too much direction (essentially killing their uniqueness and special gifts), a lot can happen! Here's just a sample of what "ordinary Joes" are doing for this endeavor. Billy - he's 60 and his parents' ashes are in our cemetery. He's been her a long time! He's a printer and offered to blow up our advertisement into two huge banners. Yesterday, he met me at church and we hung them. He was SO EXCITED! Beverley - She walks with a cane and is a retired history teacher. She has a huge intellect and as she puts it, not a crafty bone in her body. What she does have is a sister who is a retired art teacher and together, they work with EMH kids with pottery and open air clay. Guess what! They are going to be working on a project together for the kids! Joan - she has been plagued with very poor health but really wanted to do something. In the VBS kits, they send a pack of "suggested" mega-price crafts. I gave them to her and she sat at home and figured out what to replicate, what to purchase, and what we could do cheaper. She even made a field trip to Joanne's Craft store to share what raw materials we needed to purchase! A true gem! Doug - one of my former middle school kids who won't let me go! He's home for the summer and volunteered himself and his brother to handle the games. he has some crazy ideas and the kids are going to be worn out! They are even going to make bricks from mud and straw, just like when they were enslaved in Egypt! There's at least 20 more stories of everyone's integral part, and I'm just so proud that my entire "classroom" has come together as a unit for a common goal! (Don't think I've been slacking, because I have been enlisting the help of some of my teachers just for a day here or a day there and I've been recruiting kids and spending money on the activities!) We're planning for no more than 30 and it will be the week after our UNE/blog time together is over....Anyhoo...I guess as teachers, even in the summer, somehow we are drawn to "children of all ages" just like at the circus, because we all walk a tightrope, wear a mask sometimes, clown around, while always soaring to great heights!

My friend George (to the tune of The Things They Carried)

I make a lot of trips to South Florida. The definition of a lot is every four to five weeks. It's a six hour drive any way you look at it as I hop in my '06 Toyota (110,000+) to visit my significant other. (I really would like to fly, but his mom keeps finding "throw-aways" from their ritzy neighbors. The value and overall class of these marvelous finds makes me want to "hide-away" all my furniture...I'm serious!) But I digress!

After every return trip on 95North, I try and stop in Palm Bay which is the midway point! The best part about this blip on the map is that my friend George lives there! (The orange and blue text color is homage to his diehard Gator fan status as evidenced by his shirt!) I first remember George around year 5 or 6 of our 13 years of Catholic school education. (No, we didn't fail, but we did begin at kindergarden!) In Jacksonville, all the public schools are named after Civil War folks, like Stonewall Jackson Elementary, and JEB Stuart and Jeff Davis Middle. Then there are the high schools, Forest (George's middle name) and Lee (my middle name because my mother graduated from Robert E. Lee.) George and I felt like we were members of a very exclusive "namesakes" club! In middle school, he played basketball and I was a cheerleader. In high school, he was my Geometry tutor although he didn't help very much. (I can't blame him! Well....) After graduation, I had to choose "career" (which translated to a J-O-B until I finally started teaching) although George was wonderful enough to invite me to many University of Florida events so I could pretend to be an "on-time" college student....for just a little while.

Then marriages and/or domestic partnerships came along, divorces, kids in other states, and our other best friend Edward's ordination to the Catholic priesthood! There were ridiculous tears to "It's a Wonderful Life," hospital visits, all night bowlathons, and memories of my '66 Rambler, a.k.a, the "Museum on Wheels." During today's visit, he talked about his father's health and his heart's desire to start taking on a more parental role with his, well, parents! As I write this I get a little misty, because how cool is it to know a truly non-judgemental someone for 3/4 of your life! Sure, there were months, even a year or two, when we lost touch, when life was just too busy, when here-right-now relationships took precedence, when we were too embarrassed to admit that we had been crawling for a while,...but always when we reconnected, it was like we had just spoken yesterday! Our friendship reminds me of this excerpt from Chapter One of the Vietnam memoir mentioned in the Blog's Title...

"They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak." I sincerely hope that each of my Blog-followers has a George!

Fall Comes Early as I embrace a NEW HAT!

(Preface: There are many campus locations for FSCJ, our community college that recently grew up and became a state college. Back in the day, I attended KENT campus which used to be base housing doublewides that were rehabilitated into classrooms. Jacksonville does bleed blue because of our many naval bases! In my former life (2009!), I taught ENC 1101 and LIT 2000 in the Dual Enrollment program at the high school. For the past several years, I have been trying to be picked up as an adjunct at my alma mater campus with no luck!) I started a new job in January as a Reading Coach. One of my responsibilities will be teaching CPT skills in a summer bridge program for two weeks immediately after the close of school. The students will be housed at FSCJ, the NORTH campus, which is a few miles from my new high school. Three weeks ago, we had an organizational meeting and as luck would have it, I sat right next to the Dean of Liberal Arts who is responsible for hiring adjuncts! CARPE DIEM! I made an appointment for the very next week to bring in all my paperwork in hopes to teach an SLS (student skills) course and get my proverbial foot in the door. They would be able to place me on the FALL schedule (80%). Last week, MONDAY, May 24th, I got a call. This is their third week of school for the long summer one-night-a-week ENC 1101 course and the professor was recuperating from an auto accident and unable to meet their committment. COULD I TAKE OVER THE CLASS AND START TONIGHT! I had 15 minutes with the Freshman Comp text and happily found a story I knew really well that would demonstrate all the Narrative elements, George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant." After three hours, I was totally wearing this new hat! So....to Xavier, Barry, Cynthia, LaTonya, Trina, Wendy, Kevin, Adonis, Crystal, Rashad, Rosalind, Angela, and Daniel, THANKS FOR MAKING MY FIRST TIME "BLOG-WORTHY"!!!

When "Curb Shopping" Starts Costing!

Since I teach all forms of literacy and literary strategies, you would think I would have a pretty good handle on the cause and effect strategy. I understand how to identify the "domino effects" on a page, but in real life, I obviously need to go back to school. What am I talking about? Cause - I was given a baker's rack. It was a very non-assuming little piece of furniture. It wouldn't take up much space. I would have a spot for my dishes. It seemed like a worry-free endeavor to bring a new article into the home. Worry-free, maybe...but Cost-free, NO! Effect - I have a galley-style kitchen. On one side is the living room, dining room combo and on the other is a laundry room to the left and a multi-purpose room to the right. (In the past, it has served as an office, a bedroom, and a storage area, and now,it's waiting for a facelift and a new purpose.) Nothing seemed to serve as the right venue to showcase the FREE baker's rack! Wait! There was a closet in the dining room that always served as an area for non-seasonal clothing. In Florida, the seasons aren't as defined as they used to be, so it was time to shed some of the old garments! Well, taking the door off required some spackling to repair the holes, which then required a new coat of paint, which then required some new baseboards since the closet would now be an exposed nook, which then required more new paint for the adjoining walls! Should I even share (or confess) how I then bought a new set of dishes to go with the new color sheme? The only FREE things were my former needlework pieces that, coincidentally, were of baker's racks, and I placed three on the walls in the reformed closet. Add two super-sized margarita glasses from a former Tex-Mex restaurant, and the free piece of furniture came with a price tag of over $200! I absolutely learned my lesson and I completely understand cause and effect now, but wait...My boyfriend's mom is on the phone and she found a lovely brass piece that I'm going to love. All I need to do, is.........

Call Me Persephone....or Elphaba!

The main event for high school students is their graduation. It is that moment when they (finally) leave the comforts of high school and enter the (gasp) REAL WORLD! It's also a time for teachers to say farewell for young adults that they have know for four years! For me, saying farewell came in January. When the 2009 school year started, I began my 6th year as a member of the Wolfpack on the Southside of town, teaching AP Literature and other Senior English classes. I couldn't forsee any changes! However, at the end of December I was recruited to serve as a Reading Coach in January as a member of the Trojan Nation on the Northside. That's why I am Persephone. I'm existing in two different worlds! Since I left, I have returned every Thursday afternoon to my former school to work in the computer lab as well as be available for Grade Recovery for my students from the first semester. Here's an excerpt of the letter I wrote when I left the classroom.

...Know that there were more than a few tears in accepting this position because it's very difficult to leave a comfort zone, close friendships, and an ideal class schedule to embrace the unknown. when you think of me, and you should do this often (LOL) remember someone who valued relationships and experiences much more than stuff! The Little Prince reminds us that "One sees clearly only with the heart!"

...Finally, there is a scene in Wicked, when Elphaba (the Green witch) and Glenda (the good witch) are saying their farewells to each other for the last time. They admit that "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." ME TOO! (FYI...If you haven't been to Gershwin Theater in NYC to see this amazing production, here's a taste of the lyrics and music...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UFpQtOuOnc

I went to two high school proms over the past two weekends and the first week in June I will attend two graduations. Only after that, will I take off my Wolfpack hat and completely become a part of the Trojan nation!

An Eye for an Eye

This is Scotty Love Payne. Because of our proximity to the Tournament Player's Championship course at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, he is named after two golfers, Davis Love III (who won in 1992 and 2003) and the late Payne Stewart. (Adam Scott won in 2004, but Scott entered our lives earlier, so he was never a reason for his first name.) Scott has always been a special cat and he met my daughter when he was brought in to be euthanized. (My daughter is a vet technician and ALWAYS brings her rescue work home with her!) We speak a special language around him that is a cross between Sylvester the Cat and Peter Lorre. To speak correctly, you have to clinch your teeth, slobber a little, speak really slow, and keep your tongue at the bottom of your mouth. (Perhaps we have one foot in the Real World, and another in Fantasy Land. Maybe we have too much time on our hands!) If Scott is a sum of all his parts, then he is still not worth much as many of his pieces don't quite work! Today, one of the parts could no longer be ignored and he had to have his infectious left eye removed. He hadn't been able to see out of it for over a year! We have been cheering him up by singing religious hymns, "Mine Eye Have Seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord," Eagle's favorites, "You Can't Hide Your Lying Eye," 1930 era show tunes, "Smoke Gets in Your Eye," and even a country song, "Don't it Make My Brown Eye Blue." When he heals up he will be pursuing a new career as you guessed it, a Private Eye!