C.B.'s Zone...Is it interesting stuff or not? YOU be the judge

If you have read my last two posts, you'll be familiar with a little girl age 7 who just passed away on February 19th The wake was this past Sunday and well attended, as expected by many teachers and support staff who have worked with her since age 3. As a group/team we to remind ourselves not to get too emotionally attached to a kid, because they may move out of the district, change special education placements, or move up to the big classroom in the sky. I was not as close to "Mary" as many of my collegues, so her passing was not too hard on me personally. Now comes my break hotel story.

An 8-year old 2nd grader, with speech and language issues, sees me one time a week to work on gross motor skills. He is a very bright boy, with a mind that retains everything:D He understands receptive language, but is starting to learn sign language to communicate answers and tell us what he wants. But we cannot provide all of the services he needs in terms of signing so he needs to go to a "special school" for kids who are mostly hearing impaired (although he is not) and kids who's primary method of communicating will be sign language. So his last day at H.L. School is tommorrow and he will start at the new place on Monday 3/3 Ok, so how do you NOT get emotionally attached to a kid who wants to learn in all settings, even the stinky gym??? (its not really stinky...its like new) Sorry folks, it's not in my personality to just do my job and forget about them when I go home:down: no can do.

I will miss him with all of my and soul, but it's never a good bye, just "see ya" later

The 6-year old cutie-pie went to heaven sometime Monday night in her sleep. She is in a better place and is probably bossing my Mother around about what clothes to wear:love: This has been a tough week, with "Mary"'s passing and the shooting at NIU. I have to thank Yooperprof and his buddies in the UP for their spirited postings this week. Smiling is a good thing, even in grief.

Ciao for now.....CB

Just curious, any Fredricksen's out there in Opera-land living in Norway? Only serious need reply to this most interesting question

Since I have my Norwegian heritage picture in one of my photo albums, I thought it would be a good idea to explain just what ethnic origin I am from and what happened to the "other" last name. So here goes. My Mother's side is Scottish and maybe a bit of Irish. My Father (who is 80 and a fiesty dude, who still loves the Green Bay Packers) had a 100% Norwegian mother and a 100% Italian father With me so far? The Norwegian family name is: Fredricksen,ie; Alice Fredricksen was my paternal grandmother who married Angelo Hugo Bambini The Bambini's had one son, my Dad, who they named Dean. Dean, was forunate enough to go to college at The University of Illinois-Champaign and graduated from the college of Business and Commerce. Dean was raised in Chicago and at one time was a Bears fan:irked: and is still a die hard Cub fan Anyway, back to the last name story. Dean married a beautiful woman who he met at Illinois, named Carolan and he was offered his first job as a building manager in Milwaukee, Wi. As the story goes, my well connected Norwegian grandmother got my Dad hooked up for his first job as a building manager. Apparently, someone mentioned to her that the last name "Bambini" may be too Italian, and if he changed it to a "waspy" name, his opportunities would be unlimited. Well he did just that, much to the:irked: of Angelo Bambini (can you blame him?). So, Dean and Carolan went to the phone book to pick out a name that started with the letter "B" and a name that his unborn children would not be teased about. OK! So it was picked B_ _ _ _ _. Final thoughts on this story. As a kid growing up in Shorewood, Wi. for the life of me, I could not figure out why my last name was different than my paternal grandparents, was I adopted:confused: no, adoption, just a name change to make life easier. Bottom line is I am a Bambini in my heart and soul. I am not related to any famous actor(s) who just happen to have the same "new last name".

I commented in a forum about how crazy I think the media is (and others, ahhem! Clinton's) about Barak Obama's race. I understand that anyone with a drop of African blood can claim to be African-American. However, he is bi-racial:doh: If anyone read his book, "The Audacity of Hope", you will learn that his mother is white and from Kansas. He was raised by his maternal grandparents...white! I watch cable new alot, and not one channel or pundit has mentioned, that I am aware of, has mentioned the bi-racial reality of this great man. Ok, so maybe I need to email FOX news or something. Nature or nurture that is the question at hand. Good night and good luck....