When my eyes flash open in the morning, (They do “flash” open. None of this slow leisurely awakening for me!) A deluge of thoughts pour out. It’s as if, while sleeping, all these thoughts have been dammed up, just waiting for the opportunity to get out there in my conscious world.

Today, as I lurched from sleep, I was already considering the events recently past and the day ahead. There’s no yawning and stretching, no snooze alarm, no snuggling back under the covers or otherwise transitioning into the day. It’s full tilt awareness with a sense of urgency that grabs my body and mind from the sound slumber of a moment before.

Last night, I attended a great O.W.N. Optimist Club meeting where Kaitlin Keefer spoke to us about her recent stay in Ukraine as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Keefer taught Health, English and American History in a school with total enrollment of 400 students. She described the many differences in culture, employment, education, ecology and numerous other topics. We were all impressed with her knowledge of Ukraine, her command of both Ukrainian and Russian languages and her obvious love and respect of the Ukrainian people.

I shifted from last night to this morning before my feet hit the floor. I hope you recall Bill Golden and I worked on a video series titled, “Nights at the Round Table”. We had to suspend production for quite some time, but check this out!

Connie Moser and Bill Golden are pleased to announce they will be resuming the Nights at the Round Table video productions on April 11. Recordings will be done on Friday afternoons and there is no charge for folks wanting to get a good message to the public. The topics may be political, social, or educational, with preference given to projects that benefit our community.

Recordings will include publicity, posting on You Tube and several web pages and may be used by the interviewee as they see fit, as long as credit is given to Nights at the Round Table, an Intelligencecareers.com production. Please contact [email protected] to get on our production schedule.

Today, we are setting up a recording studio here in my home. The space is larger, the furniture more comfortable, and since there is no charge for recording, it will help immensely not to pay rent for office space!

As I move from the thinking to doing stage, I have a look at my calendar, sift through the email, check the Washington Post, all my local online news, the blogs, and Facebook. I’m stricken with guilt when I realize I have so much from yesterday’s “to do” list that didn’t get “to done”!

So, I had two fairly coherent thoughts, then all Hell breaks loose! Now it sounds like cacophony in my head as I hear: “Need to call Mottern Masonry for issues with the driveway, cleanup with Kipp Hanley on Saturday morning, Dale City Lions have nearly sold out of citrus fruit, need to post event for Prince William Committee of 100 on Facebook for the forum on April 17, meeting friends for lunch-first trip to Smokin’ Brays-love to support local business, I hope I bookmarked that very sobering video of Abandoned Malls (I did bookmark and you should definitely have a look!)…the litany of thoughts and ideas is running full tilt boogie, now! Oh, and I need to write my Potomac Local column!

I don’t drink coffee. The idea of my brain on caffeine is frightening.

It’s 50 degrees outside and the sun is shining brilliantly. Fat, yellow Daffodil heads are nodding in a little whisper of breeze. The last remnants of the most recent snow are dripping off the roof and traveling melodically through the downspouts to share water with the Crocus, Tulips and Hellebores that are rising from their sleepy winter mulch beds.

I’m feeling it! I don’t want to write about overcrowded schools or politicians who may not be meeting my expectations. I can’t find it in my head or my heart to opine about builders, developers, roads or transportation. I consider writing about my miserable experience being stuck in traffic last week and missing a luncheon with the League of Women Voters of Virginia, but it’s just impossible to focus on the sad, the bad, or the mad stuff!

I know the end of winter is here. I’m nearly giddy with the anticipation of the end of dry skin and itchy scalp that competes with snowfall for frequency and density. I’m counting the dollars I’ll save on skin cream! I’m thinking how much faster I will be able to make arrivals and departures when I don’t have to spend time putting on boots and gloves and coats, nor will I have to put them all away after they’ve dried by the heating vents all over the house.

More than the physical relief of hands and feet no longer numbed by cold, more than the luxury of hitting the floor barefoot in the mornings without gasping and grabbing a robe and slippers, even more than the prospect of stepping into a warm shower instead of an icy spray is the mental warmth that comes with Spring.

Spring renews our hearts and fulfills the promise we made while begging, “God, please just let me get warm!” Everything seems softer, not so sharp and bitter and I may be romanticizing a bit, but it also seems the people I see are more friendly, open and more accessible. (That may be true because they are no longer hidden under six layers of clothing and a ski mask.)

For gardeners, it is the absolute best time of year. We can put down the seed catalogues and start the work that will ensure a delightful season of growth and largesse. The soil, too wet just now, but very soon will be perfect for amending with compost. Here’s a perfect opportunity for me to tell you to take your yard waste (grass clippings, tree limbs, brush) to the Prince William County Landfill or the Balls Ford Facility to be rendered into compost.

Since I meandered my way into the landfill through this post, I’d like to also mention another reason April is my favorite month: It is Litter & Illegal Dumping Enforcement Month!  The paragraph below captures the essence of why I volunteer for so many cleanup activities.

Littering and illegal dumping negatively affect our neighborhoods and the Potomac River. Further, litter that surrounds homes and businesses affect feelings of well-being, recreation and tourism in the County, and studies show that there is a strong correlation between large amounts of litter and increased crime.

So enjoy this beautiful time of year and all the good things that go with it. It’s quite likely next week we’ll all be grousing about how hot it is!

I attended the Prince William Committee of 100 forum on March 20. The topic was the revenue share agreement between Prince William County and Prince William County Schools and the question was posed to a panel to determine if they thought the current revenue share was sufficient or if schools actually require more funding from the county.

The panel was composed of Gainesville District Supervisor, Pete Candland, the owner of intelligencecareers.com and many other job sites, Bill Golden, School Board Chairman Milt Johns, and teacher/student advocate from Bull Run Middle School, Riley O’Casey. Our moderator was David Kinsella, teacher and Vice-President of the Prince William Education Association.

Several themes permeated the event, including the high burden on the residential tax base and a need to examine the school budget (and the county budget) for more cost effective savings.

There was a wide range of questions from the audience spanning designated taxes, audits, budgets, teacher pay, overcrowded classrooms and lack of infrastructure maintaining pace with the influx of students.

Several things became apparent quickly: Nearly everyone believes Prince William County teachers need reasonable pay, almost all believe class sizes are too large and nearly all feel we need to do something to improve the situation.

I didn’t perceive any solution. Supervisor Candland made several attempts to move the discussion toward solutions, such as grant matching, but there were so many more questions and suggestions they outweighed the possibilities he proposed.

What really concerned me, though was the ability of the entire audience to glide right over the facts presented by Bill Golden. Golden made it painfully obvious the future of jobs is reduced pay and reduced work force. He had data to back up those claims. Having been familiar with the employment situation for 14 months, I don’t need the data to understand. We’re living it!

I am fairly confused about where we plan to get more revenue to give to schools. Let me try to dumb it down for those of us who cut economics class in high school.

Schools need more money. Schools get money from Prince William County. If Prince William County gives schools more money, the county budget is short. If the county budget is short, there are two ways to make up the short fall: Cut expenses or increase taxes.

So, I totally understand parents wanting pay raises for teachers and smaller class sizes for students. I absolutely agree we need improvements and maintenance at older school facilities. I just want to know what is it we should cut from the county budget to increase the amount we give to schools. Should we cut public safety? Should we trim public works? Should we reduce economic development? Should we stop funding parks and libraries? No?

Then that means increased taxes. I recently wrote about the many ways we pay tax to Prince William County. So if you assume Mr. Golden’s scenario is accurate, (I will tell you, he is a friend of mine and a fact checker) how is Prince William County going to collect more taxes when residents are making a reduced wage and have lower housing values? Have you ever heard the expression, “You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip?” I’m feeling vegetarian!

A recent discussion on Our Schools Facebook page revolved around salaried elected officials. We noted the differences between the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) and the School Board Representatives (SB Reps)

The BOCS, meets year round and are paid as full-time employees with benefits. They have offices, staff and expense accounts. Prince William County Schools receive 57.23% of the general revenue funds paid to the county by the taxpayers, yet, PWC SB Reps are considered part time employees.

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I am a supporter of  Prince William County Supervisor Pete Candland. I don’t live in his district  of Gainesville and I don’t care whether he is a Republican or a Democrat. I like him because he has youth and energy, is willing to try new ideas and has the courage of his convictions.

Candland is obviously trying to do the best possible job for his constituents and I am sure for all of Prince William County. So, when I received an email from Candland this week, I was impressed with all the information he provided, but it left me with some questions we need to think about.

The current hot topic (at least one of them) is the tax rate. The Board of County Supervisors voted to limit the tax rate for the following year to $1.158, which equals about a 5.5% increase in our taxes. A fair number of Supervisor Candland’s constituents were willing to pay more taxes if we also cut spending (32%) and most of his constituents wanted to spend that increase on education. (66%)

I, of course, am wondering what that means to me and my neighbors. Assuming my property value increase is already noted, that would mean about an additional $150.25 this year. So, even though the rate is lower, my taxes increased. (If you want to check your property taxes and real estate value, click here)

Still, it doesn’t seem like much of an increase, does it? This is what my real estate tax it looks like over the last ten years:
2003- $2553.22
2004- $2965.84
2005- $3110.76
2006- $3418.38
2007- $3520.02
2008- $3316.80
2009- $2507.64
2010- $2410.06
2011- $2615.30
2012- $2661.62
2013- $3011.70

You can draw your own conclusions about how my real estate taxes have only increased less than $500.00 in ten years. You can do your own calculations and see how your taxes increased, too.

Then, we should add the taxes on our vehicles, ($3.70 per $100.00 value), the license fees,  the taxes we pay locally on our utilities, and the portion of the sales tax that goes to PWC (of the 6% sales tax, 1.7% goes to PWC)., and don’t forget the storm water levy and the fire levy that increase this year.

I’m not mathematician enough to give you the total amount of taxes we pay to Prince William County each year. I am going to say we are “low use” residents, though. We have no children in school and have not had any for 20 years.

I have never called the fire department and have only called the police department once in 28 years as a resident. I don’t use any social services or public transportation, and since I have never been a commuter, I’ll say I use local roads less than average.

We have no children using parks or ball fields or swimming pools and we don’t use those amenities. We don’t use libraries, as we have great computers that help us find all the information we need.

So, what’s my point? I don’t know! All those numbers make my head hurt! What if all the other childless couples rallied and said we want better transportation! We want clean, safe neighborhoods! We want businesses to generate jobs so we don’t have to commute!

Oh, and we want your children to have a great education. We just don’t want to pay for it!

You can view the entire Candland document, titled “Update on your Taxes”

If you watched the BOCS on February 25, you may have seen the debate raging to set the advertised tax rate for the 2015 fiscal year.

I spoke at the afternoon session, not wanting to be involved in the likely long evening session during citizens’ time. There was a lot of heartfelt commentary from citizens ranging from the PWC Arts Council who joined forces with many other non-profits, like ACTS and Habitat to show the connectivity and importance of the wide range of services and necessity for access to all in our community.

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Last week I read this Police Report:

Assault by Mob

February 15th at 6:38PM, officers responded to Potomac Mills Mall located at 2700 Potomac Mills Cir in Woodbridge (22192) for a large fight near the food court.

On Tuesday, I watched the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting and heard Chairman Corey Stewart state this incident is unacceptable and rightfully noted this was an embarrassment to Prince William County, and called for mall management to meet with county officials to work on a solution so this doesn’t occur again.

Five days later, I saw this follow up  press release from PWCPD on Facebook:

Malicious Wounding | Assault by Mob | Gang Participation *ARRESTS– On February 18th, detectives from the Gang Unit were able to identify three suspects involved in the fight which occurred at Potomac Mills Mall located at 2700 Potomac Mills Cir in Woodbridge on February 15th. Detectives further learned that the altercation stemmed from an ongoing dispute between two rival street gangs. Following the investigation, detectives obtained detention orders against the three male juvenile suspects. All three suspects were located and arrested without incident on February 19th.

Arrested on February 19th: [Juveniles]

Two 15 year old male juveniles, both of Woodbridge and a 14 year old male juvenile of Triangle All three juvenile suspects were charged with 1 count of malicious wounding, 1 count of assault & battery, and 2 counts of gang participation
Court date: unavailable | Status: all are being held at the Juvenile Detention Center

I spend a lot of time reading about education. I’m not only concerned how my tax dollars are spent I genuinely want the best for the next generation of adults. I’m sure most of you feel the same.

So, I have to wonder when we talk about SOLs, Common Core, and the 12^th High School, are we really missing the big picture? Is the violence in youth escalating or not? Should our primary concern be STEM classes or maybe something much more basic? Are parents teaching respect for others or has that become lost in the commute and the hustle to get our kids to practice, to band, to the game?

Please know I am not talking about all parents or all children. I am friends with many parents I respect and admire who are doing it all. They are teaching respect, ethics and morals at home. It is evident in their daily lives and in their community.

I watched two powerful videos this week. For the sake of those children who do not fall in the above paragraph, please watch and share your thoughts with me.

The first is a PSA, titled Children See, Children Do It’s powerful and frightening and you may think it has nothing to do with Prince William County or education, but I think it does.

The second movie is more subtle. Norwegians React to a Freezing Boy. The translation is here, although you really don’t need it. My first reaction to this movie is that in America, we would be calling the police or Social Services or someone else to solve the problem. Most of us would be afraid to act, afraid our action would be misconstrued or we might be sued or perhaps accused of inappropriate behavior.

It has been many years since my children were young. I know things change and while I think I do a good job of keeping current, it’s not the same as “being in the game”. Share your thoughts with me.

I survived the frightful hip replacement surgery and want to share a couple of observations with you.

I knew Potomac Hospital when we moved here in 1988. The original facility was built in Woodbridge in 1972 and was one of the last hospitals built from a grass roots movement and not by a business. In 2009, Potomac Hospital merged with Sentara Healthcare and it’s been a powerful change agent since then.

Also operating in Woodbridge, the Potomac Heath Foundation, is now a private, independent organization devoted to wellness and continues to work with many not for profit organizations dedicated to the health of our community. I had only used the hospital facility once or twice, availing myself of the emergency services after an allergic reaction to bee sting. The hospital seemed adequate, they did diagnose, treat and save my life, so that seems a good recommendation.

Sentara is a network of health care facilities with 125 years of non-profit history. You can read lots about Sentara on this page including a video, but none of what you read will explain the experience I encountered. Beyond the absolute luxury of a large private room is the team of nurses, doctors, assistants, students, technicians and other employees who all seemed determined to cheerfully take care of me.

Every single employee was friendly, efficient and interested in my comfort and care. I never once had the feeling that anyone was there just to earn a paycheck. Whether it was the employees who brought my meals or the doctor visiting rounds, every single one seemed to recognize me as a person, not just a patient.

The nurses were the best. A constant parade of professionals, checking vitals and medicating me also managed to spend a minute or two in conversation.

Every aspect of care is covered, beginning with a pre-op class hosted by the vivacious Ada who described what the surgery would entail and what would occur during and after the procedure.

If you read my previous post on this topic, you know I was terrified! I’m not going to tell you there was nothing to be scared of. Hip replacement is a big procedure. Yes, lots of people have it done and yes, it has a high rate of success. It is also a painful recovery. I don’t think I can describe how much it hurt after the surgery without sounding whiny, but even with great doctors and very fine drugs, that first trip out of bed to the bathroom burns a bright memory for me!

It’s been about ten days. I am definitely on the mend. I have a physical therapist who comes to my house three days a week and is teaching me how to strengthen the muscles I need to support my new hip and avoid dislocation.

My husband (now unemployed for one year) was pressed into service as caregiver. This is a complete reversal of roles for us and I don’t think either of us ever envisioned what would be required. Fortunately, we both have a pretty good sense of humor and a plus for him is that he drinks beer. I’m sure that’s made this experience more bearable for us both.

Tremendous thanks to my friends and family who have called and visited, send cards, brought flowers and made me feel loved and treasured. Special thanks to Peter Lineberry who honored me with a gift that was inspired!

Thanks to you readers who gave me words of encouragement and I promise next week’s post won’t be any more about me, me, me!

One of the first rules of writing is to write about what you know. I confess, I do not follow that rule very often. If I did, I probably would have exhausted my writing skills three years ago, when I first began writing for Potomac Local. I tend to write more about what I feel and then attempt to add some factual, useful content and some helpful links so by the end of a column I know more than when I began. I hope it works that way for you when you read it, too.

Sometimes the “knowing” and the “feeling” are not compatible. Monday morning, I am going to Sentara hospital for a hip replacement. Almost everyone knows what that is, but I suspect not many of us actually know how that is done unless you are one of the 285,000 patients per year who undergo this surgery.

This page from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons will tell you nearly everything you need to know about the procedure, including why the surgery is done, how surgery is performed, pre-operative and post-operative care, and quite a few illustrations.

If you are brave, here’s a video, but I’ll give fair warning, it is graphic. I’m telling you that because those words accompany the video. I didn’t watch it! None of those pages can tell you how hip surgery feels. Hopefully, I will be well sedated and I won’t be able to tell you how it feels either.

I can tell you how I feel emotionally in one word: “Panicked!”

One of the hold-over issues from an unstable childhood is the need for control. When I was young, I had no control over my situation. Some yelling, screaming parent would culminate a tirade with, “I can’t handle her anymore! You take her!”

The next thing I knew, I was being sent to live with mom or dad or my grandparents.

I spent a lot of time being scared and unhappy, and as an adult, I recognize I felt that way because I was powerless. Even today, some forty five to fifty years after that turmoil, some traits still sneak out. I can’t stand uncertainty. I hate to feel like I am not in control.

One of the things that makes me a terrible automotive passenger or causes me to be afraid of flying is that I have no control of the situation. I am putting my safety in the hands of someone else.

So, you can probably imagine how I feel about surgery. I’m entering an environment where I am totally dependent upon others. I’ve met my surgeon twice and looked him up at the Virginia Board of Medicine Practitioner Information. My doctor has no actions against his practice and has paid no claims. That tells me he hasn’t been sued for malpractice. There was no information listed regarding his awards or credentials, but based on about 24 minutes with him on two occasions, I like him!

So, wish me luck. I’m sure I’m going to have one of those 95% successful surgeries. (I am assuming I won’t keel over from a panic attack!)