Three quick thoughts for the night:

1. Today, the Baltimore Sun reported that Maryland Casinos took in a revenue of over $13 million in the month of March. In 2008, Governor O’Malley stated that the Casinos would primarily cover the needs of our schools (i.e., the money would go toward education).

Hey–Didn’t the state report last month that they needed $12 million to cover the needs in our classrooms, thus justifying the budget cuts, larger class sizes, and surplussed teachers? Phew! Glad that’s taken care of, with $1 million to spare.

Uh, right?

2. I spent over a year putting off the final revision of Cold Rock. When I made the decision on Friday to just sit down and face it head on, I not only completed the revision, but I created an alternate ending that may (may may may) make the ending better. That would have never been possible had I not taken the risk to jump in and just write. You would think that I would take my own advice every now and then. The truth is, though, that I write all the time about how hard writing is, simply because it is hard.

So what, though….right? Everything is hard. We need to push on anyway to see what awaits on the other side. Almost every time, I’m pleasantly surprised and grateful that I did so.

3. Killing our TV last month has been the best thing for our kids and for our family. We spend hours together every night now, and I don’t remember when we’ve had more laughter in the house. Our kids are reading again (and to each other, which is an even greater bonus), and we’re reopening doors to talk about the deeper things that aren’t necessarily accessible when they’re dipping in and out of the TV Dumb Zone. We’re saving over $100 a month by doing this, but really–the benefits are so much bigger (and priceless) when it comes to how our family is bonding.

Our kids are not lost just yet. We just need to make the opportunities for face-to-face time. When we’re competing with iPods, cell phones, and the media, it’s an ongoing war to keep our kids in touch with what’s most important.