I Can’t Believe It!

As I reflect on this month of blogging, I have to say I’m proud of myself. My blogs weren’t anything newsworthy, but I made a commitment and I followed through. That’s a big deal for me because often (most) (always) I throw myself into something and give it 100% until I quit about a week in.

For example, diets, healthy eating habits, barre (which, by the way, I LOVE but the classes are soooo late-I’m ready to pass out without physical exertion by 8:00), crafts of all sorts, you name it, I’ve probably tried it for a week. But writing, this commitment I made to myself was important. Like all of you, I’m busy, but I loved participating in this challenge and seeing it through.

I’m going to continue blogging, probably not everyday and I’ll be checking my feeds to see if my new writing friends are blogging, too! Thanks for all the support, Friends!

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Writer’s Block

Guys, does anyone have any idea why Day 30 is sooooo much harder than days 2-28? I have gone back to my idea generating notebookS (notice the plural), read other posts for ideas, and watched the world around me,meet I can’t seem to find the ideas to inspire me to write. I thought Day 30 would be easy as pie (get it…is served in slices) but it’s just hard.

This day leaves me wondering what about students in our classes who show up for 45 minutes and they just can’t find the ideas to write about-I totally get it now. I’ve had over 12 hours to find a worthy topic and its evaded me. Maybe the writer’s block, once in a while, is okay and maybe our students need to know that and learn how to embrace it and push through.

Good talk, guys!

My Girl

Tonight my daughter asked me if I miss her as a baby or little kid (she’s 22). I said no; I always knew she would grow up. But it got me thinking. Whenever we were coming to the end of something, I would say to myself, “Remember THIS-it won’t happen again.” I remember what she felt like moving around in my belly. I remember the day we took the training wheels off her bike-it was hot and she was insistent. I remember the last day of dance class, softball, basketball (oh, but was she awful), and volleyball. I remember the last time I watched her dance on the football field with the drill team. I remember how much she wanted to be on that team and how hard she worked to get there. I rememeber when she got the acceptance letter to Texas A&M and I remember when she told me she was pregnant. There are thousands more “I remembers” and there are thousands more to come.

And the fact is, she will always be my baby.

It’s Only a Test

Tomorrow is the official start of the testing season. I loathe this time of year because our attention turns from the real work of readers and writers to the work of learning how to take a test. Don’t get me wrong, I had to take tests, too. It’s not something new and I do see the value in getting a bead on student learning. But for some reason our kids are a nervous wreck about these high stakes tests. That’s what stinks the most. Honestly, I don’t remember getting prepped for a test, taking a test or anyone having to participate in remediation because of a test. Maybe it happened, but I don’t remember it.

Last week I worked with a group of sixth graders after school. We talked about standardized testing (they KNOW this phrase and that’s sad) and obstacles to feeling successful on these tests. Almost every single student (I was working with 12 or so) said they get anxious, their stomachs hurt, they have headaches, and the cannot stand it when other student fidget during a test. We talked through some of these issues and made categories of things we can control and this we can’t. We made lists and came up with solutions together. We laughed and just talked. I think the kids were relieved to find their fears, concerns, and ailments were shared by others.

What mlearned from this conversation with kids is that even when it comes to testing, we really just want to know we belong. For those of you monitoring tests tomorrow, good luck and don’t forget, test monitoring is prime time for isometric exercises!

 

Recap of the Weekend Haiku

Friends and family

make for a perfect  weekend

See you soon, Monday

 

 

28 Years of Bliss

Today Hubs and I celebrate 28 years of wedded bliss. I say that tongue-in-cheek because, while it has been 28 years, it hasn’t all been blissful. But as I reflect on why our marriage works, I can’t help but think it’s because we both understand we can’t make the other happy unless we, ourselves, are happy.

Take today, for example. We had our morning cup of coffee (he DOES make a killer coffee), sang Happy Anniversary to each other (okay, I sang), and headed out to do what makes us happy on a Saturday. Hubs loves to fly RC airplanes, so he spent most of the day at the RC park. I love riding my bike and haven’t been on it in a while. My son offered to go on a ride with me, so we headed off for a three miles shy of ten mile bike ride (sounds so much better than seven). Later, I ran my errands and we met back at the house.Dinner was at one of my favorite places, home. Both sets of kids celebrated with us. We enjoyed our fine dining outside as the weather is absolutely perfect right now.

This is what makes us tick. Family.

Smart Bed

It’s a school holiday and I’m stuck in bed. I’m not the “I’m so sick, I can’t get out of bed” kind of stuck. I’m the “I have a really long list of commitments today” kind of stuck. I’m thinking my bed knows me well enough that it’s developed the ability to sense when I need a few minutes. It knows me well enough to predict that if I hit the floor now, I’ll end up in a puddle of frustrated tears by noon. It wants me to cull my list and only do the things deemed really important.

*Breakfast with grandbaby and daughter

*Eat lunch with almost 27-year-old son and his wife

*Tea with mom

*Crawfish boil with friendster*

*HEB (grocery store for you non-Texans) for Easter lunch supplies

*Laundry (only because if I don’t do it today, it will smother us in our sleep tonight-there’s THAT much)

This list looks way shorter than it did in my head. No tears today! Thanks, Bed, for keeping me hostage.

*Friendster-My own word to describe my best friends who are more than best friends – they are my soul sisters – my friendsters.

Those Aggies

I’m watching basketball. I don’t really like basketball. But, I’m watching because Texas A&M is playing. I’m not really watching because they’re playing. They’ve played many times before-obviously. I’m watching because they are a testament to a growth-mindset.

Sunday night my son (Aggie alum) and husband gave up on the game when they were many points behind. Just before bed, I was looking for a recipe on Facebook and saw a post about overtime. I don’t know much about basketball, but I do know overtime means they caught up. Husband turned the game back on and it wasn’t  long before the Ags came through.

Guys, they did not give up. They were pretty far behind, but they didn’t let the score dictate their caliber of play. They persevered and they won. Can you imagine the amount of positive self-talk that was happening on that court? Anyway, I’m watching and hoping for another win.

 

The Day I Scarred Seventh Graders

It’s Spring in Texas, y’all. That means sunny skies, temps in the 80’s and dresses! I love dresses. They’re easy to wear and cause few pantyline worries. Today I wore a super cute, swingy dress I bought several weeks ago. I love this dress because it’s made of t-shirt material and super comfortable, but somehow looks professional – it’s the PERFECT dress. Unless it’s windy.

Wind is common on the coast, but I am 60 miles from the coast. Typically, it’s not windy in the suburbs and it wasn’t windy when I left for school this morning. It wasn’t windy when I walked into the building and it wasn’t windy at 8:00 a.m. when I walked from my “educational cottage” into the building. However (full stop for dramatic effect). When I came back out, in a hurry as usual, it was super windy and it was a passing period. That means I was headed out the doors while 48 seventh graders were headed in. We crossed paths in the middle of the paved area and that’s when the wind pick up. And by picked up, I mean it started to gust and it picked up my dress. I panicked. My hands immediately swatted down the wayward material in the front and the back of my body. The water in the glass I was holding was dripping from the back bottom of my dress and my calendar and the various papers, notes, and stickies it holds were strewn across the pavement. I am fairly certain that this spectacle did not go unnoticed. I’m just hoping I don’t end up on a meme.

Inedible Snacks

I’m on a diet. I have to wear a bathing suit in public in three weeks. I’m NOT:

• Changing the way I eat
• Embracing a healthier lifestyle
• Eating clean
• Eating to nourish my body and not to satisfy my cravings

Instead, I’m on a full out smoothie-for-breakfast-and-lunch-with-snacks-that-provide-a-minimum-of-calories diet. Me and the belly bulge are at an all out war. This brings me to the photo on the left. Snacks.

Yesterday I was shopping at Trader Joe’s for my smoothie ingredients and came across a beautiful bag of Pink Lady apples. They were so tiny, delicate, and cheap that I couldn’t pass them up.

Flash Forward: After whipping up my protein-packed spinach smoothie this morning, I threw an apple in my bag and headed out the door. I got a bit peckish around 10:00 a.m. so I fished out the apple from my bag and eagerly bit into it. I certainly didn’t expect to meet resistance from the flesh of something so dainty, so imagine my surprise when I could barely take a bite from the apple. It was so hard it could have been substituted for a pool cue ball. I was so disappointed that I put it aside for a while.

Later I came back to it. I was hoping that in my absence the apple would magically become more appealing and edible. Wrong. It was just as hard, but I was hungry. The morning smoothie had reached its useful life and it was too early for the lunch smoothie. I had to do battle with the apple. I’m hoping that I burned a few extra calories as a reward.