Forgiveness Day

Blog Prompt: Today is Forgiveness Day. Do you have something to be forgiven for? Or do you need to take the time to forgive someone else?

I messed up! Today is my anniversary and I don’t have anything special for my hubby! I usually make him a special scrapbook page or card or something but today…nothing. I am so caught up in teaching my grad class and then I had a technology conference this week in addition to my tech class that I just didn’t have the time or the energy to make anything. It fleetingly crossed my mind and I kept convincing myself that I had time and then time caught up with me. Today is our 27th anniversary and I have no gift for him. I hope he forgives me!

Original image: 'Teddy Bears' http://www.flickr.com/photos/64251830@N00/542884121 by: Robert Fornal

Being Sick

Blog Prompt: What’s the worst part about being sick?

I hate having people hover over me when I am sick. When I don’t feel well, I usually go somewhere and walk. Walking usually helps me feel better so if I end up in bed, I’m usually very very sick. Then my husband gets so worried that I am not feeling well that he, well, hovers. He will try to feed me if I’m not eating, he will make cutesy things involving eggs and toast and coax me into eating it whether I want to or not, he will constantly bring me liquids to drink and stand there until I drink it. It just about drives me crazy. But I know he does it because he loves me.

Family

Blog Prompt: List the names of 5-8 of your relatives and write a profile of 50 words or less for each.

Hubby – the love of my life and my best friend. We have no secrets from each other and totally trust each other.

Dad – he will be 90 years old this year and is extremely active. He still drives and works on his house.

Sister –Even though she has lupus, she works part time and cares for her granddaughter while her daughter works. She can do anything crafty (crochet, knit, bake etc.) and everything she makes is always perfect.

Step mom – She has been married to my dad for 18 years and has kept him happy and healthy soon after my mom passed away. I believe she saved my dad’s life 2 years ago when he suffered a stroke and she got him to the doctor right away which meant he only had minimal physical damage.

Niece – now that she is married and has children, we seem even closer. I really enjoy talking to her on the phone and wish that she lived closer. (She lives almost 800 miles from me).

Original image: 'South Beach Sisters' http://www.flickr.com/photos/12692384@N00/82945847 by: Patrick

Be a Do-er!

“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try’” ~Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back). Are you a “do” or a “do not”? Why or why not?

I am a “do” kind of person. I love to try new things (except bungy jumping and jumping out of planes!). I always have ask, “What is the worst thing that could happen?” By not trying things, I could be missing out on a fantastic opportunity. There are so many neat things to try and do that I want to do it all and do it right now! But I want to do it perfectly even though I know it won’t happen. I’m just thankful that my husband doesn’t mind this and supports me in this attitude. That is how I ended up with worms for worm composting, learning how to knit, rollerblades (that I am still trying to learn) and many other odd projects.

Original image: 'Master Yoda' http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/387971417 by: Thomas Hawk

One Lovely Blog Award

Creative Triplet Mom was so sweet and gave me this award and I really do appreciate it. I will have to think about the other blogs though to give it to though. Since I’ve started back teaching, I really haven’t had a chance to read many new blogs and barely keep up with the ones that I read regularly. So, if you know anyone who should receive this award, please feel free to pass it on.

Here’s the rules for this award:
“One Lovely Blog Award goes to new blogs and blogging friends.The rules are: Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.”

Sauntering

Blog Prompt: Today is World Sauntering Day. Sauntering is form of strolling. Where would you saunter to on this day?

If I could, I would be sauntering through the forest today. I had looked forward to going hiking today especially since it will be so hot. I bet with the humidity, the heat index will be over 100. My hope was to go to NC and hike to some waterfalls where the spray would be cooling and even put my feet in the cool water.

But unfortunately this is not going to happen. We got a call last night that we have a tree down at one of our rental houses and will be going there to clear it out today. Due to the bad storms we have had around our county, I know we wouldn’t be able to get a tree service any time soon so we are going to try to clear it ourselves. Last year we had a huge tree fall in our yard and we did it ourselves so I know we can do this okay because this tree is smaller. My hubby will work the chainsaw and I am in charge of clearing. Maybe we will get to hike tomorrow.

Original image: 'Waterfall' http://www.flickr.com/photos/31018257@N00/142845984 by: Diego Silvestre

A Story, A Poem, and a List

Sorry for being MIA, but I am still trying to get in the swing of things with this class I’m teaching. Just when I am finally getting it together, we are halfway through the course and getting ready for midterms! Then on Tuesday night, we had an awful storm that took out our power until Wednesday evening which only made me further behind! Here is a picture of some of the damage near my house. Thank goodness we didn't have any damage except not having power. (Okay, now I’ll quit whining!)

Tuesday’s Blog Prompt: From creative writing prompts. Using one of the sets below, use all the words in your chosen set to write a mini story of 300 words or less.Set 1: paper clips, principal, lunchbox, swing, girl with a pink ribbon

One day the principal was walking through the school hallways when she came across a little girl with a pink ribbon in her hair. As the little girl walked down the hall, she would swing this small lunchbox in her right hand. The principal noticed that it was a Cinderella lunchbox. The principal stopped to talk to her and was very kind to her. Later that day when the principal was back in her office, she looked at her box of paper clips and thought, “I wish you were a nice cool drink and I was sitting on the deck of a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean!” Poof! Suddenly the principal found herself sipping from a drink on a Carnival Ship in the middle of the ocean. The little girl appeared suddenly and explained that she really was the fairy godmother from the Cinderella lunchbox. Because the principal had been kind to her, the fairy godmother decided to grant the principal’s wish! The moral of the story: it doesn’t matter what position you hold, it always pays to be kind to others.

Wednesday’s Blog Prompt: Write a poem or story about a child stealing something.

There once was a little girl who stole
That was her one and only goal
Then realized it was a big deal
And that she could go to jail
So she changed her attitude as a whole.

Thursday’s Blog Prompt: Name five (5) things that have been in your refrigerator for more than a week.

Yogurt, lettuce, green peppers, butter, cheese

Living Above Their Means

Blog Prompt: e e cummings once remarked, “I’m living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart.” Do you find that more people today are living beyond their income? Are you?

Yes, I believe too many people buy things on credit or on hopes that they will have money later. They want to have what other people have and think that they need to have it right now. When I was growing up, I was always taught to save my money if I wanted to buy something and when I had enough, then I could get it. I think too many now just buy it on credit if they want it. Then later, they lose their jobs or have a medical emergency and suddenly do not have the money to pay their bills. Young people seem to want the biggest, fanciest house they can get and as long as the banks will give them the loan, they get that house. They don’t think about other expenses they might have and then they can’t pay their loans. This economy is the consequence of all of this “buy now, pay later” attitude. If we buy something on credit, we know we have the money in our savings account to pay the credit card balance off at the end of each month. This way we don’t pay any interest and it helps our credit rating. If we can’t afford to pay the bill, then we just don’t get it. We saved up for almost 10 years before we retired so that we would have money to do what we wanted to do when we did retire. This meant not going on trips that other people went on, and not buying fancy clothes, or not buying new cars etc. but now we are able to pay our bills and live comfortably.

Original image: 'Too Much Credit' http://www.flickr.com/photos/23327787@N08/3274955487 by: Andres Rueda Lopez

Roses

Blog Prompt Today is Red Rose Day. Do you know what a red rose signifies? What about your favorite rose?

I think I remember reading that red roses symbolize love so I guess that is why red roses are so popular on Valentine’s Day. I really don’t have a favorite rose but I do like roses of all colors. I especially like rose bushes that stay alive in my flower beds. Here is a picture that I took last year of one of my roses. I have about 4 rose bushes that I bought at Sam’s Club for $5 each which was good in case they died. Then I knew I didn’t have a lot invested in them. I really don’t do much for them except put my worm compost around the base once a year. I don’t even water them much and pretty much leave them alone. Then I am always amazed when they start blooming and look so beautiful. This year at the beginning of spring, I trimmed them down to about half the size because they were really tall and leggy. I just knew that I had probably killed them but no, they are still alive and blooming nicely again. It is always nice to look out our window and see my roses blooming.

Catching up and Teaching

Wednesday blog prompt: Look at the pictures on your walls. Pick one and write about it.

There is a sketch of me that was done by an artist in Piazza Navona which is in Rome, Italy. I have never had anyone do this of me before and it was a little scary. We didn’t know that he was actually a pretty famous artist and had done famous people including Dennis Rodman until after he had finished my sketch. I can’t believe that we didn’t get his name but I think we were in shock when we found out about him. The sketch is actually the best I’ve ever seen of myself (of course it makes me look pretty good as well as thin) so I’m proud of it.

Thursday blog prompt: Are you grateful for right now?

I am very grateful for my life right now. I’m healthy and happy and all’s right with the world. I love my husband and I love being with him. Dinner turned out well and he really enjoyed it too. My knitting is waiting for me when I am ready to work on it. I’m getting caught up with things waiting for me on the computer. It just rained which means I don’t have to go out and water the lawn. My parents and sister who live far away from me are doing well healthwise right now. My bills are all paid. I finished my 4 mile exercise walk before the rain so I am feeling pretty good right now.

Teaching:

I am back in the classroom teaching Nature of Learning Disabilities. I am always nervous the first day of class but I get over it pretty quickly. I really like the students in my class and they seem interested in what I have to say (or else they are faking it really well!). Besides the basic content about Learning Disabilities, I’m also incorporating a lot of technology in the lessons because I feel it is so important. This week my students was introduced to our class wiki, started a blog, signed up for Google Reader, and Plurk. I’m very pleased with all that they have done so far. The only glitch we had was that I found out their textbook is a later edition than mine so I have to redo some lessons with the current edition of the book. But part of teaching is being flexible and ready for anything. If this is the worst thing that can happen the whole time, I’m very happy.

Teach A Child photo

Blog Prompt: A picture is worth more than a blank page. Take out those dusty photo albums. Pick out photo #14. Look at the picture for 2-3, then for 10 minutes (or whatever you can afford) write all the feelings that photograph made you feel. Don’t sensor yourself, just write.

Since I take digital photos now, I really didn’t have an old photo album handy so I went to my 365 photos project on Flickr and picked photo #14. It was my Teach a Child photo which is perfect for today. Today I begin teaching my university course and I’m pretty excited. The course is Nature of Learning Disabilities and my class includes undergraduates (getting a degree in Special Education) and graduates (who are teachers getting their master’s degree in Special Education). Even though the main focus is Learning Disabilities, I will have a chance to share my knowledge and expertise about all disabilities because I believe teachers should teach the individual child and not the “label.” So I will be modeling teaching behaviors and activities as well as teaching them how to use technology in the classroom. I hope I can impress on them how important communication with the parents are and how it was a major part of a student’s success in the classroom. Part of me is nervous because I hope they don’t get bored with what I’m saying or think it is a waste of time being there. The other part of me is saying I hope I can hold their interest for 3 hours a day! Of course I have so much that I want to say and share with them I guess I shouldn’t worry. Now it is time to get ready for work (feels weird just saying that! LOL)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Campaign Weekend

We have had a busy fun weekend. Yesterday my neighbor and good friend, David Thomas, announced that he was running for US Congress. He first announced in front of his home and then in two other towns so we went to all three different places. This took all day to do and I took lots of photos and videos but I wish that I had brought my tripod. My arms got so tired holding the camera to take videos but I didn’t plan on doing that until the last minute. I took about 100 photos and 3 videos and they all came out pretty good. Of course it took me forever to download all the photos off the camera and on to my laptop.

Then I guess my husband was all wound up by the excitement of the day and he couldn’t go to sleep. I would doze off and then wake up to the TV blaring with old war movies. When he finally fell asleep, I was wide awake and read my book until about 4am. Needless to say, we both were exhausted all day today. We didn’t even go walking in the park or go hiking like we had planned to do. I did lay around and watch some movies like August Rush (I'd never seen it before and I enjoyed it) and Enemy of the State (which I've seen a couple of times).

Today I burned some DVDs with all the pictures from yesterday and delivered it to them. I took lots of crowd pictures so they would know who supported them. I know that when we have big parties, I have trouble remembering who was there.

Then I also worked on my presentations for the class I’m teaching beginning on Tuesday. I’m excited and a little nervous. I hope that they are not sorry for taking the class. I hope tomorrow to go out to Furman and make sure that I can access the computer and my files will open up okay. I also need to run my syllabus off too.

I hope you had a good weekend!

Gender Equality, Doughnuts, and Babbling

Thursday’s blog prompt: Do you believe there is an inequality between men & women? Are there certain jobs that should be consigned to just one?

I believe there is inequality in men and women but I don’t think that it is all bad. Let’s face it, God made us differently for a reason. I think most men are built to be stronger and do more labor intensive work than most women (notice I said “most”). Just like women were built to bear children and not men. There are some sports that I believe should be gender specific and others that don’t need to be but if they are not, then everyone should follow the same rules no matter what sex they are. I believe this is the same for jobs. If either sex can do the same job by meeting the same criteria, then I think it shouldn’t matter. It is when we start making exceptions or changing the criteria due to gender that I have a problem. If there needs to be changes, then that person is unable to do the job and shouldn’t have it.

Friday’s blog prompt: Today is National Doughnut Day. What is your favorite doughnut? Do you make your own?

My favorite doughnut is a Krispy Kreme Chocolate Glazed doughnut. Yumm (oh sorry, I'm drooling). I can almost smell and taste it right now, especially if it is still warm. When I was young, I remember helping my mom try to make doughnuts but I didn’t enjoy it. I would just as soon pay to have one already made.

Notes:
For some reason I can’t get myself together this week and get the prompts done on time. But I have gotten a lot done in the past week. We’ve gone hiking three days and I cleaned out my shed which took 6 hours. Then we had to haul 2 truckloads of junk to the dump. Yesterday I had a phone interview by a man from Scotland (my first international interview!) about technology and education. I start back to teaching next week at Furman so I’m trying to get my syllabus and lessons in order. My housework has taken a back seat so I hope to catch up on that today since it is pouring down rain. Then today we also have to go take pictures at the church for the directory (this will be the first time Don’s been in a suit in months!).

Original image: 'krispy' http://www.flickr.com/photos/93908727@N00/5969417 by: Lou Tamposi

Dress Codes

Blog Prompt: Should schools and businesses enforce a dress code? Why?

Yes, I think there should be a dress code because people have different ideas of what is appropriate. I am not in favor of a uniform in schools because I feel that is where we can teach students that there are different kinds of appropriate dress. This is a time for students to see what colors they think they look good in and to learn to make their own decisions. I don’t think that all students should look alike because individualism is important. Even if there are uniforms so financial status is not known, students still know who has money and who doesn’t. I don’t think the uniforms help with that. I think it is important to teach students what is appropriate to wear in different situations and expect them to do so. I think students who wear inappropriate clothing should be sent home for the day and receive a failing grade for that day. If we are preparing them for the real world, we can not compromise on this.

As for the workplace, I think people should dress appropriate for their line of work. I do not like going into a professional place where people are dressed extremely casual because then I feel the work they will do for me will be too casual. I also don’t want workmen doing manual labor to be all dressed up because then I think they have no experience and will do a crummy job. These types of situations need to be taught in schools.

Original image: 'Dress Code' http://www.flickr.com/photos/7261417@N04/3350129438 by: Steve Weaver

To Be or Not to Be

Blog Prompt: Would you like to be famous? Why or why not? If so, what would you like to be famous for?

I don’t think I would like to be famous because I don’t like to be in the limelight. I really don’t like people focusing on me and it makes me nervous. I don’t even like to give speeches where everyone is looking at me. If I was famous, I would have to give interviews and the cameras would always be on me. As a famous person, you also don’t have any privacy and I don’t like everyone knowing my business and what I’m doing. I find that very smothering and makes me want to run the other way.

Original image: 'crossover.' http://www.flickr.com/photos/34792030@N03/3459936311 by: jennny lovato

Listening

“Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.” ~Dr. Joyce Brothers. How well do you listen? Are you intent or preoccupied?

I have to admit that I am not a good listener. I am a more visual person and would rather talk to someone face to face than on the phone. I need to see facial expressions and body language when I’m having a conversation in order to get the big picture. I love doing emails because I can see the words people are sending me and I can see the words that I’m sending them. I would rather read a book then listen to an audio book but again, I think that is because I’m a visual person.

Even when I’m talking to someone face to face, I’m not sure I am a good listener. I’m thinking about what I want to say so I don’t forget or I’m worried about what they are thinking about me and what I’m saying. If I’m with people that I don’t know, I feel unsure of myself and tend to focus on what I’m feeling instead of what they are saying. I guess I need to work harder on my listening skills.

Original image: 'My Listening Ears' http://www.flickr.com/photos/40257616@N00/1389750548 by: Niclas Lindh