Another Fallen Idol?

I'm writing my first post of 2017 about the artist, Mariah Carey. I used to love Mariah. Let me be clear. I loved the Mariah of past times. The young, skinny, naive, starlet, with her long curly hair, who came on the music scene in 1990 with that voice. Like millions of fans, I knew all the words to all her songs. I have taken many a shower, cleaned many a room, and cried...well just because...while belting out some of her greatest hits like, Vision of Love, Love Takes Time, I Don't Wanna Cry, and so many others. If you're a fan...were a fan...I'm sure you can relate.

Current Obsessions

Here are five things I'm currently obsessed with...

On Trying New Things in Teaching

This school year, I'm trying all things new. New strategies. New ways of doing old things. Fresh. New. Unfamiliar. New.  And I'm discovering that the very things I've always been afraid to try, aren't as daunting as they first appeared...

About This School Year

Literacy and Numeracy Night 2016

This school year is going well. Not to say it's without stress and challenges because those things still exist in the world of teaching. But still, things are looking up...

Be True to Yourself

I recently ordered these MantraBands to wear as a daily reminder of what's really important...choose love, and be true, be you, be kind.  Sometimes we get so busy with our daily lives that it's easy to lose focus, and this week I did just that. I lost focus...

On Parenting

Last week, I attended this art thing that one of the teachers at my school was hosting. It's like one of those sip and paint deals where you create your own "masterpiece" from start to finish while snacking and hanging out with friends. Only, we didn't just get to work with paint...we also used a lot of different mixed media which put a whole new spin on things. 

Anyways this got me thinking.  An artist starts with a blank canvas, and can put a lot of thought and planning into it, never truly knowing how it will turn out. Parenting is kinda like that.  You plan, and you dream. You make sacrifices, you toil, you teach, and you learn.  You do the best you know how, and you hope for the best, but sometimes you never know what you're gonna get, or how things will turn out...

A Forgotten Benefit of Reading

It all started with a small twitching below my left eye. Let me be clear. It was a constant twitching, sometimes called eyelid tics or spasms, and although it wasn't noticeable by others, it was driving me crazy...

On Fourteen Years of Marriage

Some things you just never forget.

Like what it felt like to own my first car. But I'll also never forget the day I drove away in my second car. It was a used 1991 Honda Accord, and at the time, it was almost ten years old, but to me, it felt new. And exciting! I remember driving off the car lot and feeling a sense of joy and pride. Me and my car! We were going places, and I looked forward to the little things like taking it through the car wash, and driving to places like the grocery story was now no "ordinary" trip because, now, when I walked to my car, in the parking lot, I could admire it, once again, thinking...that's my car!  Over the years, my car and I developed a rhythm. We understood each other. I knew it needed it's regular maintenance, and I knew my limits with my old car. Like how it would almost tremble and slightly shake when I tried to push it to the limits of driving fast speeds.  But through it all, my little old car remained faithful and never left me stranded. Never.  Even when I had my doubts, my car always came through for me.

Being married for 14 years is kinda like that...

A Silly Family Portrait

The last time The Hubs and I had caricatures made of ourselves, it was before Buddy Roller was born. So yesterday, while at the fair, we did one as a family. Take a look if you'd like to see the beginning, middle and end...

Growing Old is Like an Onion

Author, Sandra Cisneros describes growing older like the rings inside an onion, or the rings inside a tree trunk...