The Day after Boom-Boom-Boom!

Fireworks, literally, raged until after 2.30 AM last night. I’m all about celebrating, but the chaos of those fireworks caused unrest amongst normal human beings, birds, dogs and everything else sensitive to noise was absolutely unnecessary that late into the night. I’m still ANNOYED by it!

Thankfully, Alexa and Bull are not impacted by fireworks or thunderstorms. But, because I was restless, they didn’t get much sleep and so, they’re catching up right now – they slept while I was out with the parental units and my sister for a post-4th of July lunch at Fred’s Market Restaurant – which is most definitely southern food from start to finish (see my plate below!). It’s always good to sit with my parents and catch-up. I visit them often, but with everything going on with my body after my fall, I just want to be at home as much as possible.

So, yeah – I fell down stairs on Tuesday, 28 June where I live. It has rained all night and the stairs were not clean – lots of algae and mold on them — I was taking my time (I always do going up or down because of my knees [long story]). But — down I went. Some bone bruising and several contusions. The crazy thing is that my knees did not hit anything, but the bulk of my issues/pain is happening there! I’m not used to not being able to do what I want to do and so, I’m aggravated and have ZERO patience because of it.

So, my niece, nephew-in-law and my little pal – Rhett – just arrived back stateside after a holiday to Ireland! Little man is just 16-months-old and did incredibly well! I cannot wait to see him next Friday as Bianx and I do our first attempt with ice tray sushi rolls! So, so excited! Pictures will be here & in FOODIE ADVENTURES!

I hope everyone – that has an extended weekend – is having a relaxing time …

Democracy isn’t Free.

4 July 1776.

The declaration was made to George III and Parliament by the 13 colonies who were no longer willing to be ruled by tyranny. And in 1774, they began to organize and take the steps necessary for the inevitable war that would come.

4 July 2024.

248 years later – the democracy fought for has come under threat by those who think their side matters more than the people and what the people want. It started in 2015 and it continues as one side rages against democracy — and make no mistake, they think that only their beliefs matter.

My only advice: Do your own research. Think about the freedoms you enjoy and how you would feel if they were threatened or already taken away. I keep seeing bumper stickers, state license plates and flags with the colonial saying “Don’t Tread on Me” — do they really understand that the me represented the 13 colonies featured as the snake with the warning of – you step on me and their will be a consequence you won’t forget. And the British attempted to step and got the fight of their lifetime.

A fight that brought about the first democracy in the world. It wasn’t a slogan for a select group – as it is being paraded around now – of people. In a democracy, you don’t have to agree with everyone – that’s why free and fair elections were devised. So that the people would have the ability to determine the what, how, when, where and why of the government. But some would have you believe that their what, how, when, where and why should supersede the will of many. There are moderate/mainstream voters in both parties – which, at one time, made up the majority of each. However, in the last two decades, the fringe elements of the left and the right have tried to take power from the majority … and one side has lost their identity because they think their way is the only way. And it’s not.

You don’t have to agree with me at all, but what you should be doing is asking yourself about this 248-year-old experiment that has withstood a great deal and why one side thinks the abolishment of our democratic institutions and absolute power be given to one individual and how it bests 248 years running. The vast majority of Americans, I bet, are not – whether they are vocal or quiet – willing to give up their rights, freedoms and ideologies so easily. And those who are – believe that somehow they’ll retain their rights and freedoms – but history does not bear that out in any empire or nation where democracy is taken by a select few.

I, personally, am not ready to give anyone who wants to take my rights and freedoms – which are the bedrock of American democracy – away just because they think they are right. I think that these people who believe this way flying their little flags, with their bumper stickers or state license plates and lapel pins saying “Don’t Tread on Me” – realise that there are millions they’re attempting to tread on and are going to experience the same consequences the British experienced trying to hold the colonists to British law.

Leadership is EVERYTHING.

It’s been a week, but it’s my Friyah and I’m glad! Make no mistake, I love what I do in the summer for our district’s Before/After School and Summer program, but I’ve been going non-stop … I’m ready for this four days off!

Today, was a day for people to get things off their chests, out in the open and there were conversations that were hard and very difficult for people to hear. I think, far to often, people take things personal when it is business. And for me, it’s hard to watch people that I work with – who are friends as well – struggle because others aren’t doing what needs to be done. Being a boss or an authority figure is not being a leader. Click on the video to hear, in my own personal and professional opinion, what a good leader is and what a good leader does.

I’ve been working super hard to finalize our Summer myOn Book Battle for our elementary and middle school sites next week! This will be our second summer doing this … at last count we have :::I think::: 14 elementary sites and 3 middle sites participating! Literacy is such an important part of education, but sadly a lot of our kids just don’t want to read. Technology has a lot of great points, but the negatives are that phones, tablets, video games, et al. are what we’re competing against. But there’s nothing like a good competition, medals, trophies and celebration parties to get kids fired up about reading! There are great people that I work with helping make this entire event a reality again and I’m so happy for their involvement!

Simon Sinek has incredible insight about leadership.

And with that, I am tired exhausted!

Sunday Arvo Musings

Just a great arvo thunderstorm!

Today has been busy with chores, brunch with my sister at Fred’s Market Restaurant (yummy) and then Costco. My anxiety in places like Costco and Sam’s Club is always different. Today, I did pretty good – but the longer I’m there the more my anxiety kicks into overdrive. I think if people were more considerate, I’d do better; however, the vast majority of people have ZERO consideration for anyone. My sister, Carole, can deal with people like that, but I just wanna use my TEACHER VOICE and let them know exactly what they need to be doing BETTER!

And now, the first of several afternoon bands of rain – in the form of thunderstorms. I love thunderstorms and I’m grateful that Alexa and Bull are able to deal with bad weather and fireworks! With the rain falling hard and the pool empty — I can crawl up on the couch and keep reading the little liar – such a great book so far! I hope everyone has a great rest of your Sunday before returning to whatever pays the bills! I’m hunting, researching and finding great things to add … especially great food and beverage recipes!

More scribbles soon!

The Short Version

So, here we go again …

Way too many things happened to go into specifics, but it involved my anxiety – which really got much worse last fall and I made some major decisions that, so far, are bringing me some peace and comfort. The biggest being – and it’s still a learning process – working on letting go of things that I cannot control no matter how much I’d like to be able to do so. This meant adopting the ideas of: “It is what it is” and “Let go” – two things I just have never been really good with … ever. I’ve learned that whatever is ahead – will be faced whether I want to or not when it comes to my anxiety, so – like Hagrid said, “What’s comin’ will come and we’ll meet it when it does.”

So, after teaching 5th grade for a while, I’ve opted to move to middle school to teach 6th grade Critical Thinking (novel studies) and US History. I know what you’re thinking, “Middle school? Really? Isn’t that …” So, 6th graders are basically still 5th graders when they set foot on campus and I’ve dealt with them – so, I understand who, what and how they are as human beings. Plus, I go from teach two blocks of ELA/Social Studies for 2.5 hours to 48 minute classes. My school day goes from 7.00 – 3.00 to 8.40 – 4.40! I’ll get about an extra hour of sleep every day — and so, that’s a bonus!

I have also tried to start eating as fresh as possible – which isn’t always an easy task! My morning routine is still scrambled eggs with some shredded cheese and a large sweet tea from Chick-fil-A because it’s just easy. And for the one billionth time in my life I’m going to try my best to back a lunch to take to school (since I’ll have a mini-fridge in my classroom) and back to eating before 7.00 pm everyday. I can tell a difference in everyway because I’m cutting out the vast majority of processed foods I’ve eaten in the past. What’s crazy is when you learn that even a lot of frozen vegetables are highly processed as well and I do miss the steam bagged veggies because of the convenience! One good thing is that I live near two major farmers markets and fresh veggies are always available at way better than grocery store prices!

I’ve been reading a bunch lately since school’s out – sadly, I don’t get much personal reading time during the school year. I try to make up for it over Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hannukah and spring breaks … I’m about to start Mitch Albom’s novel the little liar as it came recommended and it falls into a genre that means a great deal to me on a personal level. My last read was my third time with Gregory Magiure’s Wicked – which will always be one of my absolute favourites. I just wanted to reread it again because the movie is due out soon and I wanted the version of the movie I have created, in my head, to be fresh!

I’m also going to be doing food adventures with my niece (hard to believe she’s grown up and married with a one-year-old) by cooking things we discover on Instagram — and boy, we have found a lot of things that we want to cook! The first will be ice cube tray sushi and we’re both super excited! So, once we start doing that — be ready for pictures, laughter and if we like what we create – recipes!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far … time for me to take a little nap and then finish my chores for the day!

Let’s try this again – Part 2.

So, for real – FOR REAL – let’s try this again! Lots of stuff – LOTS – going on from my last post until now. Things have calmed down considerably and so, I’m going to get back to journaling since it helps me in multiple ways and I’ve been pondering, planning and will begin to change the site — to just be a better reflection of me!

Recovery. Relax. Refresh.

The last day of school was bittersweet – sorta. If you’ve read my previous scribbles, you’ll know this was the second year in a row that was absolutely rough and ‘chaotic’. There were a handful of my kids that made it okay. I will truly miss that group because they have dreams that they talk about incessantly and I know I’ll be seeing or hearing about them in the future. The rest of the kids are going to struggle until they find a way to be happy across the board. I wish nothing but success for all my kids.

Now it’s time for recovery, to relax and refresh for the summer. I am super excited, as I talked about last week, about my summer gig – I get to run a STEAM camp called Imagination Camp and it’s going to be absolutely AHHHHMAZING this year! I’ll be posting more frequently during the summer and I’ll be sharing what we do for those three “intense” weeks of pure fun!

Sadly, our world is a bit darker now … I have every album she sang on, experienced her last tour and have always held her in high esteem because of early life story. She was a beautiful soul and some of these souls traveled through the fires of hell and endured despite all they went through. She was, as her lyrics say … simply the best. Godspeed, Tina!

On Monday, we honour the many men and women who gave the greatest sacrifice for the US in the loss of their lives to protect our democracy and freedoms that have made this nation a bedrock for many other nations. So, take a moment to reflect on what we have and why we have it. As many have said in decades gone by, “Freedom is not free.”

The irony is that this year, our democracy is under attack by those who want nothing more than power and are trying to get it by attacking anyone they perceive to be different, inferior or who just don’t embrace their rhetoric among many things.

I’m going to finally have the time to get new tires tomorrow! It’s funny how something like tires can make you happy, but that’s adulting! I happened to get a bonus from my second ‘job’ and that’s pushed up the tire purchase by a couple of months! Zoom-zoom!

I just started watching AM I BEING UNREASONABLE? this week and I LOVE IT! A bit irrerverant at times, but hysterical and typical British humour! Lenny Rush is hilarious and the cast is outstanding! If you happen to have Hulu, I’d recommend giving it a go! In fact, Lenny won the BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance and his acceptance speech was …

Lenny Rush’s acceptance speech.

So, it’s time to get the laundry — ugghhh — finished! Hope everyone is going well and now that my mind will be clear … get ready!

The End is Nigh.

Just five days remain of the 2022-23 SY and let me assure you, there is no tired – aside from my mum tired – like teacher end of the year tired! And honestly, tired isn’t even the right word — that would be EXHAUSTED. When you reach this point of the year as a teacher, you know the end is nigh! Even with that subconscious knowledge, my anxiety is still popping in and out just to let me know that its still there.

The bulk of my EOY (End of Year) stuff I need to get done is 99% done – just a bit of paperwork lingers, but that will be taken care of tomorrow! The last part left is to purge and “shutter” my classroom for the deep summer clean. After my move back in March – purging will NOT be a problem!

And my kids – they’ll be helping because all that energy needs to be put to good use plus – lots of goodies they can claim as I put things into my cabinets (and take out!)! Some will help me purge whilst others work on their EOY project! I’ve worked hard to create a time consuming memory book that I’m pretty sure they’ll love!

I’ve also been working on my summer gig — a three week STEAM – STEM but with the Arts – camp called IMAGINATION Camp! I have such a phenomenal group of people who come each summer to share their incredible talents with the kids that sign up! The reality of how close we are to the start of camp makes me anxious, but an excited anxious!

We have ordered a GlowForge 3D Laser Printer, a MakerBot 3D Replicator, Lego Spike Prime Robotics, K’Nex Engineering sets, Cricuts … the list goes on and on! I’m so excited for what we’ll be adding to our camp … in addition to our Lego Mindstorm EV3 Robotics, Culinary Arts, Dance, Theatre and Sick Science! Plus, we’re taking our campers on a trip to Dave & Buster’s after their big STEAM Showcase to let them celebrate and just have a blast!

I’m excited about all of the new tech we have, but I have to be honest … I’m super excited about the GlowForge Plus 3D Laser Printer! Justin, our tech guy, for the Before/After/Summer School programs will be learning how to use it and helping us with it this summer! He might even be a little more excited than I am! We ordered the complete bundle with lots of project ideas included until we learn more about its capabilities! One of the best things is you can use recycled cardboard!!!

The puppies and I are pretty much settled in now … still loving that it takes less an hour to clean my place … I’m not missing that 250 sf at all! Bull has been doing great with going into his crate each morning — I’m actually thinking about buying the metal fencing to place outside his crate so he can have more space, but we’ll see if his mischievous antics calm down … I know the move was hardest on him. Alexa settled pretty quick and I think that is helping Bull!

As for me … my anxiety is better because the school year is almost over … tick-tock-tick-tock! And that means my mind begins to clear and so, my ideas for the site and this blog will get some much needed time to be created! Hope everyone has a great week …

Until next time – keep reaching for the stars!

Strength.

When I think about my Mum, I am reminded about her strength throughout my lifetime. She’s been there through the good, the bad and certainly the ugliest moments in my life journey.

I am so fortunate to still have both of my parents and for them to still be together. I know this is not true in the modern world, but they have forged a life together and in doing so – have always been my rock.

I think about their mothers on this day as well — my Dad’s mum has been gone since 2013 and my Mom’s mum — it’ll be a year on 4 June. They were both strong women and it is mirrored in both of them.

I am grateful that God picked my Mum for me because she has always and continues to love me … no matter what crazy things I do!

Here’s to every Mum celebrating today!