The Kind of Sugar That's Calorie-Free

 

 

 

 

Lynn Obermoeller got this award, and then passed on the award to some of her blogging friends, which ended up being all of my blogging friends, so I'm going to have to find some strangers on the street to give this award to.  (Thank you, Lynn.)

 

The Rules:

• Thank the Super Sweet Blogger that nominated you.
• Answer five Super Sweet questions.
• Include the Super Sweet Blogging award image in your blog post.
• Nominate a baker’s dozen (13) other bloggers.
• Notify your nominees on their blog.

The 5 Super Sweet Questions:

1. Cookies or Cake? – Cake, with lots of frosting. 
2. Chocolate or Vanilla? – You mean there's another flavor besides chocolate? Are you sure?
3. Favorite Sweet Treat? – I have many favorites. Fudge. Chocolate nut heaps (a family recipe cookie). Ted Drewes' hot fudge macadamia sundae. I could go on and on and on... 
4. When do you crave sweet things the most? – I am an equal opportunity addict. I eat to celebrate, I eat to wallow. I eat when I'm bored, I eat when I'm stressed. It's always dessert time somewhere in the world...
5. Sweet Nick Name? – Suzy-Q, which coincidentally is the name of a chocolate, cream-filled snack cake...

    Okay, I can count, but I couldn't stand on the street corner any longer in order to get 13 names of bloggers. The police kept circling around, thinking I was hooking for dry-erase markers, so I am a little shy of a "baker's dozen," but here goes:

 

Kim

Shay

Pat

Katie Gates

Cathy C. Hall

Jennifer Brown Banks

Lisa Ricard Claro

Mary

Janel
Pat Wahler
Kathy and Her Kampground


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Pot is Brimmin' Over

           Lisa Ricard Claro gave me this award, and since it has an Irish theme (and I think my birth mother was Irish), it's green (my favorite color) and since it...well, it's an award! I appreciate it, and am going to enjoy passing it on.

         There are several "strings" attached:

1) Thank the person who gave you the award.  Thanks, Lisa Ricard Claro.  Lisa has recently launched a new meme---Book Blurb Friday---and you can see the photo prompt the Friday before it officially begins. 

Sadly, Lisa is a chronic liar, and later on this week, will be leaving on a "vacation." At least that's what she's calling it.  In reality, she's attending the "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" convention.  (She's still passing on the lies that she's been married for 30 years and she has grown kids. She's not even 30 years herself!  Look at her photo---no wrinkles, no spreading waistline, no mustache/beard beginning.) Hopefully this time the 12 steps to truth will stick...


2)  Write a post, include the image of the award, include a link to the person who gave it to you and a link to the person who originated it.

Christie Wright is the creator of this award, and she has a blog called Write Wild.  Christie, from what I see,  I am going to have to become a follower. Thanks to Michael at The Year of Writing Dangerously for awarding Lisa the Pot-o-Gold prize, who then passed it onto me...

3) Tell about a time when you had faith, something you hope for, something you love and a time when you experienced luck/felt lucky (see below).

4) Pass it onto 4 other bloggers and tell why they are a pot-o-gold.

It's very hard, because there are more than 4 bloggers I'd like to pass this onto, so I will stick with my teacher-friends.  (I have too many Saturday Writers/Missouri Writing Guild blogging friends; I don't want to insult some by only passing this onto 1 or 2.)

Pat Hensley and her blog always helps me out.  She regularly has great links to helpful teaching sites, she is retired yet still committed and inspired, and she writes interesting posts when she travels.

Cindi Rigsbee and her blog also keeps me uplifted. She is among the best of the best (nationally) was recently invited to attend an international teaching summit, and managed to be in the same room as Arne Duncan and not go for his jugular, so she has amazing self-control as well as a talent for teaching...

The Underground Teacher recently lost her classroom position. She has stayed involved by subbing, determined to keep connected and committed to what she loves---teaching.  She has a blog that I have followed ever since I began blogging.

Rebecca Bramstetter also writes inspired and informative posts about working with kids.  She is joining Lisa at the liar's retreat this week as well.  She says she is a "doctor" yet she is only 19 years old. (Look at the perky face that looks back at you when you check out her blog. If she's old enough to have the credentials she claims she has, I'm Halle Berry!)  Check out her blog to see some of the behind-the-scenes school stuff.

             Now here's my faith, hope, love and luck stories:

*  I had faith when I left my previous school district (because they were doing some very unethical things) and resigned without a contract (because they were notorious for NOT letting teachers out of their contracts). I had faith that I would be able to find another classroom for myself, and I did...

*  I have hope that my son will be able to find a job as a music therapist (he just completed his internship), and that there will be a world for my granddaugher to grow up in. 

* I love my husband. There have been times over the past 25 years of marriage where I have wanted to kill him with a soup spoon (it would inflict a lot more pain than a sharp knife) in the middle of the night, but we have worked on our differences over the years (Yikes! There have been years where he has voted Republican!) and work together to keep our family afloat...

* A time when I felt lucky I didn't even know I was lucky until 40 or so years later.  I was given up for adoption when I was born, and only discovered much later how fortunate I was. My biological mother had three girls.  The first two she gave up for adoption (I was # 2), the third one she hung onto for seven years; she then committed suicide by shooting herself.  The third girl had an unbelievable amount of garbage heaped on top of her, and is now in prison for the rest of her life.  That could have been me...

         So Lisa, thanks again for the award, and Christie, thanks for creating the award.  And a top of the mornin' (or a top of the muffin, for all the Seinfeld fans) to everyone!







  

A Funeral for an Enemy

        After reading Pat Hensley's post about teachers and students who feel defeated before they even begin a task, I unearthed a memory of a funeral several years ago.

        I was teaching fourth grade then. It was October, I believe, and my students comments were regularly peppered with "I can't..."  They couldn't figure out how to solve the math problem.  They couldn't figure out how to make trees for their shoebox scene.  They could not add any more details to their story.

        I got tired.

       Of course, I had my own "I can'ts" but they remained buried...unspoken.

       So, in an effort to end the whining, I had everyone (even me) write down all the things they could NOT do on little slips of paper.  I borrowed a shovel from our custodian, and we all walked outside, had a "funeral" and buried our "I can'ts."  

       From that point, none of us were allowed to say, "I can't."  After all, it was dead. Buried under the ground. No longer breathing...

photo from the queen of subtle

       As writers, as artists, there are many times we try to convince ourselves that we're incapable of doing something.   I can't carve out some time for writing this weekend---I'm too busy.

I can't rewrite this so that I can resubmit it.

I can't win this contest...I don't have a chance.

        I have a big "I can't" revolving around how often I write.  I keep wrestling with it, but the self-defeated attitude wins most of the time.

         Perhaps it's time for another funeral...

Bubble Heads? Or Bubbles Over Heads? Or Is It a Message in a Bloggle?

       Pat Hensley regularly posts helpful sites--sites that teachers (and others) find extremely useful. Check out her blog from today---November 26.

       One of the links she provided was to a cool site which enables you to upload a photo of yours, and then add a speech bubble.

       Immediately, I thought how helpful this site would be with end-of-the-year digital shows.  Photos of the students could be uploaded, and then the comical (or thoughtful) bubbles could be added.

       Below are two photos I did and they only took a minute (which is a testament to how easy it is, because I am a techno-nimrod).

          One of my favorite sites to follow (I have many) is Tammy's blog.  She has conjured up more reasons why we should embrace getting older.  On a day when my cellulite reminds me of the lumpy gravy I devoured last night, I need to see aging with a positive spin...

My Life as a Reader

         A great blogger that I follow is Pat Hensley.  She frequently posts about marvelous teaching sites (which I'm so grateful for). This morning she shared a link to another blog that provides weekly topics to write about and wrote what her life as a reader has been like so far.

         All she had to do is mention going to the bookmobile, and it brought back a flood of memories...

         The bookmobile came to our neighborhood, and it was like going to church for me. Especially in the summer.  You'd walk up those few steps, open that heavy door, and the cool air would whoosh out and embrace you like an old friend.

          As a kid I went through phases and depending on what phase I was immersed in, I'd head for that particular section in the bookmobile.  The phases I went through were:

• mythology...I read every collection of Greek and Roman mythological stories. It was a marvelous escape.
• books about saints.  I can't figure out why I got hooked on reading about saints--I'm not Catholic--but I really fixated on Joan of Arc.  (I think a small part of it was her haircut.  I had a pixie haircut when I was a kid and was a tomboy.)
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents...These were collections of scary stories that kept you on the edge of your seat.
• The Three Investigators series...These books were about three boys who solved mysteries; their "office" was in the middle of one of the father's junkyard, and to get there, had built a tunnel through the junk.
• Nancy Drew mysteries...Nancy and her two female friends faced danger and solved mysteries, and they usually did not need any male assistance to do it.

         These days I read a variety of types of books.  I especially love memoirs.  Change Me into Zeus' Daughter.  All Over But the Shoutin'. Lit. Lucky.  I enjoy novels about other countries and different walks of life. The Kite Runner. A Thousand Splendid Suns. I love authors who can craft a novel that keeps me thrilled with their twisted and turned plots, even though they don't write "thrillers"---authors like Sandra Dallas and Jodi Picoult.

photo by finsbry

        Mostly I read on the couch. I usually have a book with me, because I read in the car (when my husband is driving) and we also live by a set of railroad tracks, and getting stuck waiting for a long train is very pleasant when you have a book with you. However, as I have gotten older, one of the most delicious things is taking time on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon to read and...nap.

    How about you?  What is your life as a reader like?