Tag Archives: great days

A NO SNOW snow day

Tuesday, March 5, 2013, @ 8:56 amFamily, history, Life in General, model railroads, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, history, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, Summer Vacation, teaching, weather, writingClay

stormwarning Normally, I would be driving to school right now, but instead I am home in the basement nestled in my cave. It’s a snow day. The weather guys predicted the storm several days ago and the media is in full hype. Right now, there is less than half an inch covering the sidewalks and roads, but it is predicted to get worse, probably much worse with the bulk of the snow arriving midday just in time to release kids to walk home from elementary schools with unplowed roads and snowy sidewalks. It is just a bad idea.

The call came in at 5:23 from my kid’s school district announcing that “due to the expected heavy snow, all school and afternoon activities for Tuesday, March 5th are cancelled…” My district called a couple of minutes later with the same news. I’d already been waging a war with the alarm clock, and losing, I might add, when the phone rang. I turned the alarm off and W came in to make sure he could sleep until he wakes up, he was excited, but probably not enough to keep him from falling back to sleep. I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn’t so I got up and went downstairs. Continue reading A NO SNOW snow day →

Old toys

Friday, March 1, 2013, @ 6:47 amFamily, growing up, Hobbies and Fun, jobs, Life in General, model railroads, Reading, Scouting, teaching, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, making the days count, model railroading, reading, scouting, weather, writingClay

I had been looking forward to last weekend for almost a month because I knew it would be a good opportunity to visit one of my favorite shopping haunts – a hobby shop. Unfortunately, circumstances foiled my scheme.

We have a railroad layout in the basement, not twenty feet from where I sit, dream, plan, write, grade, fume, and for the most part, avoid real work. I suppose I could be over at the table avoiding work instead of sitting here, but the layout has been gathering dust for the at least the past year, perhaps two, who knows, I’ve lost count. I have been lured away from my railroad by other activities – family, sports, scouts, school, and you can just about name it, whatever it was it had a higher number than railroading. Continue reading Old toys →

President’s Day Challenge

Monday, February 18, 2013, @ 9:24 amadventure, Family, history, Life in General, pets, Reading, sports, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, Grayling, great days, history, making the days count, patriotism, President's Day, reading, seventh grade, teaching, US Presidents, winter sports, writingClay

Today is President’s Day. It’s the holiday to celebrate all of our presidents, but in particular George Washington’s birthday. I remember in elementary school coloring pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and learning stories of their exploits of how George chopped a cherry tree down and couldn’t tell a lie and Abe was an honest self-educated man who chopped wood. I don’t know if these tales are true, but I do know that these two presidents led our nation in a time when its citizens were uncertain of how events would turn out.

And so being the wise nation that we are, we celebrate our heritage and history by letting the schoolchildren out of school for the day. Now, in the interest of transparency, I do personally benefit from this holiday and all of the other holidays, as well. I am a teacher. However, being a teacher does not imply an endorsement of our holiday practice. Now that that is out in the open, I can continue. Continue reading President’s Day Challenge →

President’s Day 2013

Sunday, February 17, 2013, @ 9:42 amadventure, Family, jobs, Life in General, Reading, teaching, travel, WritingAmish farmers, children, Family, Grayling, great days, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, teaching, weather, winter sports, writingClay

this morning's report.... — this morning’s report….

It’s another three-day weekend for me and a four-day weekend for the kids both my own kids and my students. Monday is President’s Day and schoolchildren across the land have the day off. I think those days should be spent in school, but I’m a minority voice. My school district has parent-teacher conferences Tuesday and the kids are off while we meet with parents to give feedback, praise, and some serious honesty about how their child is performing (or not) in our classes. My kid’s school district had an in-service day Friday – so we both had a long weekend. What it really does is to provide an excuse to spend time recreating, so we left town and headed north for snow and winter outdoor fun. Continue reading President’s Day 2013 →

Another Saturday evening post, on Sunday evening

Sunday, February 10, 2013, @ 7:48 pmFamily, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, Weather, WritingBell's Palsy, children, education, Family, great days, Guys Read, hard work, Ivy the dog, making the days count, pets, reading, seventh grade, teaching, weather, writingClay

I started writing this Saturday morning and I never finished, such is life.

It’s Saturday mid-morning and my plan to post in the middle of the week was foiled, yet again. Honestly, I do have ideas during the week, but I never have time to actually sit down and write them. Looking back on my week, it was a blur. I had to think back long and hard to remember all of the big rocks, small rocks, pebbles, sand, and water, which filled my week to recall all that I did and or more importantly, did not do. Continue reading Another Saturday evening post, on Sunday evening →

Sixty degrees in a week

Sunday, February 3, 2013, @ 12:58 pmadventure, Family, growing up, Life in General, Reading, sports, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, hard work, making the days count, seventh grade, teaching, weather, writingClay

A week ago, it was cold and freezing rain and ice was bearing down us. This morning it was lightly snowing. In between, we’ve had a sixty-two degree day, rain, near zero temperatures, sub-zero wind chills, and our first significant snow – a paltry two and half inches. It is difficult to believe it is February in Chicago. Continue reading Sixty degrees in a week →

Here comes the sun…

Saturday, January 26, 2013, @ 10:34 amFamily, Life in General, Music, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, hard work, making the days count, pets, reading, sunrise photos, teaching, weather, writingClay

It’s another Saturday morning and here I am. It was a good week and in the blink of an eye, it was gone. In last Saturday morning’s post, I posted a picture of the sunrise and a couple of folks, Ellie from Emerald Pie and Coleen from ColeenPatrick commented on the sunrise. Their comments truly made my day and reminded me of the power of the sun, sunlight, and the symbolism of light in our lives.

Here in northeastern Illinois, we don’t get much sunlight at this time of the year, Continue reading Here comes the sun… →

Shaken or stirred

Friday, January 4, 2013, @ 12:03 pmadventure, Family, growing up, history, Life in General, Music, pets, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, WritingBond movies, children, education, Family, great days, history, James Bond, making the days count, movies, reading, seventh grade, writingClay

I did not want to leave, I never do. The last day at the cottage is always the most difficult – especially over winter break. I had a few errands and other odds and ends to do before I left and B and I went through the kid’s skiing pictures and sent some off to be printed. I finished my thank you notes, wrote short notes to my mom, B’s parents, and a cottage neighbor and got them in the mail with the photos. I ran some final errands before packing the Tahoe and driving home last night. It was full with just enough space for W and Ivy. W was comfortable and watched a DVD he had gotten before Christmas and Ivy had just enough space to stretch and lay out. It was a perfect night to drive home – dry roads and hardly any traffic. We made good time and by starting late, we were able to spend almost a full day at the lake before leaving.

The road disappeared before us Continue reading Shaken or stirred →

Resolutions, renewal, and reflection: New Year’s Day at the cottage

Wednesday, January 2, 2013, @ 9:55 amadventure, Family, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writingchildren, Family, great days, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, winter sportsClay

christmastree_cottage — the cottage Christmas tree!

It is mid-morning and my plan to wake and write early, didn’t come to pass, because I didn’t wake up, didn’t set an alarm, letting my body let me know when it was time to get up and get moving. But, that was it, when midnight struck that meant it was time to get some sleep, much needed sleep.

Our plans for New Year’s eve were dashed a bit and it was quiet at the cottage. So, we had to ring out New Year’s night in the same manner we would have rung in the night before, a backup plan. We had the traditional New Year’s Day dinner – roast pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes, the tree was lit and it was festive. Continue reading Resolutions, renewal, and reflection: New Year’s Day at the cottage →

The watch

Saturday, November 24, 2012, @ 8:41 amFamily, jobs, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Writingchildren, Dulles Jr. High Class of 1976, education, Family, great days, Guys Read, hard work, history, making the days count, reading, sixth grade, teaching, writingClay

It’s Saturday morning, again and I’m sipping coffee and thinking. Thinking about all I have to do and all want to do. They do not line up it’s not even close.

I didn’t win the lottery last night, but I didn’t expect that I would. Yet, that reduces my options to the realistic ‘to dos.’ Grading papers, planning, balancing the checkbook, paying bills, decorating outdoors, cleaning the house, etc., and in no particular order. And, the list goes on.

We chose to stay home this holiday weekend and so far it’s been restful and what we needed as a family. I’ve been working on a few ‘to dos’ that have been ‘to dos’ for far too long and I am making progress. The kids have been kids. They marched in the parade holiday last night and W had wrestling meet Wednesday and another this morning. My girls, B and O, went shopping at the mall last night, and I went to the bookstore for three books and came home with four! Continue reading The watch →