Tag Archives: great days

Winding Down

Thursday, May 10, 2012, @ 5:31 amFamily, jobs, Reading, Scouting, teaching, Writingchildren, education, exercise, fishing, fitness, great days, hard work, history, making the days count, pets, reading, scouting, seventh grade, Summer Vacation, teaching, weather, writingClay

: Courtesy of FineArtAmerica.com

It is Teacher Appreciation Week and I am feeling appreciated. More importantly, I am grateful for the teachers I had who shaped me through their lessons, stories, patience, and passion. Thank you to, and in no particular order, Atlee, Guinn, Wright, Giesberg, Clark, Shand, and Gilbert. I know there were more, but it’s early and I am thinking and writing. I am also grateful to the teachers who have shaped my kid’s lives and made a difference for them. THANK YOU and THANK YOU for being a teacher. Continue reading Winding Down →

Thursday, before Friday

Thursday, April 5, 2012, @ 5:18 amFamily, history, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, geography, great days, hard work, making the days count, pets, reading, seventh grade, teaching, weather, writingClay

I woke this morning trying to breathe, it took almost an hour of blowing my nose and trying to go back to sleep, before I gave up and started the day. Ivy wanted nothing to do with me, or my waking ideas, and is still sleeping soundly – as only she can.

“We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.”
Roald Dahl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Continue reading Thursday, before Friday →

The List – Part 2

Friday, March 30, 2012, @ 7:14 amadventure, country, Family, history, Life in General, model railroads, pets, Reading, teaching, Writingchildren, church, education, Family, fishing, Grayling, great days, hard work, history, making the days count, Mega Millions, reading, scouting, Spring Break, teaching, The Lottery, writingClay

Over a year ago, I wrote ‘The List.’ It was blog post about winning the lottery, or more specifically, what I would do if I won the lottery. With tonight’s jackpot listed as $540 million or a half billion, it was hard not to think about it as I drove home, yesterday. I mentioned to grandpa and grandma that a lot of good could be done with that much money and it could. So, I decided to dust off last year’s post, revise it, and repost. Continue reading The List – Part 2 →

Spring Break Part II

Wednesday, March 28, 2012, @ 8:07 amadventure, food, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, Family, fishing, Grayling, great days, hard work, making the days count, sports, Spring Break, teaching, water sports, weather, writingClay

Sunday’s post was brief, but it cut into my morning time. I usually try to get up before anyone else and enjoy the quiet time before the day begins, but yesterday Olivia got up with me, and grandma and grandpa were already up and moving. By the time I was writing, the cottage was in full motion with everyone moving for the morning. I started to write but, realized it was futile to continue and stopped, vowing to finish at night when everyone was spent from the day. But, I forgot I was one of the ‘everyone,’ and fell asleep on the couch, reading one of my spring break books – Scat by Carl Hiaasen. Even Ivy had gone upstairs by the time I woke up at 1 AM and stumbled upstairs and climbed sleepily into bed. Needless to say, I didn’t write last night. Continue reading Spring Break Part II →

Spring Break – 2012

Sunday, March 25, 2012, @ 7:52 amadventure, Family, jobs, pets, teaching, Weatherchildren, eating, Family, fishing, Grayling, great days, making the days count, pets, teaching, water sports, weatherClay

I‘ll be brief, I promise. It is Spring Break. I have big plans and small ones, too.

The plan was to leave immediately after school Friday, but I nixed it on Thursday because I was exhausted and did not want to drive 360 miles Friday trying to stay awake nor settle back seat disputes. So, we settled on leaving Saturday morning and even then I was sleepy the last hour or two. The drive was pleasant and it was amazing to drive through budding trees and the emerging green grass. We even stopped at our friend’s house for a brief visit. I visited with the parents and the kids had fun with each other. It was a nice visit and broke the drive into two parts – But, we made it and we’re here at the cottage. Continue reading Spring Break – 2012 →

The Sunshine Report

Thursday, March 22, 2012, @ 5:32 amadventure, Family, Reading, teaching, Writingchildren, geography, great days, making the days count, reading, Spring Break, teaching, weather, writingClay

NightandDay2002 — Night and Day 2002 - courtesy of sunthingspecial.com

Today, where I am the sun rises at 6.51 and sets at 7.08 bathing the landscape with twelve hours and seventeen minutes of sunshine. Actually, there is more sunshine because it is light after the sun sets and the sun bathes us with a bit more light before fading into night. Lately, the weather has been warm, really warm. It feels more like May than March. However, considering the winter weather we had, it is par for the course. Continue reading The Sunshine Report →

weekends, sigh

Saturday, March 10, 2012, @ 10:32 amFamily, Reading, Scouting, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, hard work, making the days count, reading, restaurants, scouting, seventh grade, shopping, teaching, weather, writingClay

nightsky — inage courtesy of NASA - click to learn more!

Weekends disappear in the blink of an eye; actually, the entire past week disappeared in the blink of an eye. I can hardly believe the week is done. It was an easy week due to state testing, but it is done except for makeups for students who missed a day or two. I look back at the week with a bit of pride – I accomplished quite a bit and am current with just about everything at school; however, my office space downstairs is a fire hazard and I have other tasks to accomplish this weekend. Continue reading weekends, sigh →

March Saturday Morning

Saturday, March 3, 2012, @ 10:33 amadventure, Family, history, Reading, teaching, travel, Writingbrothers, children, education, Family, great days, history, making the days count, Paris, reading, seventh grade, teaching, word parts, writingClay

bros_cambronne_park — the picture that distracted me this morning!

It is another three-day weekend for the kids and they need it. Yesterday was a teacher institute day (teacher learning) across the county and all schools were out. I sat through a class on vocabulary acquisition our district rolled out at the beginning of the year. It is a pretty successful program focusing on Greek and Latin roots. I like it because it is concrete. There is a right answer and a right way. As much as the kids needed a day out of school because state testing begins next week, I needed a day in the classroom. I got a lot of the learning yesterday and am looking forward to applying it, but most of all it was it was good to get confirmation that what we are doing is helping kids learn. Continue reading March Saturday Morning →

Spring Day

Friday, March 2, 2012, @ 6:37 amFamily, Hobbies and Fun, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, history, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, spring storms, teaching, writingClay

Spring has sprung, at least for a brief moment earlier this week. Wednesday morning, I walked out of the house and it was 50 degrees; it was the same morning the storms rolled across southern Illinois. Right now, we are back in the mid-30s and cloudy; it looks much the same as most of January and February did. Nevertheless, it is spring. Continue reading Spring Day →

Stamps, stamps, and more stamps

Tuesday, February 28, 2012, @ 9:35 amadventure, Family, history, Hobbies and Fun, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, travel, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, history, making the days count, patriotism, politics, reading, seventh grade, stamp collecting, teaching, writingClay

lovestamp_1973 — Love postage – circa 1973

For those of you who know me and maybe those of you who don’t – I like stamps. My last post included a mention of stamps and I have mentioned stamps and letter writing several times. But, I love stamps, postage stamps, commemorative postage stamps to be precise. Continue reading Stamps, stamps, and more stamps →