Category Archives: Thoughts On Life

Not Enough Books

Books & Reading, Thoughts On Life,
One of my bookshelves

We have been isolating because of coronavirus concerns. We have a high risk issue so the disease could pose a serious problem. And we know it will get worse before it gets better. Look at poor Italy, 368 deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours.

I feel terrible not going out and being of use and doing the things I should be doing.

The thing that I miss the most about not going out is that I didn’t get a chance to stock up on library books before this hit. I only had five left when this started. I will soon have to resort to my own stash of books. I have three shelves of books like the one pictured above. There is always on-line books too. Although I will look pretty silly sniffing my tablet trying to enjoy that new book smell.

We do take the dogs out hiking when the weather permits, so at least we do get a change of scenery.

I pray that the infections are mild and the deaths are few in our country and the rest of the world recovers quickly.

Cafeteria Tears

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I was a substitute teacher for a different kindergarten class today. I loved it! These kids were great. They were pleasant and responsive when I asked them to do things.

Most importantly, I feel like I made a difference. Some of the kids were looking for acceptance and approval and I was able to give them that.

One little boy needed help down from a piece of playground equipment because he had climbed too high.

And I was there for the poor little boy who was in tears at lunch. A boy put his hand up at lunch and he and another boy waved me over. They were first or second graders. They told me their friend was crying and upset. I asked where he was because I didn’t see any little boy crying. Turns out he was under the cafeteria table.

I asked what was wrong. The boy choked out that he turned around to talk to a boy at the table behind him, and one of the other lunch monitors yelled at him. I told him that it was very loud in the cafeteria and perhaps the lady was frustrated because of this. I suggested that he could talk to the person behind him some other time and talk to the boys at his table right now instead.

The upset little boy still had tears running down his face and trouble speaking because he was crying so hard. He tearfully told me that no one wanted to be his friend or talk to him. By now, the boy sitting beside him had had his arm around him for some time. I told the crying boy that I thought he did have friends that cared about him. Two boys had been concerned enough to call me over to help. And they had been watching with concern and trying to interpret to me what happened. The boys all looked at each other and smiled. Things were looking up as I patted the upset little boy on the back and walked away.

I checked back about ten minutes later. Things seemed to be going pretty well. The boys seemed to be getting along. I had the feeling that all the boys did care about each other. Still, I thought I would share a joke I had learned from another kid at school. What does a duck eat? Quackers! The boys cracked up with laughter.

The boy who had originally been so upset laughed with glee. I had the feeling that I was exactly where I was supposed to be today. Making a difference.

Subbing Roller Coaster

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Subbing has been an up and down journey for me this week. Yesterday, I had decided I was never going back! My subbing assignment was for a full day as intervention specialist at the high school level. Since I had enjoyed this position at the elementary level, I thought high school would be fine too. Not so much!

Some of the kids were interested in doing their work and just needed a little guidance, or maybe some quiet and structure. Some were so interested in being cool that they didn’t get much done. They were probably afraid that the assertive kids would heckle them for wanting to do their work.

And then, there was that one kid who outright refused to do any work. When he told me he didn’t have a computer and I made a phone call so he could go get one, he said, I’m not doing it. Ok then. This is also the same kid who wanted to have a political discussion with me about who is the best presidential candidate. Not going there. And he managed to mention the word penis and get some of the other boys saying penis for three periods in a row. I finally asked him if he was having a problem since he kept making penis references. He did stop after that. This was about the time I decided I was never going back and that I wasn’t cut out for this teaching thing.

Then, this morning I kept getting notifications that the system needed subs. They had around seven teachers out. I’m not even sure they have that many subs. And I began to feel guilty. They needed me and here I was sitting at home. So I took a half day job. At least it was some help.

So, this afternoon I taught kindergarteners for the first time. They were awesome! You can probably tell that the photo above is from today with the kindergarteners. They are loud and talk a lot, but it’s because they don’t know any better. Some of the older grades I have taught are loud and talk a lot but it’s because they don’t care or are being belligerent.

We used scissors, glue, pencils, and crayons. We added, colored, read, and played games. Wow, most of it was fun. I always thought I did better with older kids, but I may have been wrong. I really enjoyed this age. They were innocent and at least tried to do what I asked.

I will definitely be teaching kindergarten again. In fact I am signed up for another class of them tomorrow!

Books I Read in February 2020

Books & Reading, Thoughts On Life,

1. Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop-Jenny Colgan

Rosie & the village of Lipton have many adventures and discoveries over the holiday season.

2. How To Give Up Plastic-Will McCallum (Non-Fiction)

The many ways that plastic affects our planet, particularly our oceans, and ways to lessen its impact.

3. So You Want To Start a Podcast-Kristen Meinzer (Non-Fiction)

After reading this, I know that I do not want to start a podcast. So, worth the read.

4. Window On The Bay-Debbie Macomber

Friends Jenna & Maureen are life-time best friends. Single women who support each other over the years and each finds a new love.

5. The Guest Book-Sarah Blake

A saga of three generations of the Milton family in New York & summering in Maine. This book was a little hard for me to follow. I found it to be more trouble than it was worth. Not a bad book if you’re up for a challenge.

6. Dying for Devil’s Food-Jenn McKinley

Cupcake shop owners Mel & Angie have to figure who killed the mean girl at their class reunion.

7. Winter at the Beach-Sheila Roberts

Jenna, manager of the Driftwood Inn, is in charge of the winter festival by the sea. Mayhem ensues as a winter storm hits at the time of the festival.

Magazines-

  1. Issue of Woman’s Day-Fall 2019
  2. Bark-Summer 2019
  3. Bark-Spring 2019

If you needed to pick only one of these books to read, I would recommend #2 How To Give Up Plastic. I learned so much from this book, and I think I am fairly environmentally conscious. Did you know that micro plastics that cause harm are not just microbeads and plastics that are small to start with? Larger plastics can break down into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming micro plastics. I also learned that people with certain disabilities require straws to be able to drink. They need straws that are more environmentally friendly.

Check back at the beginning of April to see what my March reads were

Guilty Pleasures

Cooking, Thoughts On Life, ,

Guilty Sunday morning pleasures.

My husband went to church. I stayed home and made chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes, drank coffee, and watched a couple episodes of Hoarders. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And I always feel like less of a pack rat after watching Hoarders. It even motivates me to get rid of a few things. Reminds me of that whole “There, but for the grace of God, go I” thing.

By the way, the pancakes are just the recipe from the Bisquick box, with about 1/4 cup of baking cocoa, a tablespoon of sugar, splash of vanilla, and a few chocolate chips thrown in.

Subbing: The Journey Continues

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I didn’t sign up for any substitute teaching jobs last week. I did have one today. I signed up for third grade but got switched to where I was needed-fifth grade.

Oh my goodness, they never stop talking. I am seeing a pattern here. In three of the four subbing assignments I have had so far, the students talk all during class, and loudly. I would say this is students giving the substitute teacher a hard time.

I am not quite sure what to do about this, but I will figure it out. Aside from the requisite asking them to be quiet in many ways, I threatened to take away points they earn for good behavior, to leave a note for their teacher, etc. I reassigned some seats to separate those who needed it. Did you know kids these days have the technology to make their computers repeat what you say? Oh, joy.

I was thanked for switching teaching assignments and told they could use me every day. I think a couple days a week might be my limit. There are always a few reliable kids who help me out. God bless them!

Be Kind, Always

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I’ve been struggling with something recently. I like to think that I’m a nice person. I try. But I’m not so sure that I succeed.

I had a friend that I used to talk to from time to time. We would do a few things together. We had some things in common. Dog causes and activities, go figure.

My friend made a few political comments and I discovered that we did not share the same political opinions or support the same politicians. I still cared about my friend but decided it would be best to avoid her for a while, until the political climate changed and such issues were not hot topics.

If I heard from my friend, I was always polite, but we didn’t do things that we had done before. Well, I learned recently that my friend died. This should not have come as the shock to me that it did. This friend was not a young person.

This gives me cause to ponder if perhaps I am not the kind of person that I thought I was, and have strived, and failed to be. I think now that I should have still gone places and done things with my friend. If the subject of politics arose, I could have said “let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about something else.”

People are certainly allowed to have their own opinions. They don’t need to be the same as mine. I don’t need every one of my friends to think exactly like me. It would be a boring world. Another thought-how will the world solve various issues without discussion and multiple insights?

I do not have the answers to these questions. But I have learned that I need to be a better friend, and more tolerant. Maybe not accepting of some ideas, but caring enough to still be there.

I debated whether to share these thoughts as they are rather personal. I decided that maybe someone else can benefit from my experience. How will you feel if you discover that it’s too late to make a different choice?

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. – The Dalai Lama

Keepsakes For Valentine’s Day

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life

Every year for the past several years my husband puts on a Valentine’s dinner for the family. He does all the menu planning, shopping, and cooking. My part for the last couple of years has been to procure some type of keepsake dinnerware or drink ware to be used during the meal. Each person then gets to take the item home with them.

This year I planned ahead. Yay,me! I decided to make something individualized for each guest. I purchased white ceramic bowls and ceramic paint pens. Then I created a custom design on each bowl of something I thought would be meaningful to the person. The back has the guest’s name and the date of the dinner.

This is the bowl I made for my husband. (I’m not showing any others at this time because I don’t want to spoil the surprise!) The artwork is two of his favorite dogs, Baxter and Phoebe, along with various hearts because it is Valentine’s Day.

Baxter

Phoebe

The project did take me 5 hours to do all the bowls and I still have to bake on the designs, but it was fun. I hope everyone will enjoy their bowl throughout the year and remember the good time we had.

A Snow Day

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, , ,

After being a substitute teacher for a room full of second graders yesterday, I decided that I needed a day off. So I stayed home and hung out with dogs. Shelby demonstrated relaxation techniques.

It snowed throughout the day, so in the afternoon, the dogs and I went outside to play and enjoy nature. Even 12 year old Nikki likes to lay down in the snow.

Zekie, foster dog Claire, and Baxter (rear).

Shelby stayed indoors to watch the house, but all the other dogs went outside to play. The preferred game is frisbee.

Cassius prefers a rousing game of jolly ball.

Zekie is a snow dog and will play anything you want to play.

I am recharged. Spending time with dogs always reenergizes me. Next week will bring more subbing adventures and I will be ready!

Substitute Teaching, Day 2

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This was my second day of substitute teaching ever. Today was a full day of second graders. The kids were sweet, and very helpful. But they NEVER STOPPED TALKING! I was administering standardized testing for half of the morning. I asked them to stop talking. They didn’t. I firmly told them to stop talking and asked why I still heard talking. The volume reduced but there was still talking. I told sternly told them to stop talking and explained that this was individual testing, not group testing, and they were bothering their neighbors while they took the test. The talking momentarily stopped. Then I heard the following comments, each from a different individual: I know, I can’t hear when he’s talking. They shouldn’t be talking, they aren’t allowed to talk. I told him to be quiet. They know not to talk. Etc. So we had talking about not talking.

And then there was the “can I go to the bathroom?” and “can I go to the drinking fountain and get a drink?” I must have heard each of these about 20 times during the course of the day. Add to that, trying to figure out how to make the computer display on the classroom screen, and where all the various supplies were located. Whew!

The photo taken above was before I left for school this morning. The photo below is me after lunch. Did I mention I had cafeteria duty?

I hope that building up a tolerance to the younger kids constant talking and demands will happen quickly.

There are good times too. Like reading a book about the Titanic to the kids and seeing them sit with rapt attention to hear what happened next. And watching the joy on a face when they get the right answer.

What really makes it all worthwhile? The one little boy who ran up to me after he returned from art class in another room, gave me a hug and said he missed me.