thirty-three

Always Remember...

I say this to my kids at school every time they are put into a group.

"Do you have to like your partner?"
No!
"Do you have to love your partner?"
No!
"Do you have to be best friends with your partner?"
No!
"Do you have to respect your partner?"
Yes!

It's just like the workplace and the real world, don't you think?

thirty-two

Always Remember...

Michael Jordan once said, "You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."

And I say, why not expect great things?

thirty-one

I finished classic book 2 of 3 (from my bucket list) this afternoon.

From The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett:

One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when ones gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands alone and throws one's head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one's heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising sun--which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. One knows it then for a moment or so. And one knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear, however much one tries. Then sometimes the immense quiet of the dark blue at night with millions of stars waiting and watching makes one sure; and sometimes a sound of far-off music makes it true; and sometimes a look in some one's eyes.

thirty

Always remember, "Do your best and forget the rest."

--From the workout video P90X.

Johnny Tremain

Awhile ago...I'm not even sure how long it has been...I wrote a bucket list. It was a short term goal list for things I'd like to do in the next 6 months to a year.

As of last week, I lost 31.4 pounds so I get to cross that off. Though now I need to start a new goal and add losing another 20 to that. (You may think I'm being crazy, but I really do still have that much weight to lose!)

I think I've run a 10K, though I have the check the exact mileage. Four the last four weeks I have ran down to Dale and Elaine's house from my house. It is a 4.75 mile run. After the first week, I was disappointed that it wasn't 5 so I added some more mileage and made it 5.4 miles. That's pretty close to 10K, I think.

Now, I really need to work on Jeffrey's snapfish album. I worked on it a bit this summer while Grandma Gayle was here, but haven't touched it since. I just got a coupon in the mail for 35% off albums until November 2. Oh, how I'd love to find time to get it done and take advantage of the reduced price.

Today, I finished reading Johnny Tremain by Ester Forbes. The first of three classics that I'm going to read. I loved the book. I chose to read it because I'm starting a Literature Circle in my 7th grade Language Arts class and it will be one of the choices. I decided it would be a good idea for me to have read all of the books that I offer to the kids for choices. :)

My favorite passage was at the end of the book:

..."He could smell the turned earth and gummy buds. And sweet wood somewhere burning. His nostrils trembled. Almost could they recapture the gunpowder of yesterday. So fair a day now drawing to its close. Green with spring, dreaming of the future yet wet with blood.

This was his land and these his people.

The cow that lowed, the man who milked, the chickens that cam running and the woman who called them, the fragrance streaming from the plowed land and the plowman. These he possessed. The skillful hands of the unseen gunsmith were his hands. The old woman throwing stones at the crows who cawed and derided her was his old woman--and they his crows. The wood smoke rising from the home-hearths rose from his heart.

He felt nothing could hurt him on this day. Not Rab's death nor the surgeon's knife. he felt free, light, unreal, and utterly alone...Tomorrow--next day--it would be different, but today is today."

twenty-nine

I'm a part of the negotiating team at work...we just finished mediation (and settled) at 2:30 am this morning.



We had to remember, "When you can't control the wind, adjust your sails."



So true in so many aspects of life...because there are just so many variables that we can't control.

twenty-eight

Always remember to...Be patient, take a deep breath and then react.

I try really hard not to yell at my kids. I don't like yelling and I don't think it helps. Really, I think it just hurt their feelings, which is not the outcome I want. Yet on some days I am so overwhelmed that I have to try really hard to keep my patience and not yell. Today was one of those days. I took a deep breath, put on my "fake it" voice and reacted. I was yelling inside, but being patient on the outside.

Memories to Write About

1 - Getting a kiss rock from grandpa spitzer

2 - Phoenix: apartment, friends, scorpion, eva, santa, moving home, myla

3 - Derek giving me his homerun baseball

4 - staying overnight, night after night, with dawn

5 - Listening to cars drivng up and down main in wilton after basketball games

6 - Cheering with the cheerleaders when I was little

7 - watching the bears win the superbowl while I lived in phoenix

8 - arguing with my grandma spitzer about taking naps

9 - going to Moorhead with Sonja to see auntie bon

10 - myla: monsters in the ceiling, cookies, toe soup

11 - being at quentin and joyces with collette and listening to 80's music on earphones that I thought were the coolest things ever...give me a sec and i'll remember the song, something with a yo yo i think

12 - going to disneyland with sammy gayle and samper duane in the rain

13 - watching all the semis drive down the highway and wondering if any of them were my samper duane and if he knew where i lived so that he would stop and see me if he had to drive anywhere close

that's a good start, i'm sure i'll add more later.

Bucket List

I haven't actually seen the movie Bucket List but get the idea. Here's my bucket list, in no particular order, of things to do in the next year. I'm giving myself the freedom to add as I wish and will only cross them off when they are fully finished.

1 - Finish Jeff's baby book

2 - Get caught up on Jeff's snapfish album

3 - Start Macy's baby book

4 - Make a list of stories from my childhood to write about

5 - Run a full 10K

6 - Lose 30 pounds

7 - Take a family vacation

8 - Learn more about using my camera

9 - Read at least 3 classics

10 - Do more art projects with my children

twenty-seven

always remember to...write down things that are important to you.

I started blogging when Jeff was little so that I could always remember the cute things he did. I tend to vaguely remember stories, but never clearly. Words help. Pictures help. I love to write and I love to take pictures. I read a lot of other blogs to enjoy hearing others stories and to stay inspired. Today, I read this blog entry and was inspired to write down stories I remember from when I was little. So today, I decided that I would work on doing the same. I'm putting it on my "bucket list" of things to do in the next year. (I decided earlier this week I was going to make a bucket list, but haven't got to it yet. Maybe I should just do it now.)

twenty-six

While reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks, I found this:

Always Remember..."she was struck by the simple truth that sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people."

Poetry 3

Haiku - (To Tyler)

before I met you
I knew you from my dreams
now it's us always

Poetry 2

I've seen several variations of the Diamond Poem format, but this is the one we choose for HS Applied English.

single
alone curious
scrapbooking exercising traveling
pets friends husband children
cleaning cooking diaper-changing
together content
married


The Diamond Poem

Line 1: Noun
Line 2: Two adjectives that describe the noun in line 1.
Line 3: Three verbs that end in “ed” or “ing” that
relate to the noun in line 1.
Line 4: Write four nouns. The first two relate to line 1.
The last two suggest change and go with line 7.
Line 5: Three verbs ending in “ed” and “ing” that
relate to the noun in line 7.
Line 6: Two adjectives that describe the noun in line 7.
Line 7: Noun that is opposite of noun in line 7.

Poetry 1

I teach a HS Applied English course at work. The HS special education teacher ask that I do a poetry unit with them. Of course, they were not excited about this, but I showed my enthusiasm for poetry and got talked into writing each of the poems they are required to write. It feels good to write these poems, though they are not my style.

____________________________________

to you, from me

if once you have lost a dear friend
you'll never be quite the same
you may have tried to recover and tried to go on
and still on your mind is his name

you may search through all your memories
you may try so hard to never forget
but you'll still see his face, his smile slowly fade
wherever you do see his face, his smile, don't lose it, not yet

you may have so many regrets to live with
and wish you could turn back the clock
but you'll hear him quiety in your dreams
and he'll tell you "be friends with old friends, never stop"

oh you won't know why and you can't say how
such a change upon you came
but once you have lost a dear friend
you'll never be quite the same

by: brandy

____________________________________

Pattern by Rachel Field

If once you have______________________
You’ll never be quite the same;
You May ___________________________
And _______________________________.

You may____________________________
You may___________________________,
But you’ll see________________________
Wherever__________________________.

You may____________________________
And_______________________________,
But you’ll hear________________________
And_______________________________.

Oh you won’t know why and you can’t say how
Such change upon you came,
But once you have____________________
You’ll never be quite the same.

twenty-five

Always remember...Whatever you are, be a good one. -- Abraham Lincoln


found on etsy shop Paloma's Nest

twenty-four

From Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

"But you see, just because we've been ... dealt a certain hand ... it doesn't mean that we can't choose to rie above - to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted."

twenty-three

Always Remember...."but sometimes, failure is just motive for success."

This is a quote from one of my speech students, J.W., that she used in a current speech about winning the All-Around Cowgirl at District Rodeo last year. She lost the year before by 1 1/2 points and won the next year by over 20 points. Way to go!

twenty-two

From Bride Wars:

Always remember....Life isn't perfect, it's messy.

twenty

Always remember to...Encourage those around you, and they will do the same for you in return.

I'm training to run a half marathon right now. I have a great support group of friends doing the same. Let me tell you, it helps to have them to encourage me for doing well and I like getting to encourage them in return. I know I'm going to be able to do this because I have them to keep me going.