First Semester at LCSC - check

I love it when I can cross things off my list! And I only have a few more assignments on that list. Yeah , one of them is HUGE, and I will be spending the next 72 hours doing nothing but it ( and raising children, that assignment is continous). But in a few days when it is all done...

I will finish my garden
Paint the kitchen
Play with my children all the time
Bake some bread
Donation Yoga with my favorite girl
Tanquerey & Tonic- super cold double with lots of lime
Make some chocolate candies
Ride bikes
Hike up river
Sleep
Read books not teaching related
Sit in the sun at my daughters soccer games
Be still
Get ready for summer school


Now that's a list I look forward to crossing off.

closer

The end of the semester is so close I can touch it with my fingertips.I would never have blogged except that we were "forced" to (ha,ha), and it has been such a positive experience. Different from a paper journal because it is public and I am conscious of my audience. Where as in a paper journal I have more privacy, and can be as raw and honest as necessary. A good experience, but not sure if I will make the time to continue. I have enjoyed reading my peers blogs and a few strangers I began following this semester as well. What an interesting world blogging is, there is something for everyone. I have found some great recipes , gardening blogs and personal stories, better than reality t.v..
I think blogging is a great tool for teaching writing for college students.

Mother Nature

Mother Nature, what's up? 26 out of 30 days of rain or snow? Your KILLING me lady! Stuck home today, 9 papers due by Friday, two sick and fighting kids. And,... it's raining AGAIN. All I want to do is take a nap. I guess She wins. Doesn't She Always win?

11 papers and counting!

OMG! We are almost there! What a LONG winter and semester! This week so far I have written 9 Papers! Two more left and 1 revise and I am done...until Monday. Almost done, I can see the light. And I am proud of myself for juggling it all (not always so gracefully), but I am doing it! And you should be proud of yourselves too! We are amazing. There somebody needed to say it, praises to the hard working women!

"Beauty Tips"

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others." Audrey Hepburn

Port Authority

I was thinking back to the first time I took a greyhound bus. I was coming back from college after my first semester away. I took a greyhound home to CT from upstate NY, normally about a 5 hour drive, on the bus it was a 12 hour drive. So after driving all around upstate NY, and Penn. through a blizzard the bus stopped my limp head slammed up against the window and the driver yelled "Port Authority last stop". I sat up, What? This isn't New Haven? This is NYC. I dragged my bag off the bus, to a scene only to be found in a city at 3 am, alone. Looking around the dark, dirty, scarey, dimly lit bus station, I saw a man beating a garbage can with a stick, a couple of other homeless folks passed out on the floor and a booth with an Information sign. I went up to the oh so helpful man who yelled and pointed in a direction through the glass, clueless to what he was saying I turned and walked in the direction of his finger. Suddenly, a man with rags for clothes and newspapers for shoes started grabbing at my big bag, grunting and cussing at me. I pulled back and said "Back off", petrified holding back the tears I thought it was over this time for sure when I saw two more coming towards me. "OH SHIT", I thought. When suddenly a big strong dark hand grabbed my bag flung it over his shoulder and said "This way Miss". I obliged when I realized it was my savior the bus driver. He walked me to the transfer bus and we exchanged "Merry Christmas's". Probably saved my life, or at least kept it from being changed forever. So, 22 years later, "Thank you Greyhound bus driver for getting involved."

mudseason III- The final installment.

So at this point in the season not only are we used to the hike up and down the road, we actually enjoy it. Not only that , we brag about it. "Yeah, thats right" I heard Sophie telling some kids, "I am so strong right now, I hike up and down my road 2-3 miles a day, My mom says most other kids would cry about it". Normally , I would tell her to not have so much hubris, but Hell, she earned it! She does hike up and down the road 10-15 miles a week and she has every right to brag about it.Especially when the alternative at 6:30 a.m. when it is snowing and cold is to curl up in a ball and cry with defeat that life is just too hard. Trust me, I feel like this every a.m., but a cup of coffee and my two little inspiring faces looking up to me to make it fun, there is no other way. So we trudge on,singing our songs and tweeting along with the birds, and soon it will be over, and we will all be alittle stronger for it.

P.S.- I didn't tell me kids about the cougar tracks I keep seeing.That's why one of our dogs always comes with us....