Month: November 2017

Remember those mood rings? All my friends and I always had one, as if we needed a color on a ring to inform us of our mood! Too funny! One of my students showed me her new mood necklace awhile back, she was so excited to show me how it worked, and what the colors meant. It was very cute. I shared with her how me and my friends used to have them too. She didn’t seem impressed… until I went out and bought her her very own mood ring! Talk about excitement! She’s a great student, so she deserved her very own present from her teacher. She liked her gift. I know this because she wore it all week long, and let me know when the ring told her she was happy, and excited. I like her, she’s a good girl. She tries, she is beautiful, she is wonderfully behaved, and does all her work without telling her twice. She will go far in life and she will be successful I am sure.

I find it amazing how one little thing can change our mood. The whole day can be happy, good and flowing fine, until that one text, word, or remark can ruin it. I saturate myself with positive thinking and those memes on facebook. The advice goes something like this… “Think positive, don’t let others bring you down, the way you react to bad news determines your thinking and mood” and so on. I read, think and try to not let things bother me, but in fact, they do. It takes time and practice to forget about the things that push my buttons the wrong way. It’s just me. It’s my habit. I worry. I try not to, but I do. I must practice more diligently. Let it go! The frozen princesses even know better than I do! Sometimes (most of the time) I am my own enemy, my brain can mess me up something fierce. My friend Vickie posted last week that she wishes she could turn her brain off like a switch. Wouldn’t that be nice? Especially when we are trying to get some sleep. I vow, right now, to think of something positive as soon as something negative creeps into my brain.

Let’s try to keep that ring a lovely shade of blue! Have a great night everyone, off to heat up turkey leftovers.

It took me awhile to understand this when I was younger. Now, I understand it much better that I am older, I mean “seasoned.” My husband went off to upstate New York for work after dinner tonight. He’s only been gone three hours but I miss him! Is that crazy? I have kept myself busy with bills, schoolwork, trying to straighten up and doing my Sunday night chores, but my mind begins to wander, where’s Bill? “Honey?” I call.  Did he go to bed early? Oops, nope, he went to NY to work. I can make it, it’s only a three-day week anyway, yay! Seriously, this is the best week of the year!

Don’t get me wrong when I write this because I LOVE my weekends. I love the rest, the time I get to catch up on emails, plans, wash, shop, you know, everyday things. But would you believe I end up thinking about my kids at school? Is that crazy? I really do love those kids! Even when they tap the pencil endlessly on the desk, always give me a reason why they can’t do independent work, or can not line up quietly, it really is an impossible task. I have been praying lately just to accept the noise they make all. day. long. I am just a quiet lover. I get my quiet time on the weekends.

Then I get to thinking about Ashley, my daughter. I remember my mom and dad always used to say that they would never hear from me (when I was away) unless I needed money. Now the shoe is on the other foot isn’t it? Her car battery is failing. Last week she needed a jump and now tonight she needed one. I wanted her to get a new battery last week, but nooooo, she didn’t want to do it then. Now, she calls and would like me to add a car battery to her Christmas list and yes, of course, make it closer to a Thanksgiving present. Do people give Thanksgiving presents? I’ve never received one! But, I must admit, I am eternally grateful that I have the money to transfer into her account so she can get a new battery. I can’t imagine having an “extra” hundred dollars at the age of 21. She doesn’t really count though, I miss her all the time, the minute she told me she was moving out, I missed her. She has been my best friend all her life.

Ok then, just missing a few people tonight. I’m going to go spend some time petting my cat, he’s downstairs whining or meowing for me, or my husband, I don’t know. He will just have to spend some time with me. Have a great night everyone.

I often use this word to mean I am bored. Whether I am in class, doing a tedious job, maybe waiting in line with a slow cashier. Truth is, I like being bored. After posting a “boring” video yesterday morning of leaves falling, the leaves looked liked hundreds of butterflies flying every time the wind blew, it was neat. After I watched it again, and shared it with my husband, he noticed we could hear the wind chimes in the video. My “boring” video became peaceful to me. The rest of the weekend, I took notice on how my “boring” moments were peaceful. How could I have been missing this all along? I like peace. I like “boring.” I am glad I noticed the extraordinary in my ordinary life.

I finished my schoolwork early this weekend, so I am off to be bored! Have a boring night everyone!

So, it has started. The Holidays. The seasons. Leaves are turning colors, the air is getting cold, we are gaining an hour of sleep tonight. I am getting better at my lesson plans (finishing in less than 3 hours), traffic is more on the road, more people have already started filling the stores, Black Friday ads are showing already. I knew as soon as Halloween was done, time would speed up considerably, and it has. It’s kind of exciting. I have already bought a few Christmas presents. I am graduating to cash for most people on my list though.

I know I am going to miss my brother coming over. Still missing him, I think I had a dream about him last night. I’m not a dreamer. I don’t remember them. I remember talking to him in my thoughts, I was asking him a question and he went to respond to me but then I lost it. The image and exchange just left my head. I tried to get it back but couldn’t. How is the world still going on with so many people missing?

So many things are changing. Someone once told me, “The only thing you can count on to change is change itself.” I don’t know who or where it was said to me but I remember that. I don’t like change, I want everything to stay the same, or get better. Getting better I can deal with. I think I may start buying lottery tickets. Just so I can pay my credit cards off. It seems to take forever, but I did have some awesome memories with the experiences that those credit cards bought, mostly trips. It was totally worth it, so I’ll just pay them slowly but surely. Maybe I’ll just buy more trips, I actually almost booked a trip to Iceland the other day, but stopped myself because I wasn’t sure if I could be off for the dates I chose. I should just do it, Nike says so, maybe I will.

I hope I’ll be able to relax a bit over these holidays and take it all in, you know, remember better. Every minute I try to etch in my mind.