365 Days of Giving Thanks

Day 282 - Thursday 8/29/13 - Grateful to come home after a 12 hour day at school to a wiggly, happy, snuggly pup!

Day 281 - Wednesday 8/28/13 - Wow!  Still buzzing after an ah-may-zing and inspirational day of professional development!  Best we've had yet!

Day 280 - Tuesday 8/27/13 - Thankful the color printer was fixed so I could finish my printing and such.  Nice to feel a bit more organized than usual this time of year.

Day 279 - Monday 8/26/13 - Grateful for the work time today - it's nice to not have the imposed schedule of tasks, and instead have the choice to work how we want.

Day 278 - Sunday 8/25/13 - Loved running in to two wonderful friends on our trek to the farmer's market today!  Such a sweet treat to spend time catching up!

Day 277 - Saturday 8/24/13 - Yummy  nap today....... led to a productive evening getting things ready for school!

Day 276 - Friday 8/23/13 - Grateful for the weekend.  The last two days have been exhausting.

365 Days of Giving Thanks

Day 275 - Thursday 8/22/13 -So thankful that I actually am able to work in my classroom now that we're back!

Day 274 - Wednesday 8/21/13 - Grateful that I had such a good summer..... the Pup was a wonderful summer brightener, and I hate to leave him when I head back to school tomorrow!

Day 273 - Tuesday 8/20/13 - So happy that I was granted permission to order new bookshelves for my classroom!  Even more excited that they will actually arrive before school starts!

Day 272 - Monday 8/19/13 - Excited to be a part of the ground floor of a project so much bigger than me, that will impact so many..... let the planning begin!

Day 271 - Sunday 8/18/13 -  Thankful to have found another Violet-friendly bakery!  They are so few and far between, I gotta latch on to them when I find em!

Day 270 - Saturday 8/17/13 - So grateful to be a part of a special family's milestone celebration today....... they exemplify the true meaning of family, and I hope to have a family like theirs one day.

Day 269 - Friday 8/16/13 - Thrilled that I was able to stick to my plan, which involved cleaning out the cabinets at school until I filled one garbage barrel. 

Week 50: A Special Place

When I am overwhelmed or need a break, my first go-to place would be my therapist's office.  Unfortunately, that isn't always feasible...... and no amount of wishing changes that!

The next best place is my bed.  Sounds depressing, I know, but hear me out.

See, when I'm in that space of needing a break, a vacation, or to disappear for a while, curling up with the Pup in my bed is the fastest way for me to get back to the land of the living.  Sometimes it takes just ten minutes of lying on the cool sheets, wrapping my fingers around the super soft blanket, feeling the weight of the Pup curled up by my side, to bring my breathing and heart rate back to normal.  There is something very safe about my bed, even more so now that I've finished decorating (after like 10 years) my bedroom so that I truly love being in there.

(Yes, I'll be honest and admit that sometimes it is only ten minutes, while other times it's four hours or more.)

Now, if you're asking about my special place to go when I need a break in general, and can actually take one?  That's a while different story!  In that case, I'd hop on the first plane and go to one of two places:

- my friend's house in Los Angeles, whose backyard is a sanctuary and whose kitchen I actually enjoy being in, or
- this sweet little retreat center near Puerto Vallarta with individual open air casitas, that have running water and flushing toilets, but no electricity..... where the surfing is the best, and the food is unreal, and there is nothing to do but enjoy the nature surrounding you!

I think I'll go crawl into bed right now...... not because I need a break, but because it's time for bed!

365 Days of Giving Thanks

Day 268 - Thursday 8/15/13 - Thankful for some lightness and laughter in therapy today..... it's going to be a long week next week........

Day 267 - Wednesday 8/14/13 - Enjoyed a nice evening with siblings and friends at a local food truck gathering.  Believe it or not, I ate.  A lot!  I kinda enjoyed it, too.......

Day 266 - Tuesday 8/13/13 - Appreciate the chance to pull out the winter clothes today, but would really appreciate the return of summer ASAP, please.

Day 265 - Monday 8/12/13 - So appreciative of how well my doctor knows me and my schedule of life, really makes me feel cared for on so many levels.

Day 264 - Sunday 8/11/13 - Excited about the work I accomplished at home today.  That, and the tasty fresh roasted corn from the Farmer's Market this morning.

Day 263 - Saturday 8/10/13 - A much appreciated day of rest........ long overdue, or so it felt.

Day 262 - Friday 8/9/13 - SO thankful that today's workshop sessions went well!  Even better, I had fun presenting them, too!

A Musical Message

I heard this song for the first time last week.  

What a message......... 

I know I need to hear it.  

A lot. 

You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there,
Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy
Fallen for the fear
And done some disappearing,
Bow down to the mighty
Don’t run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since your history of silence
Won’t do you any good,
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
See you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you

Week 49: Traditions!

Whenever I hear the word traditions I think of the song from Fiddler on the Roof.  Don't know which one I'm talking about?  You can watch it here:

Anyway, my family doesn't have a ton of traditions.  My parents have hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the last at least 18 years.  My mom's extended family comes, which is kind of nice.  We've also always had a small family gathering for the holidays, just the immediate family, which again, is kind of nice.

Otherwise....... I know there are several traditions I want to begin when I have my own family..... one of which I've already begun! 

• First/Last Day of School - Sundaes for dinner! (I already do the last day of school sundae fun!)
• Fancy Dinner Night - At least once a month I want to turn the house into a "fancy restaurant" complete with table cloths, dinner in the dining room, candles, fancy china, etc.  Have the kids dress nicely, practice manners, and really just have a special evening together.
  
• Hights/Lows of the day - Evening meal conversation to include the high/lows of everyone's day.  If not at the dinner table, at bedtime.  If no children, then just with my future (and yet to meet) husband.
• Summer camping trip - once a summer I want to go for 5 days.  Camping.  Tent/cabin to be determined later.  Beach and hiking a must!
• Holiday gift giving - instead of purchasing gifts for each other, donations will be given to a charity the recipient would like instead of giving the recipient a gift.  I'd also like to either adopt a family, or make sure to participate in a local Mitzvah day, or visit a food pantry/shelter or something as a family.
• Volunteering will be a regular part of our life.
• Birthdays - Make them a memorable event - such as a concert, a play, a picnic at a favorite place, something that doesn't revolve around food, and doesn't revolve around lots of trinkets.

Overall, I want my family to collect memories, not clutter.  Easier said than done, but nonetheless, very important to me, as my family is the opposite.  They like to give lots of little trinket-gifts to show their "love" for each other, whereas I'd prefer either one nicer gift, or a nice outing together where the photographs become the gift....

365 Days of Giving Thanks

Day 261 - Thursday 8/8/13 - So grateful that my presentation went well today.  Two more to go....... so much for taking the summer off!

Day 260 - Wednesday 8/7/13 - Grateful that the move went well and the majority of my grandmother's things are settled safely into their new homes.

Day 259 - Tuesday 8/6/13 - Thankful for a day of rest.  Or at least, sort of a day of rest.

Day 258 - Monday 8/5/13 - Appreciated the light rain that sprinkled down on the Pup and I during our evening walk.

Day 257 - Sunday 8/4/13 - Very grateful for a down day, literally and figuratively.  It was practically mandatory after this past week......

Day 256 - Saturday 8/3/13 - Appreciate the walk down my parents memory lane that we took today, visiting the houses where they grew up, as well as some of their favorite childhood haunts.

Day 255 - Friday 8/2/13 - Grateful, I think, for the sizable stash of chocolate covered raisins I now have.... hidden so I don't overindulge..... gotta go wash the chocolate off my keyboard now......

What do you think?

 

I completely concur.

365 Days of Giving Thanks

Day 254 - Thursday 8/1/13 - Grateful to all who came to pay their respects to my grandmother this week.  She will be missed by many.

Day 253 - Wednesday 7/31/13 - Appreciate the Pup's silly antics - he just ran into the couch, literally, and after I checked to make sure he wasn't hurt, I cracked up.  I needed that laugh.

Day 252 - Tuesday 7/30/13 - Grateful I got through the eulogy without breaking down.

Day 251 - Monday 7/29/13 - Grateful that today is over.  It was a very rough one.  Grateful that my parents didn't murder each other.  Yes, that's how rough it was.

Day 250 - Sunday 7/28/13 - Thankful to have been able to enjoy a nice family dinner for my Dad's birthday tonight.

Day 249 - Saturday 7/27/13 - Beyond grateful that I went to visit my grandmother last night, and thankful that she is no longer suffering.

Day 248 - Friday 7/26/13 - Grateful, so grateful, to whatever it was that compelled me to go visit my grandmother tonight.  I know it meant the world to her.