Common Sense & Random Mania

Resolutions -Bah! Humbug!

2012-12-31T11:53:00.001-06:00

I really hate making New Year's Resolutions. I think it's mainly because it's so cliche. Add that to the fact that most people don't last through the first two weeks of January with most of them anyway. But I need - and have needed - to make some serious changes for quite awhile now.

1) I don't maintain my blogs like I want to and they aren't growing AT ALL.
2) My house was beginning to look presentable, but it all stalled and now I'm living in CHAOS* again...and thereby forcing my loving hubby to live in it, too! (*a term coined by FlyLady to stand for "can't have anyone over syndrome")
3) I stopped reading for pleasure to finish my degree but I haven't really started up again with any kind of consistency - ergo, my writing has stagnated and suffered from severe drought.
4) My yarn crafting has gotten away from me to the point where I'm behind on obligations and gifts so that I have to turn most of Christmas 2012 into Christmas 2013 and hope I don't blow it again!
5) I never practice. :(

So, here I am on New Year's Eve with a bright, shiny new keyboard for my iPad and a murder mystery nearly finished (reading) on my end table. Do I make a New Year's Resolution? Hmmmm...

How about this for a compromise? I won't call it "resolutions," I'll call it "goals" for the New Year. In 2013, I'll make small but permanent (I hope) changes to my routines and lifestyle until I get things sorted out and manageable - and moving FORWARD instead of dragging me back! Okay, here goes:

1) Blogs:
January - I will post one entry (at least) to each blog each week.
February - I will learn how to market my blog and get the exposure I want to make them successful.
March - I will post at least two entries per week to this blog and one to the DogBlog.
April - I will reassess.

2) House:
January - I will restart my FlyLady notebook and MyRoutines app and begin (again) the clean-out process. That's right. Time to Shine My Sinks! AND I will get the basement floor cleared and my library reassembled (for my hubby's sake).
February - I will reorganize my craft shelves and library again to rid myself of any unnecessary clutter I missed or can't find/use.
March - I will reassess.

3) Reading:
January - I will read one book for pleasure each week.
February - I will read one book for pleasure AND one book for professional development each week.
March - I will read and annotate magazine/journal articles (1-3 per week, as time permits) and dispose of ancient or non-useful crap that's clogging the system.

4) Yarn:
January - I will begin Christmas 2013 crafting and mark/store them as I go.
February - for each gift I make, I will make one item to sell.

5) Practice:
January - I will reduce my church obligations to one Sunday per month and will prepare that service daily as soon as I know what the hymns are.
February - I will start Hanon again on a daily basis.
March - I will begin to revisit old organ exercises and re-learn things I knew and have let go by the wayside.
April - I will reassess.
May - ???
June - I will begin composing and arranging again.

Yeah, that's a lot to bite off and chew. But I used to be able to do all that before I went back to school. Somehow in the process of moving from Missouri to Ohio and back again, the whole thing became a mess and I hate myself! I'm not getting any younger and I'm not going to stop living just because world around me is crushing me. That's mostly my own doing and allowing others to encroach.

How about this for an overall change: I WILL LEARN TO SAY NO! Maybe if I quit taking on more because people ask and I know HOW to do something (even if I have no time or feasible means to do it), maybe then I'll be able to get life in order and get back to a state of being where I CAN do things again - and enjoy them!

Hmmmm...looking back at this list, I know it's going to be too big to accomplish by these deadlines ALL at the same time...maybe it's the list for the year and some may take two or three months to grow into habits. After all, the goal is to have things under control and flowing smoothly by this time 2013. ;-)

Moving Forward

2012-09-23T13:09:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to a regular time and day for blogging. So far, it's not working. I keep thinking I just need to get in one blog post a week to get started, but the days and weeks fly by and the "great idea" I started in draft is weeks old now. Consequently, the project that is the focal point of that post is also in limbo, poor thing being relegated to the "to do" pile.

But today I decided to post - little did I know the new app I paid two bucks for would go ahead and post a paragraph at a time rather than letting me work in draft first. Has anybody figured out how to get a refund on a bad app?

I'm trying to make Sunday afternoon my Writing Time. I was pretty much in that habit, whether it was blogging or master's thesis or fiction bits or even just research. Then Borders died and I crashed... Well, Panera has free wifi and great bagels so it's currently my writing spot.

One of the challenges of coming to Panera has been passing the empty hulk of Borders. Today I'm happy to say that is not such a hardship. It two stores to fill the space so the facade has totally changed.

(Note: further busy-ness prevented me from posting this. The stores are probably open by now. Ugh.)

Beginning my CAL Mandala

2012-08-27T06:12:00.000-05:00

Back to work next Monday, trying to get things around the house to an in-progress point so I can keep things flowing smoothly once school starts and my at-home hours dwindle drastically. I'm failing epically.

But today, in honor of my last day of summer break, I started my mandala and my foray into overlay crochet. The main reason I can give for my delay after all my excitement is color. I am insecure about my ability to choose colors that accent each other well. This project, while exciting for me, also requires me to stick my neck out and post pics of my color choices in an open forum on someone else's page. I can do this!!!

(Update...) Ha! Here's how long it's been since I started this - I've already BEEN at work a week! Ugh. Time flies when you're busy, busy, busy!

Sadly, I haven't gotten any farther with this since I took these pictures. *sigh* The beginning of the school year is always hectic, but we also have foundation issues we need to fix - thank you Drought of 2012. Needless to say (but that never stopped me) I've been too busy for yarn working this week. But I'm looking forward to doing plenty of knitting and crocheting this weekend - camping with Robin and lots of yarn!

I love the way colors are working in this pattern. the first 4 rounds are in one color (I chose pink), but then I've had to change every round or two since. The first picture is through round 5, adding purple. Even though it's only one round of the new color, it completely changes the feel of the piece already.

Round 6 and the character has changed again.

Round 7 and the drama is beginning. This is a dark blue I found in my cotton bin.

The purple comes back, grabs the first round of purple and pulls it back to the foreground. Ahhhh. The design is starting to take shape! So exciting!!!

...aaaaaaaand life takes over and this is where it's been for a little over a week. *sigh* But I'm still part of the CAL and it's still not too late to join! The flickr group page has all the gorgeous variations the other crocheters are posting. I was excited this morning to see that mine already auto-updated to Marinke's blog!

Until next time, I'll be preparing my basement for massive mess work, knitting another baby blanket (I guess I need to blog THAT story ;), working on my mandala (the colors are about to REALLY get dramatic!) and...oh, yeah! Teaching. Gotta remember to go to work, eh? Helps pay for my yarn...

Stupid Excited!

2012-08-09T09:22:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm so excited this morning I've gone stupid. I saw a gorgeous pattern on Etsy, then I learned that another blogger got together with the pattern creator to offer the pattern at a discount for a Crochet Along. I'm not the most techno-savvy person around but lots of people seem to think I am (ask for my help, think I know what I'm doing...which I usually do...) and I try to stay as functional as possible. This morning I made myself feel like a rank amateur - totally confused myself doing the most basic thing: buying a PDF and getting it to download.

First, I thought I'd be paying through PayPal but putting it on my credit card. Nope. I managed to empty my little PayPal account and they'll pull about a dollar out of my checking to make up the difference. No biggie but annoying.

Next I viewed my Etsy receipt and it said it would ship to my home address. Well, you can't send a PDF file to a snail mail address...and I'm excited about this pattern so I don't want to wait a few days or a week to get it... So I sent semi-panicked emails to the poor woman, Carola, who designed and sells the pattern (and English is not her first language, so I confused her, too) and after I managed to get a good stir going - BANG - there it was in my inbox.

*sheepish grin*

So here are my goals:

Calm down (Easier said than done. If you know me, you understand.)
Finish the baby blanket I've spent over a month working on. (Okay, it's not the only thing I've been doing for the past month+...again, if you know me...)
Get my other in-progress projects organized better and closer to finished.
Learn how to do a Crochet Along.
Blog my progress and learn more about blogging and CAL in the process.

Now let's see if I can figure out how to post the banner on my blog...(probably not, if this morning's stupidity is any indicator...)

Okay, 6. Figure out how to put the banner on my blog...*sheepish grin #2*

If the banner doesn't take you there, maybe this will...

Half-Century Down - Almost Halfway There!

2012-07-22T12:56:00.001-05:00

My favorite uncle always said life ain't so hard, it's just that first hundred years. I miss him.
It's been rough finding my way this past year, but I think I'm ready to begin this next half-century...maybe...

It's been a year since Borders died and I have felt the loss quite keenly. Instead of receiving an email with a coupon for a free coffee for my birthday last year, I got the email informing faithful Borders Rewards members about the end of that era. Oh, sure, they didn't just shut the doors. They had a Going Out of Business sale so we got to pick away at it like vultures until it finally emptied completely. I was surprised how intensely that store closure changed my perspective. Quite honestly, I grieved the loss of a dear loved one - me.

Almost every Sunday for the better part of a decade, I had indulged my inner self at Borders Cafe. I knew baristas by name and they knew me. It was a comfort zone on my favorite day of the week. I wrote the majority of my graduate papers there, including the Big One. I escaped there for peace when I could find none anywhere else. I met friends, made friends and even hid from friends there.

And now it's just gone. The once-busy parking lot is a vast, empty space. Last fall a temporary Halloween store went in. I stayed out. Now a fence around it says a new store is finally going into the space. It's time to move on.

Of course, a year of wondering why it hit me so hard has led me on a journey that I needed to take. Here I am now realizing the death of Borders was the culmination of several years of pain and struggle. Over those years I struggled with the gamut, as it were. Work issues, continuing education issues, family issues, financial issues and, finally, the death of the aforementioned uncle and his wife, my favorite aunt. It just all came to a head right there when those doors finally closed.

Now I see it as a new beginning. It's time to let it go and move on to the next part of my life. The kids are doing well now. My marriage is stronger than ever. My degree is complete. I have a beautiful granddaughter and just found out another grandchild is on the way. I can't be the child anymore and look to my auntie for support, but I have others to hold me up. It's my turn to start being the eldest generation and I think that's what bothered me most. Will I have the wisdom? Can I be strong enough? How can I hope to follow in those footsteps?

Then it hits me: they felt that way once, too. I'll manage.

Lost in Translation

2011-06-21T06:59:00.001-05:00

Will and I recently took a trip to visit our daughter, Alli, and see her artwork on display in a scholarship exhibit in the art department at Wright State University. We're pretty proud of her and her work. She's very talented, if I do say so - you know, being her mom and all.

We did a lot of shopping over the weekend, too, and took Will to Ikea in West Chester, Ohio. For those of you who have never been to Ikea, it's amazing. You can get every- and anything for your home decor there. Unfortunately, we have none in Missouri. But Alli has found most of her furniture and kitchen utensils at Ikea. I love the place, too. I especially like being surprised by the fun things you can find there: crocheted organizer boxes for your bathroom or closets, wonderful flatware sets and kitchen doodads, wooden toys for kids, even a doggy leash hook just like I saw at Jamie's when I dropped off Storm.
Cute, isn't it? A hook for the leash that looks like a little doggie tail? We needed one.

It wasn't until we rang it up that we got the funny part. Remember that Ikea is a Swedish company. I know they will hear certain words in American conversation, but somebody needs to tell the computer entry folks at Ikea that some words are not OK for printing in polite company. Yes, that's right - you're reading that correctly. Here, I'll blow it up for you...

Takin' on the Role of Nanny

2011-06-19T19:58:00.000-05:00

Yep, it hit me yesterday - if my mom isn't making those awesome round dishcloths anymore, somebody has to pick up the ball and run with it. That's right. I haven't knit anything in well over a decade (closer to two) but I picked up the needles today. Actually, I bought a new pair and some cotton yarn and *gulp* started knitting.

I was pretty proud of myself when the first 20 rows (one time through the pattern) came out looking pretty much like it was supposed to. I even recognized it as a part of the familiar pattern of Grandma's Round Dishcloth. (My mom, not my grandma - but my daughters both know it by this name ;) At this point I was a little disappointed in the yarn. I bought red, white, and blue specifically to make a patriotic one, but here it barely had any red on it.

The trick of the pattern is that it sucks you in. The pictures of the dishcloths look amazing and the pattern looks short and sweet. HA! At the bottom of the pattern comes the catch: Repeat rows 1-20 eight MORE times (total of nine times). Man, and my index finger is already painfully tender from shoving the pointy end of the needle around. (Remember - no knitting for over a decade = no callous.) But I had to keep going for two reasons: 1) I wanted to see how far before the blue would show up and 2) in trying to find the pullout part of the skein I yanked the guts out of it and had to knit all of that so it wouldn't tangle :P

While the first part came out exactly according to pattern directions (a minor miracle in itself), I noticed I was knitting a little more quickly and confidently on the second part...but I think I probably goofed a row or two. No prob. I can't see any glaring mistakes and anytime a row didn't end with the right number of stitches I just repeated that row and voila, it came out okay. Luckily, the pattern has a steady increase of leftover stitches at the end of every other row so I can keep track of where I am fairly well...and if I actually did put the same row in twice it doesn't show ;)

At the end of the third time through the pattern the blue is just barely starting - yay! But my hands need a break, so...well, blog it! Oh, dang it. Now that I'm looking at the picture I think I found a mistake...but I bet it won't matter when I'm washing dishes with it, eh? ;)

Moving in the Write Direction - 2

2011-06-18T08:33:00.000-05:00

Writers write.
...and they study their craft to improve their skills. I have a laundry list of blogs I subscribe to but I don't read them all religiously. I can't. There aren't enough hours in the day. But I do check in on articles that interest me and I find a few common themes to take away. Now all I have to do is start using that good advice.
For example: I get so excited when I check my stats and find people are reading my blogs. I've had readers from several different countries, in fact, which blows me away because I have no idea how they found me and I'd love to find out so I can learn more about what works and what doesn't. So I think, "Man, I wish they would leave comments or follow me or something!" But other than following the blogs I follow, I tend to forget the advice they all give: post comments.
I need to build a few bridges in the blogosphere. I'm still trying to come up with a workable writing schedule - not tough in the summer, but during the school year... And I need to network a bit while I'm learning. I did comment to one or two bloggers and they had very positive responses. That's always encouraging.
Task: Comment unto others as you would have them comment unto you.

Moving in the Write Direction - 1

2011-06-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

So I came up with a new term this morning. I told my sis-in-law that I'm experiencing "writer's sludge." It's not exactly writer's block - I mean, I have ideas and word strings and all the good stuff in my head, but getting it onto the page, so to speak, is like slogging through ankle-deep mud. I can almost feel the sucking pull of the struggle to get words out of my head and put them where I can see them...well, where others can see them. Like I said, they're in my head.
Sometimes it's like video. I see fiction in scenes like a movie and it doesn't all format right when I try to puke the guts of it out, but that's drafting craft and editing craft is always necessary, at least for me. Editing is where my perfectionist OCD kicks in.
Sometimes it's audio - I hear the sentence structures and how the words flow. Usually that's my poetry, but it happens in just about everything I write at one point or another.
Sometimes it's a tactile thing. I'm a writer who still needs to hold the pen and scribble words to physically force them out of my head most of the time. Blogging isn't like that, but the rest of my writing usually is.
Writers write. Procrastinating writers...uh...study writing techniques and make excuses about why they aren't finished with their projects, aren't published yet, aren't making progress...well, you get it. It's like any other procrastinating. I want to move beyond the excuses and make a success of myself in my writing the way I have in education (so far - I have dreams and goals to achieve yet in that arena as well).
So I have a summer goal: write a lot.

Scary Smart or Ya Gotta Love Math Geeks!

2011-06-07T13:41:00.001-05:00

My daughter texted me about a book I needed to look into written by Mike Keith. Naturally, I checked Amazon for the book, but at first all I found was a link to a book on Java. Unfortunately, although equally mathematical and certainly technical, I don't think this is the correct Mike Keith. The book she told me to research is called Not A Wake: A Dream Embodying (Pi's) Digits Fully for 10000 Decimals. That's right, he wrote a book using pi as the basis for the words he used to write the book.
It's called "constrained writing" and involves using a set of rigid rules to write poetry, fiction, etc. In this case, each consecutive word must represent the next consecutive number in the sequence for pi. What's even more interesting is that it's not his first. In fact, this set of rules is common enough to have its own language: "pilish." It's true - I looked it up!
Okay, so I think having a word count is often a tough enough constraint for writing and academic writing is full of rules, but I get those and I can abide by them. I'm enjoying my new blog-world because the rules are what I make them and that's very freeing for an unknown writer with a lot to say. But I followed the link on his page and it gave a link to a PDF of the first few pages. It reads beautifully like poetry, which, if you understand the universe in terms of the music of the spheres (I know - you're hearing "blah, blah, blah"), it makes sense. Numbers and music are so interrelated in so many fundamental ways and the beauty in both is astounding. Just the same, I found myself checking his word lengths against a short calculation of pi .
On one hand, I'd like to get it and read it...and keep checking pi to 10,000 decimals. Not A Wake appears to be the first novel written in Pilish. Or maybe I'll take a whack at reading his anagrammatic paraphrase of three books of the KJV Bible, The Anagrammed Bible: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. Of course, I should really read his music writings...
On the other hand, maybe I'll just start by looking up poetry in Pilish that only goes to the 31st or 50th place and start small. I mean, this is a guy who wrote a book about numbers called "Keith Numbers." If he can name a number system after himself...
Baby steps...

UPDATE: The article Lexi read that led her to contact me about Keith's book can be found here. There are a number of interesting numbers mentioned in the article ;)

Gray Hair

2011-04-16T08:00:00.007-05:00

Okay, so I already had a good collection of gray hair to cover before being informed of my impending nanny-ism. It's okay - I have a great hairdresser. ;) But it's not the fact that I've been kinda gray for so long now so much as the many, many more I'm getting while my daughter is carrying our first grandbaby. She travels a long way to work every day and when the weather is nasty, it's nerve-wracking for us waiting at home on a late night or icy morning. She put her car in the median once on the ice and we had to go get it the next day. Then she rolled it - totalled it - on another icy morning and we had to go get HER. Then on Wednesday, a perfectly sunny and beautiful afternoon, she was six cars behind a tanker that flipped and spilled hazardous chemicals so they had to completely shut down the highway for awhile to clean it up.

She's fine and baby's also doing great, thank God...but I think He's trying to tell her that yes, He's watching over her, but she needs to transfer to the local store sooner rather than later...or her parents may expire! ;)

Barometric Pressure

2011-04-14T17:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, today my Tolerating Stupidity meter is pegged.

Somebody I don't know sent me pornography on my phone, claimed "wrong number" and thought it was funny ("my bad"), and sent more after I told her I would inform the police.
My students could NOT get their "talk" buttons turned off, no matter what consequences I offered them.
I watched a car nearly sideswipe another right in front of me...
two miles later, the car beside me tried to sideswipe ME.

What is it that sets the whole world spinning just a hair off-axis, anyway? Big storms are moving in tonight. Maybe once they get here and clear the air, things will settle down again. I know last year we had a bunch of squirrely activity for a couple days before a tornado hit town, but the day after - when we expected the kids to be crazy - they were calm and awesome all day. Go figure. So if it will work, bring on the rain!

Stats

2011-04-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

As I'm learning more about how to use my blog and track usage and readers, I discovered I have had a couple international readers :) Yay! How exciting!

Well, one is my son-in-law. So when he comes home I won't have that particular coolness on my stats. But one was in Denmark. I don't think I know anyone in Denmark - that's REALLY cool!

So please, if you stumble across me here in the ether, drop a comment to let me know what you think...or keep coming back to visit :) Better yet, follow me and get updates whenever I post. Little things like that make me smile - it takes so little to bring a bit of joy to my aging heart ;)

Getting to Old

2011-04-08T17:50:00.002-05:00

My online presence has been...well, off lately. I apologize to my loyal fans (both of you ;) and have to beg infirmity. Getting old has its moments...senior moments, painfully stiff moments, achy joint moments...

I had the opportunity last weekend to update and certify my Tai Chi for Arthritis. It was wonderful to spend the day with so many tai chi players and so many levels of experience. I came away tired but feeling warm and limber. But have I had time to play since then? Well, not a lot. I do some with my students because it helps them learn to calm themselves and focus, improves balance and overall well-being, and lots of other wonderful side-effects. And it's fun for them and for me ;) But teaching is not the full routine or the calming and strengthening I need for my own achy joints, especially when I'm mostly working the same few beginning exercises.

*sigh* It's this changeable spring weather. My hand aches...then my elbow aches...then my knee gets into it...then they start getting together in different combinations. I now have a new set of fashion accessories to help: a pair of crafter's gloves and a brand new elbow support sleeve. Yay. But it's never going to go away completely. Arthritis is a fact of life I'll have to learn to live with.

But this getting to being old thing is for the birds. Yeah, that title isn't a typo - I'm getting towards old these days. I've been joking about it for years, but the achier I get the more I'm not feeling the funny, ya know? *sigh*

...ow...

My Babies

2011-03-26T13:23:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned previously, I'm going to be a grandmother this summer. Currently, my daughter is living with us while her husband is deployed. I'm sorry he's missing this part of her pregnancy, partly because no man should miss out on the months of crankiness and morning sickness, partly because no daddy should miss out on watching his first child growing...or his wife, for that matter. ;)
I watch her sleeping (she hates it when I take pictures of her sleeping, but I always have enjoyed doing that)and I remember her as a baby herself. Sometimes I can't believe that grown woman really is the same little girl that kept us up half the night and made us walk her for hours every evening for months. Her time is coming. My little one's little one has already done his/her fair share of making new momma miserable. Her husband helped her out: he sent her a wonderful pillow.

The problem is that when I see her sleeping soundly in that pillow, I remember her in her carseat coming home from the hospital with a bumper around her. She's just bigger with a bigger bumper. Leachco Back 'N Belly - Contoured Body Pillow, Ivory
The little one is going to be a pistol. How could it be otherwise? Grandparents are, parents are...if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it produces baby ducks.

Polymathematics

2011-03-06T19:35:00.000-06:00

I learned a new word: polymath. At first I thought it must have something to do with math - makes sense. So it sounded like a person who could figure out lots of kinds of math...maybe? But it was on a writer's blog. Just to be safe, I looked it up.

polymath: (noun) a person of wide knowledge or learning. (--Oxford Dictionary of English, Kindle Edition)

As luck would have it, that applies to me. So it makes sense to have multiple pages rather than just multiple blogs to monitor and build. This way I can blog with fair regularity on a variety of topics without seeming too out of the norm...for me, anyway. This makes me happy. :) I want to be a regular contributor, not just post as the whims occur, but the haphazard nature of my inspirations and interests leads to a cluttered blog, so I end up not posting anything. And I don't want to have a dozen different blogs. That's just another batch of clutter. So I'm adding a few pages:

The Pendulum Swings - this one will highlight how events happen in different ways throughout history and how they seem to affect today.
Unapologetic Christian - I find myself reluctant to post my Christian views on my regular blog because I don't want them buried in the sea of other ideas. Be forewarned: my Christian views include but are not limited to my political stand on various issues, not the least involving the erosion of American Christian freedoms.
Where the Ozarks Meet the Prairie - this one relates nicely to the new blog I have in partnership with my friend, Lisa, in Michigan. Here I will photoblog our various travels, scenery, nature subjects, Missouri history and culture...and stuff like that.
Adventures in Nannyland - I'm about to be a Nanny! (That's grandmother to all you non-Philly-ites.) Although my family mostly goes by "grandma," I was a great fan of my mother-in-law and will be "Nanny" to my grandbabies. (Besides, my husband and daughters would be heartbroken if I didn't. ;) First one is due in August and I would imagine I'll have a lot to say. (No surprise there to those who know me!)
Moving in the Write Direction - *contented sigh* a place to post fiction snippets, thoughts on writing, frustrations along the road to publication and recognition (i.e., getting paid to do this :P), and rants on grammar and usage - my personal pet peeves. I may even write a book review or two, who knows?
My Personal Reformation - this one might be hard for me. Believe it or not, I have a private side I don't like to share with others. Included in that is the fact that, organized as I appear, I'm a clutter fiend, too. It's in my DNA so it's doubly hard to fight. But I'm on that road and I need to stay on it. Part of the overhaul of my system includes writing daily, soooo...

How many pages is that? I think Blogger allows ten...;)

Startling Beauty

2011-02-24T21:49:00.003-06:00

It's been a beautiful winter this year. Tough? Yes, but exceedingly beautiful. Before Christmas we had one school cancellation for extreme cold. Since we came back from Christmas break we've missed nine more days - that's right, a total of ten so far - and we don't appear to be finished yet. Today many schools around us closed early for the rain-sleet-snow-freeze happening all day. Our district stayed open, but I had to clean a half-inch of wet sleet off my windshield before I could leave our slushy parking lot and drive home.

Now, at nearly 9:30 p.m., we have yet another gorgeous winter scene developing out our windows. The rain and sleet have made the conditions perfect for a thick build-up of snow on the trees. The clouds and falling snow are collecting the light pollution and turning night to twilight reflections.

I decided to try to capture it without flash to show just how bright and beautiful the winter night can be out here where the Ozarks meet the Prairie. The tree out our back window is thickening with snow. It looks like hoarfrost the way it's glued to the branches and building up on them.

Truly unexpected and absolutely wondrous.

MMEA - Music in the Ozarks

2011-02-20T21:45:00.001-06:00

Every January I travel to Osage Beach to meet with friends and learn more about the art, craft, and techniques of teaching music in elementary school. This year we had great sessions on folk music with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, two of the New England Dancing Masters. If you've never heard of them, you can learn more at either of their two websites: http://amidonmusic.com/ and http://www.dancingmasters.com/ The Amidons not only taught us several folk dances, they taught us how to teach them to others. They advocate folk dance in communities and schools as part of our cultural history as well as just plain fun. The New England Dancing Masters have a selection of instructional books with CD's as well as other CD's of music that can be used with their books for variety.
Sashay the Donut (New England Dancing Masters: Even More Dances for Just About Anyone: a companion to the CD)
Chimes of Dunkirk: Great Dances for Children

As a 4th grade student, my teacher and her 5th grade cohort joined our classes to learn to square dancing. I still remember the joy of dancing with classmates and learning the old steps, applying them to newer music just to see if we could. Back then we didn't have a separate teacher for music in the elementary schools in our district. The seeds of my future in music education were planted back in those days. Let's give our kids that chance at tying our past to the future and keeping the fun alive.

UPDATE:
For more information about the annual music conference in the Ozarks, see my article: Ozark Music Oasis
For more information about good music stores in our area: Anybody Know Where I Can Get 76 Trombones?

Another Storm Story (she's killin' me! ;)

2010-11-24T08:45:00.000-06:00

This morning dawned rainy and cold, typical fall weather for the day before Thanksgiving in Missouri. Will had to work, but I have the day off, and thank you for that because I need to clean before tomorrow's festivities. There is, however, a delay in the process because both of the adult children are still asleep, one with a crashing headache.

So while I'm waiting for a decent hour to start running the vacuum cleaner and crashing dishes and clutter around, I'm enjoying a quiet cup of coffee with no school or urgent jobs to interrupt. As I wander out to the kitchen to warm up my cup I'm shadowed by a beautiful black German shepherd with pitifully sad eyes. "No, Storm. I'm sure Daddy already fed you." She lays down flat and looks up at me with all the sorrow of a starving puppy on a pet shelter ad.

I've become inured to her various attempts to manipulate me, so I ignored her and went back to the living room. She waited about five minutes before coming out and sitting by my feet - read as: sat on my foot and leaned her 75 pounds on my leg with her head pressing heavily on my knee. Again the sad eyes looked up at me. Bolt couldn't do a better job with all the acting coaching that little black cat could conjure.

I picked up my cell phone. Maybe he didn't feed her because he knew I was getting up and staying home. I dialed the number...she lifted her head enough to take the weight off, still hopeful. But when I asked Will if he had fed her, she turned her head away and started looking guilty. That's right. Not only had he fed her, he gave her all her morning meds and treats. After I hung up, laughing, she walked over to her pillow and sits now with her chin on the window sill looking dismally out at the rain.

It's really too bad I can't teach a smart dog like that to clean bathrooms.

Storm: My GSD on DST

2010-11-22T18:03:00.000-06:00

Let me begin by saying that my German shepherd, Storm, is one of the smartest dogs I've ever known. As a puppy she learned commands quickly and eagerly and surpassed our trainer's expectations. She's almost eight years old now and a genuine joy in our lives...except when her aging bladder wakes us up at 4:30 a.m.

She has a pretty regular schedule. We get up at 5:30 and shower, then Daddy takes her out to go potty by 5:45 and feeds her breakfast. No problem except when we change the clocks, especially in fall. I can understand. I can even relate. My body clock wakes me up as promptly on Saturday mornings as the alarm clock does on weekdays. When 5:30 a.m. rolls back to 4:30 a.m., I try to enjoy the extra hour of sleep.

Not so with Storm. She comes fussing at his side of the bed. Then she comes whining at mine. For a few days after the time change we try to put her off a little at a time to help her adjust, but here we are a couple weeks later and she's still trying to convince us to get up an hour earlier.

Last Saturday we had had enough. Storm started with Daddy. He told her it was too early. Then she came to me. "Storm," I moaned. "It's too early! Another hour at least!" so she walked up to the night stand, read the clock - I kid you not, read the clock - and went back to her pillow, laying down with a big sigh.

I love that dog. :)

Prelude to Deer Camp

2010-11-19T17:14:00.000-06:00

I recently published a Thanksgiving poem on Associated Content, but my husband liked this one better. So, just for him, here's "Prelude to Deer Camp."

On a crisp fall Thursday morning in November,
with smells of dinner already filling the house,
we rushed around
fighting for the bathrooom, searching desperately for run-free pantyhose that fit--
No Slacks for Church!

Dad smoked his cigar in his chair
waiting quietly on the fringe of the chaos,
its gnawed stub the only indication
of his increasing urgency
to leave.

After church
we rushed back home
to put finishing touches on food,
find enough flatware,
pack our dishes and maybe a change of clothes
and back into the car we went,
off to town for the Big Family Dinner.

Aunts, uncles, cousins
flooded the church annex.
The men sat around tables with cards and smokes
while the women prepared the buffet tables,
leaving us kids the task of setting the tableware
and staying out from underfoot.

Rich cooking smells flooded the senses
finding every hidden corner of the building.

Piles of plates,
huge bowls of rolls,
platters of turkey, dressing, and every
vegetable dish known to man at that time,
each recipe carefully followed from
Betty Crocker's Cookbook
and the latest issue of Better Homes and Garden.

Dad or one of his brothers
would lead the blessing.
We ate to bursting and went back for more.
Parents in their own zone
monitoring us on the edge of their vision
before sending us off.

we put on plays and hosted
family talent shows,
played games for prizes
and sang songs and hymns
like a spontaneous angelic choir.

And sometime
during the course of the day,
Dad slipped out to the car for his gear,
transferred it to the trunk of another cousin's car
and headed north to the woods for a week
or more
while we waited at home,
hoping for fresh venison.

Act like an adult? Or a drama queen?

2009-11-24T18:15:00.003-06:00

"Don't let it get to you..."
"Stupid people shouldn't breed."

"You can't fix stupid."
"They just need to man-up..."

All easy to say to encourage a friend...not so easy to do when you're the one under attack. When faced with anonymous parent complaints, how does the reasonable teacher - an adult - respond? Should the principal have even brought this to the attention of said teacher? If the parent in question isn't willing to speak to the teacher, but, rather, runs tattling to the principal, how should the principal respond?

How does one act like an adult in this situation?

Some say the parent needs to put up or shut up - if you can't meet with the teacher to resolve the situation like reasonable adults, don't complain to the principal.

Some say the principal needs to inform the teacher so they don't get blind-sided by a raving parent later, after said parent has allowed themselves to be thoroughly riled up by the situation and by their child's accusations, imagined or otherwise.

Some say the principal should inform the parent that the conversation is over if they are unwilling to reason and identify themselves...and that the teacher, then, should not be bothered by the information - situation handled.

When a parent stands in the hall during parent-teacher conferences and complains to the principal about a teacher in front of other parents and teachers, and the other parents get in on it, angry-mob-style ("yeah, my kid says that, too"), what course of action should a principal take? Do they defend the teacher they know to the crowd of parents, none of whom appear to have ever met the teacher in question, let alone taken the time to get to know her or to give her the benefit of the doubt? Do they insist on taking the crowd to a room for a more private discussion? Do they inform the teacher of the semi-public incident? Reprimand, inform, or defend the teacher?

And how does a teacher go about trying to teach children when she has no idea which children - and these are 9- and 10-year-olds - are plotting the little skirmishes against her and why? Do the children truly feel wronged, threatened, disliked by the teacher or are the children upset because the teacher held them accountable for their own actions or ignored them when they thought they needed attention? When will a parent work themselves up into a big enough snit to come after the teacher? And how does the teacher in today's educational-parental-litigious-societal-PC climate deal with these people? How does the teacher reach out to rebuild bonds with children - who will someday become the leaders of society, reformers of education, role models for the next generation, and caretakers of the elderly - when she doesn't know who has the problem or what caused the student(s) to start tattling/complaining in the first place?

When the parent calls anonymously or gangs up - again, without giving names - with other parents against a teacher, is it any wonder their children also tattle on the teacher anonymously? Was that the beginning of the issue - did the child tattle on another student and the teacher didn't respond the way the child hoped? Did the child resent the loss of opportunity to gloat over the reprimand they felt the other child needed (a means of bullying by proxy)...and, in fact, was the tattler reprimanded for sticking his/her nose in where it doesn't belong?

If the child was acting up in class, the teacher would have a pretty good idea which parent complained, especially if there actually was an incident to recall. But if a parent hides behind anonymity, what does the child learn about responsibility for their own actions? They learn they can say whatever they want to get whatever they want (revenge, attention from their parents, entertainment of watching adults in combat, etc.) and hide behind their parents' anonymity. Never mind what's best for the child and what teaches the child how reasonable, responsible people behave in society, don't embarrass the parent by trying to tell them their child might actually be mistaken...wrong...lying...looking for attention... How many of us haven't known a child who thrived on watching their parents call the school out for some imagined slight on a regular basis? (Personal observation leads one to believe these are the people who have no control over anything in their own lives, so they try to exert control over something or someone else.)

Assuming the teacher is at fault and the child is completely honest, the parent refuses to identify themselves so the teacher cannot retaliate against the child. But by refusing to meet with the teacher and discuss things rationally, they have no idea if the teacher is the type who would retaliate...and they deny the teacher any opportunity to make amends, to discover if and how they are actually at fault, to improve their skills and become a more effective teacher, or to find a way to reach out to the child and continue to educate them, if, in fact, they have been able to provide them any education at all up to this point. Is this child lazy, needy, abused, learning disabled in some way? Is s/he a trouble-maker whose parents are enablers? Are these children who enjoy the conflict of playing adults against each other for their own gain? How can the teacher address the child's needs without know who the child is and what those needs are, be it discipline or individual assitance?

The retaliation excuse is a cop out, a means to remain anonymous, providing the complainant the opportunity to cause disruption and aggravation without being held accountable. But then, parents are not held accountable anymore. When a child misbehaves, it's the fault of the school for not correcting that behavior. When the school corrects bad behavior, they are at fault for picking on the child...or even for picking on the parent. When the child refuses to apply themselves and their test scores suffer, the parents blame the school for not educating the child and the state sanctions the school for not educating the student, but who monitors parental involvement in the child's success or failure or holds them accountable? When the child cannot concentrate in school and learn, the school must adjust methods and means to accomodate the child, but are the parents held accountable for allowing their children to stay up late, eat junk food, not do homework (because the parent doesn't want to have to help them and probably can't figure it out)? After all, it's the teacher's fault for assigning so much homework.

It's easy to complain about things that don't go the way we'd like, especially if we have no idea what it takes behind the scenes to accomplish the actual task at hand. Case in point: here sits the author typing away her own frustration at being denied her opportunity to defend herself and make things right between herself, her students, and their parents. Here the author could insert a rant longer than this one about the overburdening of teachers with state and federal mandates, unrealistic curricular goals, data processing required to prove student achievement (read as: "prove teacher competence")...but what good does it do? Does this quiet little blog reach anyone who could make a difference - or care to try - or am I preaching to the choir?

When the child can't perform simple math and the teacher gives them homework, the child needs to learn to accomplish the math and gain the needed skill. An unpopular but very real truth is that no skill improves without repetition and practice. Some people need more practice and some less. Some work at a faster pace and some slower. The days of reading and writing and 'rithmetic are long gone and teachers are required to teach a plethora of subjects, concepts, and skills - so much that there are not enough hours in the school day to provide the necessary practice to reinforce the concepts for the student to internalize them. Teachers need community support - parental support - in order to help children succeed, achieve, and grow into the next generation of society.

When adults no longer know how to behave like reasonable adults, can no longer allow themselves to be seen in a bad light by admitting their children might be fallible and the teacher might not be the ogre depicted, how can education continue to be effective? And what hope is there for society when the adults refuse to grow up and be responsible, continually blaming others for their own problems and mistakes rather than "manning up" and admitting their own? What hope is there for a nation of juveniles? What will it take to hold adults responsible for being role models for children - for acting like adults?

Human nature makes us all resent being called to account for our mistakes. I know I'm loud in the classroom sometimes - not always in jest - and some children are very sensitive to that. I know I need to be more aware of that tendency when I'm under stress. I also know I've been a slightly hard-of-hearing loud person with a big voice for several decades, so I have little hope I'll ever break the habit completely. But I have learned to take my principal's gentle reminders with humility and acceptance and to try not to feel resentful. Adam blamed Eve for giving him the apple - like she shoved it in his mouth and made him chew - and Eve blamed the serpent. Parents blame teachers for their methods rather than admitting they've dropped the ball somewhere in their own child's upbringing.

Likewise, human nature resents being denied the opportunity to defend oneself against accusations.

When legislation and litigation, low pay combined with the continual piling-on of responsibility without adequate support, drives all the teachers - old, new, good, mediochre, and bad - out of the profession, will the parents finally take responsibility for their children's education and behavior? Will the government finally admit they don't know everything about everything and very little about education and child rearing?

I keep coming back to the same conclusion. I don't know how people get through life without God. Thank God for the parents, colleagues, and past students who randomly remind me they appreciate my high standards and my demand they do better than "good enough." Thank God for the parents who, following the mish-mash in the hall, came to me with their own concerns for their son and discussed it with me calmly, rationally, and worked with me to build a new relationship and to start an ongoing communication to help him succeed.

Apparently I have a much more volitile temper than I was aware...(that's sarcasm there, not anger, btw). ...and I don't know if I can put up with the politics long enough to make it to retirement in this career.

Poetry

2008-02-28T20:28:00.007-06:00

In my district we have, as many others these days, a big push toward literacy. No Child Left Behind (NCLB to those in the know) has made math, science, and especially reading of heightened importance. It's not like we shouldn't improve those skills in our kids, don't get me wrong. But there is no way to achieve perfection in this world and that makes NCLB unrealistic and destined to fail.

But that's not why I'm writing today. I'll get on that soapbox at another point in time. I'd love to say that isn't true, but I just can't help myself. I'll beat that dead horse until it's an unrecognizable pancake in the dust. No, today I'm writing about one of the ways I love to "integrate literacy into the music curriculum."

First and foremost, I'm tired of being considered a "special" subject, as if it's something so totally unusual. If they are going to call me a "special" then let me have my students as often as the special education teachers get theirs instead of once every 8-10 calendar days. Then maybe I can accomplish something and they will be able to see how very valuable music education is to all the other core areas.

Second, I think it's high time that "integration across the curriculum" stopped meaning the arts have to alter their plans to include science, math, and reading (which we always have, anyway, as they are inherent in our subjects) and make it truly cross-curricular. In other words, classroom teachers need to learn how to effectively implement the arts into their daily routines for the sake of their students' development and learning.

So rather than look for books I can read to my classes that might somehow tie into whatever I'm talking about (i.e., read a turkey book just because I'm teaching Thanksgiving songs...which takes away from the time I need to spend teaching the music concepts and textual meaning in those songs), I'm looking for books that can teach my concepts and reinforce my curriculum. And where do we find the best connection? Books about musicians? sure. Books about music instruments? sure. But the most influential, music-related, literacy-connected materials are poems.

Poetry, like music, gives flight to the soul and expresses what prose cannot. Poetry, like music, speaks in meter and flows like water over our spirits, expressing our deepest thoughts and feelings. One literacy teacher said that we need to teach children to read and write poetry in order to teach them to be human. Poetry, like music, expresses what it is to be human.

But I also have to teach the mechanics of music (you know it as "theory," a term that strikes fear into all but the geekiest musical souls) and that includes how to work in different parts at the same time. Poetry teaches partwork? Yes, yes it does. Paul Fleischman has written three collections of poems for children - I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices; Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices; and Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. These nifty little gems are designed to be spoken/read by multiple readers at the same time. Written in columnar format, the words are staggered between the columns so the parts take turns or read at the same time, either in unison or different words at the same time. A challenge, yes, but fun for the kids AND a great lead-in to singing in two parts.

Ridiculous...but, sadly, true

2008-02-27T06:36:00.006-06:00

So, I thought it was ridiculous that a trained musician didn't know that music would calm a hyper dog. And my musician friends have had the same reaction.

But a non-musician said, and I quote, "Wow, really?" and "Well, I knew it worked for people, I just didn't realize it would work for animals." And, yes, he has seen the Harry Potter movie where they put the three-headed dog to sleep with music.

I'm at a loss. Frankly, thinking has become the same kind of pass-time as baseball in America. It takes too long so it's no fun anymore - we quit. When a person I consider very intelligent AND who is closely related to a family full of musicians can't make that small jump from "music soothes people" to "music soothes," I consider that indicative of the trend in our nation to follow the hype.

Maybe I'm just so immersed in it that I'm out of touch with "reality." But I find it irritating and aggravating that so much that was common sense 50 years ago now has to be analyzed and studied and "discovered" before we can accept it.

Ridiculous

2008-02-22T09:50:00.001-06:00

Wow. Just unbelievable. A classical pianist sat down to practice and noticed that her normally hyper dog settled down. She "discovered" classical music could calm animals. Where has she been? Has she never heard "Music calms the savage breast" ????? Has she never noticed this happening before???
Probably not. A good musician gets so into the music that the world around them ceases to exist. Okay, so that doesn't excuse the people who helped fund a study AND promote a CD/Book combo to educate pet owners and scam money from the hopelessly-in-love-with-their-dog with too much money and no common sense. Most classical music is available in music store bargain bins and iTunes and countless other sources - not the least of which is the public library.
Where is it written in stone - in stone, mind you - that artists are not allowed to have common sense? I know I'm not the only one. We don't have to be totally oblivious to the world around us. Even if we choose to ignore the general lunacy that is the world of politics and fashion and surface clutter, that doesn't mean we can't observe natural phenomena that applies to our field of specialty, no less.
*sigh*