Mi Jardin Florido

Make that four!

2013-06-13T23:57:00.001-04:00

A Periwinkle, a stunning Amapola, a twirlling Jasmine, and a bashful Oleander. Enjoy four flowers of the day!

Banana Leaves with a Sprinkle of Dew

2013-06-13T00:53:00.001-04:00

I love these pictures because I love banana leaves. Just don't wear fancy clothes around them and slice them open. Why do you ask? They secrete a sticky sugary liquid that once it lands on your clothes will stain your clothes brown and that stain will never, and I mean never wash out. That is why in Puerto Rico they say they have "la mancha de platano," or the plantain stain. People ask each other about their plantain stain, metaphorically of course! Lol!

By the way these photos are copyrighted. Thanks.

Removing Laminate Tiles

2013-06-11T17:18:00.001-04:00

You guessed it! It's hard work but somebody has to do it. Since I am off in the summer, I decided I had had enough of this dingy laminate that at almost every union had gunk compactly glued to the tile. I would have to put a razor to it to get rid of the dirty glue and that would damage the tile to make matters worse the tiles had slid out of place and in some cases there were crevices where you could see the beige ceramic tile underneath. It was horrible!

Today on a spur of a moment, I did what I had been thinking about doing for over a year. I tackled it with a flat head screwdriver and a permanent ink pen. The screwdriver was for lifting and separating the laminate from the tile gently.

What was the marker for, you ask? The marker was my way of drawing a line in the sand. Basically, I was burning my bridges. If you write on laminate with a permanent marker there is no way you can get that off so that is why I used it. In addition, I also wanted to mark the walking path I could use until I had removed the glue from the floor. You see these laminate tiles are sticky. You can remove the tile but the tile leaves glue behind and you have to come around later and remove the sticky stuff. It will get on your shoes and on anything else it comes in contact with.

So there you have it. I know it is going to take me at least three to four days to complete this renovation, maybe even more. You see after I remove the glue then there is the sealing of the mortar between the tiles since a lot of these became loose. This is turning out to be a project!

Lord, help me!

A Clever Quote and How Asparagus May Help Lower Blood Pressure

2013-06-09T09:17:00.000-04:00

I was reading an interesting article on research by Japanese scientists whose preliminary studies show that eating asparagus lowered the blood pressure of rats. Darn these people were using rats for their study now that I think about it. Can you imagine that?

Here is a link to the article:

Asparagus Helps Lower Blood Pressure (At Least In Rats)

Anyway, I really enjoyed how the author Joe Palca ended his article with this quote, "In fact, for the treatment of high blood pressure, this could be the dawning of the age of asparagus." More than just sounding nice, this is an allusion to a very popular stage production quite famous during the seventies, The Age of Aquarius. In the play there was a song lyric that said " this is the dawining of the Age of Aquarius." We sang this line over and over again. You had to be there.

Saying Good-bye to my Students

2013-06-05T23:53:00.001-04:00

I always hate the end of the year. Especially saying goodbye. The kids are not into that sort of thing. Some were angry today because they had to finish some presentations. Others were busy saying good bye to their own friends whom they will not be moving on with to High School, and didn't want to be bothered with anything else. It was a mixed bag. I also had some students ask to come and spend more time with me. I should have let them come, but the classroom was full. I was going to have them later anyway. Then I had those students who were so happy to tell me "Ms. Vazquez, I won't have to go to summer school!" and I shared their joy. Then I had that quiet student, who waited for everyone to leave so he could come and give me a big hug! It makes me cry just to remember seeing him bound across the room. Then there was a student named Josey (not her real name of course) who asked to come to my class and help me. She spent the period going over some brochures. When she gave her presentation earlier in the day, I stopped the presentation just to ask her how long she had been in the United States? (I knew the answer, of course.) I did so because she had read a paragraph in English and she did it very well. So when she softly answered, "One year, " all the other kids applauded realizing all the effort she had put in. I also added, how far she had come in this one year in the United States, and told her how proud I was of her, too. Later she came back just to help out. I think she just wanted to spend a little bit more time with me. It was sweet.

Josey was in fact one of many who helped me today to sort papers, recycle others, clear off bulletin boards, pack boxes, remove staples from the wall, and empty cabinets. There were so many. I am so thankful. The day flew by.

I did do the cookie coupon thing but instead of cookies I gave them Brownies... or at least that was my intention because it turned out that they ran out of Brownies and instead sent me a bagful of other goodies that my students gobbled down. All in all it was a good day but you just don't want to say goodbye. But I did, and it was bittersweet.

I have to add this... there was one particular student who was especially kind to me all year and super helpful, and when he was coming back from lunch I stopped him and told him how much I had appreciated him in my class. He was so helpful he often got in the way which was amusingly annoying but I am so glad I told him. He smiled. No he didn't just smile, he beamed. So did Josey, now that i think about it.

And now I smile knowing I did the right thing, too!

Just Minding my Own Business

2013-06-05T05:13:00.000-04:00

Driving home after having been held back at work because of a conversation with a friend, I encountered more traffic than I expected. I found myself on the last stretch of the busy Curry Ford road. It was the last curve before reaching Alafaya, where there is a turning lane on the left to go to the strip mall where the Walmart Neighborhood store is located. On the right is the entrance to the Bank of America. Well, a man in a faded red Lumina decides he wants to risk killing himself and someone else by making a reckless U turn into oncoming traffic without stopping to guage if he had time to do so. After screeching on the brakes and blaring my horn, I survived. In what seemed like an eternity, he pulled his car into the far left turning lane and he slowly pulled his car to the front. I pulled my forward on the middle lane. I observed him long enough to notice that he was an older man perhaps in his mid forties or fifties with his sweaty long hair tied back in a rubber band. Life was cheap for him. I guess that was his thrill ride for the day.

It made me think. What did I do wrong? You might be thinking, it was his fault, but I think I was going too fast. I better slow down. I knew I was running a little late to let my dog out, but the hurry was not worth it. I was going pretty fast around that somewhat blind curve. He was being casually or perhaps deliberately careless. I was going too fast. A perfect combination for a crash. He could have cared less as he calmly took a drag from his cigarette.

Se me Prendio la Bombilla

2013-06-03T23:35:00.000-04:00

That means that I got a good idea. Literally, though, it means a lightbulb turned on for me. What idea? What Lightbulb? Well, my students have been helping me in a big way to pack up all my things so that I can move to another classroom in the school. I am delighted. For the first time, I am going to have a lot of things ready before the end of the school year starting with my lesson plans. I just finished writing them. Check. I have my IPDP 3/4 of the way done, almost check. I have to correct and put in only three more grades. Part of them are partially corrected, one set will be corrected by scantron, and the other is being corrected by a rubric which makes it infinitely easier to correct. I actually think I will be through on time. Yes I will have to do a lot of sorting later in the week, once I am home, but I can do it according to my pace. Kids have been so sweet. I have to tell them tomorrow. So since crunch time began my extremely long list has gotten shorter, thanks to the kindness of my students and the cooperation of the administration as well. For my students I plan to print out a free cookie coupon for each one of them and that way reward them for all their help. Very excited about doing something nice for these very kind students. Very thankful as well!

The Tale of Two Trees

2013-05-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

Two Bottle Brush Trees that is! I looked out this morning and admired how quickly some of the Bottle Brush buds (try saying that fast!) had become flowers and then I noticed it. One tree was full of flowers while the other only had one or two. "What could be the reason?" I thought. So when I went to watch my dog, Ginger in the back yard I went and examined the tree. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that that one that had few flowers also had a parasidic air plant attached to it branches. Sadly, each branch that had two or more of these parasites had withered or died! Other sturdier trees in my yard had these plants and I had thought nothing of it. Unfortunately for the Bottle Brush trees it meant certain death. Immediately I struck to the task of ridding the tree from this deadly plague. Quite a few of the branches had to be sacrificed and others were still alive and I picked the critters off by hand. Some were as small as a dime and while others were the size of a hand. A trash can later, I think I got most of them, but assuradly I will have to keep an eye out for them because if you really want to know, I like my Bottle Brush flowers and no pesky air plant is going to keep me from them!

Good day to you!

Cocoa Beach on Memorial Day Weekend

2013-05-27T08:06:00.001-04:00

Busy! I don't want to imagine it earlier. It was six o'clock and I had just finished having dinner with a good friend. Many people were still there have a fun time next to the pier. I do think the pictures speak for themselves. By the way, the Captain's Fish Sandwich made with Mahi Mahi is a good choice for sure at the Marlin Bar and Grill on the Boardwalk...

Just to breath the fresh ocean air is worth the drive!

An 8 by 5 Painting

2013-05-16T23:31:00.001-04:00

I liked a picture that looked a lot like this and thought I should try to paint it. I rather like how it came out, especially the fence. I think I will try it again.

Flowers in a Row

2013-05-13T23:15:00.001-04:00

Latest painting in a while.

Education Week

2013-05-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Teacher Appreciation Day and we had a nice spread laid out for the teachers by the Administration, which included bagels and coffee. Monday, I need to add was also a special day as well. It was quite generous as it was put on by the PTSA. Not only did they have breakfast sandwiches, fruits, juices, and coffee, but also flowers and gifts for each teacher. It was grand!

Today, we had a luncheon during our varying lunch periods and then at dismissal during our regular faculty meeting we had dessert. Got to start counting my calories! To top that off, I have had a student, whose mom is the school nurse, and this week he has been regularly handing me a small gift everyday. First it was tea, yesterday it was chocolates, and today chewing gum! It is really the thought that counts!

To my surprise though something worthy of my treasure folder happened today! I wasn't expecting it. I know that a lot of teachers get tons of cards and gifts but it is usually on the last day of school. Frankly, that has never been my case except for that one time when I was teaching elementary school and did a maternity leave for a second grade teacher. When I went to leave those parents showered me with gifts, some of which I still have today. That was at least fifteen years ago! Times have changed. The economy is bad and then it isn't the end of the year either. But today...I got a lovely gift from one of my advanced students... the card was so special, telling me thank you in about ten different languages, all written by her. Inside the bag was a cute notepad and pen, a decadent chocolate cake, and last but not least, a tall travel cup that said "A teacher like you happens once in a lifetime." Amazing!

I am still speechless!

Thank you, Lord!

How do you get rid of junk?

2013-05-05T06:42:00.001-04:00

I don't know that I know the answer but part of it is in the letting go. Another is visiting others at a home that is organized. Last week, we had our annual community garage sale. Around three other families on our block were having one but I had had a tooth pulled the evening before and it was even surprising that I was even there. Surprising even to my self that my face wasn't ballooned out of shape.
Not that I sold things in my own garage, but that my front door neighbor Pat was selling so many things. She had been into square dancing and used to make her own dresses, so I swung over to take a look at the fabrics, laces, and notions she was selling.

She was selling things I love and have neatly stored in my own closets. In fact I have fabrics to dresses I made for my little girls and now that I think of it, I could use them for a crazy quilt or a memory quilt. Make something productive that I could share rather than hoard.

While I was Pat's, I learned two things. One was letting go. She was selling some very high end products for ridiculously low prices. Complete three yards of cloth for four dollars or two yards for three bucks. Bucks...sounds so vulgar I used to say..but any way. For three dollars! So I got the best bargains, including cloth to make myself some cute outfits at bargains I would not have been able to get otherwise and I only had to cross the street. I got lace for making baby blankets as well. Have you seen the price on lace lately? Easily four dollars a yard, some much more. The point is: (Finally!) She was letting go. Letting go, letting go, letting go. She made so many people happy with things that were just sitting there in her closet. Some was going to a church sewing group, another for little girls dresses, and one for a church banner. Living, breathing, useful, current needs were being met.

Personally, I think life is a metaphor in so many respects, but that can be the topic of another entry, but do you get my drift? Letting go... before she could let go of these things she had to analyze what was the cost and purpose of keeping them. There is a price to be paid for keeping things. Sometimes the reason we keep things is for sentimental value or as a token of a time and place. It is living in the past. We have to leave behind what is dead and over and move forward to what is alive, moving, and breathing towards our future. Those things no longer served a purpose or need in her life. It was time to let them go.

I spent a little time there perusing her merchandise and during a lull she invited me in so see some paintings. She knows I paint and she showed me some beautiful artwork that put mine to shame but any way... the room was a bedroom next to the garage and it was so neatly organized and the closet was mostly empty except for some paintings standing in a corner since she said she had run out of walls to hang them. They were lovely. What I enjoyed most was the space and the order.

I want to do the same. So I started. A little piece at a time. A corner here and a corner there. But yesterday, I did some major overhauling. The victims: an old fax machine... I no longer have a house phone; an excessive amount of cables because I just don't need them; and old printers whose ink is more expensive than the printers. So I started letting go and rearranging... Also gone a huge long table belonging to an ex husband that I also needed to let go. The table, long and heavy, had to go, too.

Metaphors... I told you life is a metaphor.

42

2013-04-28T22:32:00.002-04:00

Number 42 had never meant anything to me before but after seeing the movie, "42," it means something now. That was the number Jackie Robinson wore when he went to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers, thus the name of the movie. One brave man with dignity and class with the strength of character to withstand the onslaught of prejudice, insults, threats, and actual verbal and physical attacks. Astonishing.

This was not the first time I had encountered Jackie Robinson's story since I had taught his story a couple of years back when I taught ELL students exclusively. Their textbook had a moving account about Jackie Robinson which clearly spoke about his challenges but never into such detail. I had no idea that much of the racism he first encountered in his breaking the color barrier was right here in my backyard so to say. Sanford, Deland, and Daytona Florida are no more than 20, 25, and 40 minutes away respectively, from my house by car. I placidly thought the prejudice he experienced was light years away. So it seemed until last year with the death of Trayvon Martin, that same old racism lifted its ugly head again in Sanford. Sanford the town with its lovely marina, Lake Monroe and the Central Florida Zoo. Sanford, Florida.

You would think people would know better.

The movie surprised me with that historical information and with the use of the "n" word in its full ugly utterance of hate. It is about time the younger generation of whites and blacks realize this isn't a greeting and friendly colloquial term. Many of them, both white and African Americans, could use seeing the example that Jackie Robinson was. A well dressed gentleman who loved and respected his wife, who was a loving father to his child, and with self discipline fought for what was right before even Martin Luther King led this country to a non violent revolution.

This is what the movie does; it makes you think and perhaps relive the past.

At around two this afternoon, at Regal Theatres in Waterford Lakes this is what happened. Just after the previews the movie was starting and it was a bit dark when an African American family came in. There were about five people in the group. A mother with her two children and an elderly couple. The younger woman was helping her fragile mother, perhaps in her 70s to her seat in the dark. You knew she was making a huge effort to be there. They got seated a couple of rows down from me. It was then that is hit me. She had lived through segregation. This was not just a movie for her. This was a story of a hero perhaps as big as Martin Luther King and she was not going to miss it. You don't understand. If you are in your sixties, seventies or up, you are part of this story. You either were on the side of pain or on the side of shame. And you were young and caught on a side you had no control over except how you felt about what was going on.

It made me remember.

I was only six or seven when I looked across a fence to see a shanty part of town where the "colored folks" lived. There was a slimy slippery creek that ran through it. It is all built up now, but it was there in Little Creek, Norfolk, Virginia. I could see shiny cars next to run down houses and it confused me. Some times I heard laughter and music. Other times I heard screaming and arguments on the other side while my side was mellow. Why? How could I know there was something wrong with that rusted cyclone fence?

This is what this movie does to you. It makes you think. If you don't like to think, don't go. But if you are a person who wants to see something good done right and end right. Go!

It might make you think, but that is okay.

Spiritual Song

2013-04-27T07:37:00.002-04:00

There are some spiritual songs that will never be sung in church and they might only be sung on a dusty record player, or on a country music station out in the boon docks, or with some lonely guitar in front of a fire pit where only the bushes can hear you. Some are those country music favorites where people sing their hearts out, their lamentations, their sincerest honest not sugar coated truths. If we ever understood Jesus, I think he is listening. Maybe he sang some of these himself. I wonder.

He Bottles our Tears

2013-04-27T06:44:00.001-04:00

Proverbs 31 Ministries put up on FB some five empty bottles of tears. There were like the antique pharmaceutical kind with the quote that the Lord bottles our tears andit really got me thinking about how our God loves us so much. There is no one like Him. No one can love us like Jesus. No one is capable of loving us to the depth of all our needs. Only he knows our wounds, our ridiculously demanding expectations, and he can and does meet them. No one can love us like Jesus. He, our Adonai, has written his love for us on the hole ridden Palm of his hand. Our needs, thoughts, delights, desires, and yes even our weaknesses, our loneliness, our laughter, and our tears, are ever before Him, and He whispers his love. I am here, you are not forgotten, I am here. His presence, his affirmation is ever before us. When he said, I prepare a table before you in the presence of mine enemies, it is true. God is ever faithful.

Lord you are ever faithful. I love you Lord... thank you, Dearest Friend and Savior, thank you for ever loving me. Your love, it means every thing to me.

To think--- you bottle our tears!

Two Tomatoes for Two Molars

2013-04-26T19:28:00.002-04:00

So today I got two wisdom teeth pulled. Ouch. Though it did go much more smoothly than I expected there is always some trepidation whether while just waiting for the procedure to begin or to hope I don't forget that there should be no rinsing, no straws, and to use the gauzes. Oh my the rinsing can happen so easily but I do not want a dry socket! Oh dear me, not a dry socket. So I am holding down the fort, but along the way I stopped to get my meds and a side trip to Lowe's. It was only a quick trip in and out to buy two hardy tomato plants to cheer me up. You and I know that fresh ripen tomatoes from ones own garden are a delicacy. There is nothing like them really.

So it is spring,
time for poems, odes, and planting.
Cleaning out closets
rearranging the house
a bucket of paint,
a new bone for the dog,
freesbies in the back yard
Zinneas in all colors and the
Jasmine in bloom
with it fragrance permeating the air

So it is spring and time
for Two Tomatoes for
two sad molars
and the joy they bring.
The tomatoes that is!
So here's a decent ode to
Spring Mr. Burns
you naughty man you!

(There must be a place for yours
I am sure, but....)

Airconditioning Saga Update

2013-04-14T20:14:00.001-04:00

What I tried to do:

To save money I went to Lowe's and purchased a Honeywell Thermostat/Control Unit. The only problem: they sold me the wrong one. I went to all the steps, call the Service Center and got more erroneous information. I should have gone back to the store, but with the misguided advice, I gave up. So I called the Del Aire Service Center. Well, they told me they were going to charge me 75 dollars for the service visit and evaluation. That amount would not be put towards the repair and the soonest they could get to see me would be on Monday. The only problem, I can't be absent from school any day next week due to the big state exam. That was when I remember my front door neighbor telling me he knew of someone. I called the guy and he was finishing a job and said he would come over in an hour. He did take an hour and a half, and I forgave him. He charged my 95 dollars for the whole repair that ("Thank God!") was only electrical and not a big ticket item. You do not know how grateful I was. The old thermostat was also defective and replaced.

Cool air and a big smile! Of course, grateful to the kind repairman and to the goodness of God!

The Air Conditioning Saga Begins

2013-04-13T10:28:00.000-04:00

Last evening I realized it was really stuffy in the house and I went to check my thermostat to see the temperature. There was nothing. Not a number. Not a degree. Nothing. So now I am going to replace the themostat and hope that is the only problem.

The saga begins!

Poetry and Plumbing

2013-04-05T20:45:00.000-04:00

Got back on Saturday night from a vacation in Puerto Rico. It was really a work vacation because most of the week was dedicated to supervising a bathroom renovation at my apartment. Unfortunately, that has turned into a nightmare because I have an uncooperative tenant and to make matters worse my repairman became ill and had emergency surgery without completing the job. He started to lay down the tile and was going to finish the job on Saturday the day I was leaving but the tenant asked him to leave. Then on Sunday night he got ill and had to be rushed to the emergency room and now he will require two weeks of rest at least! Can you believe that? Once he is well, I hope he will complete the repair in one week.

On the other side of ocean, here in Florida, I had to face my final observation of the year for work. It was my first day back at work and it was going to be during my first class of the day. Talk about pressure! And it was. I was nervous and my students were nervous. Have you heard of Murphy's law? Everything that can go wrong will. This is how it happened.

First I got back from making copies about 30 seconds late. My supervising assistant principal was standing there waiting for me. He is a stickler for punctuality and I was so ashamed, but I had to make those copies. So I apologized. He put me at ease saying he did not start the observation until he stepped into the room! Then I lost the TV remote and without it I couldn't put on the channel for the school's news. I could only turn the TV on manually but needed the remote to find a particular channel. So we couldn't say the pledge which we always say. I was on the verge of tears. I finally spotted the remote, but by then the news was over and it was just in time for the credits. What good was that! After all of that I made a remark about it being April Fools and I shook it off and kept going. I started the class and the kids were great and I made it through. I taught them a lesson on creative poetry writing putting into practice all they had learned about figurative and descriptive language. I used the poem I wrote about the turtles as a model and they got inspired! They talked and wrote about their Spring Break. They circled key words and phrases which included imagery and figurative language and then began to write. The kids were wonderful, were on task, and loved the idea of creative writing! Everything turned out alright!

Fortunately, I don't have to worry about any more observations for the rest of the year. Now I can focus on teaching, finishing my IPDP, and the end of the year! Can I deal with that? You betcha!

Alpha Roosters

2013-03-31T19:43:00.001-04:00

My South Carolina friends will know what I am talking about! These two were the voluntary alarm clocks for all the early birds to catch the sunrise.

Tidbits of Maunabo

2013-03-31T07:56:00.001-04:00

I love how the ocean peeks out between the branches. The waves, the regal palm tree standing out from the crowd, the old Lighthouse (that is now the property of the town of Maunabo), and the moon filling up the night with its light. Just some tidbits that could not be left out.

Protected Turtle Eggs

2013-03-30T22:13:00.003-04:00

On Terracotta Sand

2013-03-30T08:41:00.000-04:00

Terracotta sand with
Crabs nervously skirting towards the sea
Silvery water illumined by
An early morning sun
Driftwood settled on the shore
And here am I sitting
on a gray pecked driftwood log as
I stop to enjoy the
Crashing waves and
Glance over as a pair of Pelicans sway as they
Glide like silent sentinels watching
That no one disturbs
The fragile nest of turtle eggs encased
In yellow tape that says,
“Stay away!
Let me live another day so
I may softly skim across this sand
To reach the ocean,
My home.
Be my friend.”

by E. G. Vazquez

Good Friday at the Beach

2013-03-29T19:58:00.001-04:00

It was the perfect place for devotions this morning to remember the kindest, most righteous person in the world who took the stripes for me and my place. Words can never be enough to thank the Lord Jesus, Yeshua for what he did for me and for you!