Dad's Birthday SOL#8

SOL#8, I must write about my dad because March 8 was his birthday. He had 4 sisters and two brothers. He graduated 8th grade. He served in Korea. He was a sharecropper and used the GI Bill to buy 70 acers of farmland to become a farmer. He married young and loved his wife. They adopted one child and then had 4 more children. He lost his wife too soon. He was proud of his kids and 11 grandchildren. His sense of humor helped him make lots of friends. We lost him almost 2 years ago. Life hasn't been the same without him. Encouraged by a post on the blog of Two Writing Teachers,  I wrote a tribute poem for him. Here is the link to that post, if you want to read it.

http://missivesfrommissouri.blogspot.com/2012/11/tribute-poem.html

Productive day SOL#7

Today I met with 3 other coworkers and our supervisor. Our goal was to step back and assess our efforts thus far. We've all had varying levels of success so we brainstormed strategies to accomplish our goal. As a team we developed some good ideas to help refocus our efforts to reach our goal. All that happened before lunch. After a quick lunch I met with one other coworker to improve an on-line course we are developing. We set deadlines and are getting close to having a concise and interesting course. We plan to be completed and ready to go on-line by April 15.

At 9:00 this morning,  I left my work vehicle with auto detailers to have it washed, cleaned inside and waxed. I have had this vehicle 7 years and usually cleaned it myself, but was told I needed to have it detailed. I picked it up about 3:30, boy did it look & smell great. At least when I drive to meetings this weekend, I will have a good looking vehicle.

Last thing work related I did was to pick up field guides I had on order at B&N. I also grabbed a latte then drove home. I plan to use the field guides next week when I teach 4th graders how to use informational text. That should give me a great SOL!

Work interferes with life SOL#7

Most of the time I work 40 hours during the regular 5 day work week. Occasionally I have work scheduled on the weekend. That is my life this weekend. I have working meetings scheduled on Saturday & Sunday. The meeting location is 5 hours from home so l'll be traveling too. Because of the work schedule I am missing 2 wedding showers, a birthday party for 2 nephews, and a visit with my sister and her family. I always seem to be missing fun things. I sit home lots of evenings with no family gatherings because everyone is busy. Then a weekend when lots of things are planned and I can't attend. I'm sad, not glad about this turn of events. Hopefully this won't happen again soon.

My bucket list SOL#5

I postponed writing this slice the entire day. I read slices by others and commented, hoping for inspiration. Finally at 8 pm, I found Julie's SOL for today, her bucket list. Perfect, several of the things on her list were things I have on a dream board. So that's what I can write about, create a bucket list. Here is the beginning of my bucket list:

• Re-visit Hawaii
• Visit Rome, Paris and Costa Rica
• Buy a beach house on the Gulf of Mexico
• See the polar bears in Churchill, Canada
• Create drawing & using water colors to paint a portrait of my Golden Retriever, Ellie 
• Retire - soon, maybe even before the curriculum I'm working is revised
• Improve my piano skills
• Visit schools in other countries
• Start a school
• Build a native plant garden
• Write children's picture books - get back to work on a story I started
• Exercise, exercise, exercise and get toned
• Have coffee with... I've gotta work on this because many of the people I admire have passed on.

Thanks, Julie.

Making connections SOL#4

We have a new eating spot in town so my husband and I went there for lunch. It's a cute gift shop/restaurant that is owned by a former student of mine and run with help from her family and friends. Lots of our acquaintances had the same idea about eating lunch there so that made it even more enjoyable.

After salad, my husband and I shared a slice of homemade carrot cake and went back to work. The afternoon flew by but I managed to accomplish several tasks. On my way home I stopped in town again to get a couple items from the grocery and ran into some friends. Always working, I ran into a 4th grade teacher and we scheduled a day for me to visit his classroom. I wanted a chance to try out a lesson using field guides to teach students about informational texts. Now I have a reason to finalize the lesson. And the day was not my usual one in which I'm usually working in isolation. It is good to stay connected with family, friends and former coworkers.

Viewing Eagles SOL #3

The first weekend in February, we scheduled an event for everyone to learn about and view eagles in the wild. It was a success with 800+ school children and 600+ public visitors attending the presentation with a Golden Eagle and a Bald Eagle, traveling to viewing scopes to see eagles in the wild and viewing their nests. During that weekend we had about 50 eagles around the area, which is quite a good number when you remember that eagles have been on the endangered species list for some time.

This picture shows a scraggly tree standing beside the state highway I drive on my way to work. I've often seen a lone eagle perched in it but yesterday around 6 pm I saw 4 eagles! My husband turned around so I could take a picture of this amazing event. Very cool experience.

http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/revealed-slice13/

SOL#2

Saturday morning with no work scheduled, I dressed warmly and took my Golden Retriever, Ellie, for a walk in the woods. She was excited and ran ahead sniffing the ground as she headed toward the pond. We always check the water level and i usually take a picture to show my husband. Ellie especially likes to get a drink of the cold water and continue exploring. Sometimes we sneak upon a heron or duck. Once I was startled by a snorting deer. Ellie is so intent with her nose to the ground looking for scat that she often misses the wildlife. I'm glad because I would not want her to give chase.

Ellie has finally learned to stay with me at a comfortable distance. Last year if she wasn't on a leash she quickly ran to visit the neighbors. Something about their trash pile drew her away from me. I would get in my car and retrieve her. I'm so glad she doesn't run away now. It is great for her to go walking without a leash.