Sunday, December 27, 2009
A Child's Perspective of Travel -- December 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
FREE PUMPKIN CARVING PATTERNShttp://www.ehow.com/halloween/templates.html#carvingPatterns
My grandson Jake, 2007 Halloween costume. Keeping this pic to use in his high school yearbook. Think he'll forgive me?
Friday, October 23, 2009
AMELIA EARHART
Amelia Earhart preferred not to live in a gilded cage. Her marriage to a Putnam Publishing heir afforded her a glitzy lifestyle, but her love of flying stretched her ability to conform to the accepted roles designated for women in the early nineteenth century.
I didn't know the specific circumstances about her ill-fated round the world flight in 1937. Apparently, a bad decision about stripping her plane of necessary equipment to lighten the load, the ineptness of a communications officer on a ship monitoring her flight, and perhaps mislaid trust in her navigator contributed to the disaster.
Interesting that the name of the first woman to achieve a solo flight around the world is not commonly known. Geraldine "Jerry" Mock, in 1964, flying "Spirit of Columbus," earned the distinction of being the first woman to fly solo around the globe.
Amelia Earhart paved the way for women to become recognized in the aviation field and inspired countless young female aviators to seek the endless bounds of earth.
http://www.ameliaearhart.com/
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
HEALTHIEST COMMUNITIES IN THE US
Longest life expectancy and most affordable health care: Ames, Iowa; Skinniest-Boulder, Colorado.
http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/healthiest_hometowns.html?CMP=KNC-360I-GOOGLE-ATM&HBX_OU=50&HBX_PK=healthiest_city
I'm not planning to move EVER since my family lives in Atlanta. The criteria used in researching cities varies. Southern cities rank high in charm, friendliness, dining, and good weather, but not so high in terms of healthcare access, employment, and education. US News and World Report set up a search tool for Best Places to Live in the US. If you're planning to move . . .
http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/real-estate/articles/2009/06/08/methodology-how-we-chose-the-best-places-to-live.html
http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/healthy.aspx
What is your feeling about this study?
JAZZERHON ATLANTA 2010
Countdown to JAZZERTHON ATLANTA 2010 to benefit the Susan Komen Foundation.
http://www.jazzercise.com/pdfs/susan_g_komen_atlanta_flyer.pdf
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
AUTUMN
"Then summer fades and passes and October comes. We'll smell smoke then, and feel an unexpected sharpness, a thrill of nervousness, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure."
- Thomas Wolfe
Growing up in the deep South, in lower LA [Louisiana], fall meant Grinding Season [sugar cane], pecan picking, the Sugar Cane Festival, bonfires, and cool evenings.
Now I love searching for the perfect pumpkin with my grandchildren, cooking crock pot soups, and gazing at fall leaves.
Ideas for Fall
Plant pansies.
Pansies, a fashionable Victorian flower, were meant to be the flowers of lovers. People believed that pansies could transfer lovers' thought without spoken words. The derivation of pansy is French, pensee, meaning thought. Pansies have colorful face-makings in the petals. Plant now for blooms that last through the winter months.
Plant bulbs: Oct 15-Dec 15.
Rake leaves, talk to your children about leaf colors, the jump into leaf piles with them.
Carve a pumpkin. Purchase a pumpkin carving kit at a drugstores or other retail store.
Make pumpin bread. Por batter into cute leaf-shaped bakeware.
Make a pumpin cake. Pour batter into a fluted bundt pan. Add orange food coloring to white frosting. Frost cake. Turn flat-bottom ice cream cone upside down in center of cake, add green food coloring to white frosting and frost green--voila--the pumpkin stalk!
Read a book about fall to your grandchildren: Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins. Check out the library for more titles.
Coorinating colors is a passion of mine. My seven-year old granddaughter discovered these umbrellas in the trunk of my car. She opened each and displayed them in rainbow fashion in the driveway.
I asked her what she thought. Her comment,"You like to match everything." I admit that I match umbrellas to my clothing.
She has inherited my eclectic style of dress--no pinafores, hair bows, or plaids for her. Her closet is packed with glitzy fabrics, peace symbols, leggings, and other trendy styles. I love her zest!
FASHION FORWARD
COVET FASHION http://www.covet.com/
Catchy name for a fashion site! Check it out. Easy to enroll. Fun to find out your fashion style. Mine is Couture Modern, Couture Glam, and Couture Eclectic.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
MEMORIES OF MY HOME TOWN, LOREAUVILLE, LA
Few people I have met over the years have had the privilege of growing up in a village as wonderful and nurturing as Loreauville. During my forty year career as an educator in three states and twelve schools, I introduced myself to my new students on that first day of class by relating some of the following vignettes of my years growing up in Loreauville.
They were spellbound by my heartfelt stories about
• amazing teachers, nuns and priests who guided our social and religious development
• the anomaly of being served delectable cafeteria food
• being taught to drive by my paternal grandfather who propped me up on a huge road grader
• convincing the principal to let me drop a physical education class so I could take an additional academic class
• wading in knee deep water on Main street after a torrential rain
• being enveloped in insecticide as we chased those “mosquito-spraying” trucks
• eating organic food [fresh vegetables, fresh milk, and all manner of meat and fish] dad obtained bartering with customers
• plucking kumquats and mandarin oranges from a friend's yard
• playing marbles and handling snakes
• collecting flattened pennies from the railroad track
• shopping for school clothes at my grandfather's General Merchandise Store,
• keeping track of the summer reading books I checked out from the public library
• being taught to dance by our household help
• riding horses
• skiing at Lake Dauterieve
• jitterbugging
• driving my granddad's black Bat mobile recklessly around town with my friends as they recited Hail Marys in the back seat
• wearing couture dresses fashioned by my artistic, talented grandmother to prom
• sitting on the porch swing at my best friend's house, pretending we were famous actresses
• checking the cash register at my dad's business to figure out how much his other daughters were extracting from the till
• being mentored in flute and piccolo by the principal's son
• wearing hats and gloves to Sunday mass
• drinking cokes with our family at a neighborhood bar after mass
• eating lunch at Masso’s
• sitting on bar stools watching Mr. C cook hamburgers
• watching Mrs. C painstakingly repair rosaries
• dancing to the jukebox
• speeding away from our only policeman as he tried to hunt me down for any manner of traffic violations
• riding the bus to school so I could socialize with friends
• dating my first love
• laughing at Robbie’s jokes as we commuted to USL for summer sessions
• watching my great uncle repair horseshoes in his metal shop
• enjoying the scented smoke from uncle's cigars
• tasting a slice of ham from my grandfather's meat deli
• being awakened by the scent of gardenias wafting up to my bedroom window
• hanging freshly-laundered clothes on clotheslines in the back yard
• singing “Lullaby and Good Night” to my baby brother as I rocked him to sleep
• watching my youngest sister chomp on newly-purchased tube of lipstick
• drinking fresh rain water from grandmother's cistern
• acting as an angel in the May religious observance of the Holy Mother
• serving as a Hail Mary rosary bead on the football field as our pastor recited the rosary
• sitting on my godmother's porch poring over beautiful clothing from Spiegel’s
• listening to my Catholic mother remind me that Jesus or the Kennedys might visit so I would clean the house extra well
• listening to our talented neighbor play a rousing ragtime rendition on her piano
• participating in a minstrel at the church hall
• being scared stiff by grandmother as she navigated Main Street by driving on the sidewalk to buy fabric at a local store
• listening to a town character talk about myriad subjects and watching him drive away on his brightly festooned bike
• spending the night at a classmates' house at a nearby lake
• cramming for tests in the First Aid room near the stage during recess and lunch
• being anesthetized by the smell of the oil-mopped floors at our high school
• tasting succulent sugar cane stalks plucked from a cane field
• picking pecans in the fall
• being assaulted by flit can spray during mosquito season
• and my most-treasured memory, being nestled in a cocoon of safety, warmth, support, and encouragement by my village family and friends
My students were instantly mesmerized as I recalled memories of my growing up years, and thanked God that this was going to be an easy class, not so. I taught a World Religions Gifted Honors class: holy books and epics on a worldwide scale--Old and New Testament studies, Sumerian and Egyptian literature, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Persian-Arabic, and Chinese-Japanese studies.
My challenge was to engage and excite these students to reach beyond their comfort zones, to obtain an understanding of the importance of religion and history on a global scale, and to inspire them to love learning. And so, I told them specifically how my small town education had inspired and motivated me to life-long learning.
I recollected for them how my educational life was framed by my nurturing and sometimes excitingly eccentric teachers:
• Mrs. Gonsoulin, who in first grade, taught memorization with her piano playing sing- alongs and read memorable stories.
• the spinster Boutte sisters: dark-haired, stout Antoinette, who taught students to memorize and recite history passages,
• and her gray-haired sister Camille, who began every class with a dose of powdered B.C. powder poured into a coke bottle. One day we noticed she skipped the medication and promptly snipped off, with scissors, a peeking slip strap that refused to stay inside her dress. She was a solemn woman who loved us and taught us to love reading.
• Mrs. Segura, a perpetual dieter, ate boiled eggs every day, and to this day, I loathe the smell of eggs. A fantastic teacher, she taught learning strategies, organizational skills, and self-esteem through her lessons on the importance of note-taking, organizing notebooks, and individual student presentations. I still have the family history project she assigned.
• Mr. Dressel, affectionately labeled Mr. D, taught me that good teaching involved knowing students’ learning styles. I developed a subdued interest in science, and I studied relentlessly, so I could make A’s in biology and chemistry, because I knew those classes were important. My forte was always English classes. And to this day, I realize how much content I remember from his classes, and how his unique teaching ability to create camaraderie among students helped us to work together as a class and helped me to realize the importance of knowing my students.
• Mrs. Gerhardt appeared later in my high school career. As Mom Wick would have noted, “She is an Ah-mer-ee-kan [sic], ” meaning that she was not a resident of Loreauville, an outsider. But what an amazingly mature climate she created in our English classroom! I had always loved reading, but she was able to inspire me to appreciate the nuances of literature that most students would not be able to discern. I realized later how she created an atmosphere of mutual respect between student and teacher.
• Mrs. Lalonde, my Home Economics teacher, taught us civility, femininity, style, modesty, moderation and sewing, and cooking in her Home Economics classes. I made a lined wool suit as my senior project. When I first married I sewed all my clothes, my children’s clothing, and created all the window treatments for our many homes. Today Home Economics teachers are seldom part of the curriculum in large schools. What a treasure she was! She administered essay tests on home economics content [writing], showed us how to follow recipes [math], taught us how substitute ingredients [science], how to hide figure flaws [remember her postage stamp girdle? I always envied her tiny frame], taught us how to set a formal table, encouraged us to enter sewing and cooking competitions, and to use fresh ingredients in recipes. I still use my Home Economics book to this day. She asked me to study for district Rally competition at USL. I escaped to Mom Wick’s house, locked myself in her guest bedroom for an entire month one summer, and studied for months, pouring over lecture notes, books, and demonstration notes. I won first place at USL, then first place at State completion, and was awarded the Betty Crocker Homemaker Award my senior year. Mrs. Lalonde taught Home Economics 1-4 in a four-room white cottage attached to the school by a walkway.
• Mr. Lissard was a phenomenal math teacher. As a particularly right-brained learner, I struggled in math classes and had to work particularly hard to rise to the challenge. He gave good explanations to those of us who may not have caught on immediately to a math concept. He taught me that not all students learn the same way. It was the first exceptional challenge I had in my entire high school career. And, he drew football plays on the board; football players in his classes must have served as a particular challenge to him since he was head Coach for many years. I had the privilege of learning football concepts as well. Today educators use the term multi-dimensional learning to describe a class such as this.
• Mrs. Olive Shaw,our British Literature teacher, loved Shakespeare. I remember reading Macbeth, unedited and unadapted, in our senior year. Many years later when I taught British Literature to my students, I told them how I struggled with Shakespeare’s language in high school but came to appreciate the mastery of his language later in life as I poured over all 37 plays during my teaching career. I showed them my high school English textbook, and they wanted to know why there were no pictures. Mrs. Shaw had us recite lines, broke the play down into segments [today called chunking], and assigned lines that we had to explain in front of the class. She expected us all to read the play and come to class prepared. Some students, thinking she would not notice, read the comic book or Cliff Notes versions of Macbeth. From her class, I learned to inspire students to challenges and to eviscerate a student verbally in a nicely-worded manner.
• Ms. Breaux, the LHS librarian, was an enormously powerful force in the Loreauville community. As the public school librarian and community activist, she knew all of us, or parents, our friends, and our acquaintances, much more than we expected anyone to know about us. She was omnipresent—we couldn’t escape her. She attended meetings, church events, hunted us down in classes, followed our extra curricular school activities and served as a prototype of the Renaissance man. Encouraging us to read and learn was her forte. She brought the outside world into our lives by suggesting reading titles and scheduling slide show presentations at the church hall from her world travels. I marveled at her ability to use media other than books and pictures at a time when media presentations were not the norm. She kept us on task when we used resources in the school library and prevented any sort of shenanigans students had in mind. She taught me about classifying books by explaining the Dewey Decimal System. I had three majors in college: English, French, and Media, at a time in the sixties before the arrival of the Information age. She encouraged, motivated, and cajoled me to learn beyond my greatest expectations. I often wondered how she maintained such a vigorous, healthy lifestyle and an amazing physique. She was at the forefront in our town in terms of meditation, travel, gardening, reading, and learning. I marveled at her quest for knowledge. She wanted to master everything she learned. I recall her asking my grandmother, an expert seamstress, to help her learn to sew. She took canning classes at the school cafeteria and showed us how to pray to specific saints for important causes. She was not subtle; she did not mince words, and although her strong personality may have offended some people, I loved her the way a child loves a mentor. All of my teachers inspired me, but she is the reason I chose teaching as my lifelong profession.
Monday, October 5, 2009
WEIGHT GAIN WEIGHT LOSS
--fat in your belly is linked with greater health risk than fat in other part of your body?
--a waist size of greater than 35 inches for women is considered high risk?
In my quest to stay healthy, I have tried to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Weight Watchers five times, Dr. Perricone, South Beach, Grapefruit, Suzanne Sommers, a nutritionist, Acai [pronounced ah-sah-ee].I learned what to eat to stay healthy. The problem is in the implementation and staying with it. All healthy diets profess similar solutions: whole wheat products, fruit, grains, low fat, lots of water, exercise.
I don't get drawn in to photo-shopped skinny girls on magazine covers or in advertising, and I understand marketing techniques and subliminal messages. Recently, on the Today Show, a style expert showcased a fall trend: leggings. First words out of her mouth: "Leggings look good even on overweight women." Then the models, all hijacked from the ladies' room throwing up their lunches, modeled different styles of leggings. Tall, skinny, beautiful young girls modeling leggings. Where were the overweight/plus size models?
Exercise and more exercise. A good friend of mine is a muscle with a mouth. She exercises longer than I sleep and considers a leaf of lettuce wrapped around tofu a meal. I tried the vegetable diet, but after consuming three heads of lettuce and four bags of carrots for lunch, I grew afraid that I would grow buck teeth and a tail.
I Jazzercise six days a week and add Zumba every Thursday. My husband, Lovey Dovey, runs on a very fancy treadmill every night. Bor-ing! And he looks great. He can lose ten pounds in a couple of weeks. His diet consists of carbs, sugar, and fat when I am not there to monitor. I gain a pound just dreaming about Hershey Bars.
Another segment on television recently featured a new plastic sugery process that combines two procedures in one surgical setting. A sixty-year old woman appearing on the Today show explained why she had two procedures done at once: breast uplift and tummy tuck. She cried for weeks because of the pain. I need some science fiction doctor to help me. Think I'll wait until a Synergy Liposuction Zap Chamber is invented. Enter chamber. Select one or more buttons: Breast, Buttocks, Belly,Thighs, Arms. Then press ZAP button. Didn't George Orwell write about that?
My internist says I am healthy but quietly reminds me that I should lose weight because of my genetic disposition to heart disease. I claim that I haven't lost baby fat from the birth of my children. He reminds me that my children are thirty-two and thirty-eight.
His nurse, Ming, is Chinese. She's a spit of a person, very intelligent and very professional. Last week for my regular exam, I told her I had a note from my therapist claiming I did not have to be weighed. Her x-ray glare said it all. So I asked her if I could weigh on the digital scale. She, instead, led me to the livestock scale, the one where she slides a bar to the right and bells start ringing. Oh, the horrors. Proud of her heritage, her name badge is written in English and Chinese I think the Chinese translation is "Nurse Ratched."
http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/measure-your-metabolism.aspx MEASURE YOUR METABOLISM
http://bmicalculatorforfemales.com/ BMI CALCULATOR FOR WOMEN
SWIM, SWAM, SWUM
http://www.songsforteaching.com/grammarspelling.htm [Songs for teaching Grammar]
SWIM, SWAM, SWUM
Present tense: I swim. ...........................I swim every day.
Present Perfect:I have swum..........I have swum in three rivers.
Past: I swam. ..............................Yesterday, I swam the entire lenth of the pool.
Past Perfect: I have swum. ............I have swum in the Olympics for the past forty years.
Future Perfect: I will have swum......By next month, I will have swum fifty laps.
Gerund: swimming.........Verb used as a noun........Swimming is my favorite sport.
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LIE, LAY, [helper verb+LAIN] (to rest or recline) ------no object after verb
Present tense: I lie........ I lie on the couch every afternoon.
Present Perfect:.....When I am lying on the couch, my cat snuggles up to me.
Past: I lay....I lay on the couch for two days when I had the flu.
Past Perfect: had lain....By Sunday, I had lain on the couch for three days.
Future Perfect: If I don't get rid of ths flu, by next week, I will have lain on the couch for four days.
Gerund: lying.......Lying on the couch is boring.
...........................................................................................................
LAY, LAID, [helper verb +LAID]---- (to place or put) ............requires an object---see italicized words.
Present tense: lay...I lay the book on the table.
Present Perfect: am laying......I am laying the book on the kitchen table so you can find it tomorrow.
Past: laid......Last night I laid the book on the table.
Past Perfect: had laid........By four o'clock, I had laid the foundation stone to start the job.
Future Perfect: will have laid........By noon we will have laid five organized stacks of newspaper on that table.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
SPEL IT RITE!
ACCOMMODATE--double c, double m
AMEND--amend, amendment--single m
BELIEVE--i before e except after c
CEMETERY--three e's
DUMBBELL--two b's
EMBARRASS--two r's, 2 s's
EXCEED-- 2 e's
FOREIGN--exception to the i before e rule
GAUGE--in alpha order--a then u
GUARANTEE--one r, warranty has 2 r's
HEIGHT--not heighth
INDEPENDENT--three e's
JEWELRY--British spelling: jeweller, jewellery
JUDGMENT--preferred in U.S. British: judgement
KERNEL--all e's
LIGHTNING--no e
MEDIEVAL-- not midevil
MISSPELL--mis+spell
NEIGHBOR--breaks i before e rule
OCCURRENCE--double consonants [c's and r's] double vowels [double e's]
PASTIME--one t
POSSESSION--4 s's
PRIVILEGE-- 2 i's, 2 e's
QUESTIONNAIRE--2 n's, silent e
RECEIVE--i before e except after c
SEPARATE--e's surround the a's
SERGEANT--e in both syllables, a is at the back of the line
SHERIFF--2 f's-Picture the two guns in his holster.
THRESHOLD--thresh+old
UNTIL--one l
VACUUM: 2 u's
WEIRD--i before e except after c
SNEAKED OR SNUCK?
Correct past tense and past participle are SNEAKED.
I sneak a look whenever I can. (present) He sneaked a look. (past)
SNUCK has gained popularity, even though it's considered dialect or uneducated by grammar purists. The British consider snuck non-standard form.
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL
I am my mother, after all.
Last year I presented my only daughter with a coffee cup inscribed with those words. She looked at me, laughingly said, "I don't think so!" We are very much alike, as I am much like my own mother.
As the first-born child in a family of seven children, I recall a special childhood-loving grandparents next door, doting aunts and uncles, and the security of living in a tiny village.
When my dad died, I was reeling. I have lived far away in another state for the past forty years, so I did not have the privilege of seeing him often. His death was unexpected, but I took consolation in the fact that he accomplished what he wanted in his life. At seventeen, he joined the Marines to support the WWII effort.Trapped on the island of Tarawa, he lay wounded from machine gun fire. Surrounded by Japanese and unable to call for help, he promised God that if he survived, he would live a good life, surrounded by his beautiful wife and twelve children. He got seven of us, five short of a dozen. When the youngest child, my brother and the only boy, was born in my junior year of high school, I was mortified when this announcement sounded over the school intercom: "Homer and AMD have a son." Back then, I was an adolescent lollygagging around in my egocentric world. My graduating class boasted 24 students. Small school.
My mother and I are predominantly right-brained. Although I work at developing left brain attributes,
I share her love of the arts and all things artistic. We both love photography, gardening, writing, and flair. She's obsessive about her wardrobe. I have five closets. She loves color, especially lavender. This season, my obsession is purple. She is rigid in her beliefs. People who disagree with me suffer my wrath. She's on the go all the time: shopping, taking classes, dancing, gardening, attending concerts and meetings. Ditto.
I developed a strategy to fend off disagreements with her. I picture her as a young child seeking attention, an adolescent in angst, or as a young woman pondering her future. Although she's eighty-five, she was once all those personalities. I told her that I knew she'd written hundreds of small diaries/journals during her lifetime. She let me read her diary from 1944. At twenty-one, she wrote a page per day: dating, skipping shorthand class, going to movies several times a week, and listing guys she danced with. She was Salutatorian of her graduating class. As the only daughter of a prominent businessman in our hometown, she enjoyed the good life. She wrote a society column for a local newspaper.
Even though she had three maids to help her run our household, one to cook, one to clean, and one to chase us down, she awakened us at 7:00 a.m. every Saturday. Filling a silver tray with tiny demi-tasse coffee cups, she went to each bedroom and sat on each of our beds as we sipped French roast coffee. When I reminisced about this ritual with my brother, seventeen years my junior, he remarked, "What family did you grow up in?" I guess by that time, my miother was lucky to crawl into the kitchen to grab a bottle of bourbon to start her day.
My mother lined us up at the confessional every Saturday afternoon. After confession, Our Fathers and Hail Marys, and our promises never to sin again, we scoured the Legion of Decency in the church vestible to find a saccharine movie to attend [across the street].
We filled an entire pew at Sunday mass. One Sunday my sister Cindy and her partner in crime, our cousin, Robbee, on the pretense of going to the restroom, sneaked into the church lobby and switched every hat hanging on the two hatracks. As gentlemen retreated from church at the end of the service, all h--- broke loose in the lobby. No one else could exit the service because of the hullabaloo. Every one of us children had to answer for that crime. My mother could not believe that this was not a well-contrived plot to embarrass our entire family, dead or alive. More material for confession.
Her voice talks to me in my head, as I am sure my voice rings in my childrens' ears.She has more aphorisms in her repertoire than Ben Franklin. "Practice makes perfect." "Early to bed makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." "Waste not, want not." "All the way to Heaven is Heaven" [What?]
It's very difficult to watch your parents age. I am 63 chronologically, but my emotional age is much, much younger. I try to remember that my mother is a person in her own right. We are all products of our genes and our environments. Based on my mother's interests and activities, she is very young at heart. I know she's happy with her life because she told me she has no regrets. That's a comforting thought.
READING TO CHILDREN
Lists of Popular Books to Read to Children
http://www.plaintales.com/free-resources/teachers-guide/
Benefits of Reading Aloud to Children and Top Ten Read Aloud Books
http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/07/02/07/reading-aloud-to-kids-the-12-benefits-of-reading-books-out-loud-to-children-of-all-ages.htm
Reading to my grandchildren is a delightful and heartwarming learning experience for me. I love to hold them when I read to them and to witness their excitement at hearing a favorite book again and again.
One of my my granddaughter's favorite books is If You Give a Pig A Pancake. Every holiday season after she was born, I read The Twelve Days of Christmas aloud to her [Courage Books, Don Daily illustrations]. By the time she was three, she could sing along with me. She is still fascinated with the partridge 'in a pear tree."
My two and one-half year old grandson loves The Not-So-Itsy-Bitsy Spider pop up book, a story about a birthday party for bugs that the spider is not invited to. Just this year, he asked me why the bugs were so mean not to invite the spider. That's a pretty big inference for a two-year old. We also read aphabet books together. He recites a letter then picks up a flag to see an image representing that letter, such as A is for Apple. Q and Z are his favorite letters. He says, "Q is for Queen Pat [that's me]. And Z is for ZEBRA!"
Children who are read to begin to associate reading with being held or cuddled, with soft or excited voices, and with love and attention. Like little sponges, they absorb details, mimic the reader, memorize information, increase their attention spans, and develop vocabulary.
As a high-school teacher, I often lamented the fact that some students abhorred reading. They were so absorbed with media images from computers and television that holding a book sometimes seemed torturous. We have to wonder what happens when kids lose that spark of excitement for reading as they grow older.
Friday, October 2, 2009
MUSIC SOOTHES THE SAVAGE SOUL
David Brooks and Friends, a fantastic concert on PBS Atlanta, featured amazing music artists singing arrangements Brooks produced. Andrea Bocelli and Kathryn Mcphee sang Somos Novios, other artists included Josh Groban and Bryan McKnight in an R & B arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water, Kenny Edmunds, Michael Buble, Baby Face, Boss Skaggs, and Charisse, whose song selections from Whitney Houston in the Bodyguard earned her a standing ovation. I was mesmerized by the music. I can carry a tune, but these guys are mega-talented.
Did you know that the majority of the workers in Silicon Valley were musically trained?
Researchers have found correlations between music and human brain development. Some studies show that high school students who have a background in music earn higher grades as compared with students who have no musical background.
An article titled "Music and the Brain, Music Power" (O'Donnell 2008), contends that students who listen to a specific type of music such as a Mozart composition before and during a test will achieve higher scores than students who do not have that opportunity.
Music is thought to improve spacial-temporal reasoning necessary to understand mathematics and science. The correlation between the study of music and academic achievement is a popular research topic promoted by educators who support music education from kindergarten to high school. Technology today enables scientists to see that the right hemisphere of the brain is stimulated by music, the same processes used in analytical thinking. Music instruction helps students to develop communication, creativity, and cooperation.
Music has no language barrier. Everyone reacts to music. Every generation is defined by the music of the decade. Students download hundreds, sometimes thousands of songs onto IPods for entertainment and to connect with their peers. In our multicultural society, educators would do well to incorporate music into the curriculum. In English/Language Arts classes, for example, a humanities approach of including art and music in the curriculum would help students to develop higher order thinking skills. Curriculum resources available on the web could provide educators with tools to implement music as part of the curriculum in any academic area.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
ARMY OF WOMEN
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5941375&page=1
https://www.armyofwomen.org/getinvolved
http://apps.facebook.com/promotionshq/contests/7465/voteable_entries/1198190
THINK PINK!
I decided to participate in this ten-year study headed by Dr. Susan Love when I discovered that one of my five sisters was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 58.
The Sister Study looked at the environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors that may make some women more likely to develop breast cancer. Researchers needed to find 5,000 more volunteers to close the study. The first Army of Women Call to Action about the Sister Study was sent out on October 28, 2008. Within 48 hours, more than 35,000 women responded, and the researchers successfully enrolled 2,400 qualified women. A second Call to Action was sent on March 3, 2009. This time, more than 17,000 women responded. With the help of the Army of Women, researchers were able to officially close this study on March 30, 2009.
I volunteered for the study the first day it was announced. A few weeks later, a huge packet of information arrived by mail. It contained directions and several very detailed, multi-page forms requesting information about my early years-places lived, environmental factors, my siblings' health, and instructions about collecting physical evidence: fingernail and toenail clippings, cotton swabs for collecting dust on door frames in my home, and details about scheduling a time when a registered nurse would visit to collect more evidence.
A few months later resultswere sent to me: a four page summary including a Diet Report, Nutrition Fact Sheet, and Participant Urinalysis Study. I was congratulated for the following: the amount of folate, calcium, and fruit and vegetables in my diet. I was cautioned to reduce fat and carbs. A list of nutrients that came from my diet included an assessment of: calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, beta-carotene, Vitamin C and folate, and vitamins from supplements. I lsughed and cried when I read that my major calories were generated from chocolate candy, peanut butter, and dark bread; my total fat resulted from peanut butter, mayonnaise, and olive oil. Guess I should regulate the peanut butter. I was also given information on my average calorie intake, antioxidants from food, B vitamins from food, and minerals from food.
I will be contacted one year after my enrollment about a health status update.
Check out this comprehensive study for valuable information about women's health.
Participate in efforts to support research so a cure is found soon.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
ON AGING
For example, the weekly early morning dance held each week at the senior center is suffering from low attendance and poor financing. I suspect the lack of attendance may be attributed to the demise of aged participants. All attendees must fork over $5.00 to pay for the band. Low attendance equals no music. To increase attendance, AMD telephones reminders to elderly friends, kidnaps somewhat mobile victims from the assisted living home, and chases down forlorn widowers who roam the streets. To those who do not wish to attend, she says, "I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes." Satisfied with her group of deathbed renegades, she dons festive clothing and elegantly bodacious jewelry and even creates costumes for weekly contests. Thus far, she has won "Most Original," "Most Creative," "Best Dressed," and "Most Spirited."
But during my visit, she was named Queen! What I thought was a cute title blossomed into events tantamount to the Emmys. While I attended to other family activities, AMD conned my sister into helping her dress in a white beaded gown so she could participate, uninvited, in the formal evening Sugar Queen Festival presentation of Queens [18-22 years old] representing parishes of Louisiana, and the selection and coronation of Queen Sugar. She manuevered her way backstage and sweet-talked the director of the event. Following the presentation of junior queens, AMD, twirling her jeweled cane, sashayed up to the microphone and said, "I, AMD, from Loreauville, am proud to represent the Council on Aging, in the 2009 LA Sugar Cane Festival." My sister said that the audience went crazy, clapping and cheering, and professional photographers' flashbulbs sounded like the paparazzi.
And there's more. I planned to accompany AMD to mass in our town, but she requested that we attend the Queen's mass in New Iberia. I escorted her to a pew in church; [she insisted on sitting in the row behind all of the 30 parish queens], then I waited in front of church to witness the arrival of the royal entourage. Suddenly, I witnessed twenty policemen on motorcycles, speeding down the street in two flanks, sirens screaming. Frozen with fear, I swallowed a valium and tried to think how quickly I could evacuate AMD from the impending disaster. Then, the queen's entourage arrived behind their police escort. Thirty young women, greeted by Festival dignitaries, filed into the church. Joining AMD in the pew, I was aghast at the size and ingenuity of those crowns! Each massive crown boasted the insignia of the parish festival: Catfish, Strawberry, Frog, Crawfish, Yam, Duck, etc. I decided this was a fitting end to a grand weekend.
Not so . . . . AMD informed me that at 2:00 she would ride in a convertible in the Queen's Parade. I was mortified! Eighty degrees, muggy weather, a two hour ride, thousands of spectators. That would defy reason. I stood my ground. I said, "In the interest of your health, you cannot particpate." I may as well have tried to stop an incoming trident missle with my bare hands. Before I could scream,
"Vous etes fou!" I was helping her into a turquoise beaded gown, a foot high crown, and a good set of Depends. I drove her to Torrido Village, greeted the driver, gave him my cell number, taped a turquoise boa to the convertible, set two cups of crushed ice, her sceptre, and an umbrella on the seat next to her, and prayed for divine intervention. AMD returned two hours later, weary, but held up, as she said, "by the accolades of the masses." What a woman.
[Picture of AMD, at 20, wearing hula skirt, posing on the banks of the Bayou Teche c. 1944.] Her words during my adolescence still ring in my ear, "Remember to dress as a model of the Blessed Virgin Mary," which possibly explains my eccentric, Bohemian wardrobe.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
JAMBALAYA IN A JIFFY
INGREDIENTS: Frozen chicken tenderloins [8], 1 pkg Eckrich Smoked Beef Sausage, large yellow onion, large green bell pepper, green onion tops,8 fresh garlic pods, 2 stalks celery, Italian parsley, 2 boxes Zatarain's Low Sodium Jambalaya Mix, 2 tablespoons light olive or canola oil, Tony Chachere seasoning
PREPARATION: Sprinkle Tony Chachere seasoning lightly on both sides of chicken. Spray two baking sheet pans with cooking spray. Place desired amount of seasoned chicken on one pan. Cut sausage lengthwise into four long pieces, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Place cut-up sausage on other baking sheet. Bake both at 350 degrees until cooked.
While chicken and sausage cook, chop onion, green pepper, celery, peeled garlic and saute in saucepan coated with oil, on medium heat, until vegetables are soft. Add 1/4 cup water if vegetables stick to pan. Simmer until liquid is absorbed.
Remove meat from oven. Use colander to drain liquid from sausage. Keep liquid from chicken to use with rice mixture. When chicken cools, cut into bite-sized pieces.
Follow directions on Jambalaya package: [2 1/2 cups water for each pkg]. Pour reserved liquid from cooked chicken and water to measure 5 cups of liquid. Pour into dutch oven or deep, heavy pot. Boil water, then add both pkgs of Jambalaya mix to water. Stir well until seasonings dissolve. Add cooked chicken and sausage. Cover with lid and return to boil. Adjust heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. DO NOT REMOVE LID WHILE COOKING. When mixture is cooked, gently fold in 1/2 cup chopped green onions and 1/2 cup chopped parsley without stems. Do not stir as rice will get mushy. Turn off heat as hot mixture will wilt parsley and green onions.
Zatarain's Jambalaya package is highly seasoned. I have no idea how many grams of anything are in this recipe. Everything in this recipe is approximate. Use your judgement. I seldom measure anything. If you're hungry, double recipe. One Jambalaya box will serve two non-Cajun persons. This recipe probably serves 6-8. Lordy, pajordy, I am not Julia Child! Great dish for large parties. Comments welcome.
La Grâce du Ciel
The legacy of the Acadians is captured in this CD .
Songs of inspiration sung in French in four-part harmony by four Louisiana women reflect the cultural heritage of the complex gumbo of my native state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56LNciQaabw
JAZZERCISE
WORK THOSE GLUTS! HUP! HUP! HUP!
Judi Sheppard Missett started Jazzercise in 1969. Each sixty-minute workout blends dance and muscle toning movements choreographed to today's popular music including top 40, jazz, country, funk, and classics. Every class includes a warm up, thirty
minute aerobic workout, muscle toning and strengthening segments with weights, and a stretch at the end of the class. Participants may choose to do low or high impact movements. New routines are implemented every six weeks. Present set includes music by Rhiana, Beyonce, Petula Clark, Elvis Costello, Shakira, and country western artists.
I began Jazzercising in 1990 with Jann Wynn. Her Jazzercise Center on Blackwell Road boasts a professional, energetic, enthusiastic staff. Jann inspires and challenges students to attend class regularly and to rev up their stamina. On holidays she wears creative costumes and creates opportunities for students to participate in special events such as bellydancing. Dancers share a camaraderie that has evolved into friendships, outings, and participation in community activities. She schedules many daily classes at convenient times.
Check out Gail's new Jazzercise center on Highway 92 and Sandy Plains Road [behind McDonald's]. Fantastic facility, energized, friendly, and professional instructors, new equipment, great class times. Gail and her instructors will guide you during workouts and maximize that hour so much so that the hour long class is over before you realize. Very accessible and convenient location. You'll love the friendly Jazzers at this center.
Jazzed at the new Jazzercise in Cumming last Saturday. Nice facility just off 400 Exit 13. So convenient to Lake Lanier crowd. Kristie's class was a fabulous workout!
Check out this Jazzercise video.
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=1351135221&share_id=134998669197&post_id=134998669197&fragment=share_footer134998669197&comments_=&share_footer134998669197=#/video/video.php?v=151368063972
SHOPPING
SHOP ON A DIME--LOOK LIKE A MILLION DOLLARS!
My husband worked in retail as the top manager of a popular mall department store for twenty years. When I discovered the tremendous markup on clothing and jewelry, I realized that sales meant little. Parking at the mall stumped me. Often in a rush to get to merchandise, I neglected to note the store entrance I used or where I parked my car. Then I realized the convenience of the mall parking security men. Not knowing their exact job description, I assumed they were modern-day knights rescuing damsels in distress. The vehicles were open, comfortable, and pokey, so I felt safe being driven down each of the parking lanes to find my car. On one occasion, we circled the parking lot for an hour looking for my car; then I realized that I had driven my husband's car. Oh, my. Life is taxing.
SERENDIPITY! Joseph Campbell, in his Follow Your Bliss lectures, was probably not thinking about shopping when he discussed the origin and meaning of this word. Making valuable discoveries by accident . . .
But I digress.
I shop at malls during the holidays, but other times during the year, I frequent boutiques, and some of my favorite outre du prix stores, T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, Ross, Bubba's Boutique, and Burlington Coat Factory. Retailers should pay me for this information. I seldom plan shopping excursions. I conduct shopbys. If I have a doctor's appointment, I will be near the clean, new
Burlington Coat Factory near Town Center Mall. Some fantastic finds this year: a sateen wine knee length Hilary Radley lined coat marked down to $60, Gloria Vandrbilt stretch Classic Fit jeans $5.99, and popular designer shoes under $20. Scarves and wraps are a steal. A black wrap featured in Spiegel for $59 was priced $19.99. Clearanced coats are mixed in with regular priced coats. Search for color close to your size. Size often doesn't matter in discount stores as labels may be incorrect. Classic or flashy fashion-forward Gallery jackets are priced from $20-$40. Angel perfume -$68; $100+ at Nordstrom. T.J. Maxx and Marshall's are owned by the same conglomerate, so check sister stores if you cannot find your size.
T.J. Maxx lucky finds: lightweight silver Vertigo [Paris] lined, belted knee length coat with store tags, $300 clearanced to $30! T. J. Maxx clearances great jewelry including designer pieces priced in the hundreds. Popular coin jewelry featured at unbelieveable price.
Value City has closed locations, except for the one on Buford Highway?? Last holiday season Waterford stemware [in every size], priced at $25 a stem, sold out on a Sunday morning in two hours. I noticed the ad in the Sunday morning paper. Be vigilant.
Bubba's Boutique, mostly accessories, in Roswell, clearances items up to 70%. Fabulous scarves for $4.
And Ross. The Destin store is fabulous. In July, popular label ankle-length summer dresses were clearanced $10.99- $14.99. If you need kitchen items, check out Ross. Fleur de Lis topped heavy glass canisters in every size, wine, red, and clear glass were priced $5.99 each. I noticed the same canisters, priced at $29.99 each, in a pricy catalogue. I sped to two other Ross stores, and in two hours, found nine clear canisters. I gifted a few to my daughter. At these prices, it's worth a trip to sister stores to find companion pieces.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
GRAMMAR GIRL
. . . a giraffe, an elephant
I ran the marathon [refers to a specific marathon].
I ran a marathon [refers to any marathon.].
Indefinite adjectives a, an refer to any member of a group.
My son wants a car for Christmas. {What car? We don't know yet.]
I saw an emu at the zoo. [Many emus live at the zoo. Which one did you see?]
Observe the sound that begins the noun.
Use a before a singular noun beginning with a consonant: a truck, a girl, a doctor
Use an before a singular noun beginning with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u): an igloo, an average, an opera
Check out NOUNS on SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2iLAI0gUW0
- Articles can be confusing. A, an, and the are articles.
An article is an adjective that modifies a noun. - The is a definite article; a, an are indefinite articles.
I ran the marathon [refers to a specific marathon].
I ran a marathon [refers to any marathon.].
Indefinite adjectives a, an refer to any member of a group.
My son wants a car for Christmas. {What car? We don't know yet.]
I saw an emu at the zoo. [Many emus live at the zoo. Which one did you see?]
Observe the sound that begins the noun.
Use a before a singular noun beginning with a consonant: a truck, a girl, a doctor
Use an before a singular noun beginning with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u): an igloo, an average, an opera
- Y is weird: it is a consonant when it comes at the beginning of a word [yuh sound as in yummy],
- a vowel when it comes anywhere else but the beginning of a word [sandy. . ..long e; dye . . . long i; gym . . . short i
- a vowel suffix: ice/icy; flash/flashy; skin/skinny.
- THEN, if y ends a word: baby/babies
Check out NOUNS on SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2iLAI0gUW0
WISDOM
In my forty year education career, I implemented a plethora of educational trends: Back to Basics, Open Classroom, Brain Research, Collaboration, Cooperative Learning, Critical Thinking, Character Education, Inclusion, Standards Movement, Digital Learning, and more. Here are some of my stories.
Education trends drifed slowly through the clouds from West to East. From California the seventies produced the Open Classroom wave in education.
I taught in a high school fashioned on the Open Classroom design. Three teachers taught different subjects in one huge, circular classroom separated by tall, portable chalkboards. I taught English grammar, Mrs, L taught history, and Ms. O taught drama. On the day I taught students to conjugate verbs [lie,lay, lain], we overheard the drama teacher command her students,"Lie on the floor and breathe." A teachable moment, I thought! She didn't say "lay on the floor." My students' eyes, big as saucers, understood her to say, "Lie on the floor and breed." One brave English student asked, "Where do we sign up for that class?" Thus began my belief that educators should question the policy makers. "Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment phohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years, Americans will be the smartest people on earth." Will Rogers
Conflict resolution I learned during my happy forty-one year marriage, I did not heed my mother's advice, "Never go to bed angry." I preferred to stay up and argue. Good marriages are based on trust, patience, and understanding; all these thrive with healthy communication. "In olden times, sacrifices were made at the altar, a practice that still continues." Helen Rowland
Parenting is frightening. Teetering on a seesaw, I balanced a career, husband, two children, more university degrees, and a household. Not uncommon for women of my generation. In neighborhood coffee klatches, I cringed when I heard stay-at-home moms recite exact day and time their children lost that first tooth or take a first step. What to do? I recorded these magnificent moments in baby books, but I didn't exactly carry these around with me every day. I insisted on family meals every night, used every snippet of available time to talk with my children, read their diaries, and checked out their assurances about spending quality time with friends. Lack of trust? Differ if you must, but call it a mother's love. As adults with their own children, they now understand. "Children are a great comfort in old age. They help you reach it faster, too." Lionel kauffman
Fashion, my Catholic mother insisted, meant that women should dress modeled on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although I understand her statement was a metaphor for modesty, my fashion sense leans toward the eccentric bohemian. Fashion is fun. Mixing and matching, accessorizing, understanding body image, loving yourself inside and out can be accomplished with the right attitude. Remember that most magazine models are photo shopped. "Think highly of yourself because the world takes you at your own estimate." Author unknown.
Monday, September 14, 2009
SEE,SEEN
Verb Tenses: PRESENT: I see the aardvark. PAST: I saw the aardvark. Past Perfect: I had seen the aardvark.
Such a simple rule! Seen must have a helping verb.
______________________________________________________
I scream and gnash my teeth when I hear news commentators say, "I feel badly."
Bad is an adjective. Badly is an adverb [words ending in ly with/ a few exceptions].
- I is the subject of the sentence.
- Feel is a linking verb. [Remember the linking verbs:is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, seem,appear, feel, grow?]
- Adjectives follow linking verbs, Feel is a linking verb. Bad is an adjective. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBadly is an adverb.
- Therefore, the correct construction is "I feel bad."
SHOPPING
- I visit my favorite stores several times per week for a quick SHOPBY to scan the inventory.
- When I shop for clothing, first, I scan the store for sale and clearance signs.
- Then I walk quickly through each of the aisles focusing on specific colors in my size. I have color-organized closets, so I drift to colors I need to match my clothing inventory.
- This season, my color is shades of purple. In early summer I found a purple Vera Wang knee length, elbow length sleeved, royal purple sateen lined coat, regularly priced $150 on sale for $40 at Kohl's. That coat began the color family for this season.
- Newport News has a low cowl neck, batwing sleeves, hip length royal purple sweater for $49. It hides tummy and hip flaws.
- Every time I shop at any store selling women's clothing or jewelry, I focus on the color purple [thanks, Oprah]
- T.J.Maxx has fantastic purple Italian leather bags at a steal.
- I bought makeup at Belk over the weekend and noticed sale signs on a popular designer's jewelry--all purple. It's only 30% off, so I'm waiting for a coupon or another markdown.
- If I find a really good sale price on an item not my size, I ask the store to check inventory at other sites. Most stores have technology to do that. Last year I arranged to have a bronze leather jacket marked down 60% shipped from a sister store in FL because the Atlanta store did not have my size in stock. Shipping:$10.
- According to SMART MONEY, the best time to buy clothing is on Thursday evenings, six to eight weeks after an item arrives in the store. On the weekend, you get picked-over stuff, because clerks don't have time to re-stock quickly.
http://blog.shopittome.com/2008/05/08/best-days-for-the-best-deals-on-clothing/
Very specific charts outlining what days of week to shop for specific clothing. Even tells you what day to buy specific brands!
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