A Song in My Heart

I always have a song in my heart.
Unfortunately it goes to my head and stays there all day. Well, actually it comes out of my mouth repeatedly.  It wouldn’t be so annoying except I have a terrible singing voice even to my deaf ears.

Yesterday the combination of  “She’ll be coming ‘round the mountains when she comes,” coupled with “Alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia, all-le-lu-ia!” escaped a gazillion times.
Was I praising God for the girl's safe journey over mountainous terrain?

Today …”you make it easy as easy as 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4
          There’s only one thing two do three words four you.”
Along with “Take your medicine, take your medicine, take your med-i-cine.” Yes, it is to the tune of Alleluia.

So, I’m going to make it easy and take my medicine. Alleluia!
Do you think I'm crazy?  Circle NO.

Just in Case

 In the 6^th grade English curriculum there was a short story about a child’s discovery of a book in his grandfather’s attic.  He and his friend were curious about the words that stood still on a piece of paper. How you had to turn the paper to continue reading.  They imagined what it was like to be taught by a human and go to a building with their peers to learn. 

“A human must be a dull teacher.”

 “How can kids learn together in the same room?”

In the age of technology with the choice of Kindle or ebook Readers I bought a bookcase.  It was made especially for me to my specifications.  Not only the dimensions but I also chose the type of wood and the color of stain.  And it was handmade by the Amish. Don’t you just love anything handcrafted? Although I had to wait four months for the finished product I’m very pleased with the craftsmanship, and I have a lovely piece of furniture in which I can store my treasured books and other prized possessions.

In case you are wondering some of my favorite books include:

Alice in Wonderland
Oliver Twist

Winnie the Pooh

The Glass Castle

To Kill a Mockingbird

Kissing Doorknobs

The Prince of Tides

The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood

The Notebook

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

 The Giving Tree

The Paper Bag Princess

(Remember I taught primary, elementary and middle school for 30 years. There is a lot to learn from a princess whose entire kingdom was destroyed by a dragon.)

I can’t imagine a world without books.  Can you?  And if they do become obsolete in my lifetime I’ll have a good place to store my boots.

A Compromise

"What do you mean she's your Valentine?"

"Okay, we'll share!"

A Valentine Tradition

For 27 seven years I assigned my students to complete a formatted love poem. Even my kindergarteners had wonderful ideas about love and dictated their feelings to fill in the blanks. Not one student ever complained about writing this poem.

Last year I received two hand made Valentines from Ashley and Tessa carrying on the traditional assignment. Let’s do it again. Fill in the blanks…


Love tastes like _________.
Love sounds like ________.
Love looks like _________.
Love feels like __________.
Love smells like _________.
Love is ________________.
Here's my completed assignment for 2011.

Love tastes like a soggy Cheerio after you tested it and decided it was good enough to share.
Love sounds like your surprised laughter after a gazillion rounds of Peek-a-Boo.
Love looks like a special crinkly wink just for me.
Love feels like your sleepy head resting against me as we rock.
Love smells like baby freshness after your bath.
Love is my grandson Alekzander.

New Friends

Sadie Mae

Yesterday I gave away my child.
Don’t judge me. She has a much better home with lots of friends and exciting interactions on a daily basis.

I was her only friend and let’s face it; I’m not the most exciting person in the world. She was lonely and cranky and bored hanging out with me. I arranged a field trip to the Oriental Pet Parlour. As soon as we got out of the car we were greeted by screams of welcome and barks of excitement. Prancing proud peacocks fanned their glorious feathers as we strolled down the path past their outdoor aviary. A rooster crowed about our arrival. Hens clucked and gossiped about the new chick on the block. The pink eyes of an albino peacock gazed curiously at us as we sauntered past their pen.

“Hello!” “What’cha doing?” “ Hi there!” A cacophony of salutations saturated our reception. Feathers flapped as Sadie’s eyes dilated. She bobbed her head up and down and whistled in amazement. Nine new friends! Kisses and whistles abounded. Sadie stepped willing to their mother who gushed over my pretty girl. Introductions were made one by one. Sadie decided to sleep over and promised to call if she felt uncomfortable.

Within 24 hours Sadie sent me two emails and a picture to assure me she is having the time of her life. She was too busy to talk when I called her today. She was engaged in deep conversation and a little bit of flirting with a conure.

Stick People

Did you draw stick people when you were but a wee tiny person?
Did you use a thick pencil or those fat crayons that contain 8 in a box and never wear out? Did you feel suicidal when one broke in half? Then exchange it for a whole one from the person who sat next to you when they weren’t looking? No? Neither did I. Never ever.

Do you still draw stick people?
Whenever I assigned my students to illustrate a picture to depict a story, they would ask if they were allowed to draw stick people. “Stick people are fine if you put some clothes on them.” I only had three rules in my class:

1. Be kind to others.
2. Put forth your best effort.
3. No naked stick people.

I have a forest full of sticks, baskets of yarn, boxes of cloth, containers of beads and apparently too much time on my hands.


Which one do you like the best?

What am I going to do with them?
Plant them and hope they grow into tree people, of course.