Starting Strong and Setting Goals: March is Reading Month

Today was the first day in March I was spending with my students, which meant a kick-off to reading month. I absolutely love the month of March when it comes to all the ways I get to focus on reading with my kids.
The joy.
The love.
The perseverance.
The will to read, read, read, and read some more.

It is always important, but there is something special about celebrating something so crucial for a whole month that makes it that much more special.
We started with a "read-in-the-dark" as a whole school! Kids had little flashlights and eagerly read. My students are third graders, so they are familiar with us reading the first day altogether, but the dark/flashlight reading was new and exciting.
  

A little later this morning, I put out lots of blank paper, one template, a stack of lined paper, staplers, tape, and scissors.
"Make a book to keep all your goals, jots, notes, and thinking from all the reading you do this month!"
Chaos commenced, but the good kind and I watched kids staple too much paper together, and tape it, and take it apart, and put it back together again. I enjoy this kind of magic. I snapped a few pictures of goals students decided to set for themselves. The template I gave them was just a place to store titles, or book cover sketches, goals, or whatever they want. It felt like a good start, and I hope the enthusiasm continues to grow, and these homemade books become something they can look back on as a celebration of their little eight and nine-year-old selves.

 

Beautiful Day

Waking up this morning, I was caught by rays of sunshine in the corner of my eye. I wondered how warm it was going to be today. Was this a tease?

Snow still settled on the ground outside, no melting that I could see. (Not yet, anyway). I opened the sliding glass door and was met with the freezing air. Simultaneously, the sun forced my eyes closed, and a gentle yet inevitable grin spread across my face.

That cold fresh air mixed with the warm sun made me flip into spring mode. I immediately began cleaning and dusting. I put out my new spring placemats and put up our Easter Egg tree. A new lemon themed swag is now above the sliding glass door replacing the pomegranate winter-themed swag that used to be there. It's crooked, but up! I'll eventually adjust it to the perfect fit.

See that bit of sunlight?

It is feeling like a nice way to start off a month of slicing. It feels fresh, new, and ready.

Unexpected Time

Yesterday, on my way home from a day of professional development, I was listening to the radio. I heard about a winter weather advisory. I didn't think much of it until they said wintry mix. My hope rose a bit for a snow day but I buried it away.

That's so unlikely. No one even whispered of a chance for a snow day. It can't be possible.

It was supposed to begin snowing around seven p.m. As I left to pick up my son from driver's training there was barely a flake in the air. However, by the time he drove us home, it was a windy whispy blizzard of sparkly flakes. My hope rose again.

Could it be? So much in such a short time! I'm sure it will be done early and cleaned up by morning.

At 3;30 this morning I woke up and tossed around a bit. I replayed parts of my past week. My mind didn't race but I couldn't turn it off either. I tried singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" over and over again in my head, which I think worked eventually. Then around 5:00, I heard the plow go by. All hope was gone. If a plow was going down our road already, the main roads must be clear, meaning back roads and side streets are going to be prepped for the day.

Fifteen more minutes...alarm, off.
Five more minutes...alarm, off.

I picked up my phone, to which I realized my ringer had been turned off, and a notification awaited A mistake only a rookie would make! What was I thinking! 

"School is closed for the day due to bad road conditions," I read. Then the messages started rolling in and I rolled back over.

On a Roll!

I'm on a roll. FINALLY!

This recovery has been so much more than I expected and humbling as well. It's a good reminder that my house has people in it willing to help when given the opportunity.

We all get so busy within our roles we sometimes forget to change things up and include each other within those roles. It's been a good thing, at least, I can see it that way now. In the worst moments, it was truly frustrating. It's always good to be on the other side of a situation that is tougher than you thought.

To top off a busy couple of weeks my son began driver's training and is likely getting his pink slip tomorrow which means he can start driving us to and from school. My daughter tried out for the school musical yesterday and got a role with a solo! I'd say given the challenges of the past several days we are on the road to bigger and better things.

First Day Back

I shared last week that I had a relatively simple outpatient hernia repair procedure. It's been a longer healing process than I had anticipated, but slowly I'm coming around. I decided to go back to school today and see how well it could go. I considered doing a half-day and then thought, I might as well try the whole thing. Well...a half day would have been wiser. I didn't over-do it necessarily, but OH MY GOODNESS I was not ready. I was in tears by the end of the day from fatigue and soreness. I'm REALLY glad I tried, but it was not worth it, and now I know. I've already put in for my sub for tomorrow. I haven't done my plans yet. I'm super bummed I can't go back tomorrow, but I know I have to give myself a day to rest. I'll try again Thursday. In the meantime, tomorrow, I'm hoping to teach myself how to knit a hat. I even have the stuff!
Wish me luck.

Full Circle Hippo

When I was six years old, it was discovered that I had a type of inguinal hernia that had likely been present since birth. I don't recall any of the doctor appointments that ultimately led to surgery, but I do remember the day of surgery in some pieced out details.

*          *          *           *            *

When we arrived at the hospital, we were directed to follow the yellow line to the waiting area. I recall thinking it was amazing there was a line on the floor, and was it put there just for me? Did they know I didn't know where to go?

My parents and I sat in the waiting room for a few minutes when someone came and asked me if I would like to go to the playroom. I was eager to see it. I had my own teddy bear, Cindy, with me, and I was excited to show her the playroom. After I was there for a few minutes, a nice lady came into the room and asked me to drink a small cup of clear fluid. She said it tasted like a candy cane. I wasn't necessarily a huge fan of strong peppermint flavor, but this was not the taste of a candy cane. It was something horrible masked with a burning mint aftertaste that barely resembled anything with "candy" in the name. I remember feeling duped, suddenly wondering what else would be experienced differently than communicated.

My next memory is being in a hospital gown and thinking it was a bit scratchy but different from anything I had, so, therefore, it was cool. I also got a really cool hat just like the nurses, AND they let Cindy come into the operating room right on the gurney. I held my mom's hand until I didn't, and then she got further and further away.

When they moved me from the gurney to the bed where my surgery would take place, I remember being much more scared than I had been prior. There were a lot of people around me, and the man standing over my head told me to start counting as he placed a mask over my face. I remember him getting to three.

When I woke up in the recovery room, I was confused. The room felt blurry, and I couldn't move. I looked to my right and saw a man lying there, sleeping on the bed next to me, and I also started to wonder where Cindy had gone. Moments later, I began hearing loud noises and people running around the room. I looked to my right again and no longer could see the man but instead several people around him doing something. I don't know if I made a noise or someone just noticed me, but almost immediately, a woman was standing right in my gaze with a beautiful smile on her face welcoming me awake. She also had Cindy in her hand. I was so comforted in that moment of confusion and concern.

When I was able to be reunited with my parents, they had a little something to give me for being so brave. It was a small grey stuffed hippo. It was the cutest little hippo I'd ever seen, and I name him Hernie. He sat on a ledge in my bedroom for the remaining years of my childhood. Then he lived in a trunk of mementos. Not too long ago, I gave him to my daughter, and two days ago, I found him in the back of her closet. Just two days before what would be my second hernia operation.

So, today I was able to take Hernie to my operation, he stayed in my purse, but he was there, and he was a comfort while we drove the 40 minutes to the hospital early this morning and I held him in my hands. Now he's sitting next to me while I recover at home.

I've Always Loved Plants

I was always a veggie eater as a kid. Even as I became a grown-up I have eaten my vegetables before anything else. Garden salad? First. Steamed broccoli? Devoured. Sliced cukes and cold veggies? Yes, please. I don't think it was because anyone forced me to eat them but I did always have access to fruits and vegetables which I'm sure helped.

I'll never forget when I was in kindergarten, on my sixth birthday, my mom visited my classroom (as she often did) and brought in a special treat for my class on my birthday. There was a cake with ice cream for my classmates, and a platter with spinach dip, crackers, and veggies--for me as requested. I don't think I realized until that moment, that not everyone's favorite snack was spinach dip with crackers and veggies.

As an adult, I have floundered back and forth between being a vegetarian, vegan, and eater of all things. More than a few years ago my whole family went vegan for over a year. Then slowly the kids and my husband wandered back to being eaters of all things and I felt like a short-order cook making food for myself and them as well. I caved.

However, in January of 2019, I decided to try going vegan again, just me. My family could join me if they wanted but I was going to figure out a way to balance being a vegan while feeding my family meals they could get behind. It's been a year now. I can't call my self a true vegan as I do have eggs occasionally and once in a great while seafood, but otherwise 98% of my meals are fully vegan. I feel like I've conquered the balance too! Not to mention, my family likes some of my vegan meals and many of them can easily be served up with a side of baked chicken or protein of their liking.

Tonight I've got quinoa and rice in the rice maker. Asparagus, mushroom, and cauliflower are roasting in the oven with a little olive oil and garlic salt. I made some chicken over the weekend to slice up for the meat-eaters and we will have some rice bowls topped with chia seeds, a drizzle of olive oil, and sliced avocado. It is one of my favorite weeknight meals.


*Two of my favorite websites for recipes are This Savory Vegan and Pinch of Yum (not all vegan).