Magnificent Mathematics

     I got back into the saddle today and did some teaching.  I am the new math enrichment teacher at a preschool facility. 
      If a school has three age groups and three lessons to be taught in six periods of time from 9-11:30am what time will the teacher get to sigh a breath of relief?  Right after she locks up her manipulatives in a closet and clocks out at the front desk.  If she does this for 12 Fridays in a semester with 10-20 students per class how many names will she know by the summer?  How many times will she be sneezed upon?  We'll just have to wait and see...but for now:

new job + adorable children = one happy girl

Stumble Upon

     Another quiet night of resting up found me snuggled on the couch for some down time.  I caught up on some stuff I have been neglecting like my dvr and pinterest.  I also jumped back to something I almost started a bit ago but never followed through with...Stumble Upon.  You hit a button and are transferred to a whole world of cool stuff.  I found sidewalk chalk art  that blew my mind, photographs that made my mouth open in awe and all sorts of great new things.  I don't play on the internet often in fear of getting lost somewhere out in the cosmos...but I did a little stumbling and it was worth the trip!

Ground Chicken, Spinach & Farfalle Soup

     I had to think back to the days when I was balancing the world and still making every single meal...or people would stare at me with forks in hand and heads turned sideways.  Where is our food? Now in the weary days...when I'm not feeling so hot...there is someone who says, "I got this!".  It's quite the feeling. 
    A big pot of homemade soup from real stock becomes dinner.  This time it was ground chicken and fresh spinach and a pantry half full box of farfalle.  It was soothing and delicious and a hug in a bowl.  Thanks for feeding us yet again, Toots...thanks more than you know.

Mom's Bra Drawer

     Tuesday night is trash night.  2 cans plus one large bag...that's what I pay for.  My goal is to use that to the fullest.  So every week I pick a new thing that needs to be cleaned out.  I pick the harder things because for some reason when I have a true challenge like that I seem to excel.  It might be a cabinet full of old stories.  It could be a box of photographs.  Sometimes it is baby stuff that rips at the mama's heart.  This week I dove into my Mom's bathroom again.  I cleaned for over an hour in a bathroom for a man who does nothing as far as cleaning goes.  I cleaned away more of her stuff.  As I relocated, dumped or decided to put things to good use...I realized we really do just leave all of our stuff when we die.  It just sits there.  Waiting.  Unless...we move it. Find new homes.  Find new uses.  Donate.  Purge.  Share.  He will never be able to do these things.  He is obviously too sad.  She whispers to me...to help.  To put things to good use.  She hated when things were wasted.  Her dresser has sat untouched.  The bra drawer made me giggle.  She had an amazing amount of them in a little drawer as if it were a clown prop like the famous car in which twenty fully grown men exit.  Bra after bra after bra.  They all looked pretty similar and most of them brand new.  Someday she would be better...well enough to get dressed and go out...someday.  It gave her hope at the time.  They will now give someone a lift in a whole new way.  I thought of the jokes we would make together in a project like this.  Her sense of humor is still and will always be right there and I have discovered that I can hear it even if the words aren't coming out of her mouth.  Give the world a lift, Sweetie...

En-night-enment

     I took a night to to try to order up some enlightenment...hence the strange title.  I tuned into OWN and watched another Lifeclass with Oprah.  Her guest was the amazing, Iyanla Vanzant.  She breaks things down in such a way that you blow your mind.  Things so complicated and frustrating become simple and clear.   She reminds us that we are all an integral part of this universe.  Just like each cell in a body is important so are we to the world that we live in.  Each time I hear her speak she says something that revitalizes me.  It is usually a simple concept that has just never been said aloud in quite that manner and it changes everything!
     This time it was all about the story that we tell.  We put it on a loop and hit play.  It stops us from moving forward.  It prevents us from growth.  It holds us prisoner because we don't know what is beyond the story and therefore scared to death to move on.  Brilliant.  She worked this through with a few guests that were stuck in their story.  This whole thing resonated with me...for days.  I am writing this days later.  I let it brew to make sure I was paying attention.  It inspired me to do many brave things this week...even with a body that seems to be falling short lately with one ailment or another.
    The next show featured Tony Robbins getting in the face of of a couple who needed it.  Their story was tragic.  At their wedding reception he decided to jump into the pool and swim over to his new bride.  He broke his neck and is now in a wheelchair.  They have since been having quite a bit of trouble.  He feels he has taken away what was to be their life and she is constantly frustrated with herself as well as him.  Tony made them skydive, taught him to play Murderball, showed her how to take of herself while taking care of him and how strong and brave they could be.  They stopped being victims and started to take control of their life back.
     Needless to say I was inspired by both shows.  Life has sucked this last few years...to put it bluntly.  It has.  I spend days fighting and others crying.  I have many challenges and as my therapist reminds me every so often...she does not wish my life on anyone.  But I have become my story.  I have begn to succumb to the loop that plays that reminds me to stay down.  My body is tired.  My heart is tender.  My mind has lost its clarity and my spirit seems lost.  This isn't working and this night of television has urged me to get off of my story and my ass and start to claim it...once again.
We all have our stories...our burdens...our hurdles.  It is how we maneuver around them that makes the difference.  It all comes down to choice.
    I realize in reading my posts some of you might think they are lame lately.  Sometimes privacy forces me to list something other than the big new thing that has happened.  Finances, health issues, private matters are making things much trickier than last year.  I am proud for continuing in this process of the new and have been humbled by what is afforded to me this year.  One squeeze tighter to making this lump of carbon a shining diamond.  One cycle closer to the butterfly. 
     I almost quit my "do the new".  Almost.  But almost never counts now does it?

Cat's Incredible Dogs in Stroudsburg

     Back in the fall I told you about the cutest little hot dog joint.  It was far away but awesome.  Well much to my surprise while driving down Main Street a while back I noticed a sign of the same place in a vacant store front.  A man came out and in old school Bronx fashion (she shows up every now and again) I yelled, "Are you Mr. Cat's?".  Turns out he was.  They have moved their adorable little shop dedicated to themed and crazy hot dogs right to my very own little Stroudsburg.  We waited for just the right day and a snack before the annual St. Patrick's parade proved perfect!!!

Spring for the Arts Dinner

     Our town has an abundance of talent in the arts and tonight we went to a dinner to celebrate.  The MudWorks crew took a whole table.  We got to honor the great Bob Dorough (of School House Rock fame) and local oil painter, Gary Kresge.  After working at the gallery for so long I am a huge fan of his and was so proud that he was winning an award for his talents.    It was a fun night with terrific friends and a trip down memory lane all in one.