August Thoughts:

Where did the summer go?

I’m excited about the possibilities of the year!

I’m excited to try new things and use some of my old lessons that I love teaching and the students enjoy.

I’m nervous! How will I get through the year? Will my lessons hold the attention of my new students? Will it be a successful year?

I think back to my students from the previous year and remember where we started and how we ended up.

I did it then . . . and I’ll do it again this year!

March Thoughts:

Where did the year go?

I’m excited about my 5th year taking part in the Slice of Life writing challenge!

I’m excited to read from new Slicers and catch up on some familiar ones.

I’m nervous! How will I get through the month? Will I have enough ideas to write for 31 days? Will I make it through the month?

I look back at the previous four years of posts. Many I had forgotten about (age is creeping up on me) and many I remember like they happened yesterday.

I think back to how I started writing in 2019, the year my dad passed away, through the shut down when life was limited which in turn limited writing topics, and the years after that trying to get some normalcy back in our lives.

I did it then . . . and I’ll do it again this March!

Welcome back Slicers! I’m looking forward to reading and learning about you!

I know having it rain/snow during spring break is not everyone’s idea of great weather, but when my to-do list is long and includes all indoor work, it helps to get things done.

• House cleaned
• laundry done
• bills paid
• phone calls made
• appointments scheduled
• cousin sleepover
• volleyball games watched
• made a dent in mom’s house updates
• colleges visited
• Slice of Life complete

The only thing left for this weekend is to watch my boys play basketball, go shopping with Tessie, read and relax. Manicure, pedicure, and massage are scheduled for next week because I will be exhausted after 5 straight days of work . . . and the week always go by faster when you have things planned!

* It was another great year of reading everyone’s Slices. See you next year . . . maybe!

I LOVE the thought of writing Slice of Life (back in February).

I HATE that this is one more thing to do of the many things I already have to do.

I LOVE that I can look back on my previous years’ writings.

I HATE thinking that I need to come up with 31 topics/posts/slices.

I LOVE that I get to read so many different people’s writing – the format they used, the writing style they chose, the happenings of their day.

I HATE that I need to leave 3 comments each day, 93 comments over the month.

I LOVE that I become so engrossed in the reading I leave a lot more than 3 comments a day.

I HATE that I don’t leave a comment on each Slice I read (I read at least 20-30 each day.

I LOVE that I have a method to my writing and my commenting.

I HATE that if I don’t get through the whole list of Slices in one night, I continue reading them the next day which makes me have to read a day and a half worth of slices.

I LOVE that reading Slice of Life writing has become my nighttime reading for March.

I HATE that since some of these days fall during my spring break, it’s like I’m counting the days down of my break being over.

I LOVE that I have one more day left.

I HATE that I’m thinking I might not do this challenge next year in my effort to start simplifying my life.

I LOVE that I don’t have to decide until February 2023.

My plan was to meet my sisters at my mom’s house today so we could turn the office into a bedroom for her. Going up and down the stairs is getting to be too much for her. Unfortunately plans changed when Andrew informed me that he has a volleyball game at 4:30 and we wouldn’t have enough time to get everything done. So we planned to do it tomorrow.

About noon I hear honking. I send the kids to look out the window because I was in the middle of a Bingo game. “Titi, Franny, and Alena are here!”

Once I finished my game I got up from the couch to greet them and I hear, “SUE PRIZE!”

“Muddy? What are you doing here? Don’t you have any baking?” My mom bakes Greek desserts for Easter for our church’s fundraiser. She also doesn’t come out to my house since it’s far (about 45-60 minute drive). She usually just asks me to go to her house.

“No. Not today. I was there yesterday from 7 – 4 and tomorrow.”

So today my sister came to see Andrew’s volleyball game; my mom made dinner and did the dishes; my nieces decided to stay over for an impromptu sleepover over spring break. I enjoyed having surprise visitors today!

I’ve seen this format from many others and since I can’t think of anything else for today’s Slice, I’m going to try this:

5 THINGS THAT MADE ME SMILE THIS PAST WEEK:

• Spending time with John while doing some college visits
• Texting with my friend Pam who now lives in Tennessee
• All caught up on my laundry after tripping over the piles for two weeks
• Ordering dinner so we don’t mess up the spotless kitchen
• Having all my papers graded before I left work on Friday

4 WORDS TO DESCRIBE MY UPCOMING WEEK:

• Clean
• Paperwork
• Family
• Games (tennis, volleyball, basketball)

3 PLANS FOR THE REMAINING WEEK:

• Read
• Massage
• Relax

2 THINGS I LEARNED THIS PAST WEEK:

• It is OK to not get everything marked off my To-Do List
• The house will only stay clean until the next person gets hungry!

1 GOAL FOR NEXT WEEKEND:

• Go to bed before 1 am Sunday night so I’m not coming back from spring break exhausted

John is always making me laugh, even when he’s not trying.

University of Iowa is a three hour drive from our house. We left the house at 5:00 pm with a quick stop to put gas. “Um, can I get a snack? I’m feeling a little peckish.”

He eats the Cheetos and Crunch bar and washes it down with his cherry Coke. “Are you planning on stopping to eat soon? I haven’t eaten anything since the feta cheese omelet you made this morning.”

“What about the chicken sandwich you ate for lunch?”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that. That was more of a snack, than lunch I would say.” He then leans the seat back, closes his eyes, and is out by 5:26.

Seven-thirty he wakes up, “You ok driving? Because I was going to close my eyes for a little.”

Laughing, “Your eyes have been closed the entire drive!”

---

As we approach our exit I wake John up to find a restaurant nearby so we can eat dinner. “How about Longhorn Steakhouse? I’ve never been there.”

“Really? We have one 1/4 mile from our house and you have never wanted to go there. We drive all the way to Iowa and you want to try it now? Sure.”

As we walk in to the restaurant, I realize I’ve only been once to Longhorn Steakhouse. Back in October 2018 I had gone shopping with my dad for kitchen chairs and then he wanted to go for lunch and he suggested Longhorn.

I took it as a sign that my dad is with us as John makes his college visits. Education was always so important for my dad – ours and his grandkids’.

Thursday night I made plans to meet my sister because we need to go over some paperwork for my mom. We decided to meet at my husband’s restaurant so we could get some breakfast while we work and keep the kids from complaining that they want to leave.

We got there at 10:00 am and placed our order – french toast and bacon for my sister and me, a skillet, pancakes, and BLT for the kids.

Tessie sends a picture in our family (my nieces, my nephew, my sisters, my kids, and me) group text of my niece with her platter of french fries. My older sister responds, “Looks good. Georgie and I are heading to Blueberry Hill for lunch.”

I replied back, “That’s where we’re at. Hurry up so we can say hi before we leave.”

Twenty minutes later the kids are ready to leave so we wait by the front door for them. Once they showed up, my youngest niece said a quick hello and was ready to go, so they said their goodbyes and left.

My older sister looked sad that we weren’t going to stay with them. To John and Tessie’s dismay, I relented, “I’m staying for 20 minutes and then we’re leaving. I already had to wake them up at 8:45 on Day 1 of spring break.”

When the waitress came by she asked if I wanted to order something. “Sure. I’ll have a BLT, no tomato.”

“You’re eating again?” Tessie asked, judgmentally.

“Again? This is the first time I’m eating lunch. I had breakfast earlier.”

“Earlier? You mean 45 minutes ago?” John replied.

I cannot continue to eat like this. 🤐

I cannot continue to be judged like this, either! 😬

I’m on evaluation this year and yesterday was my informal observation. I begin the lesson as my principal walks in and takes a seat.

The lesson was about using multiple resources to integrate information. I asked my students what sources do they use to find information.

Student 1: World Book

Me: Yes, World Book online is one. Back before you all were born, I actually had a set of encyclopedias in the classroom.

Student 2: Do you still have them?

Me: No. They took them when I moved classrooms.

Student 3: This is off topic, (Me: Ugh! Why would you do this during my observation with the new principal?) but did you have to climb mountains and fight tigers to get to school back in the day?

Me: No. I never would fight a tiger. It wouldn’t be fair to the tiger because you know I would win.

Student 2: Facts! She speaks facts!

Let’s see how the post-observation meeting goes!

My two boys, John (18) and Andrew (17), and I are on the way to school. I drop them off every morning before I head to work. There tends to be a bit of traffic at 7:00 since school starts at 7:20.

The banter begins. I don’t remember what was said or who started it (probably me) but I playfully smack John’s chest.

John: “What did you do that for?”

Me: “You need to pay attention when you’re driving. You didn’t even notice my hand coming for you. How are you going to notice a whole car?”

John: “Dude, I’m not even driving! Mom! Don’t test me. I’m going to smack you back.”

The look on his face makes me laugh hysterically.

Andrew: “I can bet you no other car in this line is having a conversation like this.”

Me: “What? You mean all of them laughing together?”

Andrew: “No! A kid threatens to smack his mom and the mom is laughing hysterically.”

Me: “Yeah! I can guarantee you no one is laughing at that. But then again, no one is looking at John’s face!”

We pull up and both boys open their doors.

“Bye, Mom! Love you!” they both say.

“Love you, my boys.”

We definitely share a lot of laughs in our house (and car).

*For those that do not know me or my family – none of my children would ever hit anyone (except their siblings), let alone one of their parents.*

I don’t always “have time” to get things that NEED to get done, done. I don’t have time to do laundry or clean the house or make phone calls or pay the bills during the week because I’m at work all day and then I come home “exhausted”.

I somehow found time to go for a facial right after work. Not too tired to drive 30 minutes out of my way, get an hour long facial, drive an hour in traffic, grab a book and sit on the couch until someone asks for dinner. I then can use my “I didn’t have time to make dinner since I got home so late” excuse that I had on the tip of my tongue since this afternoon. My husband suggests we order dinner from a pizza place that has Italian food too.

I sent a text earlier today to my Coffee Girlfriends, my three girlfriends that get together once a week or every two weeks and we go out for coffee, to see if anyone is free tomorrow night. We are meeting at 9:00 pm.

I pull out my calendar and look to see if I have anything scheduled on Friday after work. Nope. All open. I send a text to my teaching partner: Want to go out for drinks and appetizers Friday after work?

Saturday I made an appointment for a manicure and pedicure. I want to schedule a massage for Wednesday during spring break.

I sure wish I could get more done around the house, but there just isn’t enough time in the day!