I’m Moving to a New Site

Hello there. Remember me? Yeah, I know it’s been over a year since I wrote anything here. I recently retired and Im just full of things to talk about, so I decided to start a fresh new blog. I even paid for it to avoid having a big cheeseburger ad at the bottom of a page about eating responsibly. I hope you’ll check it out. I swear I’m going to write there at least once a week. At the moment I think I could write once a day, but I’m going to cool my jets and pre-schedule my posts so I have one ready even when I don’t feel like writing. The new blog is called Awake and Aware.  The URL is http://www.lynnjacobs.me.  I hope you’ll come check it out every so often.

And I want to say thank you to those of you who have read this blog whenever I managed  post. It meant a lot to me, really. Much love.

THINKING ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

 

This afternoon I took a walk at the bird refuge, and as I walked in the icy wind, I thought about friendship. I wondered if one can ever be the friend another needs, or if we can only be the friend we ourselves need. Is the filter of the ego so strong that it cannot allow the possibility that the friendship I need is not that which my friend needs?

I began by wondering if friendship is just friendship, and it’s all the same, and I arrived at the thought that although the underlying energy of friendship is love, and love is love, pure and simple, the expression of it isn’t at all simple. Nor is it “the same.” I think we filter that which we receive and give by our own experiences and our own needs that have arisen from them. For example, I sometimes want a friend to whom I can speak honestly, who will hear me and respond. I don’t need to be told what to do. I just need to know I have been heard and understood.  At other times, just being in the presence of a kindred spirit is enough, no talk needed.

But someone else, who has lived their own life and had their own experiences, may not want to share much at all, just spending time with the energy of a person who appreciates them is enough. Another person might want to tell their stories to another, know they’ve been heard and commented upon and not really respond too much to any one else’s stories. Perhaps their need is to go deeper than current or past experiences, to a place where the current runs strong, with little conversation. My question is, am I able to recognize another person’s need?

This reminds me of a friend from over forty years ago. We were young women together, before children or marriages. She was so dear to me, and even attended the birth of my first child. I saw no end in sight for the friendship, until it abruptly ended. She told me that she would never deny what we had, but it was over.  She had just joined Scientology when this happened, and remains with them today, so that may explain the ending of the friendship. The point is that it didn’t occur to me at the time that sometimes a friendship has its season and can retreat without any event precipitating its end and without any hard feelings. I saw this woman about five years ago and we had a lovely reunion. I don’t expect to ever see her again, and that’s okay. She was right. We had the time we had and that was enough.

As I’ve grown older, I think my friendships have deepened. I need to speak my truth, and I think my friends feel the same.  I try to speak with clarity, honesty, and love. Sometimes the clarity gets in the way a little bit, but really, who has time for dodging around? As long as you speak from a point of neutrality, grounded in love, not judgement, I think it ought to be just fine. But maybe I just think that because it’s what I think. Maybe, I am not being the friend another needs because I can only imagine friendship from my own point of being. This is beginning to seem like a spiraling rabbit hole, so I’ll stop. But I’ll continue to think about it, and wonder about it. Maybe even write about it again.

Have a love-ly week.

 

It’s November Writing Month

Recently my friend, Rene, challenged a few of us to do a daily write, based on a list of prompts she found somewhere. Probably on Facebook, because where else? It’s already November 5th, and we’ve forgotten to start, so I decided that today is a good day for a LIST! (Cause you know how I love lists!) (Iknow, it’s also NaNoWriMo, butI’m just not up for that this year.) So, here we go. Yikes! Some of these are kind of long, or could be…

November 1: Five problems with social media:

1. Most people’s bad food photography. It’s nauseating sometimes. How do you get a good picture of mushroom gravy on pork chops? Really. And if you feel like you have to say the picture doesn’t look that great, but it tasted good, just leave out the picture and tell us about it. Share the recipe, but keep the picture to yourself. Thanks.
2. Having to look at people’s before and after weight loss selfies taken in your underwear. Too much information, really. I could get the idea if you were wearing a tank and gym pants.
3. Seeing the exact same pictures on Facebook and Instagram. They are self cancelling. They might take my breath away the first time I see them, but probalby not the second. Or am I the only one that has the same friends in both places? Wait, do I do that? Post the same photo in both places? I have to check. I’m quitting it if I do.
4. All those videos that suck you in with “She thought it was just going to be a dinner out but then THIS happened!” Something like that. I’m such a sucker for those things. They always turn out to be nothing interesting. Unless it’s a vet coming home and seeing his or her child or dog for the first time. Those make me tear up every single time.
5. Those games where someone says something outrageous like “I like to wear dirty underwear” and you comment on it and find that you’ve been drawn into a game for breast cancer awareness that you feel obligated to participate in because you don’t want to be a complete Scrooge. Then you get a list of things to choose from that you’re supposed to post, none of which you would ever really post except maybe you do because of the Scrooge thing. The last time one of those came around I was bold enough to not participate because I just could not bring myself to post one of those icky things. It’s not like it adds money to research or anything. The breast cancer part is just a guilt trip.

November 2: My Earliest Memory

Oh Lord. I don’t know what my earliest memory is. That was a long time ago! But the thing that popped into my head when I saw this prompt was the time when I was in Kindergarten and the babysitter watched me coming home from school. She noticed that I crossed the street without looking and she told my dad about it. (Why was a five year old walking home from school alone? I had to cross at least one busy street to get there, and then our quieter street. Shouldn’t the babysitter have come to walk with me? Or my parents?) Anyway, Cora, the babysitter, told my dad and he was incensed that I hadn’t looked both ways before crossing. That is not an unreasonable response I suppose, but the action he took was  just weird. He made a “sandwich board” sign that said “Please help me cross the street because I don’t look both ways before I cross.” The message was written on two pieces of cardboard, one in front and one in the back and it hung over my little shoulders on ribbons taped to the inside of the boards. He made me wear it to school. I still had to walk there by myself, but I couldn’t leave the house without my sandwich board. I don’t remember if I actually wore it all the way there, but I was terrified of him, so I probably did. Or I wore it at least until he couldn’t see me anymore.  Who makes choices like that? He needed parenting classes.

Okay, that’s it for day one. I will do two a day until I’m caught up because they are longer than I thought. Except the tattoo one will probably be really short because I don’t have any, but I don’t want to give it away so I won’t say anything else about that right now.

Oh! Here’s the list in case you’d like to jump aboard! I’d love to see how others take on these prompts, so let me know where you share them if you do. Sharing is not required, though.  See you tomorrow!

On Retreat

Today I’m remembering my retreat in Taos, New Mexico that ended a couple of weeks ago. For the second time I went to a retreat with Jen Louden and 24 other women. For several years I read about this annual event and thought about going, but it always seemed too much. I think in part, because I only knew Jen from her online presence, it was hard to imagine the spirit and power that this event involves. I couldn’t give myself permission to spend the time and the money to be there. There was always something else to do or pay for. Last year was my first time, and this year I understand it even better. While this is billed as a writing retreat, it is actually a writing and spirit summer camp for grownup women. Jen creates a ‘container of safety’ that enables and encourages us to listen to ourselves, to give ourselves what we need and helps us find ways of taking it with us when we go. For me, now, this is such sacred time.

Taos is a place of great beauty and great spiritual power. The air is a little thinner than I, a flatlander, am used to, so I move a little more deliberately, a little more carefully. Sometimes I have to stop and breathe. My asthmatic lungs demand it from time to time, so I listen and I sit down and breathe, slowly and fully. We stay in a historic facility where people like D.H.Lawrence wrote. He also painted the bathroom windows because he was embarrassed by their uncurtained openness. The buildings are old and simple, and you can’t help but tap into the energy of all those others who have come before us.

The windows that D.H. Lawrence painted

In the early mornings I dance. We all do. We gather in the meeting room and dance to the day’s loud and booming playlist, for about 45 minutes. Today’s playlist included MaMuse’s “Hallelujah,” and it took me home. Jen encourages us to pay attention to “what wants to be danced today.” When I know the music it becomes my way of singing into the day, which is so uplifting and soul settling. It’s a lovely way of paying attention to my own needs, and setting my intentions for the day.

The path to my place.

Sometimes we spend the morning hours in silence, just writing or honoring whatever else our hearts desire for a few hours. It might be writing, meditation, doing art or napping. But we do it alone, in silence. After lunch, we might attend a class about voice or our inner critic or writing memoir. Craft classes. They are optional but always worthwhile. Then yoga if we so desire, and dinner. The chefs are attuned to those with special needs and I was able to eat gluten and dairy free at nearly every meal. The days are packed with possibilities, and we are always, always encouraged to listen to what we truly want and then decide what to participate in.

My writing spot, looking out at Taos Mountain.

After two complete sessions I realize that, yes, this is a writing retreat, and we do a great deal of writing in a week’s time. But it is also a time of connection. With ourselves and with others. This is a time of listening to what my heart desires and giving permission to honor it. A time of renewal and restarting my life, and I can’t imagine not being there. The friendships that I have forged at this retreat are deep and spiritual, and we are able to say so much without saying much of anything at all. Our laughter is real and deep and the honesty and acceptance are so rich.

Ever since last year, when I sat outside and meditated in a rustic wooden chair, I have wanted such a chair for my home. On the next to the last day there, I found it and that night I figured out how to fit it into the back of my car for the long drive back to California. As I told the group, I would fit the chair first and everything else around it. If I had to leave my suitcase there, so be it. The chair represents so much to me that is solid and grounded. I look forward to sitting in it in my garden, and breathing in the smells of the cedars and all the plants that surround my yard. And yes, I know it is just a thing and I could do the same without it. I get that. But it’s delicious, all the same.

My meditation chair, that fit perfetly in the back of the Prius.

I have made a list for myself of how I will incorporate a sense of meditation and ritual into my daily routine, in a way that I can actually do. I understand that it won’t be the same as it in the rarified atmosphere of Taos, but it will be my way of of extending this peaceful and spiritual time and keeping it in my life.

The time for going home is past now. The final morning we had our parting ceremony, we took a group photo and then we all went our separate ways. But we will always have and treasure the connections we have made here. And we’ll be back next year for an update!

It’s always so hard to say goodbye to this place. That sky, the mountain…

A List for June

Apricot jam. Or jammish, maybe syrup.

Well, I’ve managed to miss most of June here. After such a mad post-o-rama in April, and a smattering in May, June has completely bottomed out for some reason. My best means of recovery is a list, so here goes:

1.Harvesters:  Avery and I picked apricots last week and made jam of them It’s so pretty, if a little runny still. I hadn’t made jam for decades, but it’s like riding a bike, I think. I just flew into action and knew just what to do. I wonder how it tastes.  I’m still off sugar so I didn’t even taste it! All but five of the jars sealed, though, so that’s good.

2. Whole 30: I finished my Whole 30 last weekend. The thing I craved most was cream in my coffee, so that is what I tried first. Unfortunately my nose was runny and my chest asthmatic within an hour of drinking that creamy coffee, so there’s a little message for me. I didn’t stop there, though. I had it a few more times, and the arthritis in my hands flared up painfully and my arthritic knee began to hurt. Is it coincidental? Probably not. I bought a new brace for my knee called an “Incredibrace” from the sports store. It kind of helps it, but I think no more cream will help it more. Bummer! Other than that, I’m not changing much in my diet. This is working pretty will for me, all in all.

This is the vanilla flavored almond milk. Quite an artistic setting. It doesn’t usually live there!

 
3. Almond milk: This segues nicely from the last paragraph. I’ve begun using almond milk in my iced coffee. I like it a lot. This week I bought some unsweetened stuff with vanilla in it (Not silk. It’s  Califia Farms  brand ). Adding that to my iced coffee makes it taste like vanilla wafers. Even without any sugar.  Weird. I like vanilla wafers, so I’m okay with it.

These are my new VIonics. See the little silver line on the strap? On all the others colors that is patent leather. Or the whole strap is jewelie.

4. New Shoes: Last weekend I went to visit my sister, and she was raving about her new flipflops. They are therapeutic for problematic feet and legs. The brand is Vionics and they have a very built up orthotic-like footbed. Since I have such a problem with my knee, I decided to try some. The thing is, they are all either patent leather on the strap or encrusted with gemstones. Not my thing. The only ones that didn’t have that stuff were grey. “Pewter.”  I decided that was my favorite color for a while, and bought them. They take some getting used to because of the orthotic soles, but I’m liking them a lot now. They might have thrown my knee out of whack for a little while. but it feels better today. (so who knows, did it hurt because of the cream or the shoes or just because it felt like it? And is it better because of the shoes or the brace or just because it feels like it? Whatever. It’s better so I’ll take that.)

There are 150 steps from the cliff to the ocean. I only went down there once! UPDATE: Yesterday (6/26/15) they cancelled the Junior Lifeguarding championships right here at this place because 15 Great White Sharks were spotted swimming around this pier, out at the end of it by the cement ship. Wow!

5. Santa Cruz: This should have been first. Last weekend I went to Santa Cruz to watch one of my dear friends/ former students get her Masters Degree from UC Santa Cruz. I stayed in an Airbnb in Aptos which was just great. The people were so kind and welcoming, and the room very comfortable. I felt great there. I went a day early so I could feel relaxed, and I did. I went and watched the ocean for a while and that was so nice. Except for the stinky old cement boat at the end of the pier that was covered in seagulls and pelicans and their poop.  Anyway, it was good to see my friend, Maribel and her family, and the graduation was inspiring. It was a grad school  only event so was very small and personal. Quite a few people got their PhDs, which was amazing to me. Lots of Doctorates in Astrophysics and Chemistry! I can’t even imagine such a thing.

On Saturday I left and on the way decided, very much on the spur of the moment that I’d go visit my sister in Calistoga if she was home, and spend an extra night away from home. This past year has taught me that it’s so important to make time, to go out of our way  to spend time with those we love. We just can’t count on tomorrow, so we need to make the most of every today, really.

A farewell view of the Napa Valley, as I went over the mountain on my way home.

Tammy and I after dinner.

6. Calistoga: I don’t get to see my sister very often, so it was really a treat to go visit her. She needed to go shopping so we went to Macy’s in Santa Rosa. We don’t have a store like that in Chico, so it was fun. She is very good to shop with, as she used to own clothing stores. She is very good at knowing what fits and what goes with what and really, shopping is painless when I’m with her. This was my first shopping trip since I no longer needed to shop in the plus-size department (YAY ME!!!), and boy was it overwhelming. When you shop in Plus you aren’t used to having very many choices, so it’s relatively easy. You either find something or you don’t. But when you wear regular sizes, my gosh! The choices just go on and on. Things just kept on fitting, so I just kept on buying them. (Not really that much…) Very fun. Then we went out to dinner at a place where we could eat outside, and it was just perfect. Don’t you love it when everything just comes together like that? I sure do.

This is Tammy’s beautiful yard. She really takes care of it!

Okay. That’s going to have to be it for now because, I”m almost at a thousand words already and my house is a disaster!  I’m working up to a more introspective post but it’s taking some mental wrangling. Soon though. I hope you’re finding some fun and relaxation, because it’s important!

May I Debrief?

Pretty punny, aren’t I? (Did you get it? MAY…yeah)  Well, another month has slid by. It started quite cool here and for the ending has begun to heat up. The pool water is warm and the air conditioning is working, so we’re set for June. But first, it’s time for a debrief of the month that was.

1. The Garden: It’s all looking just great, I’m pleased to say. I backed off on watering because of the drought and so far things are handling it okay. We’ll see what happens in another month, once it heats up and I back off even more because water is about to get really expensive. Today I brought home some used coffee grounds from the cafe . I’ve heard that their acidity will make the hydrangeas turn pinker, so I’m going to give it a try. Those are some water greedy plants, I’ll tell you. You probably already know that, duh, hydra- is part of their name and it means water in some old language. Right? It does, doesn’t it? (JFGI Lynn) Okay, I just Googled it. Hydra was a Greek water monster. I suppose that fits hydrangeas if beauty is involved with that monster. Anyway, I don’t know what I expect to happen to the flowers since they are already pink, but maybe the coffee will cement the deal, in case they were trying to decide what color to be. I’m going to mix the coffee with potting soil and use it as a side dressing for the plants. Let’s do an experiment. Here is how they look now:

I’ll dress them with coffee for the month of June and I’ll take a comparison picture at the end of the month. We’ll see what happens. If anything does.

2. School: In five days school will be out for the summer. Or until early August which is still summer, but whatever. You know what I mean. It’s break time. We have five days of revelry left. On Friday we began making paper rockets, which we’ll set off on the last day of school. My daughter, Avery and I made a rocket launcher at a Makers Day a couple of summers ago. It’s cool. You pump it up with a bike pump, and then get out of the way and press a button and whammy!!! They shoot up really high, as long as all goes well. As in they are taped well and not too tight. You use a piece of pvc pipe to make them and you have to make sure they are just loose enough.For my students this meant testing them a lot. Sliding the paper on and off and on and off the pipe. Yeah, you get the visual, I’m sure. Eighth graders.  I’ll be sure to include some photos of the big launching event on Friday. It’s sure to be dynamic.

This week is sure to fly by. The eighth graders promote on Wednesday evening, and they go to the water park on Thursday, and Friday we have short classes and a field day, so I suspect I’ll have time to clean up my room and ready it for summer cleaning.

3. Whole 30, Exercise, all that: I just wrote about the Whole 30 the other day, but here I go again with an update. I think my asthma is going away. I have barely been using my Albuterol inhaler at all, and I seem to be coughing loosely lately. As in, it seems like my lungs are letting go of their congestion. If this proves to be true, WOW!!!  It had been getting pretty bad lately, so I have hopes for this. The other stuff they say, more energy, less bloating is also true this week. I won’t know about weight until the end of the 30 days, but that’s not my biggest concern. It’s maybe second but I’m not doing this for that reason. Reintroducing foods will have to be done very slowly so I can see what, if anything, impacts how I feel. This looks like a whole summer rather than just 30, but that’s okay. It’s not really a burden to do. I just have to plan, and not build my plans for fun around what I consume. What a novelty!

As for the gym, I’m finally getting my strength back. It was a long haul after only four or five days of illness. Between the being sick and the taking Prednisone to knock it out, I lost ground there for a while. It feels good to be back at the gym doing what I could do before and adding new things. On Thursday I did some back squats for the first time. They might not ever be my favorite thing, but it was cool to do a new movement. It you’ve known me for long, you’re probably cracking up to hear me talk about enjoying a new kind of weight lifting. So out of character!! I’ve been asked to write a testimonial for my gym, and I’m turning it into a blog post, so stay tuned for that.

4. Books: In 2008 I did my first NaNoWriMo writing effort. (In case you don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month, in which thousands of people all around the world write a novel in 30 days. This is 1667 words per day, every day.) I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going with it. I just hd the kernal of an idea and I went with it. I had no idea who would show up or what they’d want or do. I just wrote, each day watching the story unfold on my screen. Since then I’ve written bits and pieces of it, with long breaks in between. Last weekend I decided to print it and read the whole thing, so I could get an idea of where I am with it, just in case I want to try to finish it this summer. Imagine my surprise then it came out to be 140 pages long, much of it single spaced! It is rife with inconsistencies, and that’s okay. It’s what revision is for. It’s interesting to read it and realize how a writer draws on personal experience to shape a work. I’m liking it, actually. Maybe I’ll see if I can bring it to a close this summer. Those characters definitely have something to say. I just need to see what it is.

 
I am reading Grant Faulkner’s book, Fissures. This is a book of 100 stories, each exactly 100 words long. When I first got it, I thought “No wonder they didn’t accept my 100-word story. I’m not smart enough to write one of these. I’m not smart enough to even understand one that someone else writes!” Grant is the master of this genre, truly. (He is also th Director of NaNoWriMo, but tat’s not part of this story) Yesterday I decided to pick it up again, and wow. It is interesting how much of the story exists beyond the words used to tell it. This genre is complex because it requires the reader to fill in so much. I am enjoying it a lot, and will undoubtedly read it over and over. I recommend it. Be ready to work for it a little. I hope you enjoy it.

5. Fun: Last night my friend Vickie threw a party to celebrate the impending wedding of her son, Andy. Her whole family was there, along with his fiancee’s parents and about 100 of their closest friends. My family and I were lucky enough to be invited. Vickie is known for doing fun and funny things at her parties. Never does she just have a lot of good food (which she did have) or cool decorations (ditto – all made by my daughter Avery). That would all be plenty, thank you. But Vickie is special in that she plans games for her parties. Or entertainment. Homemade entertainment. Last night after all the groomsmen made toasts to the couple, the talk turned to her son’s love of Tupac. Those who had known him during his Tupac days all laughed about it. This led to the highlight of the evening, in which Vickie’s granddaughter, Macy (who is about 9 or 10) got up on the stage with the microphone and began a call and response with the crowd. “I say BOOM!!” (response) “I way Boom Chicka Boom!!” (response)…and so on for about five minutes. At which time Vickie’s husband Tom came running onstage dressed as Tupac and the two of them, Tom and Macy, did a little performance. It was hilarious. Such a fun family, such a fun time. Here’s the backdrop Avery made:

Okay, I’ve taken too much of your time so I’ll go.We’re off to take down the party decorations. All in all it’s been a good month. Here’s to a delicious June! If you have any enviable ideas for fun and relaxation or cleaning the garage, please pass them on. Those things are all on the slate for June at my house!

Memorial Day

The Hands, Chico CA. I love this sculpture.

 

Well. It’s Memorial Day. A day to give thanks to all the people who have gone to fight for our country. It always seemed so distant when I was a child, because I didn’t know any veterans. Or I didn’t know I did. But after so many recent years of war, it seems much closer now. I’m so sorry for those who have lost loved ones, and so thankful for the freedom we have. I pray that now the wars stop, that we somehow change our focus to one that is peaceful and nourishing for everyone.

So far  today I’ve gone shopping and painted an Adirondack chair. And watched three episodes of Grace and Frankie. (Have you watched that? It’s a Netflix series. Good one. Funny and not funny. Family stuff with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen and that guy who was on Law and Order SVU, I think. ) And watered the thirsty things that grow in my garden.

1. The painted chair: I have been preparing for a while now to paint an outdoor chair. I put a coat of paint on it today and I don’t know if the chair will ever get dry. The paint seems peely. Maybe it’s the wrong kind. I guess I’ll find out in time, when it either stays on there or it doesn’t. I’m not worried about it. It’ll look cuter than it did. The thing is, I think it may need some touchup but when I try to sand it it starts peeling off. So I’m thinking maybe latex paint was the wrong idea. I really don’t know about this stuff. I just like the color. It’s an old chair I bought back in 1995. I painted it with polyurethane so it wouldn’t get ruined on my front porch and it held up really well until I put it out on my balcony and left it there over the winter. The winter won, the polyurethane gave up. So now I’m painting it turquoise. I was going to stain it but it had a huge greasy looking stain on the back and I was afraid the stain would’t stick to it. So now it’s turquoise. I wish I enjoyed this kind of work more. I like the outcome, but I lack the skill to do it really well. I’m going to try rubbing a dark stain over the turquoise, just to see if it gives it a deeper look. I’ll try it on a board first.

After one coat of paint. Before I try rubbing stain on it.

2. App of the week: DSPO.Do you know this app? It’s an app made by Hipstamatic, my all-time favorite camera app. It’s pretty cool. You create a ‘camera’ which is actually a photo session. You decide how long it will last and who all you will invite to participate in it. It doesn’t matter where they are. Then you all just shoot photos for the whole time, and when the time is up, it’s up. Then and not until then, you can all see all the photos. They give you about 4 filters you can use, and for a dollar you can get maybe six more, so you have some control over the look of the photos. It’s like a surprise photo album. This weekend we’ve done two of them. My daughter and granddaughters are in Paso Robles and the rest of us are in Chico. When the camera time runs out, we will all see what each other has been doing. Like watering flowers and painting a chair. Except the people who are on a trip seem to be doing slightly funner things. Like going to parks and playgrounds. If you haven’t tried it you might want to. It’s a fun family or friends thing to do.

3. Whole 30: Avery and I are doing one, as you may recall. We’re on about Day 18. We started strong, and then four days in we discovered that our bacon had sugar in it, like almost all bacon does. We had to start over. So far all I really miss is heavy cream for my coffee. Coffee with unsweetened unthickened almond milk is okay, but it’s not coffee with heavy cream. Other than that, it’s gong well. I feel less puffy, and the arthritis in my hands isn’t hurting. I’m not craving anything really and it’s pretty easy to make good food. It is a matter of changing one’s perspective. I can’t marinate meat in anything with soy sauce, so I seasoned some coconut milk and marinated it in that. And I made cauliflower rice to go with it. It was good. At the beginning of this journey, we went to our gym and got weighed on this device that tells you your percent of body fat (OMG), BMI, weight, water weight, etc. It really tells you way more than you want to know. We are going to do it again at the end of the 30 days of the Whole 30. It’s an experiment. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

(I tried three times to put a picture of the food I made right here.  It didn’t look delicious so I gave up. I’m not a food photographer, so I’m letting it go. Be thankful.)
4. School: Nine school days left. The last three barely even count because wither the kids will be gone doing fun things or the classes will be really short. So, it’s the time when we start cleaning up and getting ready to shut down another year. In my classes the students have been doing music presentations. Each student picked a song and then prepared a Haiku Deck (sort of like a PowerPoint but way easier and prettier) that told a little about the artist and why they liked that song. They played the song for the class and then showed their Haiku Deck. At first they complained that ALL the music has bad words. I had to approve the lyrics of their song before they could use it, and some kids really struggled. They’d bring these songs to me and I’d have to point out all the ‘b’ words and ‘f’ words and so on that they don’t even hear. I talked about how powerful music is to touch our hearts and emotions, commenting that the lyrics reach us sometimes because they are part of music, in ways that the words on their own wouldn’t. I asked them to consider what they are showing themselves if the only music they ever listen to is not ‘school appropriate.’ I asked, “What are you feeding your brain and your heart by only listening to that music?” They struggled, and ultimately I suggested that if they really couldn’t find anything else they should consider oldies. I know they love that music and those songs were created in a more innocent time, when the things singers say today wouldn’t have been uttered publicly. I’m happy to say that this project has gone really well. They’ve enjoyed each other’s music and applauded loudly after each presentation. And without realizing it, they’ve done critical reading, listening, created a tech presentation and spoken in front of the class.
5. Summer Plans: I’m setting up a week-long mosaic class with a local mosaic artist. I’ve invited local people to participate, and the date is set. If we don’t get enough participants the teacher will open it up to her list of people. This will be the third time I’ve done this. It’s really satisfying. So far we have four participants. We are also going to do a painting with an artist thing here, out on my patio. That should be fun as well. Other than that, and the two trips I’m taking and some professional development days,  it’ll be a lazy few weeks. It’ll be a good summer for visitors. Hint hint!

And that’s it for today. Have a great week, filled with all the things you love to do.