Sunday Morning "Fight"

Ahhh, Sunday morning, been waiting for you all week
Saturday was spent running errands which is nothing unique
But in the quiet of the early morning hour
I’m digging deep for some much needed will power
Zumba . . . treadmill . . . weight class . . . when I just want to sit
All the time knowing the latter has no benefit
So I’ll need to stop slicing  . . . need not to procrastinate
But rather get moving and pump up my heart rate!

Smile Found During ISAT

Proctoring ISAT  . . . is monotonous  to say the least, so I tried to find something to smile about during those long days . . . I did  . . .  one thing . . .
As most of you may know, directions must be read exactly as scripted . . . a new part of the directions is that if a student has a cell phone it must be turned off and placed in a basket.  Now working in a K-5 building, we don’t see cell phones that often.  So on the first day  the cell phone direction was read . . . absolutely no response or movement from the students . . . second day, exactly the same . . .   absolutely no response or movement . . . then the third day, the teacher began reading the directions and I of course am expecting the same “non”  response when . . . all of a sudden 6 students stand up pull a cell phone from their pocket and place it in the basket!  I’m chuckling softly to myself when a young girl turns and says to me, “Mrs. Wiater, I think they brought in cell phones just so they could try and look cool” I smiled and said, “honey, I think you are exactly right!”  Out of the mouth of one smart young 5th grader!

A Brief Look Back Some 20 Years . . .

I had a surprise in my mailbox the other day at work.  I received a catalog for 20 years of service in my school district.  I was to choose a gift from the many choices. I scanned the gifts, but a  funny thing happened, all I could think was . . .
WHAT!?!  Where the heck did the last 20 years go! 
I slid back in time to my first year as a teacher . . .
Memories so clear . . . like it was yesterday!
Here are a few . . .
    My first parent information night, thank goodness we didn’t have air conditioning back then . . . there was an excuse for  my very sweaty armpits.
    My first class, oh how the 5th grade “gods” must have been looking out for me . . . the class was almost perfect in every way.
    My first “note” from a student . . . “Mrs. Wiater you are really funny and I love being in your class” . . . talk about the flood gates opening.
    The first time I had to decide a consequence for 2 really nice boys that just made a bad decision . . . it took me back to when I was in grammar school and how the teacher DID NOT give me a break . . . guess what I did?  . . .  I gave the boys a pass.
    The day our TDP teacher came back from a conference and told us how we would soon be able to go on the computer, and with the click of a button, would be able to go anywhere in the world . . . the internet!
    And the young teacher who greeted me with a warm smile one morning and asked me, how I was doing? . . . I mean she really wanted to know how I was . . .
And still today she is one of my dearest friends . . . some 20 years later...
Funny how a catalog can bring back so many memories!

Winter

 

 

 

 

winter, winter please go away
snow
cold temps
grey skies
hibernationI yearn to see . . .
the sun
green trees
animals scurrying
flowers all in bloom
I need to feel . . .
sun’s warmth on my skin
soft green grass under my feet
soil as I plant tender herbs in my garden
my legs pumping my bike through the forest
I need to hear . . .
splashing of cool water in the pool
ice cubes slowly melting as they cuddle my Corona Lites
birds waking me up . . . even when it’s before dawn
summer, summer please come back!

My Excitment For New York

 As I think about my upcoming trip to New York the excitement builds . . . but my excitement is not because I’ll be going to the the city that never sleeps, it’s in anticipation of seeing my niece Lyndsey . . . 
Let me tell you a little bit about her . . . When I think of Lyndsey . . .

loving, passionate, caring, independent (she gets this from me,) strong, organized (she gets this from her mom,)  and loyal come to my mind . . .

Lyndsey came into this world happy and content . . .  In fact, she was so content that she pretty much slept all the time!  My sister and I always said she was sent from an 

Opening presents on Christmas Eve with her purse on!

angel . . . that angel is our mom.  She was a “girly” girl from the very beginning . . . in every picture, she was holding her little purse and there had to be a pretend lipstick in it.  
Everyone would tell my sister and I . . .  just wait until the “terrible twos” . . . we waited, and waited . . . but nothing changed she sailed through as sweet and loving as always.  From a very young age she loved to learn, she soaked up books even before she could read the words . . . and always loved to share her new knowledge . . . that’s why at a very early age she asked me to buy her an overhead projector for Christmas for “school” where she “taught” her friends.  Entering the “teen” years my sister and I waited for her to turn into . . . you know the transformation “teens” go through, but again, we waited and waited and she just became more loving and passionate setting high goals for her future.  She knew what she wanted and where she would go to get them.
And now a young  woman . . . a woman who wants to make a difference . . . a woman who never ceases to amaze me with her spirit . . . a woman I would never hesitate to ask advice . . . a woman who just seeing her name pop on my phone makes me smile . . . a woman who I love more than life!
And on most Sundays when my sister and I “facetime” her and I lean in to the screen to give her a kiss . . . and that beautiful smile appears on her face . . . WOW!! my heart warms to a zillion degrees and my day . . . well my day couldn’t be better!
143 Honey . . .

Lyndsey today on a recent trip visiting her brother Jason in CA