So I thought before everyone thinks I hate my job I should explain my obsession with snow days. It has nothing to do with my job. I love my job, I adore my students, and I work with the best teachers ever! So why would I want a snow day so very badly?
I love snow days because a snow day is an unplanned day off. Emphasis on the UNPLANNED! On my regular days off, like weekends, long weekends, and national Holidays, I am already booked. I have laundry, and rides and social engagements that usually involve the children. There are forms to fill out, bills to track down, a kitchen to clean and rides. As a matter of fact, there is always something to clean. Or something I "should" be cleaning because it's my day off and this is the only time I can get it done. And did I mention RIDES! And there is this time bomb ticking called "going back to work" which means I will feel guilty if I put my feet up to read a book. Or write on my blog. Or just stare into space for awhile. (That's why I think in my van.) If I do those other things someone won't have socks tomorrow for school, the kitchen won't be clean for dinner prep after school, that one messy closet will be horrific until the last child leaves, (she's ten)!!!! And don't forget that in between all of those things that need to be done, there is swing choir practice for the boys, or musical practice, or robotics for the 12 year old, or dance class for the 10 year old. RIDES, RIDES, RIDES! (You are now in a corner in the fetal position sucking your thumb and rocking, am I right?)
But SNOW DAYS! Beautiful, beautiful snow days. EVERYTHING IS CANCELLED! NO AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES BECAUSE: NO SCHOOL! NO DANCE! NO SWING CHOIR! NO ROBOTICS! See how excited I get. All caps excited! Best of all because the day is unplanned. I don't have to clean that closet because I should be at work. I didn't plan on not being at work, so hey, I think I will have that extra cup of coffee, and yes, give me some Bailey's in it because I ain't going nowhere! I am so free that I can use double negatives on a snow day! I don't have to correct my grammar because on a snow day I don't even have to adult. In fact on a snow day the most adult thing I do is make my kids cinnamon rolls when they all roll out of bed at noon rubbing their eyes and yelling SNOW DAY! After that, they are on their own. "Mom, can I have Hot Fries for lunch?" Knock yourself out kids, mama is eating sponge candy and reading cooking magazines!
Okay, so I have to admit it is not all Shangri La on snow days, I always do laundry. Pretty much every day. But it may only be three loads instead of 10, and I live dangerously and leave it folded in the basket until tomorrow. I know, I know, you're thinking, "how scandalous!" I do it and I don't feel guilty because those three loads are bonus loads. Loads that would not have gotten done if there was no snow day. Anything I get done that day is BONUS! And I have nothing to feel guilty about. Plus, I can curl up on the couch and not worry about someone calling me for a ride home as soon as I get comfortable! NO RIDES.
So I am going to go now, put some pennies in the freezer and turn my jammies inside out. My principal says that works. And that my friends, is why she is my best friend!
Monday, January 18, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
The Art of Listening
I have learned a lot of things these last 13 years or so of driving children around. Important things! And some not so important things. First the important: your children will talk to you more in the van than they will at home. And you need to LISTEN!!!!!!
It starts when they are young and they are talking about absolutely nothing. Those are the conversations where you think putting a bullet through your head is a better alternative than listening to five more minutes of chatter that is going nowhere! But you can't do that. You have to listen! Little children, little problems, big children, big problems is so true but so is, "if you listen to them when they are little, they will talk to you when they are big!"
A teenager ready to talk will do it so much easier in a car. Especially to a mom who they know will always listen to them. A teen will talk to you in a car because there is not the awkwardness of having to look your mom in the face when you are telling her things she may not want to hear, but she needs to hear! As I drive my children here and there, we have become closer. I start to see them as people and not just my baby. I can look at the road and keep my poker face during whatever they tell me and give myself time to think before I react to what they are saying. It's a win-win situation! It's a great way to touch base with your teen, what are they doing and with whom? I've given advice, just listened, laughed and cried with them. It's mom's mobile therapy! "Have problems, will travel!"
Now to the lighter side of lessons. Pet peeve while driving number one: "people" and by "people", I mean "men", who drive in snowy weather like Mario Andretti. I saw a man today, (did I see that it was a man, no, but I just know it was, trust me), who was driving his silver sports car, on the snowy road, windows uncleared, brake lights covered with snow, (it didn't matter though because his lights were not on!), going about 90 miles an hour! As the snow is blowing off of his car, and on to everyone else's front windshield, he is leaving a wake of destruction behind him. He's gonna kill somebody today and it ain't going to be him! I bet his window was down and he was smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee too.
And of course there I am saying "look at that jerk' quietly to myself, but still out loud as if I am in a documentary about crazy drivers. I would make such a good narrator for that. I may have to suggest to my son Jacob, who is in college to learn directing, that someday I would be willing to collaborate with him on this. Next time I have him in my van, I just may do that!
It starts when they are young and they are talking about absolutely nothing. Those are the conversations where you think putting a bullet through your head is a better alternative than listening to five more minutes of chatter that is going nowhere! But you can't do that. You have to listen! Little children, little problems, big children, big problems is so true but so is, "if you listen to them when they are little, they will talk to you when they are big!"
A teenager ready to talk will do it so much easier in a car. Especially to a mom who they know will always listen to them. A teen will talk to you in a car because there is not the awkwardness of having to look your mom in the face when you are telling her things she may not want to hear, but she needs to hear! As I drive my children here and there, we have become closer. I start to see them as people and not just my baby. I can look at the road and keep my poker face during whatever they tell me and give myself time to think before I react to what they are saying. It's a win-win situation! It's a great way to touch base with your teen, what are they doing and with whom? I've given advice, just listened, laughed and cried with them. It's mom's mobile therapy! "Have problems, will travel!"
Now to the lighter side of lessons. Pet peeve while driving number one: "people" and by "people", I mean "men", who drive in snowy weather like Mario Andretti. I saw a man today, (did I see that it was a man, no, but I just know it was, trust me), who was driving his silver sports car, on the snowy road, windows uncleared, brake lights covered with snow, (it didn't matter though because his lights were not on!), going about 90 miles an hour! As the snow is blowing off of his car, and on to everyone else's front windshield, he is leaving a wake of destruction behind him. He's gonna kill somebody today and it ain't going to be him! I bet his window was down and he was smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee too.
And of course there I am saying "look at that jerk' quietly to myself, but still out loud as if I am in a documentary about crazy drivers. I would make such a good narrator for that. I may have to suggest to my son Jacob, who is in college to learn directing, that someday I would be willing to collaborate with him on this. Next time I have him in my van, I just may do that!
Friday, January 15, 2016
New Title But Same Old Me!
I am sorry that I was gone for awhile but I decided to change the name of my blog to make it more appropriate for me. It took me this long to design this one. I liked Driving Thoughts because that is what you are going to get. My thoughts while driving. I do my best thinking, praying and pondering in the car.
Let's face it, when you have driven up Colvin 3 times in one day, you begin to feel like you could do it blindfolded. Not that I would because the Kenmore cops would be all over my butt, but you get the idea. Your mind starts to think of what happened in class, or the snappy comeback you should have given someone 2 hours ago that sounds oh so funny in your mind right now! Or I could be thinking of what I'd like to say to the driver in front of me. At any rate I will be giving you insight into my mind and thoughts, so if you like scary movies, or psychotic ones, hop aboard!
The second half, TAXIng Mom is a play on words and if I have to explain it to you, well, my blog may not be for you, cause if you haven't gotten this already, I am simple and complicated. I make sense and then sometimes I don't. It's me, it's not you! Some days I will write a summary of my day and it will be all over the road, other times it may be like a peaceful country road. Even I don't know.
Summary of today, I have thought about spiritual warfare, how I can be a fun mom with my daughter Teresa today, when am I going to finally start writing again, (Ta Da!), how late are my rides tonight because it's Friday night and a glass of wine would be nice, and how can I get myself to Rome on our budget. That was about 15 minutes of driving. Oh, and the moment I got angry and started talking to a speed zone sign because it was telling me I was going 35 and I was only going 29! The next 15 minutes was about whether or not I was going to make it to all of the stops I had on time, and is there enough money in the account to take Teresa to dinner, and why can't I find music I like on the radio anymore!
That's way too much for one person to carry in their heads, so I would like to share it with you. It's the year of Mercy and we will talk about that too. My patron saint this year is Saint William of Rochester and he is in for one heck of a ride! I love the saints so you will hear about them ALOT! Most especially you will hear about my children, grandchildren and hubby. And what it's like to spend a lot of your waking hours driving kids to various activities and the things I have learned along the way. I am sometimes funny intentionally and sometimes not so intentionally. I am a softhearted woman who wears her heart on her sleeve.
I hope you will laugh and cry with me. I hope you will see yourself sometimes in my writings and know that you are not the only one who thinks this way! You are not alone my friend. Let's drive together.
Let's face it, when you have driven up Colvin 3 times in one day, you begin to feel like you could do it blindfolded. Not that I would because the Kenmore cops would be all over my butt, but you get the idea. Your mind starts to think of what happened in class, or the snappy comeback you should have given someone 2 hours ago that sounds oh so funny in your mind right now! Or I could be thinking of what I'd like to say to the driver in front of me. At any rate I will be giving you insight into my mind and thoughts, so if you like scary movies, or psychotic ones, hop aboard!
The second half, TAXIng Mom is a play on words and if I have to explain it to you, well, my blog may not be for you, cause if you haven't gotten this already, I am simple and complicated. I make sense and then sometimes I don't. It's me, it's not you! Some days I will write a summary of my day and it will be all over the road, other times it may be like a peaceful country road. Even I don't know.
Summary of today, I have thought about spiritual warfare, how I can be a fun mom with my daughter Teresa today, when am I going to finally start writing again, (Ta Da!), how late are my rides tonight because it's Friday night and a glass of wine would be nice, and how can I get myself to Rome on our budget. That was about 15 minutes of driving. Oh, and the moment I got angry and started talking to a speed zone sign because it was telling me I was going 35 and I was only going 29! The next 15 minutes was about whether or not I was going to make it to all of the stops I had on time, and is there enough money in the account to take Teresa to dinner, and why can't I find music I like on the radio anymore!
That's way too much for one person to carry in their heads, so I would like to share it with you. It's the year of Mercy and we will talk about that too. My patron saint this year is Saint William of Rochester and he is in for one heck of a ride! I love the saints so you will hear about them ALOT! Most especially you will hear about my children, grandchildren and hubby. And what it's like to spend a lot of your waking hours driving kids to various activities and the things I have learned along the way. I am sometimes funny intentionally and sometimes not so intentionally. I am a softhearted woman who wears her heart on her sleeve.
I hope you will laugh and cry with me. I hope you will see yourself sometimes in my writings and know that you are not the only one who thinks this way! You are not alone my friend. Let's drive together.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Going Back To The Beginning
This is the year I go back to blogging. I am not going to spend three hours trying to make my blog look personalized and then get so disgusted I never come back again! It's going to look boring but I can guarantee that for the most part, my writings will not be. The creativity in me is screaming to get out. My hubby is into acting, my children are into acting, singing, writing. All around me is art at work.
And I am doing laundry. And driving all of these creative people around. Meanwhile, inside my head are all kinds of thoughts, ideas, stories! Good God my head is full of stories. When you have to deal with husband, and children, and outsiders, and the 4 year olds that you teach, a lot of stories roll around in your head. THEY WANT TO GET OUT! This is the year I will work out my creativity, this is the year I will hold myself accountable in my resolutions! Even if I am the only one to read this, I will be accountable!
So the resolutions are as follows:
I will write everyday on my blog, even if only a few words!
I am throwing away negativity, towards people, towards myself, towards life! Instead of complaining about someone and judging them I will say, well bless their heart.
The gym and taking care of myself will be front and center. Which means getting that colonoscopy my doctor has been ordering me to get. And the blood work. And how about those wisdom teeth I have been holding on to for about 40 years! Okay, sorry if TMI!
Increase my prayer time. Cause if I don't spend time with God, I will get nowhere with any of the above!
That's the beginning. I have the option to mix and match, delete, add or completely change at any time my resolutions. If I do not put that disclaimer, the perfectionist in me, will quit after the first day!
Okay, so I am ready to jump into a new year! Where's the Proseco???
And I am doing laundry. And driving all of these creative people around. Meanwhile, inside my head are all kinds of thoughts, ideas, stories! Good God my head is full of stories. When you have to deal with husband, and children, and outsiders, and the 4 year olds that you teach, a lot of stories roll around in your head. THEY WANT TO GET OUT! This is the year I will work out my creativity, this is the year I will hold myself accountable in my resolutions! Even if I am the only one to read this, I will be accountable!
So the resolutions are as follows:
I will write everyday on my blog, even if only a few words!
I am throwing away negativity, towards people, towards myself, towards life! Instead of complaining about someone and judging them I will say, well bless their heart.
The gym and taking care of myself will be front and center. Which means getting that colonoscopy my doctor has been ordering me to get. And the blood work. And how about those wisdom teeth I have been holding on to for about 40 years! Okay, sorry if TMI!
Increase my prayer time. Cause if I don't spend time with God, I will get nowhere with any of the above!
That's the beginning. I have the option to mix and match, delete, add or completely change at any time my resolutions. If I do not put that disclaimer, the perfectionist in me, will quit after the first day!
Okay, so I am ready to jump into a new year! Where's the Proseco???
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Resolute to not Resolute???
Happy New Year everyone! I know it is the time of year when everyone makes resolutions, but I can't. I just can't. I am too perfectionist with a touch of ADD and OCD and throw in some procrastination and a dash of guilt, voila, the keys to resolution failure! I mean sure, I have made resolutions before. I have gone out and bought beautiful journals and packages of pens, and sat by myself on New Years Eve, good smelling candle lit, all pumped up, ready to resolute. I have written pages of things I wanted to change. Yes, there were even a few years where I put friends and family into categories and described how I would change my thoughts, words and actions toward each one of them!
And then it would happen. The kid I resoluted about not yelling at, did something to totally tick me off! And I would lose my cool. Or I would resolute to lose weight and eat healthy and then spend the next day driving kids around with only time for a quick coffee and chocolate chip muffin while going through the drive through. That night as I stuffed myself with buttery popcorn and sweetened iced tea, I would feel like a failure! What is wrong with me I would ask myself? Goodness gracious can't I even stick to something for one lousy, cotton pickin, day! Nope.
I finally realized though, that it wasn't me. It was my life. Not that my life is bad, it is an awesome life, I just had to stop putting unrealistic expectations on myself. I had to adapt changes that were feasible to my own life. But until I could figure out how to do that, I just stopped making resolutions. That hasn't been working very well either. Because if I don't take stock in my life, I will never make any of the necessary changes that will make me more in tune with God's will and more in tune with who He wants me to be. So what to do, what to do....
I have thought about my situation a lot this past week and decided on one thing I would like to change. I am going to try with God's grace to change my negative attitude regarding people, places and things. What does this mean to me? Well, for one thing I am going to try and stop judging people and try and put myself in their shoes, and when I can't, I will let go and let God. Next, I am going to be grateful for all that I have in my own life. I know I am on the right track with this one because I have seen this word gratitude several times in several different places in the last few days. God always lets me know when I am on the right track by putting themes in my face over and over, cause He knows His dear daughter needs to be hit over the head a few times before she gets the idea! Lastly, I am going to stop being negative about myself. I am going to stop worrying about what I "think" other people are thinking about me, because I don't know the reality of what they are thinking, it might not even be about me, and furthermore, it is none of my business! Not only am I going to try with God's grace to stop thinking badly of myself, I am going to treat myself better. I run around taking care of everyone but me! I am no good to anyone unless I start by taking care of myself! The nice thing about it is that it will mean something new depending on each day. One day it might mean treating myself to a Tim Horton's coffee, the next day it might mean skipping laundry and catching up on my cooking magazines. Or watching the Disney channel with my girls underneath a cozy blanket. It will just depend on what God gives me that day, which will lead me back to gratitude and a more positive attitude. One big resolution circle!
Now you might be thinking dear reader, she has gotten herself into the same old same old trap. But no, no I haven't. I put some key words into my resolution. Like, the word "try". I am going to "try" to make these changes, every day I will "try", and like the old adage says, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" I have given myself permission right from the start to only "try" so that if one of these days I have loose tongue syndrome and negativity comes pouring out, I don't have permission to throw in the towel and scrap the whole idea! I have to pick myself up and try all over again! Secondly, but most importantly, I am aware that I can only make these changes with God's grace, because let's face it people, I don't know about you, but without Him I ain't even going to breath on my own today! I learned once awhile back, that if you want to change something in your life, if you really want to pull something out of your life by the root, you should ask Jesus for the grace right after you receive Communion. I did that with my battle with jealousy and it worked! So I will be asking Jesus to take away my negativity towards others and to replace it with a loving heart and what better time to ask Him then when He is residing in my heart and it is just me and Him, right after Communion! The only way this will work is to pull the negativity out by its' root, it has been planted there for generations. Believe me, I come from a long line of negativity, with a few sprouts of positive, (like my sweet cousin Doreen who always has a nice word to say about every one! She is awesome and I want to be more like her when I grow up!). I am fighting a spiritual battle, (aren't we all) and I need God to help me through, I just can't do it on my own! No one can, and that is the way God wants it because He wants us to lean on Him, to go to Him and ask for help. He will be hearing from me a lot this year!! All in all, I think as far as non-resolutions go, this is a good one!
Plan B:
Anyone seen the duct tape? Mom needs it for her mouth!
And then it would happen. The kid I resoluted about not yelling at, did something to totally tick me off! And I would lose my cool. Or I would resolute to lose weight and eat healthy and then spend the next day driving kids around with only time for a quick coffee and chocolate chip muffin while going through the drive through. That night as I stuffed myself with buttery popcorn and sweetened iced tea, I would feel like a failure! What is wrong with me I would ask myself? Goodness gracious can't I even stick to something for one lousy, cotton pickin, day! Nope.
I finally realized though, that it wasn't me. It was my life. Not that my life is bad, it is an awesome life, I just had to stop putting unrealistic expectations on myself. I had to adapt changes that were feasible to my own life. But until I could figure out how to do that, I just stopped making resolutions. That hasn't been working very well either. Because if I don't take stock in my life, I will never make any of the necessary changes that will make me more in tune with God's will and more in tune with who He wants me to be. So what to do, what to do....
I have thought about my situation a lot this past week and decided on one thing I would like to change. I am going to try with God's grace to change my negative attitude regarding people, places and things. What does this mean to me? Well, for one thing I am going to try and stop judging people and try and put myself in their shoes, and when I can't, I will let go and let God. Next, I am going to be grateful for all that I have in my own life. I know I am on the right track with this one because I have seen this word gratitude several times in several different places in the last few days. God always lets me know when I am on the right track by putting themes in my face over and over, cause He knows His dear daughter needs to be hit over the head a few times before she gets the idea! Lastly, I am going to stop being negative about myself. I am going to stop worrying about what I "think" other people are thinking about me, because I don't know the reality of what they are thinking, it might not even be about me, and furthermore, it is none of my business! Not only am I going to try with God's grace to stop thinking badly of myself, I am going to treat myself better. I run around taking care of everyone but me! I am no good to anyone unless I start by taking care of myself! The nice thing about it is that it will mean something new depending on each day. One day it might mean treating myself to a Tim Horton's coffee, the next day it might mean skipping laundry and catching up on my cooking magazines. Or watching the Disney channel with my girls underneath a cozy blanket. It will just depend on what God gives me that day, which will lead me back to gratitude and a more positive attitude. One big resolution circle!
Now you might be thinking dear reader, she has gotten herself into the same old same old trap. But no, no I haven't. I put some key words into my resolution. Like, the word "try". I am going to "try" to make these changes, every day I will "try", and like the old adage says, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" I have given myself permission right from the start to only "try" so that if one of these days I have loose tongue syndrome and negativity comes pouring out, I don't have permission to throw in the towel and scrap the whole idea! I have to pick myself up and try all over again! Secondly, but most importantly, I am aware that I can only make these changes with God's grace, because let's face it people, I don't know about you, but without Him I ain't even going to breath on my own today! I learned once awhile back, that if you want to change something in your life, if you really want to pull something out of your life by the root, you should ask Jesus for the grace right after you receive Communion. I did that with my battle with jealousy and it worked! So I will be asking Jesus to take away my negativity towards others and to replace it with a loving heart and what better time to ask Him then when He is residing in my heart and it is just me and Him, right after Communion! The only way this will work is to pull the negativity out by its' root, it has been planted there for generations. Believe me, I come from a long line of negativity, with a few sprouts of positive, (like my sweet cousin Doreen who always has a nice word to say about every one! She is awesome and I want to be more like her when I grow up!). I am fighting a spiritual battle, (aren't we all) and I need God to help me through, I just can't do it on my own! No one can, and that is the way God wants it because He wants us to lean on Him, to go to Him and ask for help. He will be hearing from me a lot this year!! All in all, I think as far as non-resolutions go, this is a good one!
Plan B:
Anyone seen the duct tape? Mom needs it for her mouth!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Standing on the Edge of a Brand New Year
I have longed to write for awhile now. But I also have this problem with semi-perfectionism, I felt like I couldn't write unless my blog was perfectly perfect. It had to have the right pictures and colors, etc, etc! I couldn't figure out how to do it though. So I would spend hours trying to set the perfect template and size and re-size pictures and the next thing ya know, I had no time to actually write. So I said, the heck with this, I will just start a whole new blog!
Don't expect to come here for thrills, frills and fancy settings. You are not going to get them. My grammar may suck at times, and oh yeah, I may use a bad word or two. If I can eventually figure it out, you may see a nice background and pics of my kids. But I am not going all OCD about whether or not my blog has a flowery border. Take me or leave me.
I can promise you this, I will be interesting for the most part. I will be real. Most of what I write will be real, because when you have a husband, 9 kids, a son in law, 2 grandkids, 3 cats, one turtle and bats in your attic, you don't need to make stuff up. It just comes naturally!
Ok, so fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a great ride in 2014 on my blog! You may want to start drinking wine. Or vodka and cranberry. Or share your favorite cocktails with me. Just get ready. Hoping to make you laugh, and cry, and rethink some things in life. Isn't that what writers are supposed to do? Well come with me while I hone my craft. My family is full of artistic types in music and acting. As for me, I have always fancied myself a writer and time will tell if you agree with me. Either which way, we shall have fun my friend.
Now go enjoy your New Year's Eve. Dream your dreams, plan your plans, and get excited for the new year! Anything is possible.
Especially with God!
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