I love to win a prize—any prize! I love prizes and surprises, free stuff, and good deals. A few weeks ago, I won a prize that knocked my socks off! Here’s the back story. I participated in a 5K walk for a local charity. No, I didn’t win the walk. (Can you win a walk?)…
Life After School
Treat Yourself!
Sometimes, it doesn’t feel like there’s enough time in a day, a week, or even a month to do something special just for yourself. One of my struggles is taking the time to do something nice for myself. As I increase in age (thank goodness for that!), I’m learning to give myself a break. I…
I Want to Be Olga
A couple of weeks back, Olga Kotelko was featured in Parade in my Sunday newspaper. I want to be Olga when I grow up. Olga is a retired school teacher from West Vancouver, Canada. She is 94 years old and still going strong! And I mean going strong. Currently, she is the only woman in…
Holiday Cards?
One day last week, I received three very special holiday cards. One card was from my cat. One card was from my pooch. The third card was from my neighbors who, each year without fail, thoughtfully send along this trio of holiday greetings. These days, fewer and fewer of my friends and family members mail…
Thanksgiving Follow Up
Are you eating leftovers? Are you shopping for deals? Are you watching football? Are you putting up holiday decorations? Hmmmm, what else could you be doing? Certainly not school work (I hope)! Tell us what you like to do on a day off from teaching, and this little penguin could be headed your way. Of…
Coworkers and Friends?
Last weekend, I went to a three-day scrapbooking retreat with Lynn, the managing editor of The Mailbox magazine Kindergarten edition. Around six years ago, we discovered that we were both into paper crafts. Ever since, we’ve been piling ridiculous amounts of crafting stuff in either her car or my car and going to various…
Teachers’ Pets
Did your nose wrinkle as you read the title of this blog? If it did—unwrinkle it! This blog is not about the notion that teachers show favoritism to select students. Ugh! We know better! Nope, this blog is about our furry, feathery, and scaly companions who are sooooo happy to see us after a long…
Honoring Our Veterans
I was touched by a recent news story about 13 US Marines returning home from Afghanistan on an American Airlines flight. Apparently it is the airline’s policy to upgrade service men and women in uniform to first class whenever possible. On this particular flight there were only six first-class seats available, leaving seven Marines in…
Hot Diggity Dogs!
July is National Hot Dog Month. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans are expected to eat 150 million hot dogs over the July 4th holiday. That’s a lot of hot dogs! Before moving to North Carolina, I was strictly a mustard-on-my-dog type of gal. Then I learned about chili, cheese, slaw,…
Confessions of a Beach Bum
For a few days last week, I escaped to a North Carolina beach. I’m not going to fib—it was absolutely fabulous! I slept in, stayed up late, walked the beach daily, filled up on fish and waffles (but not together!), read two books, and on and on the list could go. It was definitely a…