The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.  ~ Mark Twain

By the time the dismissal bell rang on June 15th, I was definitely ready for summer vacation.  I was tired, and I need a break. So, what did I do with my 11 weeks “off” this summer?

• Joined LA Fitness and began going to Aqua Fit classes two or three times a week with my sister to hopefully relieve some of the pain of osteoarthritis in my knees and my all over body aches from fibromyalgia.
• Tutored one day a week at the local library.
• Joined the Summer Reading Program at my local library
• Read four adult books for pleasure (reading one more now)
• Read two YA books for my middle school students (still have one to go)
• Took a mini-class on podcasting at my local library
• Sent out a couple of things for publication (no luck just yet)
• Co-taught a PAWLP graduate class – Strategies for Teaching Writing at West Chester University.
• Attended two book club meetings.
• Had breakfast with friends and lunch with other friends
• Intermittently babysat by grandchildren (always a joy)
• Visited the Bucks County Children’s Museum with three of my four grandchildren
• Had one grandson sleep over which included him being my sous chef. He was the “whisker” at breakfast as we made French toast, and the “dumper and pusher” as we made chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon.  He dumped all the ingredients into the bowl and pushed the batter off my spoon onto the baking sheet.
• Read professional books
  • 180 Days by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittles
  • The Unstoppable Writing Teacher by M Colleen Cruz
  • Writing Strategies by Jennifer Serravallo (not the entire book- but participated in the Summer writing camp.  (LOVED IT!)
• Beginning to read Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking by Erik Palmer
• Saw two movies and loved them both
  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  • Crazy Rich Asians
• Bought three new picture books, 30 notebooks, and some dollar store finds for my classroom (so far)
• Got a couple of massages.
• Caught up on a couple of doctors’ appointments.
• Spent a long weekend at my brother and sister-in-law’s home (check out last week’s post) which we affectionately have dubbed “the spa”.  It is a place where you can enjoy a beautiful view from any room in the house and almost guaranteed to see a fawn in the backyard.
  • Viewed fireworks on the veranda with a glass of wine
  • Shopped for new sneakers with an incredibly patient sister-in-law
  • Ate delicious food, drank lots of wine, watched Phillies games, another movie (Ladybird) once we got the Netflix working, and just savored the time to talk and catch up with each other’s lives.
• Spent three nights in Atlantic City.  
  • Played the slot machines – win some/lose some.
  • Met my husband’s brother’s family for lunch and a rendezvous at Historic Smithtown, NJ.  
  • Enjoyed a wonderful seafood buffet.
  • Relaxed by the pool and hot tub.
• Did A LOT of thinking about how my classroom will be different in September. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two weeks from today I start back to school. I am ready (well almost).

As you can see by the bold items on my list, school was never far from my mind this summer.  I am sure that there a few things that I have forgotten to put on the list – both personally and professionally.  But, when I begin to think about all the things that were on my summer “to do” list that didn’t get done – most of them things around the house, I wouldn’t beat myself up or look back with regret on how I spent my time. There is not one thing on the above list that I would have been willing to cross off.

Happy start of school!

  Cheese improves the flavor of life. ~ Unknown

This past Saturday evening I had a dining experience, not just dinner at a restaurant.  I had the good fortune of enjoying an evening with Rynn and Dave Caputo of Caputo Brothers Creamery in Spring Grove, PA. (Menu pictured below)

The evening began with an “Antipasti Misti Della Casa” served on beautiful artisan plates. My favorites on the plate were Brenda’s sweet green tomato pickles and the red pepper jelly, both made by Rynn’s mother.  

After our first course there was a rousing welcome from Rynn Caputo and a short video of the creamery’s  history. It gave a glimpse into the lives of our host and hostess from the time they decided to quit their corporate jobs and travel to Italy as a couple to attend culinary school to the namesakes of Caputo Brothers – their boys Giovanni and Matteo.

After the second course, Rynn demonstrated the cheese making process and explained how their cheese was different from any other cheese you can buy in the grocery store. Caputo Brothers’ claim to fame is having the ONLY fresh mozzarella curds in the United States that do not contain citric acid. If you are like me, you a probably wondering what’s the big deal.  Well, after Rynn’s very engaging explanation of the cheese making process, I am now a convert. There are no words to describe the rich buttery flavor of the mozzarella she made for us.

All the food was delicious, but one of the highlights of the evening was the “Spaghetti Alla Pesca” made with ripe peaches from the Caputo’s own garden.  (Rynn’s mom is the gardener/farmer who attends to the acre and a half garden.) It puts a whole new spin on “mac and cheese.”

Every morsel of food was better than the one before it.  My only regret is that I forgot to take pictures of each course as it came out because not only was each one delicious, it was also a work of art.

Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who treated us to this delectable dinner and a “show.”

You can learn more about Caputo Brothers Creamery below.

https://caputobrotherscreamery.com/

#SOL

 

The desire to write grows with writing.  ~ Desiderius Erasmus

Right about this time of the year I often get a little weary and it is easy to start listing what hasn’t gone right and start planning in my head for next year.

But today I got the shot in the arm I need to finish out the year with the same enthusiasm I had when I began in September. I got to spend the day at MCIU with Jeff Anderson.  He gave us an introduction and small taste of three of his books – 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know, Mechanically Inclined, and Revision Decisions. I took notes feverishly.  

I thoroughly enjoyed my day.  Jeff was informative, inspiring, and funny.  These are some of my favorite take-away quotes.

• Teacher you’re a firework. You are the spark.  Bring joy to your students.
• The death of creativity is wanting to it to be right.
• What mark will you leave behind by what you say or don’t say, what you do or don’t do?
• Create a space where writing behaviors happen.
• Until you know what your focus is, you cannot choose the right details.
• Sentence combining is the most important part of growing writers.

And my most favorite…..

• Think of grammar as a creational facility rather than a correctional one.

I wish every professional development day could be as inspiring as this day has been!

Thank you, Jeff Anderson

@writeguyjeff

 #SOL    

 

Enjoy every moment; you never know when things might change. ~ Natalie Imbruglia

Sometimes when you don’t plan you end up having the best time. Take last Saturday for example. My husband and I kept tossing around ideas for what we were going to do once we tackled a few things on our “to do” list. Much to my surprise one of my colleagues emailed me saying she had two extra tickets to the Phillies/Marlins 6:05 game. I told Chuck of the offer, and we looked at each other a couple of times before deciding to seize the moment. What was our hesitation? Well you see the weather was not exactly baseball worthy. It was cold and a little windy.

We bundled up, packed a cooler bag, and set off for Citizens’ Bank Park. We looked more like we were going to an Eagles’ game just in red rather than midnight green. We were decked out in hoodies, hats, scarves, and winter coats. I even took a blanket! The drive down was uneventful, and before you know it we were entering the stadium and receiving a free t-shirt! We only had a short walk on the concourse to get to our seats in the right-center field. We were only a hop, skip and a jump from the bullpen. There really isn’t a bad seat in the whole ballpark!

The best part of the night was that the Phillies won 20 -1, and we got to witness two grand slams! So glad we decided to brave the weather and go to the game, if not we probably would have been asleep on the couch before the game was over.