Stillness – the absence of movement or sound.

When was the last time you were “still?” I am really good at stilling my body; sitting in the recliner or taking a little nap are things I can do easily and well. Stilling my mind is a completely different story. My mind is constantly in a state of motion.

I have had a dull headache for several days which is most likely the result of a few different things – my misaligned jaw, the rainy weather, the current political climate, and the threat of COVID-19. I realized tonight that there really is such a thing as information overload. I have found myself checking news outlets several times during the day to get the latest information concerning the virus outbreak, and since it has appeared in my county of PA, my mind continues to make lists of what I might need for an extended stay at home. I am certainly not in panic mode, but obviously my body is telling me that the media overload is definitely taking it’s toll on me.

Tomorrow I am going to invite stillness into my life. I am going to cut back on the news and take a few brain breaks where I give myself time to be free from movement and sounds for even just a few minutes – where the sound of my breathing is the only sound or movement I can hear or feel. Wish me luck.

Best things happen when they are unplanned.

Unknown

Short post tonight – still working on that weekend “to do” list.

Today we hosted an impromptu breakfast for the kids and grandkids. It was unplanned and wonderful. My husband called me from work yesterday and told me to see if the kids were available for breakfast today. The stars aligned, and they were free (all except my son-in-law who works on Sunday).

The table was full of food, and the chairs around the table were full of love. Besides having a delicious breakfast there were toys scattered all over the family room floor, laughing and giggling, pillow fights, music making, airplane glider flying, and a granddaughter reading to me!

This certainly wasn’t on my “to do” list but it will be on my “must do” list from now on. It has been too long since we all got together, and the grandkids had a chance to play together.

Breakfast was a unplanned part of my day, but it was the best part!

February was a really rough month for me. I had my last wisdom tooth extracted at the beginning of the month, and long story short, I had some complications. I feel like I lost the whole month to dentist visits and pain.

Now that the first week of March is almost over and we are going to lose an hour tonight, I am feeling a little overwhelmed and weighed down by things that did not get done in February. Last night I decided to give myself the weekend off from anything that was on my calendar, and take control of these two days instead.

What’s on my list you ask?

• get my taxes completed
• finish my grading – papers and tests
• catch up on laundry
• go through this week’s mail
• outline some new writing projects
• write some thank you notes
• tackle some clutter
• finish overdue birthday pages for my grandkids
• spend some time reading my book club book

Now some of these tasks are more pleasing than others, so I am going to play my usual game – grade a set of tests – read a chapter of my book – go through the mail – read a chapter of my book and so on and so on until I get to cross everything off my list.

I am not delusional; I may not get everything checked off, but it is worth the try. My goal is to get as much that is weighing me down off my shoulders as I possible can and wake up on Monday morning and fly. What will help you to fly?

We are all actors playing different roles in different phases of our life. But we must try to play each role to perfection.

thetimepass.com

Today my 7th graders were working on identifying prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Although I don’t remember the exact sentence, one of the students identified the word “for” as a conjunction, however in this particular case it was being used as a preposition. As a way to try and get them to understand that we identify words by how they function in a sentence as opposed to the word itself, I used a student as an example. I explained that Timmy was their classmate, but he was also a son, a brother, a nephew, a grandchild etc. That got me thinking about some of the different roles I play in my life.

I am a daughter – who made my parents proud by following the values and principles they set forth for my siblings and me through their words and how they lived their lives (most of the time). A daughter who did her best to take care of each of them as they aged – Dad till 67 – Mom till 90.

I am a spouse – who married her high school sweetheart and has been just in love ever since. (I never tire of telling our story.)

I am a mom – who loves her daughter and son to death. A mom they have made so proud by being good humans who weren’t afraid (well maybe just a little) to work hard and pursue their dreams and start families of their own.

I am a mother-in-law – who thanks God every day that her children have found such wonderful partners who love them like Chuck and I love each other and who make them perfect pairs.

I am a Nona – who loves her four grandchildren more than life itself – whose heart grew with each birth and continues to grow with each little smile and hug.

I am all of these people and more – a sister, a sister-in-law, a niece, an aunt, a teacher, a neighbor, a colleague, a friend, a Catholic, a musician, a writer. Maybe I will explore some of those roles in a later post. What roles do you play in life?

I was having a tough time choosing a topic for today. I searched writing prompts and came across this one: write a letter to your 14 year old self. So here goes….

Dear Rita,

I know that being a high school freshman is not the easiest place to be because it is both exciting and petrifying at the same time. I want to let you know that you should not be apprehensive; life won’t always be easy, but it will be good.

Next year you will meet the boy of your dreams, and he will be your date at the Soph Hop and the Junior and Senior Proms. He will be your forever date. He will be with you when you play in the All-City Orchestra at the Academy of Music and as you make your way to college to study music and become a music teacher.

You will get married, buy a house, and have two children. You will make some great decisions, and some not so great ones, but you will figure it out. You will weather loss of jobs, loss of friends, and loss of a couple of things you will forever miss (high school ring, Mom’s cross). Yet, you will be blessed in so many ways.

You will remain close to your siblings, and they will become your angels on earth who you can always depend on to come through in a pinch. But don’t worry – Sunday will still be “Pick on Rita Day!”

You will become a music teacher and share your love with countless children and eventually return to your love of writing. Being a teacher was who you were meant to be. You will travel a little, but your favorite place to be will be at home with your family gathered around the dinner table.

You will face your share of challenges, but you will always find a way to move forward, survive, and thrive. You will be OK – more than OK. Try not to worry so much over things you can’t control, but it is not an easy habit to break.

Enjoy every moment of every day because life flies by. It will seem to go faster as you grow older. You will look back and laugh at the bell-bottom jeans, fly – eye large glasses, and oh those hair styles!

Each of your experiences will be mold you into a woman of character, kindness, and compassion. And you will have the cutest grandchildren on the face of the earth!

Take care,

Your slightly past middle-aged self.

No one is perfect – that’s why pencils have erasers.

Wolfgang Riebe

What would you erase from your life if you had a magic eraser? I started thinking about this after getting the above quote as a text message from an inspirational app.

I would love to erase 50 – 75 pounds! I would erase the negative talk that sometimes plays in my head, and of course my credit card debt. Away would go the clutter lurking in my closets and spare rooms, junk mail, and robocalls. What next? Gone would be alarm clocks, loading the dishwasher, and grading papers. Wow, this is fun! What about you? Will it be your noisy neighbor or data overages on your cell phone?

As much as I really would like to get rid of some of these things and have a clean slate, life isn’t perfect. If it were, what lessons would we learn? What experiences would we miss? Because I know I am far from perfect, I am glad that each night I lay my head on the pillow and close my eyes I get to erase the stress of the day and start over in the morning…after hitting the snooze button a couple of times!

Sometimes saying “I love you” is more than those three little words. This August, I will be married 40 years, and come December my husband I will have been together 47 years. We were high school sweethearts who have spent nearly five decades of learning, and laughing, and loving this life we have created. What I have learned over these many years is that “I love you” in many unstated ways.

Here are some of the ways my husband tells me he loves me without uttering those three little words.

• shopping for groceries
• cooking dinner every night
• filling my car with gas each week
• making sure the doors are locked at night
• calling me on his break at work
• doing laundry
• sharing our favorite stories over and over
• always supporting my dreams
• being my biggest cheerleader
• telling me to have a good day every morning
• telling me to be careful when I go out

I am sure that there are many more that aren’t coming to mind right now. I always say that I am not high maintenance, but I am treated like a princess, and I definitely married a prince.

My favorite sport is baseball, and there is nothing better than counting down to opening day. I really can’t wait until my beloved Phillies take the field, and I am listening to the crack of the bat. But until then I am making a point to watch basketball with my husband. I figure since there are only the two of us living in our home, we shouldn’t always be watching different TV programs in different rooms.

It is not like I hate basketball; its just not my favorite, but Chuck is my favorite person to spend time with. Watching the Sixers or college games together gives us another layer of things to add to our conversations.

What have we been discussing?

• Why is Joel Embiid shushing the crowd?
• Why can’t the 76ers win on the road?
• Why do professional athletes complain when the crowd boos? Aren’t they being paid to perform?
• Why can’t Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid get along and “blend?”

Now the answers to these questions are not going to solve world problems, but we like to compare our answers with the sports pundits. Being totally truthful – sometimes one or both of us falls asleep during the game, and we watch the highlights later! Togetherness.

Today is the start of “Slice of Life 2020.” This blogging challenge is sponsored by twowritingteachers.com and is in its 13th year. It was this challenge that inspired me to finally start my blog. I had been seeing writing colleagues’ posts and so wanted to be a part of the excitement. I finally mustered up enough courage to begin my blog, “Practicing What I Teach,” and join in the fun. This is my fifth year participating in the challenge.

For those of you who may not know, the challenge is to write and post on my blog everyday in the month of March; then upload my post to twowritingteachers.com and comment on at least three other posts. Some days the writing comes easy; other days it is a struggle, but I have successfully completed the challenge the past four years, so I am hoping I can do it again this year.

I am so grateful to the other participants of this challenge for their inspiration. As I read and comment on various posts each day, I find so many ideas for things to write about. I get a chance to see glimpses of the world through the eyes of others and gain a new perspective. The words of encouragement I receive from other writers always reminds me of what I should and hopefully am doing for my students as well as my writing communities.

Even though I am a little apprehensive beginning this challenge, I know that I will become a better writer, responder, and teacher because of it. Let the March blogging begin!

For about a month my lower right back tooth was starting to be sensitive to cold. I couldn’t tell if it was the last of my wisdom teeth or the crown next to it that was actually giving me trouble. I made an appointment with the dentist and low and behold, the wisdom tooth had a rather large cavity and need to be pulled.

The first of my wisdom teeth were pulled in my dentist’s office when I was in my 20’s – easy peasy. The third one was about five years ago in my current dentist’s office. It was not pleasant, and I swore I would never get another tooth pulled unless I went to an oral surgeon and was knocked out cold!

Well, I guess time has a way of making you forget about things. How bad could it be? AWFUL!!! I took the dentist at least 45 minutes to get the tooth out of my mouth. He drilled; he yanked; he had to get another instrument. I could hear the breaking of the tooth, the whirring of the drill, and the instruments scraping along the tooth without getting a good grip. Needless to say, I felt quite beaten up.

I managed some scrambled eggs for dinner and a call to get a sub for Tuesday, and then I settled into the recliner for the night. That’s where I stayed all day Tuesday. Returning to school on Wednesday, I thought everything would gradually begin to feel better. Not the case.

Each day things got worse. By the weekend I was cancelling plans and counting the hours until I could call the dentist on Monday morning. Long story shortish- I have dry socket. It is very painful. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I have to see the dentist every day until it heals. I will spare you the gory details.

I researched and less than 1-5% of people who get teeth extracted end up with dry socket. Lucky me! Maybe I should head to Vegas!

Moral of the story: Get your wisdom teeth taken out when you are young!