Today’s slice is a 54321 Daily Reflection idea I found on https://www.hellobrio.com/blog/54321-journal.

5 Things On My Mind

• Easter Break: There are only three school days next week, then six days (including the weekend) off.  I look forward to spending time with family and sleeping in a day or two. I would like to take care of some things on my “to-do” list while I am off.
• New Air-Conditioning Unit: The contractor dropped off the units, now we wait and see if the weather cooperates with the installation plans. We’ve been saving for this for a while, and the time is finally here.  
• Clutter: I am on a mission to declutter my life – my home, my classroom, my inbox, my mind.   I am taking baby steps, but each drawer, shelf, or closet cleaned out gets me closer to my goal. 
• The State of the World: Watching local, national, and international news is brutal. I would love to put my head in the sand and ignore it all, but I can’t. It all makes me sad and worried about what the world will be like for my grandchildren. 
• Tiredness:  I have been so tired lately. Maybe over the break, I can start a routine that will help me have more energy – like sleeping longer at night, exercising, meditation, or yoga.  

4 Things To Do Tomorrow

• AquaFit:  I look forward to my weekly Saturday classes in the pool.  I can do so many things in the pool that my body can’t do on dry land. I feel invincible in the pool!
• Read:  Trying to read at night during the week has not been working for me, so I am penciling in time during the day this weekend.  I am reading The Great Alone.
• March Madness:  This time of year is always exciting yet frustrating if you have a bracket. (I don’t, but my husband has been yelling at the TV.).
• Dinner at Capital Grille: My siblings are taking us to dinner to celebrate my husband’s retirement.  I have never been to this restaurant, but the menu looks delectable.

3 Things I’m Grateful For

• Closet: I cleaned out a closet at school, and it feels so freeing. There were books in there that were here before I arrived 11 years ago.  Time to purge!
• Easier lesson planning:  With only three days next week, planning was a breeze.
• Comfy clothes:  Changing out of my work clothes into something more comfortable can change my whole mood – especially my slippers!

2 Things I Want Less Of

• Scrolling:  I am trying, but my phone has me in its grips.  Too often in the evening, I find myself mindlessly scrolling social media.  Maybe that’s why I am not getting any reading in.
• Clutter:  As you can see, it is REALLY on my mind and appearing twice.  

1 Soul Moment

• Seeing my kids be there for each other whenever they can.

Tonight was the night I was going to write checks to pay my taxes. The money transfer was complete, and I was ready to go – or so I thought. When I went up to my desk at home, I couldn’t find the Federal Tax coupon or my real estate tax bill. I had purposely made sure that I brought them up to my home office and put them in a “safe spot.”

I didn’t actually forget where they were, but they were not easily found. Somehow in the time since I brought them up a couple of weeks ago and tonight, they managed to get separated from each other and ended up under some other “important” papers. Can I just say that I searched both desks in the office more than once before they were found? I am sure I must have touched them both while going through the piles of paperwork.

It wasn’t until I gave up for a bit, ate dinner, and then climbed back up to the “safe spot” to search again did I find them. I am sure the entire time I was looking my husband was praying to St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost things.

As soon as I hit publish on this post, I am going to write those checks, put stamps on the envelopes, and put payments on the curio by the front door. Now I just hope I remember to put them in the mailbox tomorrow! 🙂

Today is the day that the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph. St. Joseph is known for being the foster father of Jesus Christ and the patron saint of workers. (I learned today that he is also the patron saint of pastry chefs!) The feast day is not celebrated in church with special services, but if you’re Italian, it is definitely celebrated with a special dessert.

There are different stories surrounding how St. Joseph became associated with pastries, but I am always willing to celebrate with a St. Joseph Cake (aka Zeppole). Traditionally, they consist of fried dough (think of a French cruller) filled with ricotta cheese filling, much like cannolis, including little chunks of citron, dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a cherry. Other varieties include vanilla custard or whipped cream fillings. I always choose ricotta.

My husband introduced me to St. Joseph Cakes. They were a yearly tradition in his South Philadelphia home on March 19th. He loves this day because his middle name is Joseph, so he considers it another one of his feast days. (To Italians, feast days were/are as important as birthdays.) So tonight I will celebrate this special tradition with my husband and enjoy a St. Joseph Day treat.

And the answer is…last night!

Yesterday we spent the evening with our granddaughters and left our son’s house around 11:45 PM to come home. Our drive is about 30 minutes at that time of the night and is usually uneventful.

We were about halfway home when my husband noticed a lot of police lights about a half mile up the road. By this time it was after 12:00 AM, and I had my head buried in my Connections puzzle. I gave it a quick glance and thought there must be an accident. You may have guessed where this is going, but I am too naive sometimes. 🙂

As we got closer, traffic slowed to a halt, and we realized that it was a sobriety checkpoint. There were at least 10 -12 police vehicles with their lights flashing, and I had to shield my eyes because my biggest fear was getting a migraine from all the flashing lights.

Finally, it was our turn to stop and be questioned by the police officers. There was an officer on either side of the SUV, so we both rolled our windows down. They were very nice and asked us where we were coming from and the ages of our grandchildren, and they engaged us in other small talk. Apparently, babysitting was very popular last night because the woman in front of us had been watching her four-month-old grandchild. After a quick flashlight check of the front seats, we were on our way.

While the checkpoint was a minor inconvenience, and it delayed our arrival home by about 10-15 minutes, I am grateful to the law enforcement officers for doing what they could to make driving safer for everyone.

I guess there really is a first time for everything!

I will be having sweet dreams of my granddaughters and our evening of fun. We made a leprechaun trap and played school. I, of course, was the student who kept forgetting to raise her hand! 😂

They made Irish potatoes with Pops after eating a wonderful dinner he made for us. Nona was on cleanup duty which was fine by me – the easier job for sure.

Pops and Nona will sleep well tonight! 😴

This week felt very long, and a list of things was hanging over my head – permission slips for two different trips, making up work with absent students, last-minute grading, and grades due at 8:00 AM this morning. The last thing on my list was Stations of the Cross.

Each Friday during Lent a different grade leads the Stations of the Cross devotion for the entire school community. The 7th-grade students had been working on their parts for a week and felt prepared. I, on the other hand, was feeling a bit stressed. Stations of the Cross is very solemn, and I knew they would do a wonderful job, but they are in middle school, and sometimes laughing happens when nerves rear their ugly head. Well, my stress was for naught. The students rose to the occasion and gave the school community a reverent time for reflection.

Deep Breath

Deep Breath

Deep Breath

Leaving school with an empty backpack feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I am going home with plans for comfy clothes, a wonderful dinner prepared by my chef-husband, and curling up with my newest read to help me breathe into my weekend.

Today’s Jetpack prompt is: What activities do you lose yourself in?

This was a tough one because I only wanted to write wonderful activities, but unfortunately, I can get lost in activities that don’t add anything to my life.

Losing myself in a good book is one of my favorite ways to spend an evening, but others like listening to relaxing music, journaling, and connecting with my family or friends are worth getting lost in too. When I do any of these things, two hours can seem like 10 minutes, and I am sorry when the time is up. These things refresh my soul.

There are other activities that I get lost in such as watching sports on TV, particularly baseball (14 days until Opening Day), watching a Hallmark Movie or a Netflix series that I enjoy, but exactly soul refreshing – more like relaxers.

Then there are the rabbit holes I get lost in which are energy drainers. These can eat away at your time and your spirit like termites eat away at your house – barely noticed until it is too late and an intervention is needed. What might they be you ask? Well… scrolling social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and sometimes Threads) is the number one culprit, but there are a couple of games I still play on my iPhone (Words With Friends, Bingo Clash) that can keep me glued to my screen for much too long!

Losing yourself in some activities can help you nurture your true self but others can also move you away from your true self. What activities do you lose yourself in? Are they helping you find your true self or leading you in the opposite direction?

This afternoon I opened a fortune cookie, and this was inside.

Everyone has some challenges in their life that can color the way they look at the world. We have the power to look at everything thrown our way, but only SEE what makes life worth living and makes us happy.

Isn’t it so true? We can wake up every day and choose to let the challenges we meet bring us down and make us miserable, OR we can choose to focus on what makes our day brighter and better. I believe happiness is a choice we make, and it is in the way we view our lives.

These are some of the things that have made me happy in the last 24 hours.

• Beautiful spring-like weather that greeted me as I walked to my car after school
• Finishing my book club book – The Lost Letters of Ireland by Susanne O’Leary
• Text messages from my six-year-old grandson. “I love you Nona, This is N.” followed by a emojis galore – of course there were some poop ones 🙂
• One-on-one tutoring and being able to make a more personal connection and build a trusting relationship
• New buds on the Weeping Willow tree around the corner
• Enjoying the Happy Hour menu (sodas only) at a neighborhood restaurant with my husband
• Missing the squirrel that darted in front of my car on the way to work. (It was close!)
• My entire homeroom was present today
• Phone calls with both of my children
• Almost finishing my grading for the trimester
• My back hasn’t gotten stuck when I bend over
• Bird serenades in the morning
• Having one more tea bag left in my stash at school

I am sure I could find more if I sat here long enough. Today had it’s challenges; one being I had no breaks (or yesterday) because a special teacher was home sick. In my younger days that would have been enough to have me growling for days, and then no one would be happy. Now I know better.

What happy thoughts or memories are in your mind right now?