#SOL18

Nothing has more strength than dire necessity. ~Euripides

I learned how to do two new things this because I had to.  First, the IT person at my school was collecting iPads to do some network updating. I was scheduled to turn mine in yesterday.  I had taken off everything and backed up most things, but I had a picture dilemma. Because of the way I had set up the iPad with my Apple ID all of my personal pictures synced to this iPad as well as all my other devices.  I had talked to my son-in-law weeks ago about how to get them off my iPad, and he told me to use my Amazon Prime account (which I am totally under using!!).  He was going to show me how to do it, even though he assured me I could do it myself. As you can guess, I never did it, but boy did I learn how to do in quickly yesterday, upload over 4,000 pictures to my “unlimited” space in their cloud, and get my iPad to the IT person before the end of the day.  Whew!!

The other thing I learned was how to stop telemarketers from repeatedly calling my cell phone to tell me I can consolidate my debt, or go on a trip to the Caribbean. I just couldn’t stand it anymore! I figured out (all by myself) how to block their calls on my iPhone.  Now you may be chuckling to yourself and wondering how I am even able to use technology at school, but let me assure you, I am more tech savvy than this post makes me appear.

Can’t wait to see what I need to learn next week!

#SOL18

The only real things in life is the unexpected things. Everything else is just an illusion. ~Watkin Tudor Jones

Today we were supposed to get a Nor’easter that would bring us rain and maybe a little snow.  Well, it has been crazy blinding snow since about noon.  It definitely is blizzard-like conditions.   We did not get out of school early, so even going to the parking lot was hazardous. Lucky for me my principal walked me out to my car and a  young custodian cleaned off my car.  I work with fabulous people.

The ride home was treacherous.  I am so glad to be in the house. Once I know all my family members are safe and sound in their homes I will be able to rest easy.

Since I have a bad hip, and my husband had a quadruple bypass, neither of us can shovel snow. I hope one of my neighbors takes pity on us and shovels us out.  

I am making this short and sweet since I am afraid we will lose power and I don’t want to fall off the wagon on day two.  I also want to charge up my cell phone and find the flashlights and candles.

Wishing safe travels to all on the East Coast and a great weekend to everyone else!

 #SOL18

It’s not what you look at that matters; it’s what you see. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Today is day one of my third year participating in the March Slice of Life Writing Challenge, and I am a little nervous.  I am excited to be part of this group of dedicated writers and read all their inspiring blogs, but I am afraid I won’t meet the challenge.  

Life has been crazy as it is for everyone, but I feel like I have been thrown a few curve balls that are keeping me from being on my A game of life. Physical pain and anxiety have been creeping in and preventing me from accomplishing certain things.  It can be disheartening if I let it, but I am really working on pushing through it.  I wake up each day with the idea that it is going to be a good day.  

I remember during last year’s challenge there were nights I was submitting my slice just under the midnight deadline.  I was determined not to fail.  That was stupid.  How can missing one or two days of slicing be a failure when I wrote for at least 25 more days in March than I did in the previous two-three months? It is all in your perspective.  

I don’t ask my students for perfection.  Why should I expect it from myself?  I do value people who make a commitment and follow through, but if for some reason I miss a day of posting, I promise to be kind to myself.  I will not beat myself up or throw in the towel. There is always the promise of a new day.  I can only be my best, not anyone else’s best.

#SOL18  The entry below is my first draft of a personal essay I was modeling for my class about being “gifted.”

Use your talents.  They are precious gifts given to you to put to work. ~Robyn O’Brien

I never really thought of myself as “gifted,” but it is true that God has gifted each of us with special talents or “gifts.”  Each has some; none have all.  God gave me several talents.  He gave me the ability to create music,  to be able to express myself well using the written word, and the ability to be a good listener. My talents are different than the talents he gave to my siblings, my friends, and co-workers.

I started taking piano lessons when I was in 4th grade.  My friend, Eileen, played the violin.  When we were in 8th grade, she suggested that I join the orchestra in high school.  I didn’t play an orchestral instrument, but she said that it didn’t matter; they would teach me.  So, I took the chance and learned how to play the string bass at St. Hubert HS.  I was in the orchestra there for four years.  I had a knack for the bass, and I auditioned for and was accepted into the All-City Orchestra in Philadelphia.  

It was during high school that I really started to love music and decided to become a music teacher.  I went on to Chestnut Hill College where I was again in the orchestra.  After graduation I began teaching music and sharing my love of music with children in various schools.  Some of those students went on to develop their musical talents and share them in different ways.  I also used my musical talent at my church.  For many years, I played string bass in church at mass and for special occasions like Confirmation, Holy Week, weddings, and funerals.  

My talent for writing began in elementary school as well.  I always loved to write and even won a contest in 8th grade.  In high school I took advanced writing classes and had a personal essay published in the literary magazine along with a poem or two.  I was always keeping a journal.  I still have many notebooks today.  I think that the best use of my writing talent comes when I have to write notes to people in difficult situations such as after someone dies, or when someone is going through an illness, or just having a rough time.  I am not sure how, but it must be with God’s help, I always seem to be able to find just the right words to give hope or comfort to the person to whom I am writing.

At some point during my teaching career I decided that I really missed writing, and that I was being called to use it again.  I went back to school and got certified to teach writing.  Now I get to share my love and talent with students.  I hope one day they will love writing as much as I do.

I use my writing talents to create poems for my grandchildren for their birthdays.  I started a binder for each one of them.  For their birthday they get a poem written especially for them and a handwritten letter that talks about the things we did together over the past year.  I hope that it will be a memory book for them when they are older.

Lately, I am being called to share my writing with a larger audience.  I have started a blog where I publish at least once a week. I have also made a commitment to work on getting my writing published.  I have sent it to three different places so far this year.  I have one rejection letter and am waiting on the other two.  I am just going to keep writing away and hope that something gets published eventually.

 #SOL18

Addiction – when you can give up something anytime, as long it’s next Tuesday. ~ Nikki Sixx

Help. I need a 12-Step Program.  Now.

It began as the “Countdown to Christmas” at the beginning of December – pretty harmless – or so I thought! I was glued to channel 740, the Hallmark channel.  I would watch as I made my shopping lists, wrote out Christmas cards, wrapped presents, or just vegged out on the couch.  The fake snow gently falling down did a good job putting me in the holiday spirit.  

The characters started to look so familiar, I swear I had seen them before, and I did.  You see these feel-good movies use the same actors in different roles.  The next thing I knew I was googling the actor names to see in which movie I had seen them before. Since I was binge-watching, my head was starting to spin trying to keep them all straight.  I didn’t understand why it was so difficult.  Afterall, I had no problem knowing the difference between Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own, or Robert Langdon in The DaVinci Code, or Forrest Gump! I guess all of his characters were diverse enough and movies judiciously spaced that there was no chance of a mix up.

This channel should really be 666 – the devil’s channel!  You say you are only going to watch one movie, but once it ends there is barely a 30 second commercial before they launch into a new movie.  Such a ploy!

I thought I had this addiction licked once I went back to school after the Christmas break, but no!  Next they went from “Countdown to Christmas” to “Winterfest!”  Having the flu and spending so many hours on the couch caused me to fall down the rabbit’s hole again!!  And I don’t even like winter sports or cold weather!

So this is it!  I have now been watching the Countdown to Valentine’s.  Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day I am determined to quit cold turkey.  How much can one person take of sugary sweet, highly scripted, happy ending stories before they become too optimistic, too happy, too pollyanna?  

On the other hand… when I look at the alternatives – reality TV, evening news, fake news, the state of the world…I may just take the risk and go back to Candyland!

 #SOL18

When we clear the physical clutter from our lives, we literally make way for inspiration and ‘good, orderly direction’ to enter. ~ Julia Cameron

It is the first Tuesday in February – time to check in on my One Little Word progress.  The word I choose was declutter. As I reread my post from January 2nd, I see that I had some rather lofty goals about decluttering my life!  Well, I guess you can say I am taking baby steps.

So far I have donated two trash bags full of clothing to the Big Brother, Big Sisters organization.  There are plenty more clothes in my attic and bedroom closets waiting to find a new home. I have learned that I cannot wait until an organization contacts me about a donation.  I must spend some time each week going through clothes and household items and start collecting way ahead of time.  This way I will be good to go when I get the call and not scrambling at the last minute.

I also donated a trash bag of old towels to an animal rescue collection being done by the daughter of a colleague.  I had a large laundry basket filled with these “rags” that we were going to use for house cleaning and washing the cars.  I didn’t give them all away, but come on, just how much cleaning does a person really do that would warrant saving that many towels?

Most recently, I cancelled the daily paper.  While this decision was based on the amount of papers we recycle each week as well as the cost, I am a little sad.  I do like to hold that paper in my hand and read about the local news and of course the obituaries.  I know I can get the same news online, but I have been reading the paper since I was a young girl and my brother was a newspaper carrier of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.  In reality, I “read” very little of the paper and “skim” the rest.  It has to go.

I have been less successful with decluttering my personal life and use of social media, but no worries I still have eleven months to go!

 #SOL18

Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions. ~Unknown.

One little word – that’s all I have been hearing about lately.  I have chosen words in the past – inspiration – balance are a couple I can remember off hand.  I just never saw ads for making your word into a bracelet, or a necklace, but I like it.  I would order myself one except it would go against the word I have chosen for 2018 – declutter.

I debated between organization and declutter.  In a way, I thought they were very much alike, however you can organize your clutter, and that doesn’t help me in my ultimate goal to simplify life.  

Just what needs decluttering in my life?  Well there are the obvious areas – my house (drawers, closets, files), my classroom (closets, file drawers, my desk), the attic (decorations, mementos, baby clothes and toys – my kids are 32 and 36).  

If you dig deeper you will see that I also need to declutter my use of social media.  I could be so much more productive if I wasn’t addicted to scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, checking email, or playing Candy Crush. Social media itself isn’t a bad thing – only when it takes over time that could be better spent on other things….like decluttering my house etc.   Seriously though, I could be reading or writing, or resting, or catching up with friends; I could have a lot more free time if I could keep my index finger off my devices.

The hardest thing to declutter will be saying goodbye to the people who take so much of my time and energy.  I am talking about those people who rope me into situations that really have nothing to do with me, situations that I have no control over, and situations that just cause me stress.  I am naturally a people pleaser, and I generally am interested in other people and don’t mind being a sounding board.  Yet, it’s time to pick and choose what takes my precious time and energy because I have learned as I have gotten older there is only a limited supply of each of them.

In order to declutter, I need to stop postponing decisions.  Touch a paper once and either file it, recycle or shred.  Limit my online time to certain times during the day. Learn how to say no to people and situations that drain my time and energy.  Making decisions won’t be easy for me, but it should produce my desired results – a simpler, decluttered life.