June and July have been quite a trial for me. It all began in mid-June with a persistent ache at the back of my thigh, right where my leg meets my trunk. The discomfort slowly escalated, not yet reaching the point of unbearable—until I had a task to attend to.

July 8th marked the beginning of a two-week adventure for me: teaching at the Young Writers/Young Readers camp at West Chester University. I was filled with anticipation, looking forward to spending my days inspiring elementary-aged students to write, read, and share their stories.

Unfortunately, by Thursday evening of the first week, my hip and leg were bothering me so much that I had my husband bring out the walker I had used when recovering from knee replacement surgery. When I woke up on Friday morning, I couldn’t even put my foot down on the floor without excruciating pain. I had to call out from camp, which was unthinkable but necessary. Luckily, I sent my plans in, and our two wonderful assistants held down the fort for me.

Since I had a spontaneous combustion pelvic fracture in 2017, I was beginning to think the worst because of the intensity of the pain. My daughter took me to a Rothman Orthopedic Walk-in Clinic for answers. After an x-ray and an exam by the Physician’s assistant, another pelvic fracture was ruled out. She believed it was the arthritis in my hip that was causing all of the pain. The remedy was to increase my NSAIDS to twice daily, stretch, and use a walker for two weeks. Here we go again. I was on a walker for six weeks with the previous pelvic fracture. I was a pro. I rested all weekend and iced my angry hip. Although my husband wanted me to stop teaching at camp, I was determined to go back because I had made a commitment.

On Monday morning, I hung a bag over each side of the walker, along with the lunch my husband lovingly made me each day. Then, I wheeled out to the car, and off I went. Each evening, when I got home, it was icing and stretching again. I was able to finish out the second week of camp with the walker’s aide.

What was supposed to be two weeks of using the walker stretched into three (but felt like an eternity). I didn’t complain much, although my family and colleagues might remember it differently. I tried to stay optimistic and channel my mom, who never complained, even when arthritis ravaged her entire body. I am happy to report that I am now mainly walking unaided (with occasional cane use) and have returned to my Aqua Fit classes at the gym.

Yes, I was in a great deal of pain, but what was I going to do – lie in bed all day? I tried to remember that things could definitely have been worse, and playing the martyr and “suffering” would do no one any good. My skeleton may not be kind to me right now, but I am happy I could manage the pain and continue on.

I have been in a literacy desert.  My reading and writing practices have been haphazard (and that is being kind). I am not sure what is preventing me from the focused and purposeful writing that I did in March and April, but at this point, I will regroup when school ends next week.

What hasn’t gone by the wayside is my puzzle addiction.  Every day I wake up and hit the New York Times puzzle apps, most days even before I get out of bed!  It all began in October 2021 with the introduction of Wordle.  I have played almost every day since its inception and almost always use the same starter word.  My current streak is 154 days (hope this doesn’t jinx me).  In June of 2023, Connections was introduced to the world, and I became hooked. Each day I share my results with my sister-in-law and niece, and we commiserate when we cannot solve one of those two puzzles.

Sometime after the New Year, I discovered the Mini-Crossword.  While the regular NYTimes Crossword Puzzle did not fit into my schedule, the mini was perfect.  So I added it to my daily routine and tried to solve it in under a minute or two.  Working on my iPhone is sometimes problematic, and the small screen lends itself to hitting the wrong letter.  

I promised myself that I would not try any of the other puzzles, but I think you may know where this is going. About a month ago, I tried Spelling Bee and before I knew it, I was working on it every day. I even made it to Genius ranking once!  I like that I can go back and work on previous puzzles and improve my ranking.

Thrown into the mix for a few weeks was the Tiles puzzle.  That one only lasted for a little while because I started getting a headache trying to scrutinize the tiles and find the matches on my phone screen.  

I thought my list of daily puzzles was complete, but no.  A couple of weeks ago, my family gathered together to celebrate May birthdays, and my daughter-in-law and I were casually chatting about our puzzle-solving habits when she asked me if I had tried Strands yet.  Of course, I had to check it out and what do you know…it is now part of my daily puzzle play.

Is there a 12-step program for puzzle addiction?  I am kidding but not kidding. The puzzle-playing sometimes is a gateway to a few games of Solitaire which on any given night might turn into MANY games of Solitaire. I may have to move the puzzles to an iPad and schedule an allotted time for gameplay.  Oh, who am I kidding?!?!  Are you a puzzle player?  How do you navigate the minefield of online puzzles and games?

On this last day of the SOLSC I am thinking about so many things. This year felt different for me – more challenging. It seemed more challenging to find ideas, to flesh out those ideas, and to read and respond to other slicers.

That being said, I have been inspired to continue a daily writing practice. That is always my goal, but life gets in the way – or I let it. When I turn my calendar to April tomorrow, I will pencil in time to write rather than leave it to chance.

Thank you to all the slicers who gave me food for thought, formats to imitate, and responses to buoy my spirit. If I haven’t responded to you this month, I will be returning to read and respond to more slices in the weeks ahead.

Thank you to twowritingteachers.org for providing this space to write, connect, and learn. It is greatly appreciated.

Until next year for some you, and until Tuesday for others, I wish you days filled with hope and joy and lots of writing.

It’s not what I thought I would write about tonight, but here I am. I don’t understand why some people are so mean. Someone I love is hurting because someone has hurt them.

Family relationships are tricky, to say the least, but family is family, and you only get one. I tell my 7th-graders that they don’t have to “like” everyone, but they must “love” everyone. Loving someone means you respect their choices even if you disagree with them. Loving someone means not making them live up to some preconceived notions you have about how a relationship should look. Loving someone means not trying to change who they are.

All relationships have ebbs and flows, ups and downs, but if the relationship is important to you, you try your best to make it work. However, trying to make it work cannot be one-sided forever. You get to the point when the hurt becomes too much, and it seems as though nothing will change. That’s when you need to acknowledge that this relationship is taking up more bandwidth than you have to give, and it is okay to take a break or break the chains that are weighing you down. Stop asking “why” and start focusing your energy on those who love and support you unconditionally.

Remember, every person is worthy of love and respect. Words can hurt. Actions can hurt. Exclusion can hurt. Think first.

Opening Day of Major League Baseball (MLB) is like Christmas morning for me. Yesterday was rainy on the East Coast, and the Phillies’ home opener was postponed until today.

My love of baseball and the Phillies runs deep. I have so many baseball memories – some I have written about before. Each Opening Day takes me on a trip down memory lane and fills me with warm feelings of the past and hope for the future.

Disclaimer: I wrote this poem during the pregame show. It was a disappointing Opening Day loss to the Atlanta Braves 😦 (9-3). But this Philly girl will be here cheering all season.

OPENING DAY

Crack the bat.
Punch the glove.
It’s the start of the season
that I love.

Take the field.
Scuff the ball.
It’s Opening Day of
Phillies baseball.

Strike ‘em out.
Hit it far.
Which one of the Phillies
will be the star?

Win or lose,
I’ll be here.
Let’s go Phillies make it
a World Series year!

While in the checkout line in Dollar Tree today, I heard someone call my name. It was the parent of a student I taught for a year and tutored for several years. C. was a smart boy who didn’t have much enthusiasm about school. We made small strides during the time we worked together, but he wasn’t all in as a middle schooler.

What a great encounter it was to hear his mom tell me how C. was all in for his high school years. Now a senior, he has earned first honors and is involved in stage crew. It made my heart happy to learn he will be going to college to study mechanical engineering. Good for you, C.!

The bad news is I forgot my phone today and not on purpose! The good news is I made it through the day without getting the shakes.

On my way to school this morning, I realized that I left my phone at home. I was only a couple of turns away from school and toyed with the idea of going back home to get it, (It is only a 10-12 minute drive, and I had 15 minutes until my appointed arrival time) but I decided it would be cutting it too close.

When I got to school, I called my husband from the main office to let him know that I did not have my phone. I knew it had been in my pants pocket when I came downstairs for breakfast, but where did I leave it? Apparently, my need to multi-task was the culprit. I had been reading a book on the Kindle app while I ate my bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, and there it stood when I returned home after school.

I seriously considered running home during my prep period at 11:10, but then the more rational me talked myself out of making an unnecessary trip and wasting time and gas. Instead, I began making a list of things that I would normally use my phone for. Some are less important than others.

Every experience brings a learning opportunity. What did I learn today?

• Dependency – I depend on my phone far too much. I was going to do some errands after school, but my phone held account numbers and shopping apps which I needed. I should prepare some things ahead of time.
• Creature of Habit – Since I didn’t get to do my three puzzles and share them with my sister-in-law and niece, I felt out of sorts. I usually do them before work every day, but today they had to wait until I returned home along with the other “things” I check each morning. I guess I hit the snooze button once too many times this morning.
• Weather – Every day a student in my class asks me the temperature before he gets ready to go to lunch recess. I could find that information on my desktop.

I am proud of myself for not giving in to panic and rash decisions because I was sans cell phone today. I didn’t reach for it as much as I thought I would, but I must admit; I broke out my emergency Diet Coke at lunch today. 🙂

It’s late
I’m tired
And have no ideas

You think
It’s easy
That words grow on trees

The moon
Is full
The kids want to play

It’s late
I’m tired
But have one more day

I’ll end
This now
For everyone’s sake

Just one
More day
And then it’s spring break!!