How did the twelfth month of the year get here already? Seems like just yesterday we were cleaning up Christmas items and getting out the new planners for the year.
Planners, I have an obsession for planners. I have passed this on to Allison and we both get so excited when we can get a new one. One problem: I seem to have too many, I am super organized and yet I feel as if I have planners here there and everywhere. I have a plan book for school and a calendar at home and a planner that I write lists on and so on and so on. I know only have one and it will be great. Not!!! I can't seem to stream line my school planning to the computer which is required, cause this 45 soon to be 46 year old brain still likes to plan with the pencil and the tiny little squares that have helped me for the last 10 years. I try to color code all my daily work and put it in folders, and then the class wakes up and we have to switch gears in mid day and so on and so on.
I plan to the point that I sometimes think I forget little things. I then give myself a break and not do certain chores, and then the day later, I feel so behind. A vicious cycle if there ever was one.
I am not decorating for Christmas as we are going to Arizona and I really feel no guilt for this. I feel relief and I hope that we can remember this Christmas and hope to repeat it again soon. I want to plan to not stress and not fall into the trap where we have to do Christmas as Walmart wants us all to do Christmas. I am grateful that we are able to travel, have decorations to put up if we wanted and that I have the ability to plan. I hope to not plan over the holidays so, that means lots of planning for January in the next two weeks. I know I have a sickness and I must learn to accept that I am an organization freak and I need a new planner cause the old one only has 31 days left to fill in the blanks.....Peace to each of you.
Jeff and I
Twenty-Eight Years
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Colors
Color is a part of my life everyday. I am the keeper of the crayons. I can hand them out at will, I pick them up off the floor about 1000 times a day. I discuss the slight differences in colors when the dispute arises as to if this is green or light green. To most this may seem trivial. It is a big deal in the first grade classroom.
It is amazing to me the number of children that I have had over the years that have never had a coloring book.
A good friend of mine, Janet and I used to talk about how calming coloring can be. We would try to have our class learn the technique of coloring and show the children that we enjoyed this activity as much as they did.
Yesterday I was helping my children with a math page. The page asked the children to color the picture after they had figured out the math facts. They were to use three colors and color the numbers and see what the picture was. This was a good page because the picture was not obvious until they began coloring. As they colored some said,"It is a car", no "it is a car and clouds" etc. As we finished the picture one child asked if he could color in the color book I had given each child at the beginning of our year. I said yes, he came back to the table and said will you color with me. Joy, I love that. I said sure and as I colored the others asked why my picture looked so much better. I said it is not better, I just have practiced a lot and I try to color the same direction and showed them how to outline, use harder pressure and lighter pressure to see the differences. Anyway as I am doing this my little boy that is so hyper and never stays still says to me" Ms. Comer I got it." I said got what? He says You have to "BE THE CRAYON". I smiled and said yes!!!!!!!!!
Oh, the colors in my class...... Some may actually be the brightest crayons in the box........
It is amazing to me the number of children that I have had over the years that have never had a coloring book.
A good friend of mine, Janet and I used to talk about how calming coloring can be. We would try to have our class learn the technique of coloring and show the children that we enjoyed this activity as much as they did.
Yesterday I was helping my children with a math page. The page asked the children to color the picture after they had figured out the math facts. They were to use three colors and color the numbers and see what the picture was. This was a good page because the picture was not obvious until they began coloring. As they colored some said,"It is a car", no "it is a car and clouds" etc. As we finished the picture one child asked if he could color in the color book I had given each child at the beginning of our year. I said yes, he came back to the table and said will you color with me. Joy, I love that. I said sure and as I colored the others asked why my picture looked so much better. I said it is not better, I just have practiced a lot and I try to color the same direction and showed them how to outline, use harder pressure and lighter pressure to see the differences. Anyway as I am doing this my little boy that is so hyper and never stays still says to me" Ms. Comer I got it." I said got what? He says You have to "BE THE CRAYON". I smiled and said yes!!!!!!!!!
Oh, the colors in my class...... Some may actually be the brightest crayons in the box........
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Teaching
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher. I tried to find a career that made money, ie. political science, but it was not a calling. Teaching is a calling. I am called each day to be in a building with children that are needy, whiney and hungry. I am called to be in a building that has holes in the walls, floods in the bathrooms and hallways,gas leaks, electrical problems ,too many stains to count, a classroom that is now the gym and a lack of insulation on cold days.
I am called to these halls with the voices of children being told to walk, where is your hall pass, and what do you mean you can't remember where to take the attendance slip.
Today I felt as if I would explode if one more of these children did not listen to me when I said, Sit in your chair and do not move your desk off this square. I wanted to explode, when the sixth graders did not listen to me as I asked them to get a hall pass. I thought I would explode, when the child that I had just given directions to on how to do the paper, asked, What do I put here again?. Some days, I am sure that this calling is a wrong number.
Then just as I want to hang up and tell the operator to find the correct party. I am told by the same sixth grader in line to get on the bus, that she wishes she could stay at school all day and night. I forget that even when I am at my wits end and the straw is about to break the camels back, I am the most stable element in these children's lives. I am making a difference each day if it is only to wipe a runny nose, tie another shoe or to make sure that the directions are given yet again.
My babies have so little, they eat all their lunch and breakfast and are still hungry. They do not complain that they wear their clothes two weeks before they get laundered. They are not upset if they have to share. They do not make fun of each other, they do not ask for more, they only ask that I am there everyday. They adapt to every situation as if change is all they know.
I wish I had some of these traits.
I hate to eat some food and would not hesitate to complain if my clothes were not clean. I do the wash but still. I hate to share. I have a teacher aide and find sharing with her hard.
I am spoiled. I am selfish.
This wrong number may not be a wrong number after all. I think I need to realize that I am these kids, 911 and if I can remember that, I am on the right road.
I am called to these halls with the voices of children being told to walk, where is your hall pass, and what do you mean you can't remember where to take the attendance slip.
Today I felt as if I would explode if one more of these children did not listen to me when I said, Sit in your chair and do not move your desk off this square. I wanted to explode, when the sixth graders did not listen to me as I asked them to get a hall pass. I thought I would explode, when the child that I had just given directions to on how to do the paper, asked, What do I put here again?. Some days, I am sure that this calling is a wrong number.
Then just as I want to hang up and tell the operator to find the correct party. I am told by the same sixth grader in line to get on the bus, that she wishes she could stay at school all day and night. I forget that even when I am at my wits end and the straw is about to break the camels back, I am the most stable element in these children's lives. I am making a difference each day if it is only to wipe a runny nose, tie another shoe or to make sure that the directions are given yet again.
My babies have so little, they eat all their lunch and breakfast and are still hungry. They do not complain that they wear their clothes two weeks before they get laundered. They are not upset if they have to share. They do not make fun of each other, they do not ask for more, they only ask that I am there everyday. They adapt to every situation as if change is all they know.
I wish I had some of these traits.
I hate to eat some food and would not hesitate to complain if my clothes were not clean. I do the wash but still. I hate to share. I have a teacher aide and find sharing with her hard.
I am spoiled. I am selfish.
This wrong number may not be a wrong number after all. I think I need to realize that I am these kids, 911 and if I can remember that, I am on the right road.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Golf
Our new home is on the eleventh hole of the Shadow Ridge Golf Course. I have learned a great deal in my life on the golf course.
I began playing golf when I was nine in Willmar, Minnesota. I was not exceptional, but I did enjoy the game and the walking. The smell of the course after a fresh mow and the pain of all the balls I put in the water.
I played as the only girl on the Hellgate High School Golf team for two years until my sister entered high school and then there were two of us. I took twelth in the state of Montana state tournament when I was a junior and enjoyed my senior year with the perks of leaving early everyday to play nine holes.
I have loved the game and this comes naturally as my parents were avid golfers and allowed us to play. I never really cared if I won the match or not. Sorry Dad, but I still never even care to keep score. I enjoy the walk and the time outside.
Now a days the game is so expensive and the clubs so high tech, it leaves me little time to play. When I do play I use the same clubs that I had in high school and when my husband plays he uses them as well.
Anyhow, now a days they play with carts and you must wear certain attire to golf. I used to walk and go barefoot cause I hated golf shoes. I also played witht he boys and still hate to play with girls cause they are so slow.
Our home is about 150 yards from the 11th green. I haven't gotten a score card to see how long this hole is but I am guessing it is an easy par 4. The tee box is visable from my patio. All morning yesterday I heard the dog bark as I was unpacking boxes. This means that people are in the yard which is out of bounds hunting their lost balls. Jeff found three up by the windows.
Conclusion:
Most golfers Suck!!!!! Most golfers pull to the right!!!! Most golfers would rather throw down a new ball than go into someones yard. Most golfers have to use their seven iron from my house to make the green and most of them have failed. So by the time they hit the green they are on their third shot or fourth if they took the penalty. Watching their putting, most golfers are two putters at best. That means that the majority of the golfers in life are double boogie or boogie golfers.
What does this mean.....
Not much except I love watching the golfers from my porch. I miss playing and am going to walk the course this week. And most golfers lie if they tell you they are par golfers.
Also side note:
During a tournament at this same golf course on Thursday, someone threw out a cigarette and started the 12th hole on fire. This fire then flared up again in the evening and burned 4 acres. No house lost but too damn close. Do not smoke and golf people. My dad will tell you DO NOT SMOKE AT ALL!!!!!!
Here's to finding more balls in my yard and laughing at all the stupid swings this week.
I began playing golf when I was nine in Willmar, Minnesota. I was not exceptional, but I did enjoy the game and the walking. The smell of the course after a fresh mow and the pain of all the balls I put in the water.
I played as the only girl on the Hellgate High School Golf team for two years until my sister entered high school and then there were two of us. I took twelth in the state of Montana state tournament when I was a junior and enjoyed my senior year with the perks of leaving early everyday to play nine holes.
I have loved the game and this comes naturally as my parents were avid golfers and allowed us to play. I never really cared if I won the match or not. Sorry Dad, but I still never even care to keep score. I enjoy the walk and the time outside.
Now a days the game is so expensive and the clubs so high tech, it leaves me little time to play. When I do play I use the same clubs that I had in high school and when my husband plays he uses them as well.
Anyhow, now a days they play with carts and you must wear certain attire to golf. I used to walk and go barefoot cause I hated golf shoes. I also played witht he boys and still hate to play with girls cause they are so slow.
Our home is about 150 yards from the 11th green. I haven't gotten a score card to see how long this hole is but I am guessing it is an easy par 4. The tee box is visable from my patio. All morning yesterday I heard the dog bark as I was unpacking boxes. This means that people are in the yard which is out of bounds hunting their lost balls. Jeff found three up by the windows.
Conclusion:
Most golfers Suck!!!!! Most golfers pull to the right!!!! Most golfers would rather throw down a new ball than go into someones yard. Most golfers have to use their seven iron from my house to make the green and most of them have failed. So by the time they hit the green they are on their third shot or fourth if they took the penalty. Watching their putting, most golfers are two putters at best. That means that the majority of the golfers in life are double boogie or boogie golfers.
What does this mean.....
Not much except I love watching the golfers from my porch. I miss playing and am going to walk the course this week. And most golfers lie if they tell you they are par golfers.
Also side note:
During a tournament at this same golf course on Thursday, someone threw out a cigarette and started the 12th hole on fire. This fire then flared up again in the evening and burned 4 acres. No house lost but too damn close. Do not smoke and golf people. My dad will tell you DO NOT SMOKE AT ALL!!!!!!
Here's to finding more balls in my yard and laughing at all the stupid swings this week.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Fall
Fall has arrived. Two days in a row now there has been little humidity and a nice breeze. I feel the need for some sweatshirts, jeans and a warm cup of tea. Only problem is all my warm clothes are in Arizona.....
Jeff left yesterday for Arizona and has the impossible task of getting the house ready to be packed. Allison and Brody are helping him and I hope my daughter is able to save some of my stuff, from the trash bin. Funny how one collects so much stuff.
I am really excited to see my Ally and Bird. I am also so excited to get to move into a new home.
Things I will not miss:
The three flights of stairs to the apartment. Winded everyday
The gate at the entrance that will work and not work on its own mood
The noisy lady down below
The lack of parking spots
The need to keep Mocha from barking at other rude dogs, go get them Mocha
The lack of dishes, and utensils
The very squeaky and uncomfortable bed
The glass coffee table that is always moving on the wood floor
The dusty wood floor
Having no privacy
Things I will miss:
No payment
The pool
That is about all.....
Can't wait to move even if I have to lug all our stuff down the three flights.
Want my own, driveway, mailbox, porch, kitchen with my stuff and a house to hold all my stuff......
I can't wait to sit and have a warm cup of tea on my back porch on a crisp fall morning and watch the golfers on the eleventh hole. This will be bliss... Only 11 days to go.
Jeff left yesterday for Arizona and has the impossible task of getting the house ready to be packed. Allison and Brody are helping him and I hope my daughter is able to save some of my stuff, from the trash bin. Funny how one collects so much stuff.
I am really excited to see my Ally and Bird. I am also so excited to get to move into a new home.
Things I will not miss:
The three flights of stairs to the apartment. Winded everyday
The gate at the entrance that will work and not work on its own mood
The noisy lady down below
The lack of parking spots
The need to keep Mocha from barking at other rude dogs, go get them Mocha
The lack of dishes, and utensils
The very squeaky and uncomfortable bed
The glass coffee table that is always moving on the wood floor
The dusty wood floor
Having no privacy
Things I will miss:
No payment
The pool
That is about all.....
Can't wait to move even if I have to lug all our stuff down the three flights.
Want my own, driveway, mailbox, porch, kitchen with my stuff and a house to hold all my stuff......
I can't wait to sit and have a warm cup of tea on my back porch on a crisp fall morning and watch the golfers on the eleventh hole. This will be bliss... Only 11 days to go.
Monday, September 20, 2010
People = Food
So my daughter wrote on her facebook that oreos remind her of grandpa Paul. Here are my food and people reminders:
Mom = best potato salad ever. Never an onion to be had or too much mustard. Yum! Idaho Spud candy bar.
Dad= dilly bars, oreos and candy on a road trip. Everytime I drive with Jeff and he won't get me a snack I say my dad would get me one. Doesn't work but I try
Jeff= nuts, any kind of nut and scones. You say scones and he will try them.
Robyn= chicken chimmie changa, but minus the sauce and really it is just a tortilla and chicken and cheese. She also lives for salads but must be iceburg lettuce
Ally= lasagna she loves this and makes a mean one herself. She is turning into a great cook.
Brody= meat. The boy loves meat and meaty meals. He never complains about food, but loves dove choc. and candy....
Aunt Cheryl= greasy tacos...
Uncle Jim= popcorn and cheese wiz. So good, can't explain
Pam= beer and beef jerky sorry tuff that is you also makes mean soups and is an amazing cook but just talking memories here
Bill= italian anything. His mom was the best cook and he grows a mean garden and uses his produce in amazing ways.
Grandma Hazel= swiss steak and any dessert on the planet. My favorite recipes are hers .
Grandpa Martin= pepsi, juicy fruit gum and chewing tabacco
So those are my people and food, Me, I have no idea what you people think of as far as me and food. Let me know.
Mom = best potato salad ever. Never an onion to be had or too much mustard. Yum! Idaho Spud candy bar.
Dad= dilly bars, oreos and candy on a road trip. Everytime I drive with Jeff and he won't get me a snack I say my dad would get me one. Doesn't work but I try
Jeff= nuts, any kind of nut and scones. You say scones and he will try them.
Robyn= chicken chimmie changa, but minus the sauce and really it is just a tortilla and chicken and cheese. She also lives for salads but must be iceburg lettuce
Ally= lasagna she loves this and makes a mean one herself. She is turning into a great cook.
Brody= meat. The boy loves meat and meaty meals. He never complains about food, but loves dove choc. and candy....
Aunt Cheryl= greasy tacos...
Uncle Jim= popcorn and cheese wiz. So good, can't explain
Pam= beer and beef jerky sorry tuff that is you also makes mean soups and is an amazing cook but just talking memories here
Bill= italian anything. His mom was the best cook and he grows a mean garden and uses his produce in amazing ways.
Grandma Hazel= swiss steak and any dessert on the planet. My favorite recipes are hers .
Grandpa Martin= pepsi, juicy fruit gum and chewing tabacco
So those are my people and food, Me, I have no idea what you people think of as far as me and food. Let me know.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
our new house
Here a a few pictures of our new house. The current owners are so kind to let us come look, sit and measure. The man is on a cruise to the middle east with his son and the wife is home alone. We have so enjoyed our recent chats and the time spent in the house. She is looking forward to seeing her friends in Illinois and ready to move back to her old stomping ground. We are ready to move into the home and get back to some sense of normal.
Decided not to publish interior photos until it is ours out of respect for the current owners. Would not want someone publishing photos of my house in boxes so stay tuned to when we close and you will see the inside.
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