Reading

I love to read! And I understand there are people who do not. I am in no way judging here, I get it. I dislike math so don't judge me for that. But reading is such a part of my life. I have taken many trips in my lifetime without packing a bag or getting in a car or on an airplane, all thanks to books.

When I see students reading, not for school or assigned by a teacher but because they want to it warms my heart. If I see a student doing math because they want to I just laugh-I'm kidding here. I never see a student doing math for leisure or their own entertainment! I'm sure there are brainiacs out there who do. I'm being sarcastic here! But back to the kids who read because they want to, I understand! I get how they think or how it makes them feel. I was the kid staying up very, very late during the summer to read (sometimes during the school year too!). One more chapter. Or I'll just finish this chapter or the book. And yes, I usually read the last page or two of a book. I can't help it. I just do it!! Don't judge me on this either!!! I still do it today.

I find my taste in reading had changed over the years. When I was a kid I would ready anything and everything I could get my hands on. When my mom went to town to get groceries she'd drop me off at the library and I would find several book titles to check out and I always checked out the limit! I would do the summer reading programs at the library too. I'd finished them and earn the prizes that went with the reading rewards. It was how I spent my summer other than helping on the farm. I would read the books my older sisters left behind and reread them if they were good or I ran out of things to read. I've read classics and I would read the comic books belonging to my brother. I would save my hard earned money and buy books, these were prized possessions for me as a kid. Now I'm more particular about what I read. I don't have a lot of time to read for leisure. I read books on my kindle and read real books, as I like to call them. I read magazines and I read online as well. I can't imagine a day without reading, even if it's a news story or an article online. I just love to read and can get lost and lose track of time if I'm reading. It's what I do!

Because I work with books and reading every day at work I love it when a student finds a book, author, genre or reading series they like. It's like hitting a shot in a basketball game or scoring a touchdown in football. Yes!  Scccooorrreee!!!

I'm always willing to listen to other's suggestions or what they are currently reading or what they've read that they enjoyed or did not enjoy. But again I am picky about what I read now. If it has not caught my interest by a couple of chapters into the book I'm done. Life is too short to read books that don't interest me or worse yet are poorly written and insult my intelligence!

I also don't like nor tolerate people who think their opinion is the only opinion everyone should have about a book. Let people read what they want. We do live in a free country. Just because you teach English or read a lot does not make you an expert on what I or anyone else should read of think about a book. Let people make their own choices.

So if you are a reader or not that's your choice and preference. But remember to make it worth your while. And regardless of what you read at least your are reading and improving your mind! Read on!!

We'll try again today!

Having a bad day is no fun. Some people milk five minutes of bad into a whole day of misery. They let one thing ruin or make the rest of their day bad.

But each day is a new day and a new start. So if yesterday wasn't so great, which mine was not, remember that today is a new opportunity. No one will ever get today back again. There are no do-overs! You can look at the day as partly cloudy or partly sunny. Or the glass is half full or half empty. Your choice. But you do affect the people around you so remember that. And the people around you affect you as well. 

I find myself avoiding the negative people and trying to bring their way of thinking or conversation around to something less negative or more positive or generic. I'm a "how about the weather or those Cyclones, Panthers or Hawkeyes" kind of conversationalist! Anything to get things moving onto a more positive note. Anything! 

I blogged about lent a couple of weeks ago. How's that going? Mine is not stellar performance. But I'm not giving up. Remember the 21 days to create a new habit or break an old one? Ya well, I've not made that 21-day thing out of the 40 days of lent. I'm not laying blame, nor am I making excuses but tonsillitis for over five weeks does not help my motivation! I wasn't trying for greatness just small changes, improvements in life in general, just mine. But I'm not giving up either!

So with today being another gift and we all get one shot at today I'm going to try to keep the right attitude and give it the best shot. 

Remember whatever today brings, it's a new day, a new opportunity and a new chance. Life is too short to give up and not try again! We all learn to walk in our own way, in our own time!

Tonsils and uvulas

I dislike attention of any kind. I'd rather "fly under the radar" if at all possible. It's the way I've always been. And since I'm a redhead "flying under the radar" is often impossible. People always seem to notice or comment on the red hair. It's just a hair color!

So when I went to the doctor a month ago with a sore throat and a swollen gland I just thought it was a routine thing. It turned out that I was a medical oddity-yay me! My tonsils were huge and required several medical staff members to come in and look at, maybe more like gawk at. I didn't mind the lookers, other than I was thinking each time I opened my mouth so they could see my monstrosity tonsils that my claim to fame was going to be ginormous tonsils-great. A proud thing for my grandkids to tell their kids some days!

With very little relief and a flair up I was next sent to an ENT (ears, nose throat specialist) last week. Not how I wanted to spend a Thursday afternoon with blood tests and a CT scan in addition to an exam that was less than pleasant. After numbing my nasal cavities which tasted bitter and felt like I had a constant runny nose that I could not feel, I then was treated to a scope being carefully inserted up my nose. It felt like the darn thing either tickled my tonsil or the back of my brain, one of the other! I got through it but it's not something I want to do again. But the one thing that kind of hit me, more than the "you're tonsils are huge" diagnosis was the "your uvula is caught behind your tonsil"! What?! That's what I'm feeling now?? I didn't know that was humanly possible! And I thought she was kidding. Wrong, it is and still is stuck.

Scans and blood tests all came back okay. So I just thought I'd cook along with the new antibiotics and start to feel better. My uvula would get unhooked and life would go back to a normal way with a dangly, hanging uvula-ah the simple things in life! Well, it is one week later with being on the new antibiotic and I'm still not better. Tonsils are swollen and my uvula is still not just hanging around like it is supposed to.

A made a quick stop by the school nurse today to see if my uvula was free but instead she tells me that not only are my tonsils huge and my uvula is caught but that I now have white spots on the tonsil my uvula is caught/stuck to. NO! This can't be happening. I started all of this a month ago with a shot and then some heavy duty antibiotics. Followed by my current and second round of antibiotics. How can I have the strep throat white spots?

So to sum things up, I have HUGE tonsils, which are entertaining to the medical world, a uvula which is caught and won't hang down like it's supposed to. (yes I've tried to reach back there and free it without gaging myself with no luck there) and NOW I've got white spots on my tonsils aka they are polka-a-dot, meaning I have strep throat.

I'm trying to keep my sense of humor while feeling like poo through all of this. I have learned not to assume that nothing else will happen with my tonsils, and life for that matter, as I've about had it with them. I wish they would magically disappear and I'm fearful I'm going to hear those words "they need to come out" uttered sometime along the way. No!

So I'm going to coast through the rest of my Monday and try to manage not to increase on my tonsil situation in any other ways. I just want this junk gone and back to plain, simple, normal. Appreciate the little things in life, like normal sized tonsils and the little hangy thing in the back of your throat hanging rather than being caught!! It's the little things in life!!

Positive thought of the day: Thank goodness for the nicer weather, espcially when you have a fire alarm go off!!!

The power of being kind

I saw today on a social media website a friend who did the "I cleaned house and if you are reading this consider yourself lucky, you made the cut" post! Whew, I can sleep better today knowing that. Not really-I don't care. But I see this often. You can threaten all you want but whether you cut me or not does not matter. I was not put on this earth to make you happy!

Have you noticed some people have over 1,000 friends or followers or snapchat or Instagram friends? I used to think they were pretty popular people. Wow! Now I don't think that so much if you really take a look at these people. Some people are just people persons or think/hope they are. Some have that many friends because of their job or business. Some people are just lonely and insecure, which I think this is more the case. The bigger the number on your favorite social media of choice the better you feel about yourself. This kind of goes hand in hand with whats in your bank account, your credit score, the value of your house or the kind of car you drive the better person you think you are. What matters at the end of the day is how you treated other people. When you leave this world none of that other stuff will matter. What people will remember is how you made them feel.

The person who "made the cuts" had someone comment about the whole "birthday" thing. What? What is wrong with wishing someone a happy birthday? Would you say it to their face if you saw them that day and knew it was their birthday? I would hope so. It is always kind of fun to read the posts and texts you receive on your birthday. It is your day of birth and should be a celebration. I don't get what is wrong with wishing someone a happy birthday. Heck if I am some place and it is a strangers birthday I will wish them happy birthday! It needs to be celebrated! Be kind to one another and celebrate each day.

I have a friend who gets upset with another friend does not text them back. Yes, that is frustrating. Yes, I've been in those shoes. Some people just don't communicate well. Some people are rude or are only friends on their terms when it works for them or they want to be. You either have to take or leave these kinds of people. No, they will never be the text you at 1 a.m. lets go looking for a lost child or I'm driving an hour to see you, hang out with you late at night kinds of people. That is just how some people are. You can't change people. I've gone back and forth with the I'll treat you how you treat me, an option. And I also can't be mean and rude to people (unless you really, really, really, really piss me off). If I block or delete someone in some form from my life it took a lot for me to get to that point and you put yourself there. I am not an option. I've cut people out because they are not good for me or my family. I also filter some people for the same reasons, a little bit goes a long ways with some people. Ironically most of the people who fit in either of these categories are related to me. Sometimes you just have to do what is best for YOU!

I have made my family, kids, and other people a priority in my life and make myself second. And yes some people know that and take advantage of that. They treat me like I am a second option or secondly important. Sadly I have let this happen. And the only way that is ever going to change is if I make the change, I'm not second, I'm not the second most important person in any room. I'm just as important as you and anyone else in the room is, we are all equal. I think this way of thinking comes from being a female and a mom. It's what you do when you have kids, but we are still every bit as important as anyone else. All women need to remember this.

They say how people treat you is a reflection of themselves, and I agree. But I also think it is a reflection on how you have let them treat you. Kindness goes a long way. And never let yourself be an option to someone. Life is too short to be an option. A little kindness goes a long, long ways.

The positive thought of the day: This was my Thursday blog, but guess who forgot to post it? Meeee! It happens!

Ash Wednesday, Lent and eating fish

I can't believe it is Ash Wednesday and Lent already. It seems like we just finished with Advent and Christmas and here we are. But the good news is despite Easter being early we are heading in the right direction....towards spring and warmer weather. And as I write this a soft, gentle snow is coming down. It's rather pretty if you like snow. But remember we have ZERO control over the weather! Just go with it.

Lent as a kid meant mandatory things at home that you gave up and did. Our usual evening snacks of popcorn or ice cream along with all candy and pop were all off the table. In addition, we said the rosary as a family every night. Can you tell my parents were very devout Catholics? As an adult my mom still refused to believe Sundays during lent were not part of lent. I can't remember the reasoning here but we got no reprieves from our lenten sacrifices and as kids they were sacrifices! Nor did lent end at noon on Easter Saturday as it is believed. It's a small wonder none of us kids, or my dad either for that fact, ever ended up sick by the time we'd get to church on Easter Sunday! We would gorge ourselves on chocolate and marshmallow peeps before heading off to church in our Easter outfits! Talk about a sugar overload! : )

But lent is not all about giving up what is difficult or a reminder to sacrifice but it's also about doing better, even if it is a small thing. The saying goes it takes 21 days to make a habit and 21 days to break a habit, so technically with 40 days of lent you can make some big time changes or improvements in your life.

Regardless of what you do for lent, making the effort, and yes we all trip or fall off the wagon but making an effort is a start and the beginnings of better things. I used to have a cousin who would "give up" smoking and watermelon for lent! He never smoked a day in his life and this was back when watermelon was only found in grocery stores during the summer months. My mom found a watermelon during lent one year and when my cousin was over she served it!! This brought lots of laughs and we all enjoyed the rare treat, even my cousin!

But my take on lent is that it does not matter what you do, give up or change about yourself during this time, but rather making the effort-just do it! And everyone does not need to know what you are doing. That 21-day take on habits, changing them or developing them is a good reminder-don't give up if you fall off the wagon. That means to keep the hope and faith and that in less than a month you can make changes and improvements to your life. Also being the private person I am I don't like to advertise what I am doing or giving up for lent to make it a sacrifice unless you need the accountablility. I love this:

Yep, this pretty much sums me up! So here's to day one of lent 2016. Whatever you choose to do, give up, change or improve on don't give up if you falter or forget, just get back up, cheer for yourself, say a prayer and keep going!

Positive thought of the day: Eat fish...it's good for you and it's not so difficult to take some red meat out of your diet!

Snow day(s)

I used to love snow days as a kid and as a parent. It was fun to stay home and do things with the kids. It meant extra work, cooking and such but it was also an opportunity for it to just be us. No schedules. No house guests. Just us. We never did anything profound or memorable. Other than I remember a week of 3 or 4 snow days in December after we moved into our home in late November. It gave us the opportunity to unpack and settle in. And we decorated for Christmas with those days. That was a memorable snow experience!


And as a kid, my snow days were spent alone since I was the youngest and had no one to play with. But it was nice non-the-less. I would go outside and play, make forts and snowmen, usually accompanied by the dog!

But the past two days off from school were not so much fun. Being stuck inside with someone who a) does not feel good aka is a sick male (near death....) and b) talks very little, is not fun. I cleaned. I cooked. I cleaned some more. I knitted and did some reading. I did laundry. I exercised. I rearranged a room or two.  I watched a movie. I went through some stuff and threw some stuff out. But it was not a fun or memorable time. I honestly could not wait to get back to school. So with that said and we are now going to school after Memorial day, I hope Mother Nature is DONE with this white stuff. We've got a lot of snow right now. And after walking outside for 3 days, prior to this last round of snow, on clear streets with upper 30 to 40-degree weather I'm spoiled already. Yes, fall is my favorite season and no I do not mind the snow. But I'm ready for warmer temps, especially clear streets and sidewalks that are not covered in snow and ice. AND no more snow days!

So it's back to work, and it is good to be back, have a schedule, and get out of the house! A late start makes the day a bit odd and chaotic but we are here and I think everyone is happy to be back!

I guess snow days make you appreciate things that you don't normally appreciate!

Positive thought of the day: Enjoy each season. You may not like the weather but it's not permanent! And it does ZERO good to complain about it.