I couldn't let the day go by without making a Happy New Year comment. I have not been blogging very much since my classes ended. Oh, well. It is what it is.
New Year's always brings to mind resolutions. I gave up creating resolutions for myself quite a long time ago. The last two I made were when the kids were in jr. high and high school. One of those years I gave up wearing makeup. It was costly and time consuming and I was going through some health issues that didn't allow me the effort to sit and do makeup every morning. I found it quite nice not to have to think about buying the makeup, changing shades with the seasons, changing looks with the trends and generally hiding myself behind the artificial look of it all. There have been twice since then when I have actively sought out makeup, but never in the context of wearing it for very long. For both my children's weddings I opted for some simple mascara and blush. I thought it would look nice in the pictures. I don't think anyone can even tell I have it on, so I really think it was probably a waste of time. It was, yet again, one of those "it makes me feel better at the time" ideas. I believe it was the year after I gave up makeup that I decided to further simplify my life by not wearing a watch. There were clocks all over the place and I really felt I was being a prisoners to the little black hands on my wrist. I have always been a clock watcher, even in grade school. So, gone was the watch. I really haven't missed it and a funny thing has developed in my brain. I find I can just about guess what time of the day or night it is just by the light in the sky or thinking back to the last time I checked the time and following my movements. I'm not often right-on with the time but for most things it is near enough.
So, I was reading a magazine today and I came upon an article about changing your life in the new year. Hmmmmmm... There were a couple of items that sounded interesting, such as: doing one nice thing for one person everyday, even if they didn't realize you were doing it, volunteering in your community, pledging to donate every day, week or month to something worthwhile. All of these would make great resolutions and if you were able to follow through with the one you chose, would probably change your life in some small way.
I was thinking last night about what type of resolutions I would make, if I was so inspired to return to the custom. Here are some I came up with:
* Laugh with my students every day.
* Hand out Tootsie Roll Pops once a month to my students for no reason.
* Work on my writing more often.
* Give someone a compliment every day.
* Think about cancer. Be grateful.
* Write more letters. Actual letters with stamps and everything.
* Pay for some one's Starbucks order behind me once in a while.
Most of these are open ended. And most of them are totally doable, especially laughing with my students and giving someone a compliment every day. Those should be easy. The rest I really want to work on, but I won't call them a resolution because I think every life is a life in progress and sometimes making a resolution to do one thing or another absolutely doesn't allow for veering off the path, and a sidestep may just get you where you want to be.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Oooops...
Well, today is the 22nd. of December so I guess the world is not going to end. It probably will sometime but according to the scientists who decipher the Mayan calendar, there was a big mistake made in the calculations and the REAL end of the world is going to happen on September 3rd. 2015. So at least we have almost another three years left. I really didn't put too much thought into the event that was supposed to happen on the 21st, whatever IT was supposed to be, but you couldn't help hear the little voice in the back of your head asking the little question, "What if...?" I got a prescription filled, had enough food in the house for about a week, (worried that a lot of it was frozen; certainly the electricity would be the first to go) and checked the supply of toilet paper and toothpaste. I bought an additional two packages of toilet paper. It made me feel better. We went to sleep on the 20th with the thought that it would be nice if it all happened over night. Everybody wants to die in their sleep, if they have to go, don't they?
So today I am left sitting at my computer, drinking my flavored coffee and eating biscotti. Yum. I think if the world ended, or at least went into some catastrophic whirlwind, and I was able to survive, I would miss those three things the most, assuming my family and cat survived right along with me. I know. I can hear the scoffs and grumbling from my family. "Really, mom? You'd miss the computer? We find that hard to believe."
I have always had a love-hate relationship with technology. When my husband, Doug, insisted we take our tax returns one year and buy a computer, circa 1984, I replied, and I know the exact words because they come back to haunt me, "Sure, hon, if you want, but I don't think I'll ever use the thing." And, if you want to know the truth, for many years I didn't use it. Oh, there was one game I used to play, to wile away the hours, called Oilcaps. Even though I liked the game it frustrated the heck out of me and several times my husband was thankful he had not installed a wireless mouse because the wire on the end of the mouse was the only thing that kept it from violently going to another part of the room or out the window.
But Doug got a ton of use from it. He did our taxes every year and slowly put our finances on the system. We were probably the first in our circle of friends to pay bills on line. And slowly he got to know the workings and language of the programs and the hardware specifications of all of its parts. With all of his reading and experimenting on the subject of computers, I'm sure it was instrumental in getting him his computer tech job in the early 90's.
It was an oddity to my family and friends (mostly my family) when in 2002 I announced I was going back to school, to finish up my BA, on line through the University of Maryland University College. Here it comes again, "Really? You're going to take classes with the computer on line? Really?" Yes I really was. I was an intelligent person. "I can do this; sure I can. Why not? And if I have any trouble I always have your dad to help out."
So I enrolled, took the tutorial and slowly learned out to use the discussion boards, how to attach papers, how to do e-mail, etc... Ta-da! in 2005 I graduated with my BA. So There! I did it. (yes, o.k. I must mention the frantic phone calls and the crying jags, my most asked question "Why isn't it doing what I told it to do?" and my most frequent statement, "Well, that's just stupid.") But TA-DA anyway.
Now, since I have been teaching for 6 years, the computer has become indispensable to me. I track my grades and post them. I check my e-mails (yes plural), I create papers to Xerox and I search for new and different lesson plans. I have my students write papers, always on the computer, and do PowerPoint projects. I would have a difficult time teaching now if I did not have a computer. I love what it can do for me and I still hate the fact that I am so dependent on it. I would really miss not being able to contact someone or look up a new recipe, see what people are doing on Pinterest.
And the other two things, coffee and biscotti. Missing those are self explanatory, don't you think?
So today I am left sitting at my computer, drinking my flavored coffee and eating biscotti. Yum. I think if the world ended, or at least went into some catastrophic whirlwind, and I was able to survive, I would miss those three things the most, assuming my family and cat survived right along with me. I know. I can hear the scoffs and grumbling from my family. "Really, mom? You'd miss the computer? We find that hard to believe."
I have always had a love-hate relationship with technology. When my husband, Doug, insisted we take our tax returns one year and buy a computer, circa 1984, I replied, and I know the exact words because they come back to haunt me, "Sure, hon, if you want, but I don't think I'll ever use the thing." And, if you want to know the truth, for many years I didn't use it. Oh, there was one game I used to play, to wile away the hours, called Oilcaps. Even though I liked the game it frustrated the heck out of me and several times my husband was thankful he had not installed a wireless mouse because the wire on the end of the mouse was the only thing that kept it from violently going to another part of the room or out the window.
But Doug got a ton of use from it. He did our taxes every year and slowly put our finances on the system. We were probably the first in our circle of friends to pay bills on line. And slowly he got to know the workings and language of the programs and the hardware specifications of all of its parts. With all of his reading and experimenting on the subject of computers, I'm sure it was instrumental in getting him his computer tech job in the early 90's.
It was an oddity to my family and friends (mostly my family) when in 2002 I announced I was going back to school, to finish up my BA, on line through the University of Maryland University College. Here it comes again, "Really? You're going to take classes with the computer on line? Really?" Yes I really was. I was an intelligent person. "I can do this; sure I can. Why not? And if I have any trouble I always have your dad to help out."
So I enrolled, took the tutorial and slowly learned out to use the discussion boards, how to attach papers, how to do e-mail, etc... Ta-da! in 2005 I graduated with my BA. So There! I did it. (yes, o.k. I must mention the frantic phone calls and the crying jags, my most asked question "Why isn't it doing what I told it to do?" and my most frequent statement, "Well, that's just stupid.") But TA-DA anyway.
Now, since I have been teaching for 6 years, the computer has become indispensable to me. I track my grades and post them. I check my e-mails (yes plural), I create papers to Xerox and I search for new and different lesson plans. I have my students write papers, always on the computer, and do PowerPoint projects. I would have a difficult time teaching now if I did not have a computer. I love what it can do for me and I still hate the fact that I am so dependent on it. I would really miss not being able to contact someone or look up a new recipe, see what people are doing on Pinterest.
And the other two things, coffee and biscotti. Missing those are self explanatory, don't you think?
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Just Crazy
I have tried to post several blogs since the Nov. 20 one. Things have gotten in the way and they are sitting in my drafts. It's been just crazy around my classroom. It's because it's this time of year. Of the two semesters this one is shorter because the one in Spring has two weeks devoted to testing. So I always feel rushed in the fall. Then last week as I was beginning to post grades, electricians working on portables across the way from me, cut my Internet wire. Just mine. I without Internet for a whole week before I made a big fuss and they came up with a temporary solution. since I do most of my blogging before school, at school, I was physically down which took me mentally down also. Now I have wireless, which is slow, but at least it works and I will be able to post my final grades this week.
Now you know where I have been. I can't promise I will be here much for the rest of the month. Once I get out of school for a holiday break, I have a tendency to forget about computers. But I have been writing in my head. Most people don't know that counts but it does. Getting it all down on paper is the middle step, not the beginning. the more I write in my head the more excited I am to be able to get it down and get working on publishing it all. Such a good story. I'd buy it if I read about it. I hope lots of other people will feel the same way.
In the mean time, I need to do the lights, bake, get the tree and wrap presents. so I will keep this short today. Too much to do, so little time!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Now you know where I have been. I can't promise I will be here much for the rest of the month. Once I get out of school for a holiday break, I have a tendency to forget about computers. But I have been writing in my head. Most people don't know that counts but it does. Getting it all down on paper is the middle step, not the beginning. the more I write in my head the more excited I am to be able to get it down and get working on publishing it all. Such a good story. I'd buy it if I read about it. I hope lots of other people will feel the same way.
In the mean time, I need to do the lights, bake, get the tree and wrap presents. so I will keep this short today. Too much to do, so little time!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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