Flower Junkie

I have confession to make. I am a flowering plant junkie in the summer. I hate to see them die at the store, and I can't seem to leave them there. I look at the shriveled up leaves and wilting flowers and think to myself, "I could save that.  Just a little water and fresh dirt, a bigger pot, and it will take off again." And, if they are marked down, all is lost.

Many times, I don't even have a place to plant it. And God knows, my poor husband spends hours watering everything when I am gone. This year, a few of them haven't done so well. They are looking pretty sad, as a matter of fact. But still, I have been on a "binge" this week. I've been to the store twice and come home with plants.

The first day I was suckered in by the "50% off bedding plants" sign in front of the greenhouse. These plants really look pretty healthy. They are from the greenhouse, after all. A few in the ground, a couple of pots. I was good.

But the next day I went to the variety store on the edge of town. Again, 50% off. And these plants were so sad. Root bound, brown edged leaves, wilting.  But the flowers looked pretty healthy. "Just a little water and fresh dirt, a bigger pot, and it will take off again".  I came home with a couple more.

I have to stop. I won't be home next week and the temperature the next couple of days will be in the 90's.  NOT a good time to put flowers in.  I won't be able to get them off to the start I know they need in my yard.

But, if I happen to drive by a 50% off sign....





Today's wise words from Spilling Ink:  "If you idly wait for inspiration, your ideas will dry up."

Wise Words

"Dare to write the imperfect page."

I've been reading a lot of writing blogs and writing texts this week. My favorite right now is Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook   by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter. I love this book. It really is written for kids who love to write, but I am finding it great for myself also (by the way, the web site/blog is pretty awesome too!)

As I am reading this morning and wondering what to blog about, I come across these words,

"Dare to write the imperfect page."

Hmm. How did they know that I agonize over each and every paragraph, sentence, word, comma, period...How did they know that I have unpublished drafts, heck, UNWRITTEN drafts, that I just don't think are worthy? Worthy of what?  My friends?  They don't judge. My blogging friends? They really don't judge.  Myself? There's the problem.

I judge.

"Dare to write the imperfect page."

Maybe I need to reword the quote

Dare to be imperfect.

There. Let those be my words to live by for awhile...

One Short Year

Chloe went into be spayed on Monday. It was a lonely day.

In one short year
You grabbed ahold of our hearts
And did not let go.
How did we exist when you weren't here?


Without you here

I don't need to
Hide my flip flops so you don't chew them up.
I don't need to
Keep the peanut butter and chocolate
Off the counter
So you can't eat them.

Without you here

I can leave the bathroom door open.
I don't have to worry about
What's in the garbage.

Without you here

I can go to the store without
You wanting to go too.
I can eat in the living room without
You pouting and wanting some.

Without you here
there is

No whining to play.
No head in my lap.
No puppy dog eyes.

Without you here
Who will welcome us home
With wagging butt and
Jumps of Joy?

How did we exist without you?

A Brave New World?

Ruth Ayers has inspired me. A few years ago, before the other five grandkids arrived,  I started a children's book for my granddaughter, Kaylee. It has sat on my laptop all this time. I open it up once in awhile, play with it a little and then close it up. In my recent Web 2.0 class, I worked on some different ways to illustrate it, but, again, closed it up.

I've been following Ruth's new blog, Ruth Ayers Writes. Today's post dealt with fear. Specifically, a character's fear, but this easily transfers to my own. What am I afraid of?  That the story won't be any good?  Rejection?  Being laughed at?

So today, I start a new writer's notebook and dust off the story--plus a couple of others that have been running around in my brain.  And I will write...

Will I share?  Only time will tell.

Only in Iowa

photo © 2008 Horia Varlan | more info (via: Wylio)
Life at the lake is always interesting. You never know what you are going to see and yesterday was no exception!

I headed into town to pick up a few things, music blaring and my mind going over the list of things I needed to remember, bag of dirt, chicken for lunch, mail a bill...  As I rounded the last curve I noticed two cows walking down the road ahead of me. I wondered what they needed from town! I slowed down and to my right I noticed a couple more loping down a path toward the highway. I stopped the car and watched 12-15 more walk out onto the highway!

I began to slowly follow them as they traveled. Several times the lead cow started down into the ditch and I hoped I might get around them. Then I noticed a big truck coming down the road in the other lane. Well, this should be interesting I thought. Wonder what they will do now?  The cows were definitely taking up most of the highway, so the truck pulled over a bit onto the shoulder and slowly drove around them. This, however, spooked the herd, so they turned around and began stampeding back the way they came---right at me!

Now, I drive a little Pontiac Vibe.  Not exactly a cow proof vehicle if one of them ran into me! So, I stopped the car again, tapped my horn once as one of them got closer to me and just watched as one by one they all ran around me, following the truck.

I don't know what happened to them after that. I saw someone pull into the farm lane that I had passed before the I saw the cows, so I hope they were rounded up!

PB and J

Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter and Jelly
The world's most perfect food combination

Smooth and creamy
When spread on warm toast
When washed down with hot, black coffee
Perfection

A pool of melted butter
Swirls into the peanut butter
Which gently holds the jelly on top.

Paired with hot chocolate
The perfect Sunday night supper
Soothing

Made by Grandma
A grandkid pleaser
Satisfaction

Just Read

"One third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
Forty two percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
Eighty percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year."  Jenkins Group

Our classroom library

Yesterday I posted that quote and a link to a blog post entitled "Time to Get Angry About Reading" on my Facebook page. It sparked a lot of response--mostly surprise by adult friends that people aren't reading ( I seem to surround myself with people who do read). But a former student posted that he probably won't read after his Freshman HONORS program because there are too many other things for him to do. Whatever reading he will do will be interesting things he finds on the internet.  YIKES!

But I know what I think is the cause of the problem. We teach reading to death. We kill whatever spark there is in a student by analyzing and comparing and talking and writing and lit circling and assigning... we take the joy out of reading.  I HATED that as a student. Teachers had terrible taste in what books students should read.  Teachers were slow to embrace Young Adult literature.Teachers thought if it was old, it must be good.  I rebelled. I read the Cliff Notes and whatever I could find on the public library's shelves.

I LOVED the public library. Especially after we moved to the other side of town and the BIG library was within walking distance of our house--important when you had a mom who didn't drive.  I loved the smell of dust and old stories as I walked through the front door. I loved climbing the stairs to the fiction section and losing myself in the stacks.  I loved that no one told me what to read. I could spend hours there.

I made friends with Scarlett and Francie Nolan. Jane Eyre and Scout.  Jo March and Rebecca.  And hundreds more.  My parents were readers and they didn't tell me I wasn't old enough for a book, they just let me read what I wanted.  And today, I am a reader--but I still hate to be told what to read (which is why I sometimes struggle with our book club books).

So, when given the freedom, I teach that way.  I rebell against the teaching of class novels and lit circles.  I encourage students to pick out their own books. I tell non-readers that I will find them at least one book that they will look back on and say, "Yea, that book didn't suck."  And then I do...

You see, I am a teacher who reads. I read adult books. I read young adult books. I read reviews of books. I talk about the books I am reading. I listen to kids talk about books they like.  I pass them on.

Roomie and I have close to 1000 books in our classroom library. Some the school bought for our second chance reading class, but MANY are ours. And we share... Teachers and students alike come to our room to check out books. Many are kept over the summer because they didn't get finished. We hear "Find me a book I will like" many times throughout the school year. And, we do.

We talk to them and ask them things like, "What do you like to do outside of school?" and "What was the last good book you read?"  I have sent them to sites to find new books. We give them LOTS of choices to look through. We make our book shelves user friendly.

So how do you get people to read? You let them read what they want. I know, you HAVE to teach the novel. But are you teaching the literary parts of the novel or are you teaching that particular novel? All novels have the same parts--let the kids choose what novel. Give students time to read without having to do anything with the book.

In these days of high stakes testing, it is easy to make the excuse that we have to get all our curriculum in. But I believe if we let students read what they want, they will read. And, they will surprise us.