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 |   Theses are my thoughts and ramblings as I forge my way through this thing they call life. |
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These are my thoughts and ramblings as I forge my way through this thing they call Life. I blog with these groups:     "Blogging Circle of Friends "  [E] 
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30 Day Blogging Challenge PROMPT May 4th Describe your cooking or baking ability. What was the last thing you cooked/baked that you we’re proud of? Are you a recipe-follower or freestyler? I am an average cook. I don't tend to bake too much, but I did quite a bit for Christmas last year. I made an awesome fudge which I gave to my cousins and their families as well as a couple of neighbours that had been super helpful with all the snow shoveling and my team at school. I also made up Christmas cookies and made up tins of goodies for about 7, including my client and his mother. I don't cook as often as I used to. My mother and I take turns making dinner, but she tends to start the meals before I do, so she often does more than I do, but we also have many nights of fending for ourselves and eating left overs. As for following recipes or being a freestyler - I tend to stick to the recipe, particularly when baking. With cooking I will experiment at times. I used to have to make everything just as it was when I was married, but now that I don't have that restriction, I play around with ingredients and dishes. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge PROMPT May 2nd What one fictional character would most like to meet and talk to? Why? What would you like to ask? Can I say my own? The ones currently living in my head. Seeing them up close and personal would be an extra thrill. I would like to transport myself into my story world where I could experience all the sensory dynamics and not just write about them. It would be a little bit like 'Harold and the Purple Crayon' - I could see my own creation come to life. There used to be a show called Simon and the Land of Chalk Drawings that I watched as a kid. I love the song and the show. Here's a taste. I am writing this blog just after 4 am. Having joined the Paris writing group for a virtual write in I am up extremely early. I picked the Simon early morning edition. Another good blog post is 🌑 Darleen - QoD   and her entry for today - "Re: PROMPT May 2nd" |
30 Day Blogging Challenge May is an Official Month Happy May! It’s exciting seeing so many new faces! Remember to post your entries in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge" forum on the day they are due using the {entry:######} link and comment on at least one other competitor’s entry every day. Please ask if you have questions! I’m most responsive to email (click the envelope: (613) ). If you post in the forum looking for a response from me, please tag me so I don’t accidentally miss it. Good luck! *Heart* PROMPT May 1st Tell us something uplifting! We need good news now more than ever. What is something positive that happened or is about to happen in your life? What has made you smile recently? Yesterday was Hat Day for our elementary school. Yes, even at a distance we are still doing days like these. Today is PJ Day, but I find it hard to bring myself to wear PJs all day - track pants and t-shirts, but not PJs. Yesterday we also had teacher retiring. It was the music teacher and he will be greatly missed. To celebrate his retirement, we did a car parade by his house. A few teachers got out and sang the school song while waving a huge Canadian flag on his lawn. We took turns putting a beer into a cooler for him to enjoy. This was all done while practicing responsible social distance. The family across the street came out to cheer and wish him well as well. Here are a couple of crazy links: Our school song: https://twitter.com/smiwrdsb |
30 Day Blogging Challenge: April 27, 2020 What do you think you'd be doing today if this pandemic had never happened? Since I am a person who tends to follow a pattern, I would be teaching in the morning and then heading to Starbucks for lunch and some time to write. Afterward, I might get some groceries and drop them off at home. Then grab a quick dinner before heading out for a 7 pm meditation session, then at 8 pm, head over to Cafe 1842 to meet up with my writing friends for another hour. Somewhere in there I would try to get in some walking, but Monday's are a big writing day. If it were summer, Monday mornings are for writing in Guelph. There might even be some visiting of family. Blog City - Day 2112 Prompt: The same task could be painful to one person and pleasant to another. Which kinds of tasks feel easy and pleasant to you? When I read this the first thing that came to mind was making phone calls. Some people love to talk on the phone, I am not a fan. But I have been designated the teacher who gets to talk to the parents, while my partner handles the tech end of things. Given the two things, I will learn to deal with the phone calling. This week my teaching partner is on bereavement leave and I am dealing with both aspects of the job. Trying to fix tech issues is not my strong suit and one parent can't access the Boardmaker program. Since the other teacher does this, and I don't want to pester her, I am waiting in limbo. I have told the parent I am looking into finding other answers and assuring them that they can do what they can for the time being. Thankfully, they were okay with that answer. We are a special education class - the primary Autism class. We usually do not use a great deal of tech in our class. The learning curve has been huge for all of us, including the parents, many of whom are English as a Second Language. One family is also deaf. |
Blog City - DAY 2110 April 25, 2020 What are your plans for the weekend? Well, I'm going to Paris! Virtually, that is! Last year I signed up for a meetup group thinking it was happening in the Paris a half hour from my house, then I realized it was THE Paris, the original in France. Well, I had to leave a comment that it was a little too far for me to travel, but I have kept it on my Meetup page as a bucket list item... well, now with the pandemic, things have gone viral (Pun partially intended) and I can attend on a virtual platform. Most of the attendees are outside of Paris right now. One lady is in Switzerland. But with the click of a button and a virtual connection we are all together. If I ever get to Paris... I will know some people! The only thing is, they are hours ahead of me and what started at 10 am for them was 4 am for me. I decided to join at 5 am. Armed with tea and a huge bottle of water, I am feeling pretty good. Hey, I am getting up to write. I can handle that. I signed up for Sunday's session as well. They sleep in then... it starts at 11 am for them... that's 5 am for me! Still, what else am I doing?! I have already told my family there are no shopping trips happening on the weekend. I am sure that is when everyone else is going. I do have to go in and get my taxes. I am hoping there will be a refund in there somewhere. When I do go, I will make sure to go through the Starbucks Drive Thru for a treat. I am trying to use up some points and I love White Chocolate Mochas. I do have another Virtual Social time with my local writing friends. It is at 7 pm tonight. I may break out my last Smirnoff Vodka Cooler and enjoy it with them. I don't drink much, but this seems like a good time to indulge. It is Saturday night after all. Sunday morning I have a virtual Meditation session. This is a regular thing. I started with this group over the Christmas Break when my local group took time off over the holidays. People from all over the world sign on for that. It really makes the world seem not so huge, but at the same time expansive. Beyond that, I have plans to continue to clean my room. Yesterday I vacuumed, changed and washed my sheets and tidied off my bookshelf. I got rid of a bag of garbagy stuff and took several books downstairs to go in the donation box. I also dusted of all my knic knacks. It looks really good. Today I need to tackle my dresser. It is piled at least a foot high with books and other important papers. Things that need sorting and putting away. Aside from that... getting in some walks and maybe even some yoga. If I don't get outside for a short walk everyday I find I go a little stir crazy. 30 Day Blogging Challenge Describe the best place to hide in your home (closet, bed - under it or the covers, basement, attic, behind the couch, in a cupboard, etc.), and why it is the best? My hiding spot would be the basement, but not to hide. I have my computer down here and the TV. I also have a comfy couch. There is also a fire place and lots of junky snacks. I also have a lot of books down here. The only thing I don't have is a kitchen area or a shower. I spend a great deal of time down here. Now that we are home I find myself down here a lot. It is my office and my relaxation place. I am currently teaching from home, so I have had to learn how to orient myself through various platforms to get learning opportunities to my special needs students. I do videos of myself reading stories and singing songs. My teaching partner does the weekly poem and our EAs are taking photographs for I Spy activities. We put them out there to parents to try to use, but our students are having trouble with doing school at home. When I do manage to turn off my 'teaching self', if that is possible, I also write down here. With the nicer weather, I will try to take myself outside to write out there, but for now it is still too cold to venture out to sit and write. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge April 11, 2020 How are you finding community in these locked-down days? Definitely quieter. My writing in cafes and coffee shops has been curtailed. I enjoy writing in places where I can watch people and eavesdrop on conversations. Hey, I am a writer, after all. But my write ins have now moved to virtual and I have learned a bit about Zoom, Google Hangouts and GoToMeeting. I have also saved a great deal of money. I find myself going on walks, not just for the exercise and fresh air, but also to see who is out and about and how they are managing. Some people say 'hi', others don't, but more do. It is physickle that was a mistake, a funny one!), physical distancing not really social distancing. It's still okay to talk to people, to smile and say 'hello'. I am working from home, trying to learn how to teach my students with autism from a distance. It is certainly a challenge. The learning curve is very steep, stressful, but rewarding. I am also grateful to have the work because many occasional teachers are out of work right now. I am also grateful to be living with my mother and our two cats. Living alone would be so lonely right now. With my mother and the cats, we manage to find something to laugh about each day. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge Tuesday April 7th Prompt What is the best thing to come out of staying at home (so far)? I would have to say setting my own schedule and not spending so much on coffee shops and cafes. I don't have to commute. I can work in my most comfortable clothing - sweats and t-shirts. I am writing more, but my focus for reading is not good. I am also on a heavy learning curve for trying to figure out how to reach my ASD students (special education). Google Classroom and Boardmaker Online are at the top of that list. So is trying to figure out how to videotape myself doing story time... and then getting it out to my students and their families. I will be so glad when we can get back into the classroom again. Setting my own schedule is good, but I have to be careful I stay on track. Some days it has been hard to focus, but other days are better. I am learning to go with the ebb and flow and still get things done. I am grateful for what I do have - some income, a nice place to live and I am not living alone - I have my mother and two cats here. I can get out and walk around the neighbourhood or out into the garden to putter. We have great neighbours. One called up my mother and asked if there was any wine she would like him to buy for her! Stay safe and healthy everyone! We will get through this. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge April 2nd Prompt My coworkers and I had a virtual happy hour today where we all just chatted and played "Never have I ever". *Laugh* It was great to feel the connection between everyone, even though we're physically distanced. How are you trying to stay socially close to others while #SaferAtHome and physically quarantined? I have several writing groups that are connected. One is on Discord and it is all written comments which I find tiresome after awhile. My other writing group is on gotomeeting.com and being able to see faces and talk is much better. Each of those groups has two virtual write ins... but we often dissolve into chatting and commenting through the writing time because we are so starved for outside attention. Work has meetings. In fact there will be coffee break chats at 10:55 am on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays starting tomorrow. One of the teachers also organized a social hour last Friday night. I am lucky to have these connections. |
30 Day Blogging Challenge PROMPT March 30th Congratulations on making it to the last day of the competition! What was your favorite prompt from the last month? What was the most rewarding aspect of participating in the competition? I am going to assume when you ask what was your favourite prompt from the last month, you mean past month. I did blog last month, but past month makes more sense here. That said, I would say... I enjoyed the one from yesterday. I think I read everyone's entry because I was curious about my blogging friends and how they see themselves. I was highly entertained and delighted. This group is really quite fabulous. Honest and funny. I would have to add that the most rewarding aspect of participating was getting to know everyone. I did not read as much as I wanted to... and I am still poking back in to read other postings. Other people are very good at reading and dropping a comment. Sometimes I just read... and enjoy the blog without commenting. I tend to do more of that when I am tired. It has been a pleasure. I am not sure if I am up for next month, but then I didn't think I was planning to do this month either, so we will see.  |
30 Day Blogging Challenge PROMPT March 29th Do you write like you talk? Blogging is inherently personal and therefore leaves a lot of room for your unique voice. How do you show your reader your personality through your writing? I would say I do write like I talk. I am present in my blogs. I am open in my blogs. I am who I am; and being Canadian, I tend to apologize whenever I think I may have overstepped my bounds... but I still say what I think. Yesterday's blog was a case in point. First, I laughed at myself and my own Canadian-ness and then I laughed about some Trump-crap that hit my Twitter feed. It was too stupid not to comment on. Better to laugh than cry. How do I show my readers my personality through my writing? Well, I include humour, my own brand of oddness. I try to be honest and not provoke anyone - hence the apologizing. I try to stay positive and upbeat, but I will also lament on the darker days. Yesterday I shared my feelings: "It's one of those days when the beast of the unknown lurks in the shadows and makes me edgy." I had felt like I had wasted my day watching numerous movies and not getting out of the house or walking had me feeling cooped up. My anxiety was starting to get to me. Today I have practiced some meditation.I have been finding that that seems to help - recenter and ground me. I have watched one movie, but then turned off my TV to get some writing done with friends on Discord. The sun has come back out after yesterday's grey, raining day and I want to make sure I get out for a walk. The thermometer in the back is up to 20 degrees so it is most definitely get out of the house day. I share my loves, my interests and occasionally my concerns and annoyances. I prefer to read blogs of the same... and many here on WDC are like that. |
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