Sunday, January 31, 2010

First, of all, congratulations to all who made it through the first month of the 395 challenge. It feels good to set a goal and actually accomplish it. The other goals for this month, giving up soda for four weeks and potato chips of any kind were also accomplished. As someone who actually has a hard time FINISHING things, this gives me encouragement that I can. Next month I am starting to NOT eat anything after 8:00 and if I do, only popcorn. I'm also trying to take wheat out of my diet as much as I can...leaning more towards corn. I'm not gluten intolerant but maybe giving it a try for a few weeks...well, I'll see.

I don't know if I jinxed myself by taking the picture of a full moon on Thursday but ever since that shot, I have had a few things go wrong this weekend. In the scheme of life, these things are not life threatening or horrible, just an inconvenience. Today was no different as I awoke to my water not working. The pipes, I guess, were frozen. Luckily, my mom brought over a space heater from my aunt, I taped up the opening in the shed, and hoped that maybe the water would be back on. Not so much for drinking, I had bought three gallons of water at the store, but for bathroom purposes. As of 9:30, the upstairs water is working, but not the downstairs. I'm hoping that will be better in the morning (or the middle of the night), but now I know I can stay here tonight free in the thought that I don't have to use an outhouse or go someplace else to "do" my duty.

Tomorrow is February. The month is already filling up with lots to do, but hopefully the month will be filled with smiles, flowers, and love.

January 30, 2010

My poor car had its first booboo today. After driving home from Atlantic City in a horrific snow storm (snow headed right at me so I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me) and making it out of the Walmart parking lot without an incident, I was driving home on Haddonfield/Berlin Road just past the town border. The road kind of curves to the right. I was in the right lane when the lady next to me got too close and clipped my rear view mirror. It was like she was trying to get in front of me coming into my lane. The sound was horrible, but the damage not as bad as I thought She accused me of coming into her lane...I never go to the left around the curve...so she called 911. It took the police about 1 hour to get there and when they did the police officer (a woman) wrote up an accident report. I don't know what it says because she never gave it to us so now i have to have my parents pick it up on Monday. It's such a bother and my poor car Good thing is that HER car was a Kia as well so the way that they are made made it not have that much inpact, although it sounded bad.

January 29, 2010

THERE are days you search for pictures and then there are days you have way TOO many pictures...that has been my past 24 hours. I have pictures from the luncheon after the funeral, I have pictures of Atlantic City, and I have pictures of my poor car's first encounter with another car; actually that was today, so I'll save that for the next blog.

Yesterday after the luncheon hosted most graciously by Jeff's dad, I grabbed by computer and luggage and started towards Atlantic City to participate in the NJEducational Association Leadership Meeting. Staying at the Sheraton is always fun, especially when someone else is paying for it. A huge kind sized bed greeted me around 4:00 By 5:30 I was listening intently learning about health care and negotiations with other districts from around SJersey. By 700 we were pretty fried with PPOs and PPS and HMOs and all so broke for dinner. I met Tammi and her team in the lobby where we took a cab to Ceaser's Casino. Anna and Tammi and their friend are all so nice. They are on their negotiations team in Upper Township so it was fun to compare ideas and stories. Tammi and I have known each other for about five years, having presented at NECC in Philadelphia We had dinner at the Continental Restaurant, a really nice place. After ordering martinis or wine, we decided on tapas...salad, sliders (my first time trying Kobe beef), Philadelphia cheese-steak egg rolls, lobster macaroni and cheese which to my surprise was delicious! Calamari and I'm sure something else along with dessert rounded out the dinner. The best thing...bill for drinks only. Sweet Then to the casino where I promptly lost 20.00 quickly I don't like the new casinos...you don't play with cash or coins but just push a button. No putting coins off to the side, no dirty hands...no work. Usually, I would be gambling up a storm, but it just wasn't any fun, but Tammi's friends won about ten dollars each so that was good. Then back to the hotel where I promptly collapsed until this morning. I did get this great shot of Atlantic City, though, at night. That flag is really a building that changes pictures throughout the night.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

It's a full moon tonight. Well, almost a full moon. The time I always found I travel. So, tomorrow I'm traveling a new part of my life...Mrs. Holman has passed and we will travel that road without her. I will be traveling to Atlantic City tomorrow night for a NJEA workshop. I will be traveling towards having a new student come into my room on Monday. Traveling towards a new month...February...and all it will bring, including two half days off for union and writing work already scheduled...the play starting rehearsal on Monday....traveling just doesn't always mean going away...sometimes it means coming back....or even traveling down a new road of self discovery, self awareness...travel...it means many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Ah, Space Lab. This is something the kids look forward to each year. It is a HUGE portable planetarium that comes to our school media center each year. In tech lab, kids are learning and writing about planets. In art, they are drawing about planets. In science, we will learn about space. It's so much fun. You take off your shoes, crawl through the opening and sit inside. Then the media specialist lowers the light to blackness and shows us all the stars, identifying constellations, planets, and the like. She is so enthusiastic about it, the kids remember from year to year.It's a great thing and available to all the schools in Burlington County, NJ. Maybe your county has something similar. Check it out.

January 26, 2010

Today is not a dress rehearsal...well, I hope not because I don't want to act through this day again. Still, there were good parts, the kids, the weather wasn't THAT bad, helping my mom with her computer, finding old slides I want to make into pictures...but then I thought about my picture of the day...I hadn't taken one.

I looked at my calendar and gasp...it's almost February which means GroundHog's Day and Valentine's Day. I still have my winter decorations up...my snowmen. I collect snowmen...it's something to tie me over from Christmas to February. I took a picture of PART of my collection tonight. The iphone camera isn't the best in low light so it had to be enhanced a bit. And, ironically, I just heard the weather report for tomorrow...what's up next...snow, of course.

January 25, 2010

It seems like many of my posts this month revolve around water. Today is no different. When I awoke this morning, the rain was pelting SIDEWAYS. And, considering I don't have any hedges anymore, the mud in the side of my house is awful. Trying to buy donuts for today's inservice was a chore, trying to keep the box dry. Then, finally to central office, and to work, the electricity went off. Considering we were working on a state document for professional development, not exactly what we wanted to have happen. Still, we plugged through the work, the lights came on around 1:00, and the sun actually came out. But even so that's not what this post is about.
Each day I try to drink at least ONE full pitcher of water. This is a water filtered pitcher my parents bought me (okay I BOUGHT me) for Christmas this year. It is in place of the five (at least) liters of soda I would drink a week. Has it helped? I think so. I don't feel as bloated, and for some reason, even my food choices seem better. I've traded pretzels for potato chips, and yesterday I actually had carrots, lettuce and tomato on my sandwich yesterday. I NEVER even liked tomatoes before. I even seem to be sleeping better, albeit I have dreams I've never had before (like being stranded in Australia without a passport). Dos this all have to do with water? I don't know, but I'm going to try to keep trying to drink it for the third week in a row.

January 24, 2010

Wow, only seven more days and I'll have actually completed my goals of one month of pictures. This week will be difficult to blog as much, but I'm determined to get the pictures done. Writing can come later.

Today I went to Moorestown, NJ, on my way home from shopping. There is a pond there that I've always passed but never really looked at. Today I did. While I was there, a blue heron came swooping down. He swooped up just as fast and didn't get a picture of him, but I did get one of these two ducks, a male and female, just swimming up and down the pond, together like an old married couple. There was another family of ducks swimming the other way, but these two just stayed together. They reminded me of my parents..together after more than fifty years, going their way, being happy with who they are, with each other.

I also liked the lines of this photo. There are so many curves and waves created by Mother Nature. I thought of using a watercolor filter, for it has that feel, but that didn't enhance it at all. Sometimes even technology can't improve upon Mother Nature.

January 23, 2010

This was the day I was SUPPOSED to get my report cards done OR go to Tuesday Morning and grocery shoppin, but at 7AM Comcast called and said they'd be here at 1:00 to rewire the house for the great siding event that is happening in my condo. The guy arrived at 12:30 and started in every single room...none of which was cleaned. I am convinced this was my mother's way of getting me to clean up my room! Seriously, the guy did a good job so if I hear one thing about the siding people having problems, I'm going to push them off their stupid ladders.
Tomorrow it should rain so maybe I'll get caught up on what I didn't get to do today.

January 22, 2010

Every other Friday, my students have the option to use their "Kasse's Kash" to buy things from my class store. This can be anything from Principal for Half a Day
($1, 000.00) to pens and erasers. They earn the money from doing their homework, winning games in class, getting compliments, etc. The students must hold on to their own money throughout the year. If they lose it, they lose it. Some put an identifying mark, but the money is recirculated each week. One of my parents collects the reading calendars each month and pays the kids money for their reading over fifteen minutes a night.

I love the way this year's "kash" looks...very realistic. Of course, the picture in the middle is the give away, but it does look good.

This week I also added a rewards card...based on what adults get by using their rewards card at BestBuy or Staples, etc. The kids can use their reward card ONLY IF they finish their morning bell work. Then it can be used throughout the day to garner reward points (for turning in homework, getting As on tests, etc). When they have ten, that gives them 10 chances in the chance bag. They can earn more than ten a week. Then, on Friday, we choose three numbers from the chance bag and those three people get something from the store "on the house". The students have really taken to this. I hope it lasts more than just a few weeks. Homework has increased, and I feel better about rewarding the kids who do their work.

The class store is something I hope to continue next year.

January 21, 2010

Tonight I went to dinner with five friends from school to celebrate a birthday of one of them. Three of us there, Kathy, Maryann, and Linda ... I have known for almost THIRTY years. It's ind of remarkable to think that. We started together at Memorial School (middle school) and then were separated into different elementary schools. The wonderful thing is, that as we are closing out our teaching careers, we all ended up together at the same elementary school. Linda, Kathy and I are still teaching, and Maryann has retired, but I still love getting together with these women who know the stories of my past and hold some of the fun of my future in their hearts.

Maryann ordered the talipia for dinner (shown above). I had the crab cake. Mine was just okay, but Maryann said hers was delicious. Izzy's is a favorite restaurant of ours in Medford, NJ. So favorite, in fact, that we have already penned in our next meal next month there.

January 20, 2010

Okay, I admit, this is NOT a picture taken today. I wish I COULD take it today, but I can't. The lovely woman in the picture is Jean Holman, mother to Jeff, Steven, and Mindy and wife of more than fifty years to Joe. Grandmother, activist, volunteer, just a wonderful all around lady who raised a wonderful family, allowing her children do follow their dreams. She encouraged them, as well as those around her, to do what they thought was best in life. Oh she gently guided, or at least tried to, guide them (myself included) towards good food (health food that was WAY before our time) and to always help others. She traveled the world as a corporate wife, enjoying time in Florida as well as New Jersey. Her home in New Jersey was not pretentious, although it could have been.

Her hardest times came when both of her sons would be playing against each other in tennis matches. She would tell me she never "favored" either of them....she couldn't...but was happy that her sons were still friends on and off the court. We were so lucky that she was able to watch Jeff's team win his first state championship this year. Coming to matches made the girls work even harder.

She left us this week. She left behind a family who will always hold her in their heart. She left friends and people even she doesn't know she touched by her kindness.
I am sure to add to this post, once her obituary comes out, telling about her life, the details that people always seem to add, the details many don't know, but this was the Jean I knew. The one I remember. The one Jeff called "Mother"...and I called friend.
*************

HOLMAN,Jean P. Of Moorestown, pass-ed away on January 20, 2010. Born in Philadelphia in 1926 as Jesse Jeanne Polk, Jean grew up in Merchantville and graduated in 1944 from Merchantville High School, where she was voted "Class Leader." She attended New Jersey College for Women, and after graduating with a degree in psychology spent two years working for the Campbell Soup Company. In 1950, she married Merchantville classmate Joe Holman. In 1952, the couple moved to their home in Haddonfield, where they lived for the next 56 years. During the early period of her marriage, Jean focused on raising her three children, particularly enjoying motherhood once the kids matured and could voice coherent opinions. She spent many happy hours exchanging and debating thoughts and ideas with her kids and their friends, and dispensed wisdom which has continued to guide her children to this day. Her years of childrearing were also marked by close friendships with her neighbors on Station Avenue. In addition to concentrating on her children, she donated many hours volunteering with both the Red Cross' blood bank program and CONTACT Community Helplines. Jean's devotion to a healthful lifestyle became evident during this early period, but blossomed fully in her later married life. She was a great devotee of vitamins, protein shakes, and exercise. One of her greatest joys was practicing Pilates; she continued her Pilates sessions until weeks before her death. After raising her children, Jean attained a master's degree in educational psychology from Temple University and worked for the university as a career counselor. Subsequently, she joined the family business and served as a Special Projects Coordinator for the Human Resources Department. She regularly influenced the company's direction not only as a member of the Holman Enterprises Executive Committee, but also at home over dinners, when conversation - as it often did -- turned to the business. In addition to her husband, Jean is survived by sons Jeff of Barrington and Steve (Georgine) of Dorset, VT.; daughter Mindy (Frank Beideman) of Moorestown; two sisters, Helen Peitz of Haddonfield and Elizabeth Soderland of Mt. Laurel. She has four grandsons: Jeffrey and Brett Holman and Brad and Joe Beideman. Friends may visit with the family from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm on Thursday, January 28th, or from 9:00 am - 11:00 am on Friday, January 29th, at the First Presbyterian Church of Moorestown, 101 Bridgeboro Rd. A memorial service will follow visitation on Friday morning. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Samaritan Hospice, 5 Eves Drive, Suite 300, Marlton, NJ 08053, or to the First Presbyterian Church of Moorestown. Arrangements by STEPHENSON BROWN FUNERAL HOME, Merchantville, N.J.

January 19, 2010

I know...it doesn't look like anything...but it is A LOT of something...
It is water...a full NEW glass that I am using this week to encourage my drinking of water, not soda.
It is water...something that fills me up so I don't want to eat as much.
It is water...life sustaining that people in Haiti are clamoring for it now after the earthquake devastation.
It is water...something children in the Sudan walk miles and miles to the nearest water hole for their family and then carry the water back on their backs or small heads so others may live.
It is water...what my school raised money for last year so we could dig a well in Africa for others.

While water may seem to have nothing in it, it means a great deal to many.

January 18, 2010

Being friends with someone for five, ten, or even twenty years is great, but imagine being friends with people for over FIFTY years. That right. The two couples on the left met in college, stood up for each other at their weddings, and are STILL meeting three or four times a year for lunches. The Wilsons are such a great couple. They are in the middle. They have three children and love to travel. My dad (on the left) and Bob were in the same fraternity together in Upsala College. Kathy Wilson was a teacher forever and LOVES being retired now. She and I always have something to talk about and argue about. My mom, she's the one who holds it all together. She makes the phone calls to arrange the lunches (with a bit of prompting from me) I love being a fly on the wall, listening to all the stories over and over again, and finding out new things about my parents whenever I can. This lunch was at Basil's in Freehold, NJ (not a place I'd give more than two stars to), but we don't go for the food. It's the company. And what wonderful company it is.

January 17, 2010

My cousin, Sarah's father, had dementia in his later years. Sarah's mom (my aunt) lives in the same town as we do, but Sarah lived in Philadelphia. She met and married an amazing man by the name of Alex. Alex decided that my aunt needed help, so he went looking for a house in town...in fact in my aunt's backyard so if she needed help at any time, he and Sarah could be there at a moment's notice. Now, he didn't have to do that. They could have stayed in Philadelphia, which isn't that far away, but that's the type of guy he is. Even though my uncle died this year, he still insists that they stay in town and now my dad gets to reap the benefits of Alex's kindness. He is generous and gracious to my dad as well as to my mother and brother. It isn't often that we have family that everyone likes, but my cousins, on the whole, did very well with their picks of first or second husbands. The majority of the men are kind and generous to all...and they are fun to be around. So, this day is in honor of Alex who inherited not just one family, but an extended one as well.

January 16, 2010

I have six girl cousins who grew up in the same town we eventually moved to. They were my "sisters"growing up, we were always at each other houses', my mother and their mother being sisters. About ten years ago, things kind of changed and the closeness just wasn't there. This past year, their dad died. He was a different kind of man, who never got along with my dad that well, and he and I had not the greatest interaction due to something that happened about five years ago (not terrible, but enough to mar my opinion of him). Still, he was a father and husband and he is missed. Tonight, it is the eve of my aunt's birthday. The youngest sister lives in town and invited my family (mother, father, brother) and her sisters and mother over for dinner. The oldest, who lives in North Carolina, could not make it, but others from Florida, Virginia, and California have all come for a few days. We all had such a great time reliving old times, telling old stories, and having a wonderful time going through pictures. Yes, pictures. Black and white, colored, pictures that were taken at camp, the beach, Florida, of grandparents, past boyfriends, holidays...pictures....It made me wonder...will future generations have them? Will there really be memories held in small squares that prompt laughter and tears? Or will they still be on the computer and cell phones to be flashed through, not identified, not to be shared. Don't get me wrong. Tonight we were all there with our digital cameras taking pictures left and right, but I wondered who, in twenty years, will be looking at them or if they will even be there to seen.

Friday, January 15, 2010

It's pay day! In an effort to go green and not create MORE paper, I get my check automatically deposited and e-mail the information to myself. It works out well. Now, if I could just get my students to think about their paper use. Each week, I make it a point to have them clean out their desks. Now to some, this may seem like a waste of time, but I couldn't imagine what they would look like if we didn't take that ten minutes a week to clean, organize, and get ready for the next week. Here, Lauren is trying to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of.

The kids are starting their unit on planets. Each student has a planet they must research by finding 18 facts. They are typing those fact in Word, formatting them using style and color and may not be more than four inches wide. One of the facts will be in a spiral print. Then, those facts will be added to these "books". The books are circles that are folded and then cut. After that they are accordianed folded. There's more to be done between the folding and end, but that will be the subject for another entry. Our tech instructor and I took a course about book making. How wonderful it is to save the "old" way of book making and merge it with new technology.

January 13, 2010

My students are putting together a Valentine's Day project by making Valentine's for EVERY staff member in the school. There are so many people that each "team" of students has five staff members to make Valentines for. They made a time line to see how long this is going to take, and the students have planned it out to the last day. Right now they are preparing questions for their interviews. Those answers will be incorporated into the poems about the staff members. It's a lot of work, but they see a finished product at the end. This is a photo of Connor checking out his return letter from a staff member and checking it off on the door.

January 12, 2010

I love potted plants outside and indoors, especially in the winter. My paper white this year bloomed right at time during the holidays but my amaryllis...well, I thought with that one I just got a bad bulb. Lo and behold, this past week, it totally came out...and still has one more blossom to explode. What a lovely winter gift given to me by nature during this cold spell. I colorized this one, using the water color filter.
Here is one that is natural:

January 11, 2010

In the spirit of being healthy this week, went my FIRST WHOLE day without soda...diet soda for me...and it's been a LONG time since I did that. For dinner, I made a breast of chicken (skinless) on the nu-wave and it was SO GOOD! Truth be told I made it yesterday and it's still moist and delicious. Then I put it on Pepperidge Farms whole grain sandwich rounds. The sides were carrots for crunch, cherry tomatoes and a few chips that I had made from the tortillas that I made in the nu-wave. All in all a great meal. The BAD thing about today is that I didn't eat lunch, and skipping meals is never good. I had to fill out some paper work for a meeting for tomorrow and before I knew it the time was gone. I did refuse a brownie one of the kids brought in today...that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Breakfast was hot chocolate and a 100 calorie bagel. So, there is improvement to be made for tomorrow, but all in all, not a bad day.

January 10, 2010

This past week, I gave up baked potato chips. I had started eating them because I had given up regular potato chips, but I found out the baked ones had SUGAR in them (no wonder I liked them), so I wanted to see if I could give them up for a week...and I did. THIS week, my goal is to not drink diet soda. Even though I drink Sprite Zero (no caffeine), it still has artificial sweeteners in it. So for a week (Monday-Friday) I'm going to see if I can just drink water or decaf tea. It should also save me about 5.00 a week, at the least. I bought a new glass to make drinking the water even more pleasurable.

January 9, 2010

Discovery Education always offers the best things and today was no different. All day long, there was a ScienceConference on line. Lots of presenters inspired teachers all over the world to engage in science activities by telling about different topics. While they were all wonderful, I was very impressed, and moved, by the presentation about the polar bears. In addition, Patti told a great way to teach the scientific procedure and Mike and Brad showed different science experiments that didn't cost and arm or a leg. DEN is always coming up with something for me to learn. I'm glad I had the chance today to do the same.

January 8, 2010

There were many great shots taken of Captain Sullenberger on Tuesday, January 5, but this is one of my favorite shots of...ME! I call it a shot in a shot....showing a flip camera of someone taking a picture of me while a digital camera is taking a shot of the flip camera and myself! Pretty cool.

More photos taken that night be found here: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/rrdAqON4llB/Premiere+Screening+TLC+Brace+Impact/Bi_si-3qDIY

January 7, 2010

Even though the holidays (Christmas and New Year) are over, we still needed to perform "Dasher's Holiday Dilemma" today. It was fun to watch the kids acts, sing, and be admired by kindergarterns, first graders, and parents. The play was written by fifth grader Carolyn DeSantis (who is now in high school) and myself. It's so cute...about how Dasher feels that Rudolph is "all that" and how HE should be in the front of the reindeer line. It's only about ten minutes long, but the kids did it three times today, so they were happy. NOW, maybe I can get the holiday things put away and the penguin/snowflake decorations put up.

January 6, 2010

Yesterday, I went to New York City with friends from Discovery Education to see the premiere of "Brace for Impact" the story of the landing of a US Airbus in the Hudson River last year. Captain Sullenberger, the pilot, and many other people who were on the plane as well as first responders, were there as well. Before the premiere there was a cocktail hour, then the movie, and then a reception in the penthouse.

I'll be writing more about it, but I love this photo taken around 10PM looking east into Manhattan. It was a perfect winter night, clear, crisp and full of energy.

Throughout the week, more photos will be posted, but for tonight...this is my favorite.

more links:http://www.popeater.com/2010/01/07/sully-brace-for-impact/#comments

January 4, 2010

The first day back at school and it was great. The kids were wonderfully behaved, we got so much done, and they are set for tomorrow. My eating plan was good, but after dinner I was getting cold! So, instead of turning the heat higher, I turned on the Wii Active and did some exercising. Soon, I wasn't cold anymore, and felt good about what I had accomplished. Felt good about doing that. Tomorrow it will be difficult to blog and to exercise as I'm going to NYC, but I am sure I'll have more than enough pictures from THAT event to make up an entire week.

January 3, 2010

Today we went to the RiverView restaurant in West Deptford, NJ. It was nice. The view is beautiful...it looks across the Delaware River towards Philadelphia. I wish there were more restaurants like that on our side of the river. It must be really nice in the spring and at night. We went for lunch because 1) it's cheaper and 2) it's cheaper. No, really I like going for lunches over dinners most days. Plus, of course, the Eagles are on at 4:00 so Dad wanted to be home for that game. Not that it matters...they are still in the playoffs, but still fun to watch.

We had crab/lobster bisque, which was really good, but served too cold. I'm sure had we sent it back, it would have been fine, but even the second bowl that was ordered was served the same way. Mom's mussels were very good, served with sausage, but they need to include a plate for the shells.

Dad had a flat iron steak perched on steak fries. A flat iron is not the best cut of meat, and this proved to be a bit tough. The potatoes didn't seem to be cooked through, and only cut as fries, not crisp.

I ordered the Parmasean encrusted shrimp with mozzarella. It was good, and I'd make it at home, but there was too much bread AND fries. I guess they do this because it's lunch, but I'll know better next time.

Dad, to our surprise, ordered dessert. That was delicious. It was a white chocolate on chocolate with a cream of white and milk chocolate inside.

Service was good, and our bill came to 75.00 with tip for three people/ no drinks. Would I go back? Sure. The setting is very pretty and the service wonderful. I would try something else, though.

January 2, 2010

As someone pointed out, today is a paladrome date: 01/02/10 Pretty cool.

Today's picture is a picture of the Nu-Wave oven I purchased last week. I put a frozen whole chicken in it a little over an hour ago...let it cook for 30 minutes, then put the seasonings on it. Since I could control the spices, butter, etc,I feel it's much healthier than having someone else do it. AND...it was cheaper than getting it in a supermarket, believe it or not. These are the before and after pictures. It was a four pound chicken and took a little more than an hour from frozen to finished. I used a citrus flavoring, stuffing the chicken with orange peels and the juice for basting. Not bad and will have the chicken for salads for the week.

January 1, 2010

January 1, 2010













The start of a view of my world...through photographs...and words.