Thank you Veterans!

As a child I looked forward to Veterans Day as not only a day off from school, but usually spending some time with my grandfather. He was an American Hero in every sense of the word... and a hero to this little girl. I miss his wisdom and guidance so very much and hope that I have become the kind of woman he wanted me to be.

I am so very grateful for all of the Veterans... from many years past to more recent veterans. As we recently saw with the presidential election, we are so very blessed to live in America where the rights and freedoms of all are protected. I am grateful for our forefathers who fought to give us the democracy we often take for granted. I am grateful for all who have gone to war to support our way of life and the security of this great nation. While I may not agree with the current war, I to support our military who are putting their lives on the line each and every day. I pray for their safe return to their families here in the United States.

I vividly remember the days after September 11th. I remember wondering if WAR was going to come to our soil... to American soil. I remember being terrified of that thought. My generation has never seen war like my grandparent's generation. Even our parent's Vietnam was different than anything my generation has been exposed to. We are so very lucky that seven years later, we are still safe in our own country. I am sure much of that has to be due to the vigilance of the military. And for that I will be forever grateful!

I have very limited military knowledge... and am not from a military family. But I am able to step back on a day like to day and say THANK YOU.

Remembering Wilson

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since Laurie Wilson... known to most as just Wilson, left this Earth. I think of her often and miss seeing her each and every day. She was one of the most amazing women ever to come into my life. She overcame so much in her life to become a strong passionate woman who had so many gifts. She was a talented teacher and coach and an amazing friend. She could make me laugh harder than I thought possible and always had time to talk. She opened my eyes to many things and for that I am forever grateful. We shared many moments and memories at school and there are days that I expect to see her walking down the hall.


I know that she is at peace now and pray that she is able to see what a HUGE impact she had on my life and the lives of so many. Today I remember Wilson by making sure all of the people who matter in my life know just that... that they matter to me.

You are missed, Wilson...

Happy Birthday Bridget!

I have lots of thoughts about the election... but will share those in another post.  I wanted to share a creative project I did... something that I haven't done in a LONG time.  Wednesday was my good friend Bridget's birthday.  She shares my passion and love of office supplies.  We wanted to create something special for her birthday.  After trying to come up with something for weeks, I suddenly came up with the idea to create a cake out of office supplies... you know, like the diaper cakes made for baby showers...

So I wandered around Office Max until I could come up with some kind of an idea.  Came home and played with my goodies... I must admit I kept a few pens for myself.  I just couldn't resist!  :-)


I am pretty happy with the end result!

The bottom layer is post-its, rolled up into circles.  The top "layers" are made from pens and mechanical pencils.  Decorations include correction tapes and erasers.  Bridget is a math teacher, so the erasers and pencils are very appropriate.  She loves bright colors and purple... so this was a perfect combo.  I got an extra cake box from the bakery and placed it in the box to add to the overall effect.  She was thrilled with it... makes it all worth while!

Reflections on Being an American Today...

I am excited at the prospect of change for our country.  I am proud to be an American today.

I got up nice and early to hit the polls close to when they opened at 6 a.m.  Little did I know that everyone else had the same idea!  But as I was standing in line, I had time to reflect on what a true privelege it is to live in America. 

At first I was annoyed that I would have to wait to vote.  And then I thought about how blessed we are to live in a country where we are given the chance to vote without fear for our lives.  We were able to wait in a comfortable location with free coffee.  In the end I waited a mere 30 minutes... nothing compared to people in other nations who wait for DAYS in order to vote in an election.

As I looked around all those in line with me, I was truly touched with the ideal that we are all part of this amazing nation... and that all of these people took their responsibility to vote seriously.  In my humble opinion, voting is not only a privilege, but also a responsibility.  One of my students did Susan B Anthony as her biography project.  If it weren't for the hard work of women so many years ago, I would not have had the chance to vote.  Don't we owe it to them... and to ourselves to exercise our right to vote?  It was nice to look around and see that more than half of the people in line this morning were women.

As a midle school teacher, I have had the opportunity to teach the election process over the past few weeks.  It has been enlightening on my part to realize that my vote does in fact count.. electoral college or not.  It was refreshing to hear these young minds discuss why people should vote and what they want to see in our next president.  Of course, I am a mere observer in all discussions and pride myself in being able to keep my own personal political thoughts out of the mix.

I am hopeful... this is the 4th time I have had the chance to vote for president.  My last two candidates were not successful.  I feel it is time for change in this country and hope that after tonight, we will in fact have a winner.  I don't want to live through another 2000!  :-)

Regardless of the end result tonight, I hope that we can become one nation.  I fear that will not be the case and we will continue to see a great divide among our people.  I hope that celebrations are just that... celebrations and no violence comes of any of it.  The reality is that history will be made with this election... no matter who wins.  And I am proud to say that I took part in it...