A Day in My Life, and #weekendcoffeeshare: Causation. #RRBC

Welcome to my #WeekendCoffeeShare, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and A Day in My Life, Day 27, Jan. 28th.

My morning beverage was Zen green tea with just a dash of caffeine, and chocolate ashwagandha mix sprinkled in, which livens up the taste and supposedly has really good health benefits. My breakfast was the usual.

Now, take the following with a grain of salt, because I don’t always agree with everything this man says, and that is my right. While listening to Dan Bruglio’s “Pain Free You,” this stood out to me: “It feels good to think about (or be involved in) something other than your struggle.” I’ve read something like this before and it rings true in my experience.

This applied greatly to my week this past week. I and several teachers had planned fun activities and challenges for Literacy Week. It was slightly tampered by learning that the district wanted us to empty off our bookshelves the first day of that week! However, we carried on with our activities, and I kept trying to encourage the kids to take part. Many showed their creativity and worked really hard. It was a busy and emotional week. I woke up aching terribly in both shoulders, biceps, and my hand Friday morning after doing the shoulder workout at home Thursday night.

Now, keep in mind, I did the shoulder workout with my physical therapist’s instruction Monday night, and my pain the next morning was nothing like this. He pushes me more than I push myself! So, was the stress and negative emotion of this week getting to me?

I don’t know. I will say, going forward and encouraging kids to creatively produce bulletin board designs and two-sentence stories drove me forward and helped me to keep hope when it seemed like lights were going out on our educational landscape in my state. Kids, teachers, and Admin worked together to have Literacy Week. We have to find creative ways now to encourage literacy in our students.

For lunch today, I took my mom to Avonlea Antiques for their “Full Circle” cafe. The decor is sort of eclectic. I love the cow print booths! My mom ordered tea, and our turkey sandwiches had green apple on them and an herb mayonnaise. It was scrumptious!

So, I pushed onward with shoulder exercises today, not pushing as much as PT would push me, because I know I’ll be back at physical therapy Monday. I felt I shouldn’t push too hard after the pain I was having yesterday. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for stopping by for a glimpse into my world!

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Day 17, A Day in My Life. #RRBC

Day 17 on Jan. 18th: A Day in My Life

This morning, I woke up and did some shoulder stretch exercises, then started writing this post during breakfast. I normally don’t do so much in the morning! Maybe I can get this daily writing thing going after all!

The school day was a normal school day with ups and downs. During planning time, I met with our Reading coach to record my “Book Talk,” and we discussed a few other things for Literacy Week, which is next week. There are a lot of fun activities we’ll be having. Monday, we’ll wear black and white for newspaper day. I’ve asked someone parents to donate newspapers so students can explore.

There will be fun activities centered around literacy every day. I’ll share more on this next week.

This evening, I picked up my son from work, and we met my dad and Patsy at a Mediterranean restaurant that I like. We started with their hummus, which is delicious! Everyone enjoyed their meal. I didn’t snap any photos, sadly, because the conversation was very engaging. My son had some grape leaves, a big plate of them. He let me have one. I got shish kebabs.

Stuffed grape leaves. Yum! (Stock Internet photo).

That’s my day. So much going on! Now I’m tired. I should sleep well tonight!

Day 15, A Day in My Life. #RRBC

Day 15, January 16, Monday and Martin Luther King Day. Good morning, sunshine! Welcome to day 15 of #ADayinMyLife.

We stayed at the rental condo with my dad and his significant other last night (as mentioned in yesterday’s post), and waking was beautiful in such a location! I slept well, too, and so did my son. He was awake and making coffee by the time I got down stairs.

I’m quite a fan of the morning sun!

We went back to The Oasis for brunch. I had eggs, which I only eat once in a while. We came back and Austen and I loaded the car and headed back home. The drive was peaceful and without event, each of us listening to our own music. I was listening to an album by Live, an alt/ hardcore spiritual band from the 90s. That’s the best way I can describe it. The sounds wakes me up and yet, makes me think. Take a listen:

https://youtu.be/G1fgPshhUQo, Walk in a Dream

“The only thing we had in common was, we knew there was something more…” I love their sound and their lyrics! I don’t like distance driving, but this c.d. had me in a capable, trusting place.

We’ll see my dad and Patsy again later this week. I like her, she’s very interesting and has published some poetry books. I plan to check out her YouTube channel later.

I got home to see that my new lamp had arrived from Amazon. I’ve been needing a lamp or a night light in my room for a while. Well, I just want to shaped like a tree, and I call it my fairy tree light. It’s beautiful!

I think it looks magical!

This will really help when I want to read a book in bed. Even though I read on Kindle, which glows, I need to see where I’m going. This even has a remote. Life really is beautiful when you let the beauty in!

In the afternoon, I had a dermatologist appointment to get some moles checked and removed. No big deal, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, yada, yada. I am a hypochondriac, I think, but if it saves my life, it’s worth it.

This evening, maybe after dinner, I plan to head to the gym for cardio. Tomorrow I’m back to work. So it goes. At least I’ll be reading in bed tonight next to my fairy light tree! Or fairy tree light…. potato, potawto .😉

A Day in My Life, Day 14 #RRBC

Day 14, Jan. 15-A Day in My Life

After Chris left last night, I dozed off on the couch in front of the fire. It was so relaxing! I had been watching Netflix, but then it froze. So I dozed. The temp got down to around the mid-thirties last night.

I slept in a little this morning, and that’s allowed! Chris and I had eaten at Carrabba’s, and I had my favorite, chicken piccata with capers. We were seated by the kitchen, and a paper ball flew over at one point. No big deal, really, but the waiter involved comped us dessert of chocolate cannollis. It felt like being on last summer’s cruise again!

Today, my son and I went to meet my dad and his girlfriend in St. Augustine. They drove down Saturday from Virginia. They’re staying in a VRBO right near the beach. We drove to meet them and will stay the night. This afternoon, we took a pleasant walk on the beach. As long as I had my layers on, I was fine!

A beach walk day!

This is where I’ll stay tonight. I think it’ll be a good night’s sleep!

We had dinner, then came back and played cards, while my dad played banjo. My son and I made hot tea. It was just all very relaxing. I liked the banjo sounds! Tomorrow, my son and I head home, but we’ll meet up again with Dad sometime during this week. I’d say this was a very good weekend.

Thank you for stopping by and leime tell you about my day!

A Day in My Life, Day 9. Two Peas in a….

It’s Day 9 of the blogging challenge, Jan. 10th.

I had some golden turmeric granola on my cereal with fruit this morning. It was scrumptious! I’d ordered it through Amazon. I seem to be one of their rabid fans.

My mother had a bad cold yesterday, and it really worried me. She sounds like she’s getting better, and she took a COVID test. She took several. One was positive, another negative. I’ve been worried about her, but she sounds much better today.

Work brought another day of review, since our test was delayed by a day. I suppose it’s better than the reverse!

After school, we had the club again, and it went quickly. Once all the kids were gone, I went to meet my boyfriend Chris for dinner. I had an awesome burger with garlic green beans. Scrumptious! Chris makes me laugh.

December, 2022.

We get into debates over the pronunciation of “Chipotle,” whether irregardless is an acceptable word to use (obviously it’s not), and whether Salvador Dali and postmodern art should be considered art….at some point, I just start laughing. We both debate these things with half smiles. Honestly, these things are worth debating, are they not?

Not to mention his Southern accent that is sometimes more apparent than others, and my impression of said accent. It’s especially fun when he laughs at it himself. This is more pertinent, since I lived in 3 Northern states and Iceland before we moved to Florida when I was eight. My parents, who influenced my early speaking, are both from the Midwest.Most people say I talk like I’m from the Northeast.

It has to be fair, so I allow him to laugh at my propensity to frequently change my mind and my moods. If I don’t get dinner by a certain time at night, I can get a little cranky. My eating habits bring inquiry too, as we both have very different eating habits. He does say he can’t argue with the results of my habit. Two peas in a pod can have their differences!

At any rate, we laugh at each other good-naturedly and we can both laugh at ourselves, and that goes a long way. I think we bring that out in each other. That’s got to be a good thing. We also listen intently to each other’s woes or concerns, but you may have noticed I mentioned the laughter first, maybe because it lightens the load of all those other things. Laughter is so important!

Have a good night, all. I have to give a test tomorrow.

Zero Carb Revenge!

(c) Pamela Schloesser Canepa, 2013

She knows she has achieved it

When she reaches for a third slice

Of pizza piled with toppings, garlic, and sauce

Such an indulgence! What a rebel I am!

Fully deserved after zero-carb chicken pot pie for lunch,

She deserves and relishes an extra slice of pizza.

She ignores the fact that it’s served on thin crust,

That it’s piled high with only veggie toppings,

That she avoided the fat in beef, the sodium in pepperoni, the excess dairy in real cheese, the swelling, the aching, the stomach rumbles…

And she relishes in each garlic explosion that comes with a bite of her veggie pizza.

Boy, the things we call indulging sure do change with time!

Best of the Year. Dec. 6-11. #2018BOTY

Image from Beaton at Becoming the Muse Blog

This is my second post for Best of the Year.  My blogging habit involves forgetting for a few days, so I am posting a few days at a time.

6. Album-Imagine Dragons, “Evolve”, which includes “Whatever it Takes” and “Natural.” I am not really up to speed on new albums.  When it comes to music, I know what I like, and I stick with it.  However, I do listen to the radio at times, and Imagine Dragons is one of my favorite.  Specifically, “Whatever it Takes” is a favorite.  It motivates me and makes me want to do things, not just getting out of bed, but making a difference in this world.  I love the lead singer’s voice, and the lyrics just pop.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOsM-DYAEhY

In fact, I’m playing it right now to get my plans for the day in gear!

7. Experience- Sailing in RI.  I wrote a blog post on it this summer in July or August.  My dad and his firned in RI took us sailing past Naragansett Bay and toward the ocean.  It was a little scary, but quite inspiring.  Sometimes things that scare you can really wake you up to life.  That, and it was a beautiful day with awesome sights!

   It was sunset by the time we got back, and what a beautiful sunset!

8. Meal- Lunch in Amelia Island at a quaint little seafood place.  Sadly, I have not been trying new things much.  My stomach over-reacts to certain things, so I am pretty careful.  However, there is one meal I remember fondly.  It was a lovely day, and we sat outdoors.  I had a club sandwich with blue cheese potato salad, something I don’t eat often, and the potato salad was of a kind I have never tried.  It was scrumptious!  I was having weird stomach issues and afraid to eat seafood, but this lunch was great.  I splurged and had a lot of calories in that lunch.  The friends I went with are all retired teachers, and we were having a lot of fun that day, shopping and lunching.  Then, one of them starts throwing fries on the ground for the birds.  🙂  Those birds were having a party…

9. Drink- Orange is the New Crack. It’s kind of like an Orange Julius for adults.  This accompanied my meal at Amelia Island with my friends.  Doesn’t the name explain itself? Can you believe I only had one?

10. News Story- I avoid the news. The only news stories I can recall made me cry this year.  But I appreciate those that bring me to tears of joy and hope; one example would be the kindness and humanity that arose out of the fires in Malibu, CA in November.  People were stuck in their cars with the fire blazing around them; they could not get out.  However, groups rescued many left behind animals and took them in.  People risked their lives to help others.  One of them, a garbageman whose boss told him to cut his route short and go home, instead checked on the homes of some of the elderly residents he knew.  He ended up rescuing one 93-year-old woman.  Thank God for those with a heart!   https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/17/us/camp-fire-garbageman/index.html

11. Purchase- Gazelle.  It’s an exercise machine that does not require electricity.  I purchased it in case we had another homebound/hurricane scare this year, which I am glad to say we didn’t!  Two years in a row we had them, and I gained weight due to comfort eating.  I am at a point where I still think I look just fine, but I do not need five more pounds.  Guess what?  I use it twice a week, don’t have to brush my hair like I would for the gym, and I can read while on it in relative peace and quiet, unlike my exercise experience at the gym.  Which reminds me, I need to cancel that membership….

Thanks for reading!  In a couple of days, I will have a few more for you!

 

Weekend Coffee Share. BE YOU!

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Allison at eclecticali.wordpress.com.  It has been a good week, but I am going to be somber for a moment.  I want to share my sorrow and respect for those killed and/or wounded in Jacksonville, Florida at the shooting last weekend.  A place I have frequented for art shows, music concerts, or just river gazing was shot up and turned into a danger zone.  It is a sad day and age when a sick individual can ruin a fun day over a video game tournament.  That others had to lose their lives or run in fear to safety saddens and maddens me.  It also fuels me as an educator.  Trainers and Admin. have been reinforcing that we need to establish relationship with students, and it has never been more important than in this day and age.  Just asking if they are okay when you sense something is off could make a difference.  I truly believe this, and I am trying to infuse it into my daily practice.  It starts young.  I can understand a child’s belief that society sucks, especially when hearing of such news events, but I never want a kid to think that there is no one at all who cares. It is a scary world we live in, and that means, even more, that we need to be a light in this dark world for others.

 You are beautiful.  Be you.

I do not intend for this focus of this week’s coffee share to be a shooting, or the village’s responsibility for an individual child, including our lone wolves.   I’ve previously written on this subject due to my experience with the lone wolf in my family whom I am still trying to encourage to be an active member of society and to develop bonds with those other than myself.  I am seeing hope there, though.  🙂  I want to say that “Lone wolf” does not mean a sick mind.  It could mean so many other things, besides the autistic or MI spectrums.  We are all individuals, and everyone deserves respect.  They also need love, whether they show it or not.

Having said all that, let’s come up for air.  I attended our middle school’s dance last night and was amazed and inspired by the diversity of attendees and the smiles on their faces.  Little sixth grade girls with pretty dresses, eighth grade girls with army fatigue pants or skinny jeans, dyed hair, braided or plated hair, hair brushed perfectly straight, kinky hair, me with 5 o’clock tired hair,  hoppers, dancers, chasers, and observors.  Booty-shakers and twisty dancers.  It was wonderful, because everyone that was there belonged there.

I look back to my youth and remember that I did not attend a single school dance in high school, though I wanted to.  Something kept me from going; I thought I didn’t belong.  I think I was depressed.  I also wanted to try out for cheerleading, baton, and something else, but I never did.  Somehow, I talked myself out of it just as I did with applying for jobs until one day I took a terrifying drive (that I almost talked myself out of) to my first job interview for my first job.  Things were hard for me at times.  I don’t know if I just needed to kick myself more often or if I needed a voice, a mentor, to guide me and push me, tell me I could do it, and if I didn’t make the team or squad, I could try for something else.  I joined a Pep Club and didn’t really speak up or participate much.  I just know what it is like to be growing up and to feel so terribly awkward.  I wrote poetry, which helped, but I hid it away from everyone.

I have also had a rough time in the last 5 years, dealing with family events.  Until one day, something wonderful happened and I got to see my favorite poet of twenty-five years speak in front of a group.  I felt special.  I thought, “Why did this happen?  Will I win the lottery now, win a trip to Italy?”  Was it a sudden stroke of luck?  No, it was God speaking to me right in the most special corner of my heart, where my love for Literature resides.  I was inspired to write, to produce, to enter contests, and ultimately to self-publish.  This was my route to feeling better about life, in addition to a lifelong reading obsession.  If I lost a contest, I kept writing and entered others or found another way to share my writing.  God gave me this, and sometimes the only reason I do it is to keep my mind and my heart whole, as the use of my imagination is the greatest high-on-life experience ever, but I can do a lot better for the world when I am in that state of mind.  My hope and prayer today is that those out there feeling lost will find that one thing that erases all of the negativity and embrace it.

Thank you for reading this far!  If you want to know more about my writing, please visit My Published Books which also contains a link to my Amazon author site.  You may also want to join the Weekend Coffee Share or see other shares: Coffee Share at Eclectic Ali , 9/01

 

 

 

 

#WeekendCoffeeShare. Of Yoga, Food, and Family.

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Diana at parttimemonsterblog.com.  Of course, we’ll make mine iced, as pictured above, unless you can stand my a/c being set at 72 degrees.  Woo, it’s scorching outside.  If we were having coffee today, on 7/15, I’d tell you:

*It has felt like a busy week, what with Monday and Tuesday being taken up by teacher training on dealing with tough or troubled kids.  It was a serious topic, but the fun was in role-playing that they gave us, the fact that I took this training with two good friends, and the opportunity to go somewhere for an hour lunch with my teacher friends.  (Teachers get 30 minutes for lunch during the school day, but when walking your kids to lunch, something always delays it).  So, I turned to comfort food to make the heavy topics in training more bearable.  We ate at Stan’s one day, and at Olive Tree Mediterranean the next.  I love their gyros!  Since I promised last week that I’d talk about food, here you go.  🙂

  I’m pretty sure I promised last week to throw in some talk about food, so this is the perfect week for it!  I had fries with lunch both days.  Most likely, I’ve gained a few pounds, though I don’t weigh myself.  I noticed gain in the way my clothes fit.  Oh well, summer is a time to relax, so I’m relaxing my diet.  🙂  Then, Weds. night, Mom brought home ribs for dinner!  What could I do but appreciate her offering of dinner.  🙂  Ah, summer is great, but my stomach is delicate, and she is traveling by plane next week, another cause for unhealthy eating, so she and I have a little pact.

*Wow, we’re on the family topic already!  Mom’s been complaining about her back lately, and she broke her arm in late May so she’s not working and not as active.  Anyway, our pact is to eat salad as much as we can until she leaves on her flight to MN next week.  We’ll start with the Loop tomorrow; they have a Gorgonzola Walnut salad that is to-die-for!  I could use more salad, myself.  French-fry-girl is not an identity that I want to keep.  I have to be proud of my mom, though, as she still goes to exercise class at the senior center 2-3 times weekly.  On the subject of family, my son started a new job Weds., and hooray!  It is close enough that I don’t have to drive him.  He seems to like it, too.  It may or may not be long-term, but he is enjoying it right now.

*Family and yoga sometimes go together!  I went to chair yoga with my mom Thursday morning at her senior center.  It was enjoyable and gentle.  I’d just gone to yoga at my usual studio Weds. night which was relaxing and focused on hip-openers.  Chair yoga is just as it sounds, but I could feel the stretch in my legs.  You also don’t have the issue of balance that some of us suffer.  It wasn’t painful at all, and I’m sure you can modify according to your abilities.  I do that in regular yoga all the time.  The class is given by a lovely woman named Jeannie who has a blog at yogafromanatural.com, and she said she reads my blog, so I’m giving a shout out to a fellow blogger and yoga lover!  That’s the only yoga I did this week, so far, but it fits in with my twice or more a week goal.  I suppose I’ll take the dog on a long walk today and get a little cardio, perhaps.

Of course, the book marketing is still going on.   This week I wrote a post about my main characters in Detours in Time.  See it at    https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/07/13/detours-in-time-main-character-intro/  I am now listed at circleofbooks.com, and they are tweeting about my book.  Sales have tapered down, but it is vacation time, so who knows?  I do have 5 reviews now!  They altogether average four stars. 🙂  I’m learning book marketing.  In a webinar, one author says to find out which books are selling and write that type of book.  That’s not my creative process.   This is art, and I write what comes out of my mind.  My book is lightweight sci-fi that is not graphic, with a little humor, moral questions, what-ifs, and future curiosities.  Love it or leave it.  I love what I do.  ❤  There is a link to my book on this book graphic and also in the closing signature to this post, if you are interested.

This graphic is also on the postcards that I ordered, which I take with me to various places like Starbucks and the bank; they make it easy for me to mention my book and my “authorhood.”  🙂  Sometimes it’s fun, and it makes me talk to people!

So, how was your week?  Feel free to share with me, and visit Diana’s coffee share at https://parttimemonsterblog.com/2017/07/08/weekendcoffeeshare-in-which-i-am-back-again/  You can add your own blog coffee share to her Inlinkz button (the blue froggy).  Have a great weekend!