In Social Studies, we have been teaching and discussing different explorers who came over to North America. This week, we are learning about Ferdinand Magellan. At one point in his journey, they ran out of food, became malnourished, and had to rely on eating the rawhide pieces of the boat. I could not imagine being that hungry that I needed to eat dried pieces of leather to survive. That lack of real food would not sustain me.
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2020/09/30/sustain/
Exhausted and frustrated from technology woes,
Hunger rang throughout my body,
I took a deep breath as I logged onto Zoom,
And reminded myself, “You can do this.”
“Good morning, T!” rang out of my mouth.
“How are you today?” I questioned him.
The lesson flowed,
We spent the hour learning about sequencing and subtraction,
Knocking on the place value next door to borrow ten more,
Making sure to take a break for jumping jacks between sessions,
After saying good-bye on a high from an excellent intervention,
I continued onto the next two students.
Once again, frustration flowed through my veins,
As I remotely helped a student log in,
Singing over, the password is . . .
My corybantic self made one student laugh,
While the other told me I was corny.
This the life of a special educator teaching remotely.
One moment you are feeling on top of the world,
Corybantic wanting to pass on that joy.
The next moment, you feel defeated,
And tears fill your eyes.
This moment will pass.
It’ll be one of those stories you’ll tell when you are old.
The ones that will cause your children and grandchildren to roll their eyes.
I was hiking a cool serene lake in the middle of nowhere. All I can hear for miles around me is an unreal silence with an occasional chirp, leaves crunching, and a frog croaking. I was in nirvana.
Suddenly the most magical experience happened when this beautiful brave bird flew around my head. As I sat there drinking in the pure beauty of the landscape, he flew closer to me.
During one his flights around me, I reached out my hand slowly. At first, he continued flying around me becoming braver with each lap. Deciding I was not a threat, he hopped in my hand.
Without alarming him, I grabbed my camera and captured this moment in time with him. As soon as the shutter clicked and the photo captured, he was off. He was on his way back home.
I continued my hike in awe of that moment in time. No one was going to believe me when I told them the story of how I became friends with a bird. Luckily I have a photo to show them.
#whatdoyousee
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I would assign my magical wand to do the dishes. I’m constantly having to get on my oldest to put away the dishes. (There needs to be several commands and mom about to lose her cool.) So dishes need to be done by the wand – less gray hairs for mom.
The other chore would be to sweep the floor. That is a constant ongoing battle. I don’t know how we have so much dust. I swear it reproduces quickly because I can sweep it up and then half an hour later, there is more dust. Never ending battle.
I would think the handshake shockers would be funny when I’m in person with students. They might not think so. However, I think the levitation pills might be helpful. My classroom is across the entire building from where my students’ classrooms. (I’m an Intervention Specialist and do pull out services.) There are days I need to get from one of the building to the other quickly. Those levitation pills will be helpful.
I might give it to my 17-year-old to drink. He doesn’t need a girlfriend. Done that already and he’s decided it’s not worth the hassle. However one day, he might want to use it.
I could always use some good luck. It depends on what is going on in my life at the moment I get the Felix Felicis. If I feel as though I’m walking on the mountain tops, I would definitely give it to someone in need. However, if I was in those valley lows I would consider using it for myself but may give it away. (I know I’m being vague.)
Melanie’s Mundane Muggle Questions:
Our society has become a cancel society. When you say something people don’t agree with, then they want to cancel you rather than letting you explain, apologize, or make amends. I wish we as a people could truly speak our minds but the reality is too many people get hurt when they don’t agree with you. I’ve learned that sometimes it’s better not to say anything at all.
During my sister’s adult life, she really did not accomplish anything. She was very unhappy in both her skin and in her life. As the years progressed, she became more of a hermit until she died 4 years ago. Her legacy is one of heartbreak because I truly believe she missed out on life.
Unconditional love, cannot imagine life without them
The person trusts you enough to “allow” you freedom to be yourself. (I put allow in quotations because you don’t need permission to be yourself.) They don’t control you.
GRATITUDE SECTION (as always this is optional)
A phone call from a former student of mine
A student dropping into my Zoom meeting just to hang out
Stay kind!
I’ve divided the rest of the book into 5 parts: An All About Me, Meet my Mom of the Last 3 Years, Unveiling the Mirror of My Life, My Relationship with my Mom before August 2016, and Lessons I Learned Along the Way.
About 30 years ago, I started attending Clayton UMC. The Dukes had begun attending the church. I didn’t know that Paul and Shelly would become an essential part of my life.
Shelly became the pastor of the church in 1990 or 1991. Paul was my youth leader. Can I tell you how appreciative that he continues to be in my life after dealing with my teenage hormonal self? I know I wasn’t the easiest to deal with while I was in my teens. I was extremely talkative and annoying. I let people know that I was around. He never stopped loving me even when I know I was not lovable.
He taught me about my faith. Because of him, my faith has been strengthened. I also observed how he was with his two sons, Doug and Chris, and learned how a real dad should act.
Whenever I hear Opposites Attract and Promise of a New Day by Paula Abdul, I think of my years in the youth group. I introduced him to her music, and he fell in love with her for the next 15ish years.
When I was installed as Worthy Advisor of Rainbow, he was there to support me as though he was my dad. I am forever grateful for his support.
After the Goofy One and I had dated for a year, I took him to meet the Dukes. I wanted their seal of approval even though I didn’t really need it. Both Paul and Shelly approved of him.
I visit with Paul and Shelly once or twice a year. They treat me like a daughter when I come to their house. So, the feeling of a father – daughter relationship is evident to me. They welcome the boys and The Goofy One with open arms to assure we feel as though we are loved and wanted. I love visiting with them.
Paul and Shelly made sure to come to Tatiana’s celebration of life, and if Paul wasn’t getting over shingles, he would have been at my mom’s funeral.
I could babble on and on about how valuable Paul is to me. I am fortunate that God saw that I needed not only a hero, my grandpa but also a dad, Paul.
Thank you, God, for bringing these two men to my life during times that I needed someone to step up to teach me how a man should treat a woman.
Thank you for sending these men to teach me about how to have faith as small as a mustard seed.
“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in training and instruction of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:4
Thank you for sending me these men to show me the value of hard work.
Thank you, God, for their unconditional love for me.
God knew that I needed positive male role models in my life. I had been mistreated by the one who had given me life. The one whose job it was to raise me and to teach me how a woman is supposed to be treated.
I’ll be forever grateful for these two men.
We have one more stop on this part of the river before we change course. This last stop shows you how I cope with the stresses and joys of daily life. When I want to “escape” and not drown, I will listen to music. The music I listen to changes daily. Somedays I want to rock out to the familiar P!nk songs while other days I am in a more Christian mood. I can’t sing, play an instrument, or dance but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy music and admire those who are musically talented. It’s just something that I was not gifted with from God.
To be continued . . .
Believe in the Magic Traci Diary 