If I could have had a crystal ball of what life would have been like now in 2019, I would not have expected how much but how little my life has changed.
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Tag: Writing Workshop
Not a Typical Winter – mid January to early February
I wish I could truly show you all of the snow we’ve had since mid January. The amount is at or above our usual average amount of snow. Usually we get a total of around 16 inches.
One snow storm dropped 8 to 9 inches of snow! For us, that is an awful lot of snow.
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Free to Anyone Who Wants It
Currently the majority of the United States is going through a really bad cold snap. It’s as though Elsa is mad at us.
Now the Dayton, Ohio region is not as cold as other parts of the United States. At this current moment, 10:17 am on January 30, it’s -7 degrees. Are you serious?!?!?
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Where I’m From
Before I begin my post this was a Writer’s Workshop idea from almost 2 weeks ago, I was intrigued by the idea so I wrote my own Where I’m From.
I am from lots of tomatoes and bananas because that is what my parents could afford, from the land of Hershey chocolate and the Abigail, my Cabbage Patch doll who still resides in my somewhere in my house.
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If I Could Go Any Where for the Holidays
If I had all of the money in the world, I would love to go down to Walt Disney World for Christmas.
I would not want to visit on Christmas Day because it would be way too busy but I would love to visit at some point in December.
Why would I want to go to Disney during the busy holiday season?
Two years ago, I got to see the decorations at some of the different resorts throughout Walt Disney World. I loved seeing them. I also got to see some of the holiday decorations outside of each of the parks. (We didn’t go into any of the parks.) I would love to see the decorations inside each of the park. And photograph them.
Also I haven’t been to any of the Christmas parties in Disney. When we were there 2 years ago, I hoped they would have one but there was none scheduled. Bummer!
The last time I celebrated Christmas was during my College Program in 1995. I worked on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and maybe even New Year’s Day. I had a visitor during Christmas week and even though we spent time in the park we could not get to Magic Kingdom because it was so busy. The line for the monorail was all of the way to the entrance. It would have taken an hour or so to even get on the monorail.
Those are some of the reasons I would love to spend time down in Disney. The other reason is because honestly December is a hard month for me. In the last fifteen years, I’ve lost close family members during December – my grandpa in 2003, my grandma in 2008, my father-in-law in 2013, and my father-in-law’s aunt in 2014. (My grandma’s death was on Christmas Eve.)
WDW is my happy place. I’m like a child in a candy store while I’m there. I put aside all of my worries while I am down there. In fact, one of the reason I was down there in 2016 was because it was almost 3 months after my sister’s death. We had planned for a trip to Universal Studios prior to her death. A month after her death, I was seeing if there was a restaurant reservation available on Thanksgiving. I luckily found one and a hotel stay for two nights on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. While we were down there, she visited me on Thanksgiving. (Butterfly)
I would love to just go down there and forget my worries.
Christmas decorations 
Christmas deorations 
Christmas tree 
Christmas decorations 
Christmas decorations 
The Animal Kingdom Christmas tree 
Last year, I shared our local holiday display of Clifton Mill. They were featured on a national tv show and granted money towards continuing the 30 years of light displays.
Have a magical day,
Traci
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Yes, it’s messy! We’ve worked all day!
On Monday, my work space in my classroom was littered with folders, paper books, pens, pencils, and copies of worksheets. One of my students told me that it looked as though a tornado had blown through my room.
Throughout the day, I provided services for my students while creating an emergency sub tub in my spare time. It’s that time of the year that I need to have something in place in case they actually get me a sub if I’m ever not at school.
I also decided I needed to clean off my desk. I had a few random items that needed to be put away.
I also provided services to students while they were knocking random papers off the desk. I kept having to move papers, folders, and other misc. so the students could have a space to work. Only one of my students complained about the mess.
By the end of the day, my room was put back together. My desk was a little cleaner. A sub tub was created. I could breathe a little easier.
If anyone looked in my room, they might have said it looked messy. I would have said it’s a worn in look. We have been working hard all day learning so we could become better students.
Then this afternoon, it was fifteen minutes before dismissal for Thanksgiving/ fall break. I asked my last students of the day to help me clean up the room. We wiped down the room with the Clorax wipes, threw away trash, and got it ready for learning on November 26th.
When I walked back in my room from my dismissal duty, I could smell the Clorax. It smells so clean in my room. Such a good feeling
When I get back from break, the room will once again get messy. That’s okay because it means they are learning.
Have a magical day,
Traci
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5 Reasons to Love Fall
This morning I made some pumpkin spice latte syrup so I could make myself a homemade pumpkin spice latte. After I put the syrup in the cute bottle I got from Meijers, I started dancing around the kitchen singing “Pumpkin Spice” to the tune of “Jingle Bells.”
Sorry there isn’t a video of me dancing around while singing a crazy song.
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An Oasis in the City
If you ask anyone who truly knows me, they would tell you that I could be a tour guide for our area.
My aunt came to visit a month ago. One morning, we spent time going to go get donuts and then I took her to various places. My mom was ready to come over to my house for us to continue working on organizing my kitchen. She was sort of panicked because we were only suppose to be gone for an hour or so. Yep, we took longer than an hour because I ended up taking her to a couple more places than expected. I wanted to show her some of the places I enjoy taking photos.
Then last week my friend, Molly came to visit. She came in 2016 and enjoyed it so much that she flew down once again. I took her to different places this year. Well, that is except for one place. We went to Carillon Park in 2016 but it was a rushed visit. She talked about the park so my mom got us tickets to see Orville Wright’s home and tickets for Carillon Park. Molly got to see more of the park this year.
Since I enjoy taking people to various places in my hometown or areas close to my hometown, I needed to really think what area of my town I wanted to showcase in this blog post.
Before we begin, where is it that I live or what city do I live close to? I live near Dayton, Ohio which is an hourish north of Cincinnati, an hourish west of Columbus, and an hourish east of the Indiana border. An hourish north of me is Wapakoneta, Ohio where Neal Armstrong is from. There is a lot to see and do in this big hourish circle. Don’t you love how I use the word hourish?
Dayton is known for having the most patents and inventions. Here is a list of some of the inventions that have come from this small city:
- pop tabs for pop cans
- freon for air conditioners
- self starter for cars
- airplane
- self scanning machines
- Etc. . .
We have the biggest free museum on Aviation in our city. People from all over come to see the National Museum of the Air Force or Air Force Museum. However, I’m not going to showcase the museum today. (Air Force One is on display in building 4 of the museum.)
Today I’m going to showcase two places which are located diagonally across from each other in downtown Dayton. Downtown Dayton used to be known for it’s shopping back in the day but that is no longer a thing. So a group of people have worked together to revitalize the downtown area. Riverscape Metro Park and Fifth Third Field are two places that have been built so that people will come to the downtown area. Today I’m going to share why Riverscape is a great place to visit.
One of the cool thing is the RiverScape River Run. It makes the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton more accessible to those who enjoy water activities.
There is also cool statues throughout the park. Here is an example of one of those statues:
I believe this is represent the devastating flood we had in 1913.
There is also a walking path along the Great Miami River so if you want to exercise this is the place to go.
There is also a splash pad for the kids to beat the summer heat.
There are also swings to sit on so you can watch people riding their bikes or walking. You could also watch the wild life. (I once saw a deer crossing the road into the park.) Or read or check your phone while sitting on these swings.
Or you could read a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar, a famous African American poet who was a resident of Dayton. Did you know he was friends with the Wright Brothers and is buried close to them?
You can also watch the fountain show.
I forgot to take a photo of their pavilion where you can sit on a hot day or ice skate under in the winter.
You can get food there during certain hours. So if you worked in downtown Dayton, it would be a great place to get your lunch.
Across the street is my favorite sculpture. It’s Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright and their 1905 Wright B. Flyer. (Wilbur’s flying)
Diagonally across from the park is Fifth Third Field where the minor league baseball team plays. (Dayton Dragons) As Molly told me, she had more fun at that game than the minor league team she has in Rochester New York. It’s not just a game, it’s an experience.
I have done another blog post about Riverscape, click here for that post. Those photos were taken during the spring.
I hope you enjoyed my oasis in the city.
Have a magical day,
Traci
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Eat My Bubbles
When Hubby and I went on the Disney Cruise in 2015, we bought a Nikon Coolpix camera. The battery on that camera has a short life so we were unable to get a lot of photos while on the trip. We still have the camera though. We pull it out when we want to have fun in the pool.
Monday was one of those days. Hubby charged up the camera. The Wee One, Imaginative One, my niece, and my nephew played in the pool. I did get into the pool for a little while. Most of the time I was in the pool, I was taking photos.
I got out when they decided to have a rousing game of Marco Polo. I did not want to become a victim of their playing.
So without further ado, enjoy the photos of us playing around.
Note: I’m not going to include the photos of my niece or nephew since they are not my children.
Oh, the teens decided they needed to wear random buckets on their heads. Silly teens. (They were still able to breath otherwise I would have made them take them off their head.)
This was the last time I wore a bathing suit.
Have a magical day!
Traci
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Molly and My EPIC Adventure #4 Plans
This summer, I’m not taking a vacation. Last summer, I took 1 vacation, 1 EPIC adventure, and 1 road trip.
This summer I’m going to have an EPIC adventure. Plans have been put into place. Both Molly and I are excited for the 4.5 days she will be here because they are jam packed.
She arrives on the 24th at 2ish in the afternoon. Day 1 is only going to be driving around to where I grew up, work, and where my sister is buried. Mom is going to be going along on this drive because she can give more detail about the history of some of the places.
We’ll eat dinner at my place that night and either swim or get into the hot tub.
On Monday morning, we are going to get up early and hit the road. She had never been to Kentucky before so we are traveling down to Louisville.
While in Louisville, we are going to the Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Kentucky Derby Museum, and taking a boat cruise in the evening.
(Tuesday) Since she had never been to Indiana either, we are traveling back to Ohio via Indiana. We found a roadside attraction in Versailles, Indiana that we are going to try to find called Paulhedge. I have only been to the part of Indiana that is along I-70 and Indianapolis and northern Indiana. I’ve never been to south east Indiana.
We are going to go to Jungle Jim‘s on our way back and depending on how tired we feel we may also head over to Lebanon to see the Golden Lamb. The rest of the evening will be spent relaxing.
On Wednesday, we are going to eat breakfast at one of my favorite brunch spots. Then we are heading to Carillon Park and Hawthorn Hill. Afterwards we are going to hit up a donut shop, a coffee shop, a quick service restaurant featuring gourmet hot dogs, and a store that specializes in chocolate.
After going home for a rest, we are going to a baseball game in downtown Dayton.
On Thursday of that trip, we are heading north east to see the Ohio Caverns and maybe a castle.
On our way home, we are going to eat ice cream at Young’s Dairy and once again explore Yellow Springs.
She is leaving Friday morning. (Insert sad face)
After I drop her off at the airport, the Imaginative One and I are heading down to King’s Island for a day of fun.
All this fun during the week is the reason we call it EPIC adventures.
There is so much more I would love to do with her but there is not enough time.
Have a magical day,
Traci
