It Happened Again

i am having a issue with my weight
i can't seem to get a control on my
eating, i feel like a bottomless pit

it just seems i am always hungry
try as i might, the hunger stays with
me, each day i wake and tell myself
it is going to be a good day, i will
control my food intake, by 1pm
all bets are off

just not really sure what happen
i did have it under control, my weight
was stable, and i was able to stay away
from foods that just seemed to add
the pounds on

it has been since christmas 07 that
i have lost the control, and definitely
gained weight

so now i am starving myself
i know that is not good, but i have
to do something

summer is approaching and i just
don't want to be that poor beached
whale lying on the jersey shore beach

i know i am me, and i will always
be a plus size, however i just need
to gain that control back

i have put myself in this position
before, so it is happening again,
and i allowed it to do so

oh boy, just another issue to deal
with, i just want to attack this issue
this minute, and i know i can't as
this is going to take a while

wish me luck
:O)

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Life Lessons Learned

Dedicated to our own Iteach, Jennifer, VIG and Tink ~~~

by bon'oregon

Recently I read the inspiring best-seller The LAST LECTURE by Randy Pausch, the 47-year old father of three very young children and Carnegie Mellon Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Design and Time Management. In September 2006, Pausch was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer and, in August 2007, he was given the prognosis of 3 to 6 months of relatively good health. Much of the next few months were spent capturing in a 'last lecture' his philosophy of life and lessons he wanted to leave with former students and-~~more importantly~~-his own children and wife. What a wonderful gift he left for all of us educators, parents, HUMANS.

I'm so tempted to leave a dozen or so quotes from the book here, but I'll resist. Here are just a few.....

*"In the end, educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective. The only way any of us can improve...is if we develop a real ability to assess ourselves."

*"I've always believed that if you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out."

*"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted...failure is not just acceptable, it's often essential."

*"Whether you think you can or can't, you're right."

*"Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other."

*"If I could only give three words of advice, they would be 'tell the truth'. If I got three more words, I'd add: 'all the time."

Today is National Teacher Day. This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. I thought it might be fun, on this day, for each of us to look back and remember the ONE teacher who stands out in our memories for something they said or did which impacted us and our life choices.

Was he/she a Post-Graduate Professor or gifted Kindergarten Teacher? Did we recognize that influence at the time? Or are we just beginning to realize how much of who we are we owe to them? I've had one or two such teachers, but I'd rather hear from YOU about yours!

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Disconnect

DISCONNECT

by Lynn D

Sometimes I am at a loss on how to deal with myself. I have many issues and have tried to work on them as I grow.

One issue I am struggling with and have come to the conclusion I may always, is my ability to just disconnect emotionally. This occurs when I feel threatened or uncertain. It really can go beyond normal reason and caution.

I know I learned it at a young age as I had to learn how to cope very quickly early in my life. I had to divorce or stop the emotions or they would overtake me. I was too young to know how to make the hurt stop so I learned to disconnect while still looking engaged.

I fell helpless to stop it. As I get older it is like a closed emotional fist. I can feel it in my gut and see it in my minds eye. The old recording in my mind that says don’t share, don’t reveal too much or you will be disappointed again. No one will accept you for who you are, don’t take the chance. I am a coward and give in.

This coping mechanism helped me get through some very tough emotional and physical times in my life, but now it feels like a weight holding me down and keeping me from being happy. I am not saying that I am not happy. I have moments of happiness but I crave more. Are there people who are happy most of the time?

It makes me tired and really hinders me from accepting who I am and stops me from being who I want to be. I want to break the cycle and yet I cling to it as I can’t take someone else ripping through me emotionally it hurts so much.

I keep searching for a better way, a more logical way and have not found it yet. I will continue on this search because the fist is becoming more and more uncomfortable. I don’t want to live the rest of my life disconnected. It scares me and makes me sad that I could pass from this world without unclenching that fist.

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Ten Questions

Season Spring, A Painting by ♥Lovey♥

TEN QUESTIONS

by ♥Lovey♥

I love Sunday's. One of my favourite programs, "Inside the Actor's Studio" comes on at 5 p.m.

I find it so interesting how much you can tell about a person, and how much conversation can be made with 10 questions.

I usually answer the questions along with the guest and sometimes they are the same each week and sometimes they change.

It all depends on my mood and thoughts that day.
Here's 10 questions. I'd love to read your answers.

1) What is your favourite word?
2) What is your least favourite word?
3) What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
4) What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
5) What sound or noise do you love?
6) What sound or noise do you dislike?
7) What is your favourite curse word?
8) What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9) What profession would you not like to do?
10) If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

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Our Perception

i received by "100 most beautiful"
People Magazine yesterday, which i
have always enjoyed, i love to
see who is the most "beautiful"
i look at the pictures in awe of
the outward beauty these people
were blessed with

as i flip thru the pictures i
wonder who picks these people
as the most beautiful, and why is
it the outward beauty that counts?

are all these people really beautiful?

should we not take into consideration
the makeup, the photo editing, the
expensive clothes and the hundred's
of pictures they took before they
chose just one?

kate hudson, cute yes, beautiful?
rumor wilson, cute?, beautiful?
sarah silverman, no comment!

well heck, if they can all be considered
beautiful, then why can't i? if i
had access to a makeup artist, a stylist,
a expert photographer, would i not look
as beautiful as they?

you betcha!

its all in the perception, it is
what they make you look like, it is
how they distort who you are and
who they want you to be

when i see oprah, in all her worldly
clothes, her hair so spectacular, her
face donned with makeup, do i think
she is fulfilled with outward beauty,
well yes, as that is what they want
me to see, but is she really?

to me, beautiful should be judged
on what is on the inside, the outward
should have no bearing!

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As I look back!

i am feeling quite nostalgic lately
looking back on my teens always
puts me a 70ish kind of mood

i wonder if i knew all the possibilities
that were ahead of me, i wonder if
i took life for granted, as being a teen
you are so much more into yourself
and your "so called" friends, nothing
around you matters

so as i was looking back, i found
this, and smiled ear to ear, as it made
me happy! it was so great to be a teen
in the 70's

i am so very glad i have the memories
and now looking back it seems like magic!

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May Day!

Happy May Day to you!

by iteach

When I was a child May 1st was one of my favorite days. My mom would help us make Mayday baskets to give to all the neighborhood kids. We always used a white styrofoam cup and attach a pipe cleaner to it as a handle. We filled it with popcorn and candy. My little sister and I had so much fun making these with our mom. Then came my favorite part. We would leave them by our neighbor's door, ring the doorbell, and run. It was so much fun to be sneaky. Even though it was a lot of fun doing it for other people, I secretly hoped I would get one by my door too. I would scream with delight when I would hear the door knock and see baskets on the steps.

Those were the good old days, because May day is now a dieing tradition. I'm so surprised every year to hear my students say that they don't do that tradition at home. I still do it in my classroom. We make a basket out of construction paper. Then we fill it with paper flowers, popcorn, and candy. Finally, we leave the basket at another classroom's locker.

I also still do it with my own children. We make them the night before for all the kids in their preschoool classroom. We don't have any neighborhood kids to give them too. Last year they had so much fun making them and I can't wait to do it again this year.

Did you make May Day baskets when you were a little child?

Also, here is something corny to do since I'm a corny type of person. Let's make May Day baskets to hand out to our fellow owls.

Here is my basket to you-

salty white popcorn
orange circus peanuts
gumdrops
dumdum sucker
and violets from my backyard

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