The best thing about Mother's day is...

As mother’s day draws near, I can’t help but spend a few minutes thinking about how lucky I am.  Like most people, I will spend some time on Mother’s Day thinking about my Mom and how much she meant to me, but I will also spend time thinking about how very honored I am to be the Mom of two of the most incredible people on the planet.  I know that raising my two amazing daughters was the greatest accomplishment of my life.  It is hard to find the words to describe how proud I am to be their Mom.

 

I have often described Rachael as a force of nature.  She is the most determined and driven person I have ever met.  From day one she has been in high gear, accomplishing any goal that she set out for herself.  She is so smart and funny and such a genuinely caring person.  She does have that famous red-headed temper,  so we have had our struggles at times, but I am constantly in awe at her ability to tackle any challenge and master any skill.  I remember one of her elementary teachers saying “I wish I could fast forward and see the incredible things you will accomplish” and I know that teacher was right.  How could a mom not be proud to have a daughter like Rachael?

I usually describe Danielle as my hippie child, born a few decades too late, Danielle is a strong advocate for compassion and justice.  Just like her sister, Danielle is motivated and very successful, but Danielle is very much her own person.  She is a kind, sweet, intelligent and amazingly creative young lady. Where Rachael is much more traditional, Danielle is comfortably unique. Danielle is always proud to wear her upcycled clothing and make a fashion statement that is all her own.  She never fails to amaze me with her crazy costumes or her newest business ventures.  As a successful model, most people immediately notice how beautiful she is – but I know that her true beauty is on the inside. 

Mother’s day is the perfect time to think about how lucky I am.  I know I made mistakes at times, and being a Mom is never easy, but when I look at these two phenomenal women I can’t help but feel great. 

 

I Hate Bullies

Just like Captain America, I hate bullies! I love how the character of Steve Rogers won’t back down from a bully, even if the bully is much bigger than he is.  A bully can really hurt someone, but bullies don’t always throw punches, sometimes bullies are much worse than that.

Working in middle school, I see some kids get picked on and bullied, and I always try to intervene.  Sometimes the bully isn't who you think. 

I work with someone who is a bully.  Bullies do their job through intimidation and fear.  Unfortunately for me, just like Captain America, I have never been the kind of person who will back down from a bully.  This has often led to challenges, and in the words of Brittany Spears, “Oops I did it again,”  I called a bully out for their bad behavior, and in true bully form this person is trying to use fear and intimidation tactics against me for challenging them.  It’s too bad this bully doesn’t understand anything about real leadership.  Fear, intimidation and bullying are never part of effective leadership.

 

Have you ever seen that TV show called “What would you do?” where the hosts set up awful situations where someone is being a jerk and they see who will step in and say something.  I know I would be the person who would say something.  I have always been the kind of person who speaks up when I see something wrong.  I’m glad that the bully is focused on me, I know I am strong enough to stand up to this bully, and they will be so busy with me that they won’t have time to bully other people for a while.  It’s not fun to stand up to a bully, but someone has to step up and challenge those bullies…..

And like Steve Rogers said – “I can do this all day!”

  

Essential Oils

So I was complaining about my crazy spring time allergies & my former sister-in-law was excited to share with me the idea of using essential oils to help.  She sent me a doTerra introductory kit (http://www.mydoterra.com/shirleyjake/essentialDefinition.html)
which included the oils of Lavender, Lemon & Peppermint.   

As I tried them out, I decided to do some research about essential oils.  According to the doTerra literature, essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers and other parts of plants.  Essential oils are a natural way to improve your health, cure ailments, and soothe your body and mind. Essential oils have been used for thousands of years in medicinal and cosmetic purposes.  One of the first widespread uses of these essential oils was the perfume industry.  The aromatic quality of essential oils can enhance your mood and senses.  With the ever growing movement into holistic medicine, essential oils are now becoming more popular for medicinal purposes.  These oils can be used three ways; topically, internally or aromatically (inhaling the aromas), depending on the reason for use and the specific oil involved. 

I have been using the oils for just a few weeks, and experimenting with my favorite way to use the oils.  I have always been very sensitive to smells, so the incredible aromas of the oils is wonderful. 

According to doTerra here are some of the suggested uses for the oils:

Lavender – apply to your pillow to help sleeping (it smells wonderful), use to calm a reaction to bee sting or bug bit (luckily I haven’t had to try this yet), Use with bath salts for a relaxing spa bathing experience J, apply to sunburned or scalded skin (remind me to pack this for my trip to Antigua), Apply to dry chapped lips (it really helps – the air here is so dry & chapped lips are a big problem for me), use with the peppermint for healthy scalp massage – I haven’t tried this yet, but it sounds awesome, add a drop to your hand lotion for a stress relieving hand massage. 

Lemon – Add a drop to a water bottle or to the water served at a restaurant, add a drop to honey to soothe a cough or sore throat, apply directly to cold sores (again, glad I haven’t needed to try this use yet), use to remove gum or sticky adhesive labels, add to olive oil for a non-toxic furniture polish, and diffuse in a room to neutralize odors. 

Peppermint – rub on feet to sooth & cool them, use with lemon in water for a healthy, refreshing mouth rinse, use topically to open sinuses and airways, apply with lavender to tired sore muscles, add to shampoo for an invigorating hair & scalp massage, use a drop in water for a cool refreshing pick me up.


So far I am enjoying trying out the many uses of the oils & yes, they are helping to lessen my allergies a bit, plus I just LOVE the incredible aromas.  I always think it’s a good idea to try something new – so if you are at all interested, you should try out the oils too, and let me know what works best for you. We can learn from each other.

There are literally dozens of books about essential oils, here is a link to one below.

 

Have you hugged a teacher lately? Teacher Appreciation Day

 

Each year a certain week is designated for teacher appreciation, and this year is no different.  Our school’s PTO did a great job of trying to spoil the teachers with goodies as a way of showing appreciation for all that teachers do.  I am grateful to the PTO for the love and kindness shown to teachers, but I have to be honest – It is hard to be a teacher & it feels like it is getting harder each and every day. 

I’m not just talking about the usual stuff, having patience to repeat instructions for students for the hundredth time, or sweltering in the afternoon sun during assigned duty, no I mean the job itself is much harder than it used to be. High-stakes testing, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Common Core Curriculum, there is an ever growing list of new federal, state and local regulations and initiatives that are choking the joy out of teaching and making a teacher’s job incredibly difficult. 

Arizona, along with many other states, has enacted strict new teacher evaluation laws.  I am not opposed to requiring some accountability and ensuring that teachers are doing a good job, but these new laws are unrealistic and unfairly biased against certain teachers.  As part of the evaluation process, student scores on standardized assessments are included in the evaluation. Despite excellent teaching, there are many other factors that influence a student’s ability to pass one of these tests.  Students from poor schools routinely have lower scores.  A recent study showed that income levels drastically affect SAT scores, with a significant reduction in scores for lower income students across all ethnic groups. 

As politicians and others attempt to hold teachers more accountable, they fail to recognize and address that teachers are only part of the formula for success.  Where is the discussion about holding parents & the students themselves more accountable?  I watch as students sit and randomly bubble in circles on standardized state tests and parents make excuses for students and ask for extra credit because their child has a bad grade.  Students miss school so their family can go on vacation to Disneyland.  Parents explain that their child cannot do the assigned homework because they have Little League practice.  Some parents even blame teachers for their child’s poor behavior or lack of effort.  Most parents are amazingly supportive, but a teacher has a limited ability to impact a student, especially if there is not adequate support at home. 

Teacher spend hundreds of their own dollars each year on supplies for the classroom.  Teaching is one of the lowest paid positions that require a professional degree.  Teachers are constantly told things like “yes, but you get summers off”, which while technically true, does not take into account the hours of in-service training that teachers are required to do to retain their teaching credential (and which most teachers pay for with their own money).  Teachers do NOT get big raises, they are NOT paid bonuses for doing a good job, and most often they are expected to show up in the evening for school events, but are not paid any overtime.  

Teachers care deeply about the students they teach, and for the last ten years they have been asked to constantly keep doing more with less.  Class sizes are larger than ever and budgets are getting smaller than ever.  Teachers have to rely on begging parents just to have basic classroom supplies.  

Despite all of this, there is nothing quite like watching students get ‘turned on to learning’.  When I started teaching I was really proud of the impact I had on the lives of children, but it's getting harder and harder.  I am frustrated at politicians and others who believe that they know what is needed in my classroom more than I do, and I know that I am not alone in feeling this way.  I have worked with amazing and dedicated teaching colleagues who literally pour their heart and souls into their teaching every day, yet they are ‘evaluated’ on things that are out of their control. 

I am very grateful to the parents who go out of their way to recognize teachers during teacher appreciation week – I just wish the policy makers in our state and national governments would also appreciate teachers and all that we do. 

I admit it - I'm a nerd, and I will celebrate Star Wars Day!

 

I never really thought about the fact that I may be a nerd.  I love to read, I watch Sci Fi channel – especially those awful old B-rated movies about something destroying the planet until the unlikely hero rescues everyone, I wait in line on opening day for all the new Marvel superhero movies – so I guess I do officially qualify as a nerd.  I know that I am in good company. J

As a genuine nerd – I will gladly admit that I am excited to celebrate Star Wars Day.  I might not watch all six movies like the Big Bang Theory show portrayed this week, but hopefully I can stream one or two of the original movies.  I remember being so excited to see Star Wars in the movies (and yes like most fans, I thoroughly DISLIKE the newer episodes 1, 2 & 3).  It is hard to image that the first movie came out almost 4 decades ago. 

 

I know I had a big crush on Luke Skywalker and Han Solo – I mean who didn’t?  I was sooo pissed at my older sister for spilling the beans about Darth Vader. 

Even now – with the goofy old graphics, that were cutting edge at the time, there is nothing quite like watching Jedi Knights defend the galaxy. 

Like most Star Wars fans, I was very excited when the cast of the seventh "Star Wars" movie was announced & it included many of the original actors.  I am also a bit apprehensive, because like me, my Jedi heroes have aged a bit too – and I want to remember them in all their glory.  Seeing Luke & Han much older means I have to face the fact that I am older too. 

I will celebrate official Star Wars day and I will look forward to the newest installment of this amazing movie franchise, and I really hope this seventh movie will bring back the glory of Star Wars and some of my favorite childhood heroes. JJ Abrams – Good luck and May the Fourth be with you!

 

Racism is wrong – no matter what form it takes

Okay-I’m about to open a big ole can of worms…..Last month my fiancé and I rented 12 years a slave and I found it to be a profoundly disturbing movie.  It was so awful to watch, it simply hurt my heart and soul to think of someone treating a fellow human being like that.  Worse, the movie presented people who considered themselves to be good, God-fearing Christians, yet they not only stood by and accepted or tolerated such evil, but many actively participated in the horrors of slavery and the brutality of a race of people simply because their ignorance allowed them to believe someone was inferior because of the color of their skin. 

Even though slavery is a thing of the past in this country (sadly it still exists in some places in the world) Racism is alive and well in our country.  Just turn on the news this week and you will hear about the racist comments made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.  I know about racism because I see it every day.  I teach in a racially diverse school, in a state known for intolerance. 

The stain of racism is not limited to any one particular group.  As a nation of immigrants, our treatment of Mexicans and individuals from other Central and South American countries is disgraceful. One need only look at the SB1070 controversy to see that.  History has shown us countless examples of ethnic groups who have been mistreated to one degree or another.  Last month, the SAT’s came out with data on the enormous racial gap in scores.  It is astounding the difference that race still makes in our society. 

Many well-meaning individuals will say things like, “racism is a thing of the past, I mean we have a black President” yet this current President has been treated with more open disrespect than any previous President in the last century.  People don’t just disagree with his policies – they viciously attack his character and compare him to Adolph Hitler and the Nazis.  Even respected members of Congress shouting “you lie” during a Presidential speech.   It does make me wonder how much his race plays a part in the criticism. 

Are there systemic problems with government assistance programs?  Sure.  Do we need to hold individuals more accountable for their actions and decisions?  Sure.  But let’s not kid ourselves, racism is very real and very present in our society. 

We also have situations where there are well meaning individuals, in their desire to eliminate racism, they have created an almost reverse racism.  I witnessed an incident this week, where someone was allowed to say, “I don’t like you because you are white” which in my opinion is as completely wrong as saying I don’t like you simply because you are black, Hispanic, Asian, etc.  In no way am I suggesting that racism is not a very real challenge, but there are some situations where the desire to eliminate any form of racism has created an almost double standard.  No one, of any color or race, should be allowed to be hostile or disrespectful to anyone, no matter what their race.  Words can be incredibly powerful and someone’s race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation or anything else should NEVER be a reason to dislike someone, without fairly judging who they are as a person based on that person’s actions. 

“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.”
― Muhammad Ali

 

A happy accident & a new plan

Sometimes things just happen, you have an idea…a plan of how you think things will go and suddenly, they go in a whole new direction.  I have been working hard on promoting my current book and learning the do’s and don’ts of indie book marketing.  I have two different historical fiction novels outlined and started, and I was trying to decide which one to focus on, when I was going through some files on my computer and my new book idea hit me like a lightning bolt.  It was one of those moments when it all just made sense, and I knew I had to change course. I love how life throws you curve balls like that.    

I am not going to share my new book topic yet, but I am so very excited.  It is perfect – a fusion on my skills, talents & interests that I think will literally jump onto the page.  I almost couldn’t sleep I was so filled with enthusiasm for this new book. 

I have already started researching online and reserved a few extra reference books from the library.  I have posted some questions on my social media that I hope friends will answer to help my book research.  I know this is the right project for me. I guess I better get busy writing …..