Creating a Mindful Environment

“I might take a grad class in the fall if I can get it approved by HR,” Dawn said one day over the summer. “For what? Through where?” My mind was spinning with questions. I have toyed with the idea of taking more classes for a while now but never got up enough courage. It’s

Jet Ski Riding

Walk slowly Avoid rocks Climb on Grip tight Gooooooooooo…. Hair blowing Water splashing Doing donuts Salt everywhere Weeeeeeeeeeeeee

Fun, Fun, Fun

What was the first concert you ever went to? My first concert was The Beach Boys at the outdoor Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, CT when I was around 9 (maybe) because my uncle was obsessed with them and essentially taught me every word to every song. I might not remember a lot about the actual

Sit, Observe, Sketch, Write…

As I walked into Dawn’s house for the Community of Teachers Learning (COTL) meeting I was immediately drawn to all her tomatoes. I’ve read so many slices about her garden that I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Tomatoes were everywhere… huge ones on her kitchen table, and the rest lined her window sills

Sunset on the Water

For the past 2 summers a bucket list item of mine has been to go to Port Jefferson (via the ferry) for dinner and time it right to be on the ferry back to Connecticut to see sunset. Really I could care less about dinner in Port Jeff, I just wanted to be on the

SWIM Across the Sound

SWIM Across the Sound is a charity run by St. Vincent’s Medical Center that provides help for cancer patients and their families. Google tells me this organization started in 1987. But I can remember learning about it through my swim team around 1992 when I participated in the annual aquathon (not the 15.5 mile marathon

Inspiration

Invited to join for a morning of writing Nervousness as I walk into your house…late Sitting around your coffee table sharing and discussing Putting myself in the students shoes, the uncomfortable Implementing line drawings for pushing my own writing Regroup to share what we did and thought Every year this day and group brings me

Dear Mosquito

Dear Mosquito, Please pick on someone your own size or better yet no one at all. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you don’t know what happens when you bite someone, so I’ll tell you. The place where you bite gets inflamed and itchy. Very itchy. Sometimes it itches for minutes. Other

Wedding Speech

For those of you that don’t know me I’m Tori’s sister, Elena.  For those of you that do, you probably know how hard it is for me to make decisions.  Tori and Jake know this first hand and deal with it a lot.  Therefore, writing this speech proved to be quite the challenge for me.  

First of the Season

The day finally arrived. It was a HOT, sunny day. It was time for the first swim lessons of the season. I had 4 swimmers… 3 of which were newbies. Lesson 1 (a newbie): Carter came down the hill smiling but as soon as the gate was open and he saw me the tears came.