Writing on a front porch in Virginia

I gave this post that title because simply being on a front porch to write is quite a gift for me.  If I were in Texas, I would not be sitting outside due to the humidity and heat.  This morning is very cool, clear, and the only noises I hear are of the birds communicating with each other and the faint sound of a lawn mower down the road.
It is so amazing how the mind works.  I know that I fill mine with so many details, plans, concerns, and sometimes needless worry.  I keep clutter up to a maximum.  But, when you come to a porch like this where you are surrounded by beautiful flowers, green grass, and the view of the bay through the pine trees, you simply must stop, take a breath, and think about what is really important.  Now, I am not saying that I cannot appreciate my own home and its surroundings, but everything here is more "natural" and tends to slow down the heartbeat and challenges the mind.  Sometimes when things are too quiet, my mind can tend to go places it shouldn't go...too much to think about as some might say.  That is when I have to practice what I preach and ask myself:  "Where are your feet, Rosie?"  My feet are not in my past, and they have not reached next week.  My feet are right here on this porch.  So, as hard as it can sometimes be, I will try to just "be" right here, taking deep breaths, looking as far and as long as I can at this beautiful display of nature, and declutter my mind of things I can do nothing about and focus to improve the things I can.  The main problem is that a little hummingbird keeps wanting to show off his tricks, and the sound of the bay keeps telling me that its time to go back to my swing and continue reading my book.
Do I dare ask:  Where are your feet right now?  Is your mind and heart aligned with them?  Not always easy, but worth a try.

R                                        

My feet are now in Virginia!

We arrived on the Eastern Shore yesterday.  I knew all was well when I could soak in the beautiful Atlantic Ocean again as we crossed through the Chesapeake Tunnel.  This is an absolutely beautiful state!

This morning I got up early to have my anticipated cup of coffee on the front porch.  Of course, the temperatures are in the high 60s in the early morning and out where our family lives it is pure green grass with flowers growing and a view of the channel. The hummingbirds also really performed and were so entertaining.

However, I knew that my main goal was to get my feet walking because we are going to be in a car several hours for the next few days.  I began walking down the road in front of the house and was going to go only as far as this long row of crepe myrtles.  I figured that would be enough for today.  But, once I got to the end of them, I decided I should, at least, go to the end of the road.  Once I arrived, I looked to my sharp right and knew I HAD to go say hello to the horses since I had not seen them in a year.  Once I petted them both, I glanced again to my right and decided that I would keep going as far as the stop sign at the end of the road.  A return trip from there would be a little under two miles.  I arrived at the stop sign and thought, "You have made it this far; you have to take a right so you can go down that favorite little path that takes me right down to the water's edge of the bay."  I knew this will mean an approximate four mile round trip but it was so beautiful out there with a fabulous breeze.  I had my music going and all was right with the world.
I finally got to the end of the road, found my little path but this time there was something new.  There was a sign down by the water that said in huge letters:  NO TRESPASSING! PRIVATE PROPERTY! I couldn't believe it!  And, being the rule follower, I was not willing to be fined while here, so I did not go beyond the sign.  I was able to see the water; the same water I can see from our family's next door neighbor's swing!
As I started back, my IPOD died, so the poor cornstalks had to listen to me sing.  They didn't fall over dead so I guess it wasn't too bad.  Once home I felt such a feeling of accomplishment.!  These "feet" have still got some "go" in them.  Of course, I realized that two weeks ago walking in New York City as I recall! ha ha  What a month this has been!
Pictures to come!

SXDYYE

Did Summer fly by or is it just me??

The address of my blog reads, "Where are your feet?" Most people know the reason behind this title so I won't go there.  Some would guess that it is one of those "in the moment" things and they would be correct.  Unfortunately, I am not always successful at alligning my head and heart with my feet, but I do try. Anyway, as I look back over the past few months, I observe that my feet have been a lot of different places.  I must admit that this year has faded somewhat in comparison with last year when I traveled to Paris, New York, Williamsburg, Pittsburgh, Boston, the Eastern Shore and best of all Oklahoma City to see Robert and Mandy get married.
Since the spring semester ended, my feet went to New York City to see John and Salome, to Beebe, Arkansas, to say good-bye to a dear relative, and to Zale Lipshy when Ron had his stroke.  My feet then went to the North Star Writing Institute where I spent weeks filling my head with knowledge and spending time with amazing teachers.  After this institute, my feet went back to UNT where I taught a five week summer course and got to meet 28 outstanding future teachers.  I tried to teach them things that were important in 20 days, but it was tough.  However, according to them, they had a great time and claimed to have learned a lot.  Two weeks ago my feet were back in New York City with my childhood friend where we found ourselves in an NYPD car going "down to the precinct", later visiting Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, going to see the Carol King Musical, and best of all, spending lots of quality time with John and Salome.
Now my feet are in one of my Flower Mound Starbucks offices taking a break from errands to get ready for our trip to Virginia.  We leave tomorrow to go see the "fabulous Alexanders" and there are a lot of them to see.  We have inlaws, nieces, nephews, 5 year old "great" twin boys, a toddler, and two new babies! My feet will be going all over Virginia and then finally out to the Eastern Shore where I will get to sit in my swing and read my book.  I can't wait.
So, after reading this, I guess I understand more clearly why it seems that summer has flown by.  I look forward to what great experiences must be ahead.  We will see where my feet will be.

Looking for future brides!

This afternoon I was sitting in one of my Starbucks offices grading papers when I couldn't help but overhear a conversation going on at the counter.  It was between a gentlemen, who I now know was a minister, and a young couple.  They were tying up the details of their upcoming wedding in October.  I must admit that even though I was finished grading, that I pretended to stay busy so I could listen to them.  I slowly pulled out my wedding business cards just in case I might have heard them say, "We just can't find a pianist anywhere!"

Unfortunately, this did not happen.  They wound up their conversation and went along their merry way.  It got me to thinking that I cannot remember the last time I played for a wedding.  I used to have a pretty steady flow of weddings at Chapelle Le Fluer, a wedding chapel in Flower Mound.  However, even before they were bought out, I was starting to be replaced by CD music.  The DJs began throwing the wedding music into their "package" which was less expensive than hiring me.  I never got my chance to say to these future brides that sometimes things like: late guests, flower girls who refuse to go down the aisle, pacing of the bridesmaids, grandmothers, and moms sometimes will not fit perfectly to a CD and that a "live piano player" can make all of those incidents smooth out beautifully with a few extra moments of music.  I am not saying that there haven't been weddings where the CD music worked perfectly fine, but I am saying that it is a gamble.

So, if you are reading this and you or someone you know is planning a wedding, please consider talking to me about taking over all of your musical concerns!  I have references and personal CDs of my own if you need them.

Thanks,
R.

girlietchr@gmail.com

Done and Here I Go Again

I just finished a what was supposed to be 3 and a 1/2 week writing workshop in two and a 1/2 weeks!  It was intense and much harder than I thought it would be.  However, I learned so, so, so much about myself as a teacher and feel that I will be a better teacher as a result of being there.  I met some adorable people who are my newest friends!  I continue adding to my friend list and am extrmely blessed and thankful.
     So today I went to my office at UNT to prepare for my summer course that starts on Monday.  It will be four mornings a week until the 8th of August. I spent most of the day preparing for it and am pumped and excited to meet 27 new students.
     I got to spend time with one of my favorite people, the now Dr. Kathy Dixon, and catch up on all that has been going on with her course this summer.  She just finished teaching the course that I am going to start!  We threw ideas back and forth and had a lot of fun.  She is graduating on August 8th and I am going to be there...one of many of her supporters to cheer her on when she receives that coveted degree.
     I am so proud to be a teacher and so glad to be a part of UNT.
R.

And in the morning, the sun comes up again...

There were two key phrases that came from a passage that was read to us today at my Writing Institute:

...and in the morning, the sun comes up again

...dancing with the absurdity of life.



I want to share my Writer's Response with you. It went like this:

Wow, I wasn't expecting to hear two phrases this morning that hit me right in the face.  The first one, "and in the morning, the sun comes up again"...Isn't that just the greatest gift?  There are nights I go to bed with the heaviness of my day and fortunately get to sleep and refuel for the next day.  And, so far, there's that sun the next day telling me that I get a brand new (clean slate) day to experience.  I must admit life has not been as much fun as I would have liked it to be, but I'm still putting one step in front of the other.  There are blessings all around, one of them having the humble honor to get to know the people in this room, to get to challenge my thinking and to plan my future.  Yes, the trials remain...those absurdities of life that she read about.  Yet, I choose to dance with them.  Joy, laughter, and smiles cannot be contained even if you have two emotional left feet.  So, I'll keep playing my "Happy" song every morning and really, really try not to sit out any of the dances of life.  My dance card is full and I want to dance with every hopefully happy experience that I know is in store for me!
R.

Demo Disappointment

Yesterday I presented my teaching demo to the rest of the teachers in our group.  I think everyone figured that since I am a "seasoned" teacher that it was a piece of cake for me.  They couldn't be further from the truth.  I was very nervous and I am not really sure why.  I actually prepared my presentation last weekend.  I gathered books, student notebooks, practiced in my car, and even ran to Kroger before class to buy a Dry Erase Marker to make sure I would have one that wrote clearly.  I bought a box of 96 crayons for the activity, only to drop it on the floor with crayons flying everywhere.  This should have been my first red flag.

Anyway, I am not saying it was a total failure.  I had a lot of good things included, but I just had too much.  It was overloaded.  I was trying to wear two hats:  one of a college instructor demonstrating how I worked with my student teachers and the other as a former teacher giving them ideas they could use in their own classroom.  As it turned out, what I thought was not that creative ( a simple mapping technique) was the foundation of the writing lesson.  I should have stopped there and let everyone write about their shoes.  Instead I went on and on and on....thus, overloading the presentation.

What did make me happy was how much some of the teachers really like my idea of having my Student teachers complete a Writing Notebook, which was really a multigenre piece by the time it was completed.  Plus, it was something they could have forever to use as a reference to things that had impressed them the most during my class.

Anyway, I had some great feedback from those I greatly respect.  Its just that I knew better and wish I had "overs" because being my worst critic, I wanted to end on a high note.

http://sixtraitgurus.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/how-hard-is-it-to-be-the-only-kid-who-cant-have-those-shoes/