This is my son David. He is graduating from high school in a few weeks. I am very excited for him as he ventures into the world of acadamia and college sports. He is a very concientious young man, with high expectations of himself. His career choice is that of a police officer. My grandfather was a fire chief, and I have a cousin who is a police chief in a nearby city.

I think David has it in him to be a good officer, but, as with any mother, my fears are all about safety. I pray that he is safe no matter where he is and what he is doing. He has had a rough year dealing with teen suicide, teen drug abuse and also peer pressure. He lost a good friend, became mentor to another, and dealt with  the ins and outs of being an upper classman. As we all know, stress and pressure can get the best of us- and I think David confronted his situation in a most honorable way...he told me he lost sight of his priorities and that he is refocused and ready to finish the year in a positive way. I have seen many changes take place in his social demeanor, his attitude and his relationships.

I am not saying there hasn't been any slipping back- that always happens. But any educator or researcher knows that in order to gain, one must slip, and then go further on in growth than before the slip. It's called learning.

David- you have the support of a loving family...I hope you will always confide in us when you need us.

I love you-

Time for Tea-

E-

A New Beginning

Isn't this a wild photo? I like it for my topic of writing today-  Today I am finishing up my Tea Catering list of menus and menu choices. I have my "next steps" in order, and am actually looking into creating our web page on a web site that I saw advertised on television. I have an incredible feeling that this business might take off! I am excited as a new business person- but also very nervous...
I know that tea can become a huge part of people's lives, if they let it. It is a great way to celebrate almost anything! The home made breads, scones, entree's and sweets are  sure hit! I am saying my prayers that this could turn into a retirement adventure with my sweetheart-
Catering now-an establishement somewhere when retirement is in the picture.
I have wonderful support, and belief that this could work, now it is time for me to get at it and get our name out there on the web and begin making lives a little happier.
Short and Sweet today-
Time for Tea-
E-

Walking

Henry David Thoreau wrote about walking as if it were a gift. He traces it back to the time of the Sainte-Terrer, or Saunterer,or one who walks to the Holy Land...
He also concedes that humans are part of nature's make up, not merely citizens...saunterers, with or without a home, can feel at home anywhere that nature can provide a "home". We are at home everywhere, or so we should be.
No, I am not suggesting we all become vagrants or saunterers...I am suggesting the art of walking.

My fiance' and I took our first walk of the season the other night. The weather was still cool, and the night wind was here and there, and the sun was lowering itself into the earth's horizon. I couldn't help but murmer how much I had missed the outdoors throughout our entire 3 mile walk. I felt like I was in awe of the trip, I had truly missed the feeling that walking gives me.

Walking makes me feel relieved of (some) stress, hopeful when I see new things nature has to offer the island, excited to view deer running across the grassy yards near the river while the sun is still in view through the branches of the spring trees. The ice floats making there way southward toward the lake is a sight to behold. A secret it keeps that spring is soon to appear, but not as fast as we want it. Water foul gaining in numbers at the river's edge, enough to hear their call at dusk and dawn.

I heard a ferry's horn blowing this morning- what a great noise. It immediately made me yearn for lake time with the one's I love to be with. Water is a cure for what ailes me at times...it also replenishes senses that need to be awakened once again, absent from the long indoors of winter.

Thoreau's words complete my own thoughts as I walk like the saunterer he describes in his works entitled, "Walking".

"So we saunter toward the Holy Land, till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall perchance shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, as warm and golden as on a bankside in autumn."

Time for Tea-
E-

Twenty Wishes?

I just read a Debbie Macomber book called "Twenty Wishes". It is an offshoot of a trilogy called the "Blossom Street" series. I loved the books because they were set in Seattle, Washington which is one of my favorite places to visit, plus, the characters are warm and wonderful. In the series, there are many women from the neighborhood of Blossom Street who come together for various reasons and learn to knit at "A Good Yarn" on Blossom Street. They meet and freindships bloom and stories move on...

In the "Twenty Wishes" book, the main character, Anne Marie meets with other widows (young and old) on Valentines Day, who happen to all be friends through the knitting classes, and they decide to make a list of twenty wishes that they want to achieve in their life. They all have many wishes, some are to fall in love again, some are to do odd things that no one ever expected, and some are dreams of travel or buying something.

I think about what they have on their wish list, and I think of the wishes I have had, or have now...
I fell in love again, and am still in love with the most wonderful man I have ever met, I still have my wonderful teaching job of 22 years, my own kids are growing and one is off to college next fall, the other to his first year in high school.
I get to garden every spring and summer. I am learning all the crochet stitches, and am on my 3rd and 4th project!
I get to walk in beautiful surroundings every morning or evening when the weather is nice. I have great books to read, and am working on writing my own book-
And...I am also getting a business plan together for a Tea Catering company. I am very excited about the prospect of one day making a go at this. I have a great passion for tea, as you well know if you have followed my blog at all or hit it now and then.
Tonight I plan on working on the menus I will offer. I have already made lists of baking supplies I may need, and will make another list or 5 for other needed items for table and serving.
I think this last item it the wish I am most afraid of-but it is a wish all the same.

Like the women in the novel, I plan to make a go of a wish, and see where it takes me. I feel very blessed to have the person I love backing up my ideas, and giving support and suggestions that can only help me in whatever I do.
Thank you hon- you are my T (in Tea)...

With tea on the brain-
Time for tea!
E-

Foundations

    





Foundations- what are they? Sometimes I think of them as origins, or beginings...then years go by and I think with more experience, they become personalized, individual- or more so anyway. We take with us the things that our parents, grandparents, loved family members, and childhood memories instill in us. The lessons we learned, the interests we hold, our morals, values, and the like, are all what we hold as "foundations".
More years go by, and what becomes of our foundations? Do they sit and fester, as a bad thing that haunts us? Do we think about them and occasionally visit them in our thoughts and daydreams? Do we hide them, and ignore them, because it's too difficult to remember them and hold on to them? Or do we cherish them as heirlooms and try to abide by them in our daily lives?   
    
     What is it that keeps us drawing on our foundations? I often ask myself, how am I like my mother or my father? How am I, or am I at all like my grandparents? Since I lost three of my grandparents as a child, I never got to know their personalities very well, but I do know some of the things they did. I have a grandmother who passed in her early 50's. I was in 3rd grade. Her husband, my grandfather, died weeks later, he was in his later 50's. My other grandfather was 53, I was 3 when I lost him. Never knew much about him, except for what he looked like, because I have some good pictures of him, and that he was a baker, he started a bakery that his step brothers took over after her passed.

     My grandmother loved to bake and I know she crocheted. She was a very loving grandmother from what I can remember. My other grandfather was a fire chief, and he loved to fish. He also liked beer and playing cards at the station on their down time, but I don't know much about all that.

     I have one grandmother who is still with us. She is 95 years old. I don't know her much, I wish she would have been the kind of person I could have gotten to know, but she wasn't. I have seen her a few times in the nursing home she is in, but I am having difficulty finding the time to see her on a regular basis. I love her, but she was always hard to love- now at 95, there is no reason not to love her!

     My foundations are strong, and clear. I've never questioned them. My parents are to be commended for giving them to me, and helping me to see how important they are to my life even now. I need to be aware that my own kids need a strong foundation- and even though we live in a different time and attitude, it is still essential for a good and wholesome and life, with many benefits along the way.

    
     As I get older, I see myself understanding the joy that some of my grandparents got from the things they did to pass the time. I am beginning to appreciate the craft of crochet, baking, and fishing! I also like beer, but with moderation. :)  These things are becoming essential in my life, and I wish to share it with others in some way. What way I'm not sure. I am still toying with "Tea Catering", but I am scared. I am not a business person, I am a teacher- so I still need to draw all my thoughts out on this one. I love to crochet, it is such a stress reliever! I have made 2 cute scarves and am in the middle of my first afghan. Now I am obsessed with various yarns with their textures and colors. Heaven help me! LOL

     With my foundations in place, and my thoughts in a whirl for the future-
it's a good idea for me to have tea!!!

Time for Tea!!!
E-

Thoughts to Ponder

                                                                                  

Our staff did a great job this week in qualifying for AYP, or Adequate Yealy Progress in the state of Michigan. I am very proud to be part of such a great staff and work with such wonderful administrators!

We truly are strong at Strong Middle School!

Going through the process of this endeavor, I realized that I would like to re-open an old project that I organized last year with my 7th grade students. We had bake sales, organized sunglasses day, and made a lot of money to landscape the front of our building. With the help of Home Depot, we were able to purchase trees, plants, flowers, soil, mulch and pavers! The project was very successful!

I would love to open that can of worms again, but in a big way! I am thinking of constructing a greenhouse to grow plants, herbs, etc. and continiue the landscaping project on a grander scale. Students could grow and sell fresh herbs, vegetables, plants and the like to fudraising for our school's upkeep on the landscaping projects.

When I was in Califiornia last week, I met a wonderful woman named Beth who is a Master Gradener in her area. She told me of school garden projects that were being organized with the help of Master Gardeners. She kindly sent me an enormous amount of resources for me to research and get a quainted with. I can now contact Master Garders in my area of Michigan, and get help with ideas for our school!

This is exciting for me, because our school is very multicultural and the possibilities can be endless if we could reach out to our families to generate "growing" possibilities for ethnic cooking! What a great contrast in herbs, vegetables, ingredients and recipes we could come up with!

It's nice to still have passion for my job after 21 years-

So many thoughts to ponder...

With that said-

Time for TEA!!

E-

Writing...

     I have been looking through my many journals in my nightstand from years gone by, and I decided to begin writing again. I have had many literature and writing courses between my bachelor's degree and my 2 master's degrees in Reading and Literacy, and have always wanted to take the time to actually try my hand at writing. I have jotted down many ideas and thoughts about what I would write about, and the only thing that keeps popping into my mind is what Jerry Spinelli, author of several young adult books, said to us at th Michigan Reading Conference 8 years ago! Write about what you know! I have heard many authors say similar things, as well as professors, so I guess they can't be wrong, can they?
     I write what I know whenever I blog-
So what's the difference? I do enjoy blogging about things...and I don't care that no one reads them! LOL! I do it maily for myself anyway-to "practice" I suppose.
     Well, I have begun a writing piece that I want to share with my fiance', and I am very excited to show it to him. We both love a good story. We are reading all the time, and listening to audio books, and telling each other if we enjoy them or not, or whether or not the other would enjoy it so they can check it out of the library next! Sounds so nerdy, but it's the honest truth, and I love it!
     I am intereted to see what his opinion of my writing will be. He seems to enjoy my blog, so I hope he will have good things to say about my more serious writing.
     I teach my students all kinds of things about author's craft, voice, transitions, strong verbs, and proper noun verb agreement throughout their writing- and I wish I could just sit and write with them. (Sometimes I do...for modeling purposes, but I get carried away, and they love to watch me go!) LOL!
     So, if anyone is reading this blog-please comment on my style or anything else for that matter. I really do want to hear your comments and thoughts, good or bad. I can take criticism -well-I'm a teacher whose been coached for years- I want "fixers" and "keepers" in my writing world now- and you are the experts!

         With that in mind-
It's time for tea!!  Chai!  Mmmmmmm!
E-