Wow did the 6 weeks ever zip RIGHT out the door since I started school!! Today was my last day of being the “student teacher” in the school I was placed with as part of my practicum. Right from the start, I was accepted into this classroom of Grade 4 students, mostly English as a Second Language learners in this. Since the first day, my partner teacher has been superb with helping to establish my “job” in the classroom. She got me reading and working with the kids immediately. It has been a wonderful learning experience that I have gone through up until this very day. (more…)

Whew..another Halloween recital passed, one less costume to put together!! Every year, about a week before Halloween, I put on a small student recital for my kiddies that are ready. They all get so excited about this event because they can come dressed up in their costumes, play a spooky song and get some good candy! Now, me being ever the big kid, loooooves to dress up in something funky every year too..it livens up the recitals because none of the other teachers ever get into the spirit of anything. Sigh. This year I decided to dress up as Cleopatra, it came out looking ok, but for most people it was the first time seeing me in short black hair with my blue contacts. Kinda neat, but it won’t be a permanent look I can guarantee you!!! (more…)

I just LOVE poems…especially those with meaning, and ones that make you sit back and actually THINK about how lucky you are to be alive and happy. I was sent this poem by a mother of a former student I had a few years ago. She was just in her late 30s with a good husband and 4 children under the age of 10. She homeschooled her children (ALOT OF WORK!) while her husband was a farmer out on their farm. She and her daughter came to me every 2 weeks for a one hour lesson on the piano. The little girl was SO incredibly talented. She LOVED the piano and could do many great things with it. Then two years ago something awful happened. Her father got killed in a freak accident on a combine. He was out farming one morning and the combine ran him over and he got stuck into it. (more…)

Ahhhhhhhhh it already feels like a weekend to me…maybe because my weekend starts tomorrow (technically) and it won’t be MUCH of a weekend because I work during both days. Even though tomorrow is the ONE day where I can sleep in till at LEAST noon and not feel bad…YAY! Then it is teaching at night, teaching on Saturday and having my student Halloween recital on Sunday. I get to play dress up and have my concert in the afternoon. I LOVE having my Halloween concerts for the kids-they all come dressed up in their costumes and play their music. Then we have candies and well..go home! haha I am going to be an Egyptian for the concert…I got it ALLLL planned out-actually I got my costume many years ago and alot of it was home made…the Halloween party I am going to the weekend after will see to me being an Arabian/East Indian princess..it will be AWESOME! (more…)

In light of the recent mess that has gone around this past week, I thought I would start my Monday with a dose of positivity-for me that is in the form of meaningful lyrics that help to “raise me up” from all of the negativity and just continue to find things in life to be happy about! Live. Love. Enjoy. Be Inspired

When I am down and oh my soul so weary
When troubles come, and my heart burdened be.
Then I am still and wait here in the silence
until you come and sit a while with me.

You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas.
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be.

(Josh Groban-YOU RAISE ME UP-from the phenomenal cd CLOSER)

If one day you discover him
Broken down he’s lost everything
No cars, no fancy clothes to make him who he’s not
The woman at his side is all that he has got
Why do you ask him move heaven and earth
To prove his love has worth?

Would he walk on water
Would he run through fire
Would he stand before you
When it’s down to the wire
Would he give his life up
To be all he can
Is that, is that, is that how you measure a man?

If by chance all he had to give you
Was three words wrapped around your finger
Would that be deep enough at the end of every day
And how will you ever know
If a man is what he says?

Why do you ask him to move heaven and earth
To prove his love has worth
Would he walk on water
Would he run through fire
Would he stand before you
When it’s down to the wire
Would he give his life up to be all he can
Is that, is that, is that how you measure a man?

He never gives up
Lets go of his dream
His world goes around for his one true belief
Is that how you know
Is that what it means?

Would he walk on water
Would he run through fire
Would he stand before you
Would he will be your anchor when the dark unfolds
Would he always love you the best that he knows?

Would he give his life up
To be all that he can
Is that, is that, is that how you measure a man?

(Clay Aiken-THE MEASURE OF A MAN-supremely fantastic cd of the same name AND this is the best song on there!)

Life is good..on most days…on other days it can throw hard knocks, curveballs and just plain old make you want to give up and hit a tree. I have had many of those days, I have seen MANY MORE of those days with other people. One thing I cannot understand is hate…sheer and truthful hate and contempt. What brews this act of such evil? What satisfaction does a person get from being malicious to someone-whether it be in writing, behind their back (usually that is always the case..the cowards know no courage), or just in their heads. Hate is an evil thing…people who harbour it are worse. (more…)

Gosh I wish it was December 10th already!!! Ever since September 13th with the starting up of school and the continuation of my nights of teaching, it has been a complete whirlwind. My days have whooshed right off and my nights have been soooo fleeting that I can barely stop to think back and see what has gone by!! My days have been so that I am up at 7:30 am (many thanks to Russ for calling me during the mornings to wake me up when he was on his way tosleep), in classrooms student teaching at 8:40 am or in school at 9:00 am…and then going right to work after school is over and returning home around 12 hours later at 9:00 pm. Eat, shower, prepare for the next day, chat for a bit and hit the computer for an even shorter bit and boom..it is 12:30 am and off I go again! (more…)

Sure has been a super long time since I have been able to blog!! Yikes the days go sooooooo sooooooo fast and I lose any extra curricular time, but I do miss my bloggie so I thought I would pop in before I go off and start my homework!! Here’s to hoping that I can get it all done!!!!

I love random acts of kindness…in the past week, there have been a few nice ones that I thought I would document. Today I was in a HUGE lineup at Costco..it was insanely busy and I only had 2 items in my hand. So I anticipated the long haul and just stood in line. The couple infront of me with a HUGE load in their cart had been letting people go infront of them. I had wondered why..didn’t seem right to me since everyone wanted to get out of the store. Then they looked over at me and said I could go ahead…how nice!! They were standing in line at least a good 20 minutes but they still wanted to let everyone with a few items infront of them first!! Another story: a family that I teach music lessons to (the same one who brought me the spring rolls that night) came in and gave me some hair samples..like conditioner, shampoo-all that sort of stuff. It was an out of nowhere thing and I was surprised. The father owns a hair care shop and ironically my mom and I have known him for MANY years prior to his kids coming over to take lessons from me!! I appreciated it. (more…)