Category: Musings

Musings

My Memories of the Berlin Wall Coming Down

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On the 25th Anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, I thought it would be good to remember and experience the wall coming down again. I took out my 11 year old journal and remembered.

November 9, 1989

“November 9, 1989. I think I will remember this date. We were watching TV and Mom came in to the living room with the telephone. She was crying and told us to change the channel to the news. One of her sisters had called her. I don’t know which one. The Wall was coming down. There were people shouting for joy and dancing on the Berlin Wall. Mom kept saying over and over that she thought this wouldn’t ever happen until the Second Coming of Jesus. David, John and I shouted for joy and jumped up and down with those people on the T.V. screen. Stephen ran around the room. Jenny just slept. She’s a baby. She won’t remember any of this. The man on the news said that the Berlin Wall was a physical, psychic barrier for the entire nation and now that it was fallen the world would be a better place. Sometimes the world is a scarey place especially since they had big earthquake in California and the freeway just collapsed on all those people. I hold my breath every time I go over a freeway now. I don’t want a freeway to collapse on me. I hope the world is a better place, because the Berlin Wall is torn down.  Mom told us to remember this day and then she brought out some cookies to celebrate. She must have hidden them, because I didn’t know about them.  Stephen says he hopes more historical things happen so that we can get cookies again. We watched the news for a long time and then it was time to go to bed. I can’t sleep. Right now, I’m sitting outside the front door looking up at the moon. It’s suppose to turn to red when Jesus comes again. And if I stare at the moon long enough it might just happen. The Berlin Wall is torn down. Jesus coming back might be closer than we think. Those East Germans woke up with a Wall and then at the end of the day could be free and travel and all that other freedom things. It’s an interesting time to be alive. I wonder what else will happen in my life. Mom says I have to come in, because it is late. I’d rather sit here and look at the moon.

Musings

Pills

my13daychallenge

I found a little poem I wrote a number of years ago.  I was writing about taking an antidepressant to deal with some hard life events. I had forgotten about the poem. I hadn’t forgotten the feelings, but time had softened the pain. When I reread the poem, I felt the need to share it on my little goal setting blog. It is okay to get medical help. It is called taking care of yourself.

Pills

I take the pink pill designed to make me Happy, Peaceful, Less Anxious

I swallow it down with  juice and hope that it will work.

I’m still afraid, still nervous and still sad.

If I tell the doctor the truth, will he make me take two?

Off the pink. On to the blue.

I take the blue pill designed to make me Happy, Peaceful, Less Anxious

I swallow it down with juice and I’m Grateful.

I’m feeling a bit stronger this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenge Eight: Food Diary · Musings

Sing your song

my13daychallenge

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Have you ever felt silenced?  I was at a meeting and I decided not to share a good idea. I was afraid people would think I was weird so I censored myself. I’ve been thinking about silence a lot the last few weeks. Why do we do it? What stops us from speaking up? What happens if no one speaks?

The first time I felt silenced I was six. I had seen the movie Annie. I really wanted the Annie action figure and I knew all the songs by listening to the tape. I was playing in the front yard when I suddenly got this idea to sing my Annie song to God. I looked up to heaven and said in a loud voice, “This one is for you, God”. Then I belted out The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow as loud as I could. My neighbor happened to be walking by and heard my little impromptu song. She told me I was weird. I felt weird and I didn’t sing in my front yard anymore.

After my experience with not speaking up in the meeting, I decided it was time not to be silenced any more. I stood in my front yard and looked up to heaven and said, “This one is for you, God”. Then I belted out The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow.  My neighbor was out fixing his car and he gave me a funny look at first, but then he clapped for me. Of course, I had to tell him the whole story. I think the next time I get a good idea in a meeting I will speak up.

Musings

Angel Shots

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Have you heard of  angel shots? They aren’t found on the typical vaccination schedule, but they are just as beneficial to your health and happiness. Angel shots are given when you need an extra boost of love from God. They must be given by angels, because you feel better after getting one. Human beings can give angel shots too when we are kind to others. Have you given anyone an angel shot today?

 

Musings

Why I can’t stand teacher movies

my13daychallenge

I have a confession to make. I can’t stand movies about teachers. This may come as a shock to some of you. After all, I’m a teacher. I have worked in schools for almost 15 years. I first realized my distaste for teacher movies after watching the movie Freedom Writers. For those that have not seen it, let me give you a quick synopsis. The young teacher enters a difficult school and through grit and love transforms her students to high achievers. The movie ends with all students being successful. I am 100% for helping students change the world. I love my students and I hold them to very high standards. The reason why teacher movies bother me has to do with how students, teachers, and administrators are portrayed–not the idea that all students can succeed.

First, let’s look at the students in the typical teacher movie. Students are often portrayed as unmotivated, rude and not on grade level until the teacher comes and transforms their life. Some students are unmotivated. Some students are rude, but the truth is most students aren’t like that at all. Most students want to learn, and will learn if in the right environment for them. It really is a discredit to students to paint them as needing a teacher to save them. I believe a good teacher can change lives. I also believe that a student has the ability to change his/her own life. What are we teaching a student if we believe that only a teacher can impact change?

Second, let’s look at the teachers. In Freedom Writers, the main character is holding two other part-time jobs to buy supplies for her classroom. I’m guilty of buying some extras for my class. I think most teachers have done that. Let’s be honest though. You can’t expect a professional to work three jobs just to pay the bills. We don’t expect doctors to work at Wal-mart on the weekend to buy bandages for their patients. Why is that self-sacrifice okay for teachers? I’m not a politician, and I’m not going to debate how to make education a priority. I just know that the underlying message of teacher movies is that teachers will sacrifice all for the success of their students. That isn’t sustainable. That isn’t a good example to set for our students.

Finally, I don’t like how administrators are portrayed. Teachers and administrators are often seen as fighting against each other. Does that happen? Yes, it does at times. Does it happen all the time? No, I’ve had some good experiences with great team work.

My yearly rant against teacher movies is now over. I’ve got a classroom to set up and students to love. It will be a great year!

Musings

On the Path

my13daychallenge

Amee on the path

Have you ever wished you could see the future? It would be much easier to make decisions if you knew how it would all work out in the end. My incredible Aunt Marla captured this picture a few weeks ago when we took a trip to the Petrified Forest. It really illustrates the uncertainty that is sometimes life.  I know I am on the right path, but I can only see the first part of the journey. It takes courage to go forward when I can only see part of the road. I just have to trust that there is a nice path even if I can’t see it behind the mountain. I really like this picture. It made me think.

 

 

Musings · My Creative Challenges

Baking

my13daychallenge

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The Accountant loves to cook. He is always trying new recipes and adding secret ingredients like broccoli or flax seed to his creations. I’m terrible at guessing so I just say kale, because kale can go in anything. This week he made a chocolate souffle cake. I told him he needs to enter one of those cooking contests,and win us some money. Then we could hire a maid to do all the dishes from his cooking.

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Challenge Nine: Have Fun · Musings

Be Nice to Amee Day

my13daychallenge

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Holidays are happy days so I invented a new one. It’s called “Be Nice to Amee Day”. What? You’ve never heard of it. Oh, you’ve been missing out. Let me tell you more about this important holiday.  Let’s pretend I was born on July 9th. I would celebrate Be Nice to Amee Day on August 9th, September 9th, October 9th etc.  On Be Nice to Amee Day, I am nice to myself. If I want a present, I buy it. I ask for things I want , and I pay extra attention on looking and feeling my best. I look forward to it every month as a happy tradition.

I’ve had a lot of fun with Be Nice to Amee Day over the years. I’ve also had some embarrassing moments. This is the embarrassing kind, but it had a happy ending. There was a handsome boy in my college class. I stared at him whenever the teacher got boring. I knew that if we could just talk he would discover our souls were meant to be together. Finally, I could bear it no longer. He wasn’t talking to me, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I sat close by him. I smiled at him. He smiled back. I told him about my monthly tradition and invited him to take me to the movies on Friday to celebrate Be Nice to Amee Day.  He seemed a bit surprised and then politely told me that he was planning to ask his girlfriend to marry him this Friday.

My 19-year-old heart broke and I blurted out, “That’s a terrible way to spend Be Nice to Amee Day.”  I spent the rest of the class frantically taking notes to avoid looking at the boy. The one time I did look up, I caught another guy staring at me with a silly grin on his face. After class, he asked me to  dinner so we could celebrate Be Nice to Amee Day. We went to Olive Garden.

I told you holidays are happy days.

Musings · My Creative Challenges · Uncategorized

Ants

my13daychallenge

Ant photo

Ants love to bite me.  Most folks have been bitten by ants while doing yard work. That is understandable, because we are invading their natural home. I get bit by ants doing yard work too, but I also get bit while sitting in my bathroom, walking around national monuments, reading a book at the library and a bunch of other places that should not be ant friendly.

Today, I was bitten by another type of Ant. I got bit by the type that attacks your thoughts. A.n.t is an acronym that stands for Automatic Negative Thoughts. The idea comes from a great book called Feeling Good. I was having a bad day and A.N.T.S were running all over my head with the accompanying feelings of anxiety and inadequacy.  Here is the funny part. I was trying to remember what I read from the book about how to replace my negative thoughts with a realistic positive statement when a real ant came and bit my foot. I just started laughing. My A.N.T was interrupted by an ant.

I’m pretty excited. This is my 100th blog post.