SOLC 2016 31/31: Surprised by Flowers!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

WOO HOO!  We made it to March 31st!  Another year of slicing every day.  This is my fifth year to participate.  Last year I joined the welcome wagon.  This year I didn't (too many other commitments this month), but I set a goal to comment on every person's blog at least once.  Guess what?  I didn't reach that goal, but I'm keeping the list and if you show up on Tuesdays, I'll eventually get around to you.  The problem is that I can't read just one post and comment.  When I meet a new blogger friend, I frequently back up to read prior  posts and before you know it, the window of time I allotted to commenting has disappeared. 

I just spent a few minutes revisiting my posts for the the month.  My first slice,  A Glance Back to Remember, looks back at first day of March slices for the past four years.   Books and poetry topped my list of writing topics for this month (no surprises there).  Other topics I wrote about this month include substituting, my OLW, Downton Abbey, virtual friends. my play date with a two-year old, and of course plenty of photos and writing about spring's arrival.  A surprise race theme (I'm not athletic!) emerged one weekend.  The post that received the least love was A Guest at Book Club probably due to the lateness of the post (check out our cute guest).  The post I enjoyed writing the most was A Slippery, Salty Slope.  I borrowed the Before That format from another blogger and celebrated simple pleasures in another post.  I'll leave you with one last glimpse of springtime captured last night on an evening stroll!

On a search for sunset splendor

I walk from pocket park to pocket park.

This colorful parade waves me over,

tucked beside a driveway

as I stroll between parks!

SOLC 2016 30/31: Birthdays Are a Big Deal!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

It's one of those "in-search-of-a-slice" days.  I could write about my dad's lunchbox (something I've been intending to write all month), or my favorite read aloud titles (still working on that list and trying to remember the favorites), or a Currently post (a popular fall-back slice).  Yet, none of those ideas feel quite right for today.  And that's when my eye falls on my 2016 Authors and Illustrators Birthday Calendar, compliments of Perma-Bound.  Aha!  Another slice has found me. 

Last week while subbing in a sixth grade classroom, someone mentioned an upcoming birthday. Another student chimed in that his family didn't celebrate birthdays.  I tried to hide my initial reaction as I chatted briefly with the student, but inside I was horrified.  Not celebrate birthdays? That's criminal.  I love birthdays.  I always sing to family members and friends on birthdays.  If I don't see you in person, I'll call just to sing Happy Birthday.  I have a variety of birthday songs up my sleeve, and I take delight in being the first person to sing to someone on his or her birthday.  

So in honor of my own birthday obsession, today's slice shares some of my favorite titles written by authors and illustrators born in March:

March 2    Dr. Seuss - And To Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street

March 3    Patricia MacLaclan - All the Places to Love (and of course, Sarah, Plain and Tall)

March 4    Helen Frost - Crossing Stones

March 4    Dav Pilkey - One Today, illustrator

March 5    Mem Fox - Koala Lou

March 6    Chris Raschka - The Hello, Goodbye Window, illustrator

March 9    Ellen Levine - Henry's Freedom Box

March 11  Wanda Gag - Millions of Cats

March 12  Carl Hiaasen - Hoot
March 12  Naomi Shihab Nye - A Maze Me:  Poems for Girls
March 15  Ruth White - Memories of Summer
March 17  Ralph Fletcher - A Writing Kind of Day
March 17  Lilian Moore - Sunflakes:  Poems for Children, selected by Lilian Moore
March 18  Douglas Florian - Handsprings (Summersaults, Autumnblings, & Winter Eyes)
March 20  Lois Lowry - Gossamer (and of course, Number the Stars)
March 20  Bill Martin Jr. - Barn Dance!
March 20  Louis Sachar - Sideways Stories from Wayside School
March 24  Kate DiCamillo - Because of Winn Dixie
March 24  Linda Sue Park - The Third Gift
March 25  Robert Frost - Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, illustrated by Susan Jeffers
March 26  Betty MacDonald - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
March 27  Dick King-Smith - The Stray
March 28  Byrd Baylor - I'm in Charge of Celebrations

So many wonderful authors and illustrators with birthdays in March!  Let me know which ones are your favorites when you leave your comment.

SOLC 2016 29/31: Still Waiting for Retirement Boredom to Strike!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

I was in search of an idea, when along came Elisabeth of the dirigible plum's  six word memoirs about slicing.  I didn't stay true to the form since some of my lines overlap, but this is a poem of six word lines about what's swirling around in my head right now.

YEAR TWO OF RETIREMENT, STILL SCRAMBLING!

I warned husband. Tuesday is mine!

Blocked it out on sub calendar.

Then a friend needed immediate attention.

Missed email for meeting with neighbor

regarding new mailboxes, rescheduled for tomorrow.

Gorgeous day for walk with Karen.

Book, Brownies, and Beyond meets today.

We're moving March Book Madness brackets

to more visible spot in hallway.

Women's organization meets tonight, need time

to work on agenda and plans

for upcoming special event in April.

Called Debora to schedule Courtney's shower.

Yikes!  If I slice today, now

is the time.  What happened to 

Tuesday, my day?  Life came along!

SOLC 2016 28/31: Come Sub with Me!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

Today's post about substitute teaching

was inspired by C. Crouch's post

about her water bottle who shared a

Best Thing Poem format from Joyce Sidman.

Joyce shared Tony Johnston's poem "My Overalls."  

C. Crouch's topic came from Natasha's poem

about her water bottle and so the inspiration

continues to roll forward (even as I traced it back).

  Thank you, writer friends!

Substitute Teaching

The best thing about substitute teaching is

returning to IMS where I used to teach.

No, the best thing is

subbing in 8^th grade with my former 6^th graders.

No, the best thing is

smiling faces from the administration.

No, the best thing is

greeting friends from the teaching staff.

No, the best thing is

bumping into Shelly in the copy room.

No, the best thing is

covering for Mills, Gaffney, Schaps, Meade, or Lucas

where I’ve been more than once and recognize familiar faces.

No, the best thing is

popping into the library to chat with Amy about

new books, citizen responsibilities, and Masterpiece.

No, the best thing is 

seeing my book friends from Books, Brownies, & Beyond.

No, the best thing is

visiting Melissa’s closet for  chocolate. 

No, the best thing is

starting and ending my day in Patty’s office.

No, the best thing is

strolling out of the building at 11:30

(it was a half-day sub job) with no work in my bag!

SOLC 2016 27/31: An Acrostic for My OLW

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

A quiet word, a 
Believing word, 

Inviting me to

Delight in His gift 

Encircled by His everlasting love.

I visit my OLW each 5th Tuesday throughout the year.  But I decided today that it's a perfect word for Easter Sunday.  This word lodged in my heart and claimed me for 2016, but I'm still trying to discover what it means for me this year.  I spoke briefly about abiding in my field in January.  

Today I'm thinking about abiding in faith.  I love the story of Zacchaeus who climbs up in a tree to see Jesus because he's so short.  And then Jesus looks up into the tree, sees him and says, "Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.  And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully."

Am I ready so that Jesus abides with me?   Do I delight in His word and receive Him joyfully in my home ?  Or do the cares of the world interfere with my ability to receive His gift so freely given, to cherish His words and to spend time in prayer?  I yearn to abide in faith, to count myself with Zacchaeus and others who made haste and received the Savior joyfully.    

SOLC 26/31: Bookending My Week with A Stroller & A Tribute

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres. 

When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy. 

  A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember

Imi's mom gave me this stroller, fulfilling item #1

on my grandmother-to-be equipment list.  It's time to

get serious about my list. Little one arrives in June!

Baby bump!

Special drive to see Passey's tree!

Tulip tree close-up! 

Mother and daughter fun - baking and decorating for Easter!

A walk to savor Friday's blue sky!  

I'm not sure how I missed that Gloria Houston died on Monday, but I spotted this tribute to her posted on FB last night.  The world of children's books has lost a wonderful friend, but I celebrate her contributions.  Her picture books are precious to me - My Great-Aunt Arizona (my mother taught in a one room schoolhouse during WW II), The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, and Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile (which I just discovered last fall).  

SOLC 2016 25/31 and Poetry Friday: Serendipity at the Bookstore!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

Head over to my juicy little universe

with Heidi Mordhurst

for this week's poetic goodness.

Thanks for hosting, Heidi!

 I tried to talk myself out of it.  I really did!  But I was very close to a favorite bookstore.  So when my friend's very early doctor appointment ended, I wondered if the bookstore opened at 9 or 10. She suggested we drive over and see.  Yessss!  They opened at 9:00.  And even though I had no need for a book, I meandered around the remainder tables where I discovered a favorite poetry picture book for $3.98!   Mural on Second Avenue and Other City Poems by Lilian Moore is a book I've checked out from the library frequently.  I was elated to add it to my personal collection!

As I flip through the book, I notice many poems I love: 

• "Winter Dark" notices all the punctuation marks along the street as "Winter dark comes early mixing afternoon and night..."  
• "In the Park" speaks of playing "...till you're sun drunk sun dizzy-..."
• "The Tree on the Corner" notices a tree throughout the seasons of the year, but decides "...you really do not see a tree until you see its bones."
• "To a Red Kite" and "Forsythia Bush" are my favorite poems in the book.  They share a background of springtime blue sky and white puffy clouds as children play on green grass with of course a red kite who seeks to "...follow the wild geese in their flight," and a forsythia bush that " ...explodes into yellow and startles the street into spring."

If you'd like to learn more about Lilian Moore and her contributions to poetry and children's literature, stop by Renee LaTulippe's blog, No Water River, for her series, Spotlight on NCTE Poets.  Here are Renee's concluding remarks near the end of her post on Lilian Moore:

"Part of the joy of doing this NCTE series is seeing what treasures Lee (Lee Bennett Hopkins) will rustle up for each new post. He has thick files full of his correspondence with every children’s poet ever, including postcards, letters, emails, and photos, not to mention the thousands of books, books, books in his vast poetry library.

And so we leave you with one of these many treasures — a poem from Lilian to Lee from her place in the country."

GO WITH THE POEM

Go with the poem.

Hang glide

above new landscape

into other weather.

Sail the poem.

Lift

Drift over treetops

and towers.

Loop with the poem.

Swoop, dip.

Land.

Where?

Trust the poem.  

             - Lilian

(Shared here with permission from Lee Bennett Hopkins)

SOLC 2016 24/31: Remembering Shine Songs!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

Even though I haven't been writing with

Holly Mueller's Spiritual Journey Thursday group

this year, Holly's post about Doraine's OLW, shine,

convinced me that today's slice had found me!

I loved Holly's post that chronicled the places in her home where the sun shines.  My thoughts immediately turned to songs I recalled with the word shine in them.

The first one that popped into my head was "You Are My Sunshine."  This was Blake's favorite song when he was little, probably because I sang it to him so frequently.  If my memory serves me right, he even had a stuffed animal that played the song when you wound the key.

Then I recalled the song "Shine On, Harvest Moon."  I recall hearing it often in my childhood, perhaps because of the farmer ancestors in my family.  When I looked up the lyrics, I was surprised to see that I only knew a few of the words of this song.

Years of singing time at church led to my next remembered song, "I've got a little candlelight and I'm going to let it shine."  I remember how much fun it was to "put it under a bushel" (hand over the candlelight), shout out the word, "No" and follow with the affirmative words, "I'm going to let it shine."  And the final verse, "All around this big, wide world, I'm going to let it shine (repeated three times), all the time, all the time, all the time."

What shine songs do you remember?  As I reflect on the conditions and challenges of our world, I'm grateful for these friends of faith whose words shine each week at Spiritual Journey Thursday.

SOLC 2016 23/31: Play Date with a Two-Year Old

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

It's been a month since Imi and I have played together.  Sometimes my substitute teaching interferes with our play dates (scheduled when her mom volunteers at her sister's preschool).  We see each other every Sunday at church where we share the same pew, but we have to be quiet and use our whisper voices then.  Play dates are different!

Do I write about how our time together starts with Imi standing at the side window of the front door watching for me and then jumping with joy when she sees me coming up the sidewalk?

Do I write about the time we spend coloring with markers at the little table in the family room?

Do I write about the books we read together from my book bag?

Do I write about our time in her bedroom where she plays with a make believe cash register, complete with sound effects from the scanner and credit card swiper?

Do I write about the Fisher Price house with a garage, a front door, and the chimney that we drop small balls into and then watch them roll out the other side?  (My kids had this toy and I think this one is vintage from her mom's childhood).

Do I write about how I hopped like a bunny?  And then we joined hands and hopped like bunnies together.

Do I write about the green dinosaur who roars repeatedly when a lever is pressed on his back?  I scream each time he roars.  In answer to his question, "Are you scared?"  I reply, "Yes!"  And my little friend giggles with glee and presses the lever again just to hear me scream.

No, I think I'll write about my favorite part of our play date.  I sit in the rocker, Imi selects the books, and we read.  Book after book after book after book and still two more.  I stack all the books we read on top of her bookcase and then plop her into the chair, surrounded by the books we've read.

                                             Ever seen a more contented reader?

                                      And then she decides to read a book to me!

 Last page!  All done.

And after that, we read three more books!

SOLC 2016 22/31: A Visit from the Easter Fairy

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives

I was almost ready to leave for our afternoon book club meeting when I realized that I hadn't written today's slice.  After book club we'll have an early dinner before I head to UW for a lecture with a friend.  And by the time we get home, it will be after 9 (the pumpkin hour for those of us trying to meet an east coast midnight deadline).

I awake to voices downstairs.  Yikes!  Sara is already here.  Today is her day off and we are planning to bake and decorate for Easter.  She decorates.  She lugs boxes from the garage and the storage spot in the laundry room.  She tucks a few bunnies in her bag for decorating at her house.  She fills the mantle with bunny friends from Easters past!  She puts out the string egg that my mom made many years ago with a rabbit and duck standing guard over the bunny inside.  

But the next job is one that we complete together.  I mixed up the sugar cookie dough before heading to bed last night.  We take turns rolling out the dough and cutting ducks, bunnies, and miniature eggs and tulips.  She mixes up the frosting, asks me to look at it, and I decide it needs a bit more milk.  Perfect!  We divide it into two bowls, add a bit of food coloring and side by side we frost and sprinkle our creations.  Here are my three cookie gifts - packaged and ready to share with friends and family.  

And now, I really must dash out the door or I'll be late for book club!   Today we are discussing Rump and Out of My Mind, selections from the Elite Eight list for March Book Madness.