Pleasures from the Page

Saturday, March 14, 2015

2015 SOLSC 14/31 and Celebrate This Week

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!

Celebrating our annual book club retreat!

A communal sigh of relief
as we finally leave behind

work, husbands, kids, projects, and daily concerns

to revel in our time together.

A shared love of books,

Time to linger at the table,

Delightful conversations,
Next year's book calendar,
Giddy laughter,

Too much food,

Not enough sleep.

We treasure each moment.
Our hours together pass far too quickly.

We lock the front door.

We snap a few pictures

as hugs, love, and laughter

fill our final moments together.

We linger in the front yard,

unwilling to leave, longing for more time
before returning to our lives.

Memories will bind us together and buoy us up

as we journey through another year of

shared books, lives, tears,

love, and laughter.

Friday, March 13, 2015

2015 SOLSC 13/31: A New Book of Poetry!

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'm sharing a new poetry book for Poetry Friday.

Laura Shovan of Author Amok is hosting this week's poetry round-up.

Be sure to stop by for a taste of poetry love.

I wandered into Island Books

to preview a book I had requested.

It didn't live up to the hype I had heard.

I returned it to the bookseller

and meandered to the back,

my favorite nook in the store, children's books.

Poetry books covered the center table.

Lori is ahead of the game,

an early display for poetry month.

So glad because April brings spring break

and we lose a whole week of poetry.

I circle the table nodding my head

at old friends and murmuring my approval

at Lori's choices.

Wait! What's this?

A book of poetry that's new to me?

One quick look inside and I'm sold!

Commenting and slicing steals my spare time,

but I've squeezed in a few glances,

encountered some old favorites,

and discovered new gems.

The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects
selected by Paul B. Janeczko
illustrated by Chris Raschka

Thursday, March 12, 2015

2015 SOLSC 12/31: Discover

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.

When I read Carol's story today, I was inspired to tell one that's been swirling around in my head.

I finished my school lunch (for dinner) and glanced around the room. Every table was engaged in friendly conversation. Isn't that why we meet as a group of women...to talk? Recess was next on our schedule, but Laurie was the only adult playing with the girls. I scooted over to the parachute to join their fun.

Grabbing two convenient handles, and listening to Laurie's sweet counting of 1, 2, 3, we quickly learned how to make the colors billow upward at the same time. Then we took turns calling out a color. If the color you were holding was called, you were supposed to run under the parachute and switch to a new space with your color. A new version of fruit basket upset! I was happy to play, but glad that my color had not been called. Suddenly it was! With some trepidation, I ducked under cover and headed for my color on the opposite side of the parachute. And that's when I discovered a swirl of giggling girls and a flurry of fun! I'm sure there were girls under there whose color had not been called, but they loved the excitement and frenzy of being under the parachute and dashing for another spot. While I had a hard time getting to my color before the parachute swirled down, I quickly learned that a gentle push would help the parachute stay up as I located my new space and ran giggling to my new color. I had been dutifully participating and even having a bit of fun, but without ducking under I wouldn't have discovered the joy and laughter waiting for me under the swirl of beautiful colors.

I'm reminded of the gentle rebuke Christ offered to his disciples when they turned away those who brought their children to be blessed at His hand. He was displeased and said, "...suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:14) Sometimes we need to plunge into play to find the fun and discover childlike joy. What will you do to play today?

The bloggers at Spiritual Journey Thursday are

writing about the spiritual focus of our community's

One Little Words. This week, we are writing about

Jaana's OLW, DISCOVER.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

2015 SOLSC 11/31: #WildAboutTeachingWhen

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.

You Know You're #WildAaboutTeachingWhen

you're retired, but can't wait to present a workshop this afternoon.

I borrowed the #WildAboutTeachingWhen idea from Michelle, one of the bloggers I've met this month. Here are my top three connections to Michelle:
1. She's a fellow Oklahoman. I live in Washington, but Oklahoma will always be home.
2. She teaches middle school and loves it.
3. She includes chocolate in her mission statement - "Advocating for the growth and education for our nation's students. And chocolate."

Michelle may be new to our community, but she isn't new to blogging. A quick look at Mrs. Waters' English shows that she's an incredibly connected educator. I'm happy to add her to my PLC!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

2015 SOLSC 10/31: Filled to the Brim with Joy!

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.

One week ago today. A walk I’ll never forget and yet I still haven’t written about it. Does this happen to you? Something you really want to slice about keeps getting pushed to the back burner because you want more time to capture the moment. I don’t have more time today, but I’m afraid that this memory will fade away if I don’t make the attempt. So here’s my imperfect stab at sharing a splendid slice of my life.

When Coleen is in town, we always try to squeeze in a walk. I called Jan, texted Coleen, and waited for her to name the time . . . 10:00 a.m. Yikes, it was cooler than it’s been recently, but I was willing to make the sacrifice for her (even though our afternoon promised to be much warmer). Besides, Coleen lives in Canada now, and forty degrees is a virtual heat wave for her.

We met on the lid and headed down the hill. My good friends indulged my frequent stops for pictures. We didn’t win any awards for speed or calories burned, but oh the pleasures of this stroll with two dear friends! Words can't describe our walk, so please scroll along with us and enjoy my amateur attempts to capture a morning of splendor.

Monday, March 9, 2015

2015 SOLSC 9/31: Will It Really Do All Those Things?

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.

We are nearing the end of our kitchen remodel. Can you hear my shouts of joy? We've had the best contractor, and today only marks week five of the project. My appliances were installed today and it's all good, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. You see every appliance has a manual that I need to read in order to understand how to effectively use it. I'm sure that I'll eventually figure out each appliance, but right now it feels like a steep learning curve (and I kind of miss my old familiar kitchen friends). So I'm starting with the microwave (baby steps, right?). When I looked at all the buttons on it, I laughed. Can it really do all those things with the push of a button?

The best part - it's a microwave drawer that glides open with a small pull on the handle. It closes the same way, one small push and it glides closed. Items are loaded from the top rather than the front. And when I went to take a photo just now, I couldn't resist giving it a little pull to watch it glide out. That's when I discovered a handy guide to the buttons on the top of the drawer. No more looking for the manual to use the microwave. I think a woman designed this appliance.

Today the microwave, tomorrow the dishwasher!