SOL 7/31: Write by Numbers

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

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

Sometimes it's important to have fun!  Today's slice is one of those, a follow up to my Read by Numbers slice from last month.  I rounded up all my number books that have appeared on my holds shelf in the past three weeks.  There's no way I would ever read all these books, so I scanned their pages for things that resonated with me.  I made a list from each book and this is where the fun begins.  I decided to compose a found poem from the activities.  Each stanza includes an activity from each book.  See if you can figure out which activities came from which book.  The key is provided at the end of  the slice.

The sources of the fun for this slice!

 Poem from The Things to Do Books

Eat home cooked meals

Pig out

Grab that

Let it go!

Hold it
Be a grouch

Find love and loss

Sing!

Follow your passions

Get your groove on

Laugh

Reach out!

Oh those summer sunsets and bonfires
Happy hands

Eat dark chocolate

Cherish each day!

And just in case you haven't discovered it yet, don't miss Elaine Magliaro's book Things to Do with beautiful illustrations by Catia Chien.  I blame all my "read and write by numbers" silliness on Linda Baie's review which sent me scurrying to my library site to request this book (see how easily I can be distracted).  By the way, I don't purchase many books anymore, but Things to Do is a picture book that I simply must own!

The Key:

100 Things to Do in Seattle Before You Die

Pig out (Pike Place Market)

Find Love and Loss (Olympic Sculpture Park)

Get  your groove on (Green Lake)

Oh those summer sunsets and bonfires

(which get us through the gray days of winter)!

60 Things to Do When You Turn 60

Let it go

Be a grouch

Follow your passions

Cherish each day

100 Things You Can Do to Stay Fit & Healthy

Eat home cooked meals

Sing

Laugh

Eat dark chocolate

50 Fantastic Things to Do With Babies

Grab that

Hold it

Reach out

Happy hands

SOL 6/31: Discoveries while Breaking my Rule!

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

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

I really try to keep my new rule, no reading slices until you've posted your own slice.  But almost every single day, I break it.  Today I woke at 4 am ready to write the slice about my disappointing sophomore year that's been sloshing around since one night last week when I took a memory stroll in the middle of the night.  But I made the mistake of grabbing my phone first to check my email and there was a slice from Elsie.  And who can resist her slices?  Especially one about food?  It's bound to come with some pics.  I click and I'm not disappointed.  

Resolutely, I set down my phone and reach for my computer.  Ready to write the slice about sophomore year.  Except that when I open my computer, up pops a blog that I was planning to comment on last night when my computer had to be charged.  I'll just take one minute for a quick response to Write 4 Today's "Sunday" post.  

And then my eyes stray to Michelle's sidebar, a Twitter link to Cathy Mere's poetry!  I don't think I've had a chance to stop by Cathy's blog since I read her post summarizing why she almost didn't join the challenge this year.  I'm weak, irresolute and totally unable to resist the lure of "Each Sky."  I click, read the poem, and sigh with satisfaction.  

And just like that, today's slice switches tracks.  

It's Sunday morning, I dash downstairs, almost ready to leave for church when I spy blue sky.  I promise myself I'll snap a pic on the way to church.  Who am I kidding?  I'm already running late.  So I stick my phone up to the window and capture a "through the window" shot.  

We've just finished the worship service and are transitioning to Sunday School class when I stop to chat with Jared, Melissa's husband.  She's a nurse and working for the second Sunday in a row.  They are new to our congregation, and I have a note for Melissa (and chocolates) that I failed to deliver last week.  I head to the car to retrieve it.  As I turn from the car to return to church, I stop in my tracks.  A beautiful blue sky!  I'm so glad I have my phone in my hand.  I capture this anomaly and return to church.  I hand Jared the envelope and share my blue sky pic.  (And when I leave church two hours later, our gray skies have returned.)

I celebrate Cathy's love letter to the sky and how it led me to share my Sunday sky pics with you. 

"Every single time 
my breath catches.
. . . 
each sky
a gift."

SOL 5/31: From February Fishbowls to March Book Madness!

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

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

February was an unusual month for Books, Brownies, and Beyond, our after school book club.  When we met on Feb. 14th, it had been three weeks since our last meeting.  Our last meeting in January was canceled due to the arrival of my grandson Jack.  The first meeting in February was a snow day, so we happily gathered on Valentine's Day for free books to celebrate the conclusion of our Mock Newbery round of reading.  I reminded everyone that we were focusing on five books from our literature circle collection for African American History month.  Students scurried to check out one of the five titles before Amy, our librarian assistant, left for the day.  Because  we would miss next week too!  Next Tuesday we would be out of school for mid-winter break.

When we met last week, we chose to discuss the books using the fishbowl approach.  Students who had read the title joined in a semicircle at the front of the room while the rest of the group listened in on the conversation.  This is a great tool to encourage interest by other members who may not have read the book (and we try hard to avoid spoiling the book for those who haven't read it).  I wish I had captured some pictures, but I was so enthralled with the conversations that I totally forgot to snap any pics.

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - We discussed the differing viewpoints of Jacqueline's childhood as she grew up in New York and South Carolina during the 60's and 70's.  And of course we ended up talking about other novels-in-verse that we liked.
• The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall - I couldn't resist sharing the opportunity I had to visit the actual exhibit by James Hampton in the Smithsonian American Art Museum when we read this book as part of our Mock Newbery two years ago.  It's a wonderful story of grief, art, friendship, and redemption.
• Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes - We discussed the genre of magical realism.  And I realized that none of these middle school students could remember Hurricane Katrina.  Here's a link to more books about Hurricane Katrina. 
• Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine - Isabella gave us wonderful insight into the symbolism on the original hardback cover of this book.  And we loved so many things about this friendship between two girls set in 1958 during the integration of schools in Little Rock
• Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper - This was undoubtedly the favorite book of our group.  This book deals with racism, voting issues, and the KKK in depression-era North Carolina.  When I asked my readers if there were any problems with voting issues today and was met with blank stares, I knew that we would begin our next meeting by examining the NEWSELA  Issue Overview:  Voting Rights.

Members of our book club collectively read twenty-five books.  One member read all five books and two other members each read four books.  It was a good month of reading, and a great follow up to our Mock Newbery books which had been our focus for November, December, and January.  Now it's time for us to turn our attention to the sixteen "new classics" titles featured as part of March Book Madness.   This week we'll complete first round voting of the Middle Grade Sweet Sixteen.   Want to know more about March Book Madness?  Then hustle over to the MBM home page to check out the brackets for picture book, middle grade, and young adult titles.  Remember, first round voting closes at 7pm EST on Tuesday, March 7th.

This blog post is cross-posted to Sweet Reads, a place for me, the members of our after school book club, and interested readers to share the books we are reading, booklists, and other book related activities.

SOL 4/31: More of the Same, Except . . .

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

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

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! 

On Saturdays I write my posts in blue because that is the day I write my Celebrate This Week post. And I love blue, so blue reminds me that it's celebration time.  Ruth Ayres started this group of friends who focus on celebrating the past week.  It means that I spend every week collecting small celebrations to share.  It reminds me that there are always celebratory moments to be found in the muck of everyday life.  

This week I'm celebrating weather.  February was rainy and gray, Almost. Every. Single. Day.  But March, holds the promise of something different, except this was what the weather forecast delivered this morning.  

Did you notice that forecast?  8 days of more rain, with the possibility of snow on one of those days!  So why am I celebrating?  Look again, this afternoon between the hours of noon and five will be partly cloudy, and the sun may peek through the clouds!  The timing is great since I'll be in a conference from 9 to 1, so I should be able to see some of that sun this afternoon.  And there's only a 30% chance of rain today.  And there will be two days when it will be in the fifties.  

And I spotted this pink at a friend's house on a gray day this week!

 And a friend delivered this spot of sunshine to me!

And who could be gray when you have pics
of grandsons Jack and Teddy to savor?

Have a fabulous weekend!

Wishing you spots of sunshine in spite of the gray!

SOL 3/31: Friday Ramblings

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

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

I had forgotten it was Poetry Friday until I saw Tara's post last night. Our host for this week, Jama, asked that we share a favorite Billy Collins' poem in honor of his birthday.  The poem that Tara shared, "How to Read a Poem," is one that I frequently shared in my classroom. Not wanting to be redundant, I headed to the Poetry Foundation site to peruse other poems by Billy Collins.  I didn't find any that were favorites, but I did find a new-to-me short one that I liked.   But I failed to write down the title and it's taken me about a half hour of reading more Billy Collins' poems this morning to find it again.  I'll share the link now before I lose it again - "Poem" by Billy Collins.  I love the first two lines:  

"It's like writing a short letter

to everyone in the world at once,"

And here's the link to many more poems by Billy Collins on the Poetry Foundation's site.  And while I was checking out other resources about Billy Collins, I found this delightful Poetry Off the Shelf audio, The Poetry Garage about a parking garage where the floors are named after poets (instead of cities or sports teams).  You can listen to a poem and read about the poet featured on your floor while you wait for the elevator.  Billy Collins is on floor two and his poem is "Forgetfulness."  Fast forward to 7:47 in the Poetry Garage audio and you can hear Billy Collins read part of the poem.   Or just click on the poem title to hear him read all of the poem.  

And I'll close this rambling poetic post about Billy Collins with his words from his biography on the Poetry Foundation site:  “I think my work has to do with a sense that we are attempting, all the time, to create a logical, rational path through the day. To the left and right there are an amazing set of distractions that we usually can’t afford to follow. But the poet is willing to stop anywhere.”  As you can see, I'm easily distracted and willing to join the poet in stopping by those amazing distractions along the rational path through the day.  Happy Poetry Friday!

Head over to Heidi Mordhurst's blog, 

My Juicy Little Universe,

for this week's round-up of poetic goodness.  

Thanks, Heidi, for hosting this week!

SOL 2/31 & SJFT: Connection

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

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

I stand at the copy machine in my husband's office.  The whir of the copy machine comforts me because I know with each page I copy, I'm capturing the words that I connected with in the library book, Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.  The continuing whir of the copy machine causes my husband to ask, "Are you copying the whole book?"  No, just the parts that I connected with, the parts that spoke solace to my soul.  

It's Saturday morning and two young men bring a special joy to the day as we connect on FaceTime.  As I chat with my son, Blake, grandson Teddy climbs over his dad, babbles joyfully, wanders across the room and makes music by banging gleefully on a toy.

It's Sunday evening and our new grandson and his parents arrive for dinner and an evening at the Oscars.  I revel in my new role of  grandmother.  I tuck Jack into the crook of my arm, sing his favorite song, rock to and fro, and delight in the rise and fall of his chest as he sleeps snuggled against me.  

It's Wednesday morning and like many of you I wake early, excited at the prospect of a new month of writing every day.  I'm determined to write before I comment.  Once I've posted my slice, it is with delight that I return to your posts and the chance to comment.  Your stories resonate with me as I nod my head, delighted at the ways you share your joys, your sorrows, and your challenges.  I reach for my notebook (well, to be honest, it wasn't beside me on the bed), so instead I grab my phone to capture moments of connection when your words are ones I know I'll want to revisit and copy into my notebook.  From my friend B at Live, Write, Teach:  "If I don't slice, opportunities evaporate to connect with old friends who celebrate, encourage, share."  And from our friend Ruth Ayres, "...what sets SOLSC apart is the writing community that develops. Every year it feels magical to me. The connections and the comments fuel writers."

I think of my friends at book club, the sisters in my church, my retired friends, the students in my after school book club, the former colleagues I see when I stop by school, the young girls and their parents who share our pew every Sunday, the friends I'm linked to on Facebook and Instagram, the family members that I chat with on the telephone.  All connections that enrich my life and bring joy to my days.   

I pick up my spiritual journal, happy to reread moments of connection with scripture and thoughts recorded during quiet time.  I note with sadness that it's been a few days since I sat quietly to read, to ponder, to feel the love of the Lord, to make a connection with Him.   And I renew my commitment to "Be still and know that I am God," "for he satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness."

Today I chose to pair my Slice of Life with Spiritual Journey First Thursday.  This group, started by Holly Mueller, used to write every Thursday.  I'm grateful to Irene Latham who recently suggested that we gather again on the first Thursday of each month. This month we're writing about Doraine's OLW (one little word), connection.   Check out the roundup at Dori Reads.

SOL 1/31: Blindsided by Chloe

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

to the Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, Melanie, and Lanny

for hosting this meeting place each day in March

and for nurturing our writing lives.

I made a new rule for myself during this delightfully madcap month of slicing.  No posting comments until I've written my post for the day.  It's the carrot and stick, the no dessert until you've eaten your vegetables, the do the hard thing first approach to life.  (Oh, I forgot to tell you that there's one exception to the rule.  I can check and comment on my Welcome Wagon folks before I post my slice for the day.)  So how's it going?  Well, it's not even 7am and I've already broken my rule.  

In my defense, I offer three maxims about rule breaking:

• Rules are made to be broken.  Yep, we all know this one, just never share it with an adolescent.  
• Nature provides exceptions to every rule. - Margaret Fuller  That's exactly how I ended up in this predicament.  I was scrolling along in search of my Welcome Wagon folks when Chloe blindsided me.  Chloe is a dog, so she counts as a nature exception.  Dogs are an important part of our natural world.  And I love Chloe's posts!  
• If you obey all the rules you'll miss all the fun. -Katherine Hepburn  Who knows if I would have come back to discover Chloe's post after I'd written my own slice?  And if I hadn't, I would have missed Chloe's and Deb's lively back and forth argument about why Chloe does not want Deb to slice this month.  I know you want to read it, so here's the link.   Check it out, a slice written by a beloved pet.  

And now that my post is written, I'm off to enjoy dessert (aka commenting) before I even eat my breakfast.   See you tomorrow!