#SOLSC15 Day 17

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers and the Slice of Life writing community for providing this opportunity to share our "slices." Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to share our work. Check out the other slices and join in the fun!

                                                              

Learning to Think Ahead

Last year I drove all over Rochester ON St. Patrick's Day to look for gold coins because my son came home from preschool the day before shouting "Leprechauns left us gold at preschool and I think they are coming to our house." Uh--what??? I'm all for fun and games, but preschool just upped the ante without any prior notice. So, after a long hunt around town for coins I finally found foil wrapped Easter egg chocolates from a specialty chocolate shop. I way overpaid and I had to sift through the bag carefully choosing only the golden eggs.

This year? Well, let's just say I'm prepared. I found golden wrapped chocolate coins in December and didn't even think twice about stocking up for the St. Patrick's Day holiday. At school kids are already talking about the excitement that ensues after leprechauns have been around messing up their house or rooms or even dying the toilet water green. That is a bit high maintenance for me. 

Now, I must admit, even with my Irish heritage, I didn't grow up with these traditions and I am not sure what to think about these leprechauns leaving gold coins around. But, hey, a little extra chocolate never hurts :) And...it is much more relaxing and fun this year now that I've learned to think ahead.

                                                 

#SOLSC15 Day 16

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers and the Slice of Life writing community for providing this opportunity to share our "slices." Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to share our work. Check out the other slices and join in the fun!

                                                              
My parents invited us over last night for our annual Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner. We weren't sure we could fit this tradition in on Tuesday this year, so we made a plan for yesterday. It was amazing.

My cousins came and we relished in some after dinner talk. We were catching up about our week, laughing, and discussing the St. Patrick's Day holiday that is fast approaching. This prompted a discussion about our heritage. My mom was able to tell me that my great, great grandmother (Margaret) and my great, great grandfather (Patrick) came over from Ireland and then she dropped this...we have his citizenship papers.

So, my mom and I ran to dig through their files and we found it!

                                                         

We noticed that he was granted citizenship in 1880 so that meant that he must of came to the United States a short time before.  I then went to Ellis Island online and found several by his name, but nothing before 1880. So, this left us with some questions. I learned on this site that Ellis Island was the reception point from 1892, so I wonder if that is why we couldn't find him within the online information at Ellis Island? I did find my paternal grandparents' from Italy, so that was pretty neat.

This all felt like an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? and it makes me curious enough to keep learning about the rest of my heritage. Last year I started a picture collage in my dining room and, although it is a big project, I realized that I need to keep working on it.

Who knew such a great dinner would lead to uncovering this citizenship paperwork. I never knew my parents had it! 

#SOLSC15 Day 15

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers and the Slice of Life writing community for providing this opportunity to share our "slices." Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to share our work. Check out the other slices and join in the fun!

 

Last night my husband, Mark, was helping my two boys settle on a television show. Next thing I know, Mark is all engrossed in some show. I think to myself, "Great. I just lost all of them to screen time." Come to find out, Mark had stumbled on something from his childhood, The Super Mario Brothers Super Show. They were all glued to the TV and loving it. I have to admit, it was a sweet moment. A dad, his boys, and a childhood memory.

It got me thinking...what was my favorite show? I ran through a list in my head:
Captain Kangaroo
Zoobilee Zoo
Reading Rainbow
Charles In Charge
Newhart
Life Goes On
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
PeeWee's Playhouse
The Elephant Show
Bewitched

When all of a sudden I looked up at the show my husband was watching with the kids and saw Winnie Cooper! Then, I settled on it.

The Wonder Years. 

The Wonder Years was my favorite show as a kid. I remember hoping it was on TV if I was home sick. I remember stretching out on the couch after dinner and waiting for that song...

I loved watching Kevin go through common kid struggles. I hated his brother. I loved Winnie. Then there was the mother who tried holding onto typical American family traditions within a dysfunctional family. The father who ruled with a fist and a bad attitude, but at the end of the day, he loved his family. Yes. The Wonder Years. I began going through You Tube clips, listening, laughing, remembering. I came across the the last show and watched with tear-filled eyes all these year later.

I end this post with the monologue from the last show because it has that warm, cozy feeling and brings me right back to that place in my childhood.

Once upon a time, there was a girl I knew who lived across the street.  Brown hair, brown eyes.  When she smiled, I smiled.  When she cried, I cried.  Every single thing that ever happened to me that mattered, in some way, had to do with her.  That day, Winnie and I promised each other that, no matter what, that we'd always be together.  It was a promise full of passion, and truth, and wisdom.  It was the kind of promise that could only come from the hearts of the very young.

The next day Winnie and I came home, back to where we'd started.  It was the fourth of July in that little suburban town. Somehow, though, things were different.  Our past was here, but our future was somewhere else. And we both knew, sooner or later, we had to go.  It was the last July I ever spent in that town.  The next year after graduation, I was on my way.  So was Paul.  He went to Harvard, of course, studied law.  He's still allergic to everything.  As for my father, well...we patched things up.  Hey, we were family, for better or worse. One for all...and all for one.  

Karen's son was born that September.  I gotta say, I think he looks like me.  Poor kid.  Mom, she did well.  Businesswoman, board chairman, grandmother, cooker of mashed potatoes.  The Wayner stayed on in furniture.  Wood seemed to suit him.  In fact, he took over the factory two years later, when Dad passed away. Winnie left the next summer to study art history in Paris.  Still we never forgot our promise.  We wrote to each other once a week for the next eight years.  I was there to meet her when she came home...with my wife, and my first son, eight months old. 

Like I said, things never turn out exactly the way you planned.  

Growing up happens in a heartbeat.  One day you're in diapers, next day you're gone.  But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.  I remember a place, a town, a house...like a lot of houses.  A yard like a lot of other yards, on a street like a lot of other streets.  And the thing is, after all these YEARS, I still look back...with WONDER.

#SOLSC15 Day 14

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers and the Slice of Life writing community for providing this opportunity to share our "slices." Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to share our work. Check out the other slices and join in the fun!

This slice will also double up as a celebrate post.

Ruth Ayers invites us to participate in a Celebrate Link-Up on Saturdays. Click here to see what others are celebrating and maybe join in yourself, too!
                                  

                               
It is short.
It is posted later than I posted have for 13 days.
But, my slice is here. I worried about what I'd write today and then last night happened. A fire in the kitchen.

Everyone is safe; all is well. 

But, I'm thankful for: 
-my people not my things
-my husband's swift actions
-my dad's practical gift of a fire extinguisher years ago when we moved in
-choosing to place a fire extinguisher right in the kitchen
-no damage to my brand new kitchen except for minor smoke and TONS of extinguisher dust. Big clean up.
-fire safety instruction at school so my kindergartener knew to "evacuate." (Love how he tossed that super vocab word around in the aftermath). 

I feel bad because after getting my three year old at the sitter after school at 4:30, I rushed back to work because I had so much to do. So, Matthew and I worked while my hubby, six year old, and my in-laws got fish fries to go. They insisted on waiting for me instead of just saving my meal. That's when it happened...keeping the boxes in the oven under low heat. 

That's when I walked in the house with Matthew. 

It is hard not for me to say what were you thinking???????? I would never put a box in the oven. But, it's a decision that was made and it is neither here nor there at the moment. But, I'm pretty certain everyone learned a lesson or two. 

So, please take it from me and the lesson I learned. Make sure you own a fire extinguisher TODAY. Perhaps I should take a note from my dad and purchase fire extinguishers as house warming gifts. I never knew the importance until now. 

Thankful to celebrate a happy ending.

#SOLSC15 Day 13

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers and the Slice of Life writing community for providing this opportunity to share our "slices." Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to share our work. Check out the other slices and join in the fun!

                                                 
As part of our National Reading Month celebration we had poet, Allan Wolf, come to our school this week. He was absolutely fantastic. He even wore one of our "Keep Calm and Read On" t-shirts that we made as a staff. He was engaging and oh-so-talented. We laughed, we oooooo'd and ahhhhhhh'd, and we marveled in his amazing ability to recite poetry, sing, and entertain. 

Here's a bit of video I recorded from Tuesday: 

Our library media specialist introduced him like this: 

Ten Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Allan Wolf
10. Allan can recite hundreds of poems from memory.
9. Allan’s latest book is about the RMS Titanic.
8. Allan is a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
7. Allan once had a pet chicken named “Atilla the Hen.”
6. Allan has two cats named Scurvy and Mange.
5. Allan is a dad with three teenage kids, two boys and a girl.
4. Allan never watches television. (He doesn’t even own one!)
3. Allan plays drums in a band called The Dead Poets.
2. Allan dreams of one day living in a house with a secret room.
1. Allan can ride a skateboard standing on his hands.

Teachers left inspired to teach.

Kids left inspired to write. 

I left inspired to create my own... 

"Ten Things You (Probably) Don't Know About Marcie" 
10. I have a favorite blanket from childhood.
9. I can not make it through a movie without falling asleep, but my favorite all time movie is The Cutting Edge.
8. I used to figure skate.
7. I have always wanted to join a women's hockey team.
6. I attended a live taping of The Katie Couric show in NYC last spring.
5. I failed my first road test.
4. I went to see Celine Dion in Vegas three times.
3. I love to travel and can pack in 30 minutes.
2. I find P!nk to be an inspiring, strong woman.
1. I'm the world's worst road trip passenger.


Believe it or not this took some time and A LOT of thought to create. It was not as easy as I thought it would be due to the "probably don't know" part because I tend to live like an open book :)

#SOLSC15 Day 12

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers and the Slice of Life writing community for providing this opportunity to share our "slices." Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to share our work. Check out the other slices and join in the fun!

                                                  
 "The problem in the world is that we have forgotten we belong to each other." 
~Mother Teresa

This is a quote I heard while listening to a TED talk that was suggested by fellow blogger, Michelle.  I not only enjoyed this TED talk, but I haven't been able to get that quote out of my head. Since hearing it, I've walked around every day since then thinking about it. Here are just a few observations from today.

We belong to each other when we...
-commiserate over a broken copier
-lend a K-cup to a coffee-less friend in need
-stop what we are doing to help a colleague find info on a topic they are searching for
-stop at an entrance/driveway and wave to the driver to get in front of you
-give a sincere thank you to someone holding the door
-bring papers from the printer down to the person who printed them
-listen with a willingness to be influenced
-fulfill a request for some dental floss
-share concerns with administration but refrain from using names to ensure anonymity
-stop rushing and give another person our gift of time
-chew gum after eating onions
-put in a phone call to a friend instead of a text
-laugh and share our awkward moments/stories
-watch a show our spouse chooses (but we would never choose)
-brainstorm with a colleague
-put our cell phone down to look our kids in the eye when we talk to them
-comment on another slicer's slice :)

                     
I'd love for you to share your "belong to each other" moments!

#SOLSC14 Day 11

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers and the Slice of Life writing community for providing this opportunity to share our "slices." Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to share our work. Check out the other slices and join in the fun!

           

Lipstick In The Park

"Let's sit and rest."
     "Great idea. Let's take a selfie, too."
"I feel like I need lipstick."
    "You do? Well, then let's get some!"
"Where?"
 
The other morning driving to work, I got to laughing by myself in the car as I remembered this funny exchange between Kim and I. Earlier that morning I noticed that I ran out of my favorite lipstick. But, rest assured, I have back up ones that I stock up on. My little secret in life is that I love lipstick. I wear it everyday, but my BiFFy, Kim does not.

In the fall we attended The Saturday Reunion at Teachers College. We had such an amazing "girl's weekend." And guess what? We got her some lipstick.

There are just loads and loads of memorable moments, funny moments, and serious moments from that trip. As I reached into my stockpile this morning for my spare lipstick, a flood of funny moments fell upon me. This particular tube was bought in NYC in a pharmacy like Rite Aid, CVS or something. A dollar and tons of laughter.

It all started when we felt the need to spice up our selfie in Madison Square Park just after leaving Eataly. The first fifteen shots were not good because we couldn't figure out how to (a) fit both of us in the selfie and (b) struggled to do so without having our mouths wide open laughing.

You can't put a price on friendship, but it only takes a dollar and tons of patience to nail a selfie.

                                                               Me and  Kim (my BiFFy)