I am at the beach this week. Sunset Beach, NC where my family has been coming for 30+ years for vacation. Sitting on the beach for hours gives me plenty of time to think and reflect. And there is a lot to reflect upon right now. Our world has turned upside down. And some of …
Category: baking
Baking my way through the pandemic
Humpty Keeping Watch Over The Bread Dough, 2020 Right this very minute I should be checking student work, creating French placement tests, reading an article about how to be a better on-line teacher, meditating, doing yoga stretches, making lesson plans to finish out the year or doing something productive. Instead I am thinking of what …
Dear Mrs. Robinson
I have finished the book you gave me at Christmas and am now ready to submit my book report. I hope that you will enjoy reading it and I look forward to receiving your feedback. The Sabbatical Chef March 29, 2020 I am suspicious of people who do not like to eat. If I ask …
Serial worrier
True confessions time. I am a worrier. Can an optimist also be a serial worrier? I know deep down that there is very little that I am truly in control of. When I really want someone or some circumstance beyond my control to change, my mantra is "It is what it is." The late dearest …
Halftime
I am not counting the days, but I think it is almost halftime of summer vacation. I am trying to soak up every minute of it. Really I am. I spent a week at Carolina Beach with Sister Moo and Best Niece. It's become a tradition for the three of us to do this. Moo …
What’s not to love about June?
I wish you could smell these beautiful gardenias. (Wouldn't scratch and sniff photos be awesome?) My dear friend Dani gave them to me. She has a whole bush full of them at her home. We met for coffee and I walked away with these flowers that bloom in June in Durham, NC. While on the …
Becoming a Big Year Old
One of my 7th grade advisees used the term "big year old" earlier in our year together. He was referring to the 8th graders who were eating lunch in the courtyard outside my room. He didn't want to go out there and be with the big year olds. Horror. I had to laugh. Maybe he …
Comfort me with dear friends and… chocolate cake
I have been spending a lot of time with Ruth Reichl lately. Well, truth be told, a lot of time with her memoirs. I got my hands on Garlic and Sapphires, published in 2005, and that lead to her latest book, Save Me The Plums, 2019. I read Comfort Me With Apples, 2001, and Tender …
Continue reading Comfort me with dear friends and… chocolate cake
Needs vs Wants
Princess rotary dial phone: image courtesy of http://www.pinterest.com When I teach the French expressions for "I need" and "I want" (j'ai besoin et j'ai envie), to make it more concrete we make lists. As concrete as possible works best for 7th graders. I do indeed ask them if their parents have explained the difference between …
Waiting for Diego
This time three months ago I was sitting around waiting for Hurricane Florence to pay me a visit. Yesterday I waited for Winter Storm Diego to quietly sweep in. I am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to snow predictions around here. Several friends call it Snowmaggedon. Sister-in-Law sent this photo via Facebook- …
the sabbatical chef 