I was a podcast guest!

Hello friends.

I am popping out of hibernation to share a wonderful experience I had recently. 

I was blessed to be featured on the She Hit Refresh podcast to share my own career refresh and my ideas on the wonderful opportunity that midlife brings. 

According to co-founder, Cepee, "She Hit Refresh is the only online community dedicated to helping women 30 years and older go from daydreaming about breaking free and starting a life of travel… to actually doing it!"

If you're over 30 and looking for your tribe, She Hit Refresh is a wonderful community to call home. 

I hope this holiday season finds you all happy and well. I'm excited to see what this new decade brings. 

What might your life look different in 10 years? What big dreams are simmering in your heart?

Consider giving this podcast a listen and see how you can turn up the burner on those dreams and make them happen. 

Happy holidays, friends! Much love to you in your corner of the world. 

Ahora 19: Peeking out of the Rabbit Hole

I know that it has been a while; for me too. 

Every time I think about sitting down to write, something else take precedence, and it just never gets done.

While I have a few minutes this morning, I wanted to peek out of the rabbit hole and say hello. 

I miss you. 

Thanks for sticking around. 

Here's what is trending in my world these days. 

Learning
The in's and out's of my new job. It is like a rabbit hole; I begin one project, which detours into another and another. I LOVE my new job. I love working with my students and my co-workers, and the flexibility of location independence is a dream come true. Learning the platforms and grading assignments in a fairly self paced curriculum take time. There are times when I am inundated and other times, less so. I wouldn't change a thing. 


Drinking
Hot mulled apple cider. And Cinnamon Dolce coffee; I can thank my niece for this new obsession. 


Reading and planning to cook my way through...

Eating
Dinner With Julie's quick cassoulet. It's quick, it's easy, and it is delicious! It makes the house smell amazing too! With a glass of red, an arugula salad, and a warm baguette... bliss.

Watching
This is Us. If you haven't started this series, you can stream it free on Hulu. It's that good. 
And the soundtrack is playlist worthy. 



Exploring
Boston. We had friends in town last weekend, and we had the chance to play tour guide. 

In Baah-stin speak, the corner store. 

No matter where I go, Boston, you're my home. 

Loving
Being somewhat of a stay-at-home-dog-mom. It sounds ridiculous, I know; however, I love having the flexibility to take Gracie outside at lunch time to play. 

She seems to like it too. 

And squeak toys are the best. 

Fall colors? Yes, please. 

And Snap Chat filters for days...if you're on Snap Chat, add me... https://www.snapchat.com/add/alovelylifeind. I'm always looking for fun accounts to follow. 

Celebrating
My Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary. My brother and I planned to surprise my parents back in July. We did it, and it was wonderful. 

And Happy 4th Birthday to my lovely space in the universe. A Lovely Life, Indeed turned four on November 1st. 

Stressing

About the election...

This election gives me anxiety. The energy, the ads, the Facebook rants, the surprising jaw-dropping views of those I hold dear...I guess I do live in a bubble. A warm, happy bubble.

And this election compels me to retreat. 

But, it's critical that we get out there and vote, my American friends. 

We don't have to agree on candidate or ideology, but we do have to voice our choice. 

It's a big deal...and the world is watching. 

Still not sure? Take the quiz from I Side With and see who parallels your thinking the most. 

Also, read up on your state's ballot questions and carefully consider your options down ballot. Consider future legislation and the Supreme Court; it's not just about the executive branch. 

Okay. I am going to go and get some work done. Tell me...
What's happening now in your world? 
Let's catch up. 




Linking up with Kristin today. 

Preparing the Littles for Kindergarten: A Teacher's Perspective

Walk through any big box store and, already, you can see the Back to School banners, and like every new school year, some parents of five year olds are anxious and unsure whether they are ready to send their children into the unknown world of academic kindergarten. 

I am not a parent, but I am an auntie, and I am a teacher in an elementary school, working with students in kindergarten through grade four. Kindergarten is not the developmental kindergarten of years passed; academic kindergarten has significant cognitive demands and high expectations of social and emotional behavior. 

Whether you agree or disagree with the trajectory of American education, the reality is that this is the climate of kindergartens in the United States, and in schools and districts marked by poverty, the rigidity of curriculum is inescapable. 

Every year, parents, in genuinely wanting what is best for their children, ask what they can do to prepare their kids for school success. 

In my opinion, the best way to prepare children for the demands of an academic, standards-based kindergarten is through engagement. 

Here are some ideas to help. 

1. Engagement in literacy and numeracy. 

• Read to your child and model reading with your child...let them see you as a reader and the value you give to reading. Children can "read" the pictures, even if they can't read the words...and no, they do not have to come to kindergarten reading...but, they have to leave kindergarten reading. 
• Can your child identify upper and lowercase letters and sounds? Can he or she identify the numbers one through ten? 
• Vocabulary development is critical to literacy. Call objects by their names. Add descriptors related to size and color and degrees of comparison. 
• Play with synonyms and antonyms and shades of meaning. Provide other ways of saying words. For example, explore shades of color and other ways to express various actions and emotions. Play with opposites and precision of language in self expression. 
• Count forwards and backwards and skip count (by 10s, for example) and begin the concepts of adding and subtracting. 
• Notice patterns and comparisons (for example, bigger or smaller, faster or slower) and make predictions based on those patterns.  

2.  Engagement in conversation and social skills. 

• Meal time and drive time is the perfect time for conversation. Ask open-ended questions, like how, why, or why do you think that. Ask them to explain something to you and ask you questions. 
• Talk about reading. Ask them to retell stories and make predictions. 
• Allow them to make choices and encourage them to explain themselves. 
• Allow them to play with others, unplugged and try to stay out of conflict as much as possible, allowing them to find resolution through words and logical consequences.

3. Engagement with their community. 

• Visit the local library and take advantage or story and craft time. 
• Use museum passes to local museums. 
• Expose kids to experiences and build their cultural literacy. 
• Travel as much as you can. Be a tourist in your own local community, city, state capital or region. 

4. Engagement with nature. 

• Allow children to play outside, unplugged from technology and media. 
• Let them get dirty and use their imaginations.  
• Ride bikes, climb mountains, splash in puddles, grow gardens (and cook together), play in snow, and in wind, and at the beach. Learn to swim. 
• Visit local farms or farmers' markets and teach them the connection between farms and food. 
• Teach kids how to respect the natural world and plant seeds of stewardship. Recycle and clean up litter. 
• Learn how to approach animals safely and treat animals with respect and kindness. 

5.  Engage with themselves. 

• Allow kids quiet play, read-to-self time, and time to entertain themselves with imaginative play. 

The reality is that parents are their children's first teachers. The experiences children have with their parents and siblings set the foundation for their future learning. It's not all or nothing. Do what you can and we'll take care of the rest. 

Enjoy the rest of your summer. 

Coffee Catch Up

Ideas swirl around my head like cartoon canaries after a good bump on the head, and at times, having too many options can be just as paralyzing as when there are too few. 

So, like ripping off a bandaid, I am here to catch up over my morning coffee, just as if you were sitting across the table with yours...not with well thought out words and pictures, but merely with conversation. 

Welcome. 

What a summer it has been! 

We did a lot of this. 

And this. 

And this. 

And now we're home. 

We took the weekend to sleep off residual jet lag and prep for the week ahead. 

And here we are. 

Let's start with yesterday. I am back at my home school. 

It was a whiplash kind of day. Upon arriving at our opening day general session yesterday, I was greeted and then saddened to hear from friends that my position, which at the end of the last school year had been eliminated due to budget cuts, had been re-funded, BUT that I couldn't go back, because I had transferred to another in-district building earlier in the summer. 

Wait...What??? Imagine my confusion. 

And then, in the eleventh hour, so to speak, as my former colleagues and I trudged into the auditorium for the general session, I was pulled aside by my former principal, assistant principal, and program director who then told me I was "going home." 

I am so incredibly grateful to be back in my building. While the other school is wonderful, it just wasn't home. And the welcome I received when I returned that afternoon with my things was overwhelming...so much love and support. I can't wait to see my kiddos! I'm in a Pre-K-4 building...you can imagine the level of cuteness. 

And so I'm back. And so very happy. My heart is full. 

Vacation was wonderful. In addition to exploring more of Galicia, we visited Toledo, Àvila, Salamanca, and Dublin, Ireland on our way back to Boston. I ended up posting a lot of pictures on Instagram, but I did not bring my laptop with me. And so, I didn't do much any writing. 

BUT, I did do a lot of reading. I finally read Gone Girl, and Mindy Kaling's memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me, and the first of the Late Bloomer Series by Betsy Talbott, Wild Rose. I'm reading the second in the series now, English Ivy. I also read Paris in Love, finished Julia Child's My Life in France, Love with a Chance of Drowning, and The Lost Girls. 

Now, I'm prepping for school's start next week. I'm trying to get back into my routines and I am looking forward to cooler weather and all things fall. 

And my Dad turns 71 on Friday!

I'm hoping to start back in on a regular writing practice again, and start digging through pictures, but for now, this is where I am. 

Now, please tell me. How was your summer? What was your best moment? What are you looking forward to this fall? 

Decluttering 101

Sadly, as soon as the last trick or treater rings the last doorbell, retailers ring their own dinner bell: out come the Christmas carols and holiday decor, and so begins the annual saturation of commercials touting the latest gadget we all, seemingly, cannot live without. 

Source

We're drowning in stuff. Look around. Look at the walls, on the counter tops, in the drawers. 

Look in the junk drawer, in the cabinets and under the bed. 

Look in the spare room, in the mudroom and in the garage. 

Look in the spaces that are secret catch-alls, if only to you. 

Look at all of it. 

Now, think about the amazing experiences you've had over the past year. The past six months. The last few weeks. 

Are your experiences as plentiful as the stuff you've accumulated in the last year? 

The past six months? The last few weeks? 

Are you swimming in memories of laughter? Of joy? Of tender moments with those you hold dearest? 

If not, why? 

Sometimes work gets in the way. 

Or schedules. 

Or time . . .there's that busy thing again. 

Or, especially in these times, money gets in the way. 

But look around again. 

How much of this stuff do you really need? Really . . .

How much of it sounded like a good idea at the time, only to be used once or twice, only to find its final resting place under the sink or in the junk drawer or buried in the closet?

What if the time you spent looking for the perfect stuff, for you, or for others, was spent planning the moments and memories that would last you long after the stuff you've accumulated has lost its value?

If you only had limited space, say a backpack or a small car, in which to store all of your most prized possessions in order to, let's say, travel for an extended period of time, what would you take? What would you sell? What would you throw away?

I'm not saying that stuff is worthless. We all have the gadgets that make our lives easier and much more entertaining. But at what point does our stuff begin to weigh us down? 

We need not be hoarders to feel like we're drowning in clutter. And in as much as we have, many of us still feel like something is missing, and so we buy more. 

But the emptiness remains.

But the good news is, there is a way out. 

As a teacher, I teach my students to chunk tasks. It works and it's less daunting than tackling a project in its entirety. 

Here's how to chunk your way out of stuff:

1. One room at a time, and only one room per day. Consecutive days are not necessary.

2. Make four piles: save, sell, donate, discard. 

3. Find your camera or use your phone. Take pictures of the stuff to sell and upload it to eBay or another website on which you can sell your stuff (unfortunately to others looking to add more stuff--it never ends). Don't wait, or you will never do it.

4. Bag up your donations and drop it off to the local charity to which you will donate. Don't wait, or it will never go.

5. Bag up the trash and get rid of it. Don't wait, or it will never go. 

Take comfort in what you have saved, feel relieved of the burden of clutter that you have released, and celebrate with a walk outside with someone you love. 

From O Magazine: Change Agents

I am a longtime subscriber of O Magazine, and I love reading the contributors' questionnaire at the beginning of every issue, which relates to the monthly theme. 

The theme for the month of September is transforming your life with "one tweak at a time." Here's how I answered her questions. 

The last thing I completely transformed was...
My job. 
After working as a middle school English teacher for the past sixteen years, I recently began working as an elementary ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, working with English Language Learners. I have kindergarten and second grade students. Oddly enough, there aren't that many differences in classroom management. Love it!

The one thing I will never change is...
Drive to evolve. 
I may be called restless, but for me, it's an asset. In my drive to evolve, I remain a lifelong learner. I challenge myself...in body and mind. I find new adventures and new favorites. 

When my attitude needs an adjustment, I...
Find quiet time. 
Unplugging from the world, even for a short time, is enough to recharge my spiritual battery. I emerge refreshed and ready for whatever happens next.

The one thing that can make any day better is...
Quiet time with my husband; my world realigns. 

How would you answer these same questions? Please share and inspire me. 

Hopes and Dreams

I teach 8th grade. My students range in age from 13-15. In the fall, they move on to the high school. They are on the edge of everything. 

Middle school is a challenge...for students, for parents, for teachers. They are diverse physically, emotionally, socially, academically, culturally, socioeconomically and every other way you can be diverse from one another. 

Yet one thing that brings them all together is their hopes and dreams. They all have them. And they want you to ask them about them. 

They might not want to tell you, but deep down, they want you to ask.

I have an anchor chart in my classroom that gives my kids an opportunity to anonymously post their hopes and dreams. 

As the year comes a close, the chart has been busy. ♥ 

Yup...the bottom one says, "Be a Superhero"...love it!

THIS is why I teach. 

I LOVE their hopes and dreams. I love that they share them with me, with their peers, with the world. 

I hope that I inspire them to hope and dream. 

I hope that I prepare them with the skills and the confidence they need to pursue their hopes and dreams 

If you are blessed with kids in your life...ask them. 

Your heart, like mine, will be full. ♥

What are your hopes and dreams?

Blessed: Teachers Make a Difference

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and I am blessed to have had so many wonderful teachers in my life. 

I am equally blessed to work with some amazing, dedicated teachers as well. 

Looking back, there are two teachers that come to mind easily, with smiles and love. 

I remember that I was afraid. I never went to Kindergarten and I knew I would have to show what I knew. 

I wondered what the other kids, who did go to Kindergarten, knew. 

I remember sitting on the bench outside the office. 

The principal came out and sat next to me. Showtime.

I timidly recited my ABCs and I counted as high as I could. I even counted to 10 in Spanish, because I had learned it on Sesame Street. 

I was in.

Sr. Mary was my 1st grade teacher. She was the kindest, most gentle soul I had ever met outside of my own family.  I had the wonderful occasion to see her again, not too long ago. She took her hand and placed it on the side of my cheek, looked into my eyes and smiled. 

My heart was so full; it felt like it would burst. I felt like a child once again, hoping that I had pleased her with the adult I had become. I felt so proud to tell her that I had become a teacher as well. And I wanted her to know how loved she was. 

And then, in 5th grade, I had Mrs. Fraticelli. She was my English teacher. She was was stern, yet kind...a woman with tremendously high expectations for excellence...and thank God! She made me *want* to strive for excellence, because it was right that I expect excellence of myself. 

Thank you, Sr. Mary, and Mrs. Fraticelli. You made a difference...in this girl's life for sure. 

Who was your favorite teacher? Share a happy memory.