RAOK Success

Today kicked off my RAOK Campaign and I was pleased with how it all went down.

I decided to start simple and pay for the person behind me in line while getting coffee. I wrote out a card just saying that they had been blessed with a RAOK and that I hoped they had a good day.

Things didn't go as originally planned. I wanted to do a drive thru for the convenience, but since I was tired of driving around the big city (I am such a country girl driver) I settled for the first Starbucks I found, which did not happen to have a drive thru. Oh well.

So I went in with my card, extra money and my plan. I strategically placed myself at the end of the line and waited my turn. After ordering my drinks, I asked the barista if he would be willing to help me out. I gave him the card and the cash asking to give it to the next person to heed the call of the bean. I gave him cash since I didn't know how much the person's order was going to come to. I also told him that with whatever money was left, he could put it in the tip jar. I think he might have been impressed. He told me that it was a nice thing to do and then gave me extra after 2 P.M receipts for $2 coffees. I'll take it!

Sadly, I turned around and there was someone RIGHT there. Did he hear my plan? Was my cover blown. Not at all.

I can't decided if it was a down fall of watching the whole thing go down or if I liked it. A part of me felt both. So I watched the guy behind me, receive the card, open it, read it and then give it back to the barista. What? That's not what was supposed to happen. The barista makes eye contact with me after the guy says something to him that I was not able to hear. My heart was ready to be really sad, UNTIL...he then gave it to the old man behind him! I am not sure who actually got the free coffee, but I do know that the two men shook hands and introduced each other. The second man's name was Al and he was a cute old man. I know this was his name, because every person who worked there called out, "Hey Al!" with a large smile and a wave. He must be a regular! He made me smile.

So to sum it all up. It didn't go like I thought it would, but I did get at least three people thinking and I feel like that was a success. Seeds of kindness were planted or at least the thought of it. It doesn't really matter about the free coffee but more of the feeling and thought that came along with the event.

Here's to Al and my first RAOK.

What is something you have done for someone lately either stranger, friend or loved one?

Motivating Children to Read

Funny how one day I struggle to find something to blog about and then the next I have five topics! I would gladly post all five in one day, but think I will pace myself!

The first one I will start with is the one from my Blogging Bunch group. I love this group and the support I get form them. Today's task is to "Solve a problem with your blog post." At first I did something that might have resembled a grumble. I don't know how to solve a problem. I have too many I am trying to solve let alone help someone else.

Then it hit me! I am going to give some tips to parents about getting their children to read! Then I got really excited and thought about it the whole time until I was able to get home and get started! So here we go!

How to Motivate Your Child to Read

• Read yourself
• Being a role model is so important. If they see you read, they will read. How many times have you caught your child saying or doing something that you yourself do? Why would reading be any different?

• Find a topic that interests them
• If they aren't interested they aren't going to read it. Do you read something you aren't interested in? All during the school year they have to read things that may not interest them about 80% of the time.

• Take an outing to the library
• Here they can pick what they would like to read. If they are having a hard time finding something, ask a librarian for some recommendations based on what they like. While there, check a book out for yourself

• Plan an activity to go with a book
• There are tons of book activities on the web (I know, I have looked!) Just search lesson plans for said book. There may be activities to do as you go along or when they are finished. This will work of any level of book, picture or chapter book.

• Read with/to them
• This one is my most favorite and what I feel is the most important. Dads, you need to read to your children also. They, especially boys, need a reading role model.

• Get excited about reading and don't use it as a punishment
• No one likes to do anything that isn't exciting and that they at one time have been punished for. Reading is supposed to be fun.

So there is my advice that hopefully helps solve a problem you might have.

I Wanna Be Loved Like That

It is time for a lay it all out there, a heart sharing honest post.

 

I am 30. I am single. I have never had a boyfriend. I am ok with that.

 

I am constantly told that I need to lower my standards and that I will never find a husband if I don’t.

 

I call B.S.

 

If I don’t find a husband that meets the standards that I have set, then so be it.

 

I deserve to be loved the way that I want to be loved and no less.

 

I deserve to be loved like

                Forest loves Jenny

I deserve to be loved like

                Gilbert loves Anne

I deserve to be loved like

                Ken loves Barbie

I deserve to be loved like

                Corey loves Topanga

I deserve to be loved like

                Jamie loves Claire

I deserve to be loved like

                Shiloh loves Cheney

I deserve to be loved like

                Donald loves Martha

 

So until then, I will continue living my life with my hope of the love that I rightly deserve and desire.

Dear Husband,

     I just haven't met you yet. My heart is yours and yours alone. I promise to guard it and keep it until the day that you love me. I made this promise to you when I was eleven years old and I am not going to break it now. I love.

Rush, Rush, Shush

In the book "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech, Sal is eager to get to Idaho where her mother is, and on their way there, she constantly hears the world telling her rush, rush, rush. This is a little how I feel at the moment.

It has become very clear to me that school is just around the corner and there is still a lot to do. Some of the things that need to get done both at home and at school can't be started until a later date. A few things probably won't even get done, both for school and home. But that is ok.

So in the mean time, I am focusing on what I can to shush the rush and trying to enjoy what time I do have left even if it is "working."

A lot of my projects aren't really cleaning, but more organizing and going through things and in the process cleaning. I have gone through boxes and tossed stuff or stored it in a better area. I have to fight my inner hoarder 96.4% of the time, but am doing a good job of overcoming that demon.



Me after about twenty minutes unless I get a
surge of super woman power

As much as I would like to be the person who gets up and accomplishes all the cleaning at once and then enjoys the rest of the day, I am not. I have found that I can only do that when it is last minute. I peter out pretty quickly and I am ready to go do something fun. Thankfully I have found a pretty good system for me this summer.

I use the timer like the mom with the kid who doesn't get her chores done in a timely manner. Or like the teacher that sets the timer, yes I am one of those. It works! I get so much done in 20 or 30 minutes! Maybe it is because I know that when I am finished I can go and do something fun, usually back to my book. Then I will "rest" for 20 or 30 minutes and then do it all over again. Who knows if it is effective but I feel good about it and I am seeing the effects around the place. Plus it can become kind of a game with a race against the clock. How much can I get done before the timer goes off?

Also I have tried REALLY hard to adopt the "One Minute Rule." If it can be done in under a minute, "do it now". Such as putting my breakfast bowl in the dishwasher right when I am done with it. This can sometimes be a hard rule to follow with the idea of just doing it later. Well later piles up and then it takes 20 minutes to do the dishes.

So now that my 20 minute break is over with the clanging of the timer, I will get back to my project at hand, for 20 minutes that is!

2013 Books Part I

Another list! On the Nerdy Book Club blog they asked for a list of your favorite books that you have read so far this year. I actually had a hard time making this list. Looking back over my list of books read, there have been very few that I was really ecstatic about. I did find ten but am interested to see how this list changes at the end of the year.

Here they are in no particular order:

The One and Only Ivan

• The One and Only Ivan (ok this one is in an order, it has by far been the best book this year!)
• A Long Way from Chicago
• A Year Down Yonder
• A Season of Gifts
• Anne of Windy Poplar
• Anne's House of Dreams
• Where the Red Fern Grows (every year 4th graders!)
• Walk Two Moons
• Dragonfly in Amber
• Rule Number Two: Lessons Learned in a Combat Hospital

What about you? What would be your top ten book read thus far in 2013?

What I like about this list and getting read back is that it will give me ideas of books to add to my to read pile (as if it wasn't big enough!)

Bucket List Check Off ~ Picnic with Raspberry Cordial

Check two off the bucket list! Thanks to some dear sweet friends of mine, I was able to check off a picnic at Jackson Lake and have Raspberry Cordial with a kindred spirit. I got to share it with three!

What made this bucket check off list so special to me is how it all came about. My second year of teaching I met the Kopetzky Family when I had their younger daughter, Abby, in my first grade class. I connected with them right away.

An impromptu camping trip to Jackson Lake, September 2008

Now five years later, I have had the joy of having Abby again in my fourth grade class and am looking forward to Laura in my class next year. I have also gotten to know both Steve and Sara during this time.

Earlier this week my phone rang and it was Sara. She informed me that her and the girls wanted to go for a picnic to Jackson and would I like to come along? Well yeah, it's on my bucket list! See, they knew it was on my bucket list.

Plans were made, a picnic was packed and we were headed north. Once I was in the car the girls excitedly told me they had a surprise! They made raspberry cordial for me! Also on my bucket list!

Now, I was not as "rude" as Diana, although I could have drank my weight in this fabulous red tongue tickler.

We had a fabulous time eating our lunch and talking. Even the rain didn't dampen our time or spirit. Since there was water near by we just had to take our shoes off and squish our toes in the sand.

I don't know if I can accurately put into words how much my *heart fluttered* today with the actions of my kindred spirits and their kind hearts. Thank you....



Get Your Nerd On

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a Colorado author at our local library. I got to meet Dom Testa, who is also part of a very popular radio show out of Denver along with being an author.

Years ago my cousin, Jake, told me about this book that I needed to read. I "oh cool"ed him and nodded my head saying I'd look into it. Well, he wasn't going to let it go, so finally I said yes and found a copy of the first book in the Galahad Series, The Comet's Curse. I am not much of a science fiction fan, but I really enjoyed these books! I read two of them in a week and would have probably finished with the series if I had a copy of book six.

The gist of the series is that Earth has pretty much been destroyed by a comet that makes everyone over the age of 18 sick and a group of 251 very smart and talented teens go on a space ship to go start another "world" basically and start over. (This really is not a very good summary of it. I recommend reading the back of the book or checking out his website!)

My local library did a book club with Comet's Curse and then had Dom come and speak. I was so impressed with both Dom and the kids that were there. The kids were engaged and excited the whole time and seemed to truly enjoy the book. I was impressed with the questions that they asked and their comprehension of the book.

Dom was amazing also! He spoke to the kids at their level, but didn't dumb it down for them. Which is what his non-profit club The Big Brain Club is all about. One thing he really wanted the kids to understand that "Smart is Cool." He has often seen kids dumb themselves down to be cool. Sometimes schools will even dumb down things for kids, not really realizing how much that can hurt them (my opinion not his.) I spent a while on the site, but still have a lot of exploring to do, but am impressed at what I saw!

He encouraged and made the kids promise that no matter what they liked to do, that they needed to share it with the world. Not to put it in a drawer and forget about it. He shared with the kids his rough drafts and plans for the books he has written and talked to them about the writing process. And of course my favorite was the encouragement to read, read, read!

I was just so excited how much he urged the kids to go for their dreams and share who they are, that being "Smart is Cool" and that they needed to "Get Their Nerd On."

This experience today made me an even bigger fan of the books and the author.

Dom Testa sharing his writing process with the audience.