Slice of Life

Chemistry Lesson

/ khays41 / 6 Comments

I caught my about-to-graduate-from-college son digging in the pantry.  He had unearthed a bag of Hershey kisses leftover from Valentine’s Day.

‘If you are that desperate, why don’t you just make cookies? I have everything.’

He gave me the stink eye. I am the master cookie maker, but he is getting closer to being in my league.  He should practice. Hershey Kisses return to pantry.

Cookie mixing commences. He asks a few questions. I give him a few pointers.

‘Turn that mixer up. You need to mix the hell of that dough.’

‘Mix in one bag of chips at a time.’

‘Start with 8 minutes. Usually takes 9 but the oven is running hot these days.’

First batch goes into oven.  I test the dough. Dough has different consistency than usual. I begin quizzing him on ingredients.

‘How much heavy cream did you use? How much vanilla? How much flour?’

First batch comes out of the oven at 10 minutes.  Something isn’t right. The cookies were puffy and didn’t spread out.  Test another cookie.  They taste fine.  Actually, I really like the texture.  And the puffiness.  Test another. And another.

‘Ohhhhhhhh. I used baking powder instead of baking soda.’

 

 

Today

/ khays41 / 3 Comments

Another part of the kitchen cleaned.

Long phone conversation with a good friend.

Lots of basketball games watched.

Half done with The Martian.

Errands with my girls.

Nap.

Menus for the weekend.

Early evening walk in the gorgeous sunlight.

Comfort food for supper.

More basketball games.

More reading.

Huge ‘to do’ list left undone.

Fastest week ever.

Pure bliss.

 

 

The Post in Which I Admit to Having Done Dumb Things

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On the 13th day of Slicing, I realized that when I commented on blogger blogs, it was posting my blogger username and not my word press username.  Blogger and I broke up about 2 years ago–not a chance in you know where that we will be getting back together.  And now I probably can’t win a prize for following the Slicing rules of 2016.   Ugh.

On Monday, I accepted a dare from my youngest daughter.  Basically this was an athletic feat in which jumping and touching my toes and heels in a fairly quick way was to occur. Yeah.  So I kicked myself in leg and have a raised up bruise the size of an egg.  I kicked myself so hard it hurt to shave my leg.  Aaaaannnnddddd I did not complete the task. Ugh.

On Tuesday I bought butter cookies off of the dollar isle. 5 cookies are a serving.  I have had my servings for the next 10 days. Ugh.

I don’t eat corn. Or corn products. Or products made from corn.  Yesterday I ate 2 CORN dogs for lunch. Duh. But oh so delicious!!  Ugh.

Today I opened a fresh bag of Lay’s Original chips.  There is nothing like a freshly opened bag of Original Lay’s. I proceeded to eat all the folded over chips I could find.  Here’s hoping that no one else in my family wanted to have any chips with lunch today. Or tomorrow. Or ever. Ugh.

It takes me exactly 3 days to adopt my no school schedule of napping, staying up too late and sleeping in.  Monday morning at 5 am, life is going to be rough. Double Ugh.

None of these things are life threatening.  I really hate it when I do dumb stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Hate Relationship

/ khays41 / 1 Comment

I have a love hate relationship with Sunday nights and tonight is no exception.

On on one hand I love Sunday nights.  The bedding is fresh, the laundry is done for the week, and newness abounds.  My clothes for the week are organized and ready to be worn. Meals are planned. Events for the week have been discussed. My favorite TV show is on.

It is quieter on Sunday nights in our little town as we are all readying for the week.

I love getting into bed on Sunday nights. Sliding between the freshly laundered sheets and pulling the covers up close to my nose.  This is where the love ends.

Sunday nights are often difficult for me to fall asleep.  I lie awake in anticipation of all the week holds and all of the things I should have done over the weekend to prepare–mainly for school.  Then I become frustrated because I should be asleep.  Monday will be horribleterriblenogoodverybadday if I don’t go to sleep at a reasonable hour.  And then what if I oversleep? My mind races as though I am a horse running for his life at the Kentucky Derby.

And then suddenly it is Monday and the week has begun again. Just sayin’.

Saturdays

/ khays41 / 4 Comments

Saturday mornings are one of my favorite times of the week.  The world is quiet on Saturday mornings.  That second pot of coffee forces me to linger longer.  I can read the paper from cover to cover.  I can sort the mail from the week. I can sit.

This Saturday I had a guest helping me run errands.  She and I browsed the racks a little longer.  Her brother opted to stay home and do homework.

This afternoon looked like this:


Ordinary days are the best days.  Just sayin’.

Time of Year

/ khays41 / 4 Comments

This is a favorite time of year for me–basketball season.  I parked myself in front of the TV so I could see my favorite teams play.  And Selection Sunday?  Greatest. Day. Ever.

This Friday was much better than last Friday–so I am still awake at 7:15 unlike last Friday.

Currently reading The Girl on the Train. So far? Eh.  Main character is a drunk who is crazy.  She’s pretty believable but I don’t really want to be friends with her.

Since it is a Friday during Lent we had fish for dinner.  And by fish, I mean fish sticks.  They were delicious.

We are under 4 months for my oldest daughter’s wedding.  Uhhhhh.  It feels like I should be doing more.  Or not.  Ask no questions has been my daughters motto. She means me–I should not ask questions.

We are 2 months away from my youngest children graduating from college.  I am giddy with excitement over this.  I can’t believe they will be 22 one day and graduate from college the next day.  Amazing 22 years with those two!

Left my classroom in amazing shape today as I headed out to spring break–which is probably a first for me. Hopefully it makes the 47 school days we have left amazing as well.

Happy Friday!

 

The Den’s

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This year I am blessed to have three friends whose names all end in ‘Den’.  Holy confusion, Batman! Much like a mother who must say all of her children’s names before she gets the child she is wanting–some days I have to say all three before I get the ‘Den’ I am wanting.

One sunny Wednesday, I was working with a small group of kids at the rainbow table.  I called for my next group.  All of a sudden I have a little boy at the table that I hadn’t called for.

‘What’s up?’

Dead pans me.

‘Why are you here?’

‘OH! I didn’t hear who you called, I just heard one of the Dens and so I just came on up!’

‘Well you aren’t the Den I need so you can go on back to work, Friend.’

Off he went.  Correct Den comes to the table and we continued on.

**I also have 3 friends whose names end in Ana.  It’s crazy.

Oh, the Things I Get to Say!

/ khays41 / 7 Comments

After lunch each day we have a time where we do math intervention activities.  We had completed our math journal and were playing a dice game with partners.  Today I needed to play because we were short a person.  This is kind of a loose time in our room–kids take care of things like the bathroom as needed.  They don’t have to ask me or report to me to leave the room.  They just go.

I am playing the game with a friend when I notice a Third Grade Friend enter the room.  She makes a beeline for me.

‘Ms. Hays, I need to tell you something.’ Her eyes are ginormous.

‘OK.Shoot!’

She glances around and out of the side of her mouth says, ‘One of your friends ate peanut butter off of the bathroom floor!’

‘What? What did you say?’

‘Yeah. One of YOUR friends ate peanut butter off of the bathroom floor!’

‘Oh my.  Thank you for letting me know.’

Friend and I enter into a staring contest.  I head her way and whisper, ‘I’m going to need to visit with you a little later.’  She smiles.  She thinks I will forget.  No such luck, Friend. This I will remember.

When I met with the friend, I started the conversation by asking if there was anything she felt like I should know.  Nope.  Nothing.  She didn’t have anything.  Are you sure?  Yep.

I sat silently hoping she would confess.

A few moments later, she blurts out, ‘I waited too long to go to the bathroom and I didn’t make it!’

‘Oh ok.  I am sorry that happened to you.  We can get that taken care of–no problem. Do you have anything else I need to know?’

Looking me straight in the eye, she deadpans me and declares, ‘Nope.’

Decision time.  Cut to the chase and call her out? Or continue to play this cat and mouse game?

‘Hmmm.  Did you eat peanut butter off of the bathroom floor?’

Smirking, she says, ‘Oh yeah.  I did.  I did do that.’

‘Why?’

She had no idea.  No one dared her.  She just did it.  Oh my.  Never, ever in my teaching lifetime have I had to say these words:

‘We do not eat peanut off of the bathroom floor.  That’s gross.  It’s really very disgusting. Um. Yeah.  We do not eat peanut butter off the bathroom floor.’

Oh my.

 

Ordinary Days

/ khays41 / 9 Comments

My kids were all home for supper tonight.  It wasn’t a planned event but I am so very thankful for the time with them.  As we approach a new season as a family, I will take that time when it’s just the 5 of us as often as I can.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy their ‘friends’ as we call them at our house, I just know it warms my mom heart to have the 5 of us together once in a while.

It was great to hear them laugh together and tell stories of their weekend adventures.

After the kids returned to The City, I got a text message from my youngest daughter asking if I though it would be a bad idea to take a walk with a friend.

‘Why’ I asked her, ‘would it be a bad idea to take a walk?’

‘Well I have stuff I could do for class on Tuesday.’

‘Nope.  Take the walk.  It’s a gorgeous evening! Stuff will wait.’

‘You are right. Thank you.’

It made me smile.  I’m not trading this life in for anything.  Just sayin’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things I Don’t Do

/ khays41 / 7 Comments

There are just things I don’t do.  I think once I realized that it was perfectly fine not to enjoy some things, my life became more joyful.

I used to feel guilty when I said yes to things I didn’t enjoy and guilty when I said no. Basically, I was feeling guilty all the time.   That feeling had to end.  Guilt can suck the life out of me like a teacher sucks the life out of a Dr. Pepper on a Friday of a four day week (because we all know that 4 day weeks are the longest. weeks. EVER).

So when I gave up doing things that made me feel guilty, I could actually do the things that I enjoy doing.

I don’t do outside of school staff functions.  When my kids were younger and in day care, I couldn’t bear leave them with a sitter at night as well.  As my kids grew, we were busy doing their things at night.  Now?  I have to recharge.  Recharging for me is spending time with my family, a book or one of my current Netflix addictions.

I don’t do church committees. I have tried and they are not for me.

I don’t finish books. If I read 25 or 50 or even 100 pages and I am not captivated by the book, I just check it back in. I used to think if I started a book, I had to finish it. Turns out there is no law that says I must finish a book.  Life is too short to read bad books.

I don’t run.  I know plenty of people who are enamored with the high that running gives them.  Fortunately, I came to my senses early on about this one.  I don’t really enjoy all my parts shaking their groove things in different directions.  Also, running was never easy for me.  I had to be taught to run when I was 8 years old.

I don’t eat off brand meat.  By off brand meat, I mean deer, pheasant, quail, buffalo, goose, or duck. I have eaten all of those things in my lifetime and some of them, like pheasant, I actually liked.  I don’t like them enough to burn calories on them.

I don’t spend time with people who suck my energy.  This was a tough one.  When I realized that I had been teaching my kids to spend time with people who made them better people and I wasn’t walking that walk…OUCH.  This one took a lot of time to work through.  I had to say ‘no thank you’ to invitations, shift friend groups, join activities that did make me a better person–none of those things happened overnight.

None of these things happened overnight.  I had to dig deep and find what worked for me.  Just sayin’.