The Learn-ed

Last week I was subbing in a kindergarten classroom and I had a small reading group.  These kindergarteners were pretty smart and we were going over the word looked.  I was explaining that the -ed at the end made the ending sound like it had a "t" sound.  I wanted to explain to them that you could say it another way like the word blessed which is sometimes pronounced blesse-ed or hallowed which is sometimes pronounced hallow-ed but I didn't think they would get it.

That brought back a memory where I was kind of chastised a little bit for pronouncing the word hallowed as hallow-ed as in hallow-ed be thy name, they kingdom come, they will be done in the Our Father prayer.  There are just certain words, depending on the context in which they are read that sound better when you say them with the -ed pronounced.

I had to chuckle, when later that day at Stations of the Cross, a lady behind me said hallow-ed not hallowed.  I felt vindicated.  I know it's inconsequential and I have learned to take this in stride.

Cloud Shroud

In the past few days after a series of sunny days here in the Northwest, the snow-covered hills and mountains could be seen for miles.  In fact, I don't recall seeing so distinctly the nearby hills, that it really surprised me that they were actually that high.  I have lived in the same area for 26 years.

However, today, as I turned the corner on the way to work, it was back to the same-ol, same-ol.  The clouds shrouded the hills back to their old stunted looking selves.  For me, familiarity breeds comfort and seeing them the way that I am used to seeing them surprised me at first, since it's been so darn clear out after enduring a particularly dismal winter, but then I realized that God was humoring me.  I had to laugh.

As I turned the corner this morning, the hillside view was again shrouded in clouds, just as life often is shrouded in mystery.  Quickly, it was back to reality with the routinely, cloudy, Northwest weather. It was refreshing to have a glimpse of what view is possible, a way at looking at life differently.

As a side note, the hills are not completely visible in the summer either as the hazy smog does a good job covering them up.

Giving up TV for Lent

I haven't posted on this blog since 2015.  I have started another blog on Wordpress and debated on whether to import this blog into one of the other Wordpress blogs that I am thinking about starting.  I still may, but I may also leave this as is because, to me, it almost has the nature of a journal.  The other blogs are more "promotional" in nature.

I am into the second day of Lent and have been OK since deciding to give up TV for 40 days.  I got to thinking, what constitutes TV?  Is streaming video  on your computer or smartphone TV?  Well, yes, because the way we view TV is changing.  We don't all hang out and watch one TV program anymore.  We are all on our individual devices watching individual programs or flipping through Facebook checking to see what vies for our attention.

Now, I am not giving up all video, as I am going to make a concerted effort to get some additional training that is offered on my computer and some of it includes video.  What I am giving up is my usual nightly routine of watching the local network news and then the national network news and any other programs that I like to watch and any other mindless TV that I flip around watching.  The one thing that I will miss, is sitting down with my husband to watch whatever he is watching.  Generally, I don't always care for the same programming that he likes to watch but I like to have that sense of watching something together and spending time together.  I like spending time together with him and watching TV is a good way to unwind.

As I've gotten older, I tend not to like as much noise and the commercials always seem to be louder than I like so I mute them.  Sometimes I use the DVR to bypass them altogether.

Of course, I can always do something computer related like I am right now, but I plan to be more productive, like getting rid of clutter, cleaning, etc.  I just have to wait for the sun to come out so that I can see the dust.

Sometimes You Don't Reach the Top

I climbed Mt. Saint Helen's recently with my family.  We didn't go all the way to the top for various reasons.  I have climbed to the top before, but the conditions then were not as variable.  We started a bit late, 9:30 a.m. and planned for rain.  Luckily it just misted.  The major obstacle that we found was being able to see from one pylon to the next in the boulder fields, as the fog and at times clouds prevented us from easily following the route.  I mentioned to my family that it was kind of like life.  God only allows you to see so much and no more until you get a little closer to it or you really focus your vision on it searching for it.  Sometimes you have to wait for your eyes to adjust to the fog.

I always tend to second-guess myself thinking, man we should have just taken the extra 3 hours it would take us from the point we were at to go to the top.  In the back of my mind though, I was nervous about coming down and wondering if the weather was going to hold out.

There is always next year. 

Down and Out

It seemed like the most horrible weekend.  I came down with a cold, mainly coughing and sneezing.  On Saturday, I spent most of the beautiful autumn day in bed.  I was not happy about that.  I put my robe on and decided to sit on the front porch to drink my lemon tea with honey and soak up some mid-morning rays of sunshine.  I placed my cup on the side table and noticed that there was a small, hairy spider doing the same thing-sunning himself.  I retrieved my black flat and proceeded to try and smack it.  It darted underneath the table.  I didn't have the energy to try and get him.  I threw my shoe back in the house.  After a little while I moved to another chair on the porch.  After a little while the spider came back out in the same spot-as if to mock me.  I actually found it entertaining.  You win today, spider.  I am going back to bed.

I Am Guilty

Hold up your hand if you've ever texted someone that resides in the same household as you do while they were home.  You know who you are.  I've done it.  I attribute it to being kind of like a speaker system that some homes were equipped with in the late 70's.

Since getting back into the swing of social networking, I've been having a ball.  Mainly, I find it a great avenue for expressing myself through the photographs that I've taken.  I have so many photos. Some are of family and others are my creative shots, because deep down I think I am some professional photographer.  Sometimes, I like to "say" something with my pictures.  I suppose nowadays, everyone is a professional photographer with camera phones.

I love modern technology as much as I hate it (when I can't figure out how to do something that I want it to do) and like it or not, texting has become a way of life.  I do worry how auto correct and word abbreviations will effect our future generations as well as the current generations.

See u ltr

Part of the Shoebox Generation

I spoke with a friend today and I told her that I was cleaning out bedrooms because my son wanted to switch rooms.  He wants to move into the bonus room, formerly occupied by my oldest son, and by the oldest and middle son when they were toddlers.

The room still held remnants of that period of time when there were bunk beds, as the high shelf of trophies and soccer picture gives testimony to.  It also was additional storage space for some of my photographs that never got placed into albums.  He asked that all the stuff be moved except for the multitude of books.

I told my friend it was sickening to see how MANY photos were still in their sleeves just waiting for a proper home.  She said we were part of the shoebox generation, where we store photos and stuff in shoeboxes for a later date that sometimes never comes.  I really got a chuckle out that, thinking that we lived in an era of time that did that.  I wonder if the younger generation does that, or if everything is stored digitally.

I am not complaining about the number of pictures that I have--I'm still reeling over my stolen camera and most of our photos from the European family vacation we went on several years ago--I just need to make a concerted effort to do something with them, so they can be enjoyed.  I wish I had utilized the available technology for instant uploads.

Live and learn.