“Mix It Up Now and Then”

June 29, 2011

Today’s Bit of Advice….

“Mix It Up Now and Then”

I don’t like change.  I think I’ve said it before but my dislike is so strong that I should probably repeat it regularly.  Some people thrive on change but I love stability, predictability, and calm.  Change doesn’t often bring those things.

But, sometimes change brings about good things.  My girls never wear socks with their puddle boots.  Why?  Don’t ask me – I’m only the lady who told them to put the socks on but they don’t like to listen to that direction.  One girl started getting blisters on her foot from the boots and kept complaining to me about the discomfort.  I suggested (again) (for the 17^th time) “why don’t you try putting on some socks with those boots?”  She did and the boots became much more comfortable.  She’ll probably still use the boots with her tender bare feet now and I expect to see her mix it up with socks as well.

On the flip side, I always wear socks with my sneakers.  Who in their right mind would wear sneakers without them?  Really?  But I wanted to get a quick walk in last night before the thunderstorms arrived and I didn’t want to lose a single second grabbing my socks (after all, it probably would have taken at least 10 seconds to go all the way upstairs to get them!).  Instead I shoved my bare feet into my sneakers and laced them up.  Wow!  I couldn’t get over the comfort of those shoes!  I was able to walk for quite a while in them and they stayed comfy the whole time.  I guess I should have tried going naked-footed sooner!  Good thing I mixed it up!

Change in the workplace brings both good and bad.  My sister (who loves to find herself mentioned in my blog!) just found out that her school principal is leaving for a new job.  She will miss him as he was a good administrator and friend.  But she is happy that he will be moving to a great new position.  While there is probably some anxiety in her school about who his replacement will be, a new administrator can bring renewed motivation and excitement to a school, as well as new ideas that promote great successes.  Keeping things mixed up is a good thing.

As a teacher, I have found that teaching the same courses or programs year after year can be very dulling.  Adding new assignments, new students, and new age levels stimulates the creativity and teaching style.  I will be adding two new age groupings to my course load in the fall and I think it will be very exciting.  My husband (who probably doesn’t love to find himself mentioned in my blog!) will be adding three new age groupings to his load.  He is more apprehensive about his course changes but I think they will work out well for him and he’ll do a great job.  Adding these new students to our positions will be very stimulating to our teaching style.  It’s good to mix things up now and then.

It’s just so easy in life for things to get stale.  To do the same things over and over.   To wear the same seven outfits.  To ask the barber for the same haircut for twenty years.   To keep relationships as they are and not progress to new levels of commitment (hee, hee – that reference is for someone else I know!).  But I promise that mixing things up brings rewards greater than the comfort of same-ness.

Really!  Mix it up now and then!  You’ll like it.

Hope you enjoyed the read.

“Don’t Give Up"

June 20, 2011

Today’s Bit of Advice…

“Don’t Give Up”

I’ll admit it – I’ve been too busy this spring.  Busy to the point of exhaustion, mental fatigue, housework dysfunction and the like.  In agreeing to work on a few projects, I found that they carried additional responsibilities.  I found that others who were to play a role in completing the projects didn’t carry their share.  I found that I was constantly dealing with the fallout related to people who weren’t doing what they should.  And I was still supposed to be a good wife and mother.  Boy, do I need to learn to drink coffee!

There have been a few days in the past several weeks when I just wanted to throw in the towel and give up.  It seemed that I would never be able to get everything done, or done the way I should, or done the way others thought I should.

But I didn’t give up.   And I’m glad I didn’t.

The laundry and dishes have built up and I see dust all over but I use the mantra “Just do it for 15 minutes” and there is always a big improvement.  Certain tasks seem like they will take much longer but 15 minutes is enough to make a big dent.  Don’t give up.

Some of my projects seem overwhelming in size.  As a procrastinating perfectionist, it is easy for me to avoid starting a project that appears to be too stressful.  But I try to jump in where I can, get a start, and let the rest happen.  Don’t give up.

Friday was my daughter’s kindergarten graduation.  Earlier in the year, the teacher asked if a parent would make a slideshow/PowerPoint to play at the graduation.  Nobody stepped up which means I stepped up.  Even though I had never made a PowerPoint, I figured it would be good practice.  How hard could it be to make a 10 minute slideshow?  Well, it ended up taking hours of work to create.  I thought 10 minutes – they wanted 30 minutes.  I couldn’t get music to work in PowerPoint so I switched it to MovieMaker and had to learn to use that software.  I tried to burn copies for parents and it was too big.  Finally got it onto DVD’s for them but the DVD wouldn’t play in a DVD player or on the computer at school. Ugh.  The graduation was looming and I still hadn’t figured out how to play the slideshow.  Finally, the morning of the graduation arrived and I went to school very early to make sure my computer and slideshow would work and it did.  I’m glad I didn’t give up.

Except, when the time for the slideshow actually arrived, it didn’t work. Ten minutes before the show is to begin and I’ve got nothing.  I went into fight mode and tried every trick in my repertoire.   Changed cords, prayed, changed computers, prayed, tried thumb drives, tried the DVD again, prayed, enlisted the help of a friend from the audience, prayed.  Nothing.  Talk about wanting to give up.  But I didn’t.  We brought in another projector and a tiny screen.  The parents could see the pictures.  A little.  They could hear the music.  Barely.  But we didn’t give up.

Finally we found a teacher who knew what the problem was.  While we went to another room for the awarding of the diplomas, she was able to get the slideshow running properly and we all went back to the theater at the end to see the show.  And it was wonderful.  Don’t give up.

But this bit of advice really held true for me last Wednesday.  I have been dealing with a particularly vexing problem for about eight months.  I’ve tried everything in my power to fix the problem and make things better.  There has been this brick wall in the way of making change happen.  At times, I have felt that there was such a slim chance of fixing the problem that it might be easier to learn to live with it.  But I’ve prayed on it over and over.  I’ve asked God for a specific resolution – one that I didn’t think anyone would else would think of.  And, on Wednesday, I got the news that my resolution to the problem was going to happen.  The resolution I didn’t tell anyone but God about.  Wow!  I am so glad that I didn’t give up.

No matter what the problem is or how thick the brick wall, don’t give up.   You can do it – maybe not the way you think you should or the way others thing you should, but you can do it.

Hope you enjoyed the read.

"You Must Keep Reading To Find the Advice"

My grandmother kept a sealed envelope in her desk with the instructions “read it after I’m dead”.  For years, we knew about the letter and wondered about its secret contents.  When she died in February 2000, the envelope was opened and the contents revealed.  I don’t remember now what the note said but I do remember thinking it was awfully unimportant.

So you think today’s Bit of Advice is about how to write a farewell letter, don’t you?

Nope.

In my desk at school I keep a small bag with a mascara, some face powder, and a deodorant.  Why?  Every once in a while I find myself in such a rush in the morning that I forget a key piece of my morning routine.  I can get by without eating breakfast but I must have on mascara.  I had to teach one time with two mismatched shoes on but I must have on deodorant.  And the powder is just a habit thing.  I’m naked without it.  There are some things I just need.

So you think today’s Bit of Advice is about being prepared, don’t you?

Nope.

Every fall when the weather starts to chill and the gray clouds of November take on a whitish, snowy tinge we make our family trip to the basement.  We pull out every winter coat, boot, and snowpant we own and line them up on the floor in size order.  Each child has the instruction to find the coat they want to wear to school and church.  Next, find the coat you want to wear outside to play in the snow.  Lastly, find the one you will wear when the others are wet or get left behind somewhere.  Then we move to snowpants.  Find the pair you want to wear here at home.  Find the pair you want to keep at school for playing there.  And lastly to the boots where each child has to find two pair that fit and will be good in the snow.  Sometimes a child has to wear something just a hair too big or too small but we always find enough gear for everyone (and enough gear to outfit another family of seven at least!).

So you think today’s Bit of Advice is about being hoarding, don’t you?

Nope.

Our State Farm Insurance agent, a good friend of the family, gave us a red vinyl pouch to keep in the glove compartment of the car with our registration and insurance information.  Fortunately we usually only have to remove it from the car twice a year when the new insurance cards arrive in the mail and not with any regular frequency on the side of the road while blue and red lights flash in the rearview mirror.  A few years ago, I had the idea to add some important phone numbers to the red pouch just in case we needed them while traveling (of course, this was before cell phones where we could store the numbers).  I also added a list of Thruway rest areas by mile marker number since we no longer get a toll ticket with the info thanks to EZPass.   And finally I added a $20 bill.  Just in case.  Just because.  And it’s still there.

So you think today’s Bit of Advice is about being thinking ahead, don’t you?

No.

Today’s Bit of Advice is…….

“Always write a backup blog in advance”

Because you never know when the day will come when you won’t have time to write one.  All of my adoring fans wait with bated breath for the next missal and I don’t want to disappoint.  So this blog (and maybe a few others) was written in advance with the notation “open and use as needed”.  I may or may not ever need it but I’ll be awfully glad I have it if the day comes.

And, I guess, if you are reading it the day came.

Hope you enjoyed the read.

“Pay a Visit”

June 6, 2011

Today’s Bit of Advice….

“Pay a Visit”

We didn’t go very many places when I was a child.  We went to church and the grocery store.  Saturdays was religion class and the Laundromat.  Sometimes my dad went to the hardware store and would take me along.   Once in a blue moon, we would go to a restaurant!  Pizza Hut was near the top of my list.  And then there was the family drive where we seemed to drive aimlessly looking at the countryside – I still love a drive to this day.

The best part of a drive in the country was when it ended with “paying a visit”.  My parents didn’t talk about it out loud (or at least loud enough for me to hear) but the car just seemed to drive itself to the home of family friends.  We’d pull in the driveway, pile out of the car, and go ring the doorbell.  There was always joy and excitement on the face of our friends.  They’d welcome us into their home, find some snacks and drinks, usually pull out some playing cards, and we’d stay until it was time to go.  Kids went to the backyard or basement and found things to do.  If we stayed very late, we might be put to bed in the parents’ bedroom and then carried to the car later.

As much as I loved “paying a visit”, I remember even more fondly the times when another family would pay us a visit at our home.   The sound of a car pulling into the driveway and doors slamming would send us running to the windows to see who had dropped in and we’d get ready to entertain.

Those visits didn’t require us to do anything fancy.  You could serve popcorn and Kool-Aid and still get smiles.  Entertainment for adults involved cards, or horseshoes, or (gasp) Jarts!  Kids played Operation, or MouseTrap, or Don’t Break the Ice.  We didn’t watch TV or play video games.

In today’s culture, people stay very busy and don’t have extended time at home without a plan.  It isn’t considered appropriate to ring someone’s doorbell without calling ahead and making a plan.  If you know someone will be coming over, you plan special snacks and drinks, clean the house, prep the kids, and make everything just so.  Even neighbors stick to themselves and have lost the spontaneity of “paying a visit”.

But I’ve never been much for following the rules (well, some of them anyway).  Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I still believe in “paying a visit” and I love when someone pays us a visit too.  Over the weekend, we dropped in on friends both Saturday and Sunday evening.  We didn’t call ahead or warn but we know each family well enough to be assured of a joyful reception.  Neither house was perfect but both were warm and welcoming.  We stayed longer than expected both times and the children were no worse for wear from a few missed hours of sleep.  We left both visits feeling refreshed and happy.

Trust me when I tell you to “pay a visit” sometime soon.  Let’s teach a new generation about the joy of dropping in.  It’s a good idea!

Hope you enjoyed the read.