Hello 2012 , What wonders do you hold?

Goodbye 2011! I am sitting quietly enjoying the last few hours of 2011. I am thinking how arbitrary the end of a year is, but how necessary it is for humans to let one thing end and have fresh starts occasionally. I planned my time today to organize contemplate and meditate. God gifted Hickory NC with sunny skies and a mild temperature. Tonight it is still mild and starry skies. I chose the things I like to snack on and viewed some uplifting videos clips, talked to friends on the phone and read an uplifting book. This may sound dull to you young people but as one grows, we find we actually like ourselves and the thoughts of being alone are far from lonely thoughts. I used to need the commotion, the noise, the thoughts of being seen and seeing others and the distractions we associate with the New Year's Celebration. I remember them fondly and would not have wanted to miss one second of it, but now I prefer to start a new year clear headed and forward thinking.

This year has ended in a whirlwind. Early in November I went in for my annual mammogram and I was called back for a second scan. I really thought little of it because this has happened before. I am dense or something. This time it moved quickly from a second scan to an ultrasound, to a diagnosis. When two people enter the room and one of them sits next to you and gently rubs your back you can bet the news isn't good. Within the hour I was scheduled for a biopsy with a surgeon the next day, then an MRI and another ultrasound. In the middle of all of this I went up to see my oldest sister who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer (I refuse to capitalize it).  On return to my surgeon , who I chose that first day from a list placed in front of me, he suggested I do the surgery right away, probably just a lumpectomy since they found it right away. (right away means the first possible time insurance would pay for a screening,one month and one day since the last one) When I visited my sister , she had given me a great book her sister -in -law sent her  called Crazy, Sexy Cancer Tips    One of the main tips was to "get out of town". Go to the best cancer care hospital you can get . I am sure many of my friends think I am crazy for going to Duke Medical but it is #5. Hickory has great doctors and I was impressed by the surgeon I consulted and the team who will treat me. I received the same diagnosis from Duke, but I decided I wanted a surgical oncologist that does this all of the time rather than a great surgeon who does this along with gall bladder surgery,. Maybe one of cancer's lessons for me is to stand up for my own body. I sure haven' kept promises to my body in the past regarding food intake and exercise. So this year ends with the prospect of surgery Jan 4. It is a 3 hour drive each way so my oldest son is taking off from work for the days I must be there for pre-op and surgery and probably a day before returning. This is all done at the Ambulatory Surgery Center . If it were not for the 3 hour drive I would be home in the same day. I will miss at least a week of school teaching for now and 3-6 weeks later for radiation. I am at peace with all of this. I must admit my surprise at my reactions. At first I assumed I was in shock and I would have emotions catch up later but now I think I just have great faith. Today when I read the details from the surgeon about what Jan. 3 will be like for pre-op I had a moment of realization it is no walk in the park. I immediately had the second realization that my son will be with me in body and many others have sent prayers wrapping me in the grace of God.
I am trying to take each day as it comes and not over anticipate things. One only needs to experience something once but humans tend to anticipate, dread, fear , and the after the experience they re-live, and remember. I will endeavor the remember the power of NOW.
Here are some of my blessings regarding this matter:
I have a loving supportive family
I have decent insurance and a Cancer policy
I have accrued sick days at work
I have a great substitute who loves the subject and the children
I have wonderful loving, caring students this year
My principal and fellow teachers really care about me
I have more friends then I imagined. People who were just acquaintances show they care.
I think I am on every prayer list in town , one in Md, and one in Fl and probably some facebook friends lists.
They diagnosed it early.
It is just a lumpectomy and a sentinel node for good measure.
I can get it over early in 2012 and move forward.

I could probably keep going on that list, but I guess you see how all of these people praying have uplifted me. Marianne Williamson said the opposite emotion of fear is LOVE. I believe the fear has been replaced with all of the love bestowed on me both bodily and spiritually. KEEP it Coming! I may still hit that moment where I find it hard not to imagine anticipate and scare myself, but God willing and with continued prayers I will come forward in 2012 stronger , wiser and more firmly faith driven.

Happy New Year, we all hope we won't face challenges but we can look back and see each challenge is a blessing in disguise and a chance to be loved. Hello 2012 what wonders do you hold?

Great Give-Away

My shop is being reviewed on a popular blogspot. You can WIN A FREE BRACELET from my shop just by entering . The give-away closes after my shop feature is over , so you will know this week if you won.

The review is beautifully written even if it does disclose the fact that I might be retiring this school year or next.

While you are visiting look at all of the great give-away items that are featured.
This give-away was an experiment on my part to see how much expose and possible sales it might generate. It has been fun!

Here is the bracelet.
http://kaeliskiwis.blogspot.com/2011/09/artisan-feature-seese-day.html

The Teacher Gets Schooled about 9-11

Most of you know I am a middle school teacher. It is my responsibility to teach young people about American History. I work hard to keep up with technology, vary lessons so I teach to fit everyone's needs . While some lessons resemble school as you knew it, most do not.Some lessons are cut and paste , some are oral reports, some are group work, some pair work and other individual assignments. In other words, the modern classroom isn't sitting quietly reading a text and regurgetating facts.. The old teacher lecture has given way to students highly engaged in discovery. A teacher only does the introduction for a few minutes ,then she/he facillitates and then does a quick wrap up before dismissal.The students are engaged in the majority middle portion. Often technology is involved using the smartboard or mini-laptops. Now to the challenge I was given. Sometime this summer I received an email from school alerting me to start planning a lesson to commemorate the ten year anniversery of 9-11. My grandaughters were visiting so I took the opportunity to pick their brains about their knowledge of the event. These are youngsters who hear all the time about world events and participate in dinner table discussions of the news, so I was shocked to discover their lack of real knowledge until I realized the older one was born in 2000. So I had to realize middle school students are too young to remember. One thing adults do is forget how quickly time flies for us and we make assumptions. The plan changed drasticly once I got that in my head. I prepared for the event. I had a quick activity to assess knowledge . We created questions we wanted to know and pulled up a 2 min. video that gave the the overview. Then we discussed more and I learned. Next we watched a youtube video . This was a documentary about a boy 14 (approximately the age of my 8th graders). This young man was at his second day of Kindergarten just 4 blocks from the twin towers. Imagine being a kindergarten student on your second day of school,four years old and witnessing this event. The young man Brook Peters has produced a documentary on this. (yes, now kids do this). This was a valuable video for my kids because they could still remember being in kindergarten. They could have watched pictures of adults dealing with the event all week and not felt like this. They asked questions, they were insightful and I learned. Next we gained understanding of the 4 planes and all of the events . The important part of all of the lessons was their questions, their feelings, Every class has their own chemistry and personality so the questions and concerns were different.in each class and I learned differnt things from each. The lesson was to help students understand the history of their own lives, but I learned. I learned we have students who care, we have students who feel, question, think, problem solve and want to understand and find ways to make the world better. So the lesson was good for them but great for me. Their homework is to interview an adult and find out the answer to 6 simple questions designed to get their families to share their thoughts and feeling about the event and where we have gone since then. In the last class the discussion, students realized that surprise is the only weapon terrorists have. We already determined earlier this week that fear of the unknown is the greatest human fear. Today they decided love is the antidote to fear. We discussed how strangers helped each other , held each other and gave each other hope and that is how we really fight terrorism. Now that is deep and I think the teacher was schooled. I am a teacher because I learn everyday. I gain wisdom and get real respect for the youth of our nation. If you need a real feel good moment go to this video of alan jackson's song or one of the similar tribute songs. This one made me tear a bit but in a good way. This is the bud commercial aired once. This weekend's commemorative activities may put you back in those feeling s of 2001, if they do remmber the lessons my kids taught me today and God Bless the USA!

Labor Day

I have lots of favorite holidays but Labor Day isn't one of them. Don't get me wrong I will take and enjoy any holiday I can get, especially one after school gets started.

Today has been a great day! I had a wonderful lunch at my son's house. He and his beautiful wife cooked a great meal originally planned to be a picnic. That kind of disproves the labor day rule I made up as a kid.

The childhood rule was derived from memories I had as a child. It always rains on Labor Day. I grew up in Florida. Since hurricane season starts just before Labor Day,often subtropical storms came through our area. Storms bring low pressure and low pressure triggers sinusitus. I remember lots of long days inside with a really bad headache. So, gray days, headaches and nothing on the three network TV stations but Jerry's Telathon and old movies. To a kid that is the definition of a rotten holiday and all of this on the weekend I was expecting to blow it out before school starts. I don't remember my family planing picnics or fun days at the beach.They probably understood the weather in Florida.

As I grew up I moved away from the subtropical storms but it didn't change my attitude much. As an adult living in four seasons I figured out that the end of summer was marked by this holiday. The pool closes, people change their routines as school begins. Curiously even people without children set up clubs and activities according to a school year schedule. Fast paced living begins and days grdually shorten at the same time responsibility grows. I try to ignore it. I try to pretend summer is still here but the pool water really does get colder and the days not only grow shorter but cooler too.

I promise myself to embrace it this year. I will gradually change my clothing from tank-tops to tanks with a shirt and then a short sleeve shirt with a shirt, gradually moving to sweaters and blazers before I break out the real jacket. I won't grieve over summer clothes and bright colors and the tan I convinced myself I was getting. This year I will look forward to cool weather,indoor projects and the school year.

Labor Day isn't the end of the world just because it is the end of summer. Today we celebrated indoors because it was raining and I loved it! I plan to be flexible, stop having unreasonable expectations and accept the seasons life brings. I plan to enjoy the rainy days, plant the fall flowers,find some cute winter colors (and maybe add a dash of color to those dull fashions). I will dive into my job teaching so the students can find school exciting and before I know it we will be celebrating holidays and playing in the snow. Yes, to everything there is a season and to try to hold on to the one that is passing is like trying to drive forward while staring in the rear view mirror.
Happy Driving!!

Great Giveaway!

I am so excited to be a part of NC Artisians Directory and the exciting give-away that started Sept 1. You can win one of 12 prizes featured and one of them is a bracelet from my shop.http://www.etsy.com/listing/69923743/reserved-for-nc-artisians-event-knit

The popular blog that is featuring this give away is the brainchild of Kaeli a young mother who has a shop on etsy with her friend Brittany. http://www.etsy.com/shop/twolittleseastars This shop features everything a young mother might be looking for.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/78615640/flower-pattern-with-hot-pink-trim-burp

This busy young mother and popular blogger,decided to put together a NC Artisians Directory and use this give away as a promotion on her popular blog. I was invited to join both the directory and the give-away and my shop will be featured soon. Each shop is shown for only 2 days but you can see all of the give away items now.

Please visit the blog every day and enter to win you favorite item(s).
I will post here on the day I am featured so you can all read the review.
The random drawing is done by a computer so YOU really can win.
GO TO;
http://kaeliskiwis.blogspot.com/search/label/North%20Carolina%20Artisans

Irene - Not the Only Blowhard

Irene is threatening the east coast of the United States. It is scheduled to hit the North Carolina coast and then move right up the coast possibly hitting seven states. This is the first hurricane since the 1930's to threaten New York City and the possiblites for disaster there are very different from threats to N.C. . Coastal areas in NC are seasoned in meeting this kind of threat. New York City is full of people with no cars and dependent on the "underground city" that supports the city above. Flooding, not winds are the threat to the island.
In any case we are blessed to have early warning systems that give days for preparation. If people will just refrain from being stubborn blowhards who feel they know better than the experts everyone can be safe.

I grew up in Florida in the 50's and 60's when we had much less warning and certainly less predictable forecasts.I remember being in a very sound structure boarded up, with lots of supplies, and being without power (to a child that reads -no TV). I remember the hard work I did boarding up.Kids used to help, and our parents were busy boarding up the business, I also remember the overwhelming clean up job after the storm. As a kid it all seemed quite exciting not scary.
Today homes are not built like that anymore even in Florida. A wood frame house just cannot withstand the same force of winds. Our house was concrete block and stucco, with stucco interior walls. The roof was built of barrel tile specificaly designed to stay through hurricanes. Our windows had custom designed plywood that screwed on with bolts and allowed windows to be opened on the side of the house that was away from the winds.
I was never afraid . I remember sitting at the window watching the police inspecting the road where an electric wire had come down.I thought it was great because my family had potato chips and soft drinks and other treats we rarely ate in those days. It was a family party and at least one time it got me out of taking a test at school.(It must have been Math if I remember it so joyfully)

Now I live safely in the Piedmont of NC and we rarely get more than heavy rains left over from hurricanes that have blown apart. Hugo was the big exception . It came right up through this part of the state and destroyed lots of big trees and some structures. It lives in infamy.

We used to really tease the poor girls who shared names with these storms. Now they are named for boys as well and the equally opportunity extends to all ethnic groups,giving some poor newsreaders and weathermen a difficult time properly pronouncing the storms. Irene is a good old fashioned name. It sounds so sweet and grandmotherly. Perhaps because it was my mother's middle name I feel this way and the the old song "Goodnight Irene" plays sweetly in my head every time they mention the storm. Let's hope Irene is a little less blowhard and a little more sweet as it hits our coastlines in the next few days.Stay safe wherever you are. One day the east coasters can tell their grandchildren about the week they experienced both an earthquake and a hurricane.

A blowhard is a boastful or talkative person according to the dictionary. Hmmm does that refer to the storm or this talkative blogger?

Maryland ,Murphy and

I am planning to go to Maryland soon to visit my sister Linda. It has been a year since I have seen my other sister (Sharon) too. Sharon lives in the same state I do but it is 4 1/2 hours away and in the middle of nowhere (Murphy NC). We planned to travel together to Maryland to see Linda. Sharon is younger than Linda and me so she still has a young family of 3 children (the ages of my grand children) Being a widow, Sharon has full responsibility for the kids and coordinating babysitters, housesitter, catsitter for her was a problem. She has vision problems so we also had to coordinate someone to drive her 1/2 way over to me so we could travel the train together. She lives two hours from everywhere. We looked for trains, planes and busses from Atlanta, Asheville, and Chattanooga. We finally decided on a train that will leave from my part of the state. While trying to coordinate Sharon's journey. I was having my own problems getting the trip together. I have had a cat that has been sick and it is important that he get his meds and eat. I have worried about leaving him. His sistercat is a hog who pushes him out of the way and eats his food if I am not there to keep her away. My oldest son can always be counted on to drive me to the train 1 1/2-2 hrs away and he will be in Utah. Everyone else needs to be at work that early in the AM. I finally just decided to get my own ticket and pray. Almost immediately everything fell in place. cat sitters, babysitters housesitters, rides for both Sharon and me.

This next week should be full. I will enjoy my grandchildren's visit and we plan to sew. Tuesday we will go pick up Sharon in Asheville, NC. She has not been over in this part of the state for a few years. We have a lot to catch up on before we meet up with Linda in Maryland.

Before I go I want to get some bracelet packets together so I can knit on the 10 hour trip to Baltimore . It is easier to string the beads when I am not on a moving train. I am sure I won't need as much distraction on the trip since Sharon will be with me this time but I enjoy knitting to pass the time.

We plan to stay a week which is why housesitting was necessary. When we get to Linda's we are planning to help her get her house organized so it is easier for her to function. She has had 2 surgeries since April and even with a wonderful family who help out she would appreciate the help of her sisters. She said every trip to the hospital has brought more stuff into the house.

I am excited about spending some time with both of my sisters. When I return I will have very little time to get ready to return to school and in that time I have several appointments I must accomplish before I am back in the strict schedule of the school year.