Sack lunches #SOLC18

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**I wrote this slice during a workshop with Ruth Ayres, one of the co-founders of Two Writing Teachers.  What an exciting day of learning!  Come back this week to hear all about it!***

Making my lunch is something I do every work day.  Monday's lunch was turkey and honey mustard on half of a whole wheat pita, a handful of blueberries, a low fat/low sugar yogurt (Siggi's) and a red pear.

I'm working to remove some food, replace others and health-ify my lunches.  I love fruit, I eat bread & carbs, and I need more veggies.  I started thinking back to my lunches in elementary school.

Lunch contained a sandwich.  This sandwich was on white bread, smeared with Miracle Whip.  (Yes, friends, I still don't like mayonnaise.) On the sandwich you would find veal bologna from the deli.  Sometimes there would be sliced American cheese on the sandwich, but not always.

Along with the sandwich, I'd have a baggie full of chips, crunchy Cheetos, or Doritos.  There would be a packaged dessert, perhaps a Hostess cupcake with smooth chocolate frosting and a swirl of vanilla icing.  Maybe a Nutty Bar or a Twinkie. (Mom shopped at the Hostess outlet store).

Last, a piece of fruit was found at the bottom of the bag.  Usually it was a red delicious apple.  On rare occasions I might have a pear or plum, but it was always a piece of whole fruit that could survive the day with minimal bruising or getting smushed.

I bought milk at school.  For many years it came in a triangular package that you would stick a straw into.  I remember milk being less than 25 cents, and at no time was chocolate milk available.  (Bummer!)

Looking back, I can see where my idea of what lunch should look like began.  I still carry some sort of sandwich and fruit.  I hope to be more creative with my lunches, but Pinterest pictures do more to discourage some new lunch ideas.

Do you have some healthy lunch suggestions?

The Couch is on the way out #SOLC18

It's been the hangout at our house for years.  I have lots some a little guilt about sending this iconic piece of furniture out of the basement and on to greener pastures.

It's the family room couch.

I wrote about the couch back in 2015.  The teenagers heard me talk about replacing the couch, and they really wanted me to reconsider.

This year we are updating our family room upstairs, so we will be moving that furniture downstairs to the family room and moving the couch out of the house.

There are plans for the couch to live at a new home.  It's fulfilled it's purpose here at our house.  I gave fair warning to the young adults who have spent many an hour sleeping, gossiping, lounging and laughing on this couch.  They are wistful, but they understand that the removal of the couch gets us closer to media chairs.

This month we will be soaking up the emotional and physical comfort of the couch.
Next month we will be sinking into the living room furniture here in the basement.
It's softer, more manageably sized and still comfortable.

Thank you, Couch, for giving my family a place to relax.

This week #SOLC18

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This week

• I will teach for three days out of five
• I get to spend a whole day learning with my friend, Michelle.  Where...
• I will meet Ruth Ayers IN PERSON at Judson University!
• I have to make a bunch of doctor appointments, which means...
• I must find my planner (on my desk, I'm guessing)

This week

• I will try to exercise on my own
• I will go to yoga and personal training
• I will probably shovel snow, according to the weather, but...
• I understand it's March and it's still winter.

This week

• I will make plans for my trip to Arizona at the end of the month
• I will pick up my oldest daughter from college for spring break
• I may finish the YA book I'm reading, Speed of Light or
• I will spend my reading time on writing and reading lots of slices

This week

• I will do my best to be organized, be on time, and stay out of the chocolate, or...
• I will be myself.

We bring the fun #SOLC18

All month we are writing slices of life!
Read some at Two Writing Teachers

Today we visited my uncle and his family.  My uncle (just four years older than me) has been in treatment for colon cancer over the past two years.  It's been an uphill battle and really crappy at times (yes, we are all about the puns).  Last week he battled an infection as well as the side of effects of chemo.  No. Fun. At. All.

My husband Jeff and I wanted to bring a care package to our visit.  We researched and thought about all the "appropriate" and "caring" things we could bring.  We walked around Target for inspiration.

What did we pick?  A remote control helicopter, a mini basketball and door-hanging hoop, and a Play-Dough ice cream kit.

In our family, we bring the fun.

Were the presents really necessary?  Nope, not at all.  Were they appreciated?  You betcha.

We were happy to visit, share some quality time with the family (we haven't connected in awhile) and enjoy some smiles and laughs.

Purge? Keep? Sigh. #SOL18

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In a few months, my oldest daughter will graduate from college.  (WOW, time flies!)

Her plan is to stay at home until she finds a full-time job and a city apartment with friends.

In the mean time, I'm working on purging the basement, family room and garage of all non-essential items.  Unfortunately, this means I'm pretty emotional each time I work on this never-ending project.

As I dig out Christmas decor, unused appliances and stuffed animals, I must come to terms that my one-little girls are now young adults.  I also have to decide what stuff has true sentimental value, and what stuff can move on to others who can use it.

We are shifting and donating furniture, assessing what DVDs and CDs we need ("None! We have streaming video & audio!" claims dear husband.) and just dealing with 20 years of accumulation.

My strategy for keeping my sanity is to only work on this purging project on Saturday mornings.  Once I've put in a couple of hours, I stop and move to homework, writing! or fun outside of the house.

One bright spot through all this organizing?  I'm less likely to bring anything home that isn't clothing, food or something to read!

Sharing my writing with students #SOL18

Do you want to write a Sliiiiice?
(Sung to the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?")
Click over to Two Writing Teachers

Today I decided to bring my intermediate intervention students (grades 3-5) into the world of Slice of Life.  No, I'm not ready to host a group of student slicers... yet, but boy was I pleasantly surprised at how my day went!

First I explained that I had participated in the Slice of Life writing challenge for the past 6 years.  I received the following questions:

"Why?" asked Ruby (3rd grade)

"Do you win a prize?" asked Erick (4th grade)

"What is a slice of life?" asked Isabel (5th grade)

"Can we try?" asked a few students!

I read my 2012 slice about chocolate chips to each group.  (My students are well aware that I'm a chocoholic.) Then we talked about why I would write about chocolate (see previous statement.) 

Next I had them draw a pizza with eight slices.  Ivan (5th grade) noticed that my pizza looked more like an orange slice.  (Hmmmm.  Maybe I should have done that instead!).  We all brainstormed what people, places, FOOD, gadgets and animals they could write on their pizza.

Finally each student chose a "slice" of pizza a wrote for a few minutes.  I didn't have a chance to capture all the topics, but they ranged from friends, phones, teachers to candy, Takis and tamales.

I'm glad I felt brave enough to read one of my slices.  I'm super pleased that each student filled a pizza with lots of ideas, and EVERY student tried writing a slice.

Year SEVEN of slicing? Can't be! #SOLC18

Visit TwoWritingTeachers to get the scoop on the
Slice of Life Challenge!

After getting my yearly nudge from Michelle at Literacy Learning Zone, I clicked on the Two Writing Teachers site and registered to slice in this year's challenge.

When I came to the question regarding how many years I had been slicing... I had to click back on my blog and then count on my fingers. :)

2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

Holy guacamole!  It really is year seven.  You know what that means?  Everyone, even those of us who slice by the seat-of-our-pants, can do this challenge!

Now I have to take a minute to compare the chaos of 2012 to the current chaos of 2018.

Had some fun in Google Draw!

It was fun to go back and look over my first set of March slices. I also realized there's a bunch of slices just ready for writing because they didn't fit on my Venn diagram! :)

Best wishes to all slicers!  Don't overthink, write from your heart, visit LOTS of other blogs.
Let's have a blast!