Memory

Recovering from my third virus of the Fall season I am having a hard time getting my brain to kick in. What I decided to do was grab the dictionary next to the desk (which I have used a more now that I have started blogging than I ever did in school!) anyway.. focus... I grabbed the book and decided to write a blog post on what ever word I came across first. The word I opened to first was memory/memorize so, here I go... my post about the first word in the dictionary I saw.

Memorize - My worst teacher ever was named Mrs. Dolphay. She was my 8th grade English teacher. She looked quite similar to a troll. She ate in her classroom and paid students a quarter to take her tray down in the beginning of her next class. For some odd reason brown rice comes to mind when I think of her. This is something she ate often I believe. She also talked about brushing her teeth. She insisted that we brush our teeth for two minutes each day. Now coming from a troll we all laughed at her behind her back.
(oh to be such a rude jr. higher again- cut my wrists now!)
Everyone knew where she lived (on the other side of the lake) and we knew she drove a big conversion van. It was rumored she had a scrawny little boyfriend which made for some Jack Sprat jokes.

She was old by classification of an 8th grader, and I still believe I would find her old now as an adult. She had a reputation. She was "one of those teachers" . She was tough. As an adult now I would say that she had this reputation because she expected things out of you, you were to learn in her classroom. Something teachers had side stepped in the jr. high I attended.



We learned to conjugate sentences, what adjectives, prepositions and the likes of them were, along with examples that we were to memorize. Yep, good old fashion stand in front of the class and recite, rote memorization. Sadly, I remember very little. All I can still do is the beginning of the propositions-
about
above
among
around
along
at
because of
before
behind
below
beneath

and then I lose it..... Still impressive since this was 22+ years ago.

Yes, when I see the word memorize I remember Mrs. Dolphay (who probably was really a Ms.) Many years later I ran across a box in town that was giving prizes to local teachers, all you had to do was nominate your favorite teacher. I remember standing before the box and running through my past teachers like a slide show in my mind. There was my Kindergarten and First grade teachers (everyone loves them), definitely NOT my second grade teacher (she called me blabber mouth in front of the whole class, bad bad teacher) and so forth through the list. I finally landed on Ms. Dolphay - by all means she won my nomination. She had expectations and a love of learning, and although she was tough she was well meaning. As an adult now, I get her. I kind of think I always did.

What I Say The Most

Deb @ Sojourner made a "wordle" for her niece I thought it was way fun so I headed over here to make my own. When I got there I was happy to see that I could make one using my blog. It took the commonly used words and made a fun little ....well... ummm... wordle out of them.

Click to make it bigger.
Than head over there and make your own.
You can even print them.

My Wordle

Live

Seek me and live...

Amos 5:6

You Habitual Thing You

Humans are creatures of habit. We all know this, but when you take the time to really(really) think about this fact it is kind of scary just how habitual we are.

Here is the reason I even thought of this: I am at the High School, and I am giving the SAT test to aspiring (yawning) youth. After the second test started I made my way to the bathroom. As I walked in to the completely empty 12 stall room I made my way to the second to last stall. I always go into the second to last stall in this bathroom. The room was empty, I had my choice. I wonder if subconsciously I think that stall hasn't been used as it is at the end of the room and therefore it is clean(er).

My bathroom habits aside. Let's think about other things. Dressing - how do you dress? I am willing to bet, unless you are interrupted while dressing you do the same thing every time - left leg in the pants first, shirt next, socks last etc. My favorite (and this was a college psych. professors example) is the shower. I am almost certain you do the exact same thing in the shower every time (washing up I mean....) shampoo first, conditioner next, I let that sit then soap body always starting on my left arm (well unless I really stink, I guess I go for the pits first then) rinse and get out.

I always eat my popcorn in the theater before the movie and rarely touch it after the show has begun. My hubby waits and eats it during the movie. This was a big deal when we first started going to movies together because I was doing it wrong. (we have it worked out now ;)

How about when you meet in the same meeting room all the time. Do you always chose the same seat around the table if it is open. Don't you feel a slight moment of panic if your seat is taken - even though 12 other seats are open, you still think -where am I going to sit now? I do this at parent group time at our preschool. I always sit on the right side of the table near the entrance (maybe I feel like I can make a quick get away when the moms start b*tching) Or church. If you are a regular church goer I am willing to bet my oldest child that you sit in pretty much the same area every time, if not the same seat. A quick glance around a small congregation quickly shows who slept in by the empty spot. Come on, you know this is true.

You are shaking your head at me. You are not that predictable. But, sorry, unless you are a complete random freak (of nature) you are that habitual. Most of these things are unconscious, most of these actions go unnoticed by the common person. But, some of us observe these things. A good boyfriend/husband (insert wife here Will, Sage, Adam, Dearest/girlfriend for you ~K) will pick up on your nonverbal clues and use them.

Thinking to one's self "oh when she does that she is cold, I will quick grab her a blanket...."
you have suddenly scored huge points.
"oh, how did you know I was cold? thanks." he/she says.

I had a boyfriend like that in college. He knew by how I held his hand what I was feeling. If I rubbed his hand with my thumb I was happy/content, if I didn't I was thinking, or there was something wrong. He is the one that pointed this fact out to me. I was doing this without even thinking about it.

Have you ever been driving to say - the office supply store, but you find yourself in front or on the way to work or the grocery store? because you rarely head to the office supply store, but rather, when you are on that particular road you are going to work. My mom used to do that with my grandma's house. She would always end up heading toward her house when we hit town... and then realize we were to turn back there since it was the mall we wanted.

We get "used to" doing things a certain way. These are habits. We are indeed, creatures of habit. This is not a bad thing. Not all habits are bad. They help us function, they can keep us organized and our mind focused on the bigger things.

Just like breathing - I would not want to have to remember to breath, I would die ! I swear... I would be like, "oh crap forgot to breathe!" plunk!

Pop over here

So why don't you head over to The Real World,

There is some good stuff going on over there.

Pain in the Neck

My neck hurts today. I have an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow at 8:40 a.m. It is from stress. Fall is stressing around here. As is Spring, and part of the Summer. Well, I guess, maybe winter holiday season is no breeze either.

Seriously though. A stress headache and an out of align neck can really throw me for a loop. I did try to embrace the gray cloudy ucky weather though. A book, a bath, a nap (with house work squeezed in between). I just kept telling myself that in the end it was better then the little padded room with the white jacket that buckles in the back.

I have tried to stay off from the computer since that only cranks on my neck more. I don't need virtual hugs. I am just spouting what is there - and what is there is a pain in the neck ;)



I am just reminding myself that - "It sounds like life"
But really, it is just life.
Life is not perfect.
Days like these help us appreciate the really good ones.

A Sports Post?

I can not believe I am about to do this. I am writing on MY blog, a sports related story. Check back later and see if I have gained some sanity and written something else.... I swear the excitement of the last play of the last two games I witnessed did it to me, drove me to write this post. Sports can be exciting, I can see the appeal, and I like watching games in person if I actually know the people playing. (so, yes that would be high school/college/local stuff- since Brett Favre and I are not all that close) Alright - on with it. A blog post about sports:


I am not THAT big of a sports fan. In fact most times I don't much care what game is on or who won what. Most likely this is because I live in a state that sucks it up more than they don't. I am used to being the team that seemed like they might - but OHHH no! However, because of the radical come back of the Twins Ball team. I happened to be paying attention to a little baseball team from Minnesota that could. The Minnesota Twins are the American League /Central Division Champions. I tuned the radio in just in time to hear the game winning play, driving the babysitter home after teaching a class last night.
This on the heels of watching the Vikings defeat the Green Bay Packers. Of course this was a big deal due to the fact that we picked Brett Favre's butt up out of the gutter and gave him a chance to "go out his way". What is more shocking then both teams winning rather large games, is that I paid attention to two games in a week and it is not even close to the super bowl.

he is kinda cute