Liberry?

I think my profession is to blame for the recent increase of items on my pet peeves list. There are so many little things now that just drive me absolutely crazy- things that I probably never thought twice about before I was teaching. Today’s pet peeve: the word “library” and its all-too-often mispronunciation.

People, if you don’t know how to say it please, just take a minute to revert back to your first grade reading skills, and sound it out. The first ‘r’ is in there for a reason, it’s not silent. What on earth is a liberry? A fruit? No, I don’t think so. The word is library.

I think the real problem I have is when I hear education professionals refer to the liberry. It is understandable for the kiddos to mispronounce sometimes- that middle ‘br’ sound is actually kind of difficult to produce for some little ones- but really, adults, not okay.

Please & thank you :)

Bumfuzzle

If you have seen the movie, Love Happens, you know that Jennifer Aniston's character, Eloise, is a bit of a graffiti artist. Okay, so not really graffiti... she chooses strange and often uncommon words to write on walls and hide behind pictures and paintings, etc. It got me thinking- if I picked a word or two every once in a while and blogged about them, it would most likely increase my vocabulary (and maybe the vocabularies of the two people that read this little bloggie of mine haha).

So, here we go:

Bumfuzzle [buhm-fuhz-uhl]- Verb (used with object); bumfuzzled, bumfuzzling; Mainly used in South Midland and Southern U.S.

To confuse or fluster.

There ya go. If you learned nothing else today, at least you've got a new vocab word. :)

I've been roaming around

Less stress

I am a stresser. I am the girl that will almost always make a mountain out of a mole hill. It is just part of my nature and I deal with it. So, speaking of dealing with it, I came across a little article in an old Ladies Home Journal that offers 50 Quick Stress Cures. I won't regurgitate all 50, but I will share some of my faves...

Lose yourself in a good book: Find one that suits your mood of the moment and escape to another world for a few hours.

Play with your pet: It's virtually impossible to stay stressed when you're tickling your dog's belly.

Do someone a favor: It allows you to be a problem solver instead of a problem sufferer. And that, my friend, puts any stress you're feeling in perspective.

Break out the vino: Red wine is loaded with heart-healthy antioxidants. Ideally, it will force you to stop, sit and relax.

Crank up the music: It doesn't matter whether you choose the Beatles of Beethoven- clear the floor, turn up the volume and let it rip. Losing yourself in music- and, better yet, dancing to it- is a great full-body stress reliever.

Treat yourself: Whether you enjoy spoiling yourself with a haircut, a cup of coffee and your favorite magazine or sneaking in a midday movie, doing something that's pure pleasure for you is a great way to decompress and de-stress.

If you are one to stress a little more than you probably should, like me, take a couple of these helpful hints and try them out. I'm a pretty big fan of the vino and music ideas myself :)

*Note- these tips are all straight from the article:
50 Quick Stress Cures, Ladies Home Journal, April 2008

Sweet song

Signed, sealed, delivered I'm yours!

How long has it been since you got actual mail? I'm not talking about bills or bank statements- I mean real, honest to goodness mail... It's like letter writing and card sending has almost become a lost art. 

We live in a world of emails, ecards, and instant messages, and in this digital world nobody has the time (or more accurately, nobody takes the time) to simply sign, seal, and deliver. I think it's sad. 

However, I am lucky enough to have a few sweet friends that seem to agree with me. As often as a couple of times a month, I sift through the giant stacks of junk to find the precious 'just because' cards from one of the girls. & let me tell you, it is amazing how much one little card can change a mood! The bad from the day is almost instantly forgotten just by seeing that return address.
I love it. 

So, here's a thought- try to come up with {someone or someones} you can send something to. Anyone, anything. Mail a note on a piece of scrap paper it that's all you have. I know, I know, stamps are a little bit pricey... skip your morning coffee one day that week and your stamp is taken care of. And I know, we are trying to save the world and go green... okay, so buy some recycled paper.

I just think about how much it makes me smile to get that little piece of mail and it's nice to be able to pass it along! :) 

I will love the treadmill

30 minutes on the treadmill has reminded me why I am an elliptical kind of girl...

I enjoy running. I do. Put me outside on a gorgeous day, and I will try my very best not to whine at all. Put me inside on the treadmill and I feel like I am being punished. Maybe it's the fact that when I am running outside or even on an elliptical I have the option of stopping; nothing bad will immediately happen to me if I just stop for a few seconds. Not on the treadmill... if I stop on the treadmill, I'm a goner. So, maybe that's the problem- it's just a head game. Or maybe it's the fact that I am running but going nowhere. But then, I don't go anywhere when I am on an elliptical. 

Okay, so it's gotta' be that I am not a fan of not having choices. Step on the treadmill and I have no choice but to start moving, or there will be consequences. 

At least I seem to have figured it out. Now, if only I could just suck it up and get over it. I need a new mantra: "I will love the treadmill, I will love the treadmill"... 

Yeah, I'll be sure to let ya know how that little chant works out for me haha :) 

Friendly people & painted toes

Yesterday, at Wal-Mart, I was approached by a complete stranger.
It did not bother me that this man felt the need to talk to me,
but the topic of our brief conversation was a little bit odd...

Since yesterday was a beautiful day, I put on my little gold sandals with my freshly painted toenails (that word kinda grosses me out). Although not intentional, I guess I ended up color coordinating my top with the color of my toesies. No big deal. Well, what is no big deal to some is more noticeable to others- which is where the Wal-Mart man comes into play...

So, Mom and I are walking up towards the front, trying desperately to make our way out of the store with some of our life savings in tact and I see a man out of the corner of my eye. It appears that this man is not only walking in our general direction, but is apparently seeking me out. I politely smiled and thought that was all there was to that interaction, but that is where I was wrong. This man comes up to me and says,

"Wow, did you plan that? Your toes are the exact color of your shirt! I mean, you had to have planned that!"

At first I thought it was really weird. What would possess him to actually follow that thought through? Why not just return the obligatory smile? But then why would my thoughts automatically go to weird? So what if this man made this observation and decided to share. Why did it have to be weird? Maybe he was just being friendly. Sometimes I just need to change my train of thought... give people the benefit of the doubt. He wasn't weird, he was friendly, and there's nothing wrong with a little more friendliness.

And there you have it, a story of friendly people & painted toes.

I know, it's a riveting story. And You're welcome. :)

Crayon therapy

I don't know about you guys, but I am 23 and still love to color. Give me a little kid's coloring book and I will go to town. In fact, last year when I was living with my sweet Erin & Jordyn we decided to sacrifice a night out for a night in with one of my coloring books from an education class. Now those are memories. And I still have those pages. :)

Why in the world am I blogging about coloring? There's a point, I promise...

My little 87 year old granddaddy is currently in a nursing home/rehabilitation facility trying to recoup from pneumonia troubles followed by a little hit on the head. As I am sure many similar facilities do, this place has a monthly list of activities that residents can pick and choose from. As I was nosily looking at his March calendar this afternoon, I spotted a weekly activity I know I would be at every time... Coloring (see, there's the point). Call me crazy, but I think there is some sort of therapy to putting your box of Crayolas to work. Whether you like to color the pictures from coloring books or just doodle, I swear it's gotta' be good for you somehow. It always makes me feel better, anyway. So I told Granddad today, "Hey! You could go color on Wednesdays!"... sadly his response was somewhat lacking in enthusiasm. Maybe it would make the old toot feel better haha. Silly Granddad.

So, this post is for those of you who may have felt that you were now too old to color- I give you permission (I can do that, I'm a teacher) to go grab a coloring book and have at it! I'm telling you, when you are coloring a picture of a little baby elephant, it's hard to hold back a smile- or at least a little grin. Do it, I promise it's therapeutic!

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!