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Saturday, January 1, 2022

2021 Quotes

 Quotes From 2021

I love words. Here are some I read, received, or heard & resonated with. 

Enjoy! 


“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Theodore Roosevelt

If we let go of the list of things that we want to accomplish and acquire, we would be living our dream. BB The Gifts of Imperfection

Part of being in your power and shining as brilliantly as you were meant to has to do with how well you listen to your life. The real way to glow always has to do with being in service to what’s guiding you rather than trying to be in control of it. Chani Nicholas

Lao Tzu: Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.

When you go against the flow, you suffer. 

When you go with the flow, you enjoy the ride.

-Dark Night of the Soul article

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” –Rumi

"The meaning of life is just to be alive". - Alan Watts

From Ed
Ernest Hemingway showed us that safety is an illusion and that life is a wild adventure or nothing at all.

We are all mayflies and we don’t even know it. Irene Muldowney
7-25-21

“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.”  BB

“Feeling discontent is exciting. Discontent is the nagging of the imagination. Discontent is evidence that your imagination has not given up on you. It is still pressing, swelling, trying to get your attention by whispering: Not this.”
Glennon Doyle

The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can't be organized or regulated. It isn't true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth. Ram Dass

When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent...you sort of understand that it didn't get enough light, and so it turned that way. Ans you don't get all emotional about it. You just allow it. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying "you are too this, or I'm too this." That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are. -Ram Dass

If someone is falling behind in life,
you don't have to remind them.
Believe me, they already know. 
If someone is unhealthy, they know.
If someone is failing at work, they know. 
If someone is struggling in their relationships, with money,
with self-image...they know.
It's what consumes their thoughts each day.
What you need to do for those who are struggling is not to reprimand, but encourage.
Tell them what's good about their lives,
show them the potential that you see. Love them where they are.
When we can't see clearly for ourselves, we need others to speak greatness over us.
People don't need you to tell them
what's wrong with their lives, they already know.
They need you to reassure them that they can still make it right.
-Brianna Wiest-
The Minds Journal

We have to create culture, don't watch TV, don't read magazines, don't even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow. The nexus of space and time where you are now is the most immediate sector of your universe, and if you're worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody else, then you are disempowered, you're giving it all away to icons, icons which are maintained by an electronic media so that you want to dress like X or have lips like Y. This is shit-brained, this kind of thinking. That is all cultural diversion, and what is real is you and your friends and your associations, your highs, your orgasms, your hopes, your plans, your fears. And we are told 'no', we're unimportant, we're peripheral. 'Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.' And then you're a player, you don't want to even play in that game. You want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that's being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world.

Terence McKenna
 
The flow is at the intersection of discipline and surrender. Jason Silva

Here are some inspiring words from Albert Einstein: πŸ™πŸ’«

“I didn't arrive at my understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe through my rational mind.”
“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. Matter is spirit reduced to point of visibility. There is no matter.”
"Time and space are not conditions in which we live, but modes by which we think.
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, determined by the external world."
“Time does not exist – we invented it. Time is what the clock says. The distinction between the past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
“I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me."
"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.”
"A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
"Our separation from each other is an optical illusion."
“When something vibrates, the electrons of the entire universe resonate with it. Everything is connected. The greatest tragedy of human existence is the illusion of separateness.”
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
“We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.”
“When you examine the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, you discover one thread that winds through them all. They have been aligned first with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical selves.”
“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.”
“The ancients knew something, which we seem to have forgotten.”
“The more I learn of physics, the more I am drawn to metaphysics.”
“One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike. We still do not know one-thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us. It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware.”
“I’m not an atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books.”
"The common idea that I am an atheist is based on a big mistake. Anyone who interprets my scientific theories this way did not understand them."
"Everything is determined, every beginning and ending, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It will transcend a personal God and avoid dogma and theology.”
“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”
“Everything is energy and that is all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you can not help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”
"I am happy because I want nothing from anyone. I do not care about money. Decorations, titles, or distinctions mean nothing to me. I do not crave praise. I claim credit for nothing. A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future."

"We are caged by our cultural programming. Culture is a mass hallucination, and when you step outside the mass hallucination you see it for what it’s worth."

"Ego is a structure that is erected by a neurotic individual who is a member of a neurotic culture against the facts of the matter. And culture, which we put on like an overcoat, is the collectivized consensus about what sort of neurotic behaviors are acceptable.”

"Unexamined cultural values & limitations of language have made us unwitting prisoners of our own assumptions."

“Personal empowerment means deconditioning yourself from the values and the programs of the society and putting your own values and programs in place.”

~Terence McKenna

Never underestimate the power of your presence. We can bring joy to others just by showing up.
Evelyn Lynch



2021 Funnies

2021 Was a Serious Year Overall

I still managed to experience and capture some funny moments. 

Cheers to Small Moments 

Enjoy! πŸ˜‚

Katie: What is that on your keychain?

Kelly: It’s a flashlight and it doubles as a horrible, high-pitched sound.

Katie: Why?
Kelly: My mom got it for me in case I was in trouble.
Katie: OK. I would have been more excited if it was a Tamagotchi.
5 mins later after I wrote this and swore her to 5 mins of silence.
Katie: Can I say what I want to say now? I really thought it was a Tamagotchi and you were hiding it from me.
1-5-21

Kelly: This honey is so good. Let’s make honey-infused vodka.
Katie: stirring her drink with a spoon coated in cold honey that clearly didn’t blend. How about we make honey-infused tea?
Kelly: oh, yeah. That makes sense. Hahaha

1-6-21

Jesus is a big gal.
1-19-21

1-22-21 CD
I’m ready to just serial killer drive straight across the country!

2-6-21 Katie
No, Kelly. I don’t want to play hide and seek.

Put a Nuun in your beer!
2-15-21 Sara

You can’t host an orgy and be mad if someone gets chlamydia.
Joe 2-15-21

2-20-21
I don’t eat anything orange.
Did you hear what beer I ordered? Blood Orange
I can’t eat it. I drink it.
Anthony Miragliotta

If you’re going to eat Cheetos. You better have some wipes or something.
Liz

If someone is younger than me and calls me hun. I’m done.
Stephanie
2-27-21

Kelly: Well, that was a great speech. We were all captivated.
Bob: No it really wasn’t but y’all are high and I had nothing else to do.
Erik: It seems you need to get high then.

K- Please don't pay for me. I had vodka 
You gave me drugs. We’re even. JC

I wish we had a pond in here so I could just sit and fish. 4-17-21 Kidney Stone Katie

She is the type of person that if you were hiding Jews under the floorboards of your house she would tell the Nazis. That’s what I imagined.
EJ

Kelly. All I am thinking about right now is what I can eat with Italian dressing. 
Katie 5-26-21

Kelly: Let’s just hike now.
Katie: No. Let’s wait until it gets warmer. 
Kelly: But, Look that the blue sky!
Kelly! Who is the native?

Have you ever shit underwater? Cuz it’s like giving birth out of your asshole. 
LM

Stephanie: You’re sparkling all over.
Kelly: I am a vampire. I sparkle in the sun. Jk, it is my Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen.
Stephanie: Haha you are so gay you sparkle!
5-29-21

6-11-21
I bet even their sour cream tastes like shit. (La CanabaΓ±a, Estes Park after eating gross guacamole.)
LM

Better start driving soon Kel before this kicks in.
Shut your flap!
Linz

That’s the first time I’ve ever seen three mullets in one minute. #MulletsPerMinute MPM--
Matt Bateman picking up sushi in Parker

If you notice I gave all of the bigger cups to the people who are driving in the smaller cups to the people who live here.
Stephanie 

It’s Wednesday night and we’re about to get crazy! Wait a minute, it’s Tuesday! Ha ha Stephanie about making topo Chico grapefruit with grapefruit vodka and pouring half a bottle of vodka into four glasses
Summer Stephanie 6-15-21

The yellow jackets just walked by. They are gonna sting us!
Katie Red Rocks Shakey Graves
6-23-21

No seeums= Irish hello 
Bobby Brower
07-24-21

Got Sallie watching Sopranos and all she can say is it sounds like Kelly, Jackie, and Cindy talking in the kitchen.
Keith Kemmerer Nov 11th

Since when did karaoke become America’s Got Talent?
Nov. 25 Katie

Look at this beautiful display of drugs (a bag of Doritos, a bag of Funyuns, and a box of MnMs)! No more avocado oil chips, Kelly. It’s like eating lavender and expecting to trip, but nothing happens. That’s what it’s like to eat avocado oil chips. All of THIS stuff is pure magic.
11-29-21 Katie

Kelly, you have enough energy during the day to power an entire country. I’ve seen you!


“I NEED a napkin!”
Mom
Pete and Elda's  12-2-21

I’m like a party favor- Sean
12-5-21

Katie: Hi, my Kelly. What time is your COVID test tomorrow?
Quarantined Kelly: 7 am but I have to return right away because at “10 am Santa’s comin' to town.”
Katie: Well you have lost your mind already.
12-8-21

12-14-21 Katie
Kelly: You have to eat something. How about some oats?
Katie: Oats?! You might as well give me horse feed!

12-22-21
"We probably didn't get COVID because we drink so hard and our bodies are pickled."
Sandy Miragliotta


Funny Moments From My Niece & Nephews...
Thanks, Jacko

In the boys' speech class today, they have been working on their ending sounds and for this session, they were practicing the K sound. The teacher was showing them pictures and they had to say what it was... this picture was a rake. Well instead of ending it with a k they messed up and ended it with a p... so they were both screaming “rape” repeatedly, loudly. πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚
1-13-21

Forgot to tell you about Cole’s Amelia Bedelia moment last night.
We were upstairs and they were waiting for me to get done braiding Brooklyn’s hair before bed so I could read a book to them. Cole wouldn’t stop asking for me to read it so I told him to do a book walk while he was waiting. (book walk= looking through the pages and seeing what you think will happen) so he grabbed three more books off the rack and lays them down on the floor and starts walking on them. πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚ I was like Cole what the heck are you doing?!? “I’m doing a book walk!”  πŸ“š 1-25-21

3-8-21
Question of the Day
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Cole: Colorado to see Aunt Kelly. 
Hunter: The Dunkin Donuts 

3-14-21
Cole comes to the top of the steps crying saying, “Mommy! My fan ran out of batteries!!” I hear he’s really upset so I rush up there, also very confused because the only fan he has is on his ceiling...
“Cole, are you talking about this fan on your ceiling?”
“Yes, I hit the switch and it won’t turn on. It ran out of batteries!!” (Tears are pouring down his face at this point)
“Cole you have to hit the switch under the handle sometimes, it also turns it off." (they have the dimmer and a switch on the plate)
“Ooooh!! I didn’t know that.” He’s very relieved that his fan and light are now working.
“Cole, what did you think that button was there for, silly?”
“I thought that released the rockets.”
😳


6-17-21
PS Brooklyn came home and told me she joined a beatboxing band today. 
See video

Brooklyn has a birthday party tomorrow and it’s half at Snyder’s farm and then at the girl's house. She just rolled over to me and asked what she is going to wear. I said, "Pants and a short-sleeve shirt and bring a jacket. If you want to wear those brown boots you can. 
She goes, "Oh yes I would like those brown boots, but maybe that shirt I wore for picture day (white with rainbow leopard print) even though I don’t think that’s really accepted at the farm but…"
πŸ˜‚
10-16-21

Sunday, January 3, 2021

Funny Moments of 2020

Funny Moments of 2020

It is great to have had some laughable moments despite the chaos of 2020. 

 Is Jersey a language? “Yo! Fucking relax!”

JF


I have the advantage of being a hypochondriac. I was born for this. 
Caitlin on the Coronavirus 4-14-20


The moon is waning. 
That’s how Barbara Walters tells the weather,  “It’s waning.” ☔️ 
If you built a teepee out of toilet paper, would it be called a TP Teepee? 
If you open both a gun shop & a Chinese food restaurant in Walla Walla Washington, it could be called: Ting tang walla walla bang bang?
BB Meets Dosey Doe: SD 2020

You got a sunburn today
That’s from all them presidents staring at me.

So, we are required to wear face shields next school year. 
L.T. 6-16-20

Let the bitch get COVID. I don’t care. 
7-7-20 NC


Kelly: Let’s have a baby!
Katie: And you are quitting your job. 
Kelly: Yes, it is perfect. 
Katie: I just bought a Play Station. 
8-23-20

When FL washes away to sea I am going to go to Georgia and clap.
C.D. 9-16-20. 

The potato and carrots get mushy in a crock pot...But with the Insta pot, the integrity of your potato remains. 9-27-20 H.H

No, Kelly. We are not renting a goat. 
Katie 9-29-20 

I licked the whole yoga block. I licked the package and waited two months and expected to die. 
C.D. 9-30-20

Ed: I just found grapes in my pocket. 
My mom: Ed, that’s my coat. 
Ed: What the heck is going on? 
My Mom: Ed, they were cough drops.

Kelly taught me how to use a protractor last night. I don’t know short and long vowels, but I am ready for fourth-grade math. 10-17-20 Jackie

Teaching is so stressful I can’t wait to get pregnant so I could take a leave of absence. NA 10-26-20

You’re strong as hell but part of you is a dingbat! 
Penny 
Haha

"Take ya hat off maybe you’ll hear betta."
Sal’s mom to Linz October 2020

Kel, look at this rock!
Mom, that looks like a beach fetus. 
Jersey Shore 2020


Camping in October 2020 

Ed, you look bombed. You had two beers and a bloody Mary. 
Cin,  it doesn’t count if someone hands you an open beer. It doesn’t count. 


Remember that time we lived alone with each other? You were not around so often that I got scared when I realize you were behind me.
11-12-20 Me about when Katie had COVID

Funny Moments From the Diem Team
My sister, Jackie has three adorable littles, Brooklyn (6), Hunter, and Cole (4-twins).  These moments are from texts she sent me in 2020. Clearly, they are getting to know their bodies. I am not sure if the emoji's Jackie put after each one will translate, but most of them are looks of shock, horror, and what the hell should I say to that?! Thank you for always sharing these moments with me, Jacko!

Brooklyn was on the potty before and said it burned when she peed so I threw her in the tub/shower and washed her butt. Now, three hours later, she turns and looks at me and says, "Mommy, I know why my butt was hurting.” I said, "Why B?" She goes, “Because the other day I tucked my underwear up there." “Brooklyn why would you do that?” “Because I wanted it to be like yours.”


Brooklyn sat down by Tucker (dog) on the couch. He was sitting up.  She hopped down confused and asks,  “Why does he have that pointy thing sticking out?” I pretended to do something else so Fred (husband) could answer. 
“It's just something he has B.” 
“But daddy you should know why. Don’t you have one too? You have a wiener.”  


“Mommy, so your poop comes out the back and the pee comes out the front.”
“Yes, Brooklyn”
“Okay. So boys pee comes out their wiener.”
“Correct, just like us girls, but we don’t have a wiener.”
“Okay. So pee comes out the front poop comes out the back just like us, but what are those little things that hang in the middle?”
😳
1-12-20


Hunter was trying on his new underwear and continued to dig in the front hole. Brooklyn goes, "Mommy. What is that?” I said, It’s a hidden pocket for his weiner in case he has to take it out to pee. She goes “Wow! That’s so cool!”

Boys got a new bus company, new bus new drivers (😭 I loved the other drivers) so Fred and I got them off the bus today and asked them how they like the new bus. Cole goes, “No me like that new bus! It’s too fast, SLOW DOWN!”  
Apparently, the driver and I have to have a chat tomorrow morning lol
1-27-20

Brooklyn comes into my room and says, "Bye mommy. I’m going to Colorado for a couple hours.”
1-29-20

“Mommy, why do boys have weiners and girls have vaginas?”
Me running out of ways to explain this for the 500th time...“Because you need both to make a baby.”
“So do they kiss or something?”
😳

Also questioned nipples, she said only the boys have them. I told her to look down and she said oh I have them to why!? I told her that after she has a baby, milk comes out. 5 minutes later she said to Fred, “ I don’t want to have a baby.” 
“Why B? You don’t have to.” 
“Because I don’t want milk to come out of my nipples.” 
I thought he was going to lose it lol lol πŸ˜‚

“Mommy, I don’t want to brush my hair.”
“Ok then I’ll just leave the knots in and you can grow dreadlocks.”
“What are dreadlocks?”
“Almost like all knots that you would have to cut to get out then you’ll be bald.”
“ I don’t want to be bald!!”
“I wish I was because I don’t have good hair anymore.”
“No mommy! I love you hair. I don’t want you to be bald”
“I’m not going to B. I was just saying”
“Mommy, do you wish you were a boy then?”
“No, B I like being a girl.”
“Me too, Because I wouldn’t want to hold it down.”
4-21-20

Before Camping
Ed (grandpa): Brooklyn you’re going to have to show me the ropes. 
Brooklyn: Grandpa, there’s no ropes. 

First day back for in-person learning 12-7-20 (Pre-K)
I warned Brookie to put Hunter by the window on the bus so he would have to get past Cole AND her to run out. lol
“He’s going to run out?!?” - Brooklyn

Today all the kids got on the bus happily. I was all excited and then I got the call from Hunter’s teacher. She told me he was upset and crying but then she found a new box of toys in the closet. She let him help her unwrap it so now he’s all good. She said while he was upset Cole said to him, “Change your attitude, Hunter." LOL
12-8-20





Things I Have Learned in 2020

 Things I Have Learned in 2020

What a crazy, unpredictable year filled with unknowns and dramatic realizations. This year's list includes many inspirational quotes found in books I've read. I hope you find meaning in reading them too. 


1. A baby platypus is called a puggle. 


2. Losing a pet absolutely heartbreaking. Appreciate your furry friend and the unconditional love they give you each and every day.
3. Box Tops went digital
4. Googol- a large number- 1 with 100 zeros after it
5. In Zheng Jiawan Village, a valley in China, students climb 17 ladders to get up a mountain to attend school. The ladders stretch up a cliff that is taller than the tallest building in the USA. 

6. Lariat is the name of the rope and lasso is the verb. Thanks, Kim. 
7. I need more black olives in my life. 
8. Parsley is NOT cilantro, Kelly. I caught the mistake too late and 1/2 of the bunch was already in my salsa. Thank goodness it wasn’t a batch I was selling. 
9. Colorado Natives are expert nose pickers.  
10. The Life Straw and other water filter action devices do not filter out viruses like the Norovirus. I will possibly exchange my water filter for a water purifier.  Maybe not.
11. Katie cuts the crusts off of Uncrustables. Exhibit A:

12. Australia began as a prison colony. 
13. The pilgrims were EXILES. They were the losers of the English Civil War.
14. Peet’s Coffee Sucks
15. Tossing 2 peppermint Altoids in one’s mouth while wearing a face mask will sting your eyes when you start talking. Haha
16. NJ breweries aren’t allowed to have music or food
17. Mosquito Spraying trucks used to exist. After some research, I found out they still do. 

18. My mother is secretly collecting our family’s DNA. 
19. Adding lemon to mushrooms makes them easier to digest and doesn't screw up your stomach for the next few days. ;o) Thanks, Erik. 
20.  Don’t shake nutritional yeast onto your food while it is windy. It went right in my eyes and all over my shirt. 
21. Always bring at least one tarp when tent camping. You may have booked a campsite covered in bommy knockers. 
22. Always bring earplugs camping - roosters (whose mission in life it is to wake up the world one camper at a time), trains, sandhill cranes, leaves & sticks from falling trees hitting the tarp you didn’t forget will each disturb your slumber. 
23.  Secure your tarp for a storm by using more than the puny stakes that come with your tent
24. Progresso Vegetable Soup- best served with nutritional yeast & Kelly’s Ring O Fire Sea Salt (sodium party). Pour it back into the can and eat like a true wilderness woman. For some extra fun do the Evelyn Special and add extra noodles. 
25. The best way to eat a cupcake. Cut it in half and flip the top upside down so the icing is in the middle of the cupcake.  “It blew my mind. How come no one does that?” -Katie
26. Wearing glasses in a hot tub while it’s cold outside = Foggy
27.  The damn Coronavirus has long term effects.
28. A bodhisattva (in Mahayana Buddhism) is a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings.
29.  Bodhicitta is a spontaneous wish to attain enlightenment motivated by great compassion for all sentient beings, accompanied by a falling away of the attachment to the illusion of an inherently existing self.
30. Stop complaining about the people, jobs, or situations that make you miserable and find a way to change it or end it instead. 
31. When a person really desires something and puts action toward attaining it, the universe really does conspire to help achieve it. This is partially from The Alchemist and partially my life's experience.
32. Self-awareness is key to emotional intelligence.

33.  “True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”― BrenΓ© Brown, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
34. “The mark of a wild heart is living out the paradox of love in our lives. It’s the ability to be tough and tender, excited and scared, brave and afraid—all in the same moment. It’s showing up in our vulnerability and our courage, being both fierce and kind.” BrenΓ© Brown, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
35.  Eckhart Tolle is a genius and one of my gurus. “The past has no power over the present moment." ― Eckhart Tolle
36.  “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
37.  “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.” ― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
38.  “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”― Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
39. “The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.”― Thich Nhat Hanh
40. “If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not "washing the dishes to wash the dishes." What's more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact, we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”― ThΓ­ch NhαΊ₯t HαΊ‘nh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
41. Don’t let your life be a platform that is a bridge between the past and the future. -Eckhart Tolle
42. “When we spend a lifetime trying to distance ourselves from the parts of our lives that don’t fit with whom we think we’re supposed to be, we stand outside of our story and hustle for our worthiness by constantly performing, perfecting, pleasing, and proving. Our sense of worthiness—that critically important piece that gives us access to love and belonging—lives inside of our story.” ― BrenΓ© Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

43. The grocery stores a completely different place at night time on a Sunday than peak time during the week.
44. After camping for long periods of time, you really appreciate running water, hot showers, and clean, flushing toilets.
45. People shopping at the grocery store on Super Bowl Sunday...hilarious 
46.  Take the red pill.  
47. The soaker setting on a hose's nozzle- When or why would anyone ever need that setting? I call it the "what is up with this broken nozzle" setting. It should say broken nozzle or Soak the person holding the hose more like it- after researching- As soaker hoses don't spray, they enable the user to reduce water usage. There's no waste involved, as the water goes straight from the hose into your garden. Further, the slow oozing of the hose prevents runoff and erosion in the garden. Oh. 
48. Satsang- The band that found me. “My own path...my story is long...I was born into fear.  They’re telling us to be scared but all we ever are is free. I’m letting go of all the things that do not serve me." Hooked. 
49. Driving in NJ is comparable to playing golf and feeling the pressure of the group behind you waiting for your group to finish up. Play through...I don’t want that pressure. 
50. Pickling cucumbers are so much fun to grow, eat, and pickle.
51. I love gardening. This year, I learned how to grow, potatoes, lettuce, peppers, beets, tomatoes, cantaloupe, carrots, some herbs, zucchini, and marigolds.
52. Taking a dip in a river of cold water is cleansing.
53. Spending time alone in nature is healing for the soul.
54. "When you offer yourself freedom you offer freedom to all of your people." Glennon Doyle
55. Imitation meat like soy-based food is not good to bring on a camping trip. GROSS
56. I have a lot of fear inside.
57. The online Winter Solstice Festival this year was magical. https://theshiftnetwork.com/pre/40835
58. Goldbelly deliver$ food all over the U$A- thanks, Sharon! https://www.goldbelly.com/
59. The family restroom in  Des Moines, Iowa’s KOA Campground in Adel is heaven after roughing it for days.
60. Since I quit teaching, I have only missed it for one split second...while the lady in front of me at Starbucks paid with a teacher gift card...haha Now I have to pay for my grande house blend. I can handle that.
61. Jupiter and Saturn and of course the stars and moon are great companions for fall camping adventures.
62. Ground digger wasps sting at night...one got me while fireside in Indiana. I was so confused. I thought the pain I felt when I crossed my legs was a spider bite until I found the wasp on the ground and killed it.
63. Chicago Deep Dish pizza is delicious. Especially the caramelized black crust. However, I still prefer NY Style pizza.
64. When booking campsites online, "walk-up" means exactly that. You cannot drive your car to your site. You will possibly lug your gear down some stairs, down a narrow hiking trail, etc.
65. Double check your campsite before bed even though you love navigating in the dark or dim lighting because you may have left your trash hanging from the propane tank on your stove.
66. Dunewood Campground raccoons don't like yellow peppers.
67. Dunewood Campground raccoons do like gross tofu chicken.
68. The locals say the Southern tip of Lake Michigan near Beverly Shores is called the penis holen because things show up on the shore all the time, like dead bodies. That freaked me out.
69. Stay out of Gary, Indiana. Gary has one of the highest per capita crime rates in the nation.
70. I LOVE WEARING CHACOS! Teachers get a discount.
71. Quesadillas make great camping food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
72. Tree trunks fascinate me
73. When camping from CO to NJ, the farther east you get the more bugs there are and the more difficult it is to start a fire.
74.  RVs are loud and obnoxious. They do allow for winter camping, so...
75. Colorado & Nebraska made starting fires feel easy. Haha Missouri was tough. Wet wood was delivered to my cabin. I used all of my firestarters, lighter fluid, and cardboard. The KOA there has cabin #4 with a mattress from heaven inside.
76. The Permanent Match gadget will turn your hand into a ball of fire. Be careful.
77. There is a museum under the arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
78. While typing in my journal in the bathtub, I can hear my elbows squeaking under the water.
79. Snickerdoodle cookie cakes exist. Insomia Cookies  Thank you, Katie. <3 
80. In Wyoming's Tetons, there is a ski resort called Grand Targhee Resort. The older people who ski there are nicknamed Targeezers. 
81. L.O.L. Surprise Dolls. What the hell? Hidden lingerie when you dunk them in water. This is disgusting. How can this be marketed for children!? An article about it. 

82. Millions of years later, during the last Ice Age, early humans migrated from Asia to the Americas by crossing the sea in boats. They didn't walk across a land bridge, as previously thought. Source

83. To address a different ecological crisis, scientists engineered plastic-eating "super-enzymes" that can break down bottles in days. The new solution comes from researchers at the Center for Enzyme Innovation in the UK and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. The enzymes break down a common type of plastic called polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — used in single-use bottles as well as clothing and carpets — into its chemical building blocks.


Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for 2021's learning experiences.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Teaching in NJ vs. Teaching in CO & a Help Request

Hello Readers and Friends. I have been working as a teacher in Colorado teaching 4th grade for 3 and 1/2 years. I have a lot of frustrations about the poor education system out here and have been doing a lot of journaling about it. I know that Julie Bateman feels it too as this is her 2nd year teaching in Colorado. Since we both came from the Edison, NJ experience, we can tell you Jersey folk that YOU HAVE IT GOOD. In the famous words of Nicole Cirillo, "Kelly, you don't know how good you have it." That phrase dances in my head constantly because she was right. I truly didn't know.
I plan to write a book about all of the things that upset me so much about the education system in general, but more specifically, in Colorado.
Here is a somewhat brief rundown...
  • This is my 14th year teaching and I am making $47,800. Keep in mind that I started at Edison at $41,900. Colorado is 48th in state funding for education. I have made huge financial adjustments. The cost of living is quite similar to NJ minus the mountains.
  • I used to complain and even dread the weekly Tuesday faculty meeting from 4-5, but now I would take it back in a heartbeat. Here in Colorado, we still have faculty meetings, but they happen every other week from 3:05-4. While students attended specials (art, music, gym, language) I used to have a "prep period" (according to Edison lingo). If we missed our prep because of a meeting, we would get paid for it. Now, my "prep" has become a "plan period." Out of the 5 days per week that this happens, TWO are taken up by planning meetings. Colorado LOVES to have teachers plan to plan but never actually have time to PREP anything. They don't even create or prepare anything during these meetings, they just sit and talk about all the things they are going to do. I am sure you can imagine how my head wants to explode as I SIT chatting about plans without making any steps toward execution.
  • It is not uncommon for teachers to come to work on the weekends and DURING THEIR BREAKS. What the?! This proves my point that teachers are so overwhelmed, they have let their demanding job invade the boundaries of their personal lives. Where is the balance? We all need a balance.
  • Since I started teaching in Colorado, I have never had a class size less than 30. THIRTY! Edison teachers, this one is for you---last year, I had 8 students on IEPs and one on a 504. NO co-teacher. The Learning Support Specialist popped in to accommodate the minutes 2-3 days per week and only during 1 or 2 subjects. Each day, as the only teacher on the grade level that had students with IEPs, I had the fun job of tracking their accommodations for EACH subject for EACH day of the week. I counted and that was 72 boxes I had to check DAILY. Also, I had 19 boys in my class. NINETEEN.
  • Coaches...Did Edison Public Schools get on the Every Teacher Needs a Coach Bandwagon? I remember CRTs and thought it was a great position, but coaches require weekly meetings. For what? You guessed it, more planning.
  • Overnight 5th-grade trip = 4 days...3 nights...NO compensation for teachers. I miss you, Camp Bernie.
  • The CO teaching license expires every 5 years. By next Feb. I need to gain a certain amount of hours in specific classes (ELL) to renew it. And pay a fee of course. $$$$
  • 4 Days of parent-teacher conferences 3 of them after teaching a FULL DAY of school. My current school just went down from 30-minute conferences to 20.
  • Major budget cuts which will no doubt lead to cutting paraprofessional support and decreasing the hours for some full-time teachers.
  • School day- Teachers: 7:40-3:30 Students: 7:55-2:43
Yes, there is positive too, but it is basically that I haven't written a lesson plan since I started teaching here. I fill in lesson titles or unit numbers or names of projects, in a plan book, WITH A PENCIL. Also, there is no testing pressure nor test prep. After you Edison employees pick your jaw up off the floor, please read on.

My intention for writing this post is because I have a student in my class whose family is going through a financial struggle. His mom was just diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She is scheduled to receive 12 chemotherapy treatments while working 2 jobs. Dad isn't in the picture and Mom's boyfriend is helping out.
Now that I have explained my financial woes, you see why I am not in the position to help this family on my own. When I first read the information in the e-mail below, I wanted to help cover a bill or two. Then I realized that I have my own bills that are piled up. I am still paying off Puggle's vet charges and my own medical bills. (I miss Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield SO MUCH. I can't believe I used to complain about $10 copays! That was a dream.) However, I plan to donate $20 and my time and words of persuasion.

So, if you have a spare dollar to send via Venmo (@kelly-miragliotta-1 label it for the "Lopez family"), I will collect money until March 15th, 2020. Then, anything I get, I will turn over to the family or pay their bills via invoices. I would ask the school to do a fundraiser, St. Baldrick's style, but it is a title I school and many of the families are already struggling. Anything you could send would be greatly appreciated. Apparently, I have 523 Facebook friends, so if everyone sent a $1, that total would definitely help them.

Here is what the family could use help with (I copied and pasted from my work e-mail).  

"Mom has given me her monthly costs to see if we can find a donor or person who might want to help with some of them. These are: Energy ($75 a month), Car insurance ($45 a/m), telephone ($100 a/m), rent ($1400 a/m). She can provide invoices if somebody would like to pay them directly online."

Thank you for reading this post. And Edison teachers, take a moment to appreciate how good you have it. Nicole was right. ;o)

Peace and Love,
Kelly