sunday stealing

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What Would You Say At This Moment To:

1) Someone you have hurt? I hope you can forgive me

2) Someone who has hurt you? fool me once, shame on you--fool me twice, shame on me!

3) Your favorite teacher from grade school? oh--I loved Mrs. Nichols, my fourth-grade teacher--I would thank her for making learning fun (I actually ran into her recently and I got to tell her that in person!)

4) Your most hated teacher from high school? it's inappropriate for you to look down teenage girls' shirts--stop staring at my boobs!

5) Your best friend from college? she's still my bestie 😊and I'd say let's get pedicures tomorrow!

6) Your favorite recording artist? you are the soundtrack to my summer!

7) Your favorite author?  keep me in suspense!  I love your books, and looking forward to them every year is fun!

8) Your first boss? I still remember how you stressed making sure that money faced the same way: "Let George look out the window."

9) Your first love? I loved you

10) Your true love? what took you so long?

postsecret

 PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. I like to post one that speaks to me each week.

finished reading

This is the fifth installment of the series, and Finlay and her nanny/bestie Vero are sleuthing's Lucy & Ethel.  They get into some far-fetched shenanigans, but what I like is that the resolutions aren't obvious.  This book picks up where the fourth left off.  I especially enjoyed the editor's visit.  And curmudgeonly Mrs. Haggerty will play in future books, I'm sure.

From the publisher:

Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there's not a body in her backyard.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.

saturday 9

I Fall In Love Too Easily

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Dinah Shore admits that her impetuous romances don't work out. Do you consider yourself impulsive? there are times I lack impulse control, especially when shopping

2) The songwriting team of Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne composed this in a single evening. Since the song is rather short Sammy considered adding another verse, but Jule thought better of it, saying, "No. That's it." Are you more like Sammy and keep revising, tinkering and tweaking? Or, like Jule, do you find it easy to leave well enough alone? definitely like Jule

 

3) The song was introduced in Anchors Aweigh, a movie about two sailors who find love during a two-day leave in New York. Have you ever enjoyed a romance while on holiday? yes

 

4) Though Frank Sinatra sang the song in the movie, Dinah's version was also popular. Her record sales in the 1940s were boosted by concerts, radio appearances and performances for the troops. What singer who is no longer with us do you wish you could have seen in concert? John Denver or Amy Winehouse

5) Dinah was shy with new people, but discovered as a high school cheerleader that she was good in front of a crowd. Give us one of your high school cheers. '84 For-Ever-More!

6) She loved golf and was so good at it, she became the first woman admitted as a member to the prestigious Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles. What's your best sport? competitive napping

7) Dinah found her greatest success in television. She was so popular for so long that she was able to afford a luxury home, built to her specifications, in Palm Springs. Leonardo DiCaprio now owns it. Do you know who lived in your home before you moved in? only by name since mail is regularly delivered for her--I keep putting post-its with Return to Sender/Wrong address

 
8) In 1945, when this song was popular, Abbott and Costello appeared in the movie The Naughty Nineties, which featured their famous "Who's On First" routine. Do you know it? bits and parts

 

9) Random question – Fill in the blank: After all these years, I still ____________. still love teaching!

finished reading

The catchy title and premise of this book hooked me; unfortunately, the lopsided nature of the story left me hanging.  I liked Phoebe's work on her dissertation about the cultural aspects of serial killer stories.  That left room for numerous interesting references to both the dissertation process and serial killer lore.  I liked the relationships between Phoebe and her brother, her childhood best friend, and her soon-to-be-sister-in-law.  I loved Sam as the main male character--I mean, who doesn't love a shy, nerdy, elementary music teacher!  So with all of these pieces that I liked, the book was lopsided--focusing too much on Phoebe's stalled journey through her parents' divorce.  I thought the cat took away from the story.

From the publisher:

Turns out that reading nothing but true crime isn’t exactly conducive to modern dating—and one woman is going to have to learn how to give love a chance when she’s used to suspecting the worst.

PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She’s even analyzing the genre in her dissertation—if she can manage to finish writing it. It’s hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn’t had a relationship with for years.

It doesn’t help that she’s low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer (he may dress business casual by day, but at night he’s clearly up to something). It’s not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier—a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.

finished reading

This collection of stories left me flat--I wish they were connected somehow or that it was one novel.  I appreciated the traditional storytelling and the beautiful writing; I wanted more.

From the publisher:

In her debut collection of short fiction, Amanda Peters describes the Indigenous experience from an astonishingly wide spectrum in time and place—from contact with the first European settlers, to the forced removal of Indigenous children, to the present-day fight for the right to clean water.

In this intimate collection, Amanda Peters melds traditional storytelling with beautiful, spare prose to describe the dignity of the traditional way of life, the humiliations of systemic racism and the resilient power to endure. A young man returns from residential school only to realize he can no longer communicate with his own parents. A grieving mother finds purpose and healing on the front lines as a water protector. And a nervous child dances in her first Mawi’omi. The collection also includes the Indigenous Voices Award–winning and title story “Waiting for the Long Night Moon.”

At times sad, sometimes disturbing but always redemptive, the stories in Waiting for the Long Night Moon will remind you that where there is grief there is also joy, where there is trauma there is resilience and, most importantly, there is power.

three on thursday

Three things:

1)  It's been a banner reading week! I have read six books!  I love lazy vacation days!

2)  Although I shouldn't call them lazy--they have been productive but not busy.

3)  I will be starting my trip in four days!!!

finished reading

Ultimately, this is a saga of a crime family.  It's gritty. A crime family committing horrible crimes for what they consider altruistic reasons. The narration is from the point of view of the matriarch, Babs Dionne, and her daughter, military veteran Lori Dionne.  The well-developed secondary characters are mostly their relatives.  It's a well-written, well-crafted character-driven book.  Dealing with the much-maligned Franco-American population in Maine.  Not a lot of Franco-American history is taught outside of Maine.  It's a history fraught with prejudice, including Klan activity. Babs Dionne is combating cultural negativity in her own way.  She is proud of her heritage and celebrates it at every opportunity.

I just don't know what to say.  This is so well-written yet so gritty.  I recommend it, but it's not for everyone.

From the publisher:

Ron Currie Jr.'s "The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne" is a gritty, character-driven thriller set in the insular Franco-American community of "Little Canada" in Waterville, Maine. The narrative centers on Barbara "Babs" Dionne, the formidable and fiercely protective matriarch of a local crime family that controls the town's drug trade. Her reign is thrown into turmoil by two simultaneous events: the disappearance of her troubled youngest daughter, Sis, and the arrival of a menacing enforcer known only as "The Man," sent by an outside kingpin to seize control of the territory. The title itself foretells a grim fate for Babs, but the story is as much about the "how" and "why" as it is about the "what."

The novel unfolds through the eyes of its deeply flawed yet compelling characters, most notably Babs and her eldest daughter, Lori. A Marine veteran haunted by her experiences in Afghanistan, Lori battles addiction and her own complicated relationship with her formidable mother. As Lori desperately searches for her missing sister, the narrative delves into themes of family loyalty, the corrosive nature of violence, the preservation of cultural heritage, and the devastating impact of the opioid crisis on a small, tight-knit community. The story is a brutal and often heartbreaking exploration of a mother's relentless fight to protect her family and legacy, even as outside forces and internal demons threaten to tear everything apart.

ten things tuesday

So now I'm in the first week of Summer Vacation.  I thought I would revise this.

This is the first week of the fourth quarter of school.  I don't know where the year has gone.  I thought I would revisit the goals I set for the year in August and see how I'm progressing.

1)  Nominate students for even more opportunities for them to grow and learn, especially on a state-wide or national level. I have done this with great results! As of June 12, this has been a success!  Several students are at summer institutes for leadership, civics, and are representing my school well!

2)  Lead my department to teamwork.  Instead of four people in the same department, I want to be a four-part unit, working toward common goals.  This is going to be a major effort since the three people have very different classroom experiences and expectations. *sigh* this has not been easy, but I'm working on it So, this was not as successful as I had hoped.  It will be on my goal list for next year, too.

3)  Keep up with my grade book and make materials accessible to students online and in physical copy. I've done this!  This was a big success!

4)  Have a successful school-wide Mock Election. This was a huge success! I'm planning, now, to have a voter registration drive and an off-year election.

5)  Put a cap on letters of recommendation.  I will write fifteen. I wrote more... I even wrote one for next year.

6)  Submit the revised Advanced Placement US History syllabus I wrote over the summer before Christmas. uh... nope This is something that doesn't actually have to happen

7)  Empty one tall and one short file cabinet.  Out they go! One short one is empty, and I'm almost done. A tall one. Alrighty — I've done this!  I emptied out two tall file cabinets and four short file cabinets and they have been removed from my room!

8)  Reorganize the bookcase next to my desk so it holds materials I use instead of being a repository for stuff I never touch. this is done! I have hung certificates of AP credentials on the wall where the bookcase was.  

9)  Try one activity or strategy that is far out of my comfort zone.  I have done this with every class! This was a fun goal!

10)  Build stronger relationships with administrators, work besties, and my mentee.  Foster relationships with teachers of other departments. I've done surprisingly well with this! I had some meaningful conversations with students at the end of the school year--I would definitely say I accomplished this!

finished reading

A heartwarming story about grief, second chances, and finding your home--sprinkled with a little romance.  Imogen is a bit ditzy, and life happens to her instead of her creating her life.  I liked that her love of art blossomed into a career, and I was cheering her on as she met with the flamboyant publisher.  Gabriel is curmudgeonly with a soft center.  Their awkward encounters were cringy.  The secondary characters of the charming country village were amusing and quirky without being stereotypical.

From the publisher:

From the author of The Littlest Library—a heartwarming novel about a widowed children’s book author who moves into a cottage in the English countryside and finds herself face-to-face with the handsome and brooding blacksmith who lives next door.

In her books she can write “happily ever after”— but real life? That’s another matter…

For children’s book author Imogen, an idyllic life in the English countryside seems like the perfect fit for her and her husband. But when tragedy strikes, Imogen is left widowed, and finds herself moving into Storybook Cottage alone with only her monstrously narcissistic cat for company.

After discovering she is pregnant, Imogen grows determined to embrace a new start in Middlemass, with its duckpond, cricket matches and village fêtes. The only thing Imogen can’t seem to shake is her neighbor—a brooding, artisan blacksmith named Gabriel—who she can’t quite decide is friend or foe. That is until she realizes, thanks to an arcane clause in her deeds, that Gabriel— not just an artist, but lord of the local manor house— has the power to take her home and leave her completely broke.

Devastatingly, he seems keen to do exactly that. Yet, Imogen finds herself drawn to him nonetheless. And in her darkest hour, Gabriel may just be the bright spot to save Imogen in more ways than one.

currently

I am...

Reading: Storybook Ending by Poppy Alexander

Listening to:  nothing

Loving:  the beginning of vacation--when it still feels temporary

Thinking:  I really don't want to overpack for my Virginia trip

Feeling:  excited

Celebrating:  summer!

Grateful for:  my sisters and their families wanting to spend time with me

Enjoying:  I got a lot of chores done this morning and I'm enjoying a leisurely afternoon

Weather:  78° and mostly cloudy, although the sun is shining now

A quote I want to share: 

finished reading

This is indeed a love story.  Jane, Abe, their son Max, and Central Park are the central characters of this character study.  The narrative thread is uniquely written--more fragments of conversations and memories than action.  Yet, the characters are fully developed, and Central Park is lovingly included.  I learned a lot about the Park, and even though I have been there, I want to explore more.  

The audio narrator is a favorite; however, I wish it had been read by a male narrator, since the majority of the narration consists of Abe's recollections.

From the publisher:

An intimate and lyrical celebration of great love, great art, and the sacrifices we make for both

For fifty years Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now.

Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew—their courtship and early marriage, their blossoming creative lives—and the parts they didn’t always want to know—the determined young student of Abe’s looking for a love story of her own, and their son, Max, who believes his mother chose art over parenthood and who has avoided love and intimacy at all costs. Told in various points of view, even in conversation with Central Park itself, these voices weave in and out to paint a portrait as complicated and essential as love itself.