Mainely Write

a full sentence? me? like that's gonna happen! macaroon anyone? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Rhyming Sentence Poem with Macaroons Chairs are for seating. People are for meeting. Babies are for bouncing. Skirts are for flouncing. Pillows are for sleeping. Teabags are for steeping. Fingers are for snapping. Hands are for clapping. Hats are for wearing. Eyes are for staring. Houses are for living. Hearts are for giving. Kites are for flying. Washes are for drying. Poems are for writing. Mac'roons are for biting. I like macaroons. The recipe seems quite simple, so they might be fun to make some sometime. However, these cookies are really quite fatty and sweet...isn't everything that tastes good? Find out more about macaroons here .

Yum, my favorite... 93% lean ground beef formed in a patty, fried in a pan, or better yet grilled, topped with cheese, not cheese food, placed well-centered on a bun of bread with a mountain of lettuce, tomato, and onion, laced with ketchup, mustard, and relish; now relish the burger!

It's  Mother's Day in Bolivia , and Children's Day in Nigeria.  Children's Day was created to promote the welfare of children and to celebrate childhood.  Children in Nigeria take the day off from school to celebrate with parents, doing things as a family. I am taking the day off from school today while my daughter and her husband are visiting this weekend.  I'm celebrating both Mother's Day and Children's Day, as they are about to become parents in August. Daughterful of mommy, Bellyful of baby, Nanaful of wonder Waiting for a peek. Pretty soon the mommy Will hold her little babe. Daddy will be stroking Baby's rosy cheek. What's up with the parents? What happens to the voice? Why is it everyone Talks in Baby speak? Hands will reach for Baby, Those hands will gently rock, Hands cover grown up eyes Playing Hide and Seek. Bellyful of kicking That can be felt and seen Says this baby will be Neither mild nor meek. God bless ou

It's "Celebrate Grey Day".  Finally a day I can really get into! Grey is such an overlooked color, yet it has two ways to spell it.  I've always, from a little girl spelled it 'grey'.  It looks so sophisticated that way.  It's actually the English English way to spell it, and 'gray' is American English. Grey's personality traits are: neutral, practical, quiet, detached and dismal...courtesy of  Crayola . There are many shades of gray.  A trip to the paint chip section of the web gives us: Gull Gray, Coventry Gray, Sea Foam, Anchor Gray, Knoxville Gray, Stonington Gray, November Skies, Beacon Gray, Coastal Fog, Iceberg, Cinder Block, Pewter, Nimbus Cloud, Rocky Slope, Castle Rock, Campfire Smoke, Stratus, Falcon, Ashen, Cathedral Gray, Silver Lining, Tarnished Silver...wow.  I wish I'd written a poem after reading these instead of before!  These paint chips are a real "found poem"! Enchanted Learning also has a page

Escargot Day ties in nicely with our current study of ponds and pond life in our classroom the past few weeks.  Yesterday we learned about snails. The students were interested in the fact that snails have a radula, a tongue that is like a file, and some snails use that to drill through shells of clams and eat them.  It can be a big problems here on the coast where clammers lose their income to this Moon Snail.  The students were also appalled that any one would eat a snail, even if it were called "escargot".  The fancy name did not impress them. I have collected some original sayings, that have been changed over the years.  You may recognize them, but they've been adapted, as snail popularity has dwindled. Snails used to be very big in literature.  They're smaller now. Find a snail and pick it up All the day you'll have good luck. Feed a snail Starve a fever Heads I win Snails you lose Pink sky at night Snailer's delight Pink sky in the morning

Today is National Memo Day and National Waitresses/Waiters Day.  So I celebrated by taking a memo and going out to breakfast and treating our waitress very kindly.  I will probably go out for supper also, since there is no food in the house.  We live far enough out that you don't just want to go into town for groceries.  Usually you are hungry before you leave the house even, so you have to stop to eat when you get in town. As I left the house I was serenaded by an early morning singing song outside my door. I tried doing a memo from my phone, but the file didn't convert, so I turned it into a video instead.  The birds aren't as loud as they were in "person". By the way, the azalea is in a pot sitting in our backyard.  I bought it a number of years ago, probably like 5 years ago, and we didn't get around to planting it.  We stuck the pot in the back yard by the edge of the woods and left it all winter.  I thought for sure it would die.  But it didn't

NPR has a great segment on celebrating Eliza Doolittle Day today. Motto: Think before you speak.  Too many of us speak before we think...if we ever do get to the thinking part (self included). Language Huggers Some people will hug trees And just fall on their knees To save those majestic green plants But we hug words written And our tongues we've bitten To keep us from ranting some rant! Use language precisely And always speak nicely Don't say that you won't or you can't! It's a fright for the ear When we hear what we hear; Give up on our language we shan't! All the proper words need To be nurtured indeed, Lest words left unused become scant! Let's keep English intact For we know for a fact To use the right words will enchant!

Read about the history of Frog Jumping Jubilee Day here .  It is held in Calaveras County in California, the setting for Mark Twain's story of a jumping frog, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. We are studying ponds currently in our first grades, so this fits right in!  I read a book about ponds and we've read a number of books and articles about frogs.  Did you know that frogs have teeth?  Toads don't, though. So - my poem for frogs Tongue Twister Poem A Tongue Twister poem is made up of lines/verses that are hard to say when read aloud by using similar consonant sounds in succession (use of alliteration). In other words, the poem ties your tongue into knots. This form does not require end or internal rhyme. Funny 'phibian family of Forty-four frogs On four foot long logs in a fog With fascinating flopping flippers For fine fitting freshwater slippers Feasting on freshest flitting fluttering fly-bys Faithful friends

Just so you know. I did neither of these things. I didn't even have my husband at home. My sister called though. Does that count for the visiting relative? I am so tired tonight. No writing. I just can't clear my head enough to make sense. I just keep thinking of things I need or want to fit in before the end of the school year. I am going to sleep so I can stop thinking. Hope to have a non-dream night. Good night. Sleep tight. Douse light. Take flight. No fright. Till light. Wake bright. I'll have to visit a museum in my dreams.

I don't think this has anything to do with putting rodents in boxes.  I don't want to celebrate this day anymore.  I want to be done with being a pack rat.  The Joy of Less...I just purchased that on Amazon for my iPad.  I am going to read it, and do it.  Stuff is piling up here.  I want to downsize and get rid of stuff.  Have you noticed how many times I've said I?  How self-centered can you get?  Anyway I digress... A few years back, my husband and I left to drive his parents home, 5 hours north of here.  It was an overnight trip, and our adult son was going to come stay one night at our house so the cat and dog could be cared for.  We each took a small bag of clothes and our laptops.  The next morning, around 4 am, we got a call from our son.  He was awakened at 2 am as he slept in the loft, by smoke coming from the basement. A TV in our home office had started to burn.  He rescued the animals and called 911, but our log home, suffered extensive smoke/soot damage. 

Well, I wore brown and black today.  Very springy.  I like it though.  I like to wear purple, too.  It is a good color for me.  I don't feel like addressing the subject of peace though.  My last favorite purple thing to wear I tried to iron on low (I thought), but it melted through on the top left shoulder.  Good thing there was a jacket to go with it.  Otherwise, I would have had nothing to wear for Easter. When I was a little girl I loved purple and red together, and brown and black.  I was told those colors clashed, didn't go together, were bad, don't do it, people will laugh... Today I am wearing a brown and black skirt.  I still love purple and red together...and evidently so do others, as I see them together all the time now.  I was ahead of my time.  There were lots of rules I didn't understand, but just followed.  I don't follow them anymore.  I break them whenever I get a chance.  Sometimes I'm breaking them on the inside though, so you won't rea

Chocolate Chip Day!  It's like "Eat What You Want Day" again!  I love chocolate chips.  It is also my husband's birthday!  I'm getting him some raspberry chocolate chip ice cream.   And that's not just because I like it.  He liked it first.  I learned to like it...in one lesson.  I am a fast learner. C an be H ealthy when dark O pen the bag and toss them in C ookie dough O r L et them spill into your hand A nd get tossed into your mouth for a T aste bud delight. E njoy! C areful you don’t H ave the melted evidence I n your warm P alm.

Did you know the Chicken Dance song started out as the Duck Dance back in the 1950's?  Of course, everyone knows that chickens don't dance, but ducks do.  They should never have changed the name.  The Duck Dance makes much more sense. I did not celebrate by doing the chicken dance, but my dog, Pippi, did dance with me for a while.  I'll try to get a video of it sometime.  Yeah, right. Today got by me again.  The more I think about what I have to do to end the school year, the less writing I feel free to indulge in. My daughter is coming for a visit for Memorial Day, and there will be a baby shower for her.  In addition, we have a bridal shower that weekend for her cousin.  I still have 2 physical therapy sessions per week for two more weeks.  I have to get the kids ready for our Authors' Tea.  There are two field trips.  And of course there are the Reading and Math assessments. Hopefully there will be time to teach a bit more before assessing!  Then it's sort ma

Yesterday was Limerick Day.  I missed it.  I tried to write a limerick and wasn't having much luck with it, and then lo' and behold, Blogger was "view only" and I couldn't post anyway.  I was kind of relieved, as the pressure to produce something fun-for-me-to-write was making me miserable.  So I took the night off along with Blogger. And now it is....Leprechaun Day...well, it's close to over...more like Leprechaun Night now.  I thought March 17 was Leprechaun Day, but it isn't.  It is Saint Patrick's Day and has nothing to do with Leprechauns.  Catching a Leprechaun today, reading about them, finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is what it is all about.  And speaking of rainbows... Today one of my students, as he was waiting after school for the late bus to arrive, was swinging and called to me, "Hey, Mrs. Smith!  Do you see the rainbow?"  I looked up to where he was pointing...right into the sun.  Yeah, right, I can't see a

It's "Eat What You Want Day" and "Twilight Zone Day".  Now if you combined those it would make a good Twilight Zone episode.  Sure, go on and eat what you want.  It won't hurt you.  And then, like you would find yourself slowly turning into that food you ate and then, like you would get all chocolaty and gooey and your head would turn into a pizza and your feet would be like all cinnamon rollish and your ears would become croissants and you would like have chocolate chips for eyes and you'd like have little marshmallows for teeth and your nose would be a scone and your blood would turn into mocha latte and then some bigger being would come by and say, "Hey, it's eat what you want day!  I think I'll eat this chocolaty pizza scone thingy!" and you would be gone. A few people out there wouldn't be eaten, as they would be carrot and celery people with sesame seeds for teeth.  They are liars.  That is not what they wanted to eat, but th

Today is "Clean Up Your Room Day"... I hate cleaning my room, but I like a clean room.  I also don't mind a messy one, though. There is some comfort provided by a lived-in home. Ah, my house is a mess, my desk is a mess... But sometimes I like it, I guess. Sedoka The Sedoka is an unrhymed poem made up of two three-line katauta with the following syllable counts: 5/7/7, 5/7/7. A Sedoka, pair of katauta as a single poem, may address the same subject from differing perspectives. Katauta is an unrhymed three-line poem the following syllable counts: 5/7/7. So, here is my Sedoka to a cluttered room: This room is a mess The clutter overtaking The sanity of my realm; This room is a nest Where sanity is restored At an untidy day's end.

Even the school is not safe from single sockedness - 2 mismatched from  L & F. I have so many single socks.  They drive me crazy.  I try to buy all the same kind and lots at the same time, so I can't possibly have singles for a long time.  The washer used to be blamed, but I have a different style now, and it is impossible for socks to get through those small drain holes in the sides of the machine.  Neither can the new dryer be to blame. My dog, being a Golden Retriever, loves to fetch socks.  She's always finding socks, sometimes pulling them out of a shoe they might be tucked into.  She'll even reach up on the bed and fetch a pair of clean socks to bring to me if she can.  She isn't to blame for the AWOL socks.  She doesn't eat them, she simply rearranges them and gives them to me. I'm thinking there must be aliens out there that have either one, three or five feet who are abducting socks in the odd numbers.  That is the only thing I can come up w

May 8 is No Sock Day and Drink a Coke Day! Really celebrate...do both! Oh, yes, and Happy Mother's Day!   photo by Perfecto Insecto D eliciously R efreshing I n a N ice K ing size C up O f ice. K eep up the E njoyment all day while you S neak your toes O ut of socks and C atch the breeze! K eep your socks at home; L et your ankles E njoy the S pringtime S un while you sip! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is National Tuba Day, National Paste Up Day AND National Roast Leg of Lamb Day! So take your pick as to which one you would like to celebrate! The tuba is not going to be easy unless you maybe have a tuba or you have a great record and record player on which to play it (as I'm pretty sure nothing has been recorded in recent years featuring tuba solos or duets on CD). Paste Up Day I had to check into. My first thought was of the old pastime of eating paste and then perhaps, depending on the volume of paste consumed, of vomiting...hence paste UP. But of course it is a day to celebrate the ancient art of putting photographs and text on a page and pasting it down...not up...but whatever. Nowadays our computers do this work. But we could celebrate it with a ransom note format pasted card to give for Mother's Day tomorrow or by making signs or just reflecting on how much time we have on our hands now that we don't have to do paste-ups! Roast Leg of Lamb Day? We

Today is Beverage Day. So, sit back and enjoy hot or cold your favorite beverage or a NEW beverage. Don't get thirsty, get hydrated! Cheers!

Today is National Hoagie Day! Ode to a Sandwich I want to have a sandwich One that has the works I don't want one with mustard Nor one where mayo lurks. Just give me a good ole' Hoagie With olives and make sure it's oiled I want it with cheese and salami Not chicken nor beef nor eggs boiled Start with a layer of lettuce Add to it sliced red tomato Next come green peppers and onion Stack them neatly all in a row Tuck it into a nice big soft roll And wrap in white paper complete With a sticker that will hold it together Until you are ready to eat.   The Hoagie was born in Philadelphia back sometime between 1914 and 1939.  In 1992 it was declared the "Official Sandwich of Philadelphia". A Hoagie is made on an 8 inch roll and has lettuce and provolone cheese instead of American, but the rest of the sandwich is quite close to a Maine Italian sandwich. Here in Maine it would be translated into Italian Day.  We don't eat Hoagies in Mai

Now, this is a day that I could celebrate - National Candied Orange Peel Day!  I think I would like Candied Orange Peels.  I like orange marmalade, so it can't be a step too far to enjoy orange peels that are cooked in sugar. I may try making them.  Maybe I should put "Make candied orange peels" on my "When I retire I'm going to do this" list. Did you know that oranges supply lots of potassium?  The peels don't have any, but eating the oranges or drinking the juice you've squeezed from them gives you potassium AND the ingredients for candied orange peel all at the same time.  So you get great potassium, a treat and no trash. And in China they believe that orange peels aid in digestion, which makes it nearly an international day. I found the following recipe for Candied Orange Peel at: http://userealbutter.com/2007/10/09/candied-orange-peels-recipe/ Now if you don't feel like eating 4 oranges in one day just to make this, you could eat o

Whoa, there's nothing worse than a lumpy rug.  I mean, if a hairpiece won't stay down flat then I say... What? It's a...a lumpy wha...? I knew that. Yes, lumpy rugs are very hard to vacuum.  I don't wear a hairpiece.  I don't know where you got that idea. You know, when you lie down on a lumpy rug or vacuum a lumpy rug you should be careful that there isn't a dog or cat or even some two year old taking a nap under there.  Maybe that's why it's lumpy. And again, as with Fire Day, are we celebrating them, enjoying them, going out with binoculars to find a wild lumpy rug, or are we just supposed to decide if we like it or lump it? But whatever you do, don't just sit there like a lump on a rug! I have NO IDEA why we'd care about lumpy rugs really.  And maybe that's the point.  Maybe it is simply a day to show our disdain for lumpy rugs!

The TV that ruined our house - set on back lawn by itself to think about what it did. Maybe we're supposed to have a fire today. Or maybe we're not supposed to have a fire today. I don't know. But it's National Fire Day.  What can that mean? Mayhaps we are to support our local fire department, match makers, matchbox cars or fire sprinklers. Or perhaps we need to fire someone today. Fire up the grill. Get all fired up. Paint something fire engine red. Light a match under someone. Visit (or avoid) the Ring of Fire. Sing Ring of Fire. Fire off some questions. Install Firefox. Or read Foxfire. Watch the Chicago Fire...the soccer team, that is, not the real flames. Celebrate fire extinguishers. Cut down trees around my house to prevent a wildfire from burning it down. That might be better than the house fire we had a few years back. Never mind. I think I'm skipping National Fire Day. I already observed it for almost a year. I don't have to ce

May Day is Save the Rhino Day and Mother Goose Day.   Did you know that there are no nursery rhymes about rhinoceroses?  There aren't any fairy tales either.  Maybe someone should write one.  Hickory chicory dee, The rhino climbed a tree; He began to frown 'Cause he couldn't get down, Hickory chicory dee. There.