Avoidance

Do we spend most of our lives avoiding? Avoiding work, avoiding uncomfortable conversations, avoiding happiness, avoiding LIFE? Today's world makes it far too easy to retreat into ourselves, our phones/computers/tablets, our self-created safe zone. When did we stop living and start avoiding?

Worse yet is avoiding by prolonging. We prolong our dreams and goals by saying "when I do _____ then I can really focus on doing something I love". What happens if you never pass the roadblock to your dreams? We are missing life by focusing solely on our pathway to that dream life. Your life is NOW. Yes, it is important to have measurable goals, to plan and make a pathway to your dream, but it is important not to avoid living life while you're in it.

I'm not one of these schmucks who thinks you should live every day as your last, but I do think that when we start avoiding uncomfortable or unpleasant everyday situations we miss out on what makes life life - misery.

Hear me out - I'm not trying to say life is miserable, nor am I trying to sound like a brooding goth kid who wants to sit in the corner of the local shopping mall, donning 50 shades of black and despairing in the hopelessness of mankind. What I'm trying to say is without suffering and unpleasantness, we can't truly enjoy the good days when they come. Without the work week, the weekend wouldn't be as sweet. Without all of the hard work and sacrifices to reach your goal and/or dream life, would it still be worth it?

Ultimately, I'm trying to stop avoiding and start living. I want to be able to look back at all of the "suffering" and know I could have things worse. I want be able to stand in awe my crepuscular ray, and realize the dark clouds are still there. I want to be able to realize when things are good, know when they aren't, and realize that good things will peek through all of the bad eventually. I want to LIVE.

Writing Prompt 2: "Write Facebook status updates for the year 2017."

This was a fun exercise! I think that this helped build stories and characters by adding days/times and comments, likes and friends for the people posting. What do YOU think the statuses of 2017 will look like? What would you hope they would look like? Leave your ideas in the comments!

Writing Prompt 1: "what can happen in a second."

Since I was a kid, I have always enjoyed writing. I figure there might be something to my enjoyment, and why shouldn't I build my skill. I'm going to be using this really awesome book, 642 Things to Write About, by the San Francisco Writers' Grotto to do just that. This book is full of writing prompts to help with writers block and to help expand creative thinking.

Who hasn't felt like getting older has sucked all of the childlike wonder from your imagination? I know I sure have felt this way a lot recently. Thus, I will be trying to do a promo every day. Some may be longer or better than others, but I'm re-awakening a hobby that I've kept dormant for quite some time. Please, feel free to join me on this journey and leave your comments and/or own responses to the prompts in the comments section.

TODAY'S PROMPT: WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN A SECOND

The drive to work was like any other. That is, until it ran into the road. Swerving was not an option, and as it hit the hood, tumbling onto the windshield, I could tell it was not human. Time seemed to slow, making every sense heightened; I could feel the pull of the seatbelt against my chest as the car tried to screech to a stop. I could hear my body bruising, and I could see from the corner of my eye that there was another. In this suspended moment, I felt its gaze melt into mine, I felt my pulse slow to a stop.

3 Step Cheap Tea Party Bird Feeders

This was, yet again, a very inexpensive craft. I went to the local thrift store, and found some cute teacups and saucers (about $0.30 each.) I had the epoxy at home. It took about 30 minutes to clean and ready the plates and saucers, and an hour of waiting for the epoxy to dry.

You will need:
saucer(s)
cup(s)
epoxy*/glue
weight to help the cup and saucer set
bird seed

* you will also need something to mix epoxy in if you decide to do it the way I did.

Step 1: Clean the saucer(s) and cup(s)

Step 2: Mix and apply epoxy/glue             

I keep lids from jars and Yoohoo bottles to mix this stuff in. 

Step 3: Wait for the glue/epoxy to dry

I weighed mine down with some books, because I was worried the glossy finish of the cup and saucers wouldn't hold. Later research told me that sanding the bottom of the cup would have been sufficient, BUT I had no problems with it staying after doing it this way.

Step 4: Fill with bird seed, and enjoy!

            

I also picked up a cheap bonsai tree and a tea-kettle for about $1.50.

And that, my dear friends, is a cheap craft that you can do in an afternoon if you want to charm the birdies into visiting your place. You can also attach these to poles and posts, but since I live in an apartment complex, there is no yard for me to place the poles in. 

Cheap DIY Monogram Wreaths

I made these wreaths for about $9 each. I wanted to spruce up the patio doors, and a neighbor gave me this idea.

Materials:

Wreaths (2) - $1 each at Dollar Tree
Ribbon (2) - $1 each roll at Michaels
Flowers (4) - $1 for each bush at Dollar Tree
Wooden Letters (2) - $2.99 each at Michaels
Wirecutters
Hammer
Push Pins
Hot Glue Gun

Here are the essential components of the project.

First: Wrap ribbon around wreath. I tied both ends, and secured every other spiral with hot glue.

I left space for the flowers, which also saved some ribbon length for later use. I don't see a need for wrapping it if it is going to be covered by flowers!

Second: Cut flowers from stem using wire cutters.

I cut them long, then trimmed them after they were free from the bush. I also removed the leaves, but that is just a personal taste.

Third: Insert flowers into wreath, making sure to hot glue the bases so they will stay. [I didn't get a picture of this, sorry!]

Fourth: Cut four equally long pieces of ribbon to tie on your letter. [I liked to set the letter where I wanted it in the center of the wreath, and measured out the length of ribbon needed.] Then, secure those pieces on the back of your letter using a hammer and push pins as shown below:

I'm sure there are better ways of doing this, but I used what I had laying around the house and knew that would hold the weight of the letter. 

Fifth: [This was probably the hardest part for me.] Attach the wooden letter to the wreath using the attached ribbon lengths. 

I found it easiest to attach the letter when the wreath was vertical, because that allowed the W to be pulled by gravity, which allowed me the chance to properly attach the ribbon in the desired location. I just double knotted the ribbon onto the back and used a dab of hot glue to make sure it stayed.

Six: Enjoy your new wreath(es)!

KWL Implementation

Here's a cute little Glog I created for a class on new texts and literacy. This outlines the KWL implementation guide, as well as connects it to other teaching approaches. (Please note, this Glog was created to be best viewed in full-screen mode) Enjoy!

Web 2.0

This week in class we were discussing Web 2.0 tools and had to create a paper/web 2.0 product that outlines some pretty awesome resources/software for students. So, if you're interested, check out my partner's and my wiki: Wonderful Web 2.0. We outlined some pretty neat sites, which I plan on using!

And now... Corgi photo of the day!

Nia looks off into the distance wondering if she could catch that squirrel.