I've been tagged! Now I have to figure out 7 things to tell you about myself. I hope I can tell you something interesting. :)
1. I was a 4-Her when I was younger. I participated in lots of different projects, but my "main" projects were foods and crochet. I was fairly successful, although there were certainly a few exceptions! The major exception in the foods project was the year I did the yeast breads project. What a disaster! A wonderful mom from our club was the project leader, and she helped my friend, Shelley and I through all the pitfalls of yeast, but it was just no use for me. I was a yeast "murderer", and unfortunately, not much has changed since then. I did quite well as a crocheter. I never earned a ribbon lower than a blue, and was awarded reserve champion a couple of times, and even got the champion ribbon once!
2. I went to a small, country school in elementary school. All the kids and teachers knew each other, and classes were small - rarely more than 25 kids in a class. I think that is one reason I love teaching at Vinland - it reminds me so much of my own elementary school. There aren't very many other places in the US where the entire school can be in the lunchroom (or even the library) at the same time, and where every teacher knows every child's name.
3. I have several charities I support, but the 2 that are my "pets" are Habitat for Humanity and the Ronald McDonald House Charities. I make a crocheted afghan for each Habitat house in our community on behalf of my church, and also have the honor of presenting each family with a bookshelf and library of books on behalf of our local reading council. The Ronald McDonald House is close to my heart because in 2005, my niece, Eliza Mae, was diagnosed with cancer. Our family spent a lot of time at the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester, MN while Eliza received treatment at Mayo Clinic. It wasn't just that it was "home" for my sister, mom & Eliza for several months, but it was a safe haven. While we were there, we met people with sick kids, who were experiencing some of the same ups and downs as us. It was a built-in support group. The kids at school know the Ronald McDonald House is meaningful to me, and they bring me their pop tabs to take to the House. I love the way the kids open up their hearts and give, when given the opportunity.
4. I hate bell peppers. I hate them in any way, shape, or form. My mother insists that I used to eat peppers when I was small, but I think she is telling tales, because I can't even stand the smell of peppers.
5. I used to tell people I was allergic to chocolate so they wouldn't make me eat chocolate cakes, brownies, or chocolate chip cookies, because I really didn't like any of those things. It wasn't that I didn't like chocolate, though. I loved (and still love) chocolate candy, ice cream, and pudding! My tastes have changed, to some extent. I like chocolate chip cookies, now, and brownies if they are gooey and fudgy. I still don't like chocolate cake, though.
6. I love tea. I drink lots of tea every day. My favorites are black teas - Lady Gray, Assam, English/Irish/Scottish Breakfast, etc. I also collect teacups and teapots. I'm especially fond of the teacup my great-aunt Doris gave me that has an intricate floral pattern decorating the cup.
7. This is my first real blog. I did a kind of blog last year when I went to the International Reading Association Convention, but it was more of a daily letter to my students each day. So many people in my PLN (Personal Learning Network) are bloggers, and I've been intrigued by the thought of having a blog. I've toyed with the idea, looked at other blogs, and then discarded the idea. I'm a bit intimidated, because I'm not sure I have enough to say that would be meaningful to anyone to have a blog! Thanks to Anne for tagging me so that I can get over my trepidation and "just do it!"
Now...who shall I tag...
amymcordova
saffield
TeresaTCA
campinglisa
MaryannM
Heidi
DrlaurieinAL
I hope I got (mostly) people who had not been tagged!
