Items for Staff
*Monday, September 15, 2008 will be Day # 3.

* Correction/clarification of last week’s bulletin RTI and CST information:
LIT forms are necessary for LIT meetings
RTI (Response to Intervention) procedures–Posted in faculty room and distributed in Opening Packets 2008-09

*WCSD Special Education tutors needed for home instruction!  Contact Joanne Gleason.

*First Bus Evacuation Drill- September 16 & 17th !

*REMINDER: The first Monthly Faculty Meeting Tuesday, October 7th at 8:15 am.
AGENDA:
* Pat Gullick and Amy Buckingham
READING: Timelines, Benchmarks (3-5) DRA levels, Comprehension Checklist for RR
*Steve Schwartz- Safety/Emergency Crisis /Team Update/Concerns
*Character Education Partnership (CEP) application process-Rachel Leone
 *Misc.-New Business

*Please inform your students that the Lost and Found is located in the doorway entrance to the Stage.

*Half-day substitute time: AM: 8:50-12:15pm; PM: 12:15- 3:40pm.

*Proper student behavior in the halls and elsewhere is extremely important.  Please teach your students to walk in the halls and to do so quietly.
*Grade Level Reps: Please be sure to schedule weekly grade level meetings sharing common concerns and/or planning sessions.
*Staff Information Sheets (pink/blue) for all staff were recently distributed to Faculty & Staff; please return to Main Office!!!
*Emergency Dismissal Procedure sheets for students may be re-distributed at Parents as Partners Nights.  When collected, please return to Main Office!
All information is to be kept confidential and will be used for emergency purposes only.  Copies of these sheets will be returned to your classroom and the school nurse for safety purposes.   Teachers must keep these sheets in an "Easy Access" location!  In the case of an emergency, phone numbers and locations can be quickly retrieved!
*All non-District sponsored courses must be received at Office of Instruction at least fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the first session.  BE SURE YOU ALLOW AMPLE TIME FOR SIGNATURES AND MAIL TRAVEL!!!
*Teachers: You should not pay any registration fees for self-initiated conference days before approval is granted.
*Grade Level Representatives 2008-09:
 K-   Jennifer La Falce
 1st-  Eric Kedzeilawa
 2nd -Rita Bohlinger
 3rd -Kyla Hirsch
 4th- Rachel Leone
 5th-  Theresa Stowell
 Special Areas- Pat Gullick
*If you are absent due to jury duty, we need a copy of the summons.
*Field Trips: Teachers, if you have an Epi-pen student, you must fill out a separate field trip form from your grade level!  This is procedure even when the parent completes the Epi-pen letter and/or if she is acting as a chaperone.
*STUDENTS’ DAILY ATTENDANCE:
If you have 100% attendance, please send the 100% attendance card to the Main Office.

*Tardy students MUST first report to the Main Office.  When a tardy child enters your classroom, please be sure the child has first checked in at the Main Office. *Attendance cards must be in the Main Office by 9:35am.
*Absence notes sent to the Main Office must be initialed and include the student’s ID number on the note.  The ID number may be obtained from the attendance card.

*The first PTA meeting is September 15th at 7:00pm.  Deborah Plambeck is the PTA/Teacher representative.  Denise Lombardi is the alternate.

*Reminder from Personnel: No teacher personal days may be taken the day before or after a holiday unless the reason for the personal day is an emergency and pre-approved by Mrs. Epstein.
*If you should have to “hold the bus” at dismissal, let the office know the stall number so that we are able to release all the other buses.

*BEDS DAY is WEDNESDAY- October something.  More info to follow.

*Fire Prevention Day @FP– October 10th
Sponsored by the Hillside Lake Fire Dept – TBA
Sign up sheet is posted in the faculty room!
 
*Friday’s Bulletin: E-mail or hard copy submissions for the Weekly Bulletin should be sent to me (via e-mail) no later the Thursday before!
 
* Grading criteria and teacher/student expectations must be clearly communicated to the students and parents at the beginning of the school year!

*Please be advised that ALL advertised material/letters must be read and approved by Mrs. Epstein before distributed!
*Every Friday is Dress down Friday.  Each year, we donate the money to selected charity organizations: i.e. Saint Jude’s Research Hospital. If you dress down, the donation is $1.00 per week.  If you want to pay for a few weeks at a time, or the whole year, you can also do that.  There will be a collection jar in the main office on Fridays.  If you need a receipt for the donation, see me and I will give you one.  Thank you.

*STAY Program will begin on Oct 6th.  The days will continue to be Monday & Thursday from 3:40 – 4:40pm in Library.  We need teachers to supervise! Please sign up on the clipboard in the faculty room.
If you have a student assigned to STAY, please remember you must sign the child into the binder in the Main Office and attach the permission slip.
BE SURE TO CHECK THAT SOMEONE HAS SIGNED UP TO COVER THAT DATE.  See Cristine Blake (Rm. 11) if you have any questions.
*School Pictures- October 14th!
*Parents as Partners- September 22nd- K-2
September 24th -3-5
*Plan books due Monday, September 15th
Grades K,1 and 2
POSTED IN FACULTY ROOM:
*Katonah Museum of Art
*Special Education in New York
*School Programs -Lyndhurst Historic site

"There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, "Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams." Then they put the box away and bring it out once in a while to look in it, and yep, they're still there.          -Anon
 
OVERCOMING LONELINESS -FRIENDSHIP
For some of us, our years growing up can be very lonely.  We don’t feel that we fit in.  We don’t feel that we are good-looking enough, smart enough, and well dressed enough.  So we hide out and hang out… all by ourselves.
But look around!  You aren’t the only one who feels this way.  There are others out there that feel the same:
 Are you lonely, O my brother?
 Share yourself with another!
 Stretch a hand to one "un-friended,"
 And your loneliness is ended.
It’s hard to reach out when you are shy and insecure.  It feels risky (scary), but, if you can muster up the courage to reach out to someone in friendship, you may make a friend for life.

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY …OR NOT.  THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

The Friendship Rainbow
Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best, the most important, the most useful, or the favorite.

Green said:
"Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die.
Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

Blue interrupted:       "You only think about the earth, but consider
the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the
basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea.
The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

Yellow chuckled;     "You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun."
 
Orange started next to blow her trumpet:
"I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."

Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
"I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood.
Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."

Purple rose up to her full height:
She was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey."

Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination:

"Think of me. I am the color of silence. You
hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another
for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, Rain began to speak: "You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to
me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands. The Rain continued:
"From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace.

The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow." And so, whenever a good rain
washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another."

Friendship is like a rainbow:
Red like an apple, sweet to the core.
Orange, like a burning flame, never dying out.
Yellow like the sun that brightens your day.
Green like a plant that keeps on growing.
Blue like the water that is so pure.
Purple like a flower that is ready to bloom.
Indigo like the dreams that fill your heart.

Thank you for the blessing of our friendship!

POTATOES, EGGS AND COFFEE BEANS
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.  He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of  the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her, he asked.

"Daughter, what do you see?"

"Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes."

She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard - boiled egg.  Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-- the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.  However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

"Which are you," he asked his daughter.

"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? "
 

In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.      -Author Unknown

"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."   ~ Henry Drummond

Staff Relationships
Courtesy usually begets courtesy.  The colleague who says, "Thank you" or "Please" or "May I help?" establishes a foundation of concern and caring for those with whom he or she works.  When people incorporate courtesy into their daily functioning, a valuable lesson is taught to all in the very best of ways -- by example.  One thing is certain:  Colleagues rarely are discourteous to a courteous colleague.

A Computer Story
I was having trouble with my computer.    So I called Rick the computer guy, to come over. Rick clicked a couple of buttons and solved the  problem.    He gave me a bill for a minimum service call.    As he was walking away, I called after him, "So, what was wrong?"
He replied, "It was an ID ten T error."
I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired: "An, ID ten T error? What's that ... in case I need to fix it again?"
The computer guy grinned.... "Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?"
"No," I replied.
"Write it down," he said, "and I think you'll figure it out."

North Georgia Apple Cake:
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar 3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt 3 1/2 cups peeled & chopped tart fresh apples
1 cup chopped walnuts 2 tsp vanilla
GLAZE:
3 Tbs butter  3 Tbs light brown sugar
3 Tbs granulated sugar 3 Tbs heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, granulated sugar & brown sugar; blend well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt. Add to egg
mixture & blend well. Add apples, nuts & vanilla; mix in w/a spoon. Pour batter into a buttered & floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake in a preheated 325 -degree oven for 1 1/4 hours, or until cake tests done. Remove from oven & let rest in pan for 20 minutes. While cake is resting, prepare glaze. Combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cream & vanilla in a small saucepan; bring to a boil & continue boiling 1 minute.  Remove from heat. Remove cake from pan and put on a wire rack or platter.  Spoon glaze over warm cake.   Serve warm.                        Makes 15-18 servings.

"Look at each day as a chance to invest life into life. It is a chance to share your experience and deposit it into someone else's conscience. Each day is a new chance to work miracles in the lives of others."  Make the most of it!   ~ Jim Rohn

"The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit." ~ Jim Rohn

Letting Go
To let go doesn't mean to stop caring; it means I can't do it for someone else.
To let go is not to cut myself off....
It's the realization that I can't control another.....
To let go is not to enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To let go is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To let go is not to try and change or blame another,
I can only change myself.
To let go is not to care for, but to care about.
To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive.
To let go is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.
To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes,
but to allow others to affect their own outcomes.
To let go is not to be protective,
It is to permit another to face reality.
To let go is not to deny, but to accept.
To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue,
but to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires,
but to take each day as it comes and cherish the moment.
To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone,
but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To let go is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.
To let go is to fear less and love more.                                      ~ Author Unknown ~

THOUGHTS ON NON CONFORMITY:-FROM WALDEN:
“IF A MAN DOES NOT KEEP PACE WITH HIS COMPANIONS, PERHAPS IT IS BECAUSE HE HEARS A DIFFERENT DRUMMER.  LET HIM STEP TO THE MUSIC WHICH HE HEARS, HOWEVER MEASURED AND FAR AWAY.”
-HENRY DAVID THOREAU (1817-1862)

SOLITUDE
LAUGH, AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU;
WEEP, AND YOU WEEP ALONE.
FOR THE SAD OLD EARTH MUST BORROW ITS MIRTH,
BUT HAS TROUBLE OF ITS OWN.
SING, AND THE HILLS WILL ANSWER;
SIGH, IT IS LOST ON YHE AIR.
THE ECHOES BOUND TO A JOYFUL SOUND,
BUT SHRINK FROM VOICING CARE.
REJOICE, AND MEN WILL SEEK YOU;
GRIEVE, AND THEY TURN AND GO. THEY WANT FULL MEASURE OF ALL YOU PLEASURE.
BUT THEY DO NOT NEED YOUR WOE.
BE GLAD, AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE MANY;
BE SAD, AND YOU LOSE THEM ALL. THERE ARE NONE TO DECLINE YOUR NECTARED WINE,
BUT ALONE YOU MUST DRINK LIFE’S GALL.
FEAST, AND YOUR HALLS ARE CROWDED;
FAST, AND THE WORLD GOES BY.
SUCCEED AND GIVE, AND IT HELPS YOU LIVE,
BUT NO MAN CAN HELP YOU DIE.
THERE IS ROOM IN THE HALLS OF PLEASURE
FOR A LONG AND LORDLY TRAIN,
BUT ONE BY ONE WE MUST ALL FILE ON…
THROUGH THE NARROW AISLES OF PAIN.    -ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

Writing as Punishment
“And how do you maintain discipline?”  One of us asked the attractive young woman seated across the conference room table.  The “us” in this object story are four elementary principals.  I, being a rookie, was sitting in on a teacher placement interview for the first time.  The young woman was a fresh-faced college graduate applying for her first teaching job.
She did not falter in her response.  “Oh, I make them memorize poetry,” she said, “Then they behave."  “I am a language arts specialist who is a lover of the language – especially in poetry, its highest aesthetic form!”  I was aghast.
Another applicant on that same day came to us just a shade shy of a perfect grade point average.  I will tell you her response to the question?  “I make them write something for me.”  The next applicant, a matronly person of some years’ experience in the classroom, responded “I have the offenders copy pages from the dictionary.”
Some similarities are obvious in the approaches of the three applicants. Although they graduated in different eras and were products of education departments in different universities in widely separated parts of the country, they advocated handling discipline with methods that share two underlying attitudes. One: schoolwork is punishment. And two: the worst kind of punishment is related to language arts, especially writing.
Before I became an elementary principal, I was an English teacher and department chair in a large suburban high school.  Never once in my dozen years of secondary teaching did I ever hear of a shop teacher assigning algebra problems as punishment, a home economics  teacher assigning a chem. lab, a business ed. teacher assigning the construction of a garment, or a math teacher requiring the timed typing of a business letter.  But some people in each of these disciplines occasionally assigned as punishment the writing of an essay –which usually began, “Why I will never ______ again.”
Is it any wonder, then, that English teachers find it difficult to whip up kids’ enthusiasm for writing?  From the time they entered school, some of their teachers have equated punishment with writing. Whether it was meaningless copy work like a page from Webster’s or an “original” work like a written apology in one hundred words or more, the principle was the same: you were naughty: therefore you will be punished by writing.
Learning by Association- It is a psychological truism that children come to associate with good those things that elicit rewards from parents and other adults. That is why nutritionists despair of ever teaching the American public to abandon junk food. When Johnnie or Susie was good, he or she was rewarded with a cookie, a piece of candy, a cola.  Therefore, empty carbohydrates and calories become symbols of love, approval, and attention.
Conversely, those things that children come to dislike are those to which parents assign a negative value.  Solitude, for example, may be unpleasant if the punishment for wrongdoing is always “go to your room!” Children may learn to despise chores if they are assigned not as part of the maturation process, but solely as penalties for misbehaving.
I recently perused a sample student conduct code prepared by the National Institute of Education. The NIF disclaimed any endorsement of the code, but offered it as a “sample of the kind of provisions which conduct codes often include and an example of a way in which a code might be organized and presented.”
The code cites “written assignment” as an authorized disciplinary action. “Written assignments are to include letters of apology, description of incident, and alternative behavior response; themes about impact of negative behavior on self and others as well as one’s responsibilities to the group.” If the purpose of the discipline is to force children to confront the implications of their behavior, a counseling session with the disciplinarian should be just as effective.  If the purpose is to enforce a sustained and unpleasant experience, then detention or the forfeit of some enjoyable activity such as recess would seem just as effective, without reinforcing any negative attitudes toward completing a written assignment.
Piaget, in The Moral Judgment of the Child, claims that writing as punishment is no more or less effective than any other form of punishment.  In his interviews with dozens of youngsters, Piaget discovered that smaller children believe that the most severe punishment is the “best,” while older children insist that punishment should be just.  The youngsters interviewed by Piaget judged writing on its severity or its justice, just as they would rate any other mode of punishment.  What Piaget does not address in his work is the effect of the punishment on the child’s attitude toward written composition.
When I began my first year as principal, I asked the teachers in my building never to assign schoolwork of any type as punishment; to my knowledge, they have complied with my request.  Recently, a judgment call in a fifth-grade class discipline case gave me the opportunity to use writing as reward rather than punishment.
Notorious Note-Writer - Note passing during the school day was forbidden, but there had been a spate of it in that class.  Most of the notes were meant to be hurtful gossip and petty squabbling.  Once I had the most notorious of the note-writers gathered in my office, I counseled the group on the reasons for their behavior, and its results.
Now if I had believed that the punishment should fit the crime (which I do) and that writing could be used as appropriate discipline (which I do not), I would have forced each of the children to pen long notes of apology to the classmates whom they had maligned.
Instead, I commented that note and letter writing is a natural impulse and that it could be turned to good benefit.  I suggested to the students and their teacher that Friday afternoon become “good news note” time, and that each student select someone in the school who deserved a congratulatory note for a thank-you for a job well done.  In this alternative to punishment, children were given the opportunity to practice their writing skills.  They also had the freedom to indulge with impunity in an activity that held an attraction for them.
It takes some thought and imagination to find appropriate and just alternative stop punishments that work at cross-purposes to what we are trying to accomplish in schools.  I would be ashamed to think that our teachers and principals are lacking in such creativity.
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision- The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.    -anon

THOUGHTS ON NON-VIOLENCE:
“THE NON- VIOLENT APPROACH DOES NOT IMMEDIATELY CHANGE THE HEART OF THE OPPRESSOR.  IT FIRST DOES SOMETHING TO THE HEARTS AND SOULS OF THOSE COMMITTED TO IT.  IT GIVES THEM A NEW SELF-RESPECT; IT CALLS UP RESOURCES OF STRENGTH AND COURAGE THAT THEY DID NOT KNOW THEY HAD.  FINALLY T REACHES TGE OPPONENT AND SO STIRS HIS CONSCIENCE THAT RECONCILIATION BECOMES A REALITY.” -MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (1929-1968)
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS A BAPTIST MINISTER AND PASSIONATE FIGHTER FOR CIVIL RIGHTS THROUGH NONVIOLENT ACTION.  HE WAS FELLED BY AN ASSASSIN’S BULLET IN 1968.

"There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, "Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams." Then they put the box away and bring it out once in a while to look in it, and yep, they're still there.

These are great dreams, but they never even get out of the box. It takes an uncommon amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say, "How good or how bad am I?" That's where courage comes in."  -Erma Bombeck

Life doesn't always work as well as we'd like, and despite our greatest efforts, sometimes our best-laid plans go awry. It's at times like these that we must believe in ourselves more than ever. We have to choose to believe we will make it through, past, and over any and every obstacle; that no matter what, we will succeed. For it is only when we make this choice to believe that in spite of everything we will make it, that life agrees, once more, to conspire with us, and our chances of making our dreams come true are infinitely increased.  "He conquers who endures."
                            ~ Persius, Roman satirist and philosopher

"The best cure for anger is delay."~ Seneca, Early     Roman playwright

The next time you feel your anger rising, don't just try counting to ten like a countdown to the explosion, but instead come up with ten good reasons why the person or the situation making you angry is really a blessing in disguise. It won't be easy, and may really take some creative effort on your part, but in the time it takes to direct your thoughts down this decidedly different path, you'll begin to look at whatever is happening from a new perspective.

Let's face it: You may never come up with ten blessings, but by the time you realize there just aren't that many, your mind will have changed.  And in the process, you won't have just stuffed your anger down refusing to deal with it; you will have transformed it and given yourself as many as ten good reasons to choose love instead. And that, my friend, is yet another blessing you can add to your growing list waiting to be counted.
Paradoxical Commandments
Of  Leadership

People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered.  Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.  Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.  Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men with the smallest minds.  Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.  Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway.

People really need help, but may attack if you do help them.  Build anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you have anyway.    -anon

"Never let yesterday use up too much of today."       ~ Will Rogers, American humorist, 1879-1935

Using up today by rehashing yesterday is like traveling to the Grand Canyon and spending the entire visit in the gift shop looking at postcards. We have to be willing to leave the past behind us and step to the rim of today to take full advantage of the view.        -an0n

Favorite Quotes

The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the
domination of outside conditions.                     - Robert Louis Stevenson
 

Your success and happiness lie in you....Resolve to keep happy, and your
joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.          - Helen Keller

"For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is to let
it rain."  - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs.         - Theodore Roethke

Your success and happiness lie in you....Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.       -Helen Keller

The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from domination of outside conditions.               - Robert Louis Stevenson

Peach Corn-Bread Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
2/3-cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-teaspoon salt
1/2-teaspoon baking soda
1/4-teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-cup buttermilk
1/2-cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons chopped jalapeno chile (about 1 large)
1 can (15.5 ounces) cling peaches, drained, chopped

Heat oven to 400 F.

Coat 18 mini bundt muffin cups (about 2 1/2 inches across) or plain mini muffin cups (2 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches) with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt,
baking soda, and cayenne in large bowl.

Whisk buttermilk, oil, eggs and jalapeno in medium-size bowl.

Make well in center of flour mixture.

Add egg mixture all at once to well; add peaches to well.

Stir liquid into flour mixture just until combined and flour mixture is evenly moistened.

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each of the 18 muffin cups.

Bake in 400 F oven 17 minutes, until lightly browned.

Let cool in cups on rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack; let cool.
 
 

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key!

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh , what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!  So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there.

Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
 

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them."

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to the next state, even to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
 

Celebrating Friends and Family

When it comes down to it, friends, family, loved ones and acquaintances who make you feel more alive, happier, and more optimistic are some of the most important treasures in life.

All the money and power you can imagine are not likely to be as satisfying as good conversation, trust, dependability and laughter. Today take a moment to think about the special people in your life, and ways you can keep those relationships strong.

Make it a priority to spend some time each week with at least one of them - whether by phone, e-mail, in person, or through a letter. Human connectedness is a powerful healer, one we should all share in.       -anon