If Only You Knew

For sure, a dog is the best therapist in the world. If you have ever been down in spirits, and petted or touched your furbaby...the spirits within you have no where to go but up. It is simply amazing. For myself, I can be the one to hear our youngest puppy at 4:30 AM which is not every day but here and there. I know how I feel mentally and physically, but all it takes is to see her and interact with her and touch her when she climbs up on my lap to know the love that she is sharing. It is a great big thank you. Thank you for coming out for me and taking care of me. Steve says the same thing when it is him going out at the wee hours. 

Dogs have such an amazing power. If we all only knew that it is 'them' training 'us' to be their humans. All along, we thought it was us training them. Well, maybe it is a little of both, although I believe it is more of them training us. They have "super powers."

If you want to understand your dog better, then you need to pay more attention to their communications which can be verbal or non-verbal. Verbal is NOT done in human language, of course.

First, let me introduce the two of us working with our humans to help all other humans. I am Maggie Mae and beside me is my brother, Davis. I am almost one year old and my big brother is 3 years old. We had different moms and dads but we had the same expert, loving breeder named Kim Mills Davis. She is so amazing; full of love and understands each and every one of her puppies and their parents. 

I am the smallest and youngest of the two in this household BUT I am the most vocal in every way that you can imagine. My brother rarely uses his vocal skills. He relies more on his body language, which is all of 61 pounds of him so I suppose that will work. I am only 38 pounds and I am female so I will use every communication skill that I can to get my point across. Whether it is showing my angel side or keeping watch over the neighborhood. I am there for our humans.

All you need is patience and you too can have an obedient human. They really want to please you and make you happy. First and foremost of all, humans want to be sure we go to the bathroom outside. Our silly humans bought "tinkle bells" that hang on the door to ring with our paws or noses to let them know that we need to go out. Davis seems to know this procedure very well. He has it down pat. If they don't listen the first time, he knows how to bang them or pull them off the doorknob, if necessary. They tried to introduce me to this concept. I tried it for a day and it wasn't working for me. I would much rather tell them myself, in my own voice, that I need to go out. So, I go to the back door and bark. I bark only once. It took them a few days to catch on, silly humans! It is much easier and now I really do not need to bark loudly any more. A simple little bark and they come running to let me out. If they don't, I use my paws to paw at the glass of the back door, to let them know for sure, it is an emergency and they need to open the door for me. I can assure you that if I just relieved myself right in front of the door - that would get their attention. I tried that twice. Believe me - they whisked me out the door in a New York minute! The important thing is that you continue having eye contact with said humans. Now they are trained. 

If either Davis or my water bowl become empty, Davis mopes around and sometimes will ring the bells. Silly humans become confused. Does he want out? No, he wants water or food. Davis should really learn more about verbal sounds and how to use them effectively. Even non-verbal - like me! My nickname is now Ringo. Why? Because if my water or food dish is empty I use my two front paws and beat the stainless steel dish as if it were a drum. They get the picture immediately. This Ringo guy must be famous, because they laugh and say, "Ok, Ringo, we get the picture."

For a while, Davis and I were on two different foods. Mine was puppy food which had a little more nutrients in it for a growing body. However, Davis' food tasted so much better and he seemed to like mine better. Go figure. This caused Lola to have to hold the bowls and make sure that I was eating mine and he was eating his. Every once in a while we would confuse her and switch the sides that we came in to her. It kept her on her toes, for sure. Poor Smiley had no clue of how to do this kind of feeding. Lola would mix a little of Davis' food to fool me and him. It usually worked, especially if she gave it to us right out of her hand. She says she must do this because I have the sensitive tummy (whatever that means). Davis eats any and everything. She did buy some pumpkin to help in my digestive issues. Bless her heart.

One more trick to use concerning food is to stay close by them while they are preparing their meals. They are bound to drop something. If not, Davis has this method down pat. He is so good at giving them the sad, woe is me, pitiful eye stare. They always give in and find something that we can have.

 We absolutely adore it when our grand-human daughters come over. There are so many crumbs on the floor for us to lick up. Not to mention in their chairs and on the arms of the chairs. Plus, if it is something they really don't like, they just throw it down on the floor to us. Great girls! We love all 4 of them.

If your humans like to read books or the newspapers, it is always a good idea to let them know when you are in need of attention. Again, my method is to just let out a bark. Davis uses his giant paw and swipes at the book or paper or even the smart phone. Pick your method - whatever works for you. Remember, this is good for them. They do not need to be reading bad news and are desperately in need of the love that we bring to them.

Humans seem to love taking pictures of us, we just must be sure that we are in charge of what they take of us. Sometimes I want to appear like a little doodle angel with my side kick, Davis beside me. He gets it. We are in this together. For example, Lola really wanted a great picture of the two of us sitting obediently in front of the Christmas tree wearing our bandanas for Christmas. Possibly a Christmas card picture. Ha! We both just layed down in front of the tree looking at each other. No sitting like an obedient dog. One picture of Davis alone showed that he was giving in. I had a brief talk with him and he was able to pull back and join me. He tried to tell me about if we were nice, that Santa would bring us goodies in our stockings. Goodies? Hmmmm, well, maybe, sort of, be nice and not so naughty.

At night, our humans settle down after dinner and watch a big screen tv. Sometimes it is a game with a ball involved. Both Davis and I would love to get in that game and catch that ball. It captivates us for a while. However, one day, Smiley had a show on that was all dogs. I was totally engrossed. WOW! I could be on that show and win the Best of the Show. Oh, but I heard Lola say that Goldendoodles had not been recognized yet as a true breed. Doy! What do they know? When it is not a show that we want to watch, we just come up on their laps and let them know that we are a bit bored. Usually, it means that we will get a pig's ear or bully stick or even a frozen meat marrow bone. All is good with us.

They also get the picture that if the weather is right, we may need some time to romp and play at WGAC Day Care. We have 4 legged friends there and also 2 legged friends. They treat us so well and they know what we like to do. Davis is a water freak! So if it is not pool weather, they let him chase the water in the hose when they are hosing down the playground. 

We have learned that when Alexa, some talking box, wakes them up at 6:45, we will be going off to Day Care. Both humans get up and dress and in no time at all, we see Lola get on her shoes, grab her handbag and the leashes get taken down just for us. We can hardly contain ourselves. Davis tries to play Mr. Cool. But once I start barking, he joins in with his happy howl. We try to harmonize just to entertain our humans.

We are always happy to go to WGAC. It does not matter if we are going to the DayCare (although, this is our favorite! Duh! it is like a recess for a kid at school) And all of the 5 two legged workers know our quirks and what we enjoy. The other good thing is that inside WGAC, they all know us when we walk in. Whether it is to see Dr. Taylor, who is the best! Or the front office staff who don't even ask our names anymore. They just know! Plus there is Amber, our groomer. She is pretty fantastic. Great haircuts that make us look beautiful and handsome. She just instinctively knows what to do.

With a little work, you too can have well trained humans. Remember that we have a real duty to our humans. Encourage them and love them and you will receive all of that love back ten times more. Trust me!
Maggie Mae

Look For the Good

Have you ever known people who only can seem to find the down side to everything? For me, it is just terribly depressing to be around these types of people. So, I manage to find ways to avoid this. Switching the topic to something more positive and leaving on a high note usually works for me. The truth be known, I have just given in to the fact that one person can't change this trait in others. A person has to make the choice to be happy.

My blog topic this week was going to start out based on hearing so many negative comments about the great city that we live in and all of the suburbs. How there are people who think this is the only place that murders, killings, stabbings, and other bad news happens. They actually believe that moving away further from it will help. Pick up any newspaper, turn on any news program and open your eyes. It is everywhere. The media focuses on the bad news because that is what sells the news, unfortunately. 

This is something that I disagree with. More and more friends talk about turning the news off because it has just gotten out of control with reports of bad things happening in our city. I decided to look through the paper to see if there actually was good news reported. And the answer is a resounding yes.

The first article on the front page and carried over to a full page inside the A section was all about a math teacher at a local public high school who won the "Oscar Award of Teaching" for the state of Tennessee. It was $25,000 awarded to him for the difference that he made in his students' lives based on what he does daily with them.

On another page was a rather long article giving information on how teens can get Shelby County Government jobs this summer. A definite way to get a foot in the door for a possible future internship, scholarship, career? But also a way to make some money on the side to help out their families. These were full time 37 1/2 hours a week jobs. Did they pay much? No, however, we are talking about 16 year olds. There really is not a place for them to be hired and guaranteed full time work once school is out.

Below that was the news of Chris Hemsworth and Elton John, each donating a million dollars toward the wildfires in Australia. I have heard and read about others doing the same. These are such positive, feel good stories. 

One does not need to be famous or super wealthy in order to make good things happen. Who says that one person can't tackle a major problem single-handedly? It seems that a weekly newspaper was going to stop the presses at the end of this month. The editor was going to retire. The paper had been established since 1853. It's claim to fame was that Mark Twain had once written for the paper under his real name, Sam Clemson. One man who had saved up for most of his life to be able to take a trip around the world decided that saving this newspaper was much more important and gave up his trip to tackle keeping this newspaper alive and well. 

Every day there will be news. Some will be good and some will be bad. We are all the pilot of how it will affect us and what we will allow ourselves to focus on. Just to prove my point about there is good and bad everywhere...I read about a terrible shooting that left one dead and three injured. Guess what? It was not in Memphis or the surrounding areas. It was not in Tennessee. It was not even in the United States. It was in Ottawa, Canada. News happens everywhere!

Good news can include pets. Take for example a black lab that rides a bus daily to take herself to a Dog Park to play. This truly is a feel good story. Her name is Eclipse. Her owner took her on the bus to go for exercise at a Dog Park. He started taking too long to get to the bus stop so she took it upon herself to get on the bus alone and take herself. The bus driver loved it and the passengers did too. When the bus stopped where she was to get off she did and played for a while before catching the bus back home again.

This story is on YouTube from many different news sources. As you can see, Eclipse loves the attention, the passengers love her and all is good. Her owner even put her bus card on her dog collar

There are so many places to get our news information from now-a-days. One thing that I know I try to do is to always source it. Find out if it is real news or made up or even partially made up. There is a lot of that going around and due to social media, news travels faster than the speed of light. I believe this has always been the case, it is just that with technology today, it seems to be all over the place. 

Allow yourself to be picked up in good vibrations. Deal with the bad in a healthy way. Allow yourself to reflect on ways that you may be able to help turn the situation around to a more positive outlook. You may just discover that once you have crossed over to  seek out the good in things, your whole life will begin changing for the better.

Want a Sure Fire Way to Feel Good?

The Way Towards Feeling Good

For myself, I know that I do enjoy life more when I am happy. Who doesn't, except maybe Cruella in 101 Dalmations.      

Apparently, she gets her happiness from stealing it from others, sort of like The Grinch!. The truth of the matter is that it is not happiness that brings us gratitude, it is gratitude that brings us happiness.

This concept sounds simple enough, but I have learned gratitude must be practiced. It is a skill to learn. It is not a one time deal and over with. It must be intentional and consistent. It makes us all feel good to make others feel good. 

I read about a good idea that helped me even more than writing about one thing in my journal daily that I was grateful for or a way that I practiced gratitude. It has to feel natural to me if I am going to get the positive benefits. The idea that for me that hit home was to write down one gratitude in my day that stood out and put it in a jar. I like to use a see through pretty jar and write it on small colorful paper. It is such a perfect visual as the jar fills up. So far, I only have 5 pieces of paper in my jar. This practice of mine started on the first day of 2020. 

Really it is mind over matter. Let's say that I am having one of those kind of days while driving in traffic. The kind where aggressive drivers seem to be everywhere cutting me off, not taking turns at 4 way stops, running red lights or speeding past me even though I am already going 5 - 10 miles over the speed limit and they give me a hand signal as they zoom by me. It is a time that I use to practice gratitude. Taking in deep breaths and thinking of something that I am grateful for in that moment of frustration. It helps me to not spiral negativity within my thoughts. Sometimes, I simply say out loud to myself in the car, that I am very grateful that my life is not filled with such anger and aggressive expressions as that driver who just behaved so badly.

Another way to help myself feel good is to start the day with what I am grateful for. Is it always easy to do this? Not always. At 4:30 or 5:00 when our youngest puppy gets one of us up, while dressing enough to go out in the cold to take her to do her business, I am thinking over and over to myself, that I truly am grateful to have this little furball wagging her tail, so happy to see me. Licking/kissing me, as if to say, "Good mornin,' Lola. Thank you for hearing me and taking me out. You taught me so well to not ever want to make a mess in my crate." 

That is when I really feel grateful. Not only for the happiness in her body language as she lovingly prances to the backdoor but also that I do not have any mess to clean up thanks to her calling out to me. 

Every time that I give myself a bit of self-criticism, I like to pair it with an expression of gratitude to myself. It helps me to be kinder and more gentle to myself, more like the way that I talk to others. Why should I exclude myself from this positive gratitude? For an example, I can be really hard on myself if I go over my net carb count by eating or drinking something that I knew I shouldn't have. What good does it do to beat myself up about it? Thinking more of what makes me grateful such as hopping right back on this lifestyle program because look at where it has taken me from a year ago? I look and feel so much better.

We all need to use the words, "Thank you" more than we do. I know that I do. Saying it with intention and to those that I know and some that I don't know personally. Just saying the words thank you to my husband for the things that he does for me without even thinking about how happy it made me, such as bringing back a coffee to my dressing table in the morning. Going out to bring the paper inside. Bringing me flowers weekly! Watching American football with me, especially with all of the college bowl games and the NFL playoffs, even though he is much more of a fan of British football. All of these and many more all deserve a genuine thank you! To the supermarket worker who loads up my trunk with groceries, or the barista who makes my special keto- friendly coffee...THANK YOU! Just because it is someone's job, does not mean they do not deserve a thank you. Watch your child glow with pride when you thank them for doing their chores. It starts to become a habit for them because they can feel the happiness in their hearts. They see how good it makes their momma feel and it carries over to them.

Gratitude is contagious.

I have come to realize that when I practice gratitude it turns the most ordinary moments into extraordinary ones that really fill me with a deep appreciation of being alive. As Einstein wrote, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Easily, one can see that the word gratitude can be exchanged for miracle. Which way do I want to live my life? With gratitude that brings me happiness.

Now What?

Now What?

I am posing the question of, "Now what?" because it is now too late to avoid the holiday weight gain for this year. Truly, for most of us, there is not a realistic way of avoiding holiday weight gain. What I do believe is that I can avoid a big gain and blowing what I have been working so hard on just by staying focused on what I was putting in my mouth.

This image is what came to my mind when I thought about overeating or eating too much of a good thing. For me, it would have been emotional eating. If I was able to see through why I was wanting to travel to the dark side of eating, that was half of the battle. Stress can be handled in other, more positive ways.

Each person has their own way to get through the holidays. Maybe you can eat anything you want and never gain a pound? There really are people like that. Hard for me to believe, but they walk among us. Then there are those who go on specific diets. Been there and done that. Only to then gain it back when off that 'said' diet.

What has been working for me is reading information about making healthy choices by watching the amount of carbohydrates, fats and proteins that I consume. I never thought that I could do without bread, without pizza, without potatoes, pasta. I now know too much these foods do not work well in my body. I feel so much healthier without them and the weight has really come off at a steady pace. Fifty pounds so far! There have been times when I hit  plateaus. Instead of getting frustrated and diving for ice cream or chips and dip, I have learned other ways to cope. Companies actually make low carb or zero carb ice cream, bagels, breads, pizza dough. Fast food chains are beginning to add to their menus items that work for low carb eaters. I never realized how much flavor the bun took away from a delicious grass - fed hamburger patty with onions, tomatoes, cheese, mayo, avocado, bacon, mustard all wrapped up with lettuce.

It gives me a chance to be creative in ways I never dreamed of. First of all, let's think about the holiday season. Actually it starts with all of the candy brought in for Halloween. Lucky for me, we do not have trick or treaters at our home. Most parents seem to opt for the trunk or treat parties these days instead of going door to door to strangers' homes. Wise in this day and age. So I only keep in a small amount of candy for special little granddaughters. This is usually the kind that I can resist easily. 

As soon as Halloween is over, there comes the Thanksgiving Feast. Food, food and more food. I don't know about others (well, yes I think that I do) but this always involves potatoes, gravy, dressing, corn pudding, cheese grits, yeast rolls, and several kinds of desserts.

People that I have watched eating in a low carb life style are the ones that have simply amazed me at how it is just the way they live now. Plus, there are so many healthy alternatives and great things out there to eat. I really did enjoy that whole holiday season and with a little planning I believe that I was about to avoid overeating. I chose quality foods if I was going have a slightly higher carb grams in my meals. One English roast potato instead of two and definitely instead of mashed potatoes. A tablespoon or two of cornbread dressing with turkey and ham - both definitely something that I can fill up on instead of eating too much of the dressing. Add fresh green beans wrapped in bacon and there was plenty to eat and truly enjoy both Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities.

All without feeling that I blew it and how will I ever get back on track. I did that last year and I believe that is what helped me not have a derailment this year. It was not a good feeling of beating myself up. My willpower is easy to lose if I don't stay ahead of it. And I am not easy on myself. I decided that I did not want to go through that again. My action plan had to be a strong one after my 2018 gluten and sugar fest. Why put myself through that again? There is a better way.

Doing a little research on holiday recipes that are lower in carbs and then testing them out was actually quite entertaining. My husband and I enjoyed trying Pecan Bars using almond flour. Delicious! So now, a new dessert added to the menu at our home, as well as other food stuffs. 

This season of holidays and our birthdays, I stayed with actually keeping track of what I was eating in my Carb Manager app. It held me accountable. To lose weight, I must be in a certain range, to maintain, another range and if I go over my range too often then I know that I am not a happy camper and I don't feel very good and that is inside and out.

It also means getting that recumbent bike going more and more. Some of the things that were on my wish list are helping me get it all together. Nutribullet! It is an amazing small blender that I can use to make delicious meal replacement shakes. My husband got it for me. It weighs out and calculates the protein, fat, calories for each one that I make. I made my first one today. It was positively delicious. It was so good that my husband wanted one for his meal, too. 

I am lucky in that he wants to make this his life style right along with me. We help keep each other in check without judging. We both love to cook so trying new things is a great creative outlet that we can share together. It has continued to improve our health and overall disposition. His doctor is overjoyed at his weight loss. 

Whatever happened over the holidays in your life, if you want to make your action plan, then go for it. The most important part is to make the plan realistic. It is never too late to set a new life/wellness goal and create a new you for the New Year. 

Christmas Cheer

Spreading Christmas cheer is just a huge part of the month of December. For me, it really begins as soon as Thanksgiving is over. At least the decorating part does. My shopping started way before. I sort of keep my eyes and ears open all year for little gifts that may delight someone special. I know that the holidays should not be all about the presents, but I can't help it. I love seeing the faces of those opening something that I chose for them. Seeing their surprised faces is so rewarding. On top of that, I adore wrapping the presents. And, I developed my own plan so that I am not overwhelmed with wrapping our large family gifts all at once. I wrap as the gifts arrive or I go out to purchase them. 

I must admit that I am not one for going out to the big sales, hunting for a parking spot, going in and out of the cold or rain, dealing with crowds, etc. It is so much easier to shop on line and have it delivered. I know! This takes away from the brick and mortar businesses. We all must do what works for us and this is what works for me. Standing in long lines or trying to find a sales clerk to help me find what I need just is not my cup of tea. 

Christmas parties with friends is always a nice thing to do on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It truly is a special feeling to be invited to a friend's home for the celebration of Christmas. Especially if it is not an ugly sweater get together. We would not be able to go to one of those. I have sworn to Santa and all of his elves and reindeer that I will never, ever wear one of those.

Even going to The Grand Peabody Hotel with the beautiful Christmas tree in the Lobby, as well as the ducks swimming in the fountain and the Gingerbread Village baked and decorated by their Award Winning Pastry Chef, Konrad Spitzbart, in Chez Phillippe Restaurant. Steve and I now have a tradition to go to The Peabody between our two December birthdays for their High Tea. Such a delightful way to get into the spirit of Christmas.

Peabody Lobby Tree

The pastry dessert course in three tiers at The Peabody High Tea.

Our own decorations are quite fun to get out and place around the house. I am always happy when a stored box of ornaments and decorations or the tree does not have a spider lurking around, much less something else. We tried so hard to get our goldendoodles to sit nicely in front of the tree but they would have no part of it. They did it their own way.

Okay, okay, so our lights are Christmasy and we love them. They actually make little moving green and red lights on our walls, ceilings and floors in the front rooms of our home. Below, is a neighbor's home! What can I say? They truly love to decorate and go for it. I believe that each year they add something else. Amazing!

There is one thing about Christmas that I for one must be aware of. NOT to overeat. Since going on my lifestyle plan of Keto, there are many ways that I can work on keeping the carbs low. I won't be in my 20 - 50 range, that is for sure. Nor should I! Yet, I will allow myself to try a little of this and that, just because Christmas comes but once a year. I always make sure that it is quality calories. Many of our traditional food is low carb. Lucky me! So I do not feel left out. I will splurge and have a small bit of jalapeno cheese grits and for sure a bite of cornbread dressing and one of Steve's roasted potatoes.

 I am making Keto pecan pie and will find out if anyone notices. I know it is not the 100,000 calories of the Nutella pie, but it is satisfying. I always have ice cream so that the little ones (and some big ones) can make their own sundae.

Whatever gets you into the spirit of your holidays, go for it. I love a little mistletoe somewhere in our home, not that we need that to steal a kiss, just keeping in the spirit. With that being said, there is probably not a chance that we will have a white Christmas here in Memphis. I have seen my share and they are magical, especially if you don't have to go anywhere. The very best one of all for me was when my family met up in Colorado with my brother's family and just as we were all finished with breakfast and ready to open gifts, snowflakes started falling in the Rockies. Of course, there was already very deep snow, but each flake was just so beautiful to see on this very special day. The Ski Resort was closed so we were not going out anywhere. That really made me feel calmer and at peace.

So go ahead and have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now!

Forgive

Maybe when you saw my title of this blog your mind went to another place. I needed to write this blog specifically for myself, which I suppose that is what I do each week. This was overwhelmingly what I had been feeling for about a week, maybe two. I needed to forgive myself for not accomplishing my to do list each day. Not only that, but to realize that I have that right and I need to exercise it when going through turbulent times.

My days and sometimes into the evenings have been jammed packed with 'stuff' to do. Add in there that  it is the holiday season and there is probably where the problem lies. This picture shows what I have been feeling like in my own mind:

Yes, usually you see a hamster or some other rodent riding in his little wheel within his cage. Because the fact that I can't stand hamsters, guinea pigs, mice or rats, I opted for a real human to represent me.

It seems that every event or circumstance the last few weeks have caused a series of more related events. I would have a planned out purpose of running errands and get in the car and, "Boom," the warning light of the car goes on and says a headlight is out. So add that on to the list of errands to stop by and sort out an appointment.(Let's not even get into the cost.) In other words, this is yet even another day to take care of an extra errand.

Insurance premium changes came in the mail which forces a long wait on the phone to speak to a human being, many times explaining it to one person and then being transferred to someone else to explain the situation all over again. Frustrating. It seemed to be something of this nature every single day. 

A policy that I started last year was to wrap presents as they were purchased. This is versus sitting down for part of several days to wrap forever...So, I have worked diligently on this and have kept up to speed with it all. I was not a happy camper if something had to be left to wrap for the next day. Why? It was on my to do list and by gosh, I wanted it done.

Two birthdays thrown in for good measure. And yes, fun, fun, fun! I would not change our plans for either one of our dinners out. Following that we were graciously invited to a Christmas soiree that we accepted. Would not have missed it for the world. The only other major thing to do that day was to get our youngest son to the airport for his American pilot training course. By the time I hold two bowls of dog food for our dogs to eat (and this is once in the morning and once at night), get them in and out for potty breaks, get dinner on in the crock pot, make a light brunch, take a moment to read the paper, check e mail, etc...the day is used up. Kaput!

Right here, right now, let me repeat. I have the right to forgive myself anytime I want. When I thought about what my Monday would bring, I had to remember this. YES, I do have the right to forgive myself for whatever I did not accomplish for the day. 

Monday and the start of a new week. I am going to slow it down. The weather brought a gray, gloomy and stormy day. It was time to forgive myself for not getting my Monday blog out earlier and probably cost me some readers. It is ok. I am so grateful that our two furbabies need us to help guide them to go out in the rainy weather, even when they really don't want to. This means it may take several times before they actual realize themselves that they had better go NOW. Neither one has had an accident and I know they do not want that to happen. I sure know that I don't want to return to those puppy days.

Also, on the to do list was to go back to the school where I taught and was the AP to read with my husband to two classrooms, the rooms where our granddaughter had been the year before and is in currently. What fun! Two fabulous teachers and two classrooms of amazing, polite students. As we walked the halls to the two rooms, we would get to see some of the staff that I worked with for all of those years. I am grateful to have the opportunity to take time out of my day (our day) to just enjoy and hopefully bring some joy and fun to those two rooms. 

All in all, things work out and if I can't cross off everything on my to do list, the world will not crumble. All is well!