New day

(from Positive Thoughts Facebook page)

Maybe I am just a simple person. Maybe I was born under a lucky star. Certainly not with a silver spoon in my mouth or already on second or third base. I’ve worked hard all of my life. I have had good role models and mentors. Maybe sometimes I’ve just been in the right place at the right time. I haven’t cured cancer. I won’t leave a great sum of money to someone trying to cure cancer or to feed all the homeless people in the world. I get stuck worrying about the mistakes I’ve made in the past and how I would do things differently if given the chance. But that’s not the way it works. Living in the land of guilt doesn’t get me very far. It only produces anxiety and the occasional panic attack or long, sleepless night. I’ve seen a therapist a few times, one that I chose because her bio said  “I enjoy using humor in my work to create an interactive dialogue with my clients that is nurturing, informative and positive.” And she hasn’t let me down. She even told me in our first session that she curses and if that bothers me then maybe I need to reconsider. She sold me there. I think that I am rambling. No, I know I am.

I try to start my day with something positive. I read Sean Dietrich‘s latest Facebook post. It either makes me laugh or cry. Sometimes both. At the same time. I look at Facebook to see what my buddies are up to (two of my gals are in France right now- one in Paris, one in Nice; another one is in Switzerland). I gave up all of the negative crap out there and I don’t worry too much about the Russians hacking into my account, truth be told.  I know that sometimes the positive stuff seems trite. But sometimes it hits home. The above post was what I needed this morning. Along with this To-Do list in French:

(from Santé Nutrition’s FB page)

I had a good day. Of course it helps that it was a beautiful, sunny 75˚ spring day. I love my job, even in May when dreaming of summer is how more than a few middle schoolers spend their time. But I also tried to remember to check off the items on this list:

• Smile.
• Take advantage of the sun.
• Say thank you.
• Remain positive.
• Don’t judge.
• Pay someone a compliment.
• Help someone.
• Say I love you.
• Be happy.

I smiled and made goo-goo eyes at this cutie pie.

I was sitting outside Tutti Frutti enjoying a cup of frozen yogurt after school.

He was with his mom. She told me he is 18 months old. I told her about my 14-month old granddaughter and how much I look forward to sharing frozen yogurt with her one of these days soon. He made me smile. And I made him smile, too. I told the mom what a darling he is. And I meant it.

One of my colleagues brought me coffee this morning. I thanked him profusely. I also thanked JB from our business office who came to my classroom to help me finally reconcile my receipts from the March France trip. I thanked her as well for taking care of all those pesky French bits of paper.

I sat outside in the sun, on a bench in the garden right outside my classroom, to eat my lunch.

I tried to be helpful to our administrative assistant and find some pictures of a couple of colleagues. I did not succeed. But I pointed her to someone else who might be more helpful than I was. I kept my patience with (almost) all of my students and helped them as they worked on presentations, projects, and we checked homework. (Maybe the really good cup of coffee helped…)

I told Sister Moo that I love her and that I hope she feels better. She suffers from arthritis and Arthur, as she calls it, tries to get the best of her. We have made plans for a girls’ week at the beach with Niece in June. I hope that helps keep Arthur at bay. It always help me to have a trip to look forward to.

I didn’t do too well in the Don’t judge category. But you know what, tomorrow is a new day. I will try to do better. Not perfect, just better.

I made a delicious loaf of quick bread this weekend. I couldn’t bear to see the blueberries and raspberries in my refrigerator go to waste.

Blueberry Lemon Quick Bread

(fromChezSpice at All Recipes)

• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup white sugar (I reduced this to 2/3 cup)
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn’t use)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (I also added raspberries)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I didn’t glaze mine, but it sounds good!)
• 1/4 cup white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8×4 inch loaf pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, 1 cup sugar, juice and eggs. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into egg mixture alternately with milk. Fold in lemon zest, nuts, and blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Remove bread from pan and drizzle with glaze. Cool on a wire rack.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2018 Allrecipes.com
Printed From Allrecipes.com 5/8/2018

Bon appétit to all! Don’t be too hard on yourself. Most of us just do the best we can on a daily basis and strive to do a bit better tomorrow. Heed the above advice and I will try to do the same.  Much love and many thanks to all of my readers out there. My heart skips a bit every time I get a notification that I have a new subscriber.