When I was in Grade One, our teacher, Mrs. Lawrence, would put a piece of paper that was super big (probably only 11x17 but it felt gigantic) on each desk and then she would go around the class with a permanent marker and make a line or a squiggle on everyone's page. From that single... Continue Reading →
Yay Dave!
David Gane brings so many things to the table that I do not. David and I had a collaborative blog a while back. It was the Counios and Gane blog. Then Dave streamlined our website and we created a newsletter and have a Shopify store for our books here. Somewhere in there, the blog was... Continue Reading →
Happy Birthday to Blogging
It's been one year since I began officially blogging on my own. Serendipity In a separate post I will be talking about how Dave managed to get all my old posts back into my sticky little digital fingers and it seems so fitting that it is on the anniversary of this WordPress blog. It's been... Continue Reading →
The Craziest Week of my Life—so far
My friend Ashlee reminded me that today began one of the craziest weeks of my life---so far. Those last two words leave room for more wild times, and why not? It's easy for her to remember my crazy week as it is also around the birth of her first born. As I think about that... Continue Reading →
Offering Kindness is a Mood Fixer
Today I was grumpy. I hate to say that there was no real reason---but there was no real reason. A colleague popped to say hello and we started commiserating, chatting about the general stress of life these days. Just bantering back and forth. "I need a mental health day!" I proclaimed "but it's so hard... Continue Reading →
A Creative Dose
I had a visitor during my morning class, another teacher---she teaches social studies. She sat near my desk studying the room. Quiet indie music played from the speaker in the corner while the students leaned over their large beautiful pastel portraits, working and blending colors, completely focused. "Look at them." She said with a smile.... Continue Reading →
Culinary Therapy
If you love cooking you have already made the connection in the title CULINARY and THERAPY. But, if you don't like cooking, I hope by the end of this you might consider gastronomy a potential option for stress relief. What is stress about? Think about those days when you are struggling. Something negative happens. A... Continue Reading →
International Women’s Day
Happy International Women's Day to all the lovely women in my life, young and old who, every day, do their best to do good. The theme this year is Choose to Challenge. I love that. Let's challenge the status quo, internationally and locally. Because we have to. Because as a women of privilege it's up... Continue Reading →
Getting to Know the Author
My students were cutting up old magazines for an art project. I was day dreaming about the other job in the lull of the quiet work. I found a loose page in a magazine where James Corden answered the following questions. Made me think about my answers. And, well, here they are: Best Pinch Me... Continue Reading →
Taking Steps to Happiness
Sometimes the day to day grind is a royal pain in my ass and frustration follows me around like a cliché that I can't think of right now. And, mostly all the things that make me want to scream are out of my control. The only thing I can control is myself. This also reads... Continue Reading →