Testing Season is Here!

While for the most part, I am excited that I am not the test coordinator for my school this year, I am still in test coordinator mode and it's driving me bonkers. I have the organizational and communication skills to plan the pants off of testing for a school (even if I do think it contributed to my high blood pressure diagnosis). So when I think about the next 60 school days at my year-round school and the 22 days of testing (kinda crazy, ain't it?), my wheels are turning with all the logistical questions about who will test where, what the schedule will look like, and keeping the staff happy and informed.

I know it's not my problem this year, but it still concerns me. While I was only in charge of testing for two years at my school, I did a darn good job. Ask most any teacher or staffer at my school. Most people were pleased with how it all turned out on a daily basis and overall.

I have the confidence that this year's test coordinator will do a fine job of making it all happen the way it should. It may not be exactly how I would have done it or on my self-imposed time frame or with my flare or passion. But testing will happen. It's just still in my blood.

Once a test coordinator, always a test coordinator.

I is for Ice Cream

I love ice cream! My favorite is chocolate peanut butter ice cream, but almost any fruit flavored ice cream comes in a close second. As a child I remember my dad dragging out the old crank ice cream maker and the bag of rock salt and mixing up yummy peach or strawberry ice cream in the heat of the summer. Such a comforting, fun childhood memory, I want to recreate it as an adult and make memories of summertime ice cream fun with my daughter.

So 'I' is for ice cream. I've added "Buy an ice cream maker" to my bucket list.

Mmmmmmm.....!

H is for Historic Home

My husband is a preservation specialist, taking care of old houses, fixing their aches and pains, and leaving them proud and stately. He has worked on many homes in our area and in the county in which we grew up. He can tell you about historic homes across our state, when they were built, who built them, who lived there, their importance in our state's history.

We don't live in a historic home, though. The kind of house we want would be pre-Civil War and probably need lots of work and updates. He says we'd probably kill each other trying to restore or rehabilitate an old property. I don't think so, though. I think we would love and care for and raise our old house so that it would be with us for a long time. (Photo: Bracebridge Hall, Edgecombe County, NC)

You can find great historic properties in our state at Preservation NC.

G is for Grandma

As I continue participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I'm still sticking with the theme that I chose -- my bucket list.

G is for grandma. I want to be a grandma some day.

Okay, so this isn't really something on my list that I have any control over. I can always travel to places that I want to visit. I can always go back to school, get more education, and get a different job. I can write, act, sing, any of the actionable items on my list.

I cannot make myself a grandma. But I see the wonderful relationship between my daughter and my mother, the love and kindness, the curiosity, the generations between them. I remember my own relationships with my grandmothers, especially Granny, my paternal grandmother, and I want to be the old woman doting on my granddaughter, taking her to the Pizza Inn, helping her plant flowers in the garden, reading her stories.

Great memories to make in the future.

F is for Fresh Food

Ten years ago when we moved to our current home, I attempted a garden. It wasn't really much: three short rows with a few hills of tomatoes, okra, and green peppers. The okra produced way more than my husband and I could enjoy. After two weeks of fried and stewed okra almost every night with dinner, we were done.

I grew up with lots of fresh foods at the table. My dad always plotted out at least a 20x20 spot for planting vegetables: tomatoes (large and cherry), butter beans, peppers (red and green, sweet and hot), okra, pole beans, carrots, potatoes. And there was always a short row where I was allowed to plant flowers, usually zinnias.

I would love to be able to plant and maintain a REAL vegetable garden at some point in my life. While a big 20x20 plot isn't in my future this summer, maybe my daughter and I will attempt to plant a few seeds and a few hills of something.

Fresh food. It's what's for dinner!

E is for (New) England

Some of my friends think I'm odd that I really don't have a lot of desire to travel overseas. I really enjoy traveling in the U.S., and I'd rather visit the few states that I still haven't seen. That's why today's Blogging from A to Z Challenge entry from my bucket list theme is "E is for (New) England".


I really want to take a late summer or an early fall trip up through the New England states. I think the cooler temperatures and the beautiful scenery would be just what this gal would love! While I have been to Boston for another ALA conference, we didn't really have time to go sightseeing. (The fact that it was mid-January and snowing didn't help either!) I want to visit the lighthouses of Maine and eat some lobster. I want to see the incredible foliage of Vermont. I want to learn more about Paul Revere in Massachusetts. I want to walk the historic campus of Yale University in Connecticut.

I should call my travel agent!

D is for Disney World

I was 35 years old when I finally went to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Two other friends, also in their 30's, and I decided to attend the American Library Association's annual conference in June of 2004. Since it was in Orlando, we added on a side trip to Disney. (Well, truth be told, the conference was more of the side trip!)

I had so much fun, playing and exploring like a kid, enjoying the thrilling rides and taking in the entertaining shows. And of course, we ate lots of yummy foods at the themed restaurants.

I want to go to Disney World again, but this time with my daughter who is currently five years old. I want to experience Disney with her! It should be awesome!

Raise your hand if you are ready to go to Disney with us!