Twenty Days and Counting

Another high school reunion is fast approaching. Conversations are often the same, "So Nancy, what have you been up to?," they will ask. With that in mind, I started thinking about what I've accomplished in the past five years. So here's what I've come up with in no particular order: become seriously interested in photography ("When does a hobby become an obsession?," my sister asks. "When I spend $600. on a lens," I answer.), joined Facebook, taken three photography classes at the Showcase School, taken four on-line photography classes at Kennesaw State, started volunteering at my local elementary school and stopped, spent over four hours hanging out under the Brooklyn Bridge taking hundreds of images while my hungry husband waited patiently... God, I love him,

worked as an extra in a television show (Drop Dead Diva), started writing this blog, spent two weeks traveling around Provence with my sister and brother-in-law,

figured out how to download songs according to the beat onto my iPod for walking, started an on-line shop on Etsy, done several art shows, planted lavender that actually lived, painted our front staircase in black and white, designed my own web page (in html no less...okay, I'm bragging), went to the Oprah Show in the middle of winter and got Gore's DVD instead of a car :(, went to NYC on a girl's trip with my three of my long-time friends, lost two friends to cancer, saw the Chihuly exhibit at both the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and the New York Botanical Gardens,

visited my niece's fourth grade class in Brooklyn and almost killed one student, joined a Bible study at church...still with it, started taking YOGA classes...absolutely HATE the plank pose, began a life-long study of Photoshop, really, and bought my first pair of Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers in RED!

That just about sums up my life for the past five years. I'm ready for the reunion. So tell me, what have you been up to?

Note To Self: NEW YORK CITY IS COLD IN APRIL

I've been back in Atlanta for six days after my trip to New York and I've finally thawed out. I know you think I'm exaggerating, but the temperature didn't get over 50 degrees while we were there. But a little thing like freezing temperatures and hurricane force winds didn't stop us.

I met my sister, Janie, at the Atlanta airport with her friend, Shirley, who were changing planes to continue their trip to NYC. I joined them on the final leg of their journey. Shirley was going to visit her daughter and Janie and I were visiting my niece and Janie's daughter, Jennifer. We thought it was a perfect time to visit Jennifer because it was her spring break and she could spend the week guiding us to the right subway and pointing us in the right direction on the city streets. It was nice not having to have our AAA maps in our frozen hands at all times. We must have walked miles and I know we climbed hundreds of steps. Although it rained or misted most of the days, I was able to take a few shots on two of the days.

On Monday we met Shirley at the River Cafe located on the Brooklyn side of the East River. The restaurant is located near the Brooklyn Bridge and is steps away from an area called DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). After lunch (which I might add I couldn't recognize many entrees on the menu...I had chicken) we set out on an adventure. I think Janie and 'em were looking for Jacque somebody's chocolate shop and I was looking for THE SHOT. After finding the chocolate shop and getting great hot chocolate, we found Water Street where I took these shots.

The next day we met my oldest sister, Ann, in the city. We had lunch at a really nice restaurant behind the New York City Public Library, followed by a tour of the library. As we were walking, before the rain began, I managed to get this shot. This house is located directly across from the Port Authority. I haven't cropped or enhanced any of these shots, so please be patient.

It was wonderful seeing and visiting with Ann. We ended our visit with a glass or two of wine at the bar in the Waldorf-Astoria. After putting her on the bus to Hartford, we managed to crawl to the subway heading to Brooklyn.

The last day, Thursday, April 16th, the sun appeared! We packed and then headed to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The cherry trees were in bloom and the tulips were everywhere. As we walked along the paths we saw turtles sunning themselves. Here's a few of them.

I don't usually take photographs of landscapes (except the beach), but this was too beautiful to ignore.

Here'a a shot of my sister and Jennifer. FYI, they were standing in the shade so I used my flash. Until I took my last photography class, I had never used a flash outside. Who knew?

Here is the final shot. I asked a young woman who had a SLR camera around her neck to take this picture, thinking that she knew how to use it. Not so fast. Not only did she not focus the shot, but the composition is not so good. Whatever.

Looking back, I think it's a good thing that she didn't focus. It's hard to see the enormous bags under my eyes and the extreme pain I was in from the endless walking and climbing. Now I know why you rarely see older people ride the subways. Come to think of it, there really aren't that many overweight people down there in the tunnels. That's something to ponder Jenny Craig.

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I must end this post by thanking Jennifer for allowing us to hang out with her for six days. She was a expert tour guide who showed extreme patience with her aunt and mom. She even let me use her Mac to check FB every day, okay twice a day. I bet next year during spring break, Miss Jennifer will high tail it out of the city to parts unknown. Who could blame her?

My New York City Adventure: Part 1, Brooklyn

I love to visit New York in the late summer or early fall. Last week I was able to finagle another visit, but this time I had several objectives. They were to help Jennifer set up her fourth grade classroom in Brooklyn; attend a swing dance event called Hudson Swing Affair, where Tom, my husband, was a deejay; shoot the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn side; and last, but not least, visit with my sister, Janie, and my brother-in-law, Dennis.

Because this is going to be a post of EPIC proportions, I absolutely must break it into several posts that the average human can read in minutes, not hours. I know I will lose several readers (Janie) if it is too long. So, with that in mind, I will begin at the beginning.

The plan was to arrive at LaGuardia and meet Janie and Dennis, who were coming from California. As usual, my flight arrived first, so I had to wait for about two hours for their plane to arrive. I guess I didn't realize when I made the reservations that I would have that much of a wait, but I did so I dealt with it. As luck would have it, I brought that book along, the one about Renoir that I mentioned in a previous post. I also had some old Coke and trail mix. I was set. I propped my feet on one suitcase and read and watched and read and watched. Finally they arrived, and we got a cab to Jersey City, New Jersey. "Why," you may ask, "did we go to Jersey City?" Well, it's like this. Since Tom was playing at the swing event at the Hyatt in Jersey City later in the week and we got great rates, it made perfect sense to stay in the area before moving to the Hyatt. That's why. Anyway, a hundred bucks later, we arrived at our hotel and checked in. We immediately inquired about FOOD, since the trail mix didn't go very far. We were told that the restaurant in the hotel was closed, and it wasn't looking good at the bar/restaurant across the street. Living on the wild side, we took our chances and went across the street, but because it was after 11:00 P.M.,the kitchen was closed. After ordering wine, we immediately started groping in our purses for some morsel of food. We found some stale pretzels and crackers covered with lint and a few melted M&M's. At this point, we couldn't be picky so we dove in. It was dog eat dog. I don't drink that much wine, so the impact it had on me with my empty stomach was huge. The weather was perfect, so we stayed there and drank and talked and drank and talked. Finally around two we crawled across to the hotel and crashed.

The next day, Thursday, we planned to go to Jennifer's school in Brooklyn. HA! Easier said than done. New Jersey has a different transporation system than New York. That means that PATH stations are only in about five subway stations in the city. We had few choices because we were going to Brooklyn, and not every station in the city has trains going directly there. So after lunch we began our journey. Got the train to the World Trade Center, exited, walked to God knows where to get a subway to 33rd street to get the Q to Brooklyn. Did it. Got off at 7th Avenue, called Jennifer, got walking directions to her school. Eight blocks later, we were there. Piece of cake. This is a shot of the brownstones on one of the streets we walked down.

Jennifer's room in the school is on the third floor. Did I mention that? And it's not air conditioned. Did I mention that? So as soon as we could catch our breath and lower our heart rates, we visited with several members of the staff. We caught up with Brad, who used to teach fourth grade across the hall; met her cute, perky, supportative and wonderful assistant principal, Jill who has a 1 1/2 hour commute from Long Island; met Tania who moved into Brad's old room; and Julie and Kim. Soon Jennifer put a halt to all of the visiting and immediately put us to work. Janie labeled literacy books, Dennis worked the label maker, and I covered bulletin boards while Jennifer worked on organizing papers, books, and plans. We had to vacate the building by five, so we were working fast...not that fast because we knew we were returning the next day so we weren't pushing the panic button, YET!

On the way to Jennifer's apartment, we stopped at a cute little Mexican restaurant for yet another glass of wine and a chip or two. Notice the Tibetian store in the background? That gave us the strength to walk several more blocks to yet another cute little restaurant down the street from her apartment on Vanderbilt. This one was Italian. We had a wonderful dinner and made our plans for Friday. We were going to try to arrive earlier to help her because it would be the last day before the students arrived. Our intentions were good. We said our good-byes and started walking. Jennifer went to her apartment two minutes away, and we went to the the subway to begin our hour-long trek to Jersey. Thank goodness for Janie because she figured it all out. We crashed, watched Obama, and went to sleep.

Things get complicated the next day. Before going to Brooklyn, we had to check out of the Courtyard and check in the Hyatt. Although the Hyatt was only one subway stop, we had to get a cab. Here we go. Load it up again and unload again. We checked in and HAD to have lunch before going under the Hudson River, across Manhattan, over the East River and down and over eight blocks to her school. It was around two when we arrived, late, as usual. This time Dennis and I scrubbed desks, swept the floor, scrubbed the sink, and put out worksheets while Janie labeled books. She's kinda task-oriented, likes to finish what she begins...the Blue Bird oath, or is it Camp Fire Girls oath? There really wasn't a lot of talking...it was work, work, work. The room looked great..very creative and very organized. The custodian told us that we had to leave again at five. We were ready. Jennifer decided to join us at the Hyatt, so after loading up her "stuff," we were on our way.

Here's Jennifer as we wait for the subway in Brooklyn. Can you say "pose"? Can you say, "not a lick of makeup"? Jennifer's words, not mine. Cute is cute, with or without makeup.

Jennifer took this shot of us waiting for the train. I wanted her to get the name of the station in the shot. She did...venue? OK, I guess 7th Avenue would have taken up too much room.

What a day! We were exhausted. On to Jersey City. Tom arrived at the hotel and the event began. Part 2, Hudson Swing Affair, coming soon.

Jennifer Comes For A Visit

This week, my niece from California, Jennifer, came for a short visit. In September, she will be starting her second year teaching fourth grade in Brooklyn, New York. I say that she's from California because that is where she was born and raised, and where she will eventually end up! I know she loves NYC, but we all know the weather in NYC doesn't compare to southern California.

The reason for her visit was to see Tom and me, but really to observe several veteran teachers whom I think are fantastic at the school where I worked for many years. As Eloise would say, "Here's the thing of it..." Jennifer, along with hundreds of other first year teachers didn't get to experience the first of the year chaos because many of the colleges hadn't started their fall semester. By the time they are given their student teaching assignments, public schools have already been in session for a month or so, and the students have already been informed of the rules, consequences, routines, etc. As a result, many of these first year teachers are thrown in their classrooms with no idea of what to expect that first day, first week, or the first month. Harry Wong and Ron Clark are wonderful resources, but actually being able to experience the beginning of school is so important. Some colleges do have what is called, "September Experience," that actually places student teachers in public schools for the first two weeks, before they begin their student teaching. Not Fordham.

The school year starts early in the south and in the north, specifically NYC, they start the day after Labor Day. This worked out great for us because Jennifer was able to observe and meet with several experienced, creative and amazing teachers. She arrived last Tuesday evening and we were at school early Wednesday morning. Wednesday was the last day of preplanning; the students were coming Thursday. Naming each teacher who helped her is going to be dangerous because I know I'll forget someone. Jennifer spent most of her visit with Mary D. Debbie B. also met and shared with her as well as Martha S., Sammie C. and Tracy. Cathy C., the math coach gave her a few resources and Karen P. showed her the computer lab. Patti C. took the time to gather up tons of activities and gave her tips on how to use them. The wonderful thing about this school is that ANY TEACHER would have been willing to stop what they were doing and help her.

Thursday was the first day of school for the students. Mary D. agreed to allow Jennifer to spend the morning in her classroom. We made it to school a little before the bell rang. I was hoping that they would have the morning announcements up and running, and they did! I was in the hall when I heard "It's A Beautiful Morning," play. I ran to Mary's room and watched the students do the announcements on BTV. The gifted teacher, Wana S. does an excellent job with BTV. Every school should have morning announcements on TV. The students love it and they listen. Thank you Wana! Jennifer was able to observe Mary's first encounter with the students. Really, this was the second time she met the students because "Meet and Greet" was earlier in the week...great idea, it soothes the nerves of the students and the parents. Jennifer was amazed at how much time was spent on the rules and procedures. She was also surprised to hear, "Yes, ma'am," and "no, ma'am." Southern manners...aren't they great? In fact, she told me one of the students in Mary's class said "yes ma'am" to her...her first time! Another thing that surprised Jennifer was the absence of noise in the hallways. Students enter the building quietly with little or no talking. Students do talk during lunch and some times that area gets extremely loud, but the monitors have it under control.

We left school during lunch. I think she was up to her eyes with ideas. Sharlene, a former "partner" in school met us for a relaxing lunch at a nearby restaurant. There we shared what Jennifer observed and what she wanted to use in her classroom. Mary's idea of tickets seem to be the #1 idea. Consistency and enforcement of rules, as well as positive reinforcement should be the first thing taught and discussed with students at the first of the year. Unfortunately, first year teachers are bombarded with curriculum and lesson plans, so they seem to concentrate on them, instead of "laying down the law." Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.

Martha's bulletin board idea was also a hit. Dollar Store, here we come!

That evening my friends, Penny and Karen came over for dinner. Barbara stopped in earlier for a quick visit. Karen stayed a little later, talking with Jennifer about Smart Boards. They searched the internet trying to find out the difference in Smart Boards, Promethean Boards and Activboards. Jennifer is one of a few teachers in her school who has an Active Board in her classroom. Karen, being a math coach and a veteran teacher has lots of ideas and was sharing them with her. Jennifer used this technology at Fordham and loves it. Another tool that Karen told Jennifer about was the Magic Ruler. Knowing Jennifer, she'll get right on it and figure out a way to get them. Thank you, Karen.


Before flying home to California on Friday, we did some last minute shopping. The first and most important stop was Lakeshore...a great store for anything to do with education. We bought some cut-outs in an ocean theme for her to use in her classroom. Then we went to Casabella, where I work a few hours a week and finally, Borders. I broke down and bought a book on Windows Movie Maker. I surrender. I need help.



I really want to thank everyone at Brown for all of your help. All of the teachers who I mentioned in the third and fourth paragraph, I can't thank you enough. Jocelyn, the principal, Lorraine, the assistant principal were so welcoming. Jocelyn, you didn't have to let us come and observe, but you did. What a great principal you are! Thanks also to the office staff. Nancy, you are always so welcoming and Jan thanks for giving me a copy of an invoice of an idea that we want to use! Although I'm no longer a part of your school, I have wonderful memories of my years there. You have shown Jennifer just how great a school can be. Look out Brooklyn!


I hope all of you have a wonderful school year. I know Jennifer's will.






Yes, I put her on MARTA. Hey, she's ridden subways all over the world. What's one more?