So here is what I CAN tell you;
You are at meet the teacher. You quickly get a bunch of forms together for parents to fill out for this very quick and superficial meeting. You give a spiel whilst everyone violently fills up every blank line on those forms so as to give you all the info you think you need to get to know their kids as much as possible. You take pictures of their children to prepare for the first day and try to capture what you can to gather any sort of inkling to give you a leg up about these new little people soon to fill the spaces in your room. You partake in very regular, normal, exchanges that first day. You can only gather so much and you can only give so much. Never in that moment can you really understand anything about each other.
Because....
Our stories...
They lie between the lines...
They rest in the spaces we do not see.
Today I called every single parent in my classroom.
I called them because I am a mom. I am a teacher AND a mom. Not everyone has that amazing and awesome luxury and priveledge. I am blessed. I know this. If I want to know what Athena or how Athena is doing ...all I have to do is walk down a hallway...but my parents, I can just imagine them. Sitting at home, waiting with bated breath to make sure their child wasn't some sort of hellion, some misbehaved distortion of the reality they envisioned. Parents wanting to know if their child was all they thought they could be.
Here is what I can tell you that no one else does...
Parents worry.
Parents want to know you
Parents want to know they can talk to you.
Parents want a connection with you.
Parents have so much they want to tell you.
Sometimes you are the only person a parent can talk to.
And sometimes....
ALL
IT
TAKES
IS
ONE
PHONE
CALL
And that very phone call. Can change you. Both. Forever.
Maybe I have always known how important it was to listen to people and FEEL their ....pain...sorrow...happiness...joy...sadness...whatever it was they were feeling...but after having gone through Rice Storytelling, after hearing my OWN story through Houston Playback Theatre....somehow the importance of that was magnified times 100. Now when people speak, I don't try to rush them, I don't try to go through the motions, I listen. With my ears, my heart and my soul. I absorb their story. Will that make a difference in my students lives? In the lives of their parents? I don't know. But no one tells you the profound impact it will have on your life.
I'm glad I know.
Screw the generic questionnaires ....I will be personally calling each and every parent for the rest of my teaching career....It's a beautiful thing...stories waiting to be heard....and all one has to do is dial a few numbers.....
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Was it as good for you as it was for me?
My precious, beautiful, cantankerous little genius.....
Once upon a time something told me that there was an exceptional beginning inside of me. And that beginning was YOU. And from the moment I knew there was a new being, new life, new start within me...I did what I could to make sure you loved books. I started reading to you from the MOMENT you were conceived. You know that books, words, stories, they have played such a fundamental role in bringing me to this point, to this place, maybe I shouldn't say brought me...perhaps I should say books brought me BACK to where I have always belonged. So it was only natural that if there was to be an extension of me.....a piece of me that would live on when I no longer could...that this piece could carry on what I thought was so magical about stories...to pass on to everyone they knew and crossed paths with how vital words are to our existence. How they enrich our lives, connect us to people, makes us question, ponder, believe, linger for, imagine, empathize, love, laugh, cry, and I could go on and on, but essentially, what I guess I am trying to say is that books, stories, words....they helped me live and I wanted you to know that. I wanted you to feel what I felt in the midst of a great story that tore me apart from literally EVERYTHING. NeeNee...there have been books, I kid you not, that I have not done ANYTHING else but read them in an entire day. I have devoured 1,000+ page books in a day or two. I will seriously reject all other human life form, food intake...personal hygiene...okay okay you're right maybe not all that...but NOTHING takes precedence over a good book (that is, until you have a child) MAN OH MAN....is it ever HARD to read with a small child....today I set the timer on your iPad and grabbed a book after I had ran a bath for myself, lit some candles, all that jazz...I said, " Athena when the buzzer goes off you can join me in the bath..." I set the timer for 15 minutes...enough to read at least 2-3 chapters in one of the books I was working on currently...1.5 minutes later you come strolling into my bathroom, having to pee, poop, contemplate the intricacies of the universe, talk about string theory....absolutely anything you could think of to just be in the same room with me. I just wanted a few minutes of silence to curl up to a delicious story. But YOU....you weren't having it. I said, "Athena, grown ups need to have at least a little alone time, just like I give you when you need it, otherwise they might go crazy and call Viola Swamp...." To which you responded, " Ugh, can I just poop? Anyways, I am talking to myself, not you. And AND FINE! I'll whisper!" How is this all connected to books? I will tell you how....you are 3 flippin years old ...talking to me like you were fifteen...that wouldn't be the case..had I not read to you from day one...and I literally mean day ONE...and kept that up to this day. They way you speak, express yourself, it's not normal ..or maybe it is and just not enough people know how powerful it is to pass on the love of words to your child. I have always kept you surrounded by books, you have seen me read, to you and to myself for sheer pleasure, to educate myself, to figure something out, to personalize an experience, you have seen me rustle through a dictionary when I didn't know a word and jot down in the margins of a book what a certain word meant, so that when I danced again with that book I wouldn't have to pause for formalities, we'd be old friends. I have witnessed you emulate all that I felt was important about books and our own personal story. I can't begin to attempt to find the words to express how moved I am for what I see has been absorbed into your mind and heart. I will tell you more about that another time ...this is where I want to end tonight. Look below for some pictures of how you are always surrounded by books....
I love you my darling..
Always
And
Forever...
Once upon a time something told me that there was an exceptional beginning inside of me. And that beginning was YOU. And from the moment I knew there was a new being, new life, new start within me...I did what I could to make sure you loved books. I started reading to you from the MOMENT you were conceived. You know that books, words, stories, they have played such a fundamental role in bringing me to this point, to this place, maybe I shouldn't say brought me...perhaps I should say books brought me BACK to where I have always belonged. So it was only natural that if there was to be an extension of me.....a piece of me that would live on when I no longer could...that this piece could carry on what I thought was so magical about stories...to pass on to everyone they knew and crossed paths with how vital words are to our existence. How they enrich our lives, connect us to people, makes us question, ponder, believe, linger for, imagine, empathize, love, laugh, cry, and I could go on and on, but essentially, what I guess I am trying to say is that books, stories, words....they helped me live and I wanted you to know that. I wanted you to feel what I felt in the midst of a great story that tore me apart from literally EVERYTHING. NeeNee...there have been books, I kid you not, that I have not done ANYTHING else but read them in an entire day. I have devoured 1,000+ page books in a day or two. I will seriously reject all other human life form, food intake...personal hygiene...okay okay you're right maybe not all that...but NOTHING takes precedence over a good book (that is, until you have a child) MAN OH MAN....is it ever HARD to read with a small child....today I set the timer on your iPad and grabbed a book after I had ran a bath for myself, lit some candles, all that jazz...I said, " Athena when the buzzer goes off you can join me in the bath..." I set the timer for 15 minutes...enough to read at least 2-3 chapters in one of the books I was working on currently...1.5 minutes later you come strolling into my bathroom, having to pee, poop, contemplate the intricacies of the universe, talk about string theory....absolutely anything you could think of to just be in the same room with me. I just wanted a few minutes of silence to curl up to a delicious story. But YOU....you weren't having it. I said, "Athena, grown ups need to have at least a little alone time, just like I give you when you need it, otherwise they might go crazy and call Viola Swamp...." To which you responded, " Ugh, can I just poop? Anyways, I am talking to myself, not you. And AND FINE! I'll whisper!" How is this all connected to books? I will tell you how....you are 3 flippin years old ...talking to me like you were fifteen...that wouldn't be the case..had I not read to you from day one...and I literally mean day ONE...and kept that up to this day. They way you speak, express yourself, it's not normal ..or maybe it is and just not enough people know how powerful it is to pass on the love of words to your child. I have always kept you surrounded by books, you have seen me read, to you and to myself for sheer pleasure, to educate myself, to figure something out, to personalize an experience, you have seen me rustle through a dictionary when I didn't know a word and jot down in the margins of a book what a certain word meant, so that when I danced again with that book I wouldn't have to pause for formalities, we'd be old friends. I have witnessed you emulate all that I felt was important about books and our own personal story. I can't begin to attempt to find the words to express how moved I am for what I see has been absorbed into your mind and heart. I will tell you more about that another time ...this is where I want to end tonight. Look below for some pictures of how you are always surrounded by books....
I love you my darling..
Always
And
Forever...
 |
| This is roughly accurate to the number of books we check out each time we go to the library. |
 |
| Books...on top of the kitchen counter...Ay Dio Mio! |
 |
| Kitchen Bookshelf |
 |
| Mami's Library |
 |
| Isn't it beautiful...? |
 |
| Your library! Even more beautiful |
Monday, June 23, 2014
Creative Writing Camp
I had the amazing honor and pleasure of being a part of Rice University's SLC's Year Long Storytelling Project--this familiar place where I was nudged, gently reminded why I am a teacher. Especially. An. Early. Childhood. Teacher. I got to expose children to the power of words and how expressing these words, THEIR words, made them such powerful little people. They got to live everyday in my classroom knowing that words and ideas have this very tangible magic to bring people together, to unite them in a way that nothing else can. I saw children hover over my story taking clipboard, waiting with bated breath to see if they had made it into their friend's story. And I get emotional just thinking about the "Yessssss!!" fist pumping that would ensue when their name was in fact chosen to take part in dramatizing their classmates words. I promise you nothing in the world is more fulfilling and rewarding than witnessing the excitement of storytelling. The buzz that it all created in my classroom. The community that came to life right before my very eyes with words of love, praise, encouragement and understanding that all came about because of storytelling. And through this project I became a part of E.L.L.A --this was the SLC first ever cohort funded by Phillips 66 short for Early Literacy Leadership Academy. I will definitely write you more about that later, but for now know that because of both of these things and because I like to surround myself people who will make me better I was able to participate in Creative Writing Camp. This is a collaboration between Writer's in The School and Rice S.L.C. Athena....it is a dream. THIS is what school SHOULD be. THIS is how children should get introduced to books, reading and words. It should be an experience that involves their whole being and one that the teacher enjoys as much as the children. I just wanted you to know that it is all for you. I will show you more than I can tell you, but FOR NOW this I can tell you because it is what I know....Stories, words, ideas turned into unforgettable moments, sentences, phrases that move you, impact your life ....your soul... THAT ,my dear, is what life is all about. Everyone has a story that someone wants to hear, needs to hear, wouldn't be the same without hearing. I am here telling you my story because this is exactly what I need to be saying, and telling it to exactly who needs to be hearing it. And I can only pray and wish and hope with every pore of my being that I am lucky enough to not just know and hear your story but be a part of it.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Too long...
Once upon a time a girl started to write, to write until her fingers could bear no more. She lived for the moments when she could lose herself in this delicious world of words and get in touch with a part of herself that no one else seemed to be able to get to. This girl would linger for the touch of the keys beneath her fingertips, the feel of a pen held tight between those three strong fingers which so adequately told the story of her life, the smell of the ink running from the pen. But somehow, somewhere, something happened which kept her from this destiny, from this place she called home. Something pulled her away from the only solace she knew. And yet no matter how far she pulled when she sprung back, she would do so with such fervor it brought chills to everyone she knew. She was infused with the spirit of writer who did so with such fluidity and facility that everyone would tell he she needed to never stop. Maybe that is why she was always somehow always pulled back into the world of words, maybe that's why when it had been too long her fingers seemed to take control to help her let it all go, maybe when it had been too long her soul just knew it was time for her to pour forth what her heart needed to say, maybe when it had been too long the Universe aligned itself to help the world hear her voice, her words, her story.
When it's been too long,
The Silence
Must STOP
Must be B R OOO K EEEEE NNNNN
When it's been too long
Too long
Listen
When it's been too long,
The Silence
Must STOP
Must be B R OOO K EEEEE NNNNN
When it's been too long
Too long
Listen
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Change....
"Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown."
-George Shinn-
My dearest Athena!
It has been like seventeen million years since I last wrote you and I feel compelled to sit here and share a few thoughts with you. You are 11 months and your first birthday fast approaches. So many things have changed and change in my opinion is a wonderful yet scary, scary thing. So your father and I are no longer together and you and I have our own huge, wonderful home together. It has been an interesting experience traveling through life's misadventures with you at my side. Sometimes it is overwhelming but with every passing day it gets easier. However, very soon mami is going to be burning the candle at both ends unlike I've never done before.
I have a job working as the resident coordinator for the two properties that our apartment management company oversees. So I have to coordinate so many thing for over 550 tenants. On top of that I start a new job next week going back to my server days. The only reason for that is because I start baking and pastry school at the end of August and restaurants are usually the most flexible with school. When I start thinking about it all I get emotional because I know that for the next four months you and I won't get to spend as much time together as I'd like. After spending every minute with you for the first 10 months of your life having to not only put you in daycare but spend so much time away from you really kills me. I never thought it would affect me the way it has. I really wish that things would've turned out differently, that I could've stayed with you forever but alas, we are where we are and that's okay. I will make sure to work my fingers to the bone in order to provide for you and give you everything you need and deserve. I cannot depend on anyone but myself in order to make that happen. And I know that we'll get to the point where I can be with you all day again and be your teacher and everything else you need me to be.
Very soon my beautiful, gorgeous goddess an incredible amount of things are going to change and I embrace it all with open arms. I can't wait to see how we will overcome all obstacles and challenges that we are faced with. With Jehovah and each other at our sides we can do it ALL! I love you!
-George Shinn-
My dearest Athena!
It has been like seventeen million years since I last wrote you and I feel compelled to sit here and share a few thoughts with you. You are 11 months and your first birthday fast approaches. So many things have changed and change in my opinion is a wonderful yet scary, scary thing. So your father and I are no longer together and you and I have our own huge, wonderful home together. It has been an interesting experience traveling through life's misadventures with you at my side. Sometimes it is overwhelming but with every passing day it gets easier. However, very soon mami is going to be burning the candle at both ends unlike I've never done before.
I have a job working as the resident coordinator for the two properties that our apartment management company oversees. So I have to coordinate so many thing for over 550 tenants. On top of that I start a new job next week going back to my server days. The only reason for that is because I start baking and pastry school at the end of August and restaurants are usually the most flexible with school. When I start thinking about it all I get emotional because I know that for the next four months you and I won't get to spend as much time together as I'd like. After spending every minute with you for the first 10 months of your life having to not only put you in daycare but spend so much time away from you really kills me. I never thought it would affect me the way it has. I really wish that things would've turned out differently, that I could've stayed with you forever but alas, we are where we are and that's okay. I will make sure to work my fingers to the bone in order to provide for you and give you everything you need and deserve. I cannot depend on anyone but myself in order to make that happen. And I know that we'll get to the point where I can be with you all day again and be your teacher and everything else you need me to be.
Very soon my beautiful, gorgeous goddess an incredible amount of things are going to change and I embrace it all with open arms. I can't wait to see how we will overcome all obstacles and challenges that we are faced with. With Jehovah and each other at our sides we can do it ALL! I love you!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
That's how I know.
There is a song by one of my very favorite artists in the world...India Arie....it's called God is Real. It so perfectly encapsulates everything I feel about Nature being the visible face of God. I remember the first time I heard this song. I happened to stumble across the new album India had released that had this track on it. I was just busting at the seams with excitement when I paid for it and walked out to my car. Never in my life had I been more excited about having a CD player in my car than I was at that moment. I put it on and jammed every song. Every song infiltrated my pores and resonated within my core. And then, this track came on and I was just forever changed. I felt this sensation at my toes start tingling and causing my toes to feel as though they were throbbing and that sensation traveled little by little all the way to the tips of my fingers and to the split ends of my hair ....and I felt like I had been electrified back to life, infused with a spirit and a message that was just undeniable. I had never felt more connected to a set of lyrics partnered with some beautiful melody.
The sweetest honey to the brightest flower
The largest planet to the smallest atom
Snowflakes and the bird kingdom
Smaller thatn the eye can see bigger then the mind can conceive
Heard a man on the radio today
(spoken)i mean I’m not going to believe in anything that I can’t see and i’ve
Been through a lot of hardships in my life ya know ya know in my life
Must confess I disagreed with what he had to say
How he could he not believe that God is real
I don’t understand how
He could feel that way
When there’s earth, air, water, and fire
So many different flowers
Sunshine and rain showers
So many different crystals
And hills and volcanoes
Chorus
That’s how I know that God is real
All of this is not by chance
That’s how I know that God is real
All of this is not by chance
That’s how I know that God is real
I know this is not by chance
That’s how I know that God is real
That’s how I know that God is real
In st. lucia I jumped in the water
(spoken)it was like I was seeing it for the first time. it literally changed
My life.
For the first time I understood it’s power
As I swam I was cleansed
If I had any doubts
This experience cleared them
Now I know for sure that God is real
I know that it’s the truth
By the way it feels
Cause I saw starfish and sponges
Fish shaped like trumpets
So many different colors
I stayed out there for hours and I only saw a fraction of a fraction of the
Deepest of the deep of the great blue wide
It brought a tear to my eye
We’re made of the same stuff
As the moon and the stars
The oceans saltwater just like my tears are
You feel me
The sunrises and sets everyday without fail
When people say they need "proof" of Jehovah's existence, I laugh. I laugh and I feel a bit sad. There are two things I KNOW, I FEEL are real life proof of Him. Nature and The Human Body. I am belittled by Nature's Fury and all it is capable of. I look up at the sky and I can't help but feel this infinite sense of wonder. I stand in the rain and feel it beat against my skin and renew it with the essence of Earth, I stand and watch an ant carry a leaf 200 times it weight and size, I am humbled by phototropism, cellular respiration, and deciduous trees that soak up the chlorophyll in the winter and spit it back out in spring, I just can't help but feel when I see all these things this overwhelming sense of .....well....I don't know....something so much Greater than ourselves. So much Bigger. And as though looking into the night sky and drowning in it's cosmic and celestial wonder and feeling this tug at my soul as though I were bound by a rope around my waist that was being pulled into a galactic maelstrom of a black hole wasn't enough to make me believe, then there's the Human Body.
I've always been in awe, in utter, unequivocal, irrevocable and profound awe of what our bodies are capable of. I mean we can carry within us the Divine power to heal ourselves, to fight infection, to regenerate, to reproduce, and to do things no other species are capable of. I HAVE always had a fascination with medicine and all the miracles and intricacies of the human body it has exposed and introduced me to. I remember being in my Anatomy and Physiology class in college and being moved to tears when Dr. Mishra would go on and on about how incredible and magnificent we were. How every thing was symbiotic and nothing could work quite as well without some other thing going on. How we were mere puzzles and everything had its place and reason and we worked together consciously and unconsciously....voluntarily and involuntarily to maintain a most magical machine. I have never felt that more vehemently than when I wake up next to you and watch you sleep. I think about the fact that you started your life off as a little traveling liquid that found something about me favorable enough to knock you into existence. Then within me you grew day by day into a little person with your own set of everything. And then you were here. And when you were first born you were so unsure with your movements. So hesitant. You'd lay on the changing table and have these sporadic bouts of appearing like you were falling off The Empire State building. Like you needed some reassurance that I'd be here to catch you if you fell. And every month you surpassed some developmental milestone and my belief was deeper and deeper. I watch in amazement how you manipulate your little fingers to bring things to where you want them. I watch you bring your feet up to your mouth to explore these amazing new things you just discovered. I crack up as I watch you learn on your own that if you bite your fingers, it hurts. You went from needing my hand behind your neck at all times to holding up your little head all on your own....I've watched you go from comatose to "God why can't you just keep still for a second?!!" I pondered over your health because you slept all day and stayed awake all night and now beg for a nap longer than thirty minutes. Your body has settled into it's circadian rhythms without a bit of help from me. You were a thought and because of what we are capable of you lived inside of me for nine months and now you are real and every day I am fortunate enough to witness how amazing it is to watch a body develop and unfold right before my very eyes.
I am truly blessed to be able to understand and appreciate how amazing we are and how amazing it is to be able to appreciate the world around us. And when I am asked how I know that God is real.....my answer is not a difficult one to conjure....it's quite simple.
I wake up, I live, I have you, that's how I know.
The largest planet to the smallest atom
Snowflakes and the bird kingdom
Smaller thatn the eye can see bigger then the mind can conceive
Heard a man on the radio today
(spoken)i mean I’m not going to believe in anything that I can’t see and i’ve
Been through a lot of hardships in my life ya know ya know in my life
Must confess I disagreed with what he had to say
How he could he not believe that God is real
I don’t understand how
He could feel that way
When there’s earth, air, water, and fire
So many different flowers
Sunshine and rain showers
So many different crystals
And hills and volcanoes
Chorus
That’s how I know that God is real
All of this is not by chance
That’s how I know that God is real
All of this is not by chance
That’s how I know that God is real
I know this is not by chance
That’s how I know that God is real
That’s how I know that God is real
In st. lucia I jumped in the water
(spoken)it was like I was seeing it for the first time. it literally changed
My life.
For the first time I understood it’s power
As I swam I was cleansed
If I had any doubts
This experience cleared them
Now I know for sure that God is real
I know that it’s the truth
By the way it feels
Cause I saw starfish and sponges
Fish shaped like trumpets
So many different colors
I stayed out there for hours and I only saw a fraction of a fraction of the
Deepest of the deep of the great blue wide
It brought a tear to my eye
We’re made of the same stuff
As the moon and the stars
The oceans saltwater just like my tears are
You feel me
The sunrises and sets everyday without fail
When people say they need "proof" of Jehovah's existence, I laugh. I laugh and I feel a bit sad. There are two things I KNOW, I FEEL are real life proof of Him. Nature and The Human Body. I am belittled by Nature's Fury and all it is capable of. I look up at the sky and I can't help but feel this infinite sense of wonder. I stand in the rain and feel it beat against my skin and renew it with the essence of Earth, I stand and watch an ant carry a leaf 200 times it weight and size, I am humbled by phototropism, cellular respiration, and deciduous trees that soak up the chlorophyll in the winter and spit it back out in spring, I just can't help but feel when I see all these things this overwhelming sense of .....well....I don't know....something so much Greater than ourselves. So much Bigger. And as though looking into the night sky and drowning in it's cosmic and celestial wonder and feeling this tug at my soul as though I were bound by a rope around my waist that was being pulled into a galactic maelstrom of a black hole wasn't enough to make me believe, then there's the Human Body.
I've always been in awe, in utter, unequivocal, irrevocable and profound awe of what our bodies are capable of. I mean we can carry within us the Divine power to heal ourselves, to fight infection, to regenerate, to reproduce, and to do things no other species are capable of. I HAVE always had a fascination with medicine and all the miracles and intricacies of the human body it has exposed and introduced me to. I remember being in my Anatomy and Physiology class in college and being moved to tears when Dr. Mishra would go on and on about how incredible and magnificent we were. How every thing was symbiotic and nothing could work quite as well without some other thing going on. How we were mere puzzles and everything had its place and reason and we worked together consciously and unconsciously....voluntarily and involuntarily to maintain a most magical machine. I have never felt that more vehemently than when I wake up next to you and watch you sleep. I think about the fact that you started your life off as a little traveling liquid that found something about me favorable enough to knock you into existence. Then within me you grew day by day into a little person with your own set of everything. And then you were here. And when you were first born you were so unsure with your movements. So hesitant. You'd lay on the changing table and have these sporadic bouts of appearing like you were falling off The Empire State building. Like you needed some reassurance that I'd be here to catch you if you fell. And every month you surpassed some developmental milestone and my belief was deeper and deeper. I watch in amazement how you manipulate your little fingers to bring things to where you want them. I watch you bring your feet up to your mouth to explore these amazing new things you just discovered. I crack up as I watch you learn on your own that if you bite your fingers, it hurts. You went from needing my hand behind your neck at all times to holding up your little head all on your own....I've watched you go from comatose to "God why can't you just keep still for a second?!!" I pondered over your health because you slept all day and stayed awake all night and now beg for a nap longer than thirty minutes. Your body has settled into it's circadian rhythms without a bit of help from me. You were a thought and because of what we are capable of you lived inside of me for nine months and now you are real and every day I am fortunate enough to witness how amazing it is to watch a body develop and unfold right before my very eyes.
I am truly blessed to be able to understand and appreciate how amazing we are and how amazing it is to be able to appreciate the world around us. And when I am asked how I know that God is real.....my answer is not a difficult one to conjure....it's quite simple.
I wake up, I live, I have you, that's how I know.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
No such thing as useless.....
My beautiful chunky little warrior!
You should know that your mother absolutely loves random bits of knowledge. As if the wonderful and extensive and quite vast array of knowledge that the world or books gives me wasn't already delicious enough ......I'm blessed to have the wonderful world of weird and wacky and some may say useless trivia. I have to confess I don't believe ANY knowledge is useless. Goodness no! So I wanted to share some of my favorite tidbits with you....
You should know that your mother absolutely loves random bits of knowledge. As if the wonderful and extensive and quite vast array of knowledge that the world or books gives me wasn't already delicious enough ......I'm blessed to have the wonderful world of weird and wacky and some may say useless trivia. I have to confess I don't believe ANY knowledge is useless. Goodness no! So I wanted to share some of my favorite tidbits with you....
- Bananas are herbs - Although referred to as banana trees, they are not trees at all but a perennial herb. Its trunk is not a true one, but many leaves tightly wrapped around a single stem which emerges at the top as the fruit-bearing flower stalk.
- Dr. Seuss actually pronounced Seuss such that it sounded like Sue-ice.
- Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand draw with the other at the same time.
- By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand. One should carry a stout pole while traveling in quicksand country...when placed under one's back, it helps one to float out of the quicksand.
- Laser is actually an acronym for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emissions of Radiation."
- There are enough blood vessels in your body to wrap around the Earth almost three times.
- Lightning is three times hotter than the surface of the sun.
- If you unfolded your brain it would cover an entire ironing board.
- The average four year old asks 437 questions a day!( WOW! I can't wait to answer them or look for the answer to all of them.)
- Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day. (So we will always make each other laugh mami, so we will both be healthy, beautiful women!)
- If the normal one hundred thousand hairs on a head were woven into a rope, it could support a weight of more than twelve tons. (It's a good thing to know in case we ever need to build a bridge .... huh?)
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