1. What’s your favorite fall scent? Would we find this in or around your home right now?
I love the smell of the woods in the fall! The crisp, crunchy leaves and a whiff of a bonfire somewhere. We have lots of dead leaves outside!
2. October is Country Music Month…are you a fan of country music? Do you have a favorite country artist? Ever been to Nashville? In terms of lifestyle are you more country mouse or city mouse?
I do love country music! I don’t follow artists and unfortunately I don’t feel comfortable playing the country music radio station with kids in the car. But I do have a country playlist for running and will listen to a country radio station if I’m driving by myself – or if the song is clean enough!
3. How about ‘country cooking’? (loosely defined as rich flavors, familiar foods, large portions, often fried, and often associated with the southern region of the US of A)?
I love good country cooking! We would always laugh because even at a chain restaurant like Cracker Barrel, the fried food is different in the south!
chicken and dumplings-fried chicken-shrimp and grits-biscuits and gravy-mac and cheese-fried green tomatoes-cornbread-collard or turnip greens-deviled eggs-‘barbecue’-gumbo-banana pudding
Which of the foods listed is your favorite? Any on the list you haven’t tried or would say a firm no thank you to if offered?
How about fried okra? Now that is a good comfort southern food! I would try most of those foods, but probably wouldn’t try banana budding.
4. What’s something that always has a positive impact on your mood?
Going for a run! Even if its not a “good” run, my mood improves dramatically afterwards. And a good, long run is a great way to sort out all the thoughts tumbling in my head!
5. As we say so long to September share a noun, a verb, and an adjective that tells us something about how that month looked for you.
Full. September was very FULL.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I have a teacher related complaint. I’ve always felt this way, but this week I saw some random Facebook post on the topic and it touched a nerve. So, here’s the thing that I wish non-teachers knew: taking your kids out of school for vacation is fine (truly, I can support it!!), but it adds a LOT of extra work for the teacher and it often leaves the kiddo feeling behind when they get back. I know it doesn’t seem like taking a kid away for a week would add more to a teachers load- I already have the plans and copies for the week after all, right? It typically takes me 30 or so minutes to make sure I have all the stuff, separate the pages from the pile, pull pages from workbooks, write/type down any instructions that a parent might need, etc. I usually do this on my lunch break. I honestly think it’s a part of the job, but I wish parents understood and acknowledged how much extra work it adds to my day. Most families assume it’s “only them” going on vacation during the school year, but I’ve already had 6 students go on vacation this school year, and we haven’t even finished the first quarter. I don’t expect wide-spread change, but I do wish that there was more awareness of it.
I can see how there is A LOT of extra work for teachers when someone goes on vacation. Even missing school for a day causes extra work. I see that as a sub. It´s something I NEVER thought of prior to spending time in a school building around teachers. We rarely took the kids out of school for a trip because we are not a big trip taking family but we did occasionally. I truly don´t think non school staff understand it.