Life is like a...Pt 2 or is it 3

so to make up for my lack of blogging as of late i am going to add a new installment (if not more than one it depends on my attention span) of life is like...swinging on a swing...i remember as a kid growing up one of my all time favorite things to do (okay i still love to do it) was/is to swing on a swing.  maybe its my inner sense of adventure that is yearning to get out or maybe its something else.  who knows.

so back to the point.  swinging on a swing and how life is like it... so just like in life there are highs and lows...for me i loved going high on a swing the higher the better...just like with life when things are going good there is the natural "high". the highs represent for me the excitement, passion, worthwhile and simply those things that couldve taken time but well worth the end result.  i always hate the slowing down especially when it is an all of a sudden thing...this much like life can be a scary and even dangerous thing.  the coming down can lead to disappointment, doubt, lack of trusting something will happen.  when swinging just like in life the ups and downs can take work and effort...this work and effort at times is well worth it as it leads to good things in the end. likewise that same work and effort can lead to heartache, pain, disappointment, fear.  

the other way life is like swinging is that it is so much better when you are not alone.  life is so much better with others around and although swinging alone can be fun, it is more fun with others whether they are helping you out by giving you the extra push (both on the swing and in life!) or healthy competition of who can go higher. 

so the question is, is it worth the work and effort even if the outcome is not the expectation that will in the end lead to something that is disappointing?  my answer is yes since in life we have the choice to choose to make the most out of all situations good and bad and learn from that rather than be like eeyore who says "whats the bother".  life is what we make it...and i choose to make the most of it.  embrace the highs and learn from the lows. 

i find it funny that...

so i know its been a while since i have posted. its amazing to me how i set out with good intentions to do something but it doesnt always happen.  so life is never dull when you work with special ed kids.  school started about 3-1/2 weeks ago and i forget how there is never a dull moment when you are are working with students with disabilities.  and although there are things that you really shouldnt laugh about, however, you have to either laugh or cry and i simply choose to laugh...otherwise i might just go crazy.  so its amazing how in the course of a couple weeks there are so many things that you just cant believe it is happening especially when the students are 18-21.  it never ceases to amaze me that there is a kid in my classroom who loves to take off his shirt and parade around with his buddah belly hanging out.  and although you might think he is unaware of what he is doing he is fully aware that he should not be doing it but seeing how much he can get away with doing it.  one day he managed to not only have the shirt off but also stripped down to his diaper and paraded through the hall...or the student who decided to just hang out in the bathroom just because.  the job is full of frustration at times and excitement another.  the joys of working with this population. the little one who just simply laughs and smiles regardless of how he is feeling. or the kid that just wants your attention so bad that they follow you around repeating something over and over just because they want to be near you.  i also love it when you have been working with a kid and out of the blue you go up to them and call you by name...after being sure that they would never call you by name the day before.  it always baffles me how a non-verbal kid can communicate. although there is great frustration at times when they actually communicate their needs its such a sense of accomplishment.  or when a kid who somehow doesnt know how to write his name is so excited to just practice forming the letters.  its amazing how at times what i do seems so mundane yet at other times be so meaningful and important.  the thing i have come to learn is that no matter how difficult and challenging life may be if you simply look for the good it makes things seem so much better.  

If a pictures worth a thousand words...pt 3

So I finally got pictures to upload the first three are from a trip to Buchart Gardens in Victoria earlier this summer.  I will probably add more of those in future posts!  

My niece enjoy Hot Cocoa (don't know who got her Starbucks!)

My nephew waiting to bat at his baseball game

Tree (Duh!) at Buchart Gardens

If a pictures worth a thousand words...pt 2

Pictures to be uploaded later...not working after too MANY tries!

If a pictures worth a thousand words...

One of the things I have been reminded of through be a "lurker" is my love for photography as so many of the blogs I frequent are blogs of both amateur and professional photographers.  This has something that has gradually been rediscovering the past few years, but I forget how much I just love taking a camera and capturing the moment.  In high school I took a photography class (well I did Photo I and Photo II so i guess it wasn't just one) this was back in the day where you used film and then we actually developed the pictures.  I amazingly still have all the negatives and the pictures I processed and some of them remind me of being told for the first time ever that I was "artistic".  When I finished high school, I still took pictures, but not very often.  As I went on different trips I learned the value of a camera to capture moments that could so easily be forgotten, however, now days, its the digital world of photography, and I would never go back to using old school film.  

Pictures have a great way of capturing a moment.  One of the things I am trying to do is take my camera wherever I go and remembering to use it.  No matter the subject there is beauty that cam be found in everything and for that reason, I think I need to start using it more no matter how obnoxious I may feel I am being.  Who knows I may capture a moment that is more precious then I know.  One of the big things I am pondering (again) is whether or not my simple point and shoot (which does take great pictures) is adequate or do I want a SLR camera.  Yeah, I can borrow my dad's SLR which is AMAZING (and one I am unable to afford at this point) but there is just something about having your own.  Who knows maybe one of these days I will "upgrade".  But that would mean I would have to use it!  So since I've gone off on this rambling, I will put some pictures I have taken recently just because I think its fun to share!  :)  The thing I have began to love doing when taking pictures is not doing "traditional" pictures (i.e. not centering objects, focusing on the random, finding unusual beauty).  

One more tangent before I showcase some of the pictures is I just LOVE the working with pictures on my MAC.  I love the ease of features on IPhoto which makes it even more fun!  Well...thats all for now!  Enjoy :) Okay well the pictures will be in the next post.  The one at the top of this post is of my niece from a birthday party!

 

Life is Like A...Pt 1

I was driving the other day (well not a big surprise cause I always seem to be in my car) and I was thinking about life.  All too often I have compared life to various objects. I think this will be something that will be a recurring theme on this blog.  I think this idea started back in college when I wrote a paper comparing life to the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop (but that is another post).  This one is how life is like riding a motorcycle....

I recently had my first (and only) experience with riding on a motorcycle (riding not driving).  This for some random reason was something I had always wanted to do but never really had the opportunity to do so.  So a friend of a friend had his Harley with him and we got to talking.  I was rather impressed with it (it was a beautiful bike (not sure you can say a Harley is beautiful but I will cause this is my blog after all :))  and actually hopped on it (it was parked at this time).  So I asked if I could have a ride on it and he was like sure...the only problem is that I only have one helmet (and I was not going to ride helmetless)  So we went to an area where it would be safe for him to not wear a helmet (well its not safe to not wear one for anyone but he was willing to risk himself for my safety).  Well little did I know what this experience would hold.  First of all....I burnt my leg and 3 weeks later it is still healing.  But overall the experience of it all even though it was short was worth the scar that will probably be on my leg.  So you are probably asking how I am relating this all to life...well here it comes (remember I said you may have to put up with random utterings).

Life is Like Riding a motorcycle...

• it is something that can be exhilarating and exciting while being scary at the same time.   life has so many unexpected things that can be scary at the time but once you jump into it (or in the case of a motorcycle on it) its all too often more exciting then you ever expected.  
• the speed is inconsistent...it seems like just like life a motorcycle can go at great speeds or slow jaunts.  Both speeds can be nice for different reasons.  sometimes the fast pace of life is great other times it is too fast and things are over in the blink of an eye.  Likewise, there are times when its nice to savour the slow and steady pace and take things in or its too slow and you just want it to go faster.  
• it can be painful...life is never pain free whether it is physical or emotional pain.  but in time all pains can and will be healed one way or another. 

Okay....well I had more the other day when I was driving i am sure i will come up with more at a later date and will add that and new ones...my brain has kinda lost its focus with this blog...which must mean it is too long!  ;)  

Blogging beginnings

So this is something I have been pondering to do for some time now.  I have lately (well in the past year) become more and more addicted to being "lurker" on various blogs.  It started out with friends, which then became reading about friends of friends, which turned into hearing about other blogs...and it goes on and on... I am honestly not sure what this blog will turn into. Although, I have a feeling it will become random utterings from me and if you know me at all, you will know that my mind is all too often random, but makes sense to me!  Hopefully this will be encouraging, funny, thought provoking, random, and just sometimes make you go hmm...  feel free to offer comments.  Enjoy!