Merely Day By Day

"Lean into the stretch and grow, breakthrough limits and old ways that no longer serve and eventually soar and reach deeper levels of strength and faith and expression."    - Christine Arylo, Are You Feeling Stretched? In 2017, I chose the word STRETCH ( read about it here ).  I'm honestly having a hard time leaving in 2018 though I know what I've learned will stay with me.  In a new position at school, STRETCH gave me permission to tackle tougher challenges.  An introvert at heart, STRETCH made me reach out to others a bit more (yeah, I'm not there yet).  Here are a few favorite STRETCHes from 2017.

I'm a terrible decision maker.  There are just so many possibilities in this world, I don't want to have to decide.  It's the reason I say I will cook, but I dislike having to choose what we are having for dinner.  It's the reason I am always reading at least three books at a time.  It's the reason getting dressed each morning is a dreaded task.  Decisions, decisions, decisions. This evening I was gathered with friends on the patio for dessert.  It was the perfect night, minus a few mosquitoes, the temperature was just right, daylight stayed late, and the conversation was delightful.  After chatting over tacos and salsa, we left the table to get some dessert.  As we gathered around the kitchen counter, two glorious pies were lifted from their containers.  Oh no, two pies?!?  Decision time.  The first pie was a strawberry pie with whip cream swirling across the top.  Who can resist a strawberry pie?  Especially in June when strawberries are at their best. Out c

I've never been a baker.  I don't mind cooking, and at times I almost enjoy it, but baking makes me want to run and hide.  I have friends and family that bake.  I always hope their talents will rub off on me.  My sister-in-law is an amazing baker.  She whips up cakes like it is her job.  She can make a cheesecake in a blink of an eye.  Need cookies?  She can bake dozens without breaking a sweat.  Everything she bakes is delicious and there isn't a recipe she can't make better. Baking for me as never been easy.  My friend, Julie, is also a baker.  She bakes cakes with the greatest of ease and makes a-maz-ing biscotti.  Julie makes baking sound effortless, but I'm not fooled.  She has listened to my fear of baking and has assured me I can bake.  She shared a few tips and has helped me to at least think I might some day be able to bake. In the last few years, I've gotten braver.  I've stopped buying cake mixes and started finding recipes I'd like to t

Dog prances at 4:30 a.m. pitter patter tap tap her feet prance on the wood floor. I try to ignore her but the pitter patter tap tap  continues.  I roll over hoping to continue to sleep. Hoping she'll settle back down,  but soon I hear the pitter patter  tap tap.    I rise  let her out. She wins,  yet again.   © Cathy L. Mere, 2017  For the sixth year, I will be joining the  Slice of Life Challenge  with the community of  Two Writing Teachers .  I will be trying to put my fingers to the keyboard every day for the 31 days of March.  Stop by  today's link up  at Two Writing Teachers to read other posts.  

Taking the dog out in the early morning, there used to be black, but now - daylight. Getting in the car to drive to school, there used to be darkness, but now - daylight. It is now possible to tell morning from night, as the world awakens, now daylight. As the day turns to afternoon; the sun shines bright, celebrate daylight! Driving home at the end of the day, impossible to believe, still daylight. Evening now brings time to walk, time to get outside, the joy of daylight. After a winter of unending darkness, my heart sings. Thank you, daylight. © Cathy L. Mere, 2017 For the sixth year, I will be joining the  Slice of Life Challenge  with the community of  Two Writing Teachers .  I will be trying to put my fingers to the keyboard every day for the 31 days of March.  Stop by  today's link up  at Two Writing Teachers to read other posts.   Save Save

This evening I sit here with a cup of coffee by my side as friends gently tap away at their keyboards or jot in their notebooks.  I'm not sure what anyone is writing right now;  I just know that everyone IS writing something.  Tonight is one of my favorite nights of the month as several teachers from around the district gather for a writing class.  Our class, "Amplify Voices:  Teachers as Writers," meets once a month.  I've come to look forward to our time together as we all wrestle with the challenges of writing.  From coming up with ideas, getting started, finding time, and discovering our voices, we listen to one another to consider new possibilities and solutions.  Our reasons for being here are varied, and each is finding her own path.  This time each month make me get my fingers to the keyboard and keeps me committed to continuing to grow as a writer. I've come to realize that in anything I do, the secret is in finding my people. We've been meetin

This year, I've moved into a new role in our district and I love it!  Though I wake up every day looking forward to the new opportunities, I do miss so many things about being in the classroom.  Sometimes I just want to pop into a classroom and share a read aloud or gather a group of students for shared reading.  When I see teachers, with their students all gathered in community conversation, a little pang of sadness tugs at my heart.  Even trying to work through the Slice of Life Challenge without my class of students beside me brings a bit of melancholy. It's hard to change the rhythms of our days.  There are times I want to just arrange supplies or gather a variety of paper for writers.  There are moments I want to grab a dry erase board to write a morning message, or put together magnetic letters for a word study lesson.  Most of all, not surprisingly, I miss the joy of sharing books every single day with a group of young readers.  I miss seeing their reaction to the st

Photo via Ann & Tony's For as long as I can remember, I've lived in a small town.  When people ask me where I live one of three things usually happens; either they've never heard of our town, they know someone from the town (and I almost always know them too) or they ask, "Is that the town with the great Italian restaurant?".  Yep, that's the one. For as long as I can remember, Ann & Tony's has been a part of our town and a part of our lives.  Most people in our town can tell a story about the restaurant, the owners, or some event celebrated at the restaurant.  My grandparents loved to eat in the restaurant.  We've gathered as a family for many meals in the restaurant, celebrated a few birthdays, and entertained a few guests by showing off the small gem of our town. Today my aunt and uncle were visiting from North Carolina.  We all met at the restaurant to catch up before they headed back home.  As usual, the restaurant was the hub of a

How I got to today's writing. I love the poetry of Billy Collins.   I own most of his work . I own, and repeatedly listen to, the audio of his night at the Peter Norton Symphony .   Yesterday Heide Mordhorst, at My Juicy Little Universe, gathered the Poetry Friday group to join in an early celebration for his birthday (which, I believe, is March 22nd).   Even Garrison Keiller, at The Writer's Almanac, seemed to be whispering to me as he shared I Love You by Billy Collins in yesterday's podcast.   Late last night (which 7:30 for me), I went searching for my favorite poem.  It was a challenge.  Who doesn't love The Lanyard , The Trouble with Poetry , or Forgetfulness (or a million others). I couldn't escape from the one poem that always fascinates me with its mystery:   The Chairs that No One Sits In by Billy Collins.  Here are the first three stanzas from his poem which you can read and listen to at the Writer's Almanac . The Chairs that No One Si

The door opens. I step outside greeted by the sky burst - again. I don't know how many suns, how many moons, how many times, I've looked at the sky. Sunrise or sunset. Morning or night. Mid afternoon as clouds dance across the sky. Every single time, my breath catches. I stop; caught in the moment. Each sky a new masterpiece, painted hues of possibility. I don't know how many times I've marveled. I only know each sky a gift. © Cathy L. Mere, 2017 For the sixth year, I will be joining the  Slice of Life Challenge  with the community of  Two Writing Teachers .  I will be trying to put my fingers to the keyboard every day for the 31 days of March.  Stop by  today's link up  at Two Writing Teachers to read other posts.  

Maybe comfort zones aren't all they're cracked up to be I told myself as I drove to our morning meeting.  Barely a week ago I had been asked to prepare an Ignite presentation for our administrators' meeting.  At first, I hoped they'd asked the wrong person, but after some checking, I found out I was indeed one of four people who would share their Ignite in less than a week. I'd like to tell you the first thing I said was, "Sure I'll do that.  It sounds like a great challenge," but I'd be lying a bit.  I'd like to tell you my mind began to race with all of the possibilities, but that wouldn't be the truth.  I must admit my first thought was, "How do I politely dodge this one?"  Then I remembered that my word this year is STRETCH, and I reminded myself that my new position requires me to improve my thinking on my feet, to take new chances, to walk bravely into the uncomfortable, so I swallowed my NO and replaced it with a YES.

"Everyone lies about writing.  They lie about how easy it is or how hard it is.  The truth is, writing is this; hard and boring and occasionally great but usually not."                                                                                            -Amy Poehler, Yes Please  "I can't do this," I confided.  "I like to finish everything I start, but I'm not sure I can write every single day.  Once I start something I really want to finish it, but I have a hard time putting writing out there that I don't like.  I don't expect to love it all, but I would like to at least like it." My friend, Deb, returned, "It's not a story; it's a slice."  "Write." "Just write." "That's it; just write," Deb countered after advising I get my big girl panties on and get busy.   You see, after five years of participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge, I've learned t

I started to make a collage of memories from 2016, but I quickly realized too much had happened to gather it all in a collage.     If you would have asked me about 2016, I would have managed to recall a few highlights.  The images I had collected told a richer story of family, friends, new opportunities, and a bit of adventure.   Fleeting Moments years  roll on  in fleeting moments. we try to hold them in our hearts,  but memories dim. we try to capture them in collected images, but they're easily lost. we try to explain them in words and lines, but they fade on the page.  in a year's time doors open to new opportunities. family and friends gather in celebration,  share in laughter.  new places  offer a chance to revision our understanding of the world. each day the sun rises and sets the same, yet different. we search  for a way to hold  all of it in our hand. but moments  aren't meant t

Hello, New Year. This is the week that the world will be off and running with good intentions to change.  The gym will be crowded.  Organization tubs will be purchased.  Lists will be made.  Refrigerators will be cleaned out and healthier fare will replace all the holiday goodies that were there just a week before.  We'll all be searching for the better form of ourselves.  It is in these first weeks of a new year I often hear people talk about a quest to find balance:  a harmony between the many hats we each wear in this life. Many years ago I too sought balance, but as life marched on I began to realize that the best things happened when life was, quite honestly, a bit out of balance.  Can too much balance result in missed opportunities?  In our search for balance, we have to be judicious in our no's, be careful of our essential choices, but we can't overlook opportunities. One Little Word About two weeks ago, I heard a podcast (  A Little Happier:  What's Y