Still Got the Groove

This morning I was driving on the busy highway on the way to work.  Zoom! Beep! Bump!
I click to switch lanes and look over the corner in my blind spot.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a motorbike dangerously close to my car.  It looks as if he is holding on and riding like kids do on the back of delivery trucks sometimes.
At second glance, he has come closer.  He is looking directly at me.  He slowly lifts up his helmet cover and it appears that he is checking me out.
Is this really happening?  On the highway?
I look to the side again and his stare is fierce and he has a smooth grin too.
What the?  
At this point, I am feeling a myriad of emotions.  
A little bit of anxiety that this man might hurt himself and others while checking me out/ doing whatever he is doing.
A little bit of uncertainty on the best way to avoid the awkwardness of this situation as if I were 14 years old again in 8th grade math class.
Finally, a little bit of pride in the sense that my wavy medium length hair and crystal blue eyes can still seduce some young ones, even if they are Malaysian motorcyclists.
I prioritize safety and dodging the moment and speed up.
1 minute later, Motorcycle man passes by me.  Devilishly tilting his helmet up again, staring at me with his almond colored eyes, he speeds by me.  I note his skinny ankles, absurd height and he turns around with a smirk and zips away.
All the meanwhile, I keep my eye on the highway, soaking in the steamy sunrise and beaming like a cheshire cat cause I still got the groove.

Monday Night Rhythm

Click, fizz, shwish

The beer opens.

RELAXation.

The park was conquered.

The dinner cooked and cherished.

The bath done.

The milk given.

It's Monday night

and 7:30 pm

and

we are all

ZONKED!

#sliceoflife #SOL18 #TWTblog

Haiku Meals

Slice of Life Day 10: Make up post

Yesterday's meals were so diverse & delicious! 

Breakfast
Raspberry yogurt
with Pablo, peanut butter
toast and strong cold brew.


Lunch
A broth of pork bones
Piping hot, wiry noodles
grey curly mushrooms


Dinner
Earth elements
Five courses, eight tasty plates
Malaysia happy

Afternoon Reading Break

Sitting on the bed, the sunlight poured in through the gray screens and lit up the spotlight for Pablo.  After reading a couple of books, I flopped down on the bed in a horizontal position and just took a minute to watch him.

He picked up a book, opened it and beautifully interacted with it.  It was one of the sensory books and he first touched the shape that had the different texture, then opened the flap to see the whole picture revealed.  After that, he turned the page and repeat.   

Pablo is 8.5 months old and I am a learning specialist and literacy coach.  His closest thing to a word that I have heard so far is bu, boo, and so we are trying to get it to book.  That would have me soaring for days but this little slice of his life is enough to put me on cloud 9 for the rest of my Sunday.

#SOL18 #Sliceoflife #TWTblog #booklove

Morning Onomatopoeia

A V of birds... flap, flap, flap

A child's face squished into the car window, eyes wide and shut... zzz, zzz, zzz

A man running in jeans, a collared shirt and leather converse on the highway... click, clack, click

The coffee machine preparing my frothy cappucino... ouh, ouh, ouh

My fingers hitting the keyboard typing this slice... tic, tap, tic, tap

#SOL18 #sliceoflife #ISKLproud #TWTblog

What's for dinner? Pig's Ear

San Sebastian, summer of 2012.  After three weeks on the Camino De Santiago, eating mediocre food but drinking fairly decent wine, I was ready to level the field.  I headed to Spain's culinary capital, San Sebastian, otherwise, known as Donostia, for a reunion with my partner, Andres and indulgent meal after meal.

I could go on about my trip and list the amazing meals we had but that wouldn't be a slice of my life.  Instead it would be a piece of cake.  There was no doubt that we had wonderful, delectable meal after meal.  Having said that, the special thing about this story is that the culinary experience I most remember from that full on foodie, reunion sex-filled gluttonous weekend, was actually an unexpected star.



I believe it was the second night I was there and Andres had a plan.  This was a rare and wondrous occasion that he did the planning and I embraced it.  We meandered down the cobbled streets and ended up at a place called La Cuchara de San Telmo.  It was later so the place wasn't jam packed like sardines but I let Andres gargantuan physique take over the ordering. "Dos vino tintos y una oreja."  Andres shouted across the bar. 
"Did you just order an ear?" I asked.
"It's one of the best things they have, trust me." He said, his vino in one hand, jolly faced.
"What kind of ear is it?" I asked.  I was okay with the ear of something.  It wasn't the weirdest thing I've eaten before.
"You'll see."  He replied with a twinkle in his eye.

One by one, plate by plate came out.  One of which was so buttery, soft, with a soft squid like texture.  It was more or less caramelized in flavor and we devoured it within seconds.   I took a swish of my wine.  "Where's the ear?"  I asked curiously.
"That was it.  Pig's ear."  He replied and dashed away to order more wine. 'Really?' I thought.

It wasn't that I expected the ear to be bad.  What had shocked me was the beautiful, silky, softy, buttery texture of this dish.  I can still taste it today.

I'm not gonna lie.  We went back the next evening for another "oreja." And my mouth is watering as I write this.

#TWTblog #Sliceoflife #SOL18 #isklproud

Keeping the Learning Switched On!

YAWN! 

Today was parent teacher/ student led conferences at our school.  I am an instructional coach and curriculum specialist so I use this time to catch up on documentation, particularly revising, cleaning up, determining next steps for curricular areas and grade level teams.  

While it's wonderful to have the feeling of "getting shit done" and streamlining and standardizing stuff so that it's easy for teachers to read if there is turnover or movement between teams, it is also tiring.  

Typically, I try to spend at least 3 hours of my day with students. It keeps me in the know about what "learning" really looks like.  We can make the lesson plans but it might not mean they (students) are learning.  It also energizes me to be surrounded by kiddos and makes me critically think about how we can best deliver learning opportunities to them to allow them to get messy with experimenting, reading, writing, questioning, showing not telling and much more.   Finally, I do believe that teachers are the ones who make the magic happen and since I do not have my own "class" anymore I need to be surrounded by them and their learning engagements to spark other ideas.  If I am not able to participate in what the learning may look like, how am I to imagine strategy groups for highly abled learners or a choice performance task assessment to demonstrate understanding of the unit?  As educators, no matter what role we are in; we have to be vulnerable and let ourselves open up to new learning, whatever that means.  We can make our own meaning of what we learn but we have to be willing to take risks just as we encourage our students to do regularly.  

#TWTblog #sliceoflife #SOL18 . 

We must be