coming down the chimney

Over my Christmas break I was singing as I made breakfast.   I sang, "Santa Claus is coming to town..." to which my nephew replied, "No he not, he coming down the chimney!"

Garland

"It's so much fun making this garlic!" -Niece Stephanie

psst...

By the way... I'm not Mary Tyler Moore either.

I was complimented with, "You look like Mary Tyler Moore today!"

Hmmm...?  Maybe it is the outfit.

p.s. I had to Google search her too!

Meryl Streep and Roses

Odd things happen to me.  I often leave an encounter with a stranger or not so close acquaintance asking myself, "Why'd they tell me!!?"  I have been told a mirage of different tid-bits of people's personal lives and/or their thoughts and ideas; none of whom I know, have ever seen prior, or will ever know or see again. 

A Few of Many Odd Things:

1) I once had a man stand behind me in the grocery store line (this not being so unusual).  He told me about his divorce he was going through.

2) I was once shortly followed and approached by a woman in Target who told me, "You look just like Meryl Streep!"  (I had to go back to work to see who Meryl Streep was and what she looked like)

my nose is crooked like hers

3) While walking to a tube station in London England I had a car stop in the middle of traffic (holding up about 15 cars) to ask me if he could take my picture.  He thought I was a famous soccer player.

4) As I was leaving a grocery store one day, I was approached by a young man who said, "I have a rose for you." and he promptly handed me a red rose.

I smiled and said "Thanks!"

 

 5) A man once offered the Quran in English to me.

6) ...

waiting...

It's the time of year where tiredness becomes a state of being.  Everything gets really busy and hectic for everyone, not only me.  Yesterday I stopped at a stop sign and couldn't figure out why the car behind me was honking... all I was doing was waiting for the stop sign to turn green.

I was tired.

my eyebrown

While working with a student today I noticed he kept blinking his eyes.  As I looked closer at his eyes I noticed he has a hair hanging off of his eye lashes into his eye.  So, I brush the hair away and he said, "Hey, THAT was my eyebrown!"

she lives with me

As said to me by a 5 year old student:

Miss Rachael.. you know (pause) My mom is my mommy and she lives with me.

that's baby talk

While singing Christmas songs in Finnish with my niece by my side, she turned to me and said, "That's baby talk!"

Letter H?

While within a classroom:

Me: (to student X)- I put a letter in your backpack for your mom.
Student: What letter?
Me: A letter to your mom.
Student: Letter H?

boxing gloves

As I was getting ready to leave a student's home, his older 4 year old sister asked me this:

"Miss Rachael... Why are you wearing boxing gloves?"

My gloves

I'm not your mom

I missed a telephone call from my sister.  So naturally I called her back; my 6 year old niece answered the phone and this was our exchange.

Niece: Hello
Me: Hi
Niece: What are you doing?
Me: I'm returning a call to your mom.
Niece: Well, I'm not your mom!
Me: I know, I did say I was calling, "your mom"
Niece: Well I'll give the phone to my mom in one second.  Just like this, "one". Ok? Ready? One.
My Sister: (laughing) Hi... she's not my child...

louder than an penguin

During sharing time in a preschool classroom a student shared this story:

"My friend has an imaginary cat and it snores louder than a penguin!"

while it lasted..

While observing in a preschool classroom I observed this:

Teacher: (turns lights off and then on again) "Kids, it's time to clean up."

The kids move throughout the classroom picking up and putting toys away.  A small group gathers around the sensory table.  Inside the sensory table was a large amount of play foam.  The small group of students collectively start playing with the foam, pressing large pieces of it onto their shirts and exclaiming, "Look and my sticker!"  The teacher approached the sensory table, and states, "It looks like you are playing and not cleaning."  The kids scatter and as one student is running away from the table he exclaims... "Well that was fun while it lasted!"

my breath is too yawny

While working on the proper use of the pronoun "I" in a therapy session with a student, he said, "My go to {insert place}."  I looked at him and questioned, "My go to...?"  To which he responded, "I'm not going to say it.  My breath is too yawny!"

my breath will die

Working on Wh-questions with a student:

Me: Who are your teachers?
Student: Teacher Rachael, Teacher Deb, Teacher Mary, my got a lot of them... I'm not go to say all of them!  My breath will die and my sound will be weird.

pick Auntie Rachael off?

My sister Diana and her boys picked me up on their way to celebrate our other nephew's birthday this morning. After the celebration, while driving back to my place, her son (my nephew T.) asked his mom, "Mom, are we going to pick Auntie Rachael off?"

2 pokes and 8 vials of blood

Could you please just let me know before you stick the needle into my arm so I don't have to be picked up off the floor?

A question I've asked all too many times in my life.  The last time being Wednesday November 30, 2011, at 3:05 p.m.  To the naked eye I am a healthy young woman.  (Side note: However if I were pregnant at my age they would consider me a geriatric patient!)  What the majority of my friends and acquaintances don't know... is that I live with a chronic illness.  I won't get into all the nitty gritty of how it all came to be simply because: 1) you won't really be interested, 2) I don't want your pity, and 3) I don't want your unsolicited advice.  The last one being the reason I blog about it tonight...

All too many times when someone finds out you live with a chronic illness they have a plethora of advice to share on how you should take care of yourself, what medications you should try, what life style changes you should make or what you should do from here.  For those of you who share in this experience with me you can appreciate the following blog I came across... and yes- humor is one way I help myself stay healthy.

As quoted from the article written by Amy-Beth Maran , © 2007 on the website: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com

"The top ten worst suggestions commonly given to someone with a chronic illness:
1)Have you tried holistic options? (Many. I’ll bring it back up with my doctor on my next visit, thanks.)
2) Could it be your stress? (My opinion is, it is my illness. I’ll bring it up with my doctor though, thanks.)
3) Could it have to do with the altitude? (I’ll bring it up with my doctor…thanks.)
4) I read in {insert any generic magazine here} about a new medication. Have you heard about it? (I was on it when it came out 17 years ago, but I’ll bring it up with my doctor. Thank you.)
5) Have you thought about being in a trial study? (I’ll ask my doctor. Thanks?)
6) WOW. If I were you, I don’t know what I would do. I might just kill myself. (Thanks?)
7) Have they found what is causing the problem? (No. My doctor is an idiot. I’ll remind him, thanks!) Have you tried hypnosis? (I’m still sick, but when the phone rings I bark like a dog.)
9) Have you googled your illness? (….no! thanks!)
10 Have you ever thought you were getting sick because you haven’t wrapped your house in aluminum foil because, you know, the aliens have been bugging our houses for the past 30 years and in some cases, making people really sick. I read on…..gee I lost the web site. but it’s true! I heard it from Sally’s cousin’s sister-in- law. And then every time you use deodorant you would think you would be warding off these bugging rays, but it still makes it worse, so you are not being pro-active to your health by wearing that deodorant. I can’t believe you! If you wanted to get better you would stop wearing deodorant..(voice gets fainter and fainter the further you just walk away.) THANKS!!!!!!!!!!"

On an ending note... all tests from the 8 vials of blood are normal.  What I am doing for myself, under the guidance of a wonderful physician, works.