Happy Birthday Mommy!!

Everyone in my family has birthdays near holidays.  My birthday is the day before July 4th.  My brothers birthday is five days before Halloween (yes I'm counting Halloween as a holiday), my dad's birthday is around Memorial Day weekend, and my mom's is around Thanksgiving.  Out of the four birthdays, my mom's is probably the worst timing.  This year her birthday fell the day right before Thanksgiving.  She had to work all day and then cook all night.  And me being me, I don't help her with the cooking.  I will usually stay up late with her, hang out with her and her girlfriends, drinking wine, and doing minimal cooking (i.e. chopping).  This year I was a bad daughter and did not spend anytime with her all day.  I left for school way before she woke up.  Then I went to a potluck dinner and didn't get back home until midnight.  And since I was so tired, I went up to my room and went to sleep.  To make it up to my mom, this entry will be dedicated to her.

Dear Mom,

Happy birthday!!  Living at home with you for the past year and a half has had its ups and downs.  I love being able to see you everyday.  I love being able to tell you about my days, and what I'm doing in school (even if you don't remember what I say).  I love being able to tell you what I've been doing on my weekends.   However, I hate living with the EZ Ryder you.  Instead of calling to ask how I'm doing, you call to see if I've gone to the post office.  Our mornings are spent filing, and putting credit cards through the machine.  Our shopping and movie times are spent with you on the phone constantly, and me saying "Mom, hurry up!".  Weekends are spent with "I want to do _____ today", when in reality nothing gets done.  It is impossible to make plans with you.  We always decide to do something, and then I spend half my days waiting for you to be ready.  

With that said, even though you are so busy, thank you for being my mom.  Thank you for asking me questions about my days.  Thank you for taking an interest in my friends.  Thank you for making time to do things with me.  And thank you for remembering that I said I wanted to see Promises, Promises, and then getting me tickets for the show!  I know that when I was younger we never really bonded.  I was quiet, and didn't like to tell you things.  I am still nervous to tell you some things since you're so critical, but I know that you are always willing to listen to me.  You are always there to ask me questions, and make sure I have everything figured out.  You are my walking buddy, walking me through life, and walking me through the Avon Walk.  You have taught me how to be a hard worker.  You have taught me how to think rationally.  You have taught me how to be respectful and responsible.  And through our math lessons, you have taught me how NOT to teach my students.  

For your birthday, it is my wish that you will find more time for yourself.  More time to spend with your friends and family.  I also hope you find time to do whatever you enjoy. Even though I said your birthday at the wrong time, you are very lucky to be able to celebrate during Thanksgiving weekend.  You are able to see your family, friends, and Jeremy is home for the long weekend.  Enjoy every minute of it, and take a break from the craziness that is EZ Ryder.

With all my love,

Sammy

Happy Thanksgiving

My two favorite holidays are Thanksgiving and Passover.  Both of these holidays mean something very special to me, and it is not because of the food.  Those two holidays always symbolized a time I got to spend with my cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles.  As I have gotten older, the holidays have changed.

When I was younger we would all go down to my cousins in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving dinner.  Every year it would rain on Thanksgiving day.  I remember sitting on those long rides, looking out at the turnpike, gray sky deciding if it was going to pour or just drizzle.  Finally reaching those windy lanes before arriving at my cousins house.  I'm not sure if I was more excited to see my cousins, play on the Pinball machine, play old-school nintendo or Ping Pong (without any beer).  Not having any older siblings, my older cousins would introduce my brother and I to all the latest technology.  

It would always take me a while to warm up with my cousins.  Since we usually got there before everyone else, I always felt very shy, due to the age gap.  I had one cousin who was ten years older than me.  I never knew what to say to her.  I remember always wanting to go up and see her room, thinking how "cool" and grown up it looked.  She also had the attic room, which always impressed me.  Then there were her two younger brothers.  There is a five and seven year difference between us.  The age gap never stopped us from playing, it was only made aware when I was sitting at the kids table, and they were sitting at the grown up table.  

My other cousins were closer in age.  One was the same age as me, and his sister is six years younger.  I always felt more at ease with them.  When they would finally get to the house, I would go and play with them.  The six youngest cousins would all hangout together.  We would start in the family room.  Sometimes watching TV, sometimes playing Pinball.  Somehow our hanging out would always turn into the older cousins against the younger ones (and I was always part of the younger cousins).  We would always get chased, tickled to death, or tossed onto/over a couch.  No matter how much we were tortured, we were constantly laughing.  The younger ones trying to retaliate, and failing.  Trying to run upstairs, only to get attacked upstairs.  Trying to attack the smaller cousin/brother, and having it backfire on us.  

After dinner the rough housing would calm down.  We all became sleepy.  Jeremy and I would change into our pajamas.  The TV would be turned on, and a board game taken out.  Parents came down, saying it was time to go (always meaning we had another fifteen minutes before we actually left, plus there was always ice cream!!).

I would give anything to have another one of those Thanksgiving dinners.  I am so thankful for the memories I have. 

Quote from Chris Cleave

This Saturday, I am going to a book club meeting.  I chose the book for this month: Little Bee.  I am obsessed with this book.  During the few weeks I read the book, my mind was constantly thinking about the plot.  After finishing the book, I continued to think about the novel.  And now that I am reviewing the book, and preparing for book club, I'm ready to reread the book, and see what I missed the first time.

This afternoon, I was reading the Q&A section at the end of the novel.  Not sure who asked the questions, but there was one answer that really stood out to me, and I would like to share it with everyone.  Enjoy, and I hope everyone is encouraged to read Little Bee sometime in the near future. 

In a video on your website you mention that the book is, in some way, about "the horror of being alive in a world where atrocities happen."  Are there particular human rights issues you'd like to take this opportunity to call attention to?  In the face of such monumental tragedy as is exposed in Little Bee, how can one person make a difference?

"I guess I hardly need to call anyone's attention to the reality that there is more horror than happiness in the world.  A billion people are hungry, hundreds of conflicts and wars are ongoing, tens of millions suffer from eradicable diseases, there is always at least one genocide under way somewhere on the planet, more people still live under dictatorship or oppressive regimes than live in free societies, and arms dealers still make more money than farmers.  Of course individuals can make a difference, but the fact is that evil has had the whip hand in this world ever since Cain.  That doesn't mean we should stop trying to be good, but we shouldn't kid ourselves, either.  Evil is not going to be vanquished.  Our job is to resist it, and to plant the seeds of further resistance so that goodness never entirely vanishes from the universe.  There are degrees of resistance.  It starts when you give a dollar to a homeless person and it escalates to the point where people give their lives, as Gandhi did, or Martin Luther King, Jr.  One person can make a difference by traveling as far along that continuum as they feel able. "

Fundraising Ideas

I know that the Avon Walk is not until October.  Also, my account online has not been activated yet, but I am ready to start collecting (actually I'm ready to have some fun and raise money)!  I've been busy thinking of different ways I can raise money, and I'm starting to get a few ideas.  Let me know which ones appeal to you.

1. Wine & Cheese night- I'll provide the cheese and other snacks.  Everyone will bring a bottle of wine to share with everyone (or if you're like me and my friends, we will each need 2 bottles). 

2. Cooking Lessons- I promise I will not be giving the lessons!!!  I have two ideas for this event.  The first idea is to hire someone to teach us how to cook some recipes.  I will provide the ingredients, and everyone else can just show up and bring some wine!  The other idea is everyone brings a recipe they want to try, or know how to cook already.  We can teach each other how to make each recipe.  After we get to eat all the yummy food we made!  

3. Collect Pennies- I find myself collecting many pennies.  I feel like I never know what to do with them, but now I have a use.  For the next year, I will be putting aside all my pennies.  In September I will count up how much money I have saved, and send that amount in.  I urge all of you to save your pennies as well.  What else are you going to do with them?

4. Book Sale- I took this idea from the Avon website.  I will collect all the books you guys don't want anymore.  I will take them and attempt to sell them online.  Whatever money I receive, I will send to Avon.  So start cleaning out your bookcases!!

5. Host a Bar-tender- My family is very close with the owner of a sushi restaurant near our house.  I was thinking that maybe he will allow me to find a bar-tender to work for an evening.  Part of the tips the bar-tender receives will go towards Avon.  

6. Mock Passover Seder/Chocolate Seder- Who doesn't love Passover?  Especially if it's filled with chocolate?  This will be hosted before Passover starts.  It can be a potluck seder. 

This is all I have come up with so far.  If anyone has other ideas, please let me know.  I'm excited to plan all these events!

Throwing away my 10-Year-Plan

I recently just watched the third episode of "My Generation" (you can tell how behind I've been on my DVR).  In those three episodes, I became obsessed.  And then I found out that ABC cancelled the show because viewership was low.  This really bummed me out because they only showed three episodes.  I felt like they barely gave the show a chance to survive!

Anyway, that is not the point of this post.  Watching "My Generation" really made me think about my life and my future.  The show is supposed to be a documentary about a group of nine students.  At the end of their senior year, a film crew comes in to interview the students and see where they want to be in 10 years. The show starts 10 years later.  The viewer is able to see where the students wanted to be versus where they actually were.  

I remember during high school and college always mentally making a ten year plan.  Graduate college by the time I'm 22.  Hopefully find a job a few months after I turn 23.  Move into my own apartment with my best friend while I'm 23.  Get married by XX age (leaving out the part about finding a boyfriend).  I did successfully graduate college by 22, however the rest of my 10 year plan did not work out so well.  Instead of finding a job, I'm now in grad school.  I live at home (and surprisingly love it).  And instead of wanting to be married by XX age, I want to explore the world.  

At the ages of 17 and 22, it seems so hard to create a concrete 10 year plan.  I look back to the Sammy from high school, the Sammy from college, and the Sammy in 2010, and I see major differences.  I have changed so much in the past 7 years.  I am not as shy as I used to be.  I have found friends that will be my friends for the rest of my life, surviving through college and adulthood.  I'm also finally standing up for what I want to do, rather than trying to please my parents.  If I had stuck to any of my 10 year plans I would be miserable.  

If you remember, my first post had a list of 10 things I wanted to do before turning 30.  I wrote that list six months ago, and I already want to change some things on it.  I also know that I cannot do all of that by the time I'm 30 because there are other things I would like to do hopefully in the near future.  Rather than making a 10 year plan, or an 8 year plan, I am going to focus on what I would like to accomplish in general.  It always seemed so hard when coming up with a 10 year plan, because it seemed like I had an outline to follow.  Society has dictated that we graduate college, maybe go to grad school/law school/medical school.  After that find a job, get married, and have children.  Once all this is accomplished, you should have a complete life.  We all know what to put on our plan; everyone choses their own order.  I'm done with this order.  I am stepping out of the box, and finding my own way to a complete life.  

Below I have a revised list of what I would like to accomplish.  Some of the tasks will be difficult, and some will be scary, but I know that with the support of friends and family I will be able to accomplish everything.  

1.  Teach in Africa for a year or two- One reason why I want to go away and teach is because I'm tired of New Jersey, and I'm ready to get away and explore the world.  The second reason why is because it is something I have always wanted to do.  I want to learn about different cultures, beliefs and languages.  I don't want to go there to brainwash them about the "American Way", but rather interact and see what it is they really want and need.  If anyone knows of programs that sends American's to help in schools, please let me know.  I am finding the search to be a little overwhelming!

2. Become a Behavior Specialist- Right now I am in graduate school to become a prek-3rd grade teacher with a degree in special education. I have always loved working with kids, and I am excited to become a teacher.  As I continue through my program, I realized that my teachers do not really address how to handle the behavior of certain students.  This bothers me because I want to help my students as best as I can, rather than get frustrated with them constantly.  I know that this degree will really help when I am in the classroom.

3. Learn Sign Language- In my special education classes, I have realized how important it is to learn sign language. People/students that do not have verbal communication may use sign language to communicate. When I was in elementary school, I learned some sign language, and I thought it was so interesting. I am also in a preschool disabled class at the moment.  We try to teach our students some sign language.  It is amazing to see that students are able to connect words with objects, even when they cannot verbalize it.  I am hoping to take a sign language class in the spring!

4. Start a Non-Profit Organization- I have always wanted to start my own non-profit. I am still not sure what kind of Non-Profit organization I would like to start, but I have been doing some thinking.  Since I love summer and camp, I was thinking about starting a camp program in a low socio-economic area.  The camp would have fun activities, but it would also be educational.  No one wants to be in school during the summer, but it is also important for students to review everything they learned during the school year so they don't fall behind.  I think taking two of my interests, and combing them together would be so much fun, and make me so happy.

5. Continue to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer- Okay, so honestly while doing the walk, I kept thinking "I'm never doing this again".  I got a little bored while walking, and the people weren't extremely social, which made me upset.  However, when we got to the closing ceremonies, I realized that I will be doing the Avon walk until I'm in a wheel chair.  Seeing all the survivors and all the money we raised going to places was amazing.  Next year I will be walking in New York, but I plan on traveling with this walk.  I would like to walk in Houston, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Charlotte.  I know people in most of those locations, so hopefully they will walk with me, or I will just have a nice visit.  Doing the walk in other cities also allows you to explore.  So where should I go after New York?

6. Continue my Annual BBQ for a Cause- This summer I had a BBQ to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  While creating the invitations, I realized that I want to keep this going every year.  The proceeds to not always have to go to Avon Breast Cancer, they can go to other places.  I also realized that I want to have two fundraisers a year.  I am planning on having something in January as well!  Whats better than raising money for a good cause, spending time with your friends, meeting new people and getting to drink?? 

7. Be Published- Senior year of college, I took a creative writing class.  I loved it!  It was so much fun to write about whatever, and then to discuss my writing.  After that class ended, I didn't have anyone to edit my work, and give me criticism, so I became frustrated.  However, with this blog, I have started to love writing again.  My goal is to publish either a short story, or maybe even a novel.   Any ideas on what I should write about?

8. Work in Newark Public Schools-  I am currently student teaching in a school in Newark.  I love the school I am in.  I have also spoken to other people in Newark schools, and they are enjoying their time as well.  I would love to work there.  I am ready to dedicate great amounts of my time before and after school, helping students with any problems they have in the classroom.  I would like to be in a school district that appreciates my efforts.  Let's just hope I can find a job there.

So here is my list.  These are the things I would like to do.  These 8 actions will make me happy and feel fulfilled.  What are some things you would like to do with your life?