Today's Words Of Glass

May 26, 2021 3:40pm  Finally, the phone call that I'd been waiting on. It was the Medical Center. ( Finally, we can schedule my surgery. ) She tells me who she is, and then tells me that she has a cancellation for tomorrow. ( Me stammering... )  "Ok, but I was thinking the end of June."   Then I hear "We just had a moment to look at your file. We really don't think that you should wait. We really think you should come in tomorrow at 8:15am" ( Me stammering again ) "Ok, I'll be there."  Wait, what? My mind is all over the place. I'm supposed to work. How am I going to get our son to school? Will my husband be able to go with me on such short notice. I expected this to be the end of June, not tomorrow. I'm not prepared! I was overcome with emotion.  May 26, 2021 Surgery Day I woke up at 1am with a horrible headache. By the time we arrived at the surgery center, I was definitely a bundle of nerves. I got checked in, went through the usual ...

Not what I expected when the phone rang. It was a routine dermatology appointment.  "Do you have any concerns?" “Yes, a small spot on my face. It comes and goes. Two weeks ago it had disappeared (again). So I'm actually glad that it’s back.”  It was the size of a pin head. It was teeny tiny. A nuisance, but not something that really seemed to bother me. “I suspect that it’s skin cancer.”  “So, we just burn if off, right?” “No, it needs to be cut out and sent to the lab.” I was not prepared for this. It’s on my lip! She’s going to cut a hole in my lip! She warns me that the shot is going to hurt and possibly a lot. She tells me this several times. (I’m thinking surely it can’t be that bad.)  I was wrong.  It hurt.  A lot.  I’m creeped out at the thoughts of her taking a chunk off of my face at the top of my lip. I’m even more creeped out as she tells me she’s going to burn it to stop the bleeding. Time and time again I hear the sizzle and the smell is n...

It's been a hot minute since I've written anything.... over a year. Between being a mom, full time student, and a substitute teacher during a pandemic, writing hasn't been a priority. More than once,  I've felt like I was in survival mode with classes. I didn't expect early block  to be so intense.  I admit that I broke down and cried several times this semester with feeling overwhelmed. But, I endured until the end, and I got straight A's for the semester. I'm proud of myself that I didn't give up. I am enrolled in 2 summer class, and 4 fall classes and studying for standardized tests that I must pass before I can begin my student internship.  I will be close to 50 when I graduate. Am I too old to do this? Who starts a career at 50????? I guess I do. I don't know what's going to happen when I graduate. I do know that I am enjoying the course work, and I'm enjoying being able to put what I have learned into practice as a substitute.  This sch...

I suppose I should start at the beginning.... I graduated High School in 1991. I didn't have the funds to pay for college, and I really didn't know what I wanted to do anyway. I considered Elementary Education, but the course catalog scared me. I remember seeing chemistry and thinking no way. So instead, I decided to go to the local community college. I earned an Associates of Applied Science in Computer Programming. Fast forward to 2004 when I started working for Mississippi State University... Since they paid for part of my tuition, I signed up for classes. Little by little I worked my way toward a bachelor's degree. I graduated from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (with a concentration in Business, Communication, and Geosciences). Fast forward to fall of 2018 when I decided to step out of my comfort zone and become a substitute teacher . I found a passion that I didn't know existed. I also found that being ...

For someone who craves consistency, and is definitely a planner , life as a sub has really been a change. Day to day I really don't know where I will be or what I will be doing once I get there. Recently I walked into a classroom full of shop/woodworking equipment.

It’s something that I’m constantly saying as a reminder to myself and a reminder to my son. It’s something we all could use a little more of... KINDNESS. He’s only 8, but he knows what it’s like to receive and give kindness. He also knows what it’s like to be teased and picked on.

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you make a purchase using the affiliate link.  I’ve always enjoyed journaling. You’d think I’d have decent handwriting, but it’s quite the opposite. And although I do enjoy blogging, I also enjoy putting pen to paper. In addition to journaling, I enjoy coloring. So I was super excited when I found the best of both worlds. Drum roll please...  journaling and coloring in one beautiful book - better known as an art journal. Well, to clarify, let’s make that 3 beautiful art journals. But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

So, I came across some of my old writings when typewriters were a thing ... oh goodness.. 18 or so years ago?!?! before I blogged.. but I obviously still had the desire to share my heart with others..... and I thought I would share it with you... so this is straight from my former self ... when I was in my late 20's. Get up, get up, get up! Get out of that pit that you have dug for yourself. Get out of despair! But I can't Lord, there are so many things going on, it's just too much to bear. Get up! Put on the whole armor of God and face the day.

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  What a difference a year makes! I can't believe how much progress that Lil Man has made with his reading. He's in 1st grade this year. It's definitely been an adjustment for our family with him going to school all day, and I rejoined the workforce. ( My Life As A Non-instructional Aide ) But I'm extremely happy with his progress in school. I love watching him grow, and it amazes me that he is now able to read to me. We enjoyed reading God's Great Love For You by Rick Warren together. I could tell that he was proud of himself for being able to read most of it to me. I loved this book. There is a big message behind the book ( God's great love ) but it's written in a way that children ( in my opinion ) can identify. The main character is the little girl that's on the cover. You see her in various situati...

Change - even good change is not always easy. I didn't realize how hard it would be to spend such little time with my son. Yes because of my job I do get to briefly see him throughout the day. But the quality time that we spend together is significantly much less than before he started school. I know I know. It's good for him. It's good for me. I know that we should not be connected 24 hours a day. But I didn't expect

Because I keep answering this question over and over and over, I thought I'd put it here in case other people might want to know. Now, please keep in mind this is for my current school and situation and I know it will vary from school to school etc. As a non-instructional aide this is what I do...

This post contains affiliate links. I'm a planner. I always have been. And I have tried several planners throughout the year. Although I use my phone calendar for all appointments, I still like to have a paper calendar. There is just something about writing it down, crossing it off, and just seeing everything in print. And I don't even know how I stumbled across this planner, but somehow I did. It's the me & my BIG ideas create 365 The Happy Planner.

New theme and hopefully a new breath of fresh air for this little blog of mine. Many of you know that I blog at Will Run For Ice Cream . However, I have 2 blogs, and I've had them for quite some time. I bought the domain for this one at the same time that I bought #WillRun4IceCream. But for some reason, I've never had a clear direction where to take Today's Words Of Glass. And I still can't say with certainty that I know where that will be. But I can say that like Will Run For Ice Cream, I will be honest and transparent with my writing. I don't need fake in my life, and I'm sure that you don't either. So last weekend, we were on our way to the Healthy Kids Running Series where Lil Man is running this year. This was his second race, and we were super early. So, we decided to stop by the tractor supply store to look at the chickens. We did this last year, but this year somehow we walked out with......

I was thinking today about how far I've come with stepping outside my comfort zone. But as I came across this blog post from 2013, it still made me chuckle. Reposted from May 2013 Many images came to my mind as I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone and tried Zumba ( rolling my eyes ) of all things today. Fish out of water, an innocent squirrel being electrocuted on an electric fence - I'm pretty sure this was what I looked like as the room hip hopped, Salsa and swayed. I don't have a rhythmic bone in my body. If I ever thought I did, today proved otherwise. I stayed in the back of the class and tried not to get in anyone's way. But then we had to turn around.

Apparently I've been recharging a little too long.. it's been awhile since I've posted here. Honestly, I've been busy at Will Run For Ice Cream . I decided to take a big step and put my health first. You can read how it all started ( How I'm Going To Overcome Sugar Addiction ) or if you want to just jump to the end and see how it went, you can click here  (day 7) or here  (the journey continues). I'm still trying to find.. I would say balance... but someone ( thanks Pastor G ) told me that rhythm was a better word .... and I have to whole-heartedly agree. I'm trying to find my rhythm with family, exercise, goals and dreams. I have truly loved being home with Lil Man, but I have also felt the increasing pressure to generate some income. And my dream for the longest time has been this blog and social media. I would love to be able to generate some income from what I love which is writing and sharing with others. And I've been spending some time doing...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, to be the best person that you can be, you need to take time for you to recharge, refresh, re-energize. I know I know I know. Trust me, I do know that sometimes it just seems impossible to get 5 uninterrupted minutes. But I assure you, take those minutes. Because the reality is, if you are running on empty, you can't be the person that you need to be for yourself and for those that depend on you. Otherwise, you are going to wind up looking like this picture in this post :) For me, it's often a soak in Epsom salt. Not only does it help my muscles, but it helps me mentally with getting some magnesium sulfate ( #TuesdayTidbit - Using Magnesium Sulfate ), PLUS having that time to myself.

Now let me say, if you enjoy blogging and never look at stats/numbers/apply for any type of product reviews or sponsored post, then maybe being thin-skinned is fine. But if you ever apply for any sponsored posts or product reviews or generally ( like me ) get sucked into looking at performance, then I've learned that I often need thicker skin than what I have. Rarely does google analytics make me smile. In fact, I've thought of giving up completely when I see just how little traffic can be. But that being said, I enjoy this.. writing.. blogging.. sharing ideas.. my thoughts... so I continue on .. for now... and I'm focusing on the joy of it all instead of numbers. Quite often I allow numbers to dictate my mood... If you read my blog Will Run For Ice Cream then you are aware that I battle

I am not crafty.. like.. no... really I'm not... like glue my fingers together with glue, can't color in the lines and please don't ask me to cut something with scissors and expect it to be straight. But there is something about the fall season... the upcoming holidays that makes me want to do crafty things with Lil Man. A simple google search will spit out more crafty ideas than you physically have time to do. But I wanted to share a few with you that I plan to do with Lil Man this year. I thought these looked cute and fairly simple.

I wrote a #TuesdayTidbit on my Will Run For Ice Cream blog back in March 2015 about using Magnesium Sulfate. You can read that article here if you'd like. But I often get questions from people about my Epsom salt baths, so I thought I'd answer a few of those. Yes, I actually do soak in Epsom salt baths at least once a week - sometimes more. And yes for me, I really can tell a difference in soreness and my mood. I do usually buy in bulk. I find it's cheaper than getting smaller bags. (affiliate link)

I don't know about you, but Lil Man has in school for less than 2 weeks. And almost every single day there has been some type of paper work that I've had to fill out or review. I keep an online calendar as well as a wall paper calendar. But I wasn't prepared for the actual paperwork that I was going to need to keep track of. So I went old school (no pun intended ) with a file folder and expandable folder system. The red file folder opens from the top. I use this for my 'keep' items of projects that he's doing. I did this with preschool, and it was nice to have all of his work in one place. So I got a new folder for kindergarten. The expandable folder is for all of my important school papers. I have the school evacuation plan in the front along with school delay info and so forth.