Monday, January 20, 2014

Slicing and Dicing Monday

                       The Tuesday Slice of Life is hosted by the Two WritingTeachers blog.  Thanks to all who make us so happy (and well-informed).

                 The day moved into a slice and dice, cook-the-day-in-a-big-pot kind of day, often the taste of Mondays.  Numerous things to do keep me dicing! 

          The day moves slowly in the early am. Coffee perks while I open the computer to check e-mail, Facebook, and my blog, nearly always posted the night before. It’s dark, so I sit with coffee and wake up…
          Light peeks in, and I go to the side door to see if there is a good photo waiting outside. Funny how habits form!  I started doing this when I moved, because while my new home has good windows, the best views face different ways than my old home had. So I started watching for the sun which is more blocked now, and started taking pictures.  Here’s this morning’s sunrise.
On Facebook too-It was amazing!


         And then the dicing really begins. I read a few posts, a friend called; I remembered I needed to call to have a prescription re-filled. I moved to work and create a response my head of school had asked me to create for an accreditation piece.  We’re in our third year of a seven-year cycle with the association that accredits independent schools here in Colorado.  I drafted a page, sent it to other committee members for their opinions; and every once in a while, I read another blog. I also took a shower and got dressed, all the time watching the clock because it’s my day to volunteer at lunchtime at the nursing home where my husband was.  I go between eleven and one.  I drove over, visited some of the time with staff, and this time, no dicing, everything is focused on helping the residents find places in the dining area, setting the tables, giving drinks and finally serving the food. At the same time, more than one resident gets up to try to leave, and I try to help guide them back to their places. It’s busy, but eventually quiet, with some pleased to be eating, and others not eating until prompted.  Some need to be fed and I cannot help with that, but can butter rolls and cut food. 
         After a while, clean up can begin and I help as much as I can while the staff continue helping residents with their food.  I chat with those who want to talk, and leave after finishing.  Today I need to go to Target to look at a new vacuum that’s on sale.  I go, decide against the new appliance (which I would have to assemble), purchase a drink at Starbucks (nice) and head for home.  
          On the way, close to home, is the grocery store, and I grab the milk, juice, and muffins, then drop some books at the library.  HOME! It’s warm enough, so after putting another load of laundry in, I grab a trash bag and spend about an hour doing some yard cleanup.  My wonderful old tree sheds sticks constantly (or the squirrels drop them), and I’m always picking up sticks.  While working, I realized that it's time to put the trash and re-cycle out tonight, so I work to gather all the re-cycle I can find and get the barrel ready. 
           After checking my e-mail again, I find that my group has given some feedback so work some more on the report, then read some more posts. I now decide I must sit and focus in order to gather thoughts for my book group tomorrow for Tuck Everlasting. I make my sketch (which we do for a favorite scene), my notes and possible questions for the meeting. I’ve already read the pages needed.
         Is it soup yet? No, I do some more laundry, my son calls to tell me about their awesome trip to Santa Fe and Taos this past weekend, and I talk to another friend. I get on Facebook to find that I posted a piece about a poet on the wrong spot, and while messing with that, I see a post I really want to read, sit down and read it. That results in donating some money to a great cause, and in the meantime, I’m also moving back and forth between certain other posts and the current book I’m reading.  Whew, it’s nearly seven and I need to make dinner. I sit, finally, quietly, to eat and read. I’ve spent the evening finishing laundry, reading a friend’s students’ blogs, and actually watching some TV!  Now can you see why I call my day slicing and dicing? There is no one part this time that I want to expand. Mondays are the day to catch up on ‘things’, and the moments are cut into small little pieces.
         By the end of the evening, yes, the day has become soup, and during all these hours, it's been cooking !  The day has blended, sun has set, slices are written, time to spend what’s left with my good book.


photo credit: Skley via photopin cc

44 comments:

  1. I understand why you needed to write about the whole day. You didn't take this task lightly. I can see how you have chosen your words carefully to give us a feel of your Monday. Slicing and dicing is a just right title for a day like that.

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    1. So, so busy on Mondays. The weekends are slower, & Monday's day off should be too, yet it never is. Thanks, Terje!

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  2. You found so much beauty in all of the small moments of you day. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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    1. Thanks Tammy & Clare, the only way I think I know, to have a good time!

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  3. I love sunrises! Seeing one in the mornings (when I don't go to school early) always brightens my day. Many of us had the day off yesterday, but you packed so much to that day, yet you were able to enjoy the small moments.

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    1. It's busy, but I do enjoy those moments, Jaana. Thanks-hope you enjoyed this sunrise!

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  4. What a wonderfully packed day! You might even call it a layer cake of a day! Thanks for sharing it, Linda. And I love your sunrises. What a great start to a day!

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    1. Ooh, l love that 'layer cake' analogy. It was piled today! Thanks, Donna!

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  5. I love this peek into your day. It is how I imagine you--busy with goodness, but calm through the "dicing", finding small moment to appreciate. Lovely.

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    1. Thanks Deb, don't you imagine that many of us have such days? I think the warm weather helps too.

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  6. I enjoyed being right beside you through your day. We slice our days up into bits but how we choose to do that slicing matters. Love your choices. And yes, this would make a great erasure poem.

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    1. I thought it would the minute I saw what you did, Julieanne! Thanks for 'seeing' it!

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  7. I love the thread of creating the soup throughout the day in this piece. All these quick moments build to create a day lived fully. That sunrise is AWESOME! A view like that makes one want to rise early.

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    1. It depends on the clouds I guess, Elsie. This morning, just clear as can be, nothing to reflect! Thank you!

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  8. I'm tired just reading about your day!! It's so funny because yesterday I started a Slice about how relaxing and calm my Monday was! I never published it, but it would have been the exact opposite of this one! I love how you threaded the whole piece together with the analogy to soup!

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    1. The weekends are different, somehow, but then Monday comes & a mad rush! Who knows why, maybe I've procrastinated too much! Happens often! Thanks Dana!

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  9. Your day sounds like a richly woven tapestry, Linda. Small moments, as Tammy and Clare mentioned, linked together by a rich and generous spirit. And thanks for that sky view again - stunning.

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    1. Thanks Tara-I love the analogy of a tapestry. Many things were certainly woven into it!

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  10. I've been loving your sky photos on Facebook, Linda. They make my day every time you post them!

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    1. That sunrise was truly awesome, and then for Tuck Everlasting today, there was an equally wonderful description, so I pulled out my computer & showed the photo to the students-we could see it for real, but then in the words, too! Thanks Stacey-I imagine there will be more!

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  11. Your day melded together like a pot of wonderful soup. I love how it all worked together to form a day of comfort and optimism . Your sky shots are indeed lovely and make me want to visit!

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    1. Thanks Anita, it was a good, good day, and today is much more mellow, even at work!

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  12. The photo is beautiful! I don't know which I like better, the sunrise or the sunset! I hope you weren't too exhausted from you slicing and dicing to enjoy the book you are reading!

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    1. No-I wasn't exhausted at all, but glad that I was finished by the end of it! My new book is such a story, a download from Net Galley-Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. I just know many will like it! Thanks Leigh Anne.

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  13. I love your Monday(s)! Such a delightfully busy day...full of so many joyful moments. I love the photograph - what a sunrise!

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  14. I love spending the day with you. It's busy, full, but filled with lovely moments. Hope you have a great week!

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    1. Thank you! I just read your very excited, 'snowy day' post, Katherine! You all are having more than one of those. Hope it was good!

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  15. just a couple of words...lots of love, lots of love, lots of love in your heart, life and soup...it is always so much pleasure to read your words Linda and to witness that beautiful sunrise in your life xo

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    1. Nancy, thank you! It was rather silly to write, actually, but I was so full of all those moments, just had to share!

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  16. You have unbounded energy. The sunrise says it all: "Time to set this day on fire!" Now I still don't know how you have time to comment on so many blogs. Invariably whenever I visit one, you've been there before.

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    1. I tried to explain to someone, once, Margaret. I've had years of reading so many, many papers from students that I learned to read very fast, & now I type fast too! And, I do admit, I spend time doing it too! Thanks for the 'set this day on fire' line-love it!

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  17. Whew! I often feel like my days are sliced and dice into pieces. There's so many pieces and chunks of the day that can be either compartmentalized or blended into soup. It's nicer when they blend into a tasty soup. Your soup today sounds pretty good! My soup today...not so tasty. Tomorrow is a new day and a new chance for a yummy soup!

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    1. Love that you took my analogy and 'ran' with it, Robin! I agree, not all the 'soup's' ingredients are always so tasty. Hope the cooking tomorrow is better! And thank you!

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  18. Your title intrigued me and as I read your post, I could see why you chose this title. It doesn't seem to matter what stage we are in life, our days are filled with so much going on. I remember "slicing and dicing" when my kids were little and thinking that after they grew up, life would slow down. Well, now I know that's not true. I still "slice and dice" through the day, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Have a great week!

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    1. You are so right. I can't remember many times when I had little to do, maybe at the beach-a good thing! Hope you have a snow day tomorrow-all of you are getting it again!

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  19. It was so much fun to follow you through your day step-by-step, Linda! Now I feel I know you even better -- even though I already knew of many of the things you do, they seem so much more real now that I know how they fit together. I loved your ending with the soup metaphor, and you found the perfect picture to illustrate it!

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    1. Thanks Jennifer, isn't that picture terrific! I was excited when I found it-Photopin has provided me with some perfect pics through the months.

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  20. I love days like this: busy, productive, completely satisfying. Thanks for sharing a true "slice" of your life!

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    1. Yes, Mondays for me are unique, then I have work the other days, a whole different set of 'dicing'. Thanks, Catherine!

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  21. Whew! Your Mondays are quite busy! From the beautiful sunrise to the warming soup, I'm exhausted after reading all about it! But I think it fits your OLW -- you wandered into so many people's lives on the blogs, facebook, the nursing home residents, friends, your son, and nature too. You are quite connected too! Hope you enjoy a quiet Wednesday! :)

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    1. Thanks Michelle, it is going to be much quieter, a few meetings, and now waiting for snow!

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  22. Slicing and dicing, love this Linda. What a great view of early morning. We are in a dell so the sun has to be way up before we see it.

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    1. Yes, it takes some time here too. I used to live by a park, a large very open space to the east, & miss the view, but am learning to watch the times more correctly now. Thanks, Jone!

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