I love to bake. Yesterday I made pie. Delicious apple pie. One of the things I love about baking is how your house just smells so good while things are cooking. Yesterday's pie was particularly awesome because I made it using apples that no one would eat. They could have ended up in my compost but instead they ended up in my belly as delicious homemade apple pie.

Now don't get me wrong, the recipe wasn't perfect. I prefer a richer flavour and the recipe I used called for white sugar. Yuck. I used it anyway. Was it healthy?  No way Jose! Was it delicious? Well it's gone...

After that I was on a roll so I made a chicken pie for dinner. Then I almost burst into flames...I was on fire. Just kidding. I burnt my hand. No more baking. But I did manage to cook today's dinner with one hand so when I get home today, tomorrow's awesome will be waiting for my family.

Seriously, home cooking is #AWESOME!

PS If you want to try this delicious pie, here's a link to the website: http://www.kitchme.com/recipes/apple-crumble-pie

Having teens and toddlers is challenging. There are days when it seems like bedtime will never come. There are days when my heart could burst when I watch the older kids interact with their younger brothers. There are days when it feels like it is all going too fast and days when I just wish time (or one of the kids) would cooperate with my plans.

The great shuffle is exhausting and the timing doesn't always work out. On days when it doesn't seem like I will make it to the end and then my teenagers step up and make something great happen, it makes all the difference. My two teenagers made a simple spaghetti and broccoli dinner last night. But, when I raced back through the doors at home after gymnastics and the house smelled great and the dinner was already made, it was pretty awesome. Little things. I am super grateful that they were able to work together to make something. Super grateful.

My moment of gratitude this morning is for my awesome kids. Seriously They rock.

Today feels like I'm sitting on the cusp of something awesome. I am preparing like a madwoman for semester two start up, reorganizing my website, and the wheels they are a turning.

My Drama kidlets know exactly what to expect. Or do they? So much fun and learning is about to happen. I can't wait to share so many great theatre styles with them. 30 crazy, high energy Integrated Arts Program artsies.... what's not to be excited about?!

But the real cusp is my second year of the Futures Forum Project. Tomorrow morning this year's group will arrive in my room having no idea what FFP is or what to expect for the next 5 months. I can't wait to try some of the new ideas I've been working on throughout the first semester and collaborate with other classrooms around the Board. This adventure in teaching FFP has without a doubt made me a better educator, more intentional in my practice, and also much more critical (which isn't always a good thing!).  I am loving all of the technological exploration and the flipping of my classroom has been such a liberating experience. I'm looking forward to incorporating even more PBL this year as well as some video recording and editing work.

I am even trying gamification with my FFPers. You read that right. I'll pause for a second so that you can peel yourself off of the floor. I will teach through gaming this semester. Really. I do not game; I have never gamed. This will be awesome and I know it. I'm starting off easy with Civic Mirror as my entry level attempt as it is so mappable and truly designed to work alongside the Civics curriculum. Does it scare me? Absolutely. Will I have all the answers to trouble shoot? Absolutely not. But this is what will make it such a rich learning environment. There will be no magic answer for the game or for any piece of our FFP adventure. Life isn't like that. How we navigate through it will make all the difference.

Buckle up my friends. It's almost show time!

Sometimes there is just so much artistic awesomeness that my heart and brain can hardly hold it. This past week and a half is a perfect example of life moments like this.

First of all, my work is THE best. I have the most dedicated students who are so talented. Seriously, I love my job not only because it is the perfect job for me but also because of the amazing young people I get to coach and mentor every day. This is what happened when we mounted our Fringe Festival again this year. 6 student-directed plays, 2 of them student written as well.  The list included Sure Thing, Ajax, The Actor's Nightmare, Text Messages Hurt More When You're Sitting at the Airport plus the two student written pieces titled The Artist and Writers Retreat. After 1 week of auditions and intensive casting, followed by almost 7 weeks of rehearsals, I can honestly say that this was the best Fringe Festival we have ever produced. The artistic visions actualized were simply superior and it's this kind of creativity and vision that leaves me not only exhausted and happy but also looking forward to next year. Seriously, can we do it all again?!

Then I have the distinct pleasure of taking my senior students on an incredible field trip. The final cycle of Theatre Gargantua's Sacrifice Zone was so mind blowing that I know my students will never forget it. The physicality required and the characterization is something that I can teach a million times over but seeing it like this resonates far stronger than any exercise, assignment, exemplar, or engaging lesson that I could ever lead. The integration of the disciplines that we emphasize all the time were on full display. The inclusion of technology as well as the design and use of set pieces...awe-inspiring. The icing on the cake comes from the highly articulate and insightful post-performance discussions we had yesterday and again today. Seriously, I have the best job ever.

Then my last period class has crafted what can only be described as a wise, imaginative, and creative piece for their Gala performance. The collaboration of the last few days as they have co-written the piece has been incredible to witness. True collective creation. 

What an amazing journey the last while has been!

So I'm sitting in my final session of my first at at the ECOO conference 2013. My brain is on fire! I love learning. There are so many incredible educators here, many of whom have run their sessions with a similar style to a clasroom. Socratic my be necessary sometimes but....

This conference sets my brain on fire! I seriously love this conference. Student engagement. Check. Tech forward. Check. Exciting new platforms. Check. Awesome new functions of platforms I am already using. Check. Skills instead of content based approach to learning. Check. Student learning before gadgetry. Check. Tech is only a way to enhance student learning.

So for crying out loud people, play. Tinker. Explore. Grow. But never lose your love of learning!  

Every once and while you come across something so mortifying, so absolutely wrong, that you cannot believe nobody has called someone out for it.

This is how I felt today when someone showed me an alligator jacket and a fancy peacock coat from Burberry that they accidentally stumbled across while researching costuming ideas.

How is it in 2013 a fancy-schmancy high end company can get away with these things? Unchallenged, utterly and completely unchallenged? How might one go about procurring these resources to 'hand build' and 'assemble' build these items in an ethical way? There might be part of you that says, "Well if someone is stupid enough to pay $95 000 for a jacket then that's their problem". But isn't it everyone's problem if it impacts the world that we live in?

We are all interconnected in this life and on this Earth and we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to things like this. They are simply too important to be ignored.

This morning I will preface my rant with this: I love living in Canada. If you know me at all then you will know the intense National pride I  have for our wonderful country. I adore the landscape, the food, the people, the music, and I even adore  seasonal farming. But, while we're on the topic of seasonal, what about seasonal construction? This is what has altered the shape of my morning today.

As I know the Highway 7 & 8 is under construction, down to one lane until the Fall and a complete and utter gong show to drive on even during the non-rush hour times, I have opted to take a city route to work for the last 2 weeks.  And leave early. Smart thinking? Yes but...

Last week they decided to start construction on this route as well. Hmmmm, this should be interesting. Then this morning, remembering that the two main ways to get out of the subdivision are currently almost blocked they are so minimal, they decided to 'temporarily close' traffic on my newly adopted route. 20 minutes of sitting. Not crawling along. Just plain sitting.

I hate seasonal construction most days, but especially right now.  Seriously. What's a gal gotta do in order to make it to work on time???

So continuing some threads from our Today's Meet discussion...

I think one of the main issues that stands out for me is trust. It would be really hard to put all of your hard work and energy into creating something without knowing that there would be some compensation. That usually looks like money; I know Amanda Palmer would say that sometimes it looks like a place to crash, a piano to practice on, a nettie pot...I'm not sure if I could give up so much control either. I think I could make the leap to having faith in your crowd because I love the connectedness between artist and fan, but I'm not sure I would be comfortable not knowing that my basic bills, food, etc would be covered by my work. This could impact my kids too profoundly. Actually, I don't think that I could do it even if I didn't have 4 wonderful kids to factor into my decision.

I also think that I like to take calculated risks. I'm not sure that I would be comfortable ringing a stranger's doorbell late at night, with or without other people  by my side. That is incredible trust. All it takes is one dishonourable person to shatter that trust and who knows what might happen. There are some real nutters out there. I also think it would be such an incredible opportunity to meet interesting people and make beautiful connections. All things considered, I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it.

I do think that she has some amazing ideas on music. I think that the larger population needs to rethink how we share and enjoy music in 2013. The leap of trust and faith she has in her fans is amazing to me. To do a kickstart with a goal of $100 000 and then receive support of 1.2 million just shows that sometimes you really can make awesome things happen. She is definitely alongside Metallica and Radiohead in the charge for supporting artists. Granted they have extremely different ways of attempting to activate that support. I pay for my music; I realize most people do not. I am not rich rather I choose to purchase from artists that I really enjoy instead of buying 1 off songs by people that I won't even listen to in a year's time. The music world is changing rapidly and needs to keep up with the developments in the tech world. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the upcoming years. I think you will see a lot more bands like Dave Mathews (one of my absolute favs!), the Grateful Dead, and Phish who make (or made) an honest living by continually touring and making each concert an experience for their fans.

Guess I better go back to my list of favourite things now and add talking about music and trends in the industry to the list...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...I asked you for this blog to write about a few of your favourite things. Here are a few of mine:

1. My baby's laugh. Seriously. That kid is cuuuuuute! Every time I hear him laugh, I smile. He has one of those contagious laughs that you really just can't help smile or laugh along with him. <3
2. Chocolate. Preferably milk chocolate with nuts, with dried fruit, stuffed with caramel...sometimes a little chocolate helps. Actually, chocolate is often the answer and is usually tucked away in any number of drawers around my house and office! It's practically its own food group for me. I love chocolate!
3. More food love: bacon and cheese. They make everything better. Well pretty much everything. Yum! 
4. Books. I'm a word nerd and proud of it. I love reading. In the summer I go to a beautiful place up North and I love to sit on or by the lake and read. There's nothing quite like a good book to clear your mind and take to another world.
5. The outdoors. I love to wander in the woods, kayak along the river, putter in my garden...I am happiest when I am outdoors. I especially love spring, summer, and fall because that's when I can do some of my favourite activities. In winter I just plan and dream about the upcoming months.

That's a lot of favourite things to start today. There

Once upon a time I was told that I could go anywhere in the world. Money is not an object. You can see and do whateveryou want on this trip. No llimits. Where do you go? Where do I go? Seriously, where should I go?

In this lifetime I hope to continue to travel ands ee the world. I would really like to see Brazil, Australia, and Hawaii. I could explore Central America for years, literally! I would also like to go to the East coast of Canada again and do the Cabot Trail as well as go to a few places in the US. I'd like to whitewater raft in the other top places of the world as well.  Actually, sounds like I just want to go everywhere!

Number one on my list right now is probably Brazil or Costa Rica. Both have similar draws for me. Culturally, I love the warmth of the people. They are always so friendly and accomodating. Life has a different pace and family always comes first. These are my kind of people. They are also heavily focussed on food. I think I have been clear about my love of food. I love to try different types of food and the cuisine in both of these countries appeals to me, especially all of the fruit.

I am a lover of all things outdoors. Both Costa Rica and Brazil have tremendous natural scapes with an abundance of animal and plant life that appeal to me. I could literaly get lost in a jungle. I love to do adventure travel so these destinations also offer whitewater rafting, ziplining, and cave exploration which are things that I love to do as well as the usual nature safaris tours.

So there's my 4 paragraphs. No so hard to decide what to do, rather the hardest part is deciding where to do it all!