To Yashar A...

Today I read a fabulous article that you can find here.

This article, written by Yashar Ari, talks about "Why Women Aren't Crazy." Now, I'm not going to summarize the whole thing (you should read it for yourself!), but what I will say is that it lifted a small weight off my shoulders. A weight that I never knew was there.

Yashar introduced me to the word gaslighting. A term he describes as "manipulative behavior used to confuse people into thinking their reactions are so far off base that they’re crazy."

Read the article and you'll understand why this term is such an eye opener.

And ladies, next time someone tells you you're overreacting or too emotional, tell them they're gaslighting.

Thank you, Yashar A., for helping women to realize there is nothing wrong with us.

To Husky fans...

This pumps me up and makes me smile:

Go DAWGS!

To Baby E...

Today was a long day.

It wasn't long in terms of the hours I worked, but rather the nature of the concerns I dealt with over the course of 8 hours.

Luckily, there was also a beautiful bright spot in my day. Today was the first Roots of Empathy baby visit of the school year. Baby E and his Mommy A spent an hour with a classroom of 4th graders and myself and it was wonderful!

If I haven't already, I'm sure I'll write an entire blog post about this incredible program in the future. For now, I'll sum it up by saying Roots of Empathy is an amazing program that teaches kids pro-social behaviors primariliy through having them observe the relationship between a baby and its parent(s).

Today it was sweet to see Baby E come into the classroom smiling and happy to be there. The kids responded as well as I could ever have hoped. The questions they asked Baby E's mom were thoughtful and it was adorable listening to the connections they made to their own lives. You ccould practically see the empathy growing inside their hearts.

So, here's to you Baby E! I appreciate you and your mommy's sacrifice of time and cannot wait to see you grow and change over the course of the next nine months.

To a sweet child...

Last week was the beginning of the new school year.  During the first weeks, I try to visit every single classroom in order to introduce myself and explain what my role is at school.  Most of the kids already know, but it's a good reminder for them anyway and a chance to get a bit of face time with the new students.

In order to make it interesting, I always try to involve the students in my explanation by asking them questions about my job.  

Here's a peek at the sweetest answer I've ever heard.

Me: "Can you tell me about some of the things I do around here?"
5th grader: "You make kids feel good about themselves!"
Me: "Well, I certainly try to do that."
5th grader: "I know you do, because that's what you did with me!"

Thank you for your vote of confidence! :)

Warmly,
Ms. C.

To a brand new season...

For those of you familiar with my college history, you will know that I started out my career at the University of San Francisco and then later transferred to the University of Washington for my BA and MSW. Having attended UW for not one, but two degrees, one would think I would have become quite the UW sports fan over my 3 years there. Sadly, my first and only UW game while I was at UW wasn't until I attended as the guest of a friend from USF during the Fall of graduate school.

My fiance would be horrified, if it weren't for the fact that he can now take credit for turning me into a fan that bleeds purple and gold.

Now, it's Husky Football time once again. First game of the season and you can already read the multitude of "Go Dawgs" FB status messages. The excitement of Football Season is in the air!

Though I can't claim to be an expert on Football or even on the Huskies (yet!), there are some aspects of Football season that I love.

For me, Football season means weekly gatherings with good friends (i.e tailgates). It means collectively cheering for one goal and celebrating like mad when our team wins. It means smiling, laughing, and enjoying our Saturdays, rain or shine. It means singing and chanting until our voices are gone. It means hugging complete strangers when the Huskies score a touchdown. It means eating burgers and chicken wings. It means decking ourselves out in Purple and Gold.

And what could be better than that on a beautiful day like today?

GO DAWGS!

To good health...

After much (or at least a little) convincing on the part of our friends, my honey and I've decided to try out the Quantum Wellness Cleanse.  What does that mean?  For three weeks we are ridding our diet of the Big 5: gluten, sugar, caffeine, animal products, and alcohol.  "You must be crazy," is the response we've heard most frequently since letting people know that we're attempting this seemingly impossible feat (the second response being "what's left to eat?").  Amazingly enough, it hasn't been as hard as it seems.

Day 1:  Craved sugar like mad.
Day 2:  Craved sugar like mad.
Day 3:  Caffeine head ache and only craved sugar a bit.
Day 4:  Caffeine head ache, no sugar cravings.
Day 5:  No caffeine headache, no sugar cravings, and I'm feeling totally energetic even though I worked all day!

If I feel this good after 5 days, how much better am I going to feel after 21?  I am fully admitting right now that after these three weeks I will be indulging in chocolate like it was going out of business and I certainly will not be vegan.  However, I am willing to give up for three weeks these food items that I dearly love in order to experiment and see if eating healthier truly makes a difference.

Which brings up the next question... why don't YOU try it?  Or even try giving up one food item?   If you do, you'll have to let me know how it goes...

One thing I know for sure, I am extremely appreciative to be healthy enough that simply changing my diet for 3 weeks is all the healthcare I need.

To the end of Summer...

I've noticed that it's difficult to appreciate summer until it's almost gone. My school's "August Days" (aka training and preparation days) are tomorrow and that means school officially starts the following week.

When I look back on my adventures over the past few months, it seems almost a blur. It would take thousands of words to describe it, so instead I think it best to use photos.

My summer was filled with:

Baseball.

Best friends.

Romantic dates with my honey.

Not one, but TWO trips to California (Disneyland and San Francisco).

Special time with the little ones in my life.

Good food.

A trip to the Oregon Coast.

And BINGO at the Greenwood Senior Center.














Now it's back to the daily grind, but not without a few moments of gratitude for the wonderful adventures I've had.

I am so appreciative for having the free time to enjoy life to its fullest.