Who would have thought that there would actually be a “blogging” morning when I would be at a loss for words?! It’s sort of cold, sort of gray, sort of threatening of precipitation…but I did see that our snowdrops have pushed through. (That’s a note especially for Ellen, whose snowdrops are more advanced than mine.) It’s good to see some signs of spring. When my children were really young and we’d just moved back to this area from living in Italy for four years, Matt was 3 and Meg was 7. It was a strange time for all of us – a new home, a new/old country, a divorce, and a mommy who was now working as a teacher every day. We’d moved back in July, and I couldn’t find a teaching job at first. Spent the first winter working as a secretary for a tiny computer software company in one of the old WWII barracks at the Reading Airport. Matthew was in nursery school, and Meg was in second grade. Money was…tight! The winter was long and strange. From living in the middle of a bustling Italian city where everything wonderful was within walking distance, we now lived in the ‘burbs where everything meant a drive.
We muddled through. Lived a few months with my parents until we found a little house to rent – two adult women in one house – much as they may love each other, it’s usually not a great scene. And so, in late November we moved into our house. The winter seemed to go on and on. One bleak Saturday late in late February or early March, we all seemed to be suffering from cabin fever, and I decided to take a ride out in the country. “Why are we going for a ride? Where are we going?” asked the kids. Think quick! “To look for signs of spring,” I told them – having no idea what we’d find.
And so we took a ride out into the country on back roads through the woods. Streams still had snow on some of the banks, but we drove slowly and looked and looked. “Shout out when you see a sign of spring!” I said. Meg saw a duck swimming in a stream; Matt saw a squirrel running around. Then we saw little green shoots that had popped up through the dead leaves and spots of snow! We looked more carefully and saw more and more and more little green shoots! Snowdrops – a few were even blooming. The kids were so excited as we drove along, and they called out things they saw. “Signs of spring!” they’d shout! Then they’d say what it was they saw. We came home after an hour or so feeling hopeful and happy and secure.
That was the first of many “signs of spring” rides that we took through the years until both Meg and Matt were grown and had moved away. Barry and I still take those rides. (We introduced him to that custom when he joined our family. We knew he was meant for us because he didn’t think our “signs of spring” rides were strange!)
And so our snowdrops have made an appearance! I hope “the kids” still remember our rides and maybe take one of their own around San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Who knew that a tiny dot and hook could hold such terror when it appears? Semicolons are cool; they keep us from writing short, choppy sentences. It may be that the lowly semicolon is intimidating to tweeters and texters; therefore, it’s rarely used.
A woman whom I deeply respect and trust and who has fine “people skills” told me that she has an employee who was terrified by the semicolon; nevertheless, she says she will continue to use this lovely punctuation device whenever appropriate.
It seems she sent a memo to an employee in which she specified exactly what the task was to which he had been assigned, as well as the procedure he was expected to use in completing the task. She is his boss, and she wanted to give him a written directive to follow up one she had given him orally.
Soon after he received the memo, the terrified young man appeared at her office door; whatever caused his stressful state was unknown to his boss. He nervously asked if he could speak to her about the memo he’d just received. She asked him to speak freely, and he replied, “It was SO serious! You used SEMICOLONS!!!”
The woman who related this story to me is a far nicer person than I. Under the same circumstances i would probably strive, from this point on, to use at least several semicolons in every email I sent to the young man! Ah, there you have it! I’m NOT a very nice person! Thank goodness, my daughter is!
(Personally, I find the colon somewhat imtimidating. Those letters that begin “Dear Madam:” always set my teeth on edge.
Ta Ta! Enjoy the day; however, keep warm!

It’s Wednesday, and I’m preoccupied with getting everything ready for the first day of the spring semester at Albright College. Classes begin Monday, 23 January, and I’m like old race horse that hears the starting gun and is ready to go. Teaching is my thing, and preparing for each new semester is always fun and challenging. This semester I’ll be teaching three courses – two of them will be new for me, and one of those two is a brand new course. My first class on the 23rd will be the one I’ve been teaching since beginning at Albright six years ago. it’s called “Communication Skills for Teachers” and includes segments on public speaking, professional writing, and developing parent conferencing skills. It’s a lot to cram into one semester! Originally, it was a required course for all students planning to become elementary or secondary teachers, but it is now only required for the secondary students. (I won’t go into the rationale for that change because, frankly, I don’t understand it.)
This semester I will also be co-teaching the Professional Seminar (“pro-sem” in Albright-ese). That course begins on Wednesday, 1 February, and meets from 5 t0 7 PM each week. Secondary student teachers come back to campus to discuss their expereinces and learn more about effective teaching. After almost 40 years of teaching – at the college level and from second through twelfh grade, I have been inserviced in a huge variety of “new” programs, all designed to improve the service we provide our students. With all the various terms that I’ve learned for these systems and even with all the wonderful new doors that technology has opened for teachers and students, the conclusion that I have come to is that “good teaching is good teaching is good teaching.” The terms we use to refer to things we’re doing in the classroom may change, but there is little under the sun that is new to what makes a good teacher effecive in the classroom – and beyond the classroom, for that matter.
I truly enjoy being able to contribute to the training of future teachers, and each semester that I work with the Albright students, I learn more about the art of teaching. It is an endless pursuit – to be the best teacher I am capable fo becoming and to help these future teachers maintain their passion and hone their skills and the art of teaching.
I will be co-teaching a third course – a brand new one that is being offered for the first time. The first half of the semester will be taught by a sociologist who will discuss the school and its place in the community. My half of the course will introduce the students to the various social agencies that schools count on for support in dealing with a variety fo studnts and their complicated lives. I will also be teaching the students effective ways to communicate with parents and the community to promote the concept that educating a child is best done when it’s a team effort that includes the parents, family, and community. (Hillary Clinton was absolutely right. It does take a village!)
At the moment I’m busy revising the syllabus for the communications course, and writing the ones for the other two. Fun! My mind is going in all sorts of directions – mostly involving making these three courses as relevant and practical as possible.
Sorry this blog is probably not particularly interesting to anyone not a teacher, but it’s where I am at the moment. BUT – I am also seriously excited about launching our television show on 31January. Hooray for us! What a great adventure to begin the new year! Jane, Ellen, Christina, Sheila – I can hardly wait for us to begin! Jamie — we love you!!!!

It seems impossible that I was actually stuck on cemetery hill (Center Avenue) yesterday morning for over an hour! When I left home in Temple at 8:30 AM, we’d had barely a dusting of snow earlier, the sun was shining, and it was that lovely, crispness of real winter! My Wyomissing destination is usually a quick trip, but two hours later I was just pulling in. Since the Bypass seemed clogged as far as I could see when i approached it, I decided to go through the city. That’s when I realized that all roads were clogged bumper to bumper., and since I’d committed to the city route, I was definitely “stuck” like everyone else. Switched from satelitte radio to AM and listened to tales of travel woe from people calling in to the local talk show. Snow!? Slippery roads? Icey conditions? Didn’t seem possible, but there I was! Stuck! Must be old age approaching, but I’ve almost learned not to sweat the stuff I can’t change. And I certainly couldn’t do a thing about this but sit in my Jeep, listen to the radio, and eat the red licorice I’d forgotten was hidden in that center console from our trip to the beach. (Ziiplock bag kept it really fresh!)
Had a meeting to attend, but when I realized everyone going anywhere in the area was going to be as stuck as I, sitting back and relaxing was fun. The Jeep was warm and cozy and high enough for me to see all that was happening (or, rather, not happening) ahead of me. When I finally arrived at my destination, I’d pretty much eliminated my stash of licorice, had done some creative planning for the days ahead, and was VERY grateful that I hadn’t drunk that big cup of coffee before I left home! It’s winter! Lots of our peers seem to be enchanted with the idea of moving to Florida and are making plans and buying condos to fulfill their plans, but we’re still finding the challenges of four seasons enjoyable!

I just started writing a letter to Meg and dated it “Tuesday.” OOPS! Is it really a week since the last time I blogged? It’s been a nice Christmas for Barry and me. My dinner turned out almost exactly as it was supposed to! All dishes I’d never made before, but the recipes in Bon Appetit sounded wonderful, and I always make new things for our Christmas dinner. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they…well, don’t quite work as planned. But this year – wow! I impressed myself, and Barry loved every bite! A mustard coated beef tenderloin roast, shingled potatos (they’re really easy and look great – and very tasty), green beans with cranberries, citrus and parsley salad, cranberry bread, and my cookies for dessert. The beef was amazing, and Bessie’s enjoying bits of the leftover with her regular kibble!
Broke the news of the upcoming television debut of “That’s What SHE Said” to several relatives and acquaintances and received a wide variety of reactions. Most were very positive – I mean really great – a few were more like “Oh, another of Martha’s hairbrained projects” – so I”m choosing to ignore the latter and bask in the excited congratulations from others. I think we’re doing a really great thing! Bravo for us – Ellen! Sheila! Christina, and Jane! I hope I’m never too old to try something new! And Jamie – what a brave and wondeful thing you’ve done to take this idea and really breathe life into it. Thank you! Thank you!
The last of Martha’s Blogs for 2011! A new year is about to overtake our lives. Tto everyone reading this- best wishes for a happy, safe, healthy 2012 – and peace!

My grades are completed. I’ll deliver them to the registrar’s office this morning. Hooray! Now I can put away my school bookbag until after the holidays. The next semester begins January 23, and although I’m enjoying the freedom of more time to myself, in a month I’ll be eager to return to campus to meet the new groups of students I’ll be teaching. Some I will have taught before, and I will enjoy meeting with them weekly to hear all about their student teaching experiences. Others I will meet for the first time, some in a course I’ve taught for six years, others in a course that will be new for me. I think I’m addicted to teaching. Or maybe it’s just that I very much enjoy being around young adults. They energize me! The ones I teach are planning to become teachers. What profession could be more important? There is NONE, and by the end of the semester I’ll have convinced my students of that – or they may, perhaps, decide they should look for something else to pursue. It’s one time around, so one should spend as much time doing what one enjoys. Teaching is hard work. It’s a never-ending learning experience! It’s NEVER boring! Just sitting here writing this makes my anticipation of meeting new students in one month and two days even greater! Happy Holidays to all!

During the four Christmasses we spent in Bologna, Italy, we had the pleasure of visiting many churches during Advent to view their Nativity displays. Most scenes were very old, and some were as large as a room with many moving parts, lights, and special effects that had been added through the centuries. (The Naivity in the church of San Petronio has an marble angel carved my Michaelangelo.) The scenes contained many anachronistic pieces – Italian bagpipers from the hills (who still come into the towns to play in the streets over the Christmas season), figures representing characters from the Commedia del’Arte like Harlequin, all sorts of animals not found in Bethlehem…in short, they were a delight to visit each year. My children were very young, and I decided to start collecting pieces for our own Nativity scene. The individual pieces were very inexpensive, and during the four yearrs in Bologna I managed to assemble quite an impressive collection. Each year I set it up on our mantle, and each year I hid the Christ Child until Christmas morning, when he would appear in the manger. Then disaster struck! One Christmas we discovered that we had inadvertently thrown out the well worn box that contained our Nativity scene during a rare but intense binge of cleaning the cellar! I was quite upset, but we decided to begin assembling a Nativity scene all over again. And so, during the past twenty five years our Nativity has grown to something amazing! It fills our mantle and spills onto several levels. Barry made the most wonderful stable, and we have collected all the “traditional” participants – camels, wisemen, shepherd, Mary, Joseph, angels, donkey, etc. BUT we have also added a variety of other pieces, all given lovingly as gifts by friends and family. Among them are a blue hippopotamus from the New York MOMA, a Mexican boatman, several giraffes, Italian bagpipers, a Labarador retriever, American Revolutionary soldiers, and a handcarved English nanny that was mafde by a dear friend who from Wales who believed every baby should have an English nanny. She now stands proudly beside Mary. There is a tiny turtle and several cats, a llama, Clydesdale, and a black sheep carved in China. I have knitted a small bunting for Jesus, who always looks so cold. And He doesn’t appear until Christmas morning. Where does He stay until then? In our liquor cabinet! Also a tradition of many years. The first time I placed him there next to my favorite bottle of Scotch, it was because the liquor cabinet was very close to the fireplace. THen it became a tradition. Now every year my son calls to ask if I’ve put Jesus in the liquor cabinet. That’s an indication to him, I think, that all’s well with the world. I assure you there is no disrespect intended by that little hiding place. On Christmas morning Jesus is lifted into his manger, and from then until the Epiphany on 6 January the wise men get closer and closer to the stable. All is calm. All is well. Blessings abound!

Three classes left, and then my semester is finished. I’ve enjoyed it – great students – challenging classes – an inherited course I’d never taught before. I’m glad I finally decided that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. However, there’s a glitch! In the past, when the semester ended, I turned in my grades and was finished until late in January when the spring semester began. The course that I was teaching did not include a final. Aha! Change is good for the soul! I think! This semester’s classes include a lot of end-of-the term research papers, observations logs, unit plans, and a take home final. Drat! Bad planning on my part. Everything due this week! Except for the fact that I really enjoy reading my students’ work, this is an impediment to my holiday preparations that are always postponed until the day classes end. Then I just immerse myself in decorating the house, baking cookies, wrapping present, NOT eating the cookies I’ve baked, writing out greeting cards, NOT eating the cookies I’ve baked…but this year’s a bit different. The thought of all those papers and projects coming in this week was overwhelming at first, but I think I’ve got myself organized. All will be accomplished – and I WILL NOT eat any of those cookies I’m going to bake. Yesterday I unpacked our ecclectic nativity scene. It fills the mantle. I think I’ll blog about that next Wednesday. That is my favorite Christmas decoration. (the baby Jesus doesn’t appear in the creche until Christmas morning when I take him our of his hiding place in the liquor cabinet!!!) More about THAT next week. Meanwhile – hope you’re feeling better, Jane. Ellen, Christina, Sheila – hugs, love, and all good things to you all – and, of course, that includes you, too, Jane. I’m just not getting too close for the hug until you’re well. Can’t afford to get sick until I’ve graded all those danged papers! Ciao!

My nextdoor neighbors have done the most amazingly whimsical decorating for Christmas. Over 20 “blowups,” lots of lighted figures, lights on trees and on the house -it’s beyond “too much.” It’s absolutely magical! Definitely got my Christmas psyche moving. But I am sidelined by thoughts of the local poverty. Sorry. This isn’t going to be an uplifting blog because my thoughts just keep going back to things I’ve been reading and hearing. Jason Brudereck’s series of articles in the Reading paper that compared the poverty in Reading with that of Flint, Michigan – well written and very thought-provoking. Recently I read a statistic that I’ve read before – 1 in 4 children in this country go to bed hungry every night!!!! That’s beyond my comprehension. One of my grad students who is also an assistant football coach at Reading High School tells me that after football practice they give the players supper – because many of them won’t get supper when they get home. Some of the players are young fathers and have to babysit their young children after school. Unless they can get babysitters, they bring the children along to practice – and supper is also given to the players’ children. “We know we’re saving these kids, but we never know whether or not they’ll make it through another week at school, or if their lives will become so complicated that they’ll be out on the streets,” said my student.
In one of Jason Brudereck’s columns he mentioned that people in Flint didn’t think that the arts, colleges, and upscale restaurants that came into the city were helping the poor very much. That also got me to thinking. I love the Reading Symphony concerts we subscribe to. I love eating at Judy’s on Cherry, at the Peanut Bar, at Dan’s. I love going to the Goggle Works and seeing a film in the wonderful little theater, or visiting the artists’ studios. I love going to the Miller Center for all sorts of great performances – there’s a jazz concert this Sunday I’m definitely looking forward to. But within half a block of all those places are hungry children, people who can’t afford to enjoy the performances or food I come to the city to enjoy, and I’m not sure what my patronage of the restuarants and the arts is doing for those children. We suburbanites come into the city for great food and entertainment – then we leave. (Some suburbanites have told me the never come into the city because it’s too dangerous! I’m never very polite in responding to those remarks.) The gentrification has made some sections of Reading truly lovely, but it’s also driven the poor from those areas without improving their lives.
I’m feeling a serious need to think of some ways to help the poor – especially the children – in Reading. It’s an overwhelming problem, and one person … can I make a difference? When Mother Teresa was asked how she thoughy she could help the poor in India because there were so many, many more than she could ever help, she said, “I help one at a time.” I guess that’s what I need to think about. One at a time. A way to help to feed one child….I invite each of my wonderful women who blog to help me find a way to make a difference. And to forgive me for not spreading the Joy of Christmas in this blog, as was my original intent when I started to dig out the decorations on Sunday.
One child at a time! One child every day until Christmas – and one child every day thereafter -I’m going to try to find a way to do that. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated – and I’ll keep you posted about my success.

It’s almost time for me to start cooking. I love this day! After the shopping and “putting away” is completed – not my most favorite jobs – I honestly love Thanksgiving and cooking the dinner. I’ve cooked just about the same menu in Pennsylvania, Texas (Dallas, Midland, and Austin), Colorado, Wyoming, California, and four times in Bologna, Italy. (Turkeys were much smaller there and came complete with heads and feet.) I’ve introduced my mother’s Berks County potato filling to people in all those places, mostly resulting in new fans of PA Dutch cooking! My stuffing recipe is more Italian, and a “newcomer” to the menu I started to create almost fifty years ago. Actually, the stuffing’s my favorite – mushrooms, chestnuts, Italian sausage – yum! Pumpkin pie, green beans, dried corn supreme, and on and on. This year it’s just Barry and me. I’ll scale down the amounts I cook, but he loves my Thanksgiving cooking, and that makes all the work almost fun!
But the day’s about mindfully counting our blessings. I’ve accumulated so many that I couldn’t begin to list them all. My children and my grandson – the biggest blessings of my life – what I’m most proud of – what I love more than my soul could ever express given even infinite time to do so. Barry – ! Wow! What he’s done to make me believe in love and in myself! I am so grateful for our love and commitment to each other – stronger than ever after almost 35 years. Friends – true friends – old and new. Jamie – you’re making this all possible. Jane, Ellen, Christina, Sheila – thank you! Thank you! Thank you! And my Albright students – all of them – and the ones I gave an opportunity to leave class early yesterday afternoon since it was their last class before the holidays. None took advantage of my offer – they chose to stay and chat until the class had officially passed it’s end, and I had to send them out! I think so often how lucky I am to be here…now! I’m thankful for so many things – large and small – I am SO happy I’m living the age of indoor plumbing, central heating, dishwashers…and that I can afford those things. Just the luck of the draw that I’m not starving in Somalia! Wow! Blessings abound. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all who may read this. Hey! I’ve a new blessing – the blog! Wow! Who knew?! Time to cook those giblets!