Bernardston Parade

On Saturday, September 22, 2012, I have been invited to be lead clown for the Bernardston, MA parade!  I am so excited!  I have all kinds of fun sight gags planned to entertain the crowd.  After the parade I'll be making bubbles and balloons.  There may be some pocket magic and general clowning around!  I hope to see you there!

Continuing to Downsize

In my ongoing effort to streamline my life and reach my ultimate goal of becoming a published author, I've decided to condense this blog.  Writing three blogs each week has become overwhelming for me this year due to my day job as a fourth grade teacher.  Because we have more teaching to the MCAS, including an additional teaching block called RTI, I have more correcting than I've ever had before.  I really think my last two illnesses were a result of me being run down.  Something had to change and that's the current format of this blog.

So, I'll continue to update my activities and the joke of the week.  I'd like to write more about clowning skills.  If there's anything you've ever wanted to know about clowning, just ask.  And if you spot me clowning around, leave me a comment.  I'd love to hear from you!

Downsizing Your Life

I’ve been working towards being a famous writer when I grow up for almost two years now. I realized (duh) recently that some of my activities have veered me off of that path. Although I love being an Aqua Zumba instructor, I have decided to give that up. That actually benefits me in a few ways.

The first and most important advantage is that I’ll have more time to write. I’ll also save $30 a month on my Zumba Instructor Network membership fee. Granted, I will have less income since I won’t be teaching but that’s okay. The end result, getting published, will be worth it!

While I have dropped my Zumba certification, I will maintain my certifications as a personal fitness trainer as well as a lifestyle and weight management consultant. This knowledge helps keep my husband and me healthy and active.

I will continue to clown around. I still enjoy being Peppermint Patti although lately the behaviors of the children have become obnoxious to the point where I am thinking of retiring from that. At a recent party I was harassed by a three year old and his mom called me a rude clown. This was after he ran into the room; karate chopped the birthday cake, screamed nonstop, and was grabbing at the balloons as I was trying to twist them. We were all relieved when he was removed from the party.

Anyway, I’m downsizing. Instead of four careers, I’m now down to three. It feels good. I’m going to start sleeping a little later, too. I’ll set the alarm for 5 AM rather than my current 4:30 AM!

Do you have many “irons in the fire?” How do you manage? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

Woodland Elementary Book Fair

Our school held a book fair at Barnes and Noble Friday last night. It was so much fun! Many families attended along with our principals and teachers. The staff at Barnes and Noble was amazed! They had never experienced such a successful book fair before. Especially noteworthy was the number of teachers participating. Woodland is a wonderful school and we take pride in what we do.

One of the activities of the evening was the awarding of the “Million Words” certificates. We have several students who have read over a million words so far this school year! We track them through a web-based program called Accelerated Reader (AR). Our PTO helps fund AR and provided many prizes for our voracious readers!

As part of the celebration, our principal Mrs. Saso and several teachers read stories to the audience. Friday night is story time at Barnes and Noble, apparently, and this Friday was no exception. The big surprise was yours truly! Peppermint Patti was in the house, er, store.

My current favorite children’s book is “Interrupting Chicken” by David Ezra Stein. Not only is it a hilarious story, the illustrations are fabulous as well. The Caldecott Honor Medal on the cover is well deserved!

After reading it twice—once in the far end of the store and the other in the children’s section, I got a huge surprise: Madeline asked me to read her book, “Madeline.” Now the pressure was on! As I hadn’t read that book in ages, it was definitely what is called a “cold reading.” I did the best I could and when we were done everybody clapped and Madeline gave out hugs.

I love reading and especially reading aloud to children. It’s fun!

Do you love to read aloud to children? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

East Coast Face Painting Convention 2012

Even though I’ve been face painting for over thirty years, or maybe because I’ve been face painting for over thirty years, I thought it was time to take a refresher course. Well, actually 13 classes at the 8th Annual East Coast Face Painting Convention in Manchester, Connecticut.

To save money, I commuted each day for four days. Driving in on Thursday and Friday mornings wasn’t bad—I missed the Hartford rush hour traffic. (Thank goodness!) Driving home those evenings I wasn’t so lucky, especially Friday where three lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, came to a screeching halt on Route 91 North just inside the Massachusetts state line. Traffic on Saturday and Sunday was very light so the commute was a breeze.

Another money saving strategy I used was to pack my own beverages, lunch, and snacks. That way I wouldn’t be tempted to stop and pick something up. My frequent mini meals kept me going throughout the day. Sitting through three to four classes per day was pretty intense. That’s a lot of information going into the brain in a short amount of time.  I took pages of notes and took about 500 photos.

So when I went into the vendors’ room to shop, I didn’t feel guilty. I got a “face” to practice on. It’s the front half of a human looking head. If I’m going to do full faces at some point, I figured I better work on a surface with a nose and eyes. I could practice on my own face but my skin doesn’t need that much wear and tear.

I learned so much! I’ve been trying to teach myself using various face painting books but I didn’t understand all of the terminology. Now I know what a chisel brush is and the proper brushes for getting those gorgeous outlines. Split palettes are now in my vocabulary as well as my paint kit.

Some designs, while amazing, just are not meant to be in my repertoire. I have about 45 seconds per child to get a cute and well-crafted picture on their face. I’m working on drawing various designs on card stock for the children to choose from. I’ll laminate them and put them on a binder ring. While I’m painting the birthday child, the rest can flip through the pictures and make their choice. I’m hoping that will speed things up.

The two things that I did not participate in were the additional pay-per-classes ($75 each for a three-hour, hands-on, small group session) and the nightly jam sessions. I would have to stay overnight in order for that to be doable.

There’s always next year! I’ve got a convention fund set up just in case!

Have you learned anything new lately?  Leave me a comment!  I'd love to hear from you!

Responsible Pet Owners

Now that we have a big picture window in our former-kitchen-now-dining room, we have a front row seat for the miserable life of the dog next door.  I’m not sure why a family would pay $1,000 for a dog and then basically ignore it.

He is a gorgeous (when he's clean) German shepherd with a matted, muddy coat of long fur.  Good thing he's got that very long fur coat because this dog is outside 24/7.  He has a big stall-like roofed enclosure and a separate small dog house.  However, when he is out on his run the cable is so short he can’t reach his dog house and the enclosure is too big and airy to provide any real protection from the cold.  His family rarely plays with him and they haven’t taken him for a walk in over a year.

When the mercury dips below 10 degrees and my dog, Benny, is curled up on the futon next to the pellet stove, I wonder if he feels lucky to be a member of our family.  Benny is a mixed breed that we adopted from the pound.  He was found roaming the streets of Holyoke, fending for himself.

Now he lives a life of luxury.  We play with him and take him for walks—sometimes two a day.  He sits on our laps, well, most of him anyway.  He has such a long body we call him a “lap-and-a-half-dog”!  There is certainly a huge disparity between Benny’s life and that of the dog next door.  Benny is part of our family and we’re his pack.  We wouldn’t have it any other way.

What do you think?  Should dogs stay outside 24/7 when the weather is bad?  Do you treat your dog like a member of your family?  Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I actually get two fresh starts every year. The first one happens in September when I get my new batch of students. It’s the official start of the school year and so full of hope and promise. And yes, my calendars should all begin in September, not January, because that’s how my mind works: September to June as the “regular” year with July and August being somewhat of a limbo time. A time for rejuvenating, resting, and recharging.

Everyone who goes by the solar calendar gets a new beginning on the first of January as most of the world welcomes the New Year. Many people use this as an opportunity to set goals as they resolve to improve in some way. The most common resolutions involve healthier lifestyles via diet and exercise and for some, quitting smoking.

Many Asian friends celebrate their New Year according to the lunar calendar which, for Vietnamese people, falls on February 3, 2012 to start the Year of the Dragon. The Chinese year 4710 begins on Jan. 23, 2012. I just learned that the Japanese adopted the solar calendar and their New Year is January 1. The Indian New Year is popularly known as the festival of Deepawali or Diwali. It will be celebrated on November 13, 2012.

Whatever New Year you celebrate, I hope it is filled with good health and happiness. What are you going to do with your fresh start? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

Changing Traditions

When my twenty-four-year-old son recently said, “This doesn’t feel like Christmas,” the title of a book by Thomas Wolfe, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” popped into my head. Although we did some decorating as well as some gift shopping and wrapping, the meager group of presents under the tree didn’t look like the gift pile of past Christmases.

“Welcome to Grown-Up-Land,” I replied. When the kids were little it took very few dollars to fill the space under the Christmas tree. Now that they’re grown and half of them have moved out, we have scaled way back and limit the presents to one per person. This benefits me the most, since the majority of the baking, decorating, shopping, and wrapping, always fell to me. Now I have a lot less stress during the holiday season!

With changing family dynamics comes a change in traditions. We got our tree up this year. It is pre-lit and there’s an angel at the top. In addition, there are three candy canes on the tree. Two of them look like mice. The rest of the decorations sat in a box at the foot of the tree until Christmas Eve. We (my husband Denis and I) just couldn’t figure out when to decorate the tree.

Back when our children were young, we decorated as a family. Denis strung the lights and then we hung our favorite ornaments. Finally we added the silver glass spherical ornaments. They really reflected a lot of light. All this while munching on homemade caramel corn; my grandmother’s recipe.

This year I wasn’t in the mood to make caramel corn for just the two of us. I can’t handle that much sugar. Neither of us need the calories. But it was more than that. It just didn’t feel right. So, we never really decorated the tree.

So it’s time to create some new traditions. Traditions for two. For now. Until, perhaps, when the time comes that our family dynamics change once again?

Have your traditions changed? How did you handle it? What did you do? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

‘Tis the Season of Gratitude

Is it just me or is our society getting ruder? Please and thank you are so underrated and underused lately, in my opinion. When I worked at a fast food restaurant, my first “real job” back in the 70s, we were taught to give the customer their change and/or food, look them in the eye, and say, “Thank you, come again.” We even added a “Have a nice day.” With a smile.

My recent shopping experiences have concluded with me being handed my change and/or purchases and told, “Here you go.” To which I reply, “Yes, here I go.” The look on the clerk’s face is priceless and clueless. I don’t blame them. I blame their management, the people training them in customer service. Or not training them, apparently.

I feel that in this tight economy, retailers should be grateful for any business that comes their way. Showing gratitude to their customers through interactions with their employees is a place to start.

So now my fun shopping game is to look the clerk in the eye as I get ready to “go” and say, with a smile, “You’re welcome. Enjoy your day.” The blank, confused look is priceless. I’m sure they just think I’m insane. Perhaps, but at least I’m grateful.

What do you think?  Do you think manners are important to a positive shopping experience?  Leave me a comment.  I'd love to hear from you!

NaNoWriMo

“Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year?” I heard some people asking each other in my writing class a few years ago. I had no clue what they were talking about so I eavesdropped so more. I soon learned that NaNoWriMo stood for National Novel Writing Month which happens to be November. It sounded insane to me—write a novel in a month.

Write a novel in a month? Fifty thousand words, to be exact. (1,666 words per day) As a true procrastinator I’ve never even written a novel in a year or make that all of my 51 years. I was always afraid to start one because it might not be perfect and I probably wouldn’t finish it anyway.

So this year I signed up for NaNoWriMo. (I even gave a modest donation to help this nonprofit that promotes writing.) And on November 1, 2011, I started to write.

I wrote and I wrote. I didn’t make the daily word goal every day but I didn’t give up. I wrote before and after school daily and for hours on the weekends. Unfortunately I “lost” some writing days due to Thanksgiving but it was worth it, the feasting was delicious!

Some days the story just flowed from my fingertips to my keyboard. Other days I struggled. Those were the times that my main character got hit by a car, was sickened with food poisoning, and got the flu. I laughed as I typed and I cried. It was amazing how emotionally involved I got with my characters. I imagined my fourth graders reading my words. I kept it clean—rated a mild PG. There’s no bad language or nudity, but it is a bit scary and sad due to the ghosts and orphans.

Now that November has ended in one big flurry of typing, I have a 50,013 word manuscript to work with. It’s not great, but I did it. It was painful at times. Especially the day I typed 8,000 words. My teddy bear shaped ice packs came in real handy that day.

I’m letting my manuscript “rest” for a while. I’ll probably start editing it in January. I know it will be a lot of work but I actually can’t wait! I’m so proud of what I accomplished so far.

The bottom line? Even when you think you can’t do something, just do it. You might just surprise yourself.



Have you ever done something you thought you couldn’t do but did? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

NaNoWriMo 2011

Hi Everybody!
I just finished my first draft of my first novel ever!  I'll be back next week to tell you all about!  I'm all typed out.
Yours truly,
Peppermint Patti P.E.

The Halloween That Wasn't

This year Halloween didn’t happen. At least, not in the traditional sense.  We had a big nor’easter a few days before that wreaked havoc on trees that had not yet shed their leaves.  Thousands of people were without electricity.  Streets were dark and littered with downed branches and wires.  We went into survival, not haunting mode.

While some people got their power back within 24 hours, for many it took more than a week!  Communities sent out robo-calls updating the status of the power companies’ progress as well as-gasp-to cancel Halloween!  It just wasn’t safe.  I didn’t even walk the dog—I hibernated—and gained five pounds!  And no, those five pounds weren’t from the leftover Halloween candy.  I sent that to my son’s girlfriend’s house. 

We didn’t have much food in our refrigerator/freezer upstairs nor our chest freezer in the cellar, yet we didn’t want to lose what we did have so we packed coolers with snow and started cooking.  Because we have a gas stove we still could use the burners if we lit them manually.  We ate and ate. 

Hanging out at local warming centers during the day gave me a glimpse into my future.  The Senior Center in Agawam still had internet!  It was fun sitting in the computer room with the older folks as they checked their email and watched their soap operas.  It just wasn’t comfortable sitting home trying to stay warm with no source of heat.  Our oil burner uses electricity so we had no heat or hot water.  By boiling water on the stove, solar gain during the day, and candles at night we could get the house temperature up to a roaring 58^o F.

We were lucky, we survived the week.  Friends and family offered hot meals and showers.  Many people also showered at the YMCA.  I missed the coffee maker most of all. Coffee was percolated four cups at a time on the stove.  The quality was inconsistent—too weak, too strong, burned, etc.  It’s too bad we’re so dependent on these modern conveniences. 

Above all this week gave me a greater appreciation of our forebears who endured much bigger inconveniences to get us to where we are today.  

Jaywalking is NOT Cool

Chickens aren’t the only ones who cross the road. We all have to get to the other side eventually. The safest and smartest way to do that is to not only look both ways but also obey the pedestrian laws.

The other day I saw three young, probably pre to early teen, boys cross the street. Not just any street, a four lane state highway that runs through my town. Granted, the top speed for that stretch of the road is 30 miles per hour, but we all know that drivers often exceed the speed limits.

Anyway, not only were these boys sauntering across the road during rush hour traffic, they were about 20 feet outside of the crosswalk. Oh, and did I mention this crosswalk has a pushbutton to change the lights at the intersection so pedestrians can cross safely? It gets better: they crossed right in front of a police car that was traveling at a high rate of speed with the blue lights blazing.

Newsflash—cars can’t stop on a dime! At 30 mph with dry road conditions, it takes about 90 feet for a car to stop.

As a driver I make sure I stop for pedestrians. Not only is it the law, I would be devastated if I ever hurt or killed anyone. But pedestrians have to do their part, too. Cross in the crosswalks! If you push the crosswalk button, wait for the light!!! The rules vary from town to town. Obeying the traffic rules not only prevents you from getting a ticket, it can save your life.

Manners--A Thing of the Past?

The teenagers in my neighborhood don’t know it but they’re participating in a little experiment of mine. When I’m out walking Benny the Wonder Dog before school in the mornings the high schoolers are waiting for their buses. I don’t want to walk rudely by them so I say “Good morning” or “Hello.” The first time this happened not one of them responded to me. I thought they didn’t hear me. But when it happened the second time I realized they didn’t know that when someone says “Good morning” to you it is good manners to say “Good morning” right back.

So that’s when I decided to start my experiment. What would it take to get a teenager to say good morning to a middle aged lady walking a semi-neurotic dog?  (Or is it a middle aged dog walking a semi-neurotic lady?)

The next day I made a bit of a ruckus as I approached those three young ladies at their bus stop. They had their backs to me and as Benny and I got closer, two of them turned around. I greeted them with my usual cheery, “Good morning.” One girl responded with a polite, “Good morning,” one girl kept her back to me and the other one just turned back around. Progress, I thought.

The next day I upped the ante. Not only did I say, “Good morning,” I also said, “Have a nice day.” “You, too,” responded the spokesperson of the group. She smiled. I smiled. It was a good start to the day.

Manners make the world a better place. Let’s be a littler nicer to each other. We’re all in this together.

What do you think? Please me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

Brat Factor

When I entered the grocery store last night, I knew I was in for trouble. An ear-piercing shriek emanated from the produce section. Wincing, it didn’t take long to discover the source of the ruckus: two rambunctious children under the age of six were playing tag around the fruit and vegetable bins. A tired looking mom and dad basically ignored their offspring occasionally muttering, “Quiet down.” But due to the lack of follow-through, those two hellions pretty much ran amok.

I love children, on occasion. I like children, usually. Last night, however, I had evil thoughts of tripping them as they ran past my cart. I envisioned hiding around a corner and jumping out as they dashed by to scare the-you-know-what out of them. I was even hoping they would slip and fall.  I wanted to say something to the parents, like, "Do your job!"

Spurred to action by the uproar, I grocery shopped in record time. I couldn’t wait to get out of the store and away from the misbehaving children. But wait, was it misbehaving? Is it unreasonable to expect children to be well-behaved in public?

Recently, on Dr. Phil’s show, there was a discussion on “Brat Ban.” Some restaurants are banning children under six. CLICK HERE  to read more about this topic .

It all boils down to expectations. I do expect children to be well-behaved when necessary. The only way they can do so is to be taught what is expected of them, consistently. There is a time and a place for everything. The grocery store is not a place for tag, in my opinion.

What do you think? What would you have done? Please leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

Getting Organized

My second grade teacher had a method for dealing with students with messy desks:  dump them on the floor.  You guessed it; my desk was dumped almost on a daily basis.  Quite frankly, it didn’t make me more organized.   Embarrassed, I just picked up all the stuff and crammed it right back into my desk.  I often wonder where I would be today if I had been taught organizational strategies when I was younger.

               

In my classroom we spend a lot of time during the first few days of school organizing our materials and supplies in our desks.  I give the students zip lock ® bags and plastic trays to corral their belongings.  I even draw a diagram on the board as to how these things should fit into their desks.  But it never fails, every year I always have some students who struggle with organization. 

               

This year is no different.  Part of the problem is that when I say, for example, to put a math paper in their red math folders, they don’t do it.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps they don’t hear me, they’re not paying attention, or they just don’t care. 

               

No big deal, you’re probably saying.  It is a big deal when I tell the students to get such and such a paper from their folder and invariably there’s one kid who says, “I can’t find it.”  The whole lesson or activity comes to a screeching halt while I attend to the needs of this one student.  I can tell it frustrates the rest of the class.  It certainly frustrates me.

              

I try to assign helpers to these less-than-organized kiddos.  Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t.  I’m just not sure what else to do.  

Do you have any suggestions?  I’m willing to try just about anything!  Leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear from you.

Letting Your Child Stay Home Alone

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Home Alone.”  It’s amazing how an eight-year-old boy, Kevin McCallister (played by Mccaulay Culkin), outsmarts the bad guys!  Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen in real life.

It’s important to stay safe when you’re home alone, no matter how old you are.  People think this is just something to think about for children, but it’s also something we need to keep in mind for our elders, too.

We thought our elderly mom would be safe in her own home.  She has a monitored alarm system, answering machine, and keyed deadbolts.  We told her over and over not to let anyone in.

It took a couple of tries—Mom told us that a man had come over and tried to talk his way into the house but she refused.  But then that one time, she let him in. 

The man said he had to check the water so he sent her into the kitchen and had her turn on the water.  In a flash he was back in the kitchen, told her she was all set, and left. 

It could have been worse—“all” she lost was some money, she could’ve been hurt or killed.  But all of us were robbed that day of our sense of safety and security for Mom in her home. 

Have you ever let anyone in your home and then regretted it?  Has anyone tried to gain entry to your home but you refused?  Please leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear from you!

Cutting Your Own Hair Can Be a Disaster

I don’t know why but I don’t like going to get my hair cut.  I put it off and put it off until my hair style is shaggy and all grown out with lots of dry ends due to all my pool time. 

One time I was invited to my niece’s baptism and once again I’d put off going to the salon.  I thought I would take matters into my own hands.   How hard could it be? 

My hair was short back then and cutting the bangs wasn’t so bad.  The sides came off next, one side was longer than the other so I kept snipping left and right until they were even, sort of, and really, really short.

I remembered how the stylist used the clippers to layer the hair in the back.  I felt confident that I could do it myself.  I started clipping the back of my head.  Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.  The hair fell to the floor and when I looked in the mirror—I had shaved all the hair off the back of my head!

What to do?  What to do?  I wore a sequined hat to the event thinking no one would notice.  Hah!  Nothing escapes the eagle eyes of my older sister Cindy.  She noticed immediately and wanted to know what had happened.

After hearing my explanation, she shook her head and said, “Only you, Patti, only you.”  So I am no longer allowed to cut my own hair—my children forbid it.  I’m due for a trim—overdue, actually. 

I meant to get it cut last weekend but there was this hurricane…

Have you ever had a self-haircutting disaster?  Perhaps you cut someone else’s hair?  Please leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear from you!

Children's Author Jamie Michalak

Children’s book author Jamie Michalak visited our school this past spring. I sat in on her chats with the children every chance I could get! I thoroughly enjoyed her visit and wanted to follow up with a few more questions.   Find out more about Jamie at Candlewick Press. CLICK HERE for the link.

Peppermint Patti: On your website you list one of your oddest jobs-- dressing up as a large mouse at a mouse-themed restaurant. As a fellow costumed character, what do you miss most about being a giant mouse? What was your funniest giant mouse experience?

 Jamie Michalak: I miss the fame that comes with being a giant mouse at a mouse-themed restaurant. Whenever I entered the room, I was immediately surrounded by cheering children.

On the down side, the mouse costume was made for a big and tall man. I had to shuffle to keep the feet on and could barely see out of the mask’s eyeholes. Because I could neither walk nor see, two servers had to escort me out to the dining area, where most children would hug me, but others would poke at me and shout things like “You’re not real!” (Always a little alarming when you can’t see your attackers.) Thankfully, the costume was padded. Did I mention that the inside of the costume was also super stinky? I would not recommend a career as a giant mouse impersonator.

PP: Do you have any exciting news regarding your writing career?

JM: Joe and Sparky, Superstars! the follow-up to Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels, released in March to excellent reviews. Teachers and librarians can find a free Joe and Sparky activity kit on my website, and students can take an “Are You a Joe or a Sparky?” personality quiz.

My first picture book, The Coziest Place illustrated by John Davis, will be published in Fall 2013.

Vincent: What inspired you to write in the first place?

JM: When I was in elementary school, my mother gave me a diary. Because I could be shy, writing down my thoughts became the easiest way to express myself. The more I wrote, the more I wanted to write. I also read a lot, which inspired me to make up my own stories. One of the books I read was Harriet the Spy, a story about a girl who made writing seem exciting, cool, even dangerous. I was hooked.

Gigi: What did you want to be when you (grew up) were a kid?

JM: Co-host of the Today show.

Gigi: What do you like to do besides write?

JM: Read, go to the beach, swim, try to surf, play with my sons, try to cook, watch movies, and sing loudly in the car. (You don’t want to be sitting next to me at a red light.)

Gigi: What is the book you are most proud of?

JM: Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels will always be dearest to my heart because I wrote the first draft with my sister, Julie, who was ill at the time. Since she couldn’t do much more than lay in my bed, I wrote the story to entertain her as she threw out ideas. Writing stories together is something we did as kids, too. Julie and I didn’t write Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels to get published; we wrote it to crack each other up. So the eventual publication and everything that came after has been the most incredible, happy surprise.

Gigi: What is your real name?

JM: Jamie Michalak. It’s pronounced Mc-Cal-ick (rhymes with “metallic”). I sometimes write under another name for movie and TV show adaptations.

Gigi: Did you like school when you were younger?

JM: Yes, although I liked some classes more than others. I loved all of the subjects that encouraged creativity--reading, writing, and art. I also liked gym, except for volleyball. The ball always managed to find my nose. Bonk! There’s no hiding on a volleyball court.

Gigi: What is your favorite color?

JM: Blue. And white, if that counts as a color.

Emma: How many books have you written?

JM: 18 with one on the way (7 original stories and 12 TV show or movie adaptations).

Emma: Who are your [favorite] characters?

JM: Joe and Sparky. For me, the stories usually start with the characters. Then I let them go wild and see what sorts of sticky situations they find themselves in.

Jackie: How many times on average do you rewrite a book before it is approved by an editor?

JM: It’s always different, but I can rewrite a story up to twenty times or more. I want every word to be included for a reason. I don’t send a manuscript to my editor until I can read the whole story without stopping at a word or sentence that seems off. I also wait for my critique group and my sons to give me the thumbs up. Sometimes when you look at your own story for so long, you become blind to its strengths and weaknesses. Hearing what others think can give you a fresh eye.

Hailey: Where do you get your ideas?

JM: EVERYWHERE! Eavesdropping, observing things my children do and say, remembering my own childhood, stumbling upon an imagination-sparking tidbit in an article... Students I’ve met at school visits always offer brilliant ideas for new stories, too. Like Harriet the spy, I always keep a notebook on me to write down the interesting things I see and hear.

Thanks, Patti, to you and your students for the smart questions! Enjoy the new school year!

Thank YOU Jamie!  Hey everybody--CLICK HERE to visit Jamie's way cool website!  CLICK HERE to take the  “Are You a Joe or a Sparky?” personality quiz and post your results.  Can you guess which one Peppermint Patti is?  Leave a comment soon.  I'd love to hear from you!

De-stressing With Meditation not Medication

My doctor has “prescribed” meditation for me because my blood pressure runs a little high and I’m overweight. So after our daughter moved out I converted her old bedroom into my “Zen Room.” My husband and I hung a photo mural of a tropical sunrise on one wall. I took one of the sky colors from the mural—a periwinkle blue, and painted that on the other walls. Window treatments came next and there is a plan for an area rug—probably an imitation Oriental—as well as some mirrors for the wall.

After seeing a meditation garden in a magazine I thought I would like to create one in my yard! So for the past three summers I have been working on this relaxing outdoor space. It’s almost done—I’ve got stepping stones to put down for my pathways and some edging to install. All in good time…

Anyway, the result is two nice relaxing spaces to meditate and practice yoga. Now I start and end each day with “Five Good Minutes” and some relaxing yoga. I’m still overweight—oops, but I’m definitely less stressed and my doctor is very pleased with my healthy lifestyle efforts.

So…I thought: what effect would meditation have on my students? I did notice that when the physical education teacher was in the midst of the yoga unit the class was much calmer and nicer to one another. Could a daily dose of meditation help as well? 

After some “arm-chair research” on the Internet, I came up with some interesting information. Read my “Guidance for Grownups” and “Pointers” blogs to find out more. I plan to incorporate some meditation into my students’ daily school experience this year. I’ll let you know how it goes…

What do you do to de-stress? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!