Poem "What Teachers Make" by Taylor Mali

I could only bow and applaud after I read that...

WHAT TEACHERS MAKE

A poem by: Taylor Mali

The dinner guests were sitting around the table

discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain

the problem with education. He argued:

"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided

his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests that it's true

what they say about teachers: "Those who can...do.

Those who can't ... teach."

To corroborate, he said to another guest: "You're a

teacher, Susan," he said. "Be honest. What do you

make?"

Susan, who had a reputation of honesty and frankness,

replied, "You want to know what I make?"

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they

could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal

of Honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face if the

student did not do his or her very best."

"I can make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall

in absolute silence."

"I can make parents tremble in fear when I call home"

"You want to know what I make?"

"I make kids wonder."

"I make them question."

"I make them criticize."

"I make them apologize and mean it."

"I make them write."

"I make them read, read, read."

"I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely

beautiful, and definitely beautiful over and over and

over again, until they will never misspell either one

of those words again."

"I make them show all their work in math and hide it

all on their final drafts in English."

"I make them understand that if you have the brains,

then follow your heart...and if someone ever tries to

judge you by what you make, you pay them no

attention!"

"You want to know what I make?"

"I make a difference."

"And you? What do you make?"

Audiobook "Captivated" by Nora Roberts

His interest in her was purely professional . . . Or so he told himself. Nash Kirkland had sought out the alluring Morgana Donovan to help him research his latest screenplay, though the hardheaded skeptic didn't believe for a minute she was what she professed to be. But, as Morgana revealed herself to him, Nash found himself falling under her bewitching spell. Nash had never trusted his feelings and always kept them in check. So how could he be sure the irresistible passion he felt for Morgana was real and not just some conjurer's trick?

Currently Reading "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" by James Patterson

James Patterson has written a love story!-a powerfully moving and suspenseful novel about families, loss, new love, and hope.

Katie Wilkinson has found her perfect man at last. He's a writer, a house painter, an original thinker-everything she's imagined she wanted in a partner. But one day, without explanation, he disappears from her life, leaving behind only a diary for her to read.

This diary is a love letter written by a new mother named Suzanne for her baby son, Nicholas. In it she pours out her heart about how she and the boy's father met, about her hopes for marriage and family, and about the unparalleled joy that having a baby has brought into her life. As Katie reads this touching document, it becomes clear that the lover who has just left her is the husband and father in this young family. She reads on, filled with terror and hope, as she struggles to understand what has happened-and whether her new love has a prayer of surviving.

Written with James Patterson's perfect pitch for emotion and suspense, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas captures beautifully the joys of a new family as it builds to an overwhelmingly moving climax. This is an unforgettable love story, at once heartbreaking and full of hope.

Audiobook "The Eleventh Victim" by Nancy Grace

As a young psychology student, Hailey Dean's world explodes when Will, her fiancé, is murdered just weeks before their wedding. Reeling, she fights back the only way she knows how: In court, prosecuting violent crime...putting away the bad guys one rapist, doper, and killer at a time. But dedicating her life to justice takes a toll after years of courtroom battles and the endless tide of victims calling out from crime scene photos and autopsy tables. Just as she grows truly weary, a serial killer unlike any other she's encountered begins to stalk the city of Atlanta, targeting young prostitutes, each horrific murder bearing his own unique mark. This courtroom battle will be her last.


Hailey heads for Manhattan to pick up the pieces of the life she had before Will's murder, training as a therapist. In a vibrant new world, she finally leaves her ghosts behind. But then her own clients are brutally murdered one by one by a copycat using the same M.O. as the Atlanta killer she hunted down years before. As the body count rises across Manhattan, Hailey is forced to match wits not only against a killer, but the famed NYPD.


Unless she returns to her former life and solves the case, still more innocent people will die at the hands of a killer who plans to get her, before she can get him!

Our Gourds and Pumpkins

Audiobook: "One False Move" by Harlan Coben

5th Myron Bolitar Novel

She's smart, beautiful, and she doesn't need a man to look after. But sports agent Myron Bolitar has come into her life big-time. Now Myron's next move may be his last...

Currently Reading "Hide & Seek" by James Patterson

It was the trial that electrified the world. Not only because of the defendant, Maggie Bradford, the woman whose songs captivated the world's heart. Not only because of the victim, Will Shepard, the world's most glamorous athlete. But also because everyone said Maggie had murdered not just one husband, but two. And because in Maggie's world--the world she feared and despised but could not escape, the world of the powerful, the rich, and the ruthless--both death and life could never be what they seemed.

From James Patterson, comes his most brilliantly realized thriller, a story that will shatter your expectations... and hold every last one of your nerves in thrall, with each twist of the plot and every turn of the page.

Audiobook: "Back Spin" by Harlan Coben

Audiobook "Fade Away" by Harlan Coben

Thoughts, gratitude and reflections......

Time to take a breath and reflect.....

I remember 9 years ago, getting ready to go to work (my second day on a job I've held since then), watching TV before leaving the house, not knowing that the next time I'd watch TV I would be looking at horrific pictures and would never see the world the same way again. The day was just like any other day, and preschool class started as usual, without us knowing that somewhere further east, life had changed for thousands of people. I remember hearing about a "catastrophe," "attacks" and words like that... I didn't get to watch TV until mid afternoon, and I don't believe I will ever, ever forget what I saw. Sadly, I do not need to explain what I saw on the TV screen... We've all seen it. There has been no way around it over the past 9 years. I can't even describe how I felt. I know one thing though: it was something that I will NEVER FORGET.

At that moment I realized what it meant to be an American, the fear that I felt for this country and the unified cry to want to help. There were frantic messages from my family and friends overseas on my answering machine, but I couldn't even call them back, the phone lines were so jam-packed. I sat down glued to the newscast, trying to make sense of what was going on and conjure up the extent of what was happening and what it would mean in the future. I knew then that our country would never be the same again. I was scared by the magnitude of our vulnerability. Heck, I was shocked that something like this was even possible. I remember that I felt a ripple of horror mixed with a sense of pride for the passengers who sacrificed their lives to stop the terrorists on the fourth plane.

I have always tried to make every day count. That day just enhanced that. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that every day is a gift and I attempt to live as though it may be my last. I feel a responsibility to try to help and do things that would benefit more than just myself. THAT DAY HAS CHANGED OUR LIVES, I WILL REMEMBER & I WILL NEVER FORGET.

Today I ask you to take a moment of quiet time, to reflect on the men and women who died 9 years ago. Take a moment to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks and those who died in the rescue attempts(Police, Fire, Paramedics... To name a few). And then take a minute to remember the troops, remember that they are fighting to prevent that day from ever happening again, to keep our children from having to remember what we will never forget.

Please join me today - Take a deep breath & Remember - Remember where you were, who you were with and how it made you feel. I pray that I will NEVER FORGET how I felt that morning on 9/11/2001. Because those visions of horror and chaos have kept us grounded and our toes, and I deeply hope and pray that our children will never, ever have to see such visions "live."

Audiobook: "Drop Shot" by Harlan Coben

Audiobook: "Storm Cycle" by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen

Audiobook "Killer Smile" by Lisa Scottoline