2.  I am missing a tooth.  When I lost my baby teeth, one permanent tooth didn't emerge and still hasn't.  If it did, I probably would have needed braces because my teeth fit perfectly in my mouth without it.

3.  I collect pins.  Whenever my husband travels for work or we go somewhere new, my trinket is always a pin.  I've collected them since I was in the 6th grade.

4.  I'm a pen junkie.  I love using color in my planner, so I try to buy pen sets that have lots of different colors.

5.  I am a casual knitter.  I like simple projects because I don't have the time to sit and count/change stitches.

6.  Growing up on Molokai, I fished, hunted, dived, surfed, camped on the beach a lot.

7.  I have a bad habit of biting my nails, which is why I'm usually with fake nails.

While I love poetry, I'm not very good at it, but I will tell you what I remember of that day...

I'm "dating" myself here (showing my age), but I remember being in the 3rd grade, in Mrs. Saiki's class, and learning about charcoal art from a teacher (who traveled from class to class) who couldn't see.  Mr. Sakamoto was SO blind that he had to put the paper up to his face to see.  An Art teacher!  Imagine that!  Anyway, I remember  watching it "delayed" because we were in Hawaii and seeing it all unfold.  It was my first "I remember when..." moment because Ellison Onizuka, one of the astronauts on the flight, was from Hawaii.  In days later, I remember we all learned about Mr. Onizuka's passion.  In "those days," momentus occasions were watched live.  I remember Mrs. Saiki not knowing what to say about it...imagine her class' disbelief in seeing their teacher break down in tears.

I was also reminded of it years later, when I was in classes to become a teacher.  My Science Methods teacher was #2 in line and had done all the training in case Christa McAuliffe dfdn't end up going.  Bob Stark , my professor in college, couldn't say enough wonderful things of the lady who paved the way for teachers to bring space science into their classrooms.

I've already seen some great teamwork in the activities we've done in Humanities.  Keep it up!  You guys are doing a great job!

2.  I've tried a new dinner recipe each week over the summer.

3.  This is my 15th year in Colorado.

4.  My favorite cool down summer treat is a Cherry Icee float with Lemon Custard.

5.  I love learning new card games.

6.  I've had a People Magazine subscription for 13 years, and the price has gone up almost by 50%.

7.  I hardly ever buy anything if it's not on sale.

1.  I am thankful for my family.  My husband and children make my day to day life exciting and complete.  My parents and extended family are always there if I need them, and some are there when I don't, but I know it's because they care.

2.  I am thankful for my health.  I see the struggles that many of my friends are going through with individual or family health issues, and it makes me thankful that my family doesn't have that extra worry.  I am also thankful that I'm over 4 years of being cancer free with no known effects other than my scar and titanium plates in my head.

3.  I am thankful for my profession.  Each day at school with both students and adults brings new experiences, stories, laughter, and frustrations, but without them, my day would be less colorful. 

2.  I like to surf and boogie board.

3.  The largest fish I caught was 18 pounds and the largest octopus I speared was over 4 ft in length.

4.  I collect rubber stamps, colored pens, and rose quartz pieces.

5.  I learned percentages from my grandma on shopping trips.

6.  I love Milk Duds.

7.  I'm teaching myself to knit and crochet.

I am thankful for my family.  My parents, siblings, husband, children, and extended family give me both joy and headaches, but without them, my life wouldn't be as colorful.

I am thankful for education for without it I wouldn't be doing what I love.

I am thankful for the interests of others.  My life would be very different if my surgeon only kind-of enjoyed what he was learning in medical school.

I started reading that night and every morning, I would express to him that I was anxious to read the next chapter.  Why did he tell me to read it one chapter a night?  It is one of those books, where if you read it in one sitting, it's great, it's awesome, it's memorable.  But if you read it one chapter a night, you think about that chapter the next day and absorb what it means to you, which makes the book more meaningful. 

When Mrs. Lubich posted the topic for this week, this book, specifically one chapter, stood out to me.  There's a chapter that states you should take the time to REALLY notice things.  While reading it, I thought "hey, I notice things around me."  But it meant to look at the different colors in flower beds, really notice the brightness of the colors, the charity of the colors.  Look at the mountains and the blending of the colors created by nature.  Look in the eyes of a wild deer or watch a pet sleep.  Everything has beauty within it, it's a matter of how you interpret it. 

With Fall upon us, we see the changing of colors with trees, something I never saw in Hawaii.  The weather creates different patterns on the ground, with mists and fogs and frost.  If you take the challenge of really looking at things, remember them when you do your poetry unit.  At least remember to step back and look deeper into things before making judgement.