This is Me

This is me.  I’m a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, neighbor, teacher, & volunteer. I’m many things just like you are. I’m who I need to be at times and who I have to be at times.  But, one thing is constant. I am me. And, one thing is certain. I have grown to like me.  =)

Since I find myself here today, I think I’ll do what is likely expected. I’m going to write. Write about what, you ask? Yea, I’m asking the same question. This is new for me, and I don’t know how to start. I do, however, know this… talk don’t cook rice. It never has, and it never will.

I discovered this quote several years ago and immediately began using it in my 5th grade classroom. The image above (borrowed from the internet, thank you) isn’t the verbiage I learned. The quote I use is, “Talk don’t cook rice.” It’s better that way. I honestly don’t recall the first time I said it to the kids in Room 25, but I’m fairly certain I used a silly accent and delivered the quote with sarcasm prefacing it with, “Confucius say…”. Several of the kids understood right away. It took others longer. Some are probably still wondering.

It the spirit of this Chinese proverb (whether Confucius actually said it, or not) I begin this blog. I’ve been saying I’ll do it. People have encouraged me to do it. But, since talk don’t cook rice, you find me here today.

Now that the rice is cooking, I’m at a bit of a loss. What’s next?

I’m an intelligent, college educated woman who can hold her own in intellectual circles. I’ve had the good fortune to travel around the US and to other countries expanding my cultural experiences. I’ve been an educator in various capacities over the past 23 years teaching and learning from children whose labels could fill a bowl of alphabet soup. I am the mother of a 16-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter, both of whom have dual-exceptionalities and come with their own set of letters. I love to do research, therefore I believe I know a great number of things about a vast range of topics. (I hope you picked up on the sarcasm there.) I do, for sure, have opinions that my friends, family, and co-workers would agree I will share with you freely and without you ever needing to ask. (There it is again.) I am living my life doing the best I can with what I have at the present moment to equip my family with what they need to live their unique lives.

Nothing fulfills me more than using myself to enrich the lives of the people around me!

I believe, without a doubt, that God has a plan for me.  The unique circumstances of my life mingled with my talents, skills, & strengths can not be an accident.  I live my life with a fiery passion for certain ideals (use of handicapped parking spaces is of particular interest to me – right, friends?) and have been blessed with the drive to apply myself and see positive change.  Nothing fulfills me more than using myself to enrich the lives of the people around me!  Whether it’s finding the right medical care for my kids, helping my husband write those difficult emails to coworkers, sponsoring an organization at my school to celebrate high achieving kids, supporting a fellow parent of a special needs child in understanding the IEP process, watching a struggling student’s eyes light up the instant he or she finally “gets it,”or giving someone an hear to listen and arms to hold them when the circumstances of their life are just too much to bear in the moment…it’s an amazing feeling to know that I do make a difference.

This is me. I am finally here. I hope to make a difference to you by sharing my experiences, my knowledge, my heart, my perspective, my trials, my celebrations, my hopes, my heartaches, my humor, my self.

Enjoy the journey,

Terésa