Welcome to Ponder + Putter!

I have long wanted to start a blog to share my ideas and thoughts about a variety of topics.  I am not sure why it has taken so long, except that I am somewhat of a perfectionist and well, the time was never perfect.  It still isn't, but finally, I started typing.  So in this space, I will share my ideas on both personal and professional topics.

Professionally, I have been an educator for over twenty-five years, and I have seen things come and go and come again in the education world.  I have been a central office administrator for over 10 years, and in that time, I have found limited resources to support the work of district level personnel.  Often, we have to create from scratch.  I plan to share some of the things that I have created or found over the years that have helped my work as a district-level administrator.  I think the topics that I will share here will appeal to teachers and administrators, but I hope that my education-related posts will be helpful to non-educators, too, especially parents with children in public schools.

At home, I am basically a putterer who reads. I love reading, and my world feels out of kilter when I am between books.  Fiction is my favorite (escapism, anyone?), but recently, I have found myself reading some non-fiction titles that I have enjoyed.  Keep checking in to see what's new on my book list.  I must also admit that I have a magazine addiction, but I am working diligently to bring that under control!

I putter in a lot of areas.  I dabble in making jewelry and paper crafts.  Years ago, some of my teacher friends and I started a stamping and card-making group.  Although I do not make cards as often now, I still enjoy designing new ones.

Currently, I am working on putting together a 'New Log Cabin' quilt.  I will share more on this endeavor in the coming weeks.

I especially love to dig in the dirt.  My husband bought me a small greenhouse last year, and I love puttering in it.  I love my flower gardens and vegetable beds.  I am so happy that the days are lengthening and warming up again.  I tend to spend as much of my free time as possible outdoors.

Because healthy living is important to me, I enjoy fitness activities and cooking.  Admittedly, I do not always cook healthy meals.  How can I when I grew up in the rural South?  But I do try to make meals more healthy, and I guess I believe that most of the time, a home-cooked meal has to be better for you - and tastier- than fast food.

These are some of the topics that you can expect to read about here, so please check in with me again!

Fun with Words

Quote

"PHOSPHORESCENCE.  Now there's a word to lift your hat to...to find that phosphorescence, that light within..."  - Emily Dickinson

I know, I know.  As a title "Fun with Words" does not have the same flair as Sheldon Cooper's "Fun with Flags," but bear with me.

Last week, as I was sitting with my husband in the living room, he watching a sports channel on television and me reading, I happened to look up at the screen just in time to catch a clip of Wisconsin basketball player, Nigel Hayes, having some fun with words and a stenographer at a press conference.  I actually chuckled aloud as he rolled some fun words - like cattywampus - off his tongue.  This so delighted me that I watched it again the next day online.

Words can be fun.  Some are fun because of their frolicsome nature, either through how the mouth forms them or their delightful meanings (semantics).  Words like crackerjack, whistle pig, discombobulated, curmudgeon, pummel.

Some words are fun because of the beauty of their sound.  Phonaesthetics is "the study of the aesthetic properties of speech sound," according to the Oxford Dictionaries.  I especially enjoy saying mellifluous because of its flowing sound.  Cacophony is a beautiful word to say, and knowing that it means unpleasant sound makes it even more fun.

Superfluous.  Shangri-la. Limerance.  Lullaby.

What words do you think are fun?