Lately, I've been thinking a lot about being gracious and how important that is and that often brings me to a poem I learned as a child.  My mom had it up in her kitchen and as I would do dishes for our large family, I would read it.  I think I had it memorized by the time I was in middle school.  The author of this poem is unknown, but it sure has meant a lot to me through the years.  Here it is:

Thank God for dirty dishes.

They have a tale to tell.

While others may go hungry,

We are eating very well!

With home and health

and happiness.

We shouldn't want to fuss

for by the 

stack of evidence

God has been good to us!!!

I'm really bummed because I missed the 1st ever IATEFL BESIG online conference!  The conference was held this last Saturday and I was really looking forward to going in order to network and get back in touch with people I have met through the face-to-face conference I went to back in 2009. On Saturday, it totally slipped my mind and I did not turn on my computer--I believe I even had it scheduled in my calendar.   I'm really thankful, though, that I'll be able to watch the recordings as time permits. The one thing I really enjoy about online conferences, though, is that I can meet up with like-minded language teachers from around the world and still be in rural Idaho!  Back in 2009, I co-initiated another conference and  was part of getting it going.  I then stepped back due to lack of time and  the conference really has a life of its own and is doing really well--the conference is for language teachers in the use of technology in the classroom and is every spring.  I attended part of it this last month after several years of missing it and was very pleased to see how well it was going.  So, if you haven't had a chance to join a live online conference or webinar in your discipline, I would encourage you to enroll in one as you have the time!

Right now, I'm sitting in a house with a very cute boxer and two skittish cats housesitting for a friend of my mom's.  I'll be here for about two weeks and I'm considering it a mini vacation although I'm only about 20 minutes from where I live.  Normally, Alpo joins me when I housesit/petsit, but since the cats were rescue cats, they wouldn't come into the house when Alpo was here and Alpo was being a bully to the boxer and being a general pain in the neck so I took him home.

Here is a picture of two of the three charges during the first afternoon:

I'm starting to think that this might be a great way to travel and I have done some internet research and have found some interesting sites for housesitters.  The two organizations I have found that seem trustworthy are Trustedhousesitters.com  and Luxuryhousesitting.com where they match housesitters with people who need someone to housesit and/or petsit.  There are opportunities around the world and it looks like a fun way to learn an area since you would be living in a house and taking care of pets.  Although you have responsibilities while there, it saves a lot on hotels.  The housesitters do have to pay a fee to get the contact information and set up a profile, but it isn't all that much considering how much one can potentially save on hotels.  Some of the housesitting jobs are a weekend and some are for as long as a year--seems a lot are from two to six weeks.  The jobs are all over the world.  I haven't seen any yet for Finland, but did see a few postings for housesitting in Sweden so this will grow as people learn about the site.  I think I will start doing this with opportunities in the USA and then eventually go abroad as I get older and have more freedom.  This is definitely something I want to do during retirement!  If anyone has worked with either of these organizations, I would love to hear from you!

The following are the lyrics to a song I wrote sometime in the nineties....

My guess is when I was living in S. Korea based on the paper, but am unsure...

It is still my heart's prayer today...

I've got to keep lovin' You, oh Lord.

I've got to keep lovin' You!

When things don't go my way and things have gone astray.

I've got to keep lovin' You!

O-Oh

I've got keep lovin' You!

In the dawn of a new day there's only one thing I need to say:

I've got to keep lovin' You, oh Lord

I've got to keep lovin' You!

In the rain and the sleet, You'll keep me on my feet.

I've got to keep lovin' You, oh Lord,

I've got to keep lovin' You!

In the desert and the hills, You'll help me pay my bills!

I've just got to keep lovin' You, oh Lord,

I've got to keep lovin' You!

One day You will come and I'll be glad

I kept lovin' You, oh Lord

I kept lovin' You!

Sometimes I ask myself the above question because I had a great life in Finland.  I had a good job and was starting my own business. I owned my own home and I had wonderful friends.  Then I have a day like today and am reminded that I just wanted to be close to my family!  Here are some pictures from today hiking with some of my family  members  that will show more than any words can say:

Since I'm a self professed internet geek, I have a tendency to google pretty much anything... I have found, as so many others, that it isn't google and it isn't academics, but it is the word--that is the word of God that really can help us and lead us on the correct path!  Lately, I have been using a great site to read and listen to His word.  The site even allows us to embed a daily scripture on one's website, which is really neat.  Here is today's:

Last week I started working with a project developing teaching materials.  They are moving into China in the next few months.  I was invited to go with them and I quickly turned down the opportunity although I did say I would go for a few months, but not for longer.  This video should explain why...  

I have missed many 'firsts' with my nieces and nephews and don't want to with the new ones.  Interestingly, my oldest niece and I were in Walmart today with my youngest nephew (age 24 and 3) and she encouraged me to buy the trio some kites, which I did and I had a great afternoon with the boys as they experienced this 'first'...

During my last post, I exclaimed how procrastination was bad for me and was not helping me be the person of excellence that I want to be. In that post, I gave several ideas I had to start changing this life-long habit.  One idea was to use 'to do' lists.  In the past, I have been successful with to-do lists, but have found that I still never complete the list and so I decided to once again use an online 'to do' list.  I chose one that I have tried before called Toodledo and it has been okay.  I wrote that I needed to blog on this blog once a week and am doing it now because of this 'to do list'.  I do notice, however, that my past tasks are not complete and I'm not caught up....grrr....  This is helping me, however, and I am hoping that as I get into the habit of consulting my list that I will become even more productive as the days and weeks progress.  Wish me luck.  I need it!  What do you do?  How do you stay organized?

I've been thinking lately about the dangers of procrastination!  One of my favorite videos on YouTube is about this very topic and how we all do it.  

I've been thinking lately about how we all do it and how ineffective this is especially for someone like myself who is self-employed.  I'm often reminded of the Stephen Covey book that I read in my first management class in undergrad called 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  According to this book, procrastination is NOT one of the traits for highly effective people.  Now, if there were a book on 'Being Mediocre' procrastination would definitely be one the traits listed.  Do I want to be highly effective or do I want to be mediocre?  That is the question.  If I choose the former, I need to stop this flaw! 

Now that I have decided to change my ways and it is truly a lifetime habit, how do I go about doing it?  Well, here are some of ideas I've thought about doing:

1.  Have daily goals that I need to achieve in order to do things I enjoy like social networking on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

2.  Make lists and cross them out as I go.  I have even decided to set up an online 'to do' list called Toodledo, which has been helpful so far, especially with household chores.

3.  Make first things first and really prioritize.  Ask questions, do I really need to play that video game or watch that show right now?

4.  Get partners who will work on projects with you, which will help set deadlines--and stick to them!

5.  Be determined to change and just do it!  

Excellence or Mediocrity?  I choose the former!