Adteacher

Just for the eyes of our family: the challenge of prostate cancer. Since the beginning of May, last spring, Mark has earned so much respect from me. He has bravely faced his diagnosis of prostate cancer. He had surgery in July, and now in August, he is recovering from that. I am so proud of how he is dealing with the whole thing. He (thankfully) seems to have caught it early, thanks to his regular yearly physical. His PSA was slightly elevated and his biopsy came back showing cancer in four of twelve cores in his prostate. He had the option of radiation or surgery, and he opted for surgery. We are now post-surgery by exactly one month, so I can report good progress at this point. We have a follow-up appointment coming up soon, and are hopeful that the reports are good. Since I have not discussed it since the diagnosis and surgery, I felt that I should start the dialog here. He is being so proactive and is working hard to do everything he can to get past it all. His diet has flip...

Getting coffee and getting started. So today is the day that I will be making a rough outline for what I would like to cover in my book. I genuinely like the way that George Carlin makes his life an interesting set of personal vignettes. I think I may try to do something similar with my life. I have so many little chapters that need my insight to kind of flesh them out. I remember my work like a crazy quilt of happenings. It's nothing in particular, but all together it is a pretty cool life lived in a patchwork of history that will never be repeated. I came to this life during the Eisenhower years, and lived during the 60's and 70's as a child and a youth. Wow, I feel lucky to have been here for all of that! I started using technology around the same time that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs came on the scene as young geniuses. I hope that some of that history rubbed off on me since I was their contemporary. I have a lot of personal stories that I can intertwine with all of t...

So I have decided to write a story. The story will be about the life I have led. I guess if I were famous, I might call it a "memoir", but that seems a bit presumptuous for someone who is just a lady who has led what most would call a normal life. I will figure out what the title is later, and I will figure out another word for this than "memoir" too. I promise. But the first thing that I need (I remember this from my own seat time in my high school and college English classes - thanks teachers!) is an outline. So, first things first. And off I go. Before I go, let me just tell you why I am thanking George Carlin. I was reading the forward to his autobiography (unfinished before his death, and a friend had to take the project over.) I read a startling sentence. He started it at age 50. It took him a very long time to get partway done. I feel a bit of urgency now that I am over 60 years old. So...it's a project long overdue. I don't know if it will be i...

It has been a very peaceful Sunday overall, but I don't think that Mark and I are particularly fast learners sometimes. We have noticed since we have been retired how much more pleasant it is to get out in our community on weekdays as opposed to weekends. Yet today, instead of just staying around home, we went roamin' around town. Along with everyone else. The coolest thing about being retired is having the ability to go out during the day on weekdays to shop. Grocery stores are (if not empty) at least tolerably less busy. Traffic is a zillion times better during the weekdays. Also, we don't have to exercise with everyone else in the city at the rec center on weekdays, only the health conscious Moms and Senior Citizens. There are relatively few others in there. Today we found a much different crowd, and it looked like a lot of guys who were maybe deprived of  any sports to watch on TV and were out to find a pickup basketball game in the gym or were perhaps involved ...

Well, a few more things have been happening, so I guess I need to get busy writing. First of all, and most important - it is Pi Day today! Does that mean I ate pie? Well, yes it does. The diner up the street. I had eaten a lot of veggies today, and so I gave myself permission to eat a piece of fruit pie for dinner. I rarely ever eat pie (to my eternal sadness) because I have diabetes. I did eat it and thoroughly enjoyed it and I feel that I should give credit for it...I just drove down to good ol' Mama's Daughter's Diner up on Hebron to pick up a slice. Apple Crumb pie and a good cup of coffee at home for dinner. Many years, I would make a pilgrimage on Pi Day: sometimes to Emporium pies, or to Buttermilk Sky, or to Judy's in Grapevine. This year I wanted to stay closer to home and so I just did the easiest thing possible. I have to say, they did not disappoint! Apple Crumb pie! Other than pie, another thing that brought me some real happiness today w...

I know that a lot of the Metroplex as well as a lot of the entire country is STILL under the influence of the massive flu epidemic. It's the worst by far that we have seen in many years, and it is part of the reason that I always dread the months of January and February. The fact of the matter is that we are now into MARCH and to me that always signals the worst of the flu season coming to an end, mercifully. It also signals the beginning of the spring season...even if we aren't officially there. I see flowers in my front yard, and the grass is green. It's been very rainy, but even if the days have been drippy and overcast, we are starting to see the sun more frequently. For those folks who have a bit of seasonal affective disorder like I think I do (although nobody has really diagnosed that!) we may be in for a whole spring and summer season full of sunshine now. So get ready for a beautiful Texas sunny season, and let it spark a new energy and new ambition. I will be ...

Getting ready for retirement, last May. As I rapidly approach my 60th birthday and my mother has recently celebrated her 80th, I realize that I am losing a quality that I really didn't appreciate as much as I should when I had it at 100%, and that is stamina. During my working years right after college, I seemed to be able to do it all. I could work full-time, drive from Denton to Fort Worth for my job, help out with my husband's job as a high school marching band director (teaching the color guard), have three children and raise them with energy to spare, go to the grocery store, etc., etc. I had boundless exuberance for all kinds of things. Three generations of our ladies. Do you ever feel like you have lost a step or two? It's probably very common - my Mom said that she notices it more about every 10 years of her life. Just a bit less ability, or feeling a bit slower. She is doing very well at 80, but I think she is unusually perky for her age. (I know sever...

We find ourselves at the beginning of December, and now I think it might be a good time to get in here with an update on what has been going on lately. As you can see, the handyman half of us have not had a moment to spare! Mark loves to do home improvements, and especially loves being outdoors if it is a beautiful day. That has really been to the benefit of our circa 1985 home. It was in dire need of some upgrades in the kitchen area before the holidays came, and so he worked really hard in November to get our kitchen appliances replaced and some new open shelving built and stained. He got it done, and so we have been enjoying our new stove/oven, a new microwave, fridge and dishwasher. He even replaced the kitchen sink and faucet! It is amazing. Later on, we will work on getting our cabinetry and our countertops replaced, but for now we are very happy with what we have. It has been great to see this side of Mark, he has been happy every day. I only wish that he had a workshop, b...

Because of this guy here, the studio can now launch. Yep, the "red monster" has found his way to the Harman house. This is a custom designed (for heavy processing, such as 3D animation) monster of a computer. You wouldn't believe the specs, but just let me skip all of that for the sake of blog accessibility for every reader - even those who don't live and breathe the language of computing like we do. It is great to have the major piece of our practice up and running after months of waiting. It is not a completed studio yet - this is a real process - but we are getting closer. I feel like it is within reach. I like the idea of having a place to be creative and to communicate effectively again other than just posting on Facebook. So, these last several months (September and October) with no real set schedule have been amazing! I have discovered that the main beauty of retirement lies in the control of all of your time. It doesn't move at any pace other than...

I am getting by without a computer so far! New iPad Pro is helpful. I have been one busy lady these past weeks. The biggest thing to come out of it is the official establishment of a limited liability corporation (LLC) that will be the umbrella that Mark and I will use for all of our projects from here going forward. We have been meeting with regard to the establishment of this LLC and what it will mean for each of us, both separately and together. We are both full of ideas and it is an exciting time to be us! An official announcement will come later as we do more work on it, but we are happy that we have done all of the paperwork. My new iPad Pro (the big one with super fast processor...actually, this thing blazes!) is keeping me happy until our big computer purchase coming up soon. We are getting one that will handle all of our animation rendering needs, so it will be a big boy... In other news, we are about to head to the coast in a few weeks for about a week to Los Angele...

Wow. I mean, that is all I can say. I have had two retirement parties, weekend getaways, time to sleep in and time to have lots of summer fun with my grandkids. I just got back from a weekend away in Oklahoma at a sweet little cabin in McCurtain County at Broken Bow. Just a way to decompress with the hubby and two dogs. It was fun and we had some quiet time to reflect and talk. That is undervalued in life, I think. I appreciate that quietude more and more all the time. We had a chance to discuss what we want to do in our new studio, currently being planned, and what kind of work will be rewarding for us both. We talked about things that would be benecial to us and our grandkids as shared experiences. We also reflected on the wonderful family that we have built and how proud we are of how they are such good people at heart. Life feels good right now. My parents are 80 years old, and they are still so vital and fun. They love each other after over 60 years of marriage. We a...

The final day's post for my school blog consisted of the last words to the Beatles' song "The End". The Beatles said it best. It seems like the best of all possible ways for me to close the studio door on a career full of really great moments and a few very sad ones too, just like in real life. Because it is real life. Public school in Texas has been my job for over 20 years, and I need to once and for all GRADUATE. I think the people parts of a school job are what makes the job quite interesting. "...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." I have truly loved the "day-to-day" part of working in education...up until I realized how many other important things are still left undone in my life. I have lots that I still want to do and an undisclosed amount of time in which to do them. The very sudden and unexpected death of my younger brother at the age of 55 brought this home to me in a tragic and inordinately...

All this school year, I have looked with extreme anticipation toward the last week in May, first part of June. I have relished retirement at this age, and at this stage of my life. I will have my first official day of "retirement" on Friday of this week, and it is already Tuesday. That means I only have three more days of schedule that is beyond my control, and that makes me very happy. The only part of retirement that is a bit scary is a bit that I talk with my students about all the time. Intrinsic motivation. What that means for me is to create a personal schedule that includes all of the things that are of particular importance to me. Some, but not all, of those things? My parents , who are aging (quite well, fortunately) beyond the age of 80 this year. They need more of my personal attention. My grandchildren , who are growing up - they take so much time and energy and in return give boundless love and inspiration. My husband , whom I treasure. We ne...

More. More. More. Sometimes that word "more" means something very good. I am very proud to say that many of my students this year really got the full good out of the meaning of more. Let me explain... I decided that even though in late spring, I likely could have gone into a retirement holding pattern this year and not pushed my students to do a second major advertising design presentation, I decided not to do that. Instead, I decided not to take the easy road at the end of my teaching career, but I decided "let's see if we can push a bit and do even  more! " I had given myself some options in my plans, just in case I felt that they were getting senioritis too badly and were "done", so to speak. I was very happy that not only were most of my students still willing to work hard, but there were also a whole lot of my upper level students who were (gasp!) voluntarily coming to me and asking if they could do a solo presentation that they were NOT r...

The ability to cope is learned. It is an understanding of the tricks to picking yourself up time and time again and learning to continue the fight. My niece, Stephanie with her brain surgeon, 2017. Me with my brothers, spring 2016. Scott passed away a few months later. So many people who I love endlessly, including my own nuclear family , have had to find ways to cope and continue to fight during this past year. In my own family, we have coped within the past 12 months with subjects such as an unexpected death (my precious younger brother Scott), major health challenges, and some other types of major life changes. Stephanie teaching yoga before her brain stem surgery. Photo credit: Ashley Gongora Some have been coping with real financial challenges as a result of the need for end of life coronary care, an emergency exploratory brain stem surgery and rehabilitation afterwards, and that particular person (my sweet niece Stephanie) has also been dealing with the loss...

Life changes. I know from working with teenagers for decades that this is normal - they often leave high school with one idea of who they want to become, and then they come back during college telling me that they have already gone through some big changes.  Sometimes it even comes with a change in major after discovering something new about themselves.  A new passion. Now I have begun to undergo this transition as an older professional with a design background and a really passionate few decades of teaching. I have felt very good about teaching high school students for so long, and I still do. My passion for teaching is not diluted. However, my desire to do something new is strong right now, and I want to aggressively approach a new creative period in my life. Rather than spending all day helping older students, and doing teacher work, I want to provide a creative product that will appeal to young children. I believe that this shift in focus has been brough...

How to accept recognition... For a long time, since I was in elementary school, I used to get kind of embarrassed when anyone would compliment me because I had never really learned how to appropriately accept a pat on the back, especially when I was at work. I was kind of red-faced about it. Not because I didn't feel happy to receive an accolade, but just because, as a rule, we don't ever get trained how to be gracious. Every person craves acceptance and recognition for what they do, but how does one know what to say? Especially if the compliment comes from someone you admire and wanted to hear good things from? It seems that our almost "pre-programmed" response is to downplay or deflect the compliment so we don't come across as conceited or full of ourselves. According to Entrepreneur Magazine,  it’s so common that sociolinguists have categorized the three most common responses to a compliment: acceptance, deflection or rejection . Have you ever ...