Honey Mustard

As I eat my dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets on this short lunch break, I start to think about how tasty honey mustard really is! It's creamy and tangy, just the right combination of seasonings to perfectly compliment my dino-nuggets! I also like to top many things such as hamburgers and french fries with ketchup and ranch dressing. What are some of your favorite condiments? What do you like to eat them on?

Vocabulary

Short- brief, small
Break- crack, pause
Tasty- yummy, flavorful
Tangy-strong smell, flavor; tart
Compliment- praise, flattery
Favorite- beloved, popular

Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word above.

1) After working 10 hours today, I need a well-deserved _____.
2) Standing only four feet tall, the 20-year-old man is the definition of ____.
3) After doing well on my presentation, my teacher gave me the nicest ______.
4) My _____ movie of all time is Platoon.
5) The chicken nuggets I ate were _____, full of flavor and spice!
6) I put mustard on my hot dog so that it would have a ____ taste.

Beautiful People

I have encountered some of the most stressful situations in the past few days:

people driving like maniacs
unprofessionalism at the work place
a dead car battery
a car headlight outage
Christmas shopping
finals
familial issues
...I could complain forever!

However, it's during these stressful moments when I really take note of the beauty of some people in this world! The people who don't realize that who they are or what they do to consider others really makes a difference. The professor who is understanding and wants the very best out of her students, even tardy. Or the short woman smiling at me as I wait on the brake for her to scurry across a busy highway after the light turns green. These people are the ones who make complaining seem worthless; the beautiful people who make life and all of its stresses so worth it!

Vocabulary

Stressful- anxiety, stress

Past- previous, former

Christmas- Holiday, Christ's birthday

Complain- whine, moan

Difference- distinction, unlike, dissimilarity

Tardy- late, slow

Scurry- running, hurry

Cloze Experience: Fill in the blanks with the correct word above.

1) Only during ____ is it okay to tell children that an overweight man will break into your home.

2) These finals have been so ______ that I plan on taking a vacation afterward.

3) In the ____, I would have just bought gift cards for people during the holiday season.

4) All my friend does is _____ about not having enough money.

5) I had to run to school so I wouldn't be marked ____.

6) The _____ between an apple and an orange is more than just color.

7) Squirrels never walk, they always _____ around the ground when collecting nuts.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Thanksgiving this year was quite an unconventional holiday for me. Rather than heading home to spend quality time with my family, I stayed in NYC to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - up close and personal - as I've dreamed of doing since I can remember! I have been watching the parade from my home in Upstate, NY since I was a little girl and to actually attend was a real treat! Some of my favorite floats, which were even neater to see in real life than on the television, were Snoopy and Mickey Mouse. They are both childhood favorites of mine and I captured great shots of them from the crowd to share with my family in Upstate, NY when I go home for the Christmas holiday this year. Although it was an unconventional holiday and I missed my family, I had a great time fulfilling a childhood dream of mine by viewing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Vocabulary

Unconventional- unusual, unique
Quality- excellence, attribute
Personal- private, individual
Treat-delight, pleasure
Crowd-people, gang
Holiday-vacation, festival

Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word above

1) For some, being rich is the best _____ of life.
2) I always give my dog a _____ before bedtime.
3) I love the _____ season because I get to see my whole family.
4) I forgot to defrost the turkey this year, so we had an ______ Thanksgiving dinner of sushi.
5) There was such a big _____ at the concert that I was feeling claustrophobic.
6) The letter I wrote to my friend was ____.

Poetry - Gym Membership

While we're on the subject of poetry, here's a poem I wrote in an undergraduate course about the gym and an ex-boyfriend of mine. I never did step foot in his life again, but I've made it back to the gym - thankfully!

Gym Membership

You’re nothing but a gym membership.

Initially, I couldn’t get enough,

regularly visiting and

enjoying the experience

and the way it appealed to all of my senses:

the smell of sweat

the muscle aches

the rhythm

the contact

the taste

But, like you, the gym has faded,

I’ve stopped going.

I no longer buy into what you promise,

I haven’t experienced any significant results

and you surely haven’t spared me any heartache.

Truthfully, you’re appalling, and

I’ll never set foot in that place again.

Feel free to share any poetry that you may have written in the past. Poetry is such a fun way of expressing your emotions!

Vocabulary

Poem- rhyme, verse

Membership- exclusive, paid member

Rhythm- movement, beat

Promise- pledge, vow

Significant- important, major

Appalling- disgusting, gross


Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word above.

1: My girlfriend is great at writing ____.

2: I got a gym ____ because I wanted to lose weight.

3: I refuse to dance because I don't have any ____.

4: When you get married, you make a _____ to the other person.

5: I find the smell of vomit _____.

6: Thanks to the amount of overtime I worked last week, I saw a _____ amount of money in my paycheck.

Personification

Personification is giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas).

Below you will find a few personification poems. Personify an object in a poem of your own.

The Cat & The Fiddle

By Mother Goose

Hey diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room

By William Blake

"Ah, William, we're weary of weather,"
said the sunflowers, shining with dew."
"Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?"

They arranged themselves at the window
and counted the steps of the sun,
and they both took root in the carpet
where the topaz tortoises run.

Vocabulary

Traits- qualities, feelings.

Few- couple, little.

Object- thing, material.

Laughed- humor, smile

Weary- exhausted, tired.

Habits- repetitive, recurrent

View- outlook, seeing

Topaz- precious stone, blueish

Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the list above.

1: After Paul fell down, I ____ for an hour straight.

2: Working ten days in a row made me ____.

3: My wife's favorite stone is _____.

4: The ___ from the top of the Empire State building was amazing.

5: I have a bad ____ of drinking from the milk carton.

6: The _____ the bullies threw in the water was my watch.

7: My mom has always said that it is better to have a ____ good friends than many acquaintances.

8: A great human ____ is pessimism.

Read to Me

Many individuals go through life with the same disposition on reading as they have had since they were freshly literate children. Not realizing it, we continue to associate some of the positive and negative feelings we have placed on reading, and learning to read, as small children with the way in which we view reading for the entirety of our lives. Reflecting on my past reading endeavors, I, too, realize that many, one in particular, of my childhood experiences with reading directly relates to how I perceive reading today.

This particular revelation on what was hindering my reading experience as a youngster came about when I was in the third grade. The new movie James and the Giant Peach was coming out on VHS and my teacher used the showing of it as motivation to get us to settle down for reading time. She was going to read us the book that coincided with the movie and upon our completion of the book we were going to have a fun-filled day in the classroom, which included watching the new flick. Initially, I dreaded the thought of listening to her read aloud from a long chapter book with no pictures. To my delight, however, as she began to read, I began to comprehend what she was reading and the words came alive in my mind. I was amazed to think that from listening to a story aloud I could understand and envision what was occurring throughout the book. I was hooked! I listened intently and anticipated reading time for the remainder of that book (and many to follow)! That’s when I realized that I loved being read to and reading aloud.

What can you remember about your first experiences with learning to read? Enjoyable or painful? Write to me.

Vocabulary

Disposition- outlook, habit

Associate- link, connect

Entirety-whole, complete

Endeavors- experiences, achievments

Perceive- view, comprehend

Motivation- motive, incentive

Flick- movie, film

Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word above.

1: Since my bad experience with dated tuna, I will always _____ its scent with nausea.

2: My _____ for getting an A+ on my test was a trip to my favorite restaurant.

3: In my opinion, the greatest _____ ever is Gone With The Wind.

4: Anybody who lived through a war will have a different viewpoint of it for the ___ of their lives.

5: The trip across country will be my greatest _____ so far.

6: I ____ Dane Cook as a much better comic than most people.

7: My _____ on work is different from most people's.

My Most Embarrassing Moment

My Most Embarrassing Moment

My most embarrassing moment happened when I was in high school. After visiting my grandparents in Louisiana in January and feeling expert on the Mardi Gras celebration that was observed there in the ensuing month, my best friend, Krystina, and I had the means and motivation to go all out for Fat Tuesday. So, we decked ourselves out with beads, t-shirts, and headwear one fateful Tuesday that February.

We boarded the school bus confident in our outfits and eager to add some zest to our day's. The younger students on the bus praised us for our originality and we soaked up every moment of attention. Following the bus ride, heads turned as we walked the high school hallways that we felt complete ownership of and we gleamed. We strutted into first period where an older peer asked us about our attire. As we explained our appreciation for Fat Tuesday, yet another peer said, “That’s neat, but isn’t Fat Tuesday next Tuesday?” Krystina and I looked at each other with utterly humiliated expressions as we both sank low in our seats.

We became the laughing stock of the school that Tuesday morning and for the rest of that day and the following weeks. The next Tuesday came, the legitimate Fat Tuesday, and we did not dress ourselves eagerly that morning. Instead we walked the high school hallways as typical every morning that February – with snickers and index fingers aimed in our direction.

Vocabulary

expert - skilled, proficient

celebration - party, festival

confident - self-assured, secure

attire - clothes, apparel

legitimate - rightful, valid

direction - path, route

Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the list above.

1. My boyfriend really enjoyed the birthday _____________ we had for him.

2. I tried avoiding hitting the bird with my car, but it was flying in my _____________.

3. After losing 10 pounds, I was _____________ in my red dress again.

4. After work, I have to change my _____________ before hitting the gym.

5. The teacher questioned whether the student's excuse for not having his homework was _____________.

6. My stepfather is really skilled and experienced at fixing computers. He may as well be labeled an _____________.

Grammar Point

Louisiana January Krystina Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday

Proper Nouns - words that are not at the beginning of a sentence, but begin with capital letters: names of people, places, events or institutions; days, months; names of nationalities, ethnic groups and languages

Grammar Assignment

Form five sentences that utilize proper nouns. (ex. My grammar professor is fluent in Russian.)