Holiday Hits

As I've been embroidering for Christmas, my mind has wondered to creating the perfect Christmas music playlist for my singing pleasure. I've often been told that I have the voice of an angel...oh wait, that's not something I've been told but just something I made up. Regardless, I love to belt out a Christmas hit in the company of my own empty home. So here are my playlists so far, broken into genres and ranked...because everybody loves a countdown! And I dare say Jarred and I even fell in love over countdown lists!

Top 7 True Meaning of Christmas Carols (I tried to do a top 5, but let's be honest, there are too many great ones): 
7. Joy To the World 
6. Angels We Have Heard on High (This is Jarred's personal fave. The group Third Day has a nice version of this and a few others on their Christmas album)
5. The First Noel (one of the few songs I can play really well on the piano)
4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. What Child is This 
2. O Come All Ye Faithful (Celine has a pretty solid version that kicks in with a choir, and that's always a great thing)
1. O Holy Night versions by Martina McBride (whose entire Christmas album you should own) and N*Sync (don't hate, it's a'cappella and those harmonies are hot)

Top 5 Nostalgic Old School Songs for a fire and Christmas tree (aka the most boring of the 3 lists):
5. Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer (This gets the 5 spot solely in honor of my dad, it's always been one of his favorites)
4. White Christmas (doesn't it give you the warm fuzzies)
3. I'll be Home for Christmas (new meaning now that I'm far away!)
2. The Christmas Song aka Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire
1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (again, you just can't beat Martina, buy her album)

And my personal favorite list to sing while embroidering, or showering, or driving, or cooking, or at any given moment of any given day, YEAR round:

Top 5 Diva Style Holiday Hits:
5. Do You Hear What I Hear by Martina (have you googled the album yet? Seriously, don't you have any respect for my musical tastes?)
4. Love Has Come by Amy Grant (one of my favorite songs to belt out from my childhood... her song "Emmanuel" is also good times)
3. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by N*Sync (If you are in denial about the legitness of this song, you need to check yourself!)
2. Oh Santa! by the one and only MARIAH! (this is a newbie song this year, but I'm not going to lie, it is darn catchy and you will not be able to get it out of your head.) 
1. All I Want for Christmas Is You clearly by Mariah, the queen of Christmas. I'm going to pull a Kanye and say "This is the greatest secular Christmas song of ALL TIME!!"

Almost cracking the lists this year was the surprisingly good version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel by Jessica Simpson. Her music is normally WAY too breathy for my taste, but this song makes a comeback. Good for you Jessica! Good for you!

Hokay...go start downloading and enjoy singing your way to the 25th! I know I will! Merry Christmas...and HAPPPY HOLIDAYYYYYYYSSSSS!! (N*Sync fans, I know you just sang that!)

Victory!

Yes, that's right, VICTORY...I've made it to the top of "My Everest!" Two large towels, two small towels, and a wash cloth...FINISHED!

I'm so thankful to Sarah Nell for getting me to do this. Now I know that my sweet machine, Kalinda, is totally capable of far more than I realized! How dare I doubt her! In other embroidery news, I've been making stocking caps for the kids I babysit and teach. Such a grandma, I know!

I've also been working on special little gifts for the babies at the pregnancy resource center. If you'd like to help sponsor an item, burp cloths and diaper covers are $4 each. Blankets are also available for $15. Email me if you're interested. Thanks to Ms.Walsh, the Burch girls, Courtney and Erin for providing items so far!

Some little cards have also been purchased from good 'ol Vistaprint to accompany each gift:

Good times. Now my embroidery focus is shifting into all out Christmas gift towels mode. I've strategically been putting these off. Rather than getting Christmas shopping and gift making done early like some enjoy, I tend to favor saving everything to the last minute so I can feel the rush of Christmas craziness. I work well under pressure, so bring it!!

Origin of the name "Big Girl"

It's come to my attention that some people have never heard the story behind why my friends and I are called "Big Girls." It all started back in high school when a certain well known friend of mine began taunting me by singing a rap song with the lyrics, "Go big girl what chu go'n do" over and over again. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, I've just discovered this song and video for the first time...how it didn't hit billboard #1 I'll never know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GwVketMa44 Gotta love "Black Dave."

Anyway. this friend happened to be really into making fun of his female friends at the time (we have since forgiven him), but instead of letting ourselves feel bad about his comments, we decided to own them. We formed the BIG Girl club complete with officers and club meetings. A typical meeting included watching N*Sync concerts on vhs and drinking "bubbly," aka Welch's Sparkling Grape juice, after school on any given day. Good times. The nickname "Big Girl" totally stuck and I've been calling my friends Big Girls ever since. So if I've ever offended you or caught you off guard by saying something along the lines of, "get it Big Girl," please know that it is a term of endearment. I love all my BG's! 

Here also, for your reading pleasure, is a poem of sorts that I penned some years ago based on my story. I can't remember exactly when I wrote it, but it's meant to be an inspirational/self-esteem type story for children. I am a teacher after all. And don't be too impressed by the sick rhymes. Haha 

Big Girl Personality

 Once upon a time, back in 1997

There was a funny looking girl, came straight out of heaven

In her class at school, they thought she was a fool

All the other children were small, but she was so tall!

Not to mention the long arms and even longer feet

                She said they were flippers for her swim meet!

She acted silly and goosy

wanted be just like Lucy.

As she got older, she continued to tower

                Over all the other kids, who below her cowered.

But once they got to know her, they realized she was quite funny

                One time she even took home the classroom bunny

She didn’t know what to name it, so what did she do…

                Named it Tabitha Snowball Jaworski Chung Lu!!!

Now middle school walked in, and this is when the fun begins…

Sally Sue had a crush, turned her heart to mush!

                Everyday to her friends she would gush and gush.

That Jonnie is cute and he’s gonna be mine

                Just wait, you’ll see, give it time.

And time it took, for him to even look.

Fast forward to high school and this is when it really gets cool

Sally Sue was still tall and of course still silly

                Many her friends thought she was crazy witty

She would still smile at her man, she was his number one fan

But that Jonnie was mean, a down right cruel little bean

And one day he turned to her and chanted:

                “Go, Go BIG girl what chu go’n do

                  Go, Go BIG girl what chu go’n do”

Over and over again he taunted,

                “Go, Go BIG girl what chu go’n do

                  Go, Go BIG girl what chu go’n do?

Well I know what you’re thinking, Sally Sue must have cried

                If someone called me big, why I’d rather have died.

But no, Sally Sue isn’t like all the rest

                That was just adversity, a challenge, a test

There was no sense in being angry, or embarrassed, or down

                He was only a boy, trying to be the class clown.

It’s not who she was nor who she ever would be

Sure she was tall, and had BIG feet

                But there was more to her than he could defeat.

It wasn’t just looks that made her big,

                It was the personality inside people could also dig.

After one deep breath and a glance towards the sky

                She looked straight at him and simply replied:

“It’s true what you say, I’m a BIG girl today!

I got a BIG smile, stretches half a mile!

I got BIG feet, good for my swim meet.

I’m tall and I’m classy, and sometimes I’m sassy!

When it comes to laughs, Oh you’ll see

                All the joy inside, fills the BIG girl heart in ME!

So I’m not intimidated by you, or the chants that you do

It’s true what you say, I AM a BIG girl today!”

Do you see the lesson? Can you tell what it all means?

If you’re large or small, does not matter at all

It’s about spunk, not the junk in your trunk!

Be who you are and like what you see, It’s all about having BIG girl personality!!

You were made by a BIG God who had a big plan in mind.

He made you unique, and it’s Him you should seek

He’ll show you the way to walk and play

And grow into who you are, a hugable, lovable, BIG girl star!  

Haha. I'm obviously not a professional poet, but I can thank my dad for what rhyming skills I do have. I'm also probably not as funny as I mentioned in the poem, but you know, have to embellish a little for publication! So many young people have self-esteem issues these days. It's my prayer that they all begin to see themselves through the eyes of the Lord Most High, as ones who are "fearfully and wonderfully" made.

And now you know why this blog is about the adventures of a "Big Girl."

My Everest

As I've gotten to know my embroidery machine over the past few months, we've had quite the love/hate relationship. Kalinda, as she is now called, has helped me create some beautiful pieces, but she has her faults too. You see, Kalinda can only do 4 inches of embroidery space. And while that may sounds like a lot, it's not. It's not at all. So if I ever want to write a really long name, or monogram something large, I'm somewhat out of luck. This has caused much friction between Kalinda and I. It seems that Kalinda is a lovely, wonderful, tasty cheesecake. But what I want is Jello...and Kalinda is never gonna be Jello. (Who gets the reference??) All of this came into play for what is now known as "My Everest."

 When I first got Kalinda, one of my friends up here in Boston...Shoutout to Sarah Nell...asked me if I would monogram some towels for her sister-in-law's Christmas present. "Oh yes, yes!" I said far to quickly. Because at that point I didn't fully realize what that size embroidery would involve. Normally I just have to "hoop" the item I am embroidering one time, then type what I want it to say into my handy dandy computer program, and then WHAM, done. For kitchen sized towels, it's just that beautiful and easy. But to do a large towel with a normal size monogram, it required rehooping the towel three times and trying to measure each minute aspect just right so the spacing of letters would turn out okay. Perhaps this doesn't sound hard to you, but for me it was SOOO difficult. In my cold, Boston, December apartment with no heat on...I was sweating! Literally! The first towel I tried started out okay for the first two letters, but by the third letter, disaster struck and it was ruined.

Why C? Why did you have to scoot over so far...WHY?!?

So I drove to the store and bought purple towel #2. Another hour and towel later, I made an acceptable large towel. Hallelujah! But more problems came. For the large towel I used a font I downloaded letter by letter rather than the embroidery website I use for most writing. What this means is that on the smaller hand towels, which are usually easy,...I had to hoop 3 times and space the letters again. NOOOOOOOOOOO. *soft sobbing began* But another hour later, here is the result:

Are they perfect? No. Are they as good as they are going to get without me jumping off a cliff? YES. Did I make it successfully to the top of my Everett this time? Not yet. She also gave me a set of green towels to do. So for now I'll suck some oxygen from my mask and keep on climbing.

P.S. Sarah Nell, don't feel bad! This is all for the best. You're pushing my embroidery skills to new heights, where I was too afraid to go on my own. So for that, I thank you.

Maximizing Brain Function during Tests! Eeek!

Warning, nerd post #3! This post is for all the teachers, college students, parents or anyone affiliated with test taking...read this to give your brain or your students' brains the best chance of successful functioning! Because let's face it, some of us need all the help we can get!! David A. Sousa outlines these steps for preparing the brain before a test in his book "How the Brain Learns" which I HIGHLY recommend. Buy it for your teacher friends this Christmas!

First Sousa explains there are two things brain cells consume as fuel...oxygen and glucose. These steps help make more of both of those things available for the brain during stressful test taking.

1) Quick exercise: Get your students up for about two minutes of jumping jacks or calf raises before they start the test. These movements will increase blood flood and move more oxygen up to the brain. If you're a college student, get creative with how you explain your sudden need to exercise before the exam to all your classmates. Or recreate the Rocky scene as you run up the stairs to class...preferably in a sweat suit with matching sweat band, but that's just me. Parents, forward this blog post to your child's teachers...trust me, they are willing to try anything to get standardized test scores up!

Everyone loves a visual! : )

2) Eat some fruit: It is an excellent source of glucose and will give those brain cells some energy! Glucose helps increase recall from both long-term memory and working memory significantly. Obviously this is very important for success on a test! Sousa suggests raisins for convenience in the classroom, but other fruit work too. However, fruit juices don't quite have the same effect. They have more fructose than glucose, so bypass those.

Mmm...mmm...my brain is working better already!

3) Wash that fruit down with some water. This is key because water will help the glucose get into students' bloodstream faster. We want hydrated brains!

Do these steps with about 5 minutes until testing...and you should be good to go for about a 30 minute test. If you're taking (or giving) a longer test than that, take a break to repeat the steps.

Well there you have it..."How the Brain Learns" by David A. Sousa...I'm telling you, it's some good stuff!

The Case for Musical Instruments

While I was sure no one except my parents and Jarred would read my last nerd post, apparently some others out there enjoy random factoids too. So enjoy nerd post #2, and pass it along to any music teachers you know...it will make them quite happy!:

Over the years I'm sure you've seen many "Baby Einstein" commercials promising that your child is going to be a genius if you just blast Mozart to them in the womb...and in their crib...and in the car...and in their sleep, etc.

Well maybe I'm exaggerating the commercials a bit, but you've no doubt heard this notion that listening to classical music will make you smarter. Unfortunately that's not entirely true. To some extent it is, and listening to that genre of music will certainly do no harm...except perhaps bore you, but the original research that introduced the "Mozart Effect" has been somewhat glamorized and misrepresented. Here are the facts taken from the book I am currently reading and highly recommend, "How The Brain Learns" by David A. Sousa:

Studies have shown that passive listening to Mozart can, in fact, stimulate the parts of the brain responsible for spatial tasks, memory recall, visual imagery tasks, concentration, and attention based tasks. It can also make working more efficient when it's played as background music (which is why many classrooms use it). But these benefits of listening seem to be short term. 

If you want to see long term, permanent changes in the brain, creating music is the way to go. As it turns out, there is some pretty awesome research out there supporting strings programs in schools across socioeconomic backgrounds. Parts of the brain are actually larger in musicians than non-musicians. And get this, studies show that this is not from birth, it is the direct result of learning to play music. Clearly some people are born with natural tendencies to be better musicians than others, but all people seem to benefit from learning to play instruments. Here's how it breaks down directly for schooling subjects:

Math: fMRI studies show that the same parts of the brain are used for mathematical processing that are used during musical training. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Reading music involves counting, sequences, patterns, geometry, ratios, proportions, etc.

Reading: Written music uses very different symbols than our written language. However, reading each of them involves both comprehension and decoding in similar ways. It's also been discovered that by age 4 and 5, children who have had some musical training have better phonological awareness and more developed reading skills.

Attention principals, superintendents, and politicians (specifically you politicians who are creating education law but don't really know anything about education) since tests scores are so important, I hope music programs are too you as well! A wealth of studies show a strong correlation between creating music and higher standardized testing scores. Let's get those children creating music!!

Help a Big Girl out!

As Christmas approaches, I'm making a lot of kitchen towels. They've kind of become my specialty...aka the easiest thing to make because the towels I use come out consistently pretty well and are easy to hoop. That's not to say there aren't glitches, because more often than not I still find a random stitch out of place or some unexplainable mistake somewhere in the embroidery. But in time...in time. So here are my latest towels, a Christmas gift for one of my mom's friends. 

In production...

And Voila! (I've still got to wash the hooping line from the Kiss the Cook towel, but we all know I'm far to impatient to wait and post pictures)

But now I need you to help a Big Girl out. Because I'm making lots of kitchen towels, I need some fresh and fun ideas for what to say on them. Obviously I've got the standards going on, "The Walters," "Kiss the Cook," etc. But I'd love to hear your ideas!! Either leave a comment here or on facebook. Many brains coming together will produce far more than just my little pea on its own.

Thanks!