There's a strong possibility that this is going to be an unfavorable blog...and that I am going to offend several people that I know.

I'm going to blame my mother.  Ummm, I'm not sure you can do that.  Still, she beat these thoughts into my head and they are so deeply engrained that I can't get them out.  Every time I would stay in front of the mirror too long she'd say, "Kathryn, stop worrying about your damn face.  You're beautiful.  Now find something better to do.  Why don't you go and feed the homeless tonight at the soup kitchen.  Maybe you could write a letter to your grandparents.  You could come and help me cook dinner.  Get away from the f!@#ing mirror."


Disclaimer #1:  Don't get mad at me.  I get a lot of anxiety if people are mad at me.  I love you all, even if you can't smile at me.  If you're going to get mad, don't read this.  Just close the link now.

Disclaimer #2: I'm not saying that I will NEVER do any of the things listed, below, but I'm going to hope I won't.

Disclaimer #3:  Confidence is sexy so if any of the stuff listed below makes you confident, do it!  Who the hell am I?

Disclaimer #4:  Who am I?  I'm a total dichotomy because I wear make-up, get my hair highlighted, nails done...so, really, who am I?


I can not wrap my brain around our beauty-obsessed society.  I just can't.  It breaks my heart that my fellow women feel like they need anything besides a kind and happy personality.

Why...
1.  The Fake smiles
I see so many social media posts where only the bottom half of someone's face is smiling.  Why?  Why don't you have a legit smile?  Are you afraid of what your real smile looks like?  Are you not really having a good time?  Did you know that when you smile, your eyes crinkle and your cheeks move...because in those fake smile pictures nothing is happening but a mouth movement.  It looks stupid and like you're not really happy.



2.  All the Botox
Enough already.  For the love of God, your forehead is SUPER shiny and it's pretty damn obvious that you have put poison in your face to ensure that it doesn't move.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't love the wrinkles that are quickly appearing on my face...from giving my famous teacher look or from so many tears, because sometimes life gets hard, or from years of teaching kids to swim or laughing until my stomach hurt.   Down the road I will say, "That look could make a kid do or stop doing anything...anything. And those lines near my eyes?  Yeah, my days were happy.  I spent a lot of time grinning from ear to ear."


3.  Injections
This filler and that filler and why the f!@# are you making your face plastic?  Why do you not want to look like you?  You...you with the thin upper lip.  You with the furrowed brow.  You with the shallow contours (I actually had to google what filler did to write that). YOU are already beautiful.


4.  All the money spent on your face
Maybe it's because I'm not an esthetician but I just don't get it.  Why do we spend so much money of face cream with diamonds in it?  Wanna know my beauty routine?  No, Katie, you're not the be all, end all, when it comes to beauty.  Yeah, you right but I'm gonna tell you anyway.

Night time Routine:
1.  Rub my eyes when I'm tired until I have mascara on my hands and realize I should wash them.
2.  Grab a make-up wipe and wipe my face.
3.  Brush my teeth.

Morning Routine:
1.  Wash my face with Neutrogena soap in the shower.
2.  Put coconut oil all over my face and body in the shower.  (Plug for my favorite product in the world)
3.  Put on make-up (which has sunscreen in it).

Daytime Routine.
1.  Drink water.
2.  If I haven't been drinking water, douse my skin (including my face) in Jerkins.

What is it that fills your soul up?  Is it what you see in the mirror or is it those moments where you are laughing so hard tears are streaming down your face?  Perhaps we should spend a little less time in front of the mirror and camera and a little more time enjoying what's around us.  Perhaps we could use that extra money to buy some kids, who don't have much, some new books or shoes?  Maybe we could put money away to spend on vacation so we can make memories?

Maybe it's not one or the other.  Maybe a little of both is best?  I'm not sure.  I just wish beauty obsession wasn't everywhere, in so many conversations and on the hearts of the people I know and love (myself included).  You are already beautiful.




What are your thoughts?  Do you hate it?  Love it?  Agree?  Disagree?  Want to punch me?

I just read an article...Sidenote:  I laughed as I typed that because I'm just now realizing that I'm definitely the "This one time, at Band Camp..." girl except mine is, "I just read this article..."
You totally are Katie.  
What can I say, I like to drop knowledge.
You're such a dork.
You right.

Onward...
My aunt posted this...


I just read an article or was it a Ted talk I watched?  Or was it both because I became obsessive with this theory after I heard it once?  Yes, that was it.

Here's the Ted Talk



It said, "Don't tell anyone your goals because when you do, you subconsciously think you have already accomplished part of them JUST by talking about them."

So, what the !@#$.  I LOVE to tell everyone what I'm going to do.  Everyone!
We know Kathryn. 
And I always do what I say...
Come again?
For a week.  I do it for a week.

However, some of my biggest goals, I didn't talk about almost at all...
- Do a triathlon.  Didn't talk about it.  Trained and did it.
- Complete a Whole 30.  Didn't talk about the first one until it was done and did it.
- Walk 60 miles for breast cancer.  Didn't talk about.  Did it.

So, in the words of my brother and apparently everyone else after I Google imaged it.
PS.  Tom stop trying to tell me you invented things.  You didn't invent this and you DIDN'T start the trucker hat or fedora trend!


What the hell?  I guess it can't hurt.  Here I am not talking about my goals.

I have set them.
I'm staying quiet about them.
But the whole, "Clap for your damn self" part?  Let's be honest here, I'm most certainly going to need all of you to clap for me.

So, what's your verdict?  Talk about them or don't?

Should I skip this one because I don't have a spouse?



Here's what I will be grateful for...
All the crazy and annoying stuff that comes with having a spouse.  He will not make my life perfect or complete me.  I am a whole person.  But he will be my partner in crime, the man to grow old with me, the person who knows my soul.

Why hello?  I am alive and haven't lost all of my fingers so I think I'll dust off the keys and get writing again.

Disclaimers prior to reading:
1.  Parents, I hear your concerns and they are valid.  
I would never want my son or daughter to come home and be confused by math homework.  I would want him/her to be ALWAYS working within their Zone of Proximal development (which is a fancy way of saying, struggling but not to the point of suffering <--- struggle vs. suffer, I just learned all about that at a math conference).


2.  I agree that there are teachers out there who don't understand the Common Core Standards and therefore are not teaching them well.  
That's a shame and it's bad teaching.  There are no two ways about it.  If you choose this profession, any profession, you need to understand it and if/when you don't, you need to do a shit-ton of homework until you do.  Period.

3.  You can believe me. 
I'm know what I'm talking about.  Democrat/Republican/Math Hater/Math Lovers, I know Common Core Math Standards.  This is my job.  This is all I do every single day-research standards and the best ways to teach them so I can help teachers teach them well.  So, if you continue to read, you can lower your affective filter and just take it in because I know what I'm talking about.

4.  This blog is dripping with sarcasm and knowledge because...well, because it's me. 
Read on or get off now.

5.  I'm not "a math person." 
I was never ridiculously good at math.  In fact, I was never ridiculously good at English or Spanish or Writing.  I was never labeled as gifted or placed in advanced classes.  So, if you weren't either, you're in good company.  I was ridiculously good at socializing in class but that's it.

What I have always been is a thinker and problem-solver.

6.  If you choose to read this, I expect you to, even if you decide you still hate it, use more precise language (one of the Mathematical Practices in Common Core) than, "Fuck Common Core Math." 
Please say things like like "I disagree with a constructivist approach to teaching math."


Ok, those who are still with me...here we go.




"What the hell are these standards that are written by crazy communists?"  


"My kid has homework that looks like this!"  

"I mean, what was wrong with the old way of teaching math?  Fuck this new math." 

I periodically read this blog, Today's Letters.  Some of you know and think it's way too sappy for your tastes but I enjoy living through their world, where life is good and easy and happy.  I haven't written yet because I didn't want to copy it, verbatim but I just can't think of anything better.  I love the title, "Gratitude Lately," which indicates we can have gratitude anytime-all the time for the biggest, littlest and in betweenest things.

So...until I can be better or famous, I'll steal.

For great shows, about real families (and all the realness that comes with families)

For big hugs from little kids

For wine after work




For friends who give it to you straight even when you don't want to hear it


For Facetime calls with my stand in mom who has never tried to replace my mom but jumped right in without a second thought to fully support my brother and me

For random text messages with our favorite movie quotes


For furry friends who cuddle hard


For good reminders that we're all doing our best


Gratitude...which turns everything into enough.  What are you grateful for today?

This is an Emu