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I know y'all were wondering...but yes it has arrived...turns out it wasn't an April Fool's joke after all!!  Now I have to use it!!

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We meet May 6th for our discussion.

Topic: Book Club - It Ends With Us
Time: May 6, 2020 04:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79545933174?pwd=OWpzS01sanlEUHREckVPN3Z3RmJCdz09
Meeting ID: 795 4593 3174
Password: Book

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My dogs got a distance visitor from an old friend....they really wanted her closer.

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My dogs got a distance visitor from an old friend....they really wanted her closer.

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My Girls made the Amazon guy a gift bag today. - Melissa Martinez

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Got an Andy's Custard surprise from one of my students during our staff meeting today!

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Gyms and exercise studios may have closed their doors, but there are still plenty of ways to get your sweat and stretch on at home with free YouTube channels, social media live streams and free on-demand classes from some of the hottest names in boutique fitness.

What do you prefer? A workout that puts you in a better headspace? One the whole family can enjoy? Or a different workout every day? Here are 10 approaches to fitness, all to help you stay motivated, sane and active while you make the transition to working out at home.

As social distancing continues, check the Instagram and Facebook accounts of your favorite studios and fitness trainers for more free live streaming workouts and support.

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10 ways to work out at home while you're stuck inside

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Gyms and exercise studios may have closed their doors, but there are still plenty of ways to get your sweat and stretch on at home with free YouTube channels, social media live streams and free on-demand classes from some of the hottest names in boutique fitness. What do you prefer?

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Facebook COVID-19 film | We’re Never Lost if we Can Find Each Other - Created by Droga5

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A few months before his death in 2003, Fred Rogers recorded this video message for those who grew up watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." This message was one of the last things he recorded in the WQED studio, according to the Fred Rogers Company. He died of stomach cancer on Feb. 27, 2003.

"... I would like to tell you what I often told you when you were much younger. I like you just the way you are. And what's more, I'm so grateful to you for helping the children in your life to know that you'll do everything you can to keep them safe. And to help them express their feelings in ways that will bring healing in many different neighborhoods. Its such a good feeling to know that we're lifelong friends."

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Watch Mister Rogers' heart-warming message to his grownup fans

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A few months before his death in 2003, Fred Rogers recorded this video message for those who grew up watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." This message was one of the last things he recorded in the WQED studio, according to the Fred Rogers Company. He died of stomach cancer on Feb.

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Zoom Exhaustion is Real. Here are Six ways to Find Balance and Stay Connected

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Zoom Exhaustion is Real. Here are Six ways to Find Balance and Stay Connected

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Steven Hickman, Psy.D., executive director of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, offers this timely perspective on managing our new virtual reality.

I've been teaching mindfulness and compassion for about twenty years now, and I believe I thrive when I'm sitting with a group of people open to exploring this transformative practice. Friends and family have known me to "come alive" when I am teaching and I feel a familiar surge of excitement and animation when I have those opportunities. But the other day, a colleague invited me to co-teach a short compassion session online with her. I deeply appreciated the invitation but immediately declined because I just haven't felt like a teacher since this virus invaded our lives. I've worked my tail off in other ways, but something had me holding back from teaching. I knew in my bones that I couldn't do this, but that made me curious.

I've spent hours in Zoom meetings of various sorts the past couple weeks, connected with dear friends in China, Australia, England, Israel, Spain, Singapore, Canada, Switzerland and Croatia (to name just a few). I have felt joy arising to see the faces and hear the voices of people whose faces and voices I first encountered when we were breathing the same air, standing in the same physical space, each (in Dan Siegel's term) "feeling felt" by the other. And so it was nice to be with them electronically in this age of social distancing and sheltering in place.

And that was it, it was nice.

I've been so busy lately that I thought perhaps I was just fatigued. But the more it happens, the more I realize that I end up feeling both connected but disconnected to these dear people. And I have heard multiple accounts of therapists doing tele-therapy and sharing how exhausted they feel after several sessions online.

Zoom Exhaustion Is Real

There is a different quality to our attention when we are online. We are hyper-focused on the few available visual cues that we normally gather from a full range of available body language. Or perhaps, we are totally distracted and checking email while we are supposed to be conversing or listening intently to a colleague's detailed presentation. If we are with several people online at the same time, we are simultaneously processing visual cues from all of those people (and perhaps a handful of their pets and children too!) in a way we never have to do around a conference table. It is a stimulus-rich environment, but just like rich desserts, sometimes too rich is just too much.

If we are with several people online at the same time, we are simultaneously processing visual cues from all of those people in a way we never have to do around a conference table.

And when we start to be over-stimulated by extraneous data that we haven't had to process in the physical world, each new data point pushes us just a little bit farther away from the human-to-human connection that we all crave and appreciate. Italian management professor Gianpiero Petriglieri recently tweeted "It's easier being in each other's presence, or in each other's absence, than in the constant presence of each other's absence." So beautifully and eloquently perceptive!

The constant presence of my colleagues' absence may have been underlying my disinclination to do what I love on this platform that has become a lifeline for so many of us. And so, the question arises for me: Is there some way to ease the burden of this "disconnected connection" and allow me to foster a better balance of connection between us?

Six Ways to Manage Zoom so we Can Find Balance and Connection

Here's what I am going to try starting today (and suggest you consider) when my new reality resumes anew and I find myself on various calls with all manner of people looking to connect in various ways:

Take a few moments before clicking "Start" to settle and ground your attention. Take a few breaths, feel your body on the chair, notice whatever is present in your mind and allow yourself to arrive fully to the moment at hand. If you're feeling unsettled or preoccupied, you might place your hand on your heart in a supportive and comforting way as if to say "I'm here for you. It's ok to feel how you feel at this moment."

Take the time to truly greet whoever is in the room with your full attention-offer your attention to each face that appears (if the group is not too big). Give yourself a moment for each person to make an impression on you, and "take in the good" as Rick Hanson would say. Give yourself an opportunity to feel what it feels like to be in the presence of another.

Choose "speaker view." In Zoom, one can choose Speaker View or Gallery View, and I think I prefer Speaker View so that the one person who is speaking has more of my attention and the others are more peripheral. This seems to be more like sitting around a conference table where we are aware of everyone there but we direct our attention primarily to whoever is speaking. Tracking an array of 24 (or more) faces on the screen can be a challenge!

Resist the urge to multitask. I sheepishly have to admit that I am a multi-tasker on Zoom many times and have been known to read and fire off several emails while also sitting in a meeting. This has got to stop. Not because I need to hyper-focus on just what is happening in the meeting, but because I can't be putting additional effort into attending to anything else. If anything, I need to let go of a bit of "efforting" and let my attention rest more lightly and lovingly on what (and who) is before me. I can periodically ease up my focus and look out the window behind my screen, or at the knick-knacks on the shelves in my office, or just soften my gaze to take in the array of faces on my screen (to see without looking) without having to analyze or scrutinize any of them.

Try to take measured breaks between sessions. As a clinical psychologist, when I used to do psychotherapy, I was fairly good at enforcing a 50-minute hour. That gave me ten minutes to write notes, run to the restroom, get a drink of water and generally settle and decompress. Quite often my Zoom meetings run back to back and I find that sometimes my Zoom room becomes a kind of random encounter anteroom where people from various aspects of my personal and professional life bump into each other for a few moments on their way in and out of a meeting with me. Fun as these moments are sometimes, I need to take better care of my precious attention and energy, and take a refreshing pause. Why not give that a try yourself?

And finally, remind yourself periodically that this is a new place between presence and absence that we will have to learn how to accommodate as we go forward into the uncertain future. It is both better than absence (imagine life in a pandemic without FaceTime, Zoom, Skype and the rest) and not quite as resonant as presence (do we know if mirror neurons still function over the internet like they do in person?). Let's see if we can simultaneously refrain from high expectations without dismissing the clear benefits of online communication.

And let's not forget those benefits. We can have important meetings while only dressed appropriately from the waist up. Our beloved pets can be perched lovingly in our laps while we review our colleague's budget projections. If we are the host of the meeting we can "accidentally" mute or remove a colleague in a way that would never be socially appropriate in person. We can even feign a poor connection if the meeting is getting so deadly dull that we are in danger of nodding off and striking our heads on our keyboards.

But on a serious note, let's not dismiss this amazing technology, but instead learn to find a way to assimilate it into a full spectrum of interpersonal experiences that our new lives include. Let's be present to absence, without becoming absent to presence. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it to develop this new capacity.

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Zoom Exhaustion is Real. Here Are Six Ways to Find Balance and Stay Connected

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Steven Hickman, Psy.D., executive director of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, offers this timely perspective on managing our new virtual reality. I've been teaching mindfulness and compassion for about twenty years now, and I believe I thrive when I'm sitting with a group of people open to exploring this transformative practice.

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FOX IN SOX | Dr. Seuss Raps over Dr. Dre Beats

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This will literally change the way you think about garlic bread, seriously. And if you’re like “ick, anchovies” don’t worry- you’ll have zero idea they're there! I also used a high quality butter and the notes of that were *chef kisses fingers*. 😋

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I plan on making these today!  Will let y'all know how they turn out!

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My favorite form of chocolate is arguably brownies. Their dense, fudgy, chewy texture is just how I want my chocolate. With Valentine's Day in sight, I decided to add some color to my brownies and topped them with fresh strawberries.

When I think of romantic Valentine's Day foods, chocolate-covered strawberries instantly come to mind. They're fresh and sweet, but not too indulgent, but put them on brownies and you are in for a decadent dessert.

How to make chocolate covered strawberry brownies

Start with my fudgy chocolate brownies recipe and let them cool completely. Top the cooled brownies with freshly cut strawberries and melted chocolate or chocolate ganache. Yes, it's that simple! Here is what you need...

Chocolate covered strawberry brownie ingredients

7 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate covered strawberry brownie instructions

Melt the chocolate: Use the double boiler method or melt the chocolate in the microwave (see tips for melting chocolate).

Add the cocoa: Whisk in the unsweetened cocoa to the melted chocolate and set aside to cool slightly.

Mix wet ingredients: Whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl until combined, about 30 seconds.

Combine all the ingredients: Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined.

Bake the brownies: Bake in an 8×8-inch pan lined with parchment paper for 30 minutes at 350 F. Cool completely.

Make the chocolate ganache: Melt chocolate and heavy cream together (more on this below).

Assembly: Arrange the strawberry halves on the brownies, pour chocolate ganache over the strawberries and let set.

How to make chocolate ganache

Chocolate ganache calls for heavy cream and chocolate chips. In a sauce pan over low heat, heat heavy cream until warm, but not bubbling. Remove from heat and right away add add the chocolate chips. Stir until melted. If the chocolate doesn't melt completely, return to heat for 30 seconds to help the chocolate melt. Pour warm ganache over strawberry brownies.

FAQ about chocolate covered strawberry brownies

Can you use brownie mix for strawberry brownies? Yes, brownie mix can be substituted in this recipe. Follow the box instructions for an 8×8 pan and let the brownies cool completely. Make the chocolate ganache from scratch when you add the chocolate covered strawberry topping.

How do you store chocolate covered strawberry brownies? Once the brownies cool and the ganache is set, cut and layer the brownies in an airtight container. Use parchment between the layers so the brownies don't stick. Keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to a month.

Can you use melted chocolate instead of chocolate ganache? I originally published this recipes in 2017 with melted chocolate as the topping. Melted chocolate drizzled on top solidifies more and kind of breaks off of the brownie when bitten into. While they brownies still taste amazing, the process of eating the brownies isn't as satisfying.

Valentine's Day desserts

Your Valentine deserves a dessert baked with love. Here are more recipes to bake for your sweetheart...

Imagine biting into the fudgiest brownie you can think of. Now imagine that brownie topped with freshly cut strawberries and a smooth layer of chocolate. That is what these strawberry brownies taste like.

Don't you and your Valentine deserve such an indulgent treat?
This recipe was originally published January 2017. It was last updated January 2019. Instructions for melted chocolate topping are in the notes.

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My favorite form of chocolate is arguably brownies. Their dense, fudgy, chewy texture is just how I want my chocolate. With Valentine's Day in sight, I decided to add some color to my brownies and topped them with fresh strawberries. When I think of romantic Valentine's Day foods, chocolate-covered strawberries instantly come to mind.

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70, 000 Olive Ridley sea turtles are storming the Odisha Rookery, a coastal beach in India, to do a mass nesting in broad daylight.

While this once-a-year event is normally a big time tourist attraction, Indian people are on a 21-day stay-at-home order.

Now authorities don't have to work as hard to protect the hatcheries from pesky human interaction.

These hatcheries were severely damaged last year thanks to Cyclone Title, rendering the Olive Ridley unable to reproduce at normal levels.

Once the storm passed, the Indian Forest Department was able to clean up the debris and prep their shores for the turtles' triumphant return.

The hatcheries are important because they protect the eggs during the critical stage of nesting. With the help from fisherman and other volunteers, they keep dogs and other predators at bay.

Once the turtles are hatched and head toward the ocean, their survival rates dwindle thanks to birds and other sea creatures looking for a quick lunch.

An even bigger threat to their existence are nets from commercial fishing boats.

This year, the Indian government has deployed its own boats to keep commercial fisherman away.

At least half of all Olive Ridley nest on Indian shores, according to the Odisha Wildlife Foundation,

A single Olive Ridley can lay 100 eggs before heading back out to sea.

Once fully grown, an Olive Ridley can reach up to 2 feet in size.

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70,000 Endangered Sea Turtles Lay Eggs on Empty Beaches During Quarantine

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While humans are on lockdown, Olive Ridley sea turtles are making a comeback on Indian shores. 70, 000 Olive Ridley sea turtles are storming the Odisha Rookery, a coastal beach in India, to do a mass nesting in broad daylight. While this once-a-year event is normally a big time tourist ...

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Julie and Jason have joined a 4B morning meeting as surprise guests. The kids have loved seeing them and it gave them both a chance to talk about their subjects with my entire class. I loved seeing their faces too!

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This lady right here is such a BRIGHT light! Thank you for always being so positive and supportive Renee! The world needs more people like you!

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Thank you Jayci for making sure that the staff's SE well being is taken care of during this time. I know we all appreciate your kindness and compassion.

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I am thankful for my 3rd grade team!  We collaborate, communicate, and create!  Couldn't do this without you!
Gina

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Y’all are an amazing group of people!  Each and every one of you brings a unique characteristic to our community!  I am blessed and very thankful to be part of such an awesome family!!

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Instant Classic!

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My nieces took time out of their day to make notes and letters for patients at their dad's hospital in Washington DC. Thought this was sweet!

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If you are a fan of the office or just a fan of hearing Good News... watch John Krasinski (AKA - Jim) on his new YouTube show Some Good News!

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Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 1