Kids Washing Car

Motivational Quotes from iPhone

Motivational Quotes from iPhone

Return to Work

Open House is today. I will meet the sixth graders and their parents today. Perhaps, they are as anxious to meet us as we are anxious to know them. I remember my sixth grade year. We were the oldest children in the building at Water Valley Elementary School (now called Davison Elementary). I felt almost grown as the younger students looked up to us. The role of sixth grade in our school is different. The sixth graders are the youngest. The experience of sixth graders almost resembles freshman year. I am hoping for a great year.

Yoga

As I am lying on my back smothered under my bedclothes, I am beyond exhausted. I don't feel as if I accomplished as much today. I was very anxious and just couldn't get focus. I was high-strung today, but I knew that I had to go to yoga tonight. I am so glad that I did. Even though I came home and took a shower, I could not muster up any energy to clean up. Yet, mentally I am recharged and feel so much better I am not as stressed. Yoga is my new outlet. It fulfills my life and blesses my body and soul.

Wow!

Land Rover LR3

Back To School Sale

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Last Day

I cannot believe today is the last day of my summer vacation. Work begins tomorrow. Not sure that I am excited. Maybe you could describe it as being anxious to start. I wonder how many children with special needs will be assigned to me. Last year, one of my students committed suicide. So, this year will be an interesting year because his little brother will be at our school. He looks just like my student. Perhaps the reality of not being able to come and go as I want is no longer available! I am wondering what new changes have occurred. I do know that we have a new principal. He was one of the assistants from last year. I don't know just hoping that this year is better than last year.

Tying shoes

Tying Shoes 101

Yoga

As I am lying on my back smothered under my bedclothes, I am beyond exhausted. I don't feel as if I accomplished as much today. I was very anxious and just couldn't get focus. I was high-strung today, but I knew that I had to go to yoga tonight. I am so glad that I did. Even though I came home and took a shower, I could not muster up any energy to clean up. Yet, mentally I am recharged and feel so much better I am not as stressed. Yoga is my new outlet. It fulfills my life and blesses my body and soul.

Yoga

As I am lying on my back smothered under my bedclothes, I am beyond exhausted. I don't feel as if I accomplished as much today. I was very anxious and just couldn't get focus. I was high-strung today, but I knew that I had to go to yoga tonight. I am so glad that I did. Even though I came home and took a shower, I could not muster up any energy to clean up. Yet, mentally I am recharged and feel so much better I am not as stressed. Yoga is my new outlet. It fulfills my life and blesses my body and soul.

Achievement

Today, I feel like I really achieved something. I printed out a photograph I took and put it in a frame. It looks so professional. I painted over the part of the breakfast bar that Jacob decided to color a gray marker on. I bought a folding table for our laundry room. I have washed loads and loads of clothing all day. I am starting to see the nice linoleum floor. I even found time to go to the gym and work out. I cooked dinner. I sent emails. I schedule important meetings. I followed up. I read a book. I can see my kitchen counter. I washed Jasmine's hair. I went to JSU to turn in my graduation clearance. I threw more than 27 pieces of paper away. I am exhausted. Yet, it feels really great to think of all I have accomplished today. Hopefully, I can repeat the same thing tomorrow.

Unconditional Love

What would the world be like if everyone loved each other genuinely in an unconditional manner like God's love? Would we live harmoniously and bathe ourselves in forgiveness and faithfulness? Would we just shake it off when someone inflicts excruciating pain on our very souls? Would we all accept the flaws and the untruths often exposed at a vulnerable and trying time?

Vicious Cycle

Have you ever been just so sick and tired that you were sick and tired of bring sick and tired? I am realizing that you can stop being sick and tired by ending the vicious cycle. I now know it's time for me to stop this cycle of repeat offenses by taking the necessary steps to remove me from such an environment. People treat you only the way you allow them to. Sometimes, your comfort zone interferes with what you know is necessary. However, it's important to understand that remaining in an unhealthy comfort zone hurts you more than an unfamiliar comfort zone. Perhaps you have to reach a point that you just have to wake up and realize that things change. Sometimes it takes a wake-up call to understand that the enjoyment of your life rears with you and God. The situation won't get better if you allow and accept it. You have to take the stance and make a change. Time is precious and you can't let it be. It's time for me to think ahead and visualize what's in the future. Mistreatment bad disrespect dwindles down your body as a deadly drugged. Their potency infuses in your spirit and essence. Feeling a sense of validation by what others think and feel about you overshadows your own perception of yourself. Putting your faith in humankind without thinking about disappointment leans a hand to faulty understanding and often terribly hurt feelings. I am determined that I can do better, and I will do better. By ending this vicious cycle now, I will get what I want now. I will get what I know I deserve.

Invitation to view Anne's Picasa Web Album - Pensacola Beach

You are invited to view Anne's photo album: Pensacola Beach Pensacola Beach Jul 19, 2009 by Anne 1st trip to the beach View Album Play slideshow Message from Sensational Image Consultant: Check out our family at the beach. If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=AnneBaehr&target=ALBUM&id=5360333321418723121&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2Js5uiy4Xr5gE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

Trip to Pensacola Beach

A lady from Pensacola Beach took pictures of our family and made this Smilebox.

Please watch it!


http://smilebox.com/playEmail/4d5441304e5463314e6a6c384d6a45774f546b784d446b3d0d0a&sb=1

Disappointment

Sometimes how you expect someone to treat you and talk to you often don't happen. What do you do when not only your expecations are not met? What do you do if you feel like you have been treated unfairly? Do you speak out or do you wallow in your disappointment and dismay? Do you retailiate or stand in silence? Do you cry the tears swollen in your eyes or force them back with all your strength?

Braves vs. Stars

Tonight we went to Trustmark Park to watch the Mississippi Braves play against the Stars. Even though Jeremiah and I stood in line at the concession stand for over thirty minutes, we had a wonderful time. Jasmine and Jacob enjoyed the clapping and shouting. They really had fun watching the players and seeing the baseballs fly. It was a really great deal. Admission into the ballpark was free if you donated items for the Salvation Army. We also received wonderful souvenirs and a free hot dog and drink for the whole family. If you haven't been to a Braves game, you are truly missing out. I understand why Sandi loves it so! People were everywhere. Children were playing. It was so nice to see families together. Here are a few pictures I took and video of the game. My iPhone 3GS is so awesome!

Thinking

As I smell the french fries, sizzling in the hot grease, my mind drifts off to thinking. I am really excited about Trustmark Park today. Not sure why. We have been before when Kwandis was giving tickets by Comcast. Jeremiah had a field day there too! It was pretty cool. I hope it cools down though. It is so hot today!

Graduation Announcement

Cassandra Leann Hawkins-Wilson of Water Valley, MS will graduate with a Master of Arts degree in English from Jackson State University on Saturday, August 1, 2009. She has a Bachelor of Science from Jackson State University in Psychology and a minor in Political Science. She is the daughter of Rev. Tommy Leland Hawkins and Rev. Louise Mosley Hawkins and a graduate of Water Valley High School.She is currently a special education teacher for Jackson Public Schools. In addition to teaching on the secondary level, she teaches two enrichment courses at Millsaps College. Currently, she is affiliated with Sigma Tau Delta International Honor Society, Modern Language Association, National Scholars Honor Society, Mississippi Council Teachers of English, Mississippi Fashion (founder), Professional Women’s Network of Metro Jackson (founder), Jackson MS Momslikeme.com, Get Fit Mississippi, and MS 4Ws Writing Institute. Other affiliations have included Association of Image Consultants International, Toastmasters International Public Speaking Club, Dress for Success Metro Jackson, Madison the City Chamber of Commerce, and JUMPSTART-AMERICORPS.Beyond the teaching realm, she owns an image consulting firm, Sensational Image Consulting INC., and works as an Independent Mary Kay Senior Consultant. Cassandra resides in Brandon, MS with her husband, Kwandis, and their three children. Future plans include attending law school in August 2010. She is also finishing the Master of Fine Arts in Fashion Merchandising graduate program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA.

Living MY Life

Now What?

No more writing and reading about Edgar Allan Poe. No more revising,
editing, and stressing. So, what's next. Not too sure about what I
want to accomplish next. I do have a list of things I would like to
do. Perhaps, I will feel an incredible sensation. Then, will I know?

Cassandra Hawkins-Wilson
Sensational Image Consulting Inc
www.sensationalimageconsulting.com
www.marykay.com/cwilson77
Sent from my iPhone

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Working together

Jeremiah on the computer

Jacob on his computer

Jasmine on the computer.

Wedding

Taborian Hospital

This summer I am participating in the University of Mississippi Writing Project Summer Institute, affliated with the National Writing Project I recently visited the Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, Ms when I attended the Mississippi Writing and Thinking Institute. I was inspired by the rich history, and I wrote a piece about it. Doing a little research, I saw that Bennie Thompson is working on a Taborian Hospital and Museum project to revive the hospital. Perhaps, you can contact Bennie Thompson like I did to get the ball rolling to reestablish its presence in the Mississippi Delta.

Here is the piece I wrote:

Wooden boards, black and deformed from the wear and tear of Mississippi heat and humidity, act as barriers shielding the world from a plethora of secrets, histories, deaths, and births of Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, Ms. The loud booming of an eighteen wheeler on U.S. Highway 61 replicate the possible boom the hospital once knew. I want to wrap my mind around the phenomenal presence of this forty-two bed facility in Historic Mound Bayou.

If I pried open man-created barriers, would the crumbling walls scream the frustration caused by integration? Would the creaky floors whisper why Taborian could not compete with larger hospitals in the Mississippi Delta? Would the windows provide a peep-show into the prominent African- American hospital, which thrived during an unforgettable era of segregation? Would the ghosts of the medical personnel from Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee, surround me and suffocate my breathe to serve the community?

Taborian Hospital stands silently awaiting its resurrection. Two white rusting stair rails posses a lead-infested heart in the center. Perhaps the Knights and Daughters of Tabor smiled confidently between these symbols of love for photographs after the hospital’s dedication in 1942. Maybe family members congregated on the currently deteriorating, ant-dominated steps, as their family members lie on hospital beds beyond the now boarded-up doors. Did husbands lean nervously against these rails, waiting on the status of their newborn sons from world-famous healthcare professionsl during an era of Jim Crow and segregation?

Standing in its original spot, Taborian no longer functions as a Southern Mecca of Healthcare for African Americans. Listed on the Mississippi Heritage Trust’s Ten Most Endangered List of 2000, Taborian Hospital beckons me to relish in its unique and commanding presence. The boarded remnants protect the philosophy of the hospital’s first chief surgeon, Dr. T.R.M. Howard. Can you hear the creaking of the floor as he paced from room to room, checking on patients that only Taborian would admit? Do you see his freshly starched and immaculate white coat demanding an unbelievable air of respect and awe from Mound Bayou’s community and abroad?

A brewing Mississippi summer thunderstorm interrupted my visit. Walking back to my car, I spoke a solemn, “Good-bye.” Outside of a hospital, which a “Colored Only” door did not exist, Taborian Hospital spoke to my soul begging me to find a way to revive its memory, preserve its history, and celebrate its victory. My reply was “I WILL WRITE.”

Taborian Hospital

Black owned hospital in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.

Hearing My Own Voice

Hearing my own voice, knowing that it is my voice, and including my voice in my writings, whether creative or academic, has been so powerful. I love how it sounds. When I write now, my voice speaks to me and makes it easier to focus on what I am writing. It’s now easier to accept who I am in my writing. I am no longer to trying to be “the” prolific writer with a forced voice. Amazingly, I am a prolific writer with my own voice. Not having the feelings to force my talent as a writer as transformed how I write, how I think, and how I feel about me. The adventure I am currently a part of, the University of Mississippi Writing Project Summer Institute 2009, has not only helped me as a writer but as an individual. I am now able to appreciate myself more. I am able to stop comparing what I am doing to what others are doing. Learning to embrace my own thought process, my writings, my voice in my writings, I have actually began to embrace myself as a whole. Funny how a writing institute has transformed my ability to write and transformed how I feel about myself.

Embracing the Writer Within

We were asked to think of a special place and journal on it. Having the opportunity to stay with my parents in order to participate in the University of Mississippi Writing Project, I have been inspired to remember what makes my parents' home so special to me. I am working on this piece and trying to fine tune it. I cannot wait to see your responses. Being a part of this writing project, I am trying to embrace the writer I did not know. Thanks for reading!

Home Is Where My Heart Is
By Cassandra Hawkins-Wilson

Footprint like messages lead up a steep driveway guided by specially placed rocks. Reminding me that it rained the day before, my muddy footprints cross the sheltered carport and stop at the bottom of the largest concrete block stair. I quickly catch the aroma of one of my favorite place, taking care to remove the fully-covered muddy shoes. My parents’ thirty-three year old home is one of the most comfortable and loving places I know.


From the wooden front door to each bedroom, I am amazed that many things look the same as when I lived him, a mere nine years ago. Walking through the threshold, I escape into another world. Crossing into a world of peace and serenity, I take in the open kitchen and dining area. The wooden table, which once was adorned with a tablecloth hand painted by my creative mother, is cluttered with a variety of things and functions more as a desk than the Mecca of family time and celebration it once was.

Not far from it, just to the side of the table lies a corner stand snuggled closely with the wood paneling. Filled with antique what-nots and opened mail, this corner stand has always operated as the communications depot. Even after I moved out, I would visit the corner stand to find out what I have been missing since away at college. Most of the time it was unwanted junk mail, credit card statements, and cell phone statements.

As I walk through the doorway to the living room, I remember the cowboy saloon swinging doors that once functioned as a room divider. Dividing the living room from the dining area, these swinging doors were the object of our affection. Before their unfortunate destruction, we were warned to not play with them. Yet, the saloon style doors could not survive the harshness of our tender young hands. It’s so unfortunate that they were unable to grow to a ripe old age.

Within a few feet stands a wooden oak glass cabinet housing the precious objects not to be forgotten. The crystal vases, a variety of colorful plastic flowers from the funerals of loved ones long gone, sacred white and black spotted jersey cows, staring at the human-like figurines mimicking important acts related to my family, positioned nearby symbolized the preservation of family. The faded designs of the linoleum, the replacement ceiling in the living room, the old remaining ceiling, the gas heater lacking the gas (we never used it), the recreated fireplace, which will make you sweat with the smallest fire, all scream the validity I need to know that I am where I always have loved to be: HOME.

Week #2

We have been living with my parents for a week now. Studying at Ole Miss this month, I have been amazed at how hard my parents work on their farm. I don't remember all the back breaking labor involved in the everyday functions around a farm. Maybe it was there, and I didn't notice it because I was too busy with my nerdy nose in a book. Yesterday, Daddy killed a water moccasin snake. Possessing a horrible oversized length and a camouflaging color, the snake could have scared me out of my mind because I would missed it. I would have never seen it coming. Today will be a fast-paced day. More research and reading will encompass what I need to accomplish. Tomorrow I defend my thesis. I am not too excited about that, especially since I received another email from an instructor about what my thesis lacks. I guess that is just apart of it. I will definitely be glad when it is over.