About Me

I grew up in Winooski, Vermont which is a rugged kind of place. This shot was taken at Smuggler's Notch.

This is me growing up. I loved school. Can't you tell from this cute little First Grade picture? I wonder why my blouse does not match my jumper. I was the baby of the family of 5 kids...I don't think anyone noticed. I liked the beach in summer.

In the early 60's, our moms would kick us outside send us out to play all day, every day. Here we are bundled up to stay warm: my sister Diane up top, then Denise (my next door neighbor), me, and my best friend, Duffer. (He had a real name. It was Robert.) 

This is me at First Communion with my longest-friendship-ever- friend, Sandy. She always says that on the first day of Kindergarten I ran over to her and hugged her. Hopefully, I have developed some boundaries since then.

 I really liked her little crown.

This is Sandy now. Look her up at Vermont Creamery (she is Sandy Reese now) and at Sandra Reese Fine Art.

This was is high school. Remember those photo booths? Yeah!

I went to the University of Vermont and graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education. During the first year of my first teaching job, I got married at Christmastime. That marriage would last 23 years, and resulted in my three biggest joys in life: my sons.

This was Chuckie, (Charles III), followed two years later by Brian, followed three years later by Daniel. I loved having the pirate birthday parties and the Matchbox car collections and the He-Man action figures.

This photo was taken ten years ago, when I got remarried in Cleveland, Ohio where my youngest son Danny was graduating from high school. Pictured here: Brian, Danny, family friend Adam Walsh, and Chuckie. 

I had just finished one of the most difficult years of my life. The May before I was diagnosed with breast cancer on a Friday. That Monday I had a lumpectomy. All summer I had 12 rounds of chemotherapy. Danny flew down to Florida, where I had moved to, and took care of me. He buzzed my hair off for me. He got vanilla milk shakes from McDonald's when I was hungry. My sister Diane and my brother Rick also lived in Florida and they and their families were always there for me, too. September rolled around and I went back to teaching, wearing a hat or scarf. I had radiation until November, which left me exhausted. But I was declared cancer-free.

During this entire summer my new friend, Ed, spent time with me every day, watching movies, going out to thrift stores when I felt better. We went through the hurricanes that year together. That June, as we were going up to Cleveland for Danny's graduation, we also got married. One thing that cancer teaches you is, what is the purpose of waiting until tomorrow? So this was a particularly joyful week in Cleveland, Ohio for me! 

As you can see, my hair grew back nicely, and I decided I liked it short. We got married at the home of Christina and Phil Buck, two of our dearest friends. When we got married, Ed had a mustache! 

This is how he looks now. Did I mention he does the cooking at home? Every teacher out there needs somebody else to cook dinner for her. I would have settled for Special K...that's how tired you are after a day of First Graders!

I am the baker of all things yummy. I also love to craft, read, sew,  visit with relatives, write, dance, take naps, paint furniture, look at old photographs, and travel. I love to read murder mysteries. I was so excited when we went to San Francisco and I got to visit Alcatraz! Does that make me strange?

Recently, we have had a radical change in our living situation. Ed was hired as a journalist at the Laconia Citizen in NH, and so he moved here last March. I waited until the school year was finished and then moved during the summer.

I did not like the weather in Florida! 
I was a teacher there for 12 years!
Enough with the sweat!


I love being here in New England again. We are having a beautiful autumn. I got to go apple picking again and made apple pie, apple crisp, and applesauce. Ed says please enough apple stuff for now.

I am now working on this blog and hoping to open my Teachers Pay Teachers store soon. We all know so much, we teachers, from all of our various experiences. I love sharing what I know worked for me in the hopes that it will makes another teacher's life simpler, easier, and more fun. Because if it isn't fun, why do it?  

Something not everybody knows...from time to time, I have had    

complete strangers stop me and say that I look like Hillary Clinton.
Personally, I don't see it. What do you think? It's okay if you think that I do, or if you think that I don't. I will still like you anyway.

Surviving cancer, and embarking on a successful new marriage in my 40's really seems astounding to me. Now that I am going through my 50's, actually seeing my thoughts in print in a way that can help other teachers is likewise amazing. I hope I will get to know many of you in a real way!

I have a request: could you please think about the one book that you like to teach in reading, or the one content area (subject or theme) that you would just love to see a great new resource for. Please go to the comment section and give me your request or suggestion. It can be a duplicate suggestion, that will just tell me that more than one person needs the same thing!Then go up to where it says "subscribe" so that you can leave your email. If you have suggested it to me, when I create it I will send a free download to you for helping me! I am working on things for December now, so keep that time frame in mind. I can't wait to hear from you! 

Joyfully,
Nancy
PS...I have loads to see on Pinterest, too!
http://www.pinterest.com/nancybpierce/