Tonight it's Simple

It was a great first week.  The kids and I are that wonderful kind of tired that comes from hard work and long days.  And now, it's Friday and we get to spend tomorrow recovering.  We'll have a big breakfast, stay in our pajamas and work puzzles, and then maybe head to the pool.  Of course at some point, we will have to catch up on laundry and grocery shopping, but with enough sleep anything sounds doable.

August 20, 2010  Blessing #115

I am glad we had a good week. I am thankful for our school, for work that I love, and the tired feeling that comes with a job well done.  And I am blessed that I have this weekend time with my family.  I used to coordinate tutoring services in a trailer park near by, and the parents there worked nearly round the clock at the chicken plant to provide for the families.  I feel so fortunate to have it this good.

A Good Night's Sleep

You learn not to take a good night's sleep for granted when you have young children.  Monday and Tuesday night, Trey and I played musical beds handling crises like leg aches, nightmares, and stuffy noses.  By yesterday we were worn slap out. So  last night we were asleep, every one of us, by 9pm.  It was a boogie man-free night, and it was wondeful.

Blessing #114 August 19, 2009

It is marvelous to get a good night's sleep.  Think about what it implies--to be able to sleep soundly and peacefully,  a person needs to feel safe, content, and well-fed.  We were all those things last night, and I woke up today feeling fabulous.  What a blessing that my family can sleep well.

Memories!

I had a great day at work, but I dropped all my planning periods and barely had time to go the potty.  So, I'm ready to chillax (as Chip says) and remember a simpler time.

Blessing #113, August 18, 2010

I am thankful all over again that Trey and I had that trip to Jamaica. I am lucky that I had a real summer--no summer school or summer work at the University.  Sure, today was long, but I am rejuvenated beyond belief so I am not complaining!

Pillars of the Earth

I have read so much this summer. I read all the Sookie Stackhouse books, several professional books, and just completed the epic novel, The Pillars of the Earth.  It's been a long time since I've gotten lost in and refreshed by reading for pleasure.  I was amazed at the Pillars of the Earth.   It is so detailed and captivating. I couldn't wait for my next block of time for reading.  If only our history books could be written with such a focus on people and relationships, I would have had no trouble loving social studies.  The imagery of the churches, the towns, the monasteries, and the castles was so vibrant, that I felt I'd been transported back in time.

Blessing #112, August 17, 2010

I am thankful for the written word and all that it allows.  We use to learn, to teach, to record, and to entertain.  I can't imagine life before there were books like this one to get lost in and learn from.

The Dog house

Well, it finally happened. I had every intention of writing about a blessing last night, but as I was reading to Katie, I fell asleep.  It was the drooling, mouth agape kind of sleep.  Trey did wake me close to 11 and reminded me about my blog, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to do it.  So, I guess I messed up.......


Better late than never!  Yesterday the kids had orientation in their new classrooms.  They came home so pumped for the new year.  I heard all about their teachers and friends.  Their excitement was so intense it was almost palpable.

Blessing #111, for August 16, 2010  (posted 1 day late)

I am so fortunate that my children are able to attend this school, and that they love it.  They have been nurtured and challenged by their teachers, and they feel good and safe when they walk onto the campus.  Athens Academy is such a tremendous part of and gift to our family.

Butterflies

It's the night before school starts.  I've been to the grocery store to stock up for the kids' lunches, and  to my classroom to make sure everything is in order.  I attended the parent meeting for Katie's class and smelled the newly polished floors, crayons, and pencils.  Now I can't settle down to sleep.  It happens every year--I get so excited about the first day I get butterflies.  They're not from nerves, but from excitement.  I love the first day of school!

August 15, 2010  Blessing #110

I am thankful that I still get so excited about a new year of school.  I know I will be blessed by each of the new students I meet tomorrow-that we'll have all kinds of adventures in science together-and that I'll be learning right a long with them.  What a great job I have!

Date Night

We love date nights. We usually head to our favorite Italian place, DePalmas, and catch a movie.  If we've got the energy we stop on the way home for a hot tea or coffee.When we get home we proceed to give our babysitter of the evening the last cent in our bank account.  Well, as much as we would love to have a date night this weekend, we are broke till pay day.  So, tonight we settled for the next best thing--we rented a movie called Date Night, shared popcorn, and never left our couch.  We laughed so hard watching this boring married couple from New Jersey have the date of their life.  Best part was the kids got to watch a movie upstairs, and no one interupted us.  No tattling, bathroom accidents, or head injuries to take away from our stolen 120 minutes.  Probably won't happen again, but we are lucky it did this time.

August 14, 2010 Blessing #109

I'm thankful for our movie date and laughing with my husband.  It never gets old.

A Spring in My Step

Teaching isn't something you do for recognition (or to get rich, but that's another story).  At the end of last school year, I found I'd been nominated for the Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year for Georgia Award given by the National Association of Biology Teachers.  The nomination was a wonderful gesture, as it came from my colleague, Richard, who is an expert teacher and a legend.

Still, I didn't have time to fill out the paper work, video my teaching, or write the essay.  I felt awkard asking for the 4 needed letters of recommendation.  I never think my teaching is good enough-I'm always reinventing lessons. As honored as I was, I just couldn't imagine that I would win.  But I did.  I just got the call last night, and I must say I had an extra spring in my step today.  Teaching isn't about being recognized, but that doesn't mean it's not great when it happens.

Blessing #108, August 13, 2010

I am thankful that my colleague thought enough of my work to nominate me for this award. I'm thankful for the reflection  I engaged in as I worked on my essay--like any good assignment, the act of writing it made me better at my work.  I am blessed there are folks who wrote such nice letters, and I'm grateful that I won. What a great day!

G-L-O-R-I-A

I am worn out. The heat is killing me (outside is rough, but the air in my classroom is broken too)-I feel like it sucks my energy away.  I'm ready for bed at 7:45--this is not normal.  It's one of those days I don't care to search for blessings. I would not do it except that I committed myself to this charge, and I cannot bear to even contemplate failure.

So, as rough as today has been, I walked in the house this afternoon and breathed a sigh of happy relief.  Gloria came.  Gloria comes every other week to clean my house.  We can't afford her, but we can't live without her either.  I was greeted at the door with the smell of cleanliness and the peace that comes with knowing my toilets (do you have any idea what happens to toilets when you have little boys??) are clean and the beds have been changed.  A weight was lifted off my shoulders and I am thankful.

Blessing #107, August 12, 2010

Today, I am blessed that Gloria helps me.  I hate to say it, but I can't do it all. I can't be a great teacher, a great mother, a great wife, and have a clean house all the time. I am just not made that way.  Thank God for Gloria!

"A dog has the soul of a philosopher"--- Plato

There's an article in the most recent Time about the intelligence of animals.  Seems there is more and more evidence that birds and mammals are smarter than we have ever imagined.  So, today, Katie and I were watching Beverly Hills Chiuaua (cleary brain food designed at promoting the practice of philosophy), and I was trying to stay awake when Katie said the most profound thing.  "Mom, people don't know  dogs can talk to each other because they are talking too loud to other people and can't hear them."  I find that pretty insightful-we probably are so focused on our species' "superiority" that we have been biased regarding what other animals can do.

Blessing #106, August 11, 2010

Today I am thankful for the wisdom and insight of a child. I think I forgot how much easier things were to understand when I was young.  I remember being confident that every being has a spark of the Divine and that Good always triumphed over evil.  Now things are ever so much more complicated with my experience, my reading, and and my rationalizing. It's become too easy to stop seeing the big picture.  Katie saw it today and she reminded me that I need to look for it.

Exhibit A: The Modern Man

After work today, I was really tired.  I got home just before Trey, and I was feeling so overwhelmed with supper plans I couldn't seem to get started.  When I mentioned it to him, he said, "Well, what do you want?"  "Fish quesadillas" I replied.  He set about making them straight away.  They were delicious, and as I put my feet up with a full belly, I thought, "What did I ever do to deserve such a man?"

Blessing #105, August 10, 2010

I am so happy to share my life with a man who isn't clinging to old ideas of  "woman's work."  I couldn't do it without him-any of it, and I thank God for bringing him into the world and into my life.

Back in the Saddle

Today was my first day back at work.  It was good, and I feel glad that we are settling back into some sort of routine.  Chip and Katie spent the day connecting with buddies at faculty kid camp, and they didn't fight me one inch on their bedtime.  But the best part of the day came this afternoon when I picked them up.  I asked, "So, how was your day?" and both began talking at once.  They were so excited to report on all their activities, and I finally said, "So, sounds like it was a good day!".  Chip fired back with, "Mom, we always have great days."

Blessing #104, August 9, 2010

I believe we decide our attitude and outlook--and that the decision ultimately impacts our reality.  If I decide to have a great day, I almost always do--and I talk about making that decision with my kids.  Today I am thankful that they are deciding to have good days too.

Big Trouble!

Oops!  We just returned from a weekend in Helen, GA and I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to do my blog.  So, I did it old school and have 3 blessings to report.  I did think about trying to post from Trey's iphone, but I just didn't brave it.

Friday August 6, 2010 Blessing #101

We stayed up till well after midnight laughing with our friends, Matt and Leslie.  We haven't seen them in 3 years, but we just picked right up.  Their little boy, Corbin, and Katie were instant best friends (Chip was at his cousins for a birthday party this weekend) which made our time together even more joyous.  Trey and Matt became best friends in college, and it is wonderful that they work to keep in touch.  Even cooler is that I enjoy Matt and Leslie so much.  Friends that remain friends across different chapters of life are a rare, precious find, and we are lucky to have these 2.


Saturday August 7, 2010 Blessing #102

Today we went to a festival in Sautee, GA.  I am always amazed by the people who pour into little towns for events like this.  My parents have a farm in Washington, GA and festivals, Holidays like "Mule Day", and battle reenactments are just part of life there.  Sautee felt very similar.  In fact, as I was standing by a booth where a lady was making dolls out of corn husks, I heard another customer say, "Well, you now every February I head to Washington-Wilkes and I love to show the kids there the corn husk dolls."  I'm sure there is festival in February celebrating the Battle of Kettle Creek (not my field, but I think it was a very important battle in the Revolutionary War). I got the feeling this woman traveled around to small town events.  Well, it was a blessing watching the demonstrations of age old techniques for spinning cotton and basket making.  It was special to eat in the deli that has been in business continuously since the 1800s, and to shop in the south's longest running general store.  We spent an afternoon watching the way things use to be, and I left with a richer perspective about the conveniences and vices of modern life.



Sunday August 8, 2010  Blessing #103

There is no place like home when all of my family is under this roof.  We have been busy and apart much of the last 2 weeks, and being together again feels fabulous.  It is as if the planets were out of alignment, and they have just moved back where they belong.  I am blessed that we have all had safe travels and I am grateful that we are all home.

100!!

Today I met with a few of the students who were with me in Haiti.  Our task was to begin converting our video footage into clips that help tell the story of Bethlehem Ministry's work in Haiti.  We didn't finish, but I remembered that we made some last year during Interact Club, and I was in awe all over again of the caliber of students I work with. They hadn't worked on editing software before, but they were moved by what they had learned about Haiti--before the earthquake and wanted to help.  These girls will have to work at it, but they won't stop till they help spread the message to a younger audience.  When they finish I'll post them!





August 5, 2010  Blessing #100

I am thankful for the hope, idealism, and desire to make the world better in the young people with whom iIwork.

Couldn't be Easier

Some days the task of identifying a blessing and writing about it is tougher than others.  There are always blessings around me, but if my mind isn't in the right place they struggle in rising to the surface.  Then there are days when blessings are so rich and abundant, I wonder how I could ever be so lucky.  Today is the 2nd kind of day.

Earlier, I wrote of tough news.  We learned Friday that Trey's mom (Granna to the kids) has breast cancer.  It was shocking to us, because she is so formidable.  She doesn't have time to be sick, so she never is.  She is one of the bravest, most "in charge" people I have ever met.  I, nor anyone else, could imagine cancer having the audacity to challenge her.  It was a tough weekend, full of reminders that none of us is in control and each day is a gift. 

Now, Jane has taught nearly every one in the county-and if she hasn't taught them she taught their siblings or their parents.  Hundreds of former students, colleagues, and family members were praying and hoping with her today during her surgical procedure.  She had a double mastectomy and had lymph nodes removed.  She came through the surgery great and awoke to learn that her lymph tissue is clear of cancer.  It was the best possible outcome today, and when I heard I felt joyful relief and thanksgiving.

How easy is that for writing a blessing?

August 4, 2010 Blessing #99

I am thankful for the outcome today. I am blessed to be a part of Jane's family, and I love her dearly.  She gave me the gift of my husband, and she is a wonderful grandmother to my children and mother in law to me.