handwritten on January 14, 2019
Today's blog is meant to be sweet but short. For Monday evenings, I do think this is all anyone can handle. If we are honest with ourselves, Mondays can be rather exhausting, but we remain triumphant in knowing we made it through another day with as much zest and passion as we could possible allow ourselves to give. At around 3:13 PM this afternoon, following bus duty, I opened up my phone (smiling but tired) and received a text from my dear friend. My grandparents had given her small calendar filled with Zen quotes for the year. On the occasion that a quote is uplifting and memorable, she always sends it my way. This person spends much more time than anyone I know thinking of others...
handwritten on January 13, 2019
I have always been one who greatly dislikes BIG surprises. I can handle small surprises but not large ones. I think this has something to do with the feeling that I need to be in control. With surprises, there is almost a fear behind them, a "what if" an "unknown." Perhaps this is why I like to just listen to conversations sometimes without actually participating. Same idea. In my mind, the quieter I am, the more information I can gather about the person or the people or life events so that there are "no surprises."
One of the most vivid surprises I can remember in my lifetime was my dad's surprise 50th birthday party. Everyone came. We were waiting in the family room and when he walked...
handwritten on January 12, 2019
Back in the day, when my tiny (actually pretty large) feet trodded through the halls of my High School, I was determined to make something called PMEA. Now, PMEA was truly special because, if you made the regular PMEA concert, you would have the opportunity to move on to district and then regions and then states. The music was outstanding. The students surrounding me were always spectacular. There was just a lot of whimsy in the air in every rehearsal and every tryout room and every session where multiple school districts came together and you-for a tiny moment, saw a little glimpse into the world outside your own High School. In fact, I would argue that music was my equivalent of whimsy ...
handwritten on January 11, 2019
Since my first year of teaching, I have had weekly lunch bunches that occur twice a week. Sometimes, they happen Thursday and Friday and sometimes Wednesday and Friday. It depends (at times) on my stamina throughout the week. However, inevitably, even if a day or two is skipped, lunch bunches always occur regularly on Friday. It used to be a lunch bunch reward for those who were deserving. However, in my third year of teaching this shifted to "whoever wants to come and release their emotions" and this year we have a limit of four (but on a volunteer basis.) Whoever wishes to dine on the slanted rectangular table near the chalkbaord, may do so. Fun is always had. Laughs always echo. Ideas...
handwritten on January 10, 2019
I initially surpassed this moment of whimsy earlier in the week. However, I was finally able to gather my thoughts in a way made this story as meaningful as the moment I had witnessed.
On Saturdays, I like to go take a walk or a run. Fresh air is a beautiful thing. Lately, I have been walking short distances due to the chilly air. On this particular Saturday I was meeting my brother mid-morning for coffee, lesson planning and a life chat. I passed a few cars and then my eye caught a dad who was bent down in front of Contellation Coffee with his son and a fluffy dog. As I walked around them, I noticed that the dad was eye level with his son explaining exactly what he wanted his son to do...
