I taught first grade the other day.  While the students were cleaning out their desks, one student approached me.   You need to know that we had just recently come inside from a recess where it was snowing.  I thought that was important. This is pretty much how the conversation went.

Boy:  Teacher!  When I am 18 I am going to go to Florida.

Me:  Oh really?  That is great.  What are you going to do in Florida?  (anticipating some beachy activity)

Boy:  (using that tone of voice that implies the person asking a question is a  total idiot)   Drink beer and hang out with my friends.

Me:  (somewhere between shocked and amused)  Are you going to get a job while you are in Florida?

Boy:  Maybe.  If I want to.

Then he meandered back to his desk.  I nearly laughed at him.  That was NOT at all what I expect a first grade little boy to say.  And yet, it was kind of sad.  What kind of example has he seen to make him say something like that?   I don’t care if santa is watching.. there are a BUNCH of kids watching all of us!  I hope we are all making good choices for the kids sake. 

Have a happy day!

Last week my check engine light came on.  I wondered why it would do that.  Someone suggested that at the last fill up, the gas cap wasn’t tight enough.  That was possible and  since the car was driving just fine, I didn’t worry too much about it.  It was a busy week and I had many places to go.  The car was doing fine and driving fine and there were no problems at all. I  assumed it was the gas cap thing.

THEN, last night I was taking big sister to a gingerbread making party at a friends house.  All of the sudden it seemed the speedometer went wacky!  It was so far off.  I was on a road that I knew was 40 mph speed limit and my speedometer said I was going 62! SO  I said, “WOW!!!  How am I going so fast?!  It sure doesn’t feel that fast.”  I naturally slowed down to 40 and it felt like I was crawling.  Other cars were zooming past me and a few had a bit of sign language for me.  ODD!

After dropping off the kid, I remembered that the gps in the car had a speedometer on it.  So, I turned it on and held it in front of the steering wheel till I got home.  I was worried now about that check engine light and the wacky speedometer.  I mentioned this all to hubby this morning.  He thought it sounded really weird.  He was going to take my car to a parts store so they could tell him what the check engine light meant with some cool device meant to read such things.  When he got home he told me the car likely needed spark plugs and that the speedometer was fixed.  What a great man! 

He went on to tell me he fixed the speedometer himself.  I was pretty impressed.  I asked how he did that.  He said,  “I pushed the button that shows miles instead of kilometers”.     oh boy!  At least he didnt’ make fun of me!  I probably bumped it fumbling around in the dark for something.  Hahahaha  so all that time I was driving with kilometers and wondering how in the world the thing go broken in the first place. 

Have a happy Sunday!

Seems I was MIA for a month.  Wow!  Didn’t mean to do that.   I was busy being thankful I suppose. 

I have been pondering for a little while about Christmas gifts.  Why do we buy them?  Who do we buy them for?  Do homemade gifts mean more than store bought gifts?  What would happen if we DIDN’T buy or make any gifts?    I’ve been involved in a Bible study that is focused on the Five Love Languages of Teens.  I have to tell you that I score VERY VERY low in gifts when you put all five in order from most appreciated to least appreciated.   I think that I score so low because of the questions I just asked at the beginning of this paragraph. 

Why do we buy things for other people?  I think it probably started out with showing love and appreciation to those closest to us. Then it sort of branched out to those that make an impact in our lives (like teachers and ministers for example).  Eventually, it became something that had to be done for everyone you know, the newpaper carrier to the mailman to the pet groomer.  If you really really stop to think about it, are we showing them we love them and appreciate them or are we just trying to stay in good graces?  Maybe both reasons are ok.  I tend to lean really strongly to the useful and practical side of things.  You are more likely to get a set of bath towels from me as a gift than you would to get  fancy holiday patterned dishes.  There should be a lot of thought put into a gift.  It means so much more to the person if the gift has special meaning.  I’ve gotten gifts from people that I realize meant well, but it was not something I wanted or needed or could even use.  It became a burden and not a gift.  That is the exact opposite of what you want to happen when you give someone a gift.

One of the things I realized while I’ve been reading that book was that a gift comes with no strings attached.  You can’t say.. if you do this for me, I’ll give you this.  That is a negotiation and a payment.  Valid still, but not a gift.  I know I’ve said a lot of times, “If you clean your room you can have _____.   So the room is clean, the kid gets what is promised but NO ONE feels like that was a gift.  I’ve really challenged myself to not do that anymore with my children.  They still have to clean their rooms, but it is because they live there, not because they get some cool thing from me.

Gifts can be a great way to tell someone you love them.  It shows you are thinking of them when they aren’t around.  It shows them that you know them well enough to know what they like (hopefully!!!)  When I asked one of my girls what her favorite gift was in the span of her whole life, she barely hesitated before she answered.  It was tickets to a show she had wanted to see forever.   She had memorized the music and really wanted to see it.  But she knew it was not something she would likely ever be able to do.  She didn’t even ask to go see it.  When she got the tickets.. she screamed and then cried.  She did not have that same reaction when she was given a little electronic book reader thingy.  Both gifts.. different impacts and values.  The cost was probably close on both things, but the VALUE was miles apart. 

In this season when we all go out and buy stuff for people, stop and think about those questions.  Will this be of value to them?  Does it communicate love?  Can I give it with no strings attached?

Have a happy Sunday!!

I hope you have a  fun day, filled with excitement, adventure and a fair share of candy.    Tomorrow… my sweet mom and niece have a birthday!  So that means much celebration going on!!  YAY!!!

Happy Birthday Donkey Guy!!!!  Hope it is a great day.   Everyone go wish him a happy birthday.   

Have a happy day!

I’m in the middle of a teaching assignment.  I am teaching for 7 school days for a bunch of reading groups.  I LOVE this!!! It is so much fun.  I love teaching those little people how to read.  I get to see 4 groups of kindergarteners, 2 groups of first graders and 2 groups of second graders.  YAY!!  So awesome.  Now.. off to school for the day.

Have a happy day

There are some things I just don’t know.  Like… how can such a regular looking person like me give birth to such beautiful children.  (That is not a put down on myself.  Just saying)   The ones I’m pondering lately are confuzzeling. 

There is a young person that once spent a few hours at our house on a few occasions.  I was always nice to this young  person. I was polite and hospitible and kind in every encounter.  I was also encouraging whenever possible.  So this young person has stopped spending time here and has told multiple people that I hate him/her.  HOW can that idea even take root.  It is the farthest thing from the truth.  The sad part is, I don’t have any opportunity to “run into” this young person and have a conversation about this.  I just hear the rumors.  It bugs me.  I have to rely on my reputation among the circle of friends to refute that whole concept. 

Second, I recently met a fine lady about my age.  We talked some and walked through the neighborhood some and were just being friendly.  Then something happened with one of her kids and that kid got in big time trouble with her and she thinks I was part of the problem.  So, now, she won’t really ever talk to me.  She will say hi in person if she ever sees me, but it is very forced and feels anything but friendly.  She won’t respond to any email I send.  She seems to think that she and I are in some sort of competition in life.  She said she can’t even compete with me because I have the “perfect” life.  Any overture of friendship I offer her is ignored.  It makes me sad.  She is a nice lady and I would enjoy a friendship with her.  I don’t want to be in competition with her.  Cooperation would be fine, but not competition. 

Somehow, I have given these two people a very wrong impression of me.  AND I don’t seem to be able to change either of them.  This is not a happy thing for me.  I wish it were different.  So in the mean time, I just pray for both of them and my relationship with both of them. 

I’m sure that only 3 or so people will ever see this. Thank you three or four people!!!

Have a happy day!

Hello Friends.  My uncle is much the same.   He was in pretty good health until this diagnosis a couple weeks ago.  What that means is that the cancer is killing him really fast, but his body is fighting back.   He is in a lot of pain.  Hospice is there to help and my aunt and two cousins are with him round the clock. 

I am scheduled to go see my parents for a week. I got airline tickets before I knew about Uncle Steve.  There is a chance that his funeral could be on Saturday this week.  That is the day I’m scheduled to fly out that way.  Problem is.. I’ll be about 6 hours away still and by the time I drive there.. I will likely have missed the funeral.  Many of my cousins that I haven’t seen in years will be there this weekend.  I will likely miss all of them too.  That makes me really sad.   I’ve called the airline to see about changing my ticket and it just doesn’t even look feasible. 

My aunt and two cousins are doing as well as can be expected.  They are exhausted and worn thin, but they are hanging on.  I love them all so much.  I wish that I could just beam over!!!  That would be the best. 

Thanks for listening friends.  I know that my uncle is about to meet Jesus.  He is a good man.  His faith has touched many including his family.  Faith is what is holding everyone together right now. 

Hug your family

It is nearly midnight thirty here and I’m still up.  I’ve been texting my cousins all day because that seems less intrusive.  My uncle was diagnosed about 10 days ago with cancer.  He is at home and hospice is there.  They think it will be just one or two days if that long.  It seems so fast. 

I should go to bed, but I just keep thinking about him and my cousins and my aunt.  Life is precious.  Love those in your life while you can. 

I remember my uncle’s laugh the most.  He had a very distinctive laugh.  I heard it often when I was around him.  What a nice thing to remember.  Our family always had fun together.  Every time we were together.  There was a lot of laughter, some card games and coffee. Lots of coffee.   I can picture family gatherings, see the card tables and hear the laughter.  sigh……   We are so good to each other.  I love my family.

Hugs everyone. 

So the other day I asked all of you to vote and help save a program in our school district.  I thought that we could only vote through August.  We can vote till the end of September!!!  It is called Outdoor Education.  It is really a great program and is one our kids really benefit from and totally enjoy!   Sixth grade students go on this trip and it counts for a big part of their science grade.  High school students also benefit because they can apply to be “counselors” on this trip to learn about being a leader and being responsible for more than just themselves.  The high schools apply to go and have stiff competition to get to actually do this.  There are about a 2000 or more kids participate in this each year.

If you love kids, please vote.  If you love outdoors, please vote.   If you love the idea of a cranky math teacher sequestered with 75 twelve year olds at a time, please vote.  HAHA Whatever your reason, please do this to help the kids here.  It doesn’t cost you a thing!!!

Two ways to vote.  Texting or online.  If you text, you will get a confirmation text right back to show that your vote counted.  If you vote online there is a counter in the center of the bottom of the screen.  It will roll back one number when your vote has been counted.

Text to: 73774
Body of text: 101867

Online:  www.pepsirefresh.com
Click: education at the top right of the screen
Select: $250,000
Look for:  Help Save Outdoor Education for our Sixth graders.
Click: Vote for this idea.

We can vote every day of September.  I really hope you can help by voting for this.  My child will be one of those sixth graders that benefits!    Thanks so much!!!