Living the Questions

summer, that is :) it took so long to get itself here, and now it has arrived, in its full glory -- heat, humidity, beautiful skies, freedom, trips, sales, friends, fun.... i hope you're enjoying a spectacular start to the summer! summer is by no means my favorite season (and i truly love all the seasons in some way), but there's just something about summer. i celebrated the arrival of summer by having a lot of work done on my car....brakes, tires, wipers, oil, etc...and all the work was desperately needed (my car was shaking when i put on the brakes, and one of my wipers had detached itself from the wiper blade almost completely -- but it was on the passenger side, so it didn't impact my vision in the rain and i never felt the need to replace them). because summer is here, i have been able to walk my dog crackers a lot. i'm enjoying seeing the neighborhood in a way other than in my car headed out somewhere or back home again. it's also been cool to vary the route w...

i can feel summer...it's so close....i can't wait.

first of all, i'm sorry if my last post sounded really negative.... i'm getting ready for our awards ceremony tomorrow (i.e., i had so much else to do that i'm just now doing the awards). i just finished filling out the awards...i'm making dvds for the kids right now, so i have a little bit of time and thought i would write something. i never thought filling out awards would be difficult. it's not something you think about when you're in school to become a teacher -- you just kind of know that it's something that will eventually happen and you'll do it because you have to. well, i do wish i had thought about awards ceremonies before now. it's hard picking a kid to get an award above all the others. for example, the other teachers in my grade are giving the awards to the kids with the highest grade in each subject. that's great, but what about the kids who may not have the highest grade, but try their absolute hardest and are really interested in ...

i hate reality tv....despise it....would rather watch endless hours of movies i don't necessarily like (dumb and dumber, napoleon dynamite) than watch reality tv....however, because i still live with my parents (and sister, when she's home from school), and they like it, i have to watch hours of it -- american idol, dancing with the stars, so you think you can dance, america's got talent, etc. you could argue that i could go to another room or go somewhere or do something else....those are good arguments, but here's why i don't.... going to another place entirely uses gas, which is expensive. sometimes i take advantage of this option, but i can't all the time. i can go to another room, but then i don't get to see my family a lot and i'm stuck in one room for a long time....and that's never very fun. i have taken to doing something else while in the same room, but i'm still around it and have to hear it (even with headphones on). so, here i sit wa...

i'm in a crying mood right now....i'm not really sad, just feel like crying a lot. i haven't felt this way in awhile. on the way to church sunday night, i just started crying thinking about the fact that my kids are leaving on friday. and then i thought about the graduation ceremony...and started crying more. when i saw the sunset, i felt like crying . when i watched prince caspian (or think about the last scene), i tear up. i started thinking about how there is a lot changing in my life right now the other day, and started crying. my heart hurts these days. i'm not saying all this to make anyone feel sorry for me, just to be open about how i'm feeling... on another note... so the other day, one of my kids came in and we had this exchange: kid: i lost something. me: oh really? what was it? kid: it was furry. me: furry? any other identifying features we should be on the look out for? kid: it was furry. and purple. me: did it have ears? kid: no ears. me: well, if you ...

this was a busy weekend for me, and it's not over yet. here's what happened.... thursday: school, bake muffins, anna's bday dinner, genesis, prince caspian at midnight! friday: field day at school, shopping, game night, slumber party with the jgroup (i only lasted 1 hr...) saturday: breakfast w/ jgroup, graduation, prince caspian with my class (yes, i did go see it with my 5th graders), brittany's bday dinner, sleep sunday: coffee w/ lindsay b/c she's moving, church (i didn't stay there either....), shopping at school box and wally world, reunion tonight, then lots of school work although i am worn out from all the going, going, going, it was a wonderful weekend. amazing friends, good times. but here's what i want to talk about: caspian. i have a love/ hate relationship with this movie....yes, i know it just came out, but (sadly enough) I've already seen it twice ( I took my fifth graders to see it once and saw it at midnight opening day). i have loved t...

so, i may have said this before, but my students are making a movie because they want to teach other people how to recycle. we are coming in to the last few days of school (8 left, to be exact) and we're almost done filming. obviously, this was not the original time schedule, but with kids not showing up to school and the crct and kids being pulled out of class and field trips and such, here we are. we're hoping to premiere it next week, but i'm not sure how this is going to go. lol....the best laid plans. they're having great fun with it, though, and i'm glad we've been able to do it. i think they've learned a lot about expression when reading/ acting and how to present yourself. we've had a lot of struggles getting it done, but we'll all be very excited to see it :) this process, however, has given me a bigger appreciation for all the people who work in the movie/ tv business....scheduling, writing, filming, technical stuff, actors and actresses (y...

it's the end of the school year. that means a lot of stuff to do. finish a movie, fill out middle school paperwork, grade a lot of papers, 5th grade graduation things, field day, packing up a classroom, etc. outside of school, it's much of the same. things are winding down for the summer, but there is still a lot to do....friends moving away, friends coming home, end of the year celebrations.... such business leaves little free time and i find myself wishing to be able to sleep in on a weekday. however, i know that when school lets out, i'll be bored in about 2 days. left with a lot of time to think. and i've been trying to avoid thinking too much lately. i hate making decisions, and i have some big decisions i'm going to have to make soon. except that, as i write this, i realize that i really don't have to make the big decisions. all i have to do is say yes. God makes the decision, i just have to follow. i guess my decision is to listen and obey. sometimes that...

are killing me. because i decided to wear heels on a field trip to atlanta because i didn't want to be too casual at the state capitol. haha :) we had fun, no matter whether our feet got tired or not. i love those kind of experiences because they're different and unique and fun. we were worn out when we got home, but it was a good day. we started at the cnn center. i'd never done that tour before, but it was interesting. i still have trouble thinking that all that news is done right in atlanta...it's kind of amazing. i always see those anchors on the news and it seems as though they are in some far away place, but no. they're here in atlanta. i learned that the floor of the food court is also a map of the world. the tiles are laid out in the shape of continents. a plus of going to the cnn center for a field trip? starbucks in the middle of the school day :) after the cnn center, we headed to the state capitol. it's been awhile since i'd been there, but it wa...

I love the weekends because anything can happen. Relaxing, open, free, fun. Now, I know not all weekends are that way, but most are. It's just so good to be able to take a breath a relax a little before working starts again. Mmm. This weekend was a wonderful one. Beautiful weather and good friends. Shopping, costume party, good conversations, and a good day at church. So, this weekend, I was able to see my good friend Lindsey, who's moving away soon :( Lindsey and I went to Israel together, and I love it when we have a chance to get together. She's a precious friend and I'll miss her.... After shopping with Lindsey, I was able to celebrate another friend's birthday 80's style. This Lyndsey is also an amazing friend, but a newer one. I've gotten to know her over the last year through serving at Genesis. She's wonderful and so open. It's been easy to get to know her. My concern for this party was that I'd show up and be the only one dressed up (in...