Saturday, June 28, 2014

Celebrating summer, family, friends, and books!

                                         So excited to join Saturday Celebrations with Ruth Ayres! 
                      It is fun to live my week thinking about what I will celebrate on Saturday.

Discover. Play. Build.
A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

1.  I stayed in my PJs until noon today!

2.  My summer officially began today.
I finished (for now) purging and packing my teaching stuff after nine years in my school.  
I didn't quite make the deadline I set for myself, but I'm stepping away for a week to enjoy 
time with family who are coming to visit.  A & M are stopping by for a few days before their
Alaska cruise, and S & W will be home for the first time since they moved to NY last August.
Hurray for family time!

3.  A gigantic thank you to my team of helpers - beginning with Polly and Hannah 
who were followed by Leta, Laurie, Abby, and Karen.  Several friends came more than once. 
I celebrate their willingness to join me for this challenging process.  Their encouragement
(and occasional breaks for chocolate) kept me going when the task seemed insurmountable!

4.  I was invited behind the counter at Island Books, my local indie book store, to dig through the ARCs.  I was in search of Jacqueline Woodson's book, brown girl dreaming, mentioned in Donalyn Miller's nerdy book club post.  It wasn't there, but I did score with Dash, Kirby Larson's new book.  I promised Roger that I'll return this WW II story of Japanese internment
and the love between a girl and her dog as soon as I read it.  

5.  Summer means time to read!
I've started The Boys in the Boat, our book club pick for July.
With sunny weather in the forecast,  I'll be headed for the deck with book in hand.   

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Loving what remains!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by 
My mother worked as the fabric manager in a Ben Franklin store.  I have fond memories of caressing the stacks of remnants as I waited for her to get off work.  Today, I've been caressing the remnants of my teaching career!

I'm not a minimalist.  I'm a keeper, a piler, and a stasher (a rather neat one, I might add).   I've booked each and every friend who has offered to help with a time slot.  Having help encourages me to keep up the momentum.  My husband reminds me that we already have too many boxes  in the garage.  But how do you toss aside what took you years to amass?  And even though I'm "separating from service," I will always be a teacher. 

I'm leaving my classroom library because those books belong in the hands of readers, not in my garage or on my bookshelves.  I've allowed myself one box of favorite titles from the collection. There are professional books I can't part with, picture books I'll keep for my future grandchildren, and poetry books I'll need in my self-appointed role as poetry ambassador.

I have culled and weeded three file drawers and cleaned out four large drawers and the stacks on top of that cabinet, but what remains is still massive.  My desk, six additional file drawers (of the shorter variety!), a bookcase, four cabinets, and a closet still remain to be sorted, but mostly purged!

Enough rambling about this project.  I promised myself I would be finished by Friday.   Feel free to leave your advice and encouragement in the comments.  By week's end, I hope to be celebrating the arrival of summer and the beginning of a new chapter!

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Celebrating five just in time!

                                 So excited to join Saturday Celebrations with Ruth Ayres! 
                        It is fun to live my week thinking about what I will celebrate on Saturday.

Discover. Play. Build.
A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

1.  A student's leadership class project brings a smile to my face.
I love the positive vibes that were scattered around the school via this star project.
It reminds me of our Saturday celebrations. 

2.  Moving from this last Saturday
(it got worse before it got better) . . . 

to this tonight.
Only two sets of papers remain to be graded!
3.  These friends greet me in the back parking lot on Tuesday
 and then take flight just like my students did on Thursday!

 
4.  Our Spartan team watches the Olympics intently.

5.  I receive a discarded book from our library


filled with notes, poetry, and quotes from
our 6th grade team and librarians.


I salute the creativity of my teaching friends
and celebrate the words they crafted
during our busiest time of year.

This quote I copied years ago
sums up how I feel about my friends:
"... I have left no one behind...Indeed, if you are ever
in my life, you are always in my life."
(Creeker:  A Woman's Journey,
by Linda Scott Derosier, p. 221-222.)
And that includes my blogger friends too!
I missed being at All Write this year,
but loved the pictures and the tweets.
I am truly blessed!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Longing for the end, but then it comes too soon!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by 
Two Writing Teachers.

A quick attempt to capture some of our end-of-year events 
and my longing to slow things down:

Monday evening 8th grade
graduation, today 6th grade
Olympics, tomorrow
yearbooks and carnival!
Thursday's early dismissal,
staff meeting, and p.m. party. 
Longing for Friday,
and time to savor
this ending and new beginning.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Celebrating Five!

                                    So excited to join Saturday Celebrations with Ruth Ayres! 
                        It is fun to live my week thinking about what I will celebrate on Saturday.

Discover. Play. Build.
A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

1.  Thanks for the gift, B!
My son's birthday present to me was helping me clean up my emails (without judgment), set up fewer files, and move old emails (with a number that shall not be named) to an "old emails to be sorted" folder.  Something tells me that I'll never wade through all of them, but just knowing they are there is comforting.  For now, I'm working on getting to empty every day in my inbox.  Then I text or email my son, "It's empty."  If your email is out of control, check out unroll.me.  
You can quickly move an email to unsubscribe or rollup.  It's fabulous!

2.  Thank you, Ruth!
This opportunity to celebrate each week is an incredible opportunity to focus on the joy.  When I'd had a particularly rough Tuesday at school this past week, I arrived home exhausted, depleted, and still needing to write my weekly slice.  Thanks to the discipline of this weekly post, 
I decided to look for the joy . . . and I found it!  

3.  I survived the final Friday of our school year, a Friday the 13th with a full moon.
And now we only have four more days, and then it will be time to 
face the  monumental task of weeding out my teaching stuff.  

4.  I'm synched again, thanks to hubby's help!
For some reason, my fit bit went on walkabout this week.  On Friday night, we worked with 
several devices trying to get them to recognize and record my steps.  I wanted to give up, 
but L persisted.  I'm definitely a non athlete, but keeping up with my daily steps and 
seeing the progress of other family members motivates me to keep moving.  

5.  I celebrate an overcast Saturday.  
It's much easier to grade papers on a day like today. 

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Words from Wise Friends!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by 
Two Writing Teachers.
More than 20 years ago, I recorded words of wisdom from a dear friend in Nebraska.  I was a young mom and she was a seasoned mom, but I've always treasured her words jotted on a post-it note and stuck inside my cupboard.  They even made the move from Texas to Washington.
Maxims from Nancy:
1.  I did the best I could at the time.
2.  Life is too short.
3.  This too shall pass.

Recently, my friend Jan offered this sage advice:  "Life isn't what it's cut out to be."  My husband and I giggle as we remind each other of her advice, perfect for life's big and small disappointments.  This week I feel the need to add an addendum to her advice:
"Life isn't what it's cut out to be . . . sometimes it astounds you with joy!"

When you stop for a splendid sunset at the end of a day filled with way too much to do.
When your daughter calls to sing Happy Birthday on your special day, misses you, but leaves the song and her love anyway.
When you and your son both find a favorite book at Goodwill.
When your son bakes while you nap (so glad I taught that boy how to make cookies).
When you get to share the toys in your closet with two young girls.
When you watch young church friends grow from infancy to graduation from high school.
When baby Imory's family shares her with you during church.
When you get birthday greetings from all your siblings via snail mail.
When you take a hike with your husband and son, and the mountain is out.

(Sorry that some of these overlap with Saturday's celebration . . . I just can't stop thinking about a grand birthday week . . . However, these last four Whens occurred today.)

When you get a heartfelt thank you from a student and his family.
When a friend offers you a chocolate bar to see you through the last eight days of school.
When your bff calls when you need her the most.
When a new great nephew arrives and you realize it's time to plan a trip to Oklahoma!

So the next time you find yourself lamenting that life isn't what it's cut out to be . . .
focus on the joy!  It's there every day waiting to be discovered.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

An incredible birthday week!

                                  So excited to join Saturday Celebrations with Ruth Ayres! 
                        It is fun to live my week thinking about what I will celebrate on Saturday.

Discover. Play. Build.
A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!


1.  A sunset early in the week called me to stop at Slater Park. 

  2.  My son came home for a quick three day visit before he starts his job in July.  
My daughter sent me a gift from her NY visit to Strand Book Store and called early Wednesday to sing her birthday greetings.  We celebrated at a favorite Mexican restaurant. Thursday B & I ran errands and shopped, he baked cookies for me, and I made his favorite dinner.  
On Friday, L, B, and I enjoyed an afternoon hike in Seward Park.
On Wednesday, B and his dad went to
Camp Parsons and Fat Smitty's recalling
     adventures from his Scouting days.                     
Birthday peonies and the book
treasures B & I found at
Goodwill on Thursday.
Mount Ranier was out for our Friday hike in Seward Park!
3.  Last week's three day work week (with two personal days)
leaves me with just  9 days until school is out.
Single digits (finally)!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

I picked a fine time to leave . . .

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 
to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by 
Two Writing Teachers.

Some of you know how much I love trees.  I was filled with sadness this spring when I learned that my beloved trees would be removed to make room for our "portable" village on the front lawn of our campus.  The front of our building will become the back when construction is completed in 2016.  In the meantime . . . well, any of you who have lived through a school remodel/construction know that the coming months will call for tons of flexibility.  

On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, I stopped by school to pick up a few things and noticed a work crew standing around a truck in the parking lot.  I inquired if they were scheming when to cut down "my" trees.  I promised I'd wear black for the day of the dirty deed, but they informed me it would happen on a Saturday.  
When I arrived Monday morning, this was the view from my classroom window.  

And when I left tonight, this was the view from the end of the parking lot.  

 I can't imagine spending the seasons without following the progress of the trees outside my window.  These trees inspired many slicers and poets each spring. So next spring when I come back to substitute teach, I'll plant pictures on the windows of classrooms that face the portables instead of "my" gorgeous trees.  Maybe I'll  become the Phantom Poster!  






These lovely trees may be gone, but they'll never be forgotten!