Fall is a Spendid Thing

Today is such a wonderful day outside. Fall in Florida is a hard thing to describe. It is pretty much like Heaven. Today it is about 65-70 degrees out. There is a light breeze and endless sunshine out there. I dressed myself in a pair of old painting shorts, an old t-shirt and went for a drive to get breakfast with all the windows down. The puppy dog BEGS to be outside for hours because he too is happy that cooler weather is here. The leaves on my tree have changed and are filling the lawn with crunchy sounding colors. The fall flavored foods and drinks have returned. The Kindergarten teacher has been bringing delicious hot apple cider to work in her crock-pot and the teachers are once again burning the apple cinnamon candles in their offices. Starbucks has brought back the Pumpkin Spice Latte again and pumpkin bagels and muffins are all around us. Ryan and I have been outside in the lawn grilling our dinner late in the evening. We also dug out the softball and mitts and have been playing catch to prep me for softball season in February. It is just a wonderful time of year. It is not as great as Christmas, but it is close.

The Good Stuff

Sometimes in life we forget the good stuff. We get so wrapped in the "oh I have so much to do" and "there are not enough hours in the day" and "I will never get it all done" that we forget to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. Well, this week, I was overwhelmed with Jr. class fundraisers (as I am the Jr. class sponsor this year), volleyball games (as I am coach of a volleyball team), lesson plans (cause, ya know, the whole job part of my life), and then of course, there is the small detail of being a wife...ha ha. However, a couple times this week, in the midst of all that "business" I found a couple of moments that were so sweet and precious, I have "snacked" on those moments during the crazy-ness. Here is my short list.

1. A little kid commented about one of our teachers at school: "Mr. So and So must really love being a Father and He must really love God because he is willing to teach US." I had to smile over that. Out of the mouth of babes, right?

2. Making new friends. We got a couple of new teachers this year at our school and lately I have really gotten to know one of them and I must say that I am thrilled that she has come and already love having her around.

3. Working with Teens. Yes, this often is the cause of most of my stress, but in between that, there are moments where they are so delightful you wish you could be with them a lot more often. Today we were doing a fundraiser at school, but I was having so much fun and so many laughs with my kids that I forgot I was working. It was great.

4. Funny comments that make you belly laugh like a kid. This week at our volleyball game two of my girls went to the bathroom and they thought there was no one else in there. The girls told the story like this.
Girl 1: We went into the bathroom and said, "It smells like someone pooped a flower in here" and then we heard a "plop"
Girl 2: it was really embarrassing.
I just laughed like a kid and had to hold onto my ribs. Kids say the funniest things

5. Knowing your work matters and even though you do not see it, you do make a difference. I had a former student stop me yesterday and tell me that she had been out sick from classes at college for a few days. When she went back, it was a test day. She panicked at first, but when she saw the test she told me she remembered those concepts from when I taught them to her the year before. It just made me feel (after a week of feeling like I did not teach the kids ANYTHING) that I was doing my job right. That's a very good feeling.

Ten Things I Love About Saturday

Today was the first Saturday since school started where I have not had some kind of event getting me up early and keeping me engaged the whole day. So, today when I actually got to sleep in a few minutes and had NO PRIOR ENGAGEMENTS, I realized how wonderful Saturdays can really be. Here is my list.

#1. A pot of coffee that I can leisurely enjoy over the course of several hours.
#2. Resting and playing and chilling with my puppy
#3. Being lazy
#4. Getting the whole house tidy, the laundry caught up, and having that feeling of satisfaction because of a job well done.
#5. I Love Lucy re-runs all day and no one to complain about me watching it for several hours straight
#6. Singing out loudly while I clean house. Singing is so good for the soul. I love to do it while I clean.
#7. Catching up with old friends on Facebook or on the phone
#8. Shopping with a friend and get getting some quality girl talk in
#9. A whole evening with your husband....priceless
#10. The next day is Sunday...need I say more????

Music, music, music

Yesterday I was coming home from work and it was such a pretty day I decided to roll down the windows and turn up the music and just enjoy my ride home. It is funny how the human mind works when it comes to music. There are songs that I cannot listen to without smiling, giggling, crying, or shuddering. Yesterday, a song came on that brought me back to my freshmen year of college. That was a unique year for me. On the one hand I was not really in love with the college I had picked, but I got to spend an entire year with one of my best friends in the whole world. So, yesterday a song came on that we used to sing along with when we went for rides in her blue VW bug. I could not help but grin a little as I sang along last night. Plus, without telling it to, my face automatically formed the same silly smirk that my friend used to make when we sang along to this song. I can still see it in my minds eye and it makes me miss her so much. On the reverse side of that, there is a song that I can never hear with out it making me think of the time my Grandfather passed away. He was very sick and I had to make the four hour drive home from college to try to say goodbye before he was gone. I was alone and this particular song came on by a Christian artist and it had to do with God carrying us through the hard times. It was so appropriate and so comforting it made me cry. Still to this day I have a hard time listening to that song without tears. Still other songs remind me of road trips in college with my New Jersey friends. There are probably 300 or more songs that I automatically tie to those friends of mine. I could not ask for sweeter memories with anyone in the world. I miss them too. Finally, there are songs that Ryan used to sing to me when we were dating. Even though we have been married for 2 1/2 years now, when he sings those songs to me I still get little butterflies like the first time we ever kissed. I love that guy.
The human mind is a mystery to me. I cannot remember my bank account number, the zip code to my house, the last time I had the oil changed...but, give me a song with a memory attached and I can not only sing EVERY word, but I can tell you every memory attached to it.

When there are no words left

This has been a unique year for me. I entered the classroom this year totally confident that I knew what I was doing. "Here we are, year three...this is the year. Finally, Amy, you have taught all these subjects at least one time and you know what you are doing. There are really going to be no stressful moments." Wow...what an idiot! The content of my subjects is the same. All my old powerpoints are still there. The notes have not changed, the worksheets are still usable. However, I forgot a couple of things.
1. The students are new and different. I always seem to let that slip my mind every year. This year's students are not worst or better than the old ones...they are just different kids that I am still learning about and getting to know.
2. Volleyball is different. I used to be the coach of the 5th and 6th grade team so that meant I only had about 8 games in a season. This year I am in charge of the 7th and 8th grade team and that means double the games.
I think this year for me is (thus far anyways) my year to really lean on God. I went into this year thinking I had it all together and after a few hard knocks I think it has finally clicked that I do not have it all figured out. I still have some learning to do.

Random thought Saturday

Well, it is the end of a long stressful week (and it still has a few hours left in it). Since I have a million thoughts rolling around in my head, I thought I would just state a few random thoughts for the week.

#1. The dog always has to go out the minute you hop out of the shower or sit down to a hot meal

#2. The laundry making elves work overtime during the week, and they work overnights, and they get paid time and a half on holidays.

#3. The dreaded "lost sock basket"...where do the other halves of those socks go??? For real, I mean you look high and low, under the dryer, behind the dryer, under the bed, behind the couch...it is really a mystery

#4. Why are your cupboards the most empty the week you have NO money?

#5. Why can your schedule NEVER completely gel with your spouse's schedule?

#6. Why do we never appreciate all the things our parents did for us until we are out of the house and on our own? I NEVER realized how busy my parents were being a human taxi-cab to and from volleyball, basketball, and softball games. I never realized how few times they bought themselves new clothes because they were too busy buying me stuff. Maybe I just do not have the "mother instinct" in me because I am not a mom...hope that will kick in if I ever do have a kid.

#7. Why do clothes smell so good when they are being hung dry in the house instead of in the dryer? I love how my clothes smell when I hang them dry but then I have to iron them. I guess you cannot have everything.

#8. Why does the "healthy" food cost so much? I mean, we see all those tv shows about being healthy, the tv ads about being healthy, and we read the health magazines. But, then when we go to the supermarket the crap food is dirt cheap and the organic, low fat, healthy food is out of this world expensive!!!!

#9. Freckles---the secret to always being considered 18. I still have parent teacher conferences where parents are like "YOU are my kid's teacher....NO WAY." Sometime I just want to say, "Yep, I sure am. I am actually only 16 because I am a child protege and that is why I work at this SMALL, PRIVATE school." LOL.

#10. I love Saturdays because I am free to rest my brain, clean my house, and relax for two minutes at a time. I love it.

It Never Rains but it POURS

You know those old expressions that our "seasoned" relatives use that the younger generation never understands? Phrases like "don't count your chickens before they are hatched"..."don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"..."It never rains but it pours" may be overused but they are sure useful and speak volumes of how a person feels. This past week has been interesting for us as a couple. If problems were raindrops, it feels like we are in a flash flood. First the plumbing malfunctioned. Today a co-worker caught me in the copy room and told me that the VERY same thing happened to them a while back and the repairs set them back $10,000. I about fainted. *Drop, drop, rain falls on my head*. Then, about a week or so ago Ryan got a letter regarding some OLD loan that he was NOT supposed to get for school...and now it is time to pay the piper. *Drip, Drip, Drip, Amy puts rain boots on*. Then, my lab work for a test I had done a while ago came back....with a hefty price tag. *Amy opens umbrella over her head*. Since the water pipes in our house are messed up, the water bill more than doubled for this month. *Amy climbs into her row boat and zips up her life jacket*.

However, even greater than those old sayings our parents always told us are the truths of Scripture. I was reminded this week that life is short and the struggles that we face in daily life are just like a vapor and the rewards of eternity are beyond comprehension. While it is such a hard thing to do, it really does pay to cast all your cares on the Lord, because He cares for us. He promised that if we trust in Him with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct our path. It is so hard as a woman not to worry...I think it is something that women are born with. But, I am learning to lean on Jesus...as difficult as it is for me to be reliant on Someone else, that is what the Lord is teaching me.

O Pioneers!!!!

Once upon a time there lived a couple who took everything for granted. They lived in America where there was running water, reality television, McDonald's on every corner (and a Walgreens for the after effects of a McDonald's on every corner), and every luxury a person could imagine. This couple grew so accustomed to the creature comforts that life had always afforded them. Then, one fateful morning, the couple woke up and checked the mail box. In that box they found a bill for their running water (which they had always taken for granted) which was more than they could ever afford. At that point, the magical mailbox transported the couple back to the time of the pioneers, and for the rest of their lives, the couple lived as their heroic pioneer forfathers did. And the couple lived happily ever after.

Long story short, we have a leak at our house. We do not know where it is, if it is on the part of the city or on our part. We do not know if it is in a wall, under the house, in the yard. All I know is that we have to turn the water off after we use it from the outside connection. That means, (ha ha) at 5:45 each day Ryan must go outside in his PJ's and turn on my water and then turn it back off once I have showered. It also means that I have a new-found appreciation for my pioneering mothers before me. How, o how, did those women do it? How did they manage to haul water to the house, heat it on the stove, and then watch the house, wash the dishes, wash the children???? They must have been so very tired at the end of the day. I have a new-found respect for them. O Pioneers!!!! You have my respect!!!!

Slip ups

Every so often, for no medical reason that I can identify, my mouth works one way even when my brain is telling it to do another. It used to manifest itself as a tendency to switch my letters around in words (which thankfully has never happened since I have been a teacher). When I was a teen we ate a "not of loodles" and I frequently "snovled the Shnow." Thank goodness none of those slip ups have happened in front of my students. However, lately I have been mispronouncing things or just saying the totally wrong word. For instance, the other day I was teaching a lesson about the Battle of Tippecanoe in which there was no clear WINNER. However, when I got to the word winner, it came out "Wiener." The students and I both giggled and then we moved on. But, a few days later I was talking about Napoleon Bonaparte and his rein of terror over Europe. Well, I was talking away and said, "Now when Napoleon Dynamite was attacking Europe..." and then I just had no choice but to laugh. Why my brain insists that I do that is beyond me but it sure makes for a good laugh.