Advice to my kids in the future

Write your teachers notes...meaningful notes.

I just got one from a student today and it meant the world to me.

Teachers don't always know what their students are thinking, and though we try our hardest to do the right things and teach our hearts out and show how much we care about our students, teenagers are teenagers and they are hard to read at best.

So when a student takes the time to write a note - a heartfelt note - telling her teacher that her class was a bright spot in her day and thanking her for being understanding and supportive and passionate about what she does, a note that talks about the struggles that were hidden and the little things that  her teacher did to help her through those struggles, it means so very much.

Your teachers care tremendously.  Some more than others.  If you recognize that in them, you should tell them.

So, kids, my advice to you today: pick a teacher that cared and tell him or her how much that meant to you.  It will mean even more to them.  Trust me.

Thankful

Today, I am thankful for bright spots on dark days.  And they are there...in the feelings of relief, in the hugs, in the news of a college roommate's pregnancy (twins!), in the beginning of the end regarding my accident, in an e-mail, in a conversation, and in the plants grown from seeds that I will bring home today.

Thankful

Today, I am thankful for sunshine and blue skies.  I am thankful for an eye exam that resulted in no glasses for the littlest one.  For a sympathetic friend to sit with at dinner while our children ran around.  For my mom, who was willing to pick Everly up at the restaurant and put her to bed while I had Cortlan at soccer, even though we didn't end up taking her up on it.  For a playground within eyesight of soccer practice and, again, that sunshine and blue skies so that we could enjoy it.  Today, I am thankful for a daughter who thanked me for taking care of her and a son who told me I am the best mom, despite my stress this evening.  I am thankful that my children are now sleeping peacefully.  And I am thankful for a husband that will be home tomorrow.

What I am loving right now...

• That the sun is finally shining and the weather is warming up, which means windows rolled down, fresh air, and not needing five layers to run outside.  (It has seriously been the longest winter...it was snowing on my run two days ago.)
• That my little girl is coming home with words like onomatopoeia and equinox and entomologist and that she knows what they mean and is excited to tell us.
• That my little boy picked up Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Sunday and read out loud for a solid hour on Sunday just because he wanted to.  He needed help with words here and there, but I was happy to oblige as I worked in the kitchen, listening.
• That Everly is ready to ride her bike the minute we get home.
• That Cortlan was so proud of himself after completing his first gymnastics meet - he did a fantastic job!
• That even after 12+ years of teaching, I am still finding ways to improve every day. 
• The "I love you's" I hear from my kids.
• April Fool's jokes.
• And this: 
  
• And this:
  

Another year older

Some random thoughts and things related to my birthday...

• I turned 35 last week, and was surprisingly emotional about turning another year older.  But I am looking forward to the unfolding of a new year full of growth and possibility, and I can't help but to reflect on how blessed I am.
• I have fantastic and thoughtful friends and family, and thanks to them, I will be running safely and in good style in the months to come, I will have plenty to read about running with a two-year subscription to Runner's World, and my toes will soon get some much needed attention.  I will have tomatoes to eat while sitting on my back deck, listening to my wind chimes, admiring my flowers, with a cool drink in hand.  Oh, and I currently have a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on my desk and a new candle on my counter.   I have so much to be thankful for, and I am not even referring to the gifts.
• John got me an early birthday present and gave it to me in April - a new camera, which I love and have used almost daily.  This is why I was surprised to see a present for me on the counter when I got home from work on my birthday.  I was so touched by the gift - my new Willow Tree figurines of "The Spirited Child" and "The Caring Child" are perfect and look perfect on my entryway shelf.  And the gardening shovel that the kids picked out is much needed, as I used Everly's mini shovel to do much of my planting this year.
• I got to eat my current favorite ice cream - Graham Central Station - on my birthday, and it was delicious.  (This year, I called ahead to make sure they had it before we made the trip.)  And speaking of trips, the evening was made extra special by Everly going head over heals, ice cream flying through the air, knee bleeding, elbow bleeding.  But at least the ice cream landed bowl side down.  At least, that is, until she started to eat it and then sent it flying onto the ground, covering the top of her strawberry ice cream in gravel sprinkles.  Fortunately, the girls at the counter shed pity on us and were willing to give us another bowl for free.  And ice cream does wonders in making the tears go away.
• This year, I feel like my birthday lasted for days.  Friends who we don't see nearly enough came to stay with us for the weekend.  I got to sing with the neighbors on their porch, guitar accompaniment and all. (I wish I had been given the gift of a great voice, but at least I have been given kind and tolerant friends.)  I got to hang by my parent's pool on Monday for a cookout with my family.
• I feel that at 35 I am still finding myself.  My guess is that won't really end for me.  But when I look around, I am so happy to find myself where I am and with whom I am.  Life is good.

Contrast

Over the past several years, I have really come to appreciate contrast in life.  The winter makes me appreciate the summer more.  The loud house makes me appreciate the quiet.  The busyness makes me appreciate the calm.  And vice versa.

The summer helps me to appreciate the winter...so do my kids.

My kids are typically good sleepers, but recently, we have had a string of sleepless nights.  In the middle of the night, we have heard screams of "My knee hurts!" (growing pains?)  "I'm wet!!!" (Pull-up failed.)  "I can't find Sasha!"  (The babydoll.  Seriously?!)  And "I spit up!"  (I would have said "puked"...all over the bed and floor and IN the bedframe...twice.)  So when I went to bed last night and didn't wake again until this morning when my alarm went off, let's just say I haven't been so appreciative for a full night's sleep in quite a while.

I also was appreciative of a recent great run (even on freshly snow-covered roads) after numerous slow, exhausting, horrible runs that made me wonder what ever could have possessed me to sign up for a May race. 

So happy to have had a great run that I am including this totally awful picture taken right after. 

And as good as that snowy run was, it made me appreciate the 60 degree run around the lake a few days later even more.  And on my way home, when it suddenly poured and then stopped, I certainly appreciated the beautiful rainbow that filled the sky.

Happy Thanksgiving

It is hard to sit down to the computer on Thanksgiving Day and for even a second think that my words could ever do justice in explaining all that for which I am thankful.  True thankfulness is an emotion that is hard to describe, almost as much as true love is.  But you know it when you feel that appreciation, that swelling inside of happiness and that feeling of peace, that knowledge that life is so good.  It wraps you up like a warm blanket on a cold day, and it fills you up like no food ever could.  And to try to list what makes me thankful seems overwhelming, like counting to infinity, because I look around and I am thankful for it all. I look inside, and I am thankful for it all.  I look back, and I am thankful for it all. I look forward, and I am thankful for it all.  I am full; I am warm; I have peace; I have love.  I give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I am thankful

I have been feeling kind of bummed about not writing more posts lately, but I just looked at the posts from last year at this time, and I realized it was the same kind of deal.  This time of year is just C R A Z Y.  And when there are so many things that I need to do and want to do and have to do, writing a blog entry kind of gets pushed to the wayside, unfortunately.

Some of my friends have been doing status updates every day in November that express for what they are thankful.  While I have not been doing that, I have certainly been feeling thankful lately.  And while I do not have time at the moment to compose a typical blog entry, I certainly have the time to reflect for a bit and write five things that I am thankful for (one for each day of the month so far):

1. I am thankful for the joy that my children bring into my life each day, even though they sometimes also completely frustrate me.
2. I am thankful to have a partner in my life that is supportive and giving and understanding and encouraging, who doesn't always agree with me, but who will always listen to me, and who is my best friend (and a great dad).
3. I am thankful for girlfriends that I know will be there for me in an instant if I need them, and who don't hold it against me when we don't talk or get together for a while because our lives are so hectic (and that when we do get together or talk we are able to pick right up where we left off as if we just talked yesterday).
4. I am thankful that all of the things that make me so busy at this time of the year are things I enjoy doing.  (Well, not the cleaning.)
5. I am thankful for beautiful fall Sundays that include a submarine tour, fruit flambe, a walk along the river, music playing, a breeze blowing, and kids napping in the car.