Sunday afternoon

Pene and I went out to Tainter to take a walk and I wanted to kayak. It turned out to be too windy to kayak and Pene thinks it was a bit hot to be walking.

back to work

It's good to be back to work. (Real, getting-paid-a-bit, not-for-family work) I made my re-entrance to the daycare with the foot of elephant for 'jungle week'. Nothing can make a person more popular with a seven-year-old than the severed appendage of a pachyderm. Two-year-olds, however, will have little to do with an elephant's foot - no matter how interesting a picture it may provide.
Both of them did wash their hands prior to eating breakfast.

karibu

Pastor Jack told of a door plaque which quips:

"If you're here to see me,
come right in;
If you're here to see my house,
please make an appointment."

I thought this was wonderful and I vowed to make such a plaque should I one day have a house.
Now I am facing the fact that not only have appointments been made - but we have invited everyone to come see the house (if I've missed you - let me know). This open invitation to our open house brings a whole new level to my definition of clean and presentable. After cleaning today for about five hours I was unsure of any difference in the amount that needs to be done - at this rate, by the 30th I will not be presentable, but the house may be.
All this stress is just funny in light of the fact that I do not, technically, have all of my walls. But I am bound and determined not to have spider webs inhabiting the sheet rocked and insulation packed corners.
I suppose the saddest possible ending to this tale would be sitting about on Saturday with no one coming - and not even a spider to talk to.

Written in the sky

Two o'clock this morning I arrived home bleary-eyed and eager to fall into bed for at least 8 hours. Five-thirty this morning I was awake and wondering which part of me didn't get the sleep memo. I did get to share a bit of the highlights of the vacation with Mom and Dad before they left for work. I didn't have to be to work until 9:30 so I went back to bed, which didn't really work. I did get to work this morning after getting back to the computer - checking emails and deleting more than half of the hundred messages waiting for me and downloading more than 500 pictures from Virginia.
The week was wonderful. Grandma and I were able to spend hours in conversation. With no schedule (other than my wanting to eat about every 3 hours), we were able to sit at the kitchen table for hours and let topics come and go as whims took us. We talked about cousins, uncles, aunts, my Grandfather (whom I had barely known), teaching, theology, authors, American history, grammar, and our dogs. The entire week was a gift. It was a relaxing vacation, photo opportunity, and delightfully blessed time spent away from the demands of my existence. Blessings abounded in all areas. I was able to complete about an eighth of my new cross-stitch, have been 'commissioned' do make calendars of the farm for the family, and simply rest on all levels before the demands of the summer. I didn't realize how much is 'hanging over my head' around here until I returned to the house today to all that needs to be cleaned up, organized, filed, scanned, painted, or built, not to mention - swept, scrubbed, or dusted.
I will also be returning to work - where I can find it. I will being doing whatever I can at the daycare - painting, cooking, changing diapers (perhaps not in that order), helping on the farm, and hopefully finishing some of the basement. I have come home feeling that paint on the walls could be a nice addition - even set off my photos a bit. I only hope that I don't lose momentum. This evening's sky and the message therein.

school's out for summer

School's out
just out
I'm done
All I have left to do is scan and load what I did so I can prove I did it and
it will only be confirming that
I'm done.

Grandma is flying me to her home to visit for a week and a half. I leave tomorrow morning early. So I should go to bed so in the morning I can remember what I've forgotten. I will not be remembering my computer or books about grabbing students by their brains, or how to talk to students so they will want to make the best of their educations, or teaching to change lives, or the hope of discipline or discipline of hope, or using love and logic to help children develop attention and behavior skills or strategies for all of the above.
These I have not forgotten, but I am not bringing them for just this week.

Did I mention?

I'm done

last day

(click the picture to get a better idea of how photogenic they truly are)

This is the middle school class holding their final recycle projects. They did a great job with their projects, but I think they were in such rambunctious moods for more reasons than that. The true beauty of this picture is that their personalities are as present in this shot as they are in class. (Of the three shots I got - this is the only one that all of them are visible.) They were a joy to teach and if, on any given day, I thought I was tired at the top of the day I left that class energized (and hungry) and ready to tackle the rest of the day. They were challenging and thought-provoking. They forgave me for my shortcomings, misspellings, and miss-counting. All-in-all they were a wonderful group of kids to teach through an introduction to teaching. With an introduction like theirs - the whole concept could be considered worth it all. This last few weeks of school I have even ceased sweating up a storm (rather literally) through this class time. I don't know if I should thank Mitchum or the kids.
There are pictured in this photo the empty Mountain Dew bottles that they downed after checking half the items off of today's to-do list. I know that "sugar does not make kids hyper" but this statement is not based on observation or experience. In any case, I do not recommend sugar on the last day in the classroom.