All wrapped up

The past few weeks have been a bit hectic for me. My team teacher has been sick and I've found myself with some extra work on my plate. Although it has been tough, I've tried not to let it frazzle me. I know that it is shaping my character.

Thursday afternoon I finished with dismissal and headed in to the teachers' lounge to check my voicemail and mailbox. I was curious to note that there was a small brown package sitting on the counter. Now, I knew that the package wasn't for me, as I hadn't sent away for anything, and so as I drew closer I began to envy, slightly, the recipient of the package.

As I reached into my mailbox, retrieving the "To Office" folder and a set of transparencies that I'd asked the secretary to make, I glanced down at the package and was startled to see that it was addressed to me! I tried to temper my joy, reminding myself that I hadn't ordered anything. After all, it was probably just a bunch of brochures or fire safety booklets to pass out to my students.

Picking up the box, I realized that it was slightly heavy. My mind calculated the weight of brochures and told me that this was far to weighty to be something so common.

I headed up to my classroom, wondering, as I walked the 3 flights of stairs, just what could be in the package.

When I got into my room, I carefully placed the package on my desk, hung up my coat, and put my dismissal binder away. At last it was time to find out what was in the box.

I sliced open the packing tape, brushing away the packing peanuts, and found a glossy card with a big "Thank You" printed on the front. I opened it up and found a sweet note from my team teacher, thanking me for all of my help over the last few weeks.

This beautiful card would have been more than enough, but there was something hiding deeper in the box. Reaching in, I pulled out white box with a silky, red ribbon. Inside, I found two dozen gourmet cookies!

It was an unexpected delight. What a delicious way to make someone feel loved!

The list keeps getting longer

Reason number 4,573,842 I love my sister: I can ask her something embarassing and then hear her answer, "Yeah! Me, too!" And I realize that even if I really am the odd ball that I feel like sometimes, at least she is one, too.

Rescue

Today was kind of rough. I had too many things to do and not enough time in which to do any of it. I anticipated planning periods that I was unable to have due to other school events occurring.

With all of this on my plate, and more piling up each minute, an eruption was imminent.

I took my students to music class, and was poised to spend my half hour feverishly completing tasks, when I remembered that my mother had left a voicemail.

As I listened to the voicemail; a request to help out my parents by hanging out in their house entertaining the siding salesman until the were able to return, waves of stress began to overwhelm me. Of course I couldn't head out to my parents' house! I had a meeting after school. And after the meeting I had to prepare subplans for tomorrow, as I'm leaving first thing in the morning for a convention.

I dialed my mother's number and the "mommy syndrome" took hold. You know what I'm talking about. You feel like you can handle it all (feeling sad, feeling sick, feeling stressed), but then you talk to your mom and it all comes tumbling out. As I talked to my mom, I began to cry, running through the litany of details that I had to check off my list.

She did her best to soothe me, giving me ideas to try to get through each detail. She told me to picture her sitting in my classroom smiling at me. After we hung up, I had only a short amount of time to straighten myself up before another teacher requested my help. Soon it was time to pick up my class. I'd gotten very little checked off my list, but somehow felt better than when the break had started.

This afternoon I spent almost 4 hours working on subplans. As the minute hand ticked away the time, I started feeling panicky. I was no where near finished and it was almost time to pick up my daughter. I called my mother to see if she might be able to run across the street to the sitter's and watch her for a few minutes until I could get there.

Turns out, my mommy had a plan.

She happily told me how, of course, she was going to get Sophie, because she wanted both of my kids to spend the night. She was cooking a great dinner for them and had sent my husband out to get dinner for the two of us.

Now, with my tummy full of food I didn't have to cook, I am enjoying the peace and quiet. I have more work to do, but I need this silence so that I can be ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow.

Rainy Day

Today will be a very rainy day. I know this because my faithful weatherman told me. I know because I traipsed into work, umbrella in hand, sloshing through puddles across the parking lot. I know because my body is telling me to go back to bed.

Now, the goofy part is that I am in a classroom with no windows. There are days when I don't see the sky from 7:45-3:00. Yesterday was one of those days. I brought my class downstairs, and we were about to head out to recess when I saw the rain drops. It was surprising.

So I'm in my little cave, knowing it is raining, and basing the way I feel on what the weather is like far from where I am, shimmering on the stonework of the building. I have a choice to make now. I can allow myself to feel the cold straight down to my bones, or I can create a sunny day in my classroom.

I may have to work extra hard at it, but I'm going to try to make the sun shine today. <3

Amazing

When I hear Brandon Heath's song "Give Me Your Eyes," I automatically think of my sister. My beautiful sister amazes me. She should have been born first because she is everything that a big sister should be. I look up to her and I am in awe of the incredible woman she has become.

She doesn't have to ask God for his eyes, arms, heart, or love for humanity because she's already there. She thinks of others before thinking of herself. She is Christ to those less fortunate. She is His hands and feet. When I grow up, I hope to be just like her.

"Step out on the busy street.
See a girl and our eyes meet.
Does her best to smile at me.
To hide what's underneath.
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie.
Too ashamed to tell his wife he's out of work, he's buyin time.
All those people goin somewhere, why have I never cared.

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten."

Chicken and Stars

I'm home today with my sweet little girl. She's got the sniffles and she needed some extra love and attention today.

So far we've watched Disney's Happy Hauntings (on VHS no less) and watched a bit of Hocus Pocus. It's amazing how different things look when you are watching them with your child. That movie seemed harmless when I first saw it, but now as a mom I feel squeamish hearing the condescending undertones every time the word "virgin" is said. Bah.

We just ate our lunch. I had leftovers from my dinner last night. She slurped down a bowl of chicken and stars soup. Now I'm about to give her another dose of cold medicine and see if I can get her snuggled up for a nap.

Planning to Recharge

It's inevitable. I can't get through December without feeling weighed down, tired, overtaxed, etc. What is supposed to be a count down to the celebration of our Savior's birth leaves me feeling less than holy.

Why am I talking about December now? Good question.

Last December, a new tradition was started. My mother, my sister, and I took the day off work for a mental health day. We spent the day outlet shopping, indulging in meals at restaurants we don't have near our town, and giggling ourselves silly. It was the birth of Girls' Day Out.

This year I will need it even more than last year. We recently found out that my husband will be away on business during the week before Christmas. It would be hard enough were I your average working mom, but I am a teacher. The week before Christmas is fraught with rehearsals for the Christmas concert, the wrapping up of grades, and excited students. It's rough. So I am eagerly anticipating the refueling that will take place at the beginning of the month.

As of today, we've begun our plans. We've chosen our date. There's even talk of scheduling hour-long massages on Girls' Day Out Eve. It will be blissful!

My life is a merry melody

I've had a wonderful day. My children spent the night at my parents' house last night, so I was able to sleep in until 9:30. Oh joy of joys!

My husband was still asleep, and my Lily cat looked at me like I was crazy for getting out of my snuggly bed.

I padded downstairs and enjoyed the silence. I perused through my daily catalog of online reads (friends' blogs, local news, facebook, my library checked-out list to see what is due to be returned soon). I got a little work done for my upcoming social studies unit plan. I made myself 2 one-eyed-jacks and ate them on one of my cute-as-pie chicken plates.:

See? Cute as pie.

I was just about to head upstairs to wake my hubby when my sister called. She was heading up to the Verizon store. She and I have the same phone and we are both experiencing the same issue (they turn off for no reason). So we decided to meet at the store and see what they would do.

I got dressed, woke my husband, and headed out to meet my sister. Verizon seemed unsurprised about the issue and will be sending out new phones to both of us on Monday. I'm happy for the new phone, but I am a bit wary it will happen again.

My sister had some other errands to run, so tagged along. It was so pretty that we walked everywhere, leaving our cars parked at the Verizon store.

The cutest part of the day was when I called my daughter to inquire which Disney princess is her favorite. We are going to Disney World next month and we thought it would be cute to get her a princess dress at the Halloween store. Sophie said, "Aunt Tracy is my favorite princess." It made both of us smile. She's such a sweetie.

My sister had an appointment at the hair salon to get her hair cut for Pantene's Beautiful Lengths (like Locks of Love, but they use more of the hair that is donated to them and make more free wigs). Her hair is so cute! I took pictures of the whole process.

So now I'm home with my little ones and my hubby. The pizza dough is rising for our weekend pizza night. The air has cooled a bit and I'm actually feeling a little chilly with the windows open. All in all, it's a beautiful night to match a beautiful day.

Sweetening the Night

Tonight was a kind of boring. We had leftover pizza for dinner. We ate early and the night stretched ahead of us. It's Wednesday, a boring day by nature. So I decided to do something to spice it up.

I made sugary butter cookies and they turned out really yummy.


I do believe they are as good, if not better, than the cookies our neighborhood market sells for $12.00 + a box. Yeah, I think that price is ridiculous, too.

Sophie was enthralled. She said, "Daddy! Mommy's making teeny tiny cookies! Oh! and they have blue sugar on them, too!"

I've decided to call them Sand Dollar cookies because of their size. I <3 them and I think they'll be something that spice up many a boring night to come.

Poisoning my family?

In a burst of efficiency, I decided to marinate chicken for tonight's dinner. I put chicken breasts in a casserole dish, covered them with diced tomatoes, and sprinkled it all with Italian seasoning.

This afternoon, my husband sent me an email at work asking if I wanted him to grill the chicken for dinner. I was happy to hand over dinner duty for tonight. It's progress report week, and any help is welcome.

As we sat down to dinner, I dished out tomatoes to everyone. My daughter and I were talking about how yummy they were. That's when it hit me--we hadn't cooked the tomatoes! My husband had microwaved them for less than a minute, but I don't think that would kill the bacteria.

We didn't nibble much of it, so hopefully no one gets sick!

October First

Taking a page from the fabulous Nie (many many prayers), my family is celebrating the beginning of the fun month of October today. In my house, we celebrate Halloween. I know that some Christian families do not. We do. We dress up, trick or treat to a few friends' homes, and then head to our church for their Trunk or Treat event. It's a blast.

I love Halloween. I love all of the opportunities for baking fun treats. It makes me happy to be able to feed my family yummy treats.

So tonight we are watching The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. We're having a special dinner of ghost shaped pancakes with chocolate chip eyes. I'll be thinking of Nie while I enjoy my family.

As horrible as her tragedy is, it's brought her into my life. And because of her example, I'm spending more time enjoying my family. God has blessed us through her.

One of those days

It's one of those days. Everything that could have gone wrong this morning, has.
I was thisclose to being late for work. My students were in charge of chapel today and they all just barely arrived in time for a quick practice. During the actual chapel, one of the microphones echoed, so the most important lines of our skit weren't really heard. And my little guy who was the dad in the play got stage fright and began to cry. It was so sad.

But then a parent brought in Rice Krispy treats and everything felt better.

:)

Open The Eyes of My Heart, Lord

Church was great. It had an awesome message and I realized something huge.

The message was about prayer, real prayer..not the close your eyes, bow your head prayers as much as the everyday conversations with God. We were looking at Psalm 23 at one point and verse 3 jumped out at me and smacked me on the head.

Psalm 23:3 says "he restores my soul."

And that totally explains why I haven't felt "restored" or "refreshed" in a really long time. I've been trying to do it myself.

I've x-posted this to my "personal journal." Who knows whom it may reach.

Prayer for my children

I heard this on Dr. Jeremiah's program today and it completely sums up my prayers for my two children.

"Make them good soldiers of Jesus Christ; let them never turn back in the day of battle. Let them be winners and helpers of souls. Let them live not to be ministered to, but minister.
Make them loyal; let them set loyalty high above all things. Make them doers, not mere talkers. Let them enjoy hard work and choose hard things rather than easy. Make them trustworthy. Make them wise, for it is written, He hath no pleasure in fools.
Let them pass from dependence on us to dependence on Thee. Let them never come under the dominion of earthly things; keep them free. Let them grow up healthy, happy, friendly, and keen to make others happy. Give them eyes to see the beauty of the world and hearts to worship its Creator.
Let them be gently to beast and bird; let cruelty be hateful to them. May they walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.
And for ourselves we ask that we might never weaken, "God is my strong salvation" .... we ask that we might train them to saw that word and live that life, and pour themselves out for others unhindered by self." ~Amy Carmichael

Not what I wanted to hear.

I'm trying to keep my cool in the face of adversity.

Romans 13:1 says "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."

Sometimes it is so hard, though. Sometimes those in charge of me dangle their superiority over me in such a way that it drives me crazy. I feel like a cat, with a crazed look in it's eye, focused on the piece of yarn.

I am a girl who hates to be told what to do. I don't know why. I just am. I hate when I have ideas of my own and someone over me decides that my way isn't the way to go. There are times like these when the only reason I can come to is that my superior is just brandishing her display of power. It makes me so frustrated that I could cry.

I know that's not how God wants me to be. I know in my heart that I'm supposed to turn the other cheek and submit to authority. I know that His ways are higher than mine and that all we be made right. Eventually. It's just the eventually that gets me.

I'm working through this, though.

Lord, help me to be at peace with the answers that I am given. Help me to not get caught up in the why's and wherefore's that surround the response that has been spoken to me. Help me to just trust that You are working for good in my life. Help me to remember that no one, not even those put in charge of me, can get in the way of the plans you have for me.