A Trip to Florida

I hopped on a plane and was on my way home. Then we hopped in a car, my mama and me, and we drove to the coast of paradise.  

We looked down at the ocean from the front  yard of our little cottage 

and spent beautiful hours with our feet in the sand, reading and talking and thinking.

We enjoyed each other's company

and ate good food.

We painted pottery,

snacked on gelato, 

and visited my favorite bookstore.

It was a lovely little trip about relaxation, fun, and friendship, and I'm ready to go again.

Anybody else on board with postponing summer's end?  Let's make that happen. . .

Things I Love about Summer, Part 2

Homemade snow cones, 

pajama days,

Vacation Bible School,

cleaning out, 

and watermelon.

Oh, the sweet, glorious watermelon. . .

On Cooking

I find cooking therapeutic.  Really, I do.

I like dreaming up edible creations and watching them come to life.  I like being in the kitchen, quiet and contemplative.

The choosing of flavors and foods for removing stress, the chopping and slicing and dicing for getting rid of frustrations, the mixing and stirring and sifting for remembering blessings: this is what being in the kitchen means to me.

A lot of the world's problems can be solved in the kitchen, I think.  At least, I solve a lot of the world's problems, and my own, in the kitchen.

I'm not much for recipes, the tedious measuring of each tablespoon of this and teaspoon of that.  I'm more for a pinch of this and sprinkle of that; it feels more freeing.

The kitchen is where I go to remember where I came from and to be grateful for where I am and to dream of where I'm going next.  The kitchen is where I can be reborn after a long day; the kitchen is where I can celebrate a new triumph.  The kitchen is a place to enjoy life, and cooking is a joy.

It's Time for a Vacation!

Please excuse my absence.

I'll be away for a while.

Photo stolen from www.coastalfamilyliving.com
Soon, I'll have photos of my own.

Try not to be jealous or miss me too much.

See you soon,

Happy Father's Day!

This is one of my favorite photos of Daddy and me.  Me all dressed in pink with a bow in my hair and Daddy with his glasses and watch, things neither one of us went without.

Daddy holding me haphazardly in front of the camera, no doubt wanting the photographer to capture his precious little girl.  I love this photo because I think it was supposed to be of just me, and, instead, it's of the two of us.

The way his strong hands support my fluffy frame and his eyes look just a tiny bit fearful as he opens his mouth in a half smirk to speak combined with the way I sit content in his arms, this is what I love most about the picture--the honesty of it all.  The moment of fear and love and hope that wasn't supposed to be noticed but was.

I love the knowledge that he might not have known what he was doing raising a little girl into a lady, but he gave it his all, and he did his best. All things considered, I'd say he did a remarkable job, and still does--every day.

Thanks, Dad, for everything.

I love you,

Sunday Snippets

"I understood.  I was just smart enough to realize she meant white people.  And even though I still felt miserable, I knew that I was, most likely, ugly, it was the first time she ever talked to me like I was something besides my mother's white child.  All my life I'd been told what to believe about politics, coloreds, being a girl. But with Constantine's thumb pressed in my hand, I realized I actually had a choice in what I could believe."
--The Help, Kathryn Stockett


~~~~~


"She rubs the cream in my hair with both hands.  I can practically feel the hope in her fingers.  A cream will not straighten my nose or take a foot off my height.  It won't add distinction to my almost translucent eyebrows, nor add weight to my bony frame.  And my teeth are already perfectly straight. So this is all she has left to fix, my hair."
--The Help, Kathryn Stockett


~~~~~


"I've met so many parents of kids who are on the low end of the autism spectrum, kids who are diametrically opposed to Jacob, with his Asperger's. They tell me I'm lucky to have a son who's so verbal, who is blisteringly intelligent, who can take apart the broken microwave and have it working again an hour later.  They think there is no greater hell than having a son who is locked in his own world, unaware that there's a wider one to explore.  But try having a son who is locked in his owl world and still wants to make a connection.  A son who tries to be like everyone else but truly doesn't know how."
--House Rules, Jodi Picoult


~~~~~


"'. . .don't they teach you how to spell these days?'
'No,' I answer. 'They teach us to use spell-check.'"
--House Rules, Jodi Picoult


~~~~~


"'But. . .' he's circling his hand again, wanting more. 'What kind of Christian?'
Oh. Kind?  Isn't being a Christian rather like being pregnant? You either wholly are or you really aren't--is there an in between? How did we become known as 'kinds' of Christian instead of being simply, humbly, loving Christians? What if following Christ was about a living faith not about wearing faith labels--about living Christ-behaviour, not living in Christian boxes?"
--Ann Voskamp, http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/06/what-in-the-world-should-christians-wear/


~~~~~

Happy Father's Day,   (Look for a Father's Day post soon!)

My Summer Reading List

I've been waiting for this summer.  It's turning out to be a lovely season of relaxation and reflection. 


My first free week of the summer I read during nearly every waking minute.  I inhaled words from pages, spending my mornings and afternoons reading and reading and reading until my eyes started to cross and I had to look up to take a breath.  It was lovely.  Now, though, normal life is in session, and although I'm reading less, it's still so much more than I get to during the school year.


I committed to reading 10 books this summer, not too much of a challenge but enough to make me focused.  Then I added another book, so now I've committed to reading 11.


Here it is, my Summer 2012 Reading List, in no particular order:

The Help: This was my first book of the summer, a true gem. Read what I said about it here.

House Rules: My second summer read wasn't quite as poignant as the first, but it wasn't really intended to be.  Here's what I thought about it.

Eat to Live: In Progress. . . 

Anthem                                        These three books are on 

The Alchemist                             supplemental reading list for   

Alas Babylon                              my students.  I inherited the                  

                                                      list, and since I haven't read   

                                                      most of the books, I figured it  

                                                      was time to get started.

To Kill a Mockingbird: I've read this book twice already--once in high school and another time three days before the school year started and I was to teach the novel.  I think I need a slower read through before I tackle it again this year.

The Hunger Games         

Catching Fire                                 I know.  I'm behind.

Mockingjay 

The Poisonwood Bible: This book was recommended to me by a college professor, so I bought it but haven't ever picked it up.  I'm starting it today!

Happy Reading!

Sunday Snippets

"And I know there are plenty of other "colored" things I could do besides telling my stories or going to Shirley Boon's meetings--the mass meetings in town, the marches in Birmingham, the voting rallies upstate.  But the truth is, I don't care that much about voting.  I don't care about eating at a counter with white people. What I care about is, if in ten years, a white lady will call my girls dirty and accuse them of stealing the silver."
--The Help, Kathryn Stockett


~~~~~


"All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries."
--The Help, Kathryn Stockett


~~~~~

--www.postsecret.com

~~~~~

What I Just Finished: House Rules

Jodi Picoult used to be my favorite author, but the more I read, the more she stays the same.  All of her books are about an ethical dilemma of some sort, requiring the reader to think and wrestle with her beliefs, and that I like.  I find her books to all have the same sort of rhythm which I feel is a bit redundant.  After reading a few of her novels, they've all started to seem familiar even though I don't know the plot.


All that said, I'm still going to read Picoult's novels.  She always sucks me into the story, and her books are quick and easy to read even though they leave me thinking for long after I've put them down.

House Rules is one of her newer novels.  It's about an eighteen year old boy named Jacob who has Asperger's.  The novel begins by highlighting Jacob's daily life and obsessions, as well as the struggles of his mom, Emma, and his younger brother, Theo.  Then, Jacob is accused of murdering his social skills tutor, Jess.   I won't tell you if he did it or not, you'll have to find out.   :)

I've been interested in Asperger's and autism for a long time. The only trouble I really had with Picoult's descriptions of Jacob and the way that Asperger's affected him is that she took almost all of the symptoms and shoved them on Jacob's character with incredible intensity.  In my, albeit limited, experience with studying Asperger's (for a semester in graduate school) and tutoring or knowing a few different people with Asperger's it seems that Picoult's character was a bit over exaggerated for where she placed him on the autism spectrum.

Also, there are references, quite a few, that suggest a link between Asperger's and autism to vaccinations.  While some parents wholeheartedly hold on to the belief that immunizations directly resulted in their child's placement on the autism spectrum, most scientists and doctors disagree.  I think Picoult brought up this issue in a way that was a bit irresponsible, as she never presented facts from the other side of the argument.

Other than that, I thought she did a wonderful job highlighting the struggles of parents and siblings of people on the autism spectrum, as well as the person who struggles with the autism himself.  By writing from the point of view of each character, she highlighted vantage points that other characters could not see, many times pointing to how society could be (and should be) more accepting of people with autism and their families.

All in all, it was a good read.

Happy reading,

Things I Love about Summer, Part 1

Fresh tomatoes,

taking walks,

smoothies for breakfast,

having lunch with my husband,

perfect skies,

picnics at the park,

lazy days at home,

and lush green landscape.

What I Just Finished: The Help

I know; I know. I'm behind. The Help has been on my reading list for ages.


I saw the movie in theaters; it was brilliant. I laughed and cried and all that jazz.  


The book, as usual, was better.  


Stockett is honest and genuine and poignantly describes with incredible accuracy the trouble with two races living in one south during the Civil Rights Movement. She outlines the cycle of black women raising white children and then becoming maids to those same children.  She highlights the love the white children have for their caretakers but, in many cases, gradually lose as they grow older and the world's lies masked as the truths of how things are and how things must be  creep into their growing hearts and minds.

I love this book because I teach a brief section on the Civil Rights Movement when we study To Kill a Mockingbird, and this will tie in so well.

I love this book because it's beautifully written.

I love this book because I've felt like Skeeter so many times.  A white girl who notices hypocrisies and isn't quite sure what to do with them.

I love this book because I know these people.  The white people who believe themselves to be entitled and the black people who are fighting to break the cycle of unfairness.

I love this book because at its heart and soul it's true.

I love this book because I want my children to understand the importance of colorblindness because, until we rise up and vehemently declare NO, there is always a danger of history repeating itself.

I love this book because I want the people I know to change.

I love this book because I want the world to change.

I hope you'll love it to,

What I Just Finished: I'll Walk Alone

I picked this book up at Walmart for $5.99ish.

I needed to preoccupy myself on a road trip home earlier this month.  I hadn't brought any work even though I had so much to do.  Unfortunately for my stressed out soul I finished the only book I'd brought on the ride to Arkansas.

So, you see, I had to find something, anything, to rescue my mind from the impending anxiety brought on by wasting seven hours in the car.

So, Marry Higgins Clark it was.  Typical for Clark, the book was slightly suspenseful and the reader couldn't be sure which characters were reliable and trustworthy and which one was the dirty scoundrel.

I drank  in the 418 pages in the car because there was too much else to do when I got home. 

Okay, but not great, it got me through, and for that I am thankful.

Happy Reading,

Adventures in Vegetarianism

I decided to be a vegetarian for the month of May.


I had many different reasons:
1. I like challenges in self discipline and control.
2. I'm almost a vegetarian anyway.
3. Who doesn't love a fun adventure?!

Stuffed bell peppers.  

I expected that surrendering to a meatless existence would be a little difficult, that there would be unexpected complications.  I thought I might feel sad sometimes about having to leave meat alone.  I felt sure I would feel different in some way, that my body would respond positively or negatively.

For the most part, I was wrong.



The only place I ran into any real trouble was Arby's on a road trip, and the only reason that was troublesome was because I didn't want the level of calories that comes with consuming the largest order of curly fries.  Although, I do love me some curly fries and firmly believe they should be calorie free.


As for my body, she felt the same as always.


I suppose I found the transition easy because I'm not a meat lover to begin with.  Technically, though, I didn't make my goal, and I'm good with that. 


I ended my quest with vegetarianism on May 29th.  I decided long before then that I'd quit before the month was done because that was the day of the teacher's luncheon, catered by Mark's Feed Store. Since this store that's really a restaurant has most delicious barbeque, I thought, who cares?  Let's do this.  So, I did.

Quinoa Pilaf.

I thought eating meat for the first time in 28 days would be weird, but it wasn't.  Turns out, it tasted just the same, but fruits and vegetables and grains are still much better.

So, my days of strict vegetarianism are over, although I'll still be my mostly vegetarian self.

It was a fun adventure.  Now I need something new to try. . .


Happy Wednesday,

The Weekend that Wasn't

I had many, many plans for this weekend, and they all fell apart. One by one by one.


My husband was to be out of town.  I was to be in town--celebrating.  Not celebrating in the traditional sense, you see.  I was going to celebrate the successful completion of my first year of teaching by myself--quietly.  


I intended to watch miserable amounts of television and devour book after delicious book perhaps stopping for real sustenance along the way.  I would do only the things that struck my fancy and nothing more.  I would be still; I would be quiet; I would be proud of what I'd accomplished.


How were my plans derailed, you ask?  Sabotage.  Sabotage by none other than the vessel that holds my tired and weary new-teacher soul--my very own body.


It all started on Monday(ish)--I can't be certain of the exact date, as I didn't see the attack coming because, quite frankly, I never do.  It started with a headache that wouldn't go away, an itchy throat, an achy  muscle.  You get the drift.  By Thursday I was feeling a bit light headed and my throat was no longer itchy, but a deep and painful scratchy.  When I got home after a long day I had a fever.  I was up all night pleading with the germs, the illness, God, myself, ANYONE to please, please let me sleep.  The answer was always, except for an hour or two, a deep, sadistic NO.


By Friday morning when it was time to go to school for the last day of finals, I was a mess.  A germy, feverish mess.  I had two finals to give.  When the last students of the last group left, I packed it all up and went home.


I stopped at Walgreens and loaded up on sinus medication, sleeping pills, potato chips (who knows why?), orange juice, and soup.


I spent the weekend that was to be the glorious end of a glorious year bobbing between sleep and wakefulness, being able to breath and struggling for air.  


I should have known my weekend of beauty and reflection and quiet would be ripped from underneath me; after all, this is how I live.


I push and I push and I push and I reach a goal, and then, as if my body and spirit detach from one another and the sprit says KEEP GOING, my body rises up with a tired and spent, but strong and forceful, NO--IT'S TIME TO STOP.


It happened in high school; it got worse in college when I was sick after every single semester.  It happened after I got married.  I made it to the end of the honeymoon before I crashed, and now it's happened again.  


So, my weekend disappeared into oblivion, a sick and nasty oblivion of nose blowing and fitful sleep and pill popping.


I suppose, though, that having a 101.5 fever and being so, so sick is just a way for my body to celebrate its long, faithful hours of success.  Because, although it was forced, she finally got her long overdue rest.

I hope your weekend was healthier than mine,

21 Days of Blogging: 5 of the Things I Learned

I made it! Today is the last day of my 21 days of blogging.  I learned lots of lessons and was reminded of a few I already knew on this three week journey to a better blogging self. So, here they are:


1. Choosing to blog every single day during one of the busiest times of your life is crazy but totally worth it.  Since I wasn't thinking clearly when I started this new blogging adventure, I scheduled it during 2 of my busiest weeks of the school year. It's been crazy, but I'm glad it ended up that way. I'm really bad to wait until the perfect time to pick a new adventure or start working toward a new goal.  This is stupid.  There is never a perfect time for most things; everything I haven't been doing is going to be an interruption to my current life.  If I want to try new things, the perfect time is now. 


2. You have time for what you make time for. I'm bad to say that I didn't have time to finish this or start that or work on the other thing.  Sometimes, this might be accurate. Usually, though, it's completely false.  I'm starting to realize just how much time I can waste by being out of time.  I'm not saying you should run around crazy-busy all the time; that's counterproductive.  I'm just saying that the more I make time for, the happier I am and the more time I have.

3. (some of) My students read my blog. When I heard one student explain to another that I had become a vegetarian for the month of May I thought how in Heaven's name did you know that? I forgot I'd put that out into cyberspace for all to see. I think it's precious that some of them read my blog; they're so sweet and encouraging about it.  It only gets weird when they bring it up to everyone else in class, and I have to blush over it.  Goodness.

4. I love to write. I already knew this, but I was sort of forgetting.  It doesn't matter what I'm writing: a note, a reminder, a worksheet, an email, a prayer, a blog post, an article, a paper--I love writing.  It makes my soul feel fresher and my mind renewed. 

5. When I make time for what I need to make time for and when I write, I am a better version of me.


Hip, Hip, Hooray! Blogging every day is over, but don't be sad. I'll be back--frequently.  However, I must take a brief hiatus to complete that to do list I've been moaning about.  See you Saturday...Sunday...Sometime Soon.


Thanks for reading,

What I Just Finished

All Quiet on the Western Front. Erich Maria Remarque.


I'm not really a war book kind of a gal, so I wasn't super excited to teach this.  Then I started reading it.


Remarque's imagery is astounding. His characters are endearing.  His story is captivating.


Paul Baumer, the narrator and protagonist of the story, and his friends are German soldiers fighting in WWI.  They lament their lost youth and the educations they suffered through and no longer use, but more than anything they demonstrate the intimate and intricate relationships of wartime friends, brothers really.  


The book is mostly sad, but it's so very good.  I liked it because it was genuine.  The only agenda seemed to be telling the truth about war and what it's really like, and I appreciated its honesty.


Besides that, I love me some Paul Baumer. 

Happy Reading,


P.S. It's day 20 of my 21 day blogging adventure.  Who knew I'd make it?  I mean...I think it's safe to say I'll probably make it, but who knows...  I can't jinx myself now.