My Laugh of the Morning...

...came when I was reading one of those comment sections after a Fox news article, and found this comment:

When you write "Everybody doesn't see it that way" you really mean "Not everyone sees it that way." Editing is kewl. Check it out.

Hee hee hee! It was posted by "nitpicker." Oh for a little more chutzpah. Kind of like the guy bombing down the highway in the fast lane, flashing his highbeams at all who refused to move over for him. It worked like a charm! I sailed along in his wake, falling farther and farther behind, but amazed at how, once people had moved over for him they stayed moved over. It made me wish that there was a polite way to say, "pardon me, could you move into one of the other lanes so that I could get by you?" in a car. I think half the people in the fast lane get tunnel vision and forget that they're supposed to move over. Sigh. So I just pass on the right, usually. But that's a terrible thing to do!

And NOW it's even MORE terrible, because I have a school bumper sticker. OH NO!!! I've been SO conscious of my driving since getting it and it's awful! I just want to get where I'm going, and I employ a weaving and bobbing method now and then. But now I probably shouldn't be doing that. But why oh why should I be the victim of other people's fast lane stupidity?! The only way most of them realize that I want to pass is if I wicked tailgate, and that's also a terrible thing to do and is certainly not going to help out the school's reputation. I'm definitely in a pickle.

Maybe I'll actually have to learn some patience on the road. Gasp! Or maybe I can just hurl touchingly-worded apologies out the window as I pass on the right...

Back in the Saddle Again...

Ha! I bet you think this post is going to be about teaching! Why else would I title it "Back in the Saddle Again?" But NO, I am talking about a BIKE saddle! (bike saddle? yeah...) Yes indeedy, folks, I just got back from a glorious bike ride! I never did get my bike up to NH, so I haven't ridden since last school year. And it was just as wonderful! Actually, it was even better in some ways. There weren't any spring swarms of bugs to splat my way through, which is a definite bonus. Also, I didn't mistake my neighbor for my Aunt and say really weird things! And the reason I didn't mistake her?

I got CONTACTS! Yes sir, I've had them for a month and a half now, and the advantages keep piling up. I got them right before going to England, which was awesome. I didn't have to do the whole glasses/camera fight at all! And I could just see everything instantly.

My main reasoning in getting them is that I didn't wear my glasses all the time, but I needed to wear them more than I did. I didn't wear them for things like teaching, because I didn't want to worry about whipping them off to read, or tipping my head funny so the top or bottom of the frames didn't get into my line of sight. I just never took to the full-time glasses scenario. And therefore I had some awkward moments (awkward is an awkward word to spell, by the way - the knowledge of its spelling is kind of a recent acquisition) when people would enter the school at the end of the long hall, and I would know whether to wave vigorously or decorously, because I couldn't see who it was. And sometimes I couldn't see the back row of my class as well as I would have liked.

So in came the contacts! And it's been niiiiiice. Today's bike ride is the latest example. Ooo - another one was playing volleyball w/ contacts. I could actually see the server! What a great advantage.

In case any of you were devastated that this post wasn't about teaching (because who wants to hear about anything else, really?), I'll add now that Teacher Training has been GREAT! After my fear and bellyaching, it's been helpful, inspiring, and edifying. I'm so psyched for the school year! I'm actually starting to catch the vision for teaching being a discipling process as well as an information transfer. That's so cool.

We have a new second grade teacher, and I love her! She's a couple years older than I am, easy to talk to, funny, and she's running a marathon with her husband in October (but I won't hold it against her). It's a joy (and relief) to have a newcomer fit in sooo well.

Okay, gotta go watch the Sox beat the Y***kees!

Well, I Liked THIS Monday!

So far I'm doing really well on my new resolve to like Mondays more. (By the way, I think the winning reason for liking Mondays came from Chad, with his 24 argument...) One Monday has happened since that resolve, and I liked it. Alright! One for one.

Sunday night wasn't so hot - I had a sudden, unexplainable reaction against going back to school! I felt like the person who marries in haste and repents at leisure. My infatuation with teaching was over and now it was time for the long, slow, hard grind. Nice, eh? Then I realized it was 1am (or so) and that one should NEVER take oneself seriously at that hour. I think it was just the tired, to-be-expected reaction to the thought of change and, um, work. Definitely not to be taken seriously.

Sure enough, I woke up excited to go back to school! And as I drove my (packed-to-the-gills) car back to RI, it felt so right (and we always go by what feels right, as we know). I was going back to do what I was born to do. Hurrah! I LOVE TEACHING!

And it's a good thing, too, because tomorrow begins the most severe test of love-for-teaching, known as "Teacher Training" (or: Long Hours of Boredom Punctuated by Severe Feelings of Guilt and Inadequacy). Fun times! But actually, even my courage for teacher training is good. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and getting re-adjusted. And decorating my room. And buying a new grade book. And meeting new students at Thursday's open house. And chalk. And writing out my own copy of this year's schedule. And teasing my fellow Room 3 teacher about Shakespeare. And going over the Newport Bridge. And new shades on my windows that go up and down. And sports talk radio. And getting to know the new second grade teacher. And eating lunch in the teachers' lounge. And making practice speeches to myself in preparation for the first day of school.

I LOVE TEACHING!

Poor Poor Pitiful Mondays

Okay, that's it. Mondays get such a bum deal! What did they ever do to deserve it?! It's not Monday's fault that it comes right after Sunday! I don't usually feel that stirred up about this subject, but I just had a Hershey kiss today, and instead of saying "Hershey" on the tassel-thing (what is that thing called, anyway?) it said "I hate Mondays." What?! Surely you are down on your luck if Hershey kisses have turned against you.

[And what's up with Hershey's saying anything but "Hershey" on the tassel-thing, anyway? "Hershey" was good enough for me - it spoke of bliss and beauty-for-the-taste-buds. Who needs catchy slogans? My conservative soul recoils.] [By the way, [ and ] were reallly hard for me to learn. I still usually hit the wrong one or \ or something.]

Anyway, upon seeing that last straw I decided that I was going to start being loyal to Monday. And then I realized I don't really like Mondays. I love Tuesdays because of residual feelings left over from Bible School. Tuesdays were cheese day for dinners, which often meant pizza, and dessert day on top of that, and, most importantly, SPORTS! I love Wednesdays because they are the middle of the week and when they're done the weekend is practically there. I love Thursdays because I know there's only one day left so I don't feel so guilty about staying up later. I love Fridays and Saturdays for the Sabbath and the satisfaction of finishing another week (good job! you let time go by again! that's a really good talent!). And I love Sundays because I enjoy church and the Patriots:) But Mondays? They're basically to be endured.

And now I have guilt that I don't like Monday as much as the rest of the group of days. It's not fair! I must conjure up some love for Monday.

Okay, at least I can say that it was a big deal to move from Mondays in high school to Mondays in Bible School and college - there was no more dread. That's a big step! Not dreading Mondays is a lot closer to loving it than dreading was!

Hmmm, what else? Mondays sometimes have football games! However, they're usually too late for me to watch.

Well, Monday is named after the moon, and the Greek goddess of the moon was Artemis, and Artemis was one of the three maiden goddesses, and another of the three maiden goddesses was Athena, and Athena is my favorite of the Greek goddesses! PERFECT! Okaaaay, that's a little stretch.

So here's what I'll have to do: start some tradition that's really happy and that happens on Mondays! Like, stop-on-the-way-home-and-buy-something-yummy day. Or visit-Melissa-in-Providence day. Or slack-off-on-lesson-plans day (then I could feel grumpy about Tuesdays instead!). Or I could have payday switched from Friday to Monday! That's a good tradition!

So it's time to throw off the old worn-out tradition of hating Monday. Monday needs to be embraced - welcomed back into the good graces of humanity! I mean, can't we all just get along?

Oops!

Silly me... I just started this great post - it was going to be really interesting. I carefully led up to it with allusions to past events to pique people's interest. I stated my theme at last and prepared to launch into the writing of the thing when it hit me... I had no evidence! It was going to be one of those "you know when this happens?" posts, and I was going to tell all of my stories. But I couldn't remember them! I only have vague memories - I know it happened - but I couldn't possibly dredge up enough of the details to make the post interesting. Alas! Hope springs eternal, however, and I saved the post in case the stories come back to me at a future date.

It's like trying to write an essay in which you get the intro down, then the thesis, but realize you have nothing for the body paragraphs. Which brings me to a discussion of teaching... (Clever segue, no?) I don't think I can ever leave my school. Not only do I love it, but I can't handle the idea of someone else teaching my Literature classes. They would most definitely do it WRONG! Welllll, they might do it alright, but they would leave out some VERY IMPORTANT THINGS, such as the definition of the word fortnight, or juxtaposition, or the beauty of the theme of self-sacrifice. (Can you imagine?)

Oy vay, I didn't realize I had a control issue until I considered my replacement teacher. Maybe my replacement will be a college professor with 20 years of experience. I might be able to yield for that... But no young, fresh-from-college upstart is going to take my place!

Waaaait, I was a young, fresh-from-college upstart myself. I had zero experience, but lots of zeal. Hmmmm, maybe it won't be a terrible thing. I'll have to give it some further thought. I may not have to burn the school to the ground upon my retirement after all! (What a cheery thought.)

A Wicked Deep Discussion of Heroism

I taught Classical Literature (you know, those Greeks and Romans) my first year of teaching, and I’ll be teaching it again this year. The question of heroism frequently arises when studying such characters as Achilles, Odysseus and Aeneas. What makes a hero? What made a hero then? How are the two the same and how are they different? (Ohh how the Lit teacher loves good discussion questions!)

It’s easy to say that there aren’t good heroes today. Not the way there were then. I mean, Brad Pitt? Are you kidding me?

However, there are examples such as the NYPD that show that modern America still has some admirable values. And there are personal examples, as evidenced by one of my student’s essays about her mother, whose husband died years ago and who is raising my student, her sister, and her handicapped son on her own.

And then there are sports. Oh ya.

So now I must share some of my favorite examples of heroics in sports.

#1 (of course). Curt Schilling in the 2004 World Series, pitching with his tendon stitched to his ankle bone (or whatever gross thing it was), risking his future career for victory. And boy howdy, did it ever work! (My students say “boy howdy” now, every once in awhile, much to my glee and to their parents bewilderment.) Why is this heroic? It’s an example of someone willing to give himself (my students also know that self-sacrifice is my favorite theme in literature!) for something larger than himself.

#2. Curt Schilling (déjà vu anyone?) in his youth, heeding the voice of wisdom. He was a young punk, living up the life of a major league player and a major league player’s salary, partying, and generally goofing off. Roger Clemens pulled him aside one day, and gave him a talking to. If you ever want to amount to anything, Clemens told him, you’ve got to cut this out, take this seriously, and start working hard. Schilling did so, and became one of baseball’s greatest pitchers. The heroism is a little different here – perhaps a little closer to home. It’s the heroism of someone willing to humble himself, take the advice of another (in this case a peer, which is impressive), and engage in self-denial for a greater end.

#3. Dustin Pedroia making it to the major leagues (and doing quite well there, I might add!), despite his stature. People thought he couldn’t do it, because he was so short, and his range would be limited. But now he’s there on the Red Sox, contributing handsomely. Plus, he has the coolest name in baseball. Except for maybe Dante Bichette. The heroism here is the diligence to work hard, and persistence to stick with it, even in the face of nay-sayers.

#4. Tim Naehring (why haven’t you mentioned him earlier?! you may ask. Ah, I respond, I was carefully crafting this masterpiece in a way that would make you wonder, holding you in suspense, until the end. Plus, haven’t you heard of the saying “best for last?”) being willing to take LESS MONEY to stay with the Red Sox rather than be traded to the Indians (Orioles?). Not too shabby, eh? Where do you see that in professional sports these days? I still remember that little newspaper clipping that was on my wall through high school which said, “Kirby Puckett and Tim Naehring aside, loyalty is a rare commodity in baseball.” OH YA! That’s my hero! I once wrote an entire essay on why Tim Naehring was my hero, and this point played a big role. Loyalty is heroic in my book (not to mention Homer’s and a bunch of other guy’s).

So there you have it, people. We still have heroes – we just have to know where to look for them (i.e. The Red Sox)!

PS. Two other heroes are Danny and Gretchen, people who give themselves daily for their families and for God and I wish them a very happy birthday (yesterday and today). Love you guys!

Claire is my Inspiration!

Three cheers for Claire, who has always been high on my favorite people list, and who, most recently, has inspired me to get back into blogging. Not that I was going to abandon my blog or anything, but I felt kind of out of the loop after a month of no posts except pictures! Then I went to Claire's blog, and remembered how awesome blogs can be. TIME FOR SOME WRITING!

So of course, my first topic must be my trip overseas. It's so fascinating that the trip really isn't over. I keep thinking about things we saw or did, pictures I took, and experiences I had. I have that trip forever! It's like the trip that never ends.... COOL.

My basic synopsis is this: I loved England because of the amazing things that I saw - I was awed over and over and over. But Scotland. I fell in love with that land. Talk about bonding! :)

And now that I'm back I keep finding myself talking about the most random little aspects of Britain - like their sinks. Who even cares? I have to bite my tongue before I start annoying people. But Mom says she wants to hear every little thing - that's the joy of having travelled with other like-minded fans of Britain! :) My family actually likes to look at ALL of my pictures! Whoah! I would never make someone do that.

You know what the final picture count is? I will tell you. 4,350. Not too shabby, eh? And I went through them at the end of every day, deleting half (or more) of what I'd taken! Now I've got to get them organized and off my computer before the poor things dies of overpopulation...

But you know what? Despite the incredible experience of being overseas, and the soul-satisfying way I discovered it to be all I'd hoped for, I was SO happy to get back home. Everything is so normal and right here! And all the people I love best are here. That's pretty hard to beat...

(PS. The picture is from Cambridge - Karena's BEAUTIFUL city!)

More Updatage - at LAST!

Hello dear ones over the ocean! Oy vay - we have been staying in SO many places w/o wireless internet. Argh! But at LAST we're somewhere where I can actually connect with the rest of my known universe.

And so, now that I'm connected, I'd like to say: I am officially loving this trip. Since my last update I was blown away by Wordsworth's home and the fact that I was there, endeared to the Bronte's home, intrigued by the medieval reenactments and the history at Warwick castle, awed by Shakespeare's birthplace and the many literary giants who've visited there to pay their respects (many of them etched their names in the glass of the actual room - Keats, Scott, Tennyson, Dickens, Emerson, Longfellow, and Twain, at least), delighted by the beauty and quaintness of the villages of the Cotswolds, satisfied by Oxford (it lived up to my expectations!), inspired by Tintern Abbey, charmed by Bath, envigorated by Tintagel (where King Arthur was supposed to have been born - a fitting castle waaay up on a cliff above the sea), fascinated by the geographic marvel of Land's End - the little tip of England jutting into the Atlantic, grateful to the Pilgrims in Plymouth (they grow palm trees in Plymouth - what a shock New England must have been...), thrilled by wild horses (they were ponies, actually, but wild horses sounds so much better!) in Dartmoor, delighted by Gold Hill, reverent-ed by Winchester Cathedral (not to be confused with Winchestertonfieldville Cathedral), historied-out by Portsmouth (esp. the HMS Victory where Nelson defeated the French but lost his life), and moved by a day trip (via overnight ferry) to the beaches of Normandy in FRANCE. Whew! What amazing days these have been!

And we're also having a GOOD time in prayer, over and over again. Praise the Lord - I'm believing for a difference here because of FAITH in GOD!

And now, I'll repeat some of the highlights via photographs! Wheeee!

This is a "Royal Tournament" we watched at Warwick Castle. The guy getting bashed about is the bad knight. The guy doing the bashing is the good knight! Yay!

I just want to add this picture because I love it! It is me, crying, after bashing my head on the post at which I am pointing. That commie post. It was right over my bed, and it hurt so bad. Grrr. Anyway, I told KJ to take a picture while I was crying, and the result was great gales of laughter. "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion!"

This is Broadway Castle - a little one-man castle, as it were, built for fun by some Duke or other. It commanded an amazing view of the Cotswold region. Daddy was quite taken by it, so I think I'll have one built for him when my teaching career starts pulling in the big bucks...

Here is some of that famous Cotwold stone, golden in the evening light. Ahhh, what a place. So many totally charming little villages like this one!

Here's KJ and me at Tintagel. We're in the arch-way after having just entered, and behind us (faaaaar below) are the cliffs of the Cornwall Coast looking their wildest. WHEW! Breathtaking.

The wild "horses" of which I spoke! These two don't look especially wild, but the boy horses (um, stallions?) were a pretty lively bunch, thundering around the turf. It was pretty exhilarating to behold.

THIS is Tintern Abbey, one of my all-time favorite locals. Its grandeur was amazing. I've never been so moved to worship by architecture.

This is "Gold Hill" in Shaftsbury. Do you love it?! Can't get much more "charming English village" than that! You should have seen how smitten Mama was - I think that was half the charm right there!

Speaking of things that are quintessentially English - we "happened" upon this CRICKET GAME! Isn't it beautiful? And one of the players actually spent 15 min or so explaining what was going on! I felt like I'd had an epiphany:) And in return, I got to explain to him what an RBI was - something that had been puzzling him for awhile. What a great event!

And this is Omaha beach, one of the two American beaches in D-Day. Stunning beauty to commemorate stunning heroism and valor.

So there you have it! Another glimpse into our merry travels.

Now I'm in England!

Hello again! Well, we've finally hit another B&B with wireless Internet... They seem to be few and far between. But that's okay - it gives me a chance to get some choice gems photographically:) I have over 2000 pictures on my computer right now. Oy vay! And I've deleted much more than I've kept.

(NATE - THANK YOU FOR FINDING ME MY CAMERA!!!)

We've finished our stay in Scotland, and have now crossed over into England. I love this place, too! Oh my word. Tonight we are in the Lakes District, where WORDSWORTH wrote! Wheee! I'm getting into the Literary places big time. Two days ago was Sir Walter Scott's place (and wow, it's awesome - everyone needs to go to his house, Abbotsford), yesterday Wordsworth's birthplace, today his grown up home, tomorrow the Bronte sisters, then it's on to Dickens and Shakespeare... WHEEEEE! What wealth.

Okay, now for some pics from the last four days:

This is beautiful Melrose Abbey, established by Scottish King David I, and closed down by Henry VIII. We saw several Abbeys, and I think this was my favorite. Okay, maybe just one of my favorites:)
This is another favorite abbey, the one connected to Holyrood Palace!
And THIS is Sir Walter Scott's home, which he designed and decorated. I LOVED it. I'm so inspired about reading his work now:)
Here we are at Hadrian's wall. We got there just in time to see this Pict sneaking up on the diligent Roman.
This is Blair Castle, the seat of Clan Murray. Whooo! (Liane & Gretchen, I'm thinking of you and how you were there. Awesome, eh?)

Beautiful Edinburgh! This is taken from Calton Hill where we got some great shots of the city.Here we are, officially crossing from Scotland to England. A momentous occasion...
And now we're in Wordsworth country! We even saw a rainbow, and I was delighted. I mean, how appropriate is that?! Especially considering this Wordsworth poem:
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky.
Etc.

I'll leave you to look up the rest on your own:)

I'm so thankful for this incredible opportunity!

I am in Beautiful Scotland!

Hello from Scotland, everyone! We Murrays are having an amazing time. I am so in love with this place! I have a new regard for that line from the song Scotland the Brave: "Land of my heart, forever." Oh ya!

Here are some pictures, to give you a small glimpse into what we're experiencing.

Kilchurn Castle, which KJ and I had great fun at - we climbed around in a nearby copse of trees to get this picture (and many, many other pictures, too!).
Eilean Donan - definitely one of the most beautiful sights I've seen thus far. What an incredible castle! We got to go inside and explore it today - my favorite part was the banquet hall. Well, favorite on the inside. Obviously this view is my favorite part of it!
This is Flora MacDonald's grave. I've been thinking of the Bonnie Prince Charlie story a lot this trip, obviously, and was inspired by Flora's loyalty and giving of herself to a cause. It inspired me to be that way in my walk with God.
This is a view from the Isle of Skye (one of my new all-time favorite places on Earth!). We hiked across moors to this northern point to pray. See the tiiiiny white spot between the crags? That's a seagull. We were way up there!
And this is Duntlum Castle, also on Skye. We were supposed to have rain this day, and God, in answer to prayer, gave us sun. What a blessing! Skye was one of my top destinations, and I was so thankful to be able to see it in all it's glory!
This is Inverness - the "Capital of the Highlands." We didn't spend too long here, but enough for me to enjoy the charm and beauty of the city.
And here we all are, in the Highlands (near BEAUTIFUL Loch Lomond - which you can just see in the background), totally smitten with the beauty of Scotland, and having a wonderful time. Praise the Lord!

I'm Going to BRITAIN!

I've been getting more and more excited about our trip! You know, the one we're leaving for in 15 hours!! I'm so in the groove now. I just finished formatting the poetry I want to print off to take, and collecting song lyrics to sing ("Scotland the Brave," "Will Ye No Come Back Again," etc.). And I'm listening to "Loch Lomond" as I type. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

And the closer I get, the more I realize that this is a dream come true. Ever since I was old enough to think about a desire to travel I've wanted to go to Britain. It seems like I've been in love with Scotland all my life, and the more I learn about Literature, the more I fall in love with England. And now I'm going there! I'm going to where my ancestors came from - I'm going to see my homeland. It's amazing!

And now, to climax this beautiful moment with a quote from The Emperor's New Groove, "See you [or write to you, anyway]... on the other side."

One of those This and That Posts

*I'm was planning to be all packed for Britain at this point in the day. HA! (Sigh)

*I was going to get some Internet stuff out of the way while my clothes dried in the dryer, and ended up spending FOREVER trying to update my expired virus protection program. Grrrr. The happy news is that I finally worked things out before actually buying the thing all over again. Yay for me, saving money!

*I can't believe I'm going to ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND AND IRELAND AND WALES AND FRANCE! OY VAY!

*My family and I have been getting into the groove. Saturday night they waited up for me to get back from Lindsay's so that we could look at Dad's past England slides. It was awesome! I kept howling "are we going there?!" Wheee! Then, on Sunday, we watched "The Longest Day" (we're going to Normandy one day) and also went over the Kings and Queens of England (I learned this awesome poem during Brit Lit: "Willie, Willie, Harry, Steve / Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three / Edward One, Two, Three, Dick Two / Harry Four, Five, Six, Then who? / etc.) and the roles of the heroes of Scotland (William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Bonnie Prince Charlie). I'm SO ready for this trip!

*And to get even more ready, I've been working on getting a collection of poetry to read at opportune moments along the way. You know, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, etc. Then, when we're at some poet's birthplace or something, I can whip out a poem! Kimberly's wicked excited about this... I just read one to her and said "Isn't that beautiful?" and she responded "did you think I was listening to you?"

*KATIE ADAMS IS COMING TO FAIRWOOD TONIGHT AND I'M SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT!!!

*I've dreamed about the youth convention every night since it ended. Oh my word. My subconscious is still wicked processing. Peace out, subconscious!

*I'm hoping to be able to post now and then while oversees! Apparently some of our bed & breakfast places have high speed. Yay! No promises, but high hopes:)

*OH MY WORD! KATIE'S HERE! WHEEEEEEEE!!!

The Past Two Weeks!

Hello again, dear readers! Long time no write, eh? PHEW have I been busy. But also having a blast. As you probably know, since my last post I have been to California, led 15-17 girls in Girls' Week, and seen four of my students through their first ever youth convention. Praise God all of the events were wonderful, and I couldn't get over how my two worlds - school and home - meshed so smoothly. My kids had a WONDERFUL time. Oh, and CA was an AMAZING trip. So rather than go into detail on it all, I will post my past two weeks in pictures! If you scroll down, you will find one post of CA pics, another of GW pics, and the last of convention pics. Enjoy:)

Youth Convention Pics!

Here is Melissa rallying the troops - what a great leader!
Craig masterminded an incredible amount of really fun activities,

including this game of tossing rubber bands into a bowl,

his own variation on field day, including this team long-jump competition (go Ben!), and a hilarious skit activity!
I enjoyed the kids, without having any big responsibilities. Yay!

Here are the kids awaiting the next great adventure.

Oh ya, and we had meetings, too. :) Actually it was a really good, spiritually rich time, I thought. Notice how we're standing on our chairs here - we're singing the song "Higher Ground." (I am in awe of Uncle Neil and his good ideas!)

And of course, things wrapped up with the annual last-day picnic. Hurrah for God's blessing on the youth convention!

Girls' Week Pics!

Here is my LOVELY girls' week group. We had such a good time together!
This year the girls asked to sleep outside one night - daring girls...

We had a wagon ride...
Followed by strawberry picking.
We made amazing strawberry shortcake!
They had fun doing daring exploits (you should have seen them getting out there!),

and playing lots of games together (this is Moose). We had a great time! Thank God for a really good, blessed week!

CALIFORNIA!

Here we are in the middle of the night (more or less) waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport. We look pretty happy for having between 0 and 3 hours of sleep (depending on who you asked...)!
We hustled right to the beach that first night and had an smashing time!
The lighting got more and more amazing. Hurrah for sunsets at the beach!

The next day we saw our dear Matt-ay again! It was so good to see him!

The last day we were there was the wedding - and I'm happy to report 2 things: the wedding was very God-centered, and I really liked the bride. Hurrah! A wonderful time was had by all.

The Effects of 24

I'm closing in on finishing Season Four of 24, and I can definitely tell that it is affecting me.

I was driving to school (back when I was actually teaching - woooo for summer!), and I saw this white van on the side of the road. It was one of those work vans with no side windows - the kind bad guys on 24 are forever using. It pulled on to the road just after I passed by. Oh my word! My hand was practically on my phone before I realized that the 911 call would be really strange. "Um, ya, there's a white van on the side of the road. Only it just pulled onto the road again. GET OUT HERE AS FAST AS YOU CAN! Don't you know it could be housing kidnapped government officials or endangered secret agents or nuclear weapons?!" I settled down, laughed at myself, and continued on my way to school.

Later on I was driving home from school and passed a car with all of its windows down, and someone's sleeves flapping in the wind out of the back seat. OY VAY! Gunmen on the highway! I could practically see the sniper rifle emerging from that back seat and leveled at my head, and I could almost feel the bullets whizzing by me. It's a dangerous commute out there, people! I really need to consider some bulletproof glass.

Of course, then there are the positive, if also somewhat odd, side-affects, like the grin that appears on my face all of a sudden in the grocery store parking lot, as I recall Tony behind that pistol at the crucial moment, or the great hoots of joy I want to break into when I think of Chloe getting that bad guy. Wheeee!

And I think of how safe I feel when I remember Jack Bauer is on the job... until I remember that he isn't. But I console myself by thinking that Jack Bauer-ESQUE people are on the job.

The craziest thing of all of this is that as totally hooked as I get on 24, I haven't watched an episode in over a week! And I only have one and a half left until I finish the season! Oy vay! I've been so ridiculously busy that the nuclear bomb that is whizzing toward some unsuspecting US city is just sitting there in mid-air waiting for me to get back so we can resolve this thing. Phew!

I'm hoping that tonight I'll finally be able to see Jack Bauer save the world yet again. Hurrah!

Help!

People, I need advice. What shoes would be best for kicking around England?! I don't think we're going to be doing much hiking, but we could potentially be on our feet a LOT and I'd like something supportive but not screaming "tourist!" Any seasoned travellers who can weigh in on the issue? Any people who know good footwear? Anyone? Anyone?

GRADUATION!

Last night my dear senior graduated from high school! I was so proud of him, and so thankful to God. I've been so stressed out in the past couple of days, and if I've been stressed I'm sure he must have been going crazy! But it went SO well, and was SUCH a beautiful and worshipful evening. HURRAH!

One reason I was under a lot of pressure was that I was helping him with his graduation speech. Gulp. He refused to let his parents read it (and were they ever blessed when they actually heard it last night!), so the responsibility was mine and mine alone. I did read it out loud to Melissa, though, to get some further input. (As I was reading aloud the line "Now I close the door on my past high school experience" I put my head down on the counter and wailed aloud. I'm going to miss him SO MUCH!) And she had excellent input which I rapidly e-mailed off to my senior. The dear boy had left the writing of his speech for the day before graduation, so things were a little tight:)

I went over to his house a couple hours before the ceremony to put the finishing touches on it, and LO, it was beautiful. He'd done a REALLY good job. Melissa and I had tweaked, but he had done the bulk of the work. Yay for him!

Dad, Mom, Gretchen and KJ all came down for the graduation and I was so happy to have them witness such a big moment in my life and in the life of the school. And then, after the ceremony, they mingled and mingled with all my school people and I shot picture after picture. "Oh my goodness, Dad's talking to a board member!" click click click. It was great fun:) I loved being able to introduce people I've talked about over and over. They really enjoyed it, and they were so blessed by the wonderful ceremony.

As I was driving back home, and they were heading back to NH, I called them and KJ put me on speakerphone and we "debriefed" for a wicked long time. It was such a good time! "What did you talk about with ..." "So and so said this..." "I loved the part when..." "Oh you're right, that student is adorable!" Etc. FUN TIMES!

But most of all I am full of gratitude for God not only for an amazing graduation ceremony, but also for his faithfulness in the past 13 years as He crafted the school and led it along step by step. This was the first ever graduation in the history of the school, you see. They've been adding grades little by little as they went along. It was often a hard journey, but last night saw one of the biggest evidences of fruit to date. May my senior be the first of many!

Closing in on the end...

Saturday I had my First Annual Senior Cookout at the Browns. It was so much fun!! Of course, we have only one senior, so I invited the junior, too, to keep him company. We had a MARvelous time. They were very them, which made me happy. I was afraid they'd clam up around strangers (you know that Melissa...), but instead they leapt right into the conversational fray with stories and jokes and banter with the best of 'em. Hurrah! I'm so thankful.

And now I have ONE more day of teaching! OH my GOODNESS! That went by soooo quickly. I'll still have a bit more work to do in terms of grading and such, but no more classes to teach. Wow.

And yup, that's all I'll write for now. Sorry it's short! Papers (and other things - heh heh heh) are calling.