Broken and Empty

I have this picture of something in my mind lately that looks like a broken and empty vessel...like a tea pot or pitcher that has been accidentally dropped on the floor....pieces scattered and that feeling that you might have just after it drops...

My Mother

She is a presence.

This woman.

I adore her.

She has a spirit that I can not even find words to express.

She has spent her life as a "housewife" (her words when anyone asks her what she does for a living) giving her all to her family...sacrificing her own needs for us on a daily basis. Still.
She grew up with a loving mother and a not-so-loving father. She smiled in spite of it all. Her heart is so open, so loving, so honest...

This became so much clearer to me on the day that my own daughter was born. My mother told me that day that the years would fly by as they had with her own children...that I needed to savor each moment as a mother. Boy, was she ever right! I wonder so often where the last nineteen years have gone. She loves so strongly, so forcefully that sometimes it almost smothers, but I would not have it any other way.

She enjoyed the life of a stay-at-home mom...cooking, cleaning, taking care of everything...those were her loves...she did each chore with such love, such dedication. I feel some days that I am nothing like her; I choose to work...most of my time is spent being too busy to care about the things she loves so much. In recent years, I have come to understand that though we chose different paths, we are still very much alike. I have come to cherish that.

She lives life to the fullest every single day. She has survived much in her life- a rough relationship with her father, loss, teenage pregnancy by her daughter, cancer, financial difficulties...She handles everything with faith and grace. This woman. My mother.

I hope mothers everywhere enjoy this day...have a happy one. I am going to go spend some time with this woman...to try and tell her again how much she means to me.

Missing April

So, where did the month of April go? Does anyone know???
I can not believe it is already practically May, and I have not posted since our Cherry Blossom Festival. I have been so ridiculously busy with school. Let's see...what have I been doing???
Well, here's the list:

* teaching CRCT prep classes every afternoon until 5 p.m. (after teaching an entire day, mind you)
* being team captain of our Relay for Life team
* organizing ALL Relay events (we had something every single day in April!)
* sending countless emails to our staff informing them of every little detail about every single event
* dealing with state mandated testing (two weeks of sheer stress and frustration that the kids might not score well...)
* still teaching five classes a day, managing the MASSIVE paperwork that is involved
* maintaining my position as department chair of my content area
* attending meetings about our new Spring Intervention Plan (since we have no summer school due to budget cuts, we are technically teaching summer school right now with an enormous re-scheduling of 110 students for five teachers!)
* working with my cluster mates to re-schedule the students, who belongs in remediation classes and who belongs in acceleration classes...planning specialized lessons that are all hands-on, differentiated, and unique
* participating in meeting and planning for our new Arts Integration Committee
* conducting my regular duties and responsibilities as a teacher -parent conferences, planning with collegues, creating lesson plans, grading papers, posting grades, teaching, teaching, and more teaching...

One of my biggest distrations this month has been our Relay for Life activities. I have been a team captain for the last ten years no matter where I have worked. I always volunteer to do this because it is such a worthy cause to raise money to help fight cancer. In 1994, my mother had breast cancer, and I am so moved, saddened, strengthened, and inspired by people who go through such a difficult time...I feel compelled to do what I can in some small way.

Tomorrow night is our county's Relay for Life event, and the school fund raising events will come to an end. It's been such a fabulous year. In spite of budget cuts, hard economic times, and financial difficulties all around, our school has raised just over $11,000!!! That amount is $2,000 more than we raised last year. I was completely shocked and thrilled at our total. We have literally been totally engrossed in Relay for Life activities for such a long time now, it is hard to believe another Relay year is coming to an end. The actual Relay for Life Walk-a-Thon event is my most favorite thing because we all get to kick back, have some time to just walk and talk and laugh and eat and celebrate a job well done. In most schools, teachers rarely get time to do just that.

I am off to fall into bed after typing a test for tomorrow's classes. Nightie-night!

Tickle Me Pink

Like Natalie, my friend who lives in the same town, we geared up for a community-wide week-long festival to celebrate the thousands of Cherry Blossom trees we have here. Practically the whole town turns up pink, and there are tons of festivities! The weekend weather was perfect, and the trees cooperated by blooming beautifully.

At the school where I work, we prepared for Friday, the first day of this festival, by having a "Tickle Me Pink Day" for our secret pals! I made something that I learned on two of my favorite blogs (Bakerella and Pioneer Woman) to surprise my secret pal with a sweet pink treat- cupcake bites! Aren't they just precious? Since Friday, I have made two more batches over the weekend! (I have no desire to see anymore for a few months!) They are not only adorable; they are also delicious and not the most impossible things to make. If I can do it, you can do it! My best shot just tickles me pink:

All things were right in the universe this weekend...my baking turned out perfectly; the weather was fabulous; my family enjoyed the time we spent together, and I feel hopeful and ready for the weeks to come...(Spring Break is on the way, Baby!) Hope your weekend put things into a positive perspective for you too! Check out the other Best Shots for Monday at Tracey's place!

Picnic in the Park

Weather seems to be very unpredictable around here these days...we had snow last Sunday and 70 degree temps yesterday! The sky was gloriously bright, and the buds on every tree seem ready to burst forth. A pleasant breeze was blowing, and it seemed like everyone should be outside!

I was busy grading papers ALL DAY on Saturday, and I was longing for the sun to touch my skin on Sunday. Have you ever felt like that? I was just aching to get outside, and we decided to have a picnic in a local park. Well, it seems that everyone in my city decided to do that as well. Washington Park, the park that we had chosen, was ridiculously packed, so we found another less popular choice to spend the afternoon- Coleman Hill. This is one of the highest areas in my city, a place from where you can see most of downtown from the top.

We found a shady place beneath a tree, and proceeded to soak it all in! What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Hope your weekend allowed you to rest and rejuvinate...have a wonderful week!

And my best shot:

It's really not the best shot at all, but the camera's battery chose to die after only two photos. So, this is all I have. To check out other people's really best shots, visit Tracey!

Winter Wonderland

Just when I thought we were on the fast track to summer...it SNOWS! Usually, here in the South, we have a brief mild spring, and summer temperatures follow quickly behind causing smoldering heat waves that you can literally see coming off of the pavement. Temperatures last week were already hovering near 70 degrees. Today, school is cancelled for a snow day. Bizarre!

The daughter and I took a walk and played outside yesterday in the late afternoon...we laughed and frolicked like we were giddy children. In fact, we could hear the squeals of delight from nearby children. We encountered several people taking walks through our neighborhood. It was just lovely. Afterwards, we went inside, sat by the fireplace, had hot chocolate, and snuggled beneath blankets watching the snow fall from the windows.

We so rarely get snow that it just amazes us all...it often shuts the city down, and causes people to panic. This time, schools did close, but most everything else is open. My sister-in-law has to work, so the daughter and I are going to keep my niece, MEBs. Another rare treat!

I see the sun shining already and the glimmer of newly fallen snow that will not last too long. No matter how quickly it disappears, this will be a treasured memory for us for a long time to come!

And our best shot...our happy smiling faces! For other Best Shot Monday stories and photos, spend some time with Tracey!

That Place

You know that place where it all makes sense...where your heart is free to soar and you take such deep breaths that you feel you might just float away?

I was able to be there recently with my best friend in the whole wide world.

It felt like...coming home.