The Passing of Time

Attended my nephew's high school graduation this evening.
Wondered where all of these years have gone...how did they go by so very fast?
Is it really possiible that he could be eighteen, a high school graduate, and ready for the world?
It was almost more than I could bear.

I held him as a tiny baby...changed his diapers...rocked him to sleep on more than several occasions. My brother and the nephew's mother divorced when the nephew was a boy. His mother moved to another city (not terribly far away, but not here) and we do not see him as much as I would like. I suppose some of that is my own fault. I could have asked to get him for a weekend or such.

I remembered so much this evening as I sat waiting to hear his name...waiting for him to walk across the stage and get his diploma...I remembered his little boy grin, his curly locks, his arm around my daughter's shoulders..."Cousins," they would say. When most people yelled and shouted for joy this evening, I felt my eyes well up with tears...

The passage of time is such a bittersweet thing.

Jack Martin, I am so very proud of you, and I love you more than I can say. You made it!
"Let your soul shine,
It's better than sunshine,
It's better than moonshine
Damn sure better than rain...
Gotta let your soul shine,
shine 'til the break of day..."

Summer, Smiles, and Sprinkles

School is out. Summer has begun.

Relaxation...it's what I have been looking for for awhile now...after such a long hard school year- one of the worst in my teaching career- all I want to do is nothing.

Over the last few weeks when school was the hardest, the daughter helped me find ways to make it through...we went to the park on several occasions to nap on a picnic blanket, play in the water, and blow these humongous bubbles...

Then of course, we all celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary! What an amazing weekend...we spent it in North Carolina with family...and a fabulous meal at this place called the Gateway Club. It is a restaurant housed in a historical building that has been restored with state of the art amenities while holding on to the traditions of the past...simply amazing. My brother and sister-in-law did an anniversary video that brought us all to tears. We are blessed to have THE best parents in the world...I couldn't have chosen better parents myself.

Also, the daughter and I have been in the kitchen making all sorts of fun things...like these graduation pops for a friend of hers. We found them on one of my favorite blogs, Bakerella. Of course Bakerella's look perfect, and we were a little messy, but the effect was the same.

We have also been making....soft serve ice cream with mix-ins like sprinkles. That's enough to make anyone smile! The husband purchased this machine because sprinkles are the daughter's favorite thing and we love ice cream at our house...and last night we tried it for the first time. Peanut butter ice cream with rainbow candy coated chocolate sprinkles. I was so excited, I forgot to get a shot of the actual ice cream. Trust me, we had some, and it was yummy. What says summer better than ice cream?

I have several more days of work ahead of me, even though the school year is officially over. I am also teaching a class for teachers soon, so the summer is looking further and further away. I am trying to do little things to help remind me that it IS really summer. How about you? What fun summer things have you been doing?

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!