In Which We Find a Pity Party

Most days, I am OK with it. Most days, I can focus on how much better I feel and how grateful I am for figuring out why I was feeling so lousy all the time. Most days, I think about how much better I eat now and how many new and wonderful recipes I have tried and all the new foods I have discovered like Quinoa. Today is not one of those days.

Fridays are a crazy kind of day at my house. Work, then home, then off to get the C.S.A. basket, then dinner and then errands. I used to do errands on Saturday morning, but it ended up eating half the day and I'm too fried on Friday nights to do much more than shop anyhow. A long time ago, when football games and field hockey became part of our normal routine, I instituted a "Friday night is an easy dinner" kind of rule. If it was complicated or took a lot of time, we weren't having it on a Friday.

One Thousand Gifts

108. The way his cool lips feel on my hot forehead, as he's not afraid to catch my germs.

109. Ironing, which quiets my soul and keeps me grounded.

110. The genuine way they were all glad to see me and inquired to how I was feeling.

111. The sweet taste of pure vanilla ice cream. The first thing I've been able to taste in days.

112. Third graders playing recorders for the first time.

113. A day to rest, and recover.

114. Warm sunshine on an early fall afternoon

Somewhere Down the Road

So much pain and no good reason why
You've cried until the tears run dry
And nothing here can make you understand
The one thing that you held so dear
Is slipping from your hands
And you say

One Thousand Gifts

101.  A steaming hot cup of coffee in the quiet morning hours.

102. Sunlight shining through the colored leaves of fall.

103. That he seems to be on the road to "better".

104. A brand new doctor who is willing to find the answers, even if I am a bit "baffling".

105. That she is not suffering any longer, and has gone home to be with our Savior.

106. A husband who picks up the slack when I am stricken ill.

107. A brief break from the splitting headache I've had since yesterday morning.

In Which We Find a Day at The Farmer's Market

Each Tuesday and Saturday, from early May until early October, you can find local folks selling produce and homemade wares in the center of Keene. At 9am, a gentleman walks down the middle of the market and blows what I think is a bike horn. No one is allowed to purchase any items until that horn blasts, but you are allowed to "window shop" and you can set aside items at some of the booths.

One Thousand Gifts

94. A day off to spend with my family.

95. Hugs from former students on the playground.

96. The way the light is changing, signaling autumn's pending arrival.

97. Her thoughtful words of love for me, even though I snapped at her.

98. Time spent in service of others, and deepening friendships in the process.

99. Strong, warm arms that wrapped around me during time spent together watching a movie.

100. The awesome beauty of nature.

We Will Never Forget

"The stern hand of fate has scourged us to an elevation where we can see the great everlasting things that matter for a nation; the great peaks of honour we had forgotten - duty and patriotism, clad in glittering white; the great pinnacle of sacrifice pointing like a rugged finger to heaven."  ~David Lloyd George

Just Barely...

2011 will be a year that stays in my memory for a long, long time. I can rattle off some other significant years; the year of my car accident, the year I got married, the years my kids were born, the year we bought our house and so on and so forth. There is a year of my life where my job was so awful that I've actually lost entirely. Sad thing is, it's half of two different calendar years, but I don't remember any of it, except for how awful things were at school. I can tell you how hard the year was after my nephew Max died, or about the year that I thought for sure my entire world was going to fall apart or about the year that had that we had so many snow days we were in school until almost the end of June.

One Thousand Gifts

85. My friends and loved ones are all safe after the storm.

86. Catching up with co-workers after a long summer apart.

87. Hugs from former students who are genuinely happy to see me.

88. The soft light of the sun coming up over the mountain.

89. Scott's text of gratitude, which came straight from his heart.

90. Laughter shared around the dinner table.

91. Catching up with old friends and family.

92. Heart to heart talks that needed to happen.

93. Forgiveness and understanding.

The Halls of Higher Acadameia

I still remember the day he started Kindergarten. We were living in the city then, not too far away from the elementary school. That seems to be a theme with our places of residence. He was really ready to start the year before, the one that he turned 5, but in NH the cut-off date is September 30th. His birthday is at the tail end of December and they said absolutely not. We spent that year doing alphabet writing and working on sounds and reading simple words and  cool workbook pages from a book I picked up at Wal-Mart. The first day of school we walked down the hill together, and he could barely contain his happiness about finally getting to go to school. The whole way  home he was chatty and excited about his teacher and his new friends and all the things he had learned, but he was not impressed about rest-time and did they really expect him to nap after lunch?! (for the record, he stopped napping right after Ashley was born when he was 2.5. I should've known then he'd be a handful)