So I Was Just Thinking

The long expected day finally arrived; the day when their dad came to get them for over a month; the day when they find out that all his promises are true or not. I don't like putting them in that situation, but he has his rights and the youngest so wants to be with him. They listen to his grand ideas while he raises their expectations about some magical mystery job he has been going on about for two years with mysterious salaries that never materialize and they believe him. And I will be here to pick up the pieces when they come back with a new look at reality. In the meantime, I will get Little Man's room ready with the sports theme that he has been wishing for. Maybe it will soften the blow. And in the same meantime, I will take my savings and go back to school shopping for both children to wipe out the memory of a year ago while we lived on public assistance when every other word I wanted to say was, "No, we can't afford it." What got me through all of thi...

I have been literally counting the days for the past three weeks. Work was especially stressful for at least two months. The last day of work there wasn't much to do because I was on top of everything, so I spent the day listening to Audiobooks and watching the clock. I was reading Marit's blog and saw that she was participating in Index Card a Day at Daisy Yellow so I decided to join in. Can you tell what I am ready for? I am so ready that on the last day of work,  I couldn't even spell VACATION on my first index card. The first order of business: Sleep in. And sleep in I did. Actually, I woke up at 8:15 and said, "In 15 minutes, I will get up and mow the lawn." Fifteen minutes later came an hour later to find me sound asleep. I woke up surprised to see how late it was (during the year I wake at 5:00 a.m). I then got the kids up to pick up anything that might get caught in the mower. I put the new edger together and put gas in the mower. Index ...

My parents loved the family road trip. Since my father was in the military, he would have 30 days off a year for vacation. He always waited until summer to use them. The trips always started with Dad getting out the old Rand McNally, a Best Western Guide and a pad of paper. (These were the days before Mapquest.) He would then map out our route correlating travel times with Best Western Motel locations. Dad knew he would be doing most of the driving while mom read the map, and my brother and I sat in the back of the metallic blue Chevy Impala station wagon continually saying, "I'm not touching yoouuuuuu." It's a wonder dad never pulled the car over. Lunches at roadside parks consisted of foods that would survive long times out of the refrigerator. Mom found something called "deviled ham" and another product known as "Cheez Whiz." She would use these together to fashion a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard on the white bread that stuck to the roof ...

It's the simple things that make life worthwhile sometimes. Example 1: Today I was looking for supplies in my cupboard at school when I realized that I had an unopened box of Girls Scout Thin Mints. There they were just calling my name. I was good and resisted tearing open the box and having a handful right in front of my students. Instead, I waited until I finished my healthy lunch of Progresso Chicken Soup, carefully pulled out three and enjoyed them one by one. I did have to resist the urge to leave the open box at the table and eat them freely from the box. (A habit I broke many years ago.) Example 2: Another simple thing is the ability to hit the snooze bar. I love it. It feels like I am getting over on someone. Sure, I have to wake up early to enjoy this, but somehow it is worth it to be able to slap that button a couple of times. Otherwise, I would have to jump up right when the alarm went off. Where's the fun in that? Example 3: Living where I do, it gets hot. Not just ...