Morning Coffee

Big, puffy, white clouds float above.
Little Thomas feet pitter patter below.
A lukewarm cup of raspberry delight coffee rests by my side.
Seems like a perfect place for a little writing.

I think I will always remember this summer as the summer I fell in love with the great outdoors. I hope that this summer is the beginning of a transformation. I hope that years from now I will look back at pictures pre-2010 and be able to say, “I don’t even look like the same person.” Physically, I never want to return to where I am right now. I’ve been running and cycling this summer and I feel young and alive. I feel like a kid again. I don’t want to lose that feeling. I want to enjoy life. Enjoy being outside. Enjoy being active. Enjoy my family. Enjoy my work. Just enjoy. Mentally, I want to continue to grow and change. When I think about the person I was 10 years ago, I am amazed at how much different I am. I’ve changed for the better and I hope to continue to become a better human being.

Cooling Off

According to Nikki Phipps
“many people find yucca plants to be welcome additions to the landscape. Others, however, consider them to be problems. In fact, due to their rapid growth and vast root system, yucca plants can quickly become a nuisance.” I fall into the latter category of people. I find these plants to be a huge nuisance and have decided to get them out of my yard. I’ve been outside with the pick-ax hacking away most of the afternoon. When I got so hot I couldn’t stand it, I came in to cool off and found myself cruising the internet. I really enjoyed reading professornana’s blog and felt inspired to write a blog entry myself. I’m cool now though, so I better get back out there and attack a few more yucca plants. Maybe I can come back later and blog about the books I’ve been reading… or the bike I’m going to get for my birthday … or how excited I am about our upcoming trip to the mountains…. or how great my yard is going to look when I get rid of all these yucky yucca plants.

The View that Welcomes Me Home

Numbers 6:24-26

Spring Break Benefits

The hum of the computer,
the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard,
these are the only sounds I hear.

Everyone else has made their way
to the cool pillowcase
or snuggly blanket
that comforts them
on their journey to the land of nod.

In the quiet of the night
I enjoy one of the benefits of spring break,
postponing my journey,
to complete projects postponed for way too long.

The Trees Aren’t Dead. They Are Preparing for Life!

Slice of Life Challenge.

I’ve noticed the trees this winter. This afternoon, as I was driving to town, I noticed the color of the trees on the hillside and the beautiful blue sky above them. I couldn’t help thinking how beautiful it was. If there hadn’t been so many telephone poles and wires in the foreground, I would have stopped to take a picture. The blue sky juxtaposed with the brown trees reminded me of the colors in a Vera Bradley purse. I don’t own a Vera Bradley purse, and really have no desire to spend that much money on a purse. The only one that has ever tempted me in the least though was the brown and blue pattern that I saw a few years ago, and that is what I thought of when I looked at the tree and sky today. This isn’t the first day I’ve noticed the trees though. I’ve caught myself staring at them a lot lately. They don’t only remind me of purses though, they also make me think. Two days ago, as I walked through the neighborhood I stared at the trees and tried to remember the bible verse that I had memorized as a child. The one about the tree planted by the water, and I couldn’t help wondering if I was like that tree. Tonight as I think about the trees, I can’t help thinking about the bareness of their branches. I feel bare myself. I feel like in the years that I have been out of the classroom, I’ve allowed a part of myself to drop off. Tonight I can see the beauty in that bareness though. The trees juxtaposed against the brilliant blue sky are beautiful. In a few weeks we will see buds on their branches and they will start life anew. I know that new things are coming for me as well, and the bareness is only a temporary state that prepares me for what comes next.

What’s In Your Trash Can?

I feel like I’m cheating a little on this slice. I revised a journal entry I wrote in November. Slice of Life Challenge.

Clean out the Trash!

There is a Voices from the Middle journal in the trash can. I am not sure if the message being sent by that is intentional or not, but the sting is still painful.

When I look down and see that journal, I realize that the person who threw it there has no value for it. Since I am a middle school teacher and see myself as a voice from the middle, I can’t help feeling like maybe they have no value for me as well. This is a problem I see in the world around me. So many of us have no value for others. So many of us are willing to discard the things that others cling to. We aren’t willing to take the time to really get to know one another. We are quick to judge and discard the thoughts of those we don’t agree with. I think it is time we all cleaned out our trash cans.

Quiet Time

Another slice for the Slice of Life Challenge.

I can hear the hum of the refrigerator and the click of the computer keys. Everything else is silent. If I could just hold my eyes open, this would be a great time to write. This challenge is really a challenge for me. I long for the days when writing ideas just pop up everywhere. So, even though my eyes are heavy, I find myself staring at this computer screen and searching for something to write. It wouldn’t be entirely true to say that I just don’t have any ideas. I have ideas, I just don’t seem to have the confidence I need to write them. So, here I am writing a slice about how I can’t seem to find the confidence to write a slice. Hopefully, a slice a day will push the lack of confidence away.

It’s Bedtime

Another slice for the Slice of Life Challenge.

My house is a mess.
The laundry just keeps piling up.
Dirty dishes, dirty dishes and more dirty dishes.
The Diaper Genie is full again.

Will and Tobi laugh as they fold clothes.
Bill whispers gently in Thomas’s sweet little ear.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Another Tiny Slice

Another slice for the Slice of Life Challenge.

I attended a West Tennessee Writing Project workshop this morning. In the first session, we were asked to write about our favorite song. It took a few minutes for me to think of a song to write about, but eventually one came to mind and I wrote:

I was getting ready for work one morning and turned on the television. As I rushed around getting myself ready and making sure my two children were getting ready, the words on the television screen caught my eye and the music tweaked my ears. I stopped everything to watch the video. I didn’t know who the band was, but I knew I wanted to download the song to my itunes. The song was “If Everyone Cared” by Nickelback and it made me wonder, “what the world would be like if everyone cared?”

Tobi Says

Another tiny slice for the Slice of Life Challenge.

Tobi spoke her first sentence on December 19, 1996. It was, “I don’t want that, I don’t like that.” Since then, she has said many, many, more sentences and phrases. Here are few Tobi quotations we treasure.

“I don’t want to go to the country today.”

“When you get the baby in your tummy, it’s going to look like daddy’s.”

“A peanut sat on a railroad track. His heart was all a flutter, around the bend came number 10 Toot Toot….peanut butter!”

“Thank you for being my daddy.”

Tobi: Mommy, why is that man on TV talking babytalk?
Me: He’s not. He’s speaking French.
Tobi: Oh! That’s why it looks like Paris!

“AAAAAAHHHHHH! I saw something over there! Long grass……………WALKING!!”

“I’m going to be smooshed when I go to Walt-Daddy’s house because it is so small. He lives in a compartment.”

“You need a shirt that says ‘squirrel killer and shirt theif’.”