Thankful.

What a day... things I am thankful for:

Our students listened, followed directions, and did everything we asked them to calmly and patiently without a single argument. They stayed as quiet as teenagers can be expected to be in a crisis and responded appropriately and immediately to (somewhat random) hand signals.

Our district and building staff are just THE BEST. So many people did so much to keep our kids physically and mentally safe. They are problem solvers, huggers, snack finders, staff bathroom unlockers....I am blessed to work with every. single. one.

We were in the room with a LockBloc on the door--neither adult had to step into the hallway to lock our door.

My caseload student who I was most worried about was with people who know and love them, kept them safe, even made sure they had snacks while locked down sitting in the dark, silently. (Which, in and of itself, is a miracle).

The threat to our building turned out, apparently, to just be a threat. The people involved were contained, for lack of a better word and the situation quieted in a speedy manner (even though it seemed like a long time, sitting in that quiet classroom)

I am blessed to be able to have a rental car for the week/end so I could drive myself around with therapeutic 80's music blaring after school and not have to wait for a ride to get home.

Chick-fil-A frozen coffee and Tylenol Sinus have magical healing properties. (or maybe it was adrenaline?)

My tutoring kids, who, of course, had no idea what happened today at my school, were hardworking and on task--a joy to work with. One even said, "Wow! That hour went by fast!". They made me smile after a very long day.

I have a huge network of friends and family who prayed for us while we waited and who rejoiced with us when everything was safely concluded.

So many other things....but I am tired and am going to watch trashy tv in bed (as soon as The Girl gets home from Wish Week Activites!)

Love and hugs to all my OHS people who (like me) probably feel a little (a lot?) traumatized tonight, despite all the blessings. Prayers that tomorrow is a day equally full of blessings. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, thought of us, sent good ju-ju.

Interesting

So I was scrolling through Facebook, looking at pictures of my nephews and other littles and thinking about when my Facebook feed had photos like this:

You see, if you don't follow me, these days it looks more like this

(Weird fog, right?)


















Or this....

 (This one didn't actually make it on to Facebook, its a photo of my students working for a class I'm taking--notice no faces..and want to know a secret?  Its' totally staged, because I forgot I had to turn in a "visual diary" and asked them to please pose (with their faces hidden...)











And occasionally this

(Notice he is walking away from me...)


















And while my Facebook page certainly looks different these days, I am thankful for my healthy children and their growing independence.  While The Girl is at a friend's house, the Boy, Mr IM and I went to a movie and to dinner--even though we had to wait, there were no crayons and no bribery (although The Boy did drink about 5 glasses of lemonade...hmmm.). The dishwasher is usually emptied by someone other than me, trash cans emptied, pets fed, bathrooms are cleaned.
 (well, not cleaned right now, but technically are cleaned by the children)...leaving me a few minutes this Saturday night to share this brave new world with all of you.  Enjoy where you are, my friends, but don't lament when you reach the next stage...each one so far has its own challenges and joys!

Bonus video from 10 years ago (!!!) this week when we moved into this house
YouTube November 2007, Tissue in the washer

Waiting

About eleven years ago a woman I grew up with had a stroke.  When it happened, the prognosis was not good, but against the odds, she woke up and went home.  She had another baby.  She went back to work.  She saw her oldest graduate from high school.  She did all the things a mom of four does every day for eleven years.  All the big stuff, all the little, every day stuff.

Then, last week, she went in for a routine brain surgery to address an issue related to the stroke.  As my mom says, "We really shouldn't say any brain surgery is routine...".  The surgery went fine, but a waterfall of things happened afterwards, leaving her dependent on a ventilator.  

Her family is taking turns waiting at her side, while those of us who can't be there wait and pray far away.  I pray for a miracle.  I pray for comfort.  I pray she isn't suffering. I pray if she has to suffer it is so she will wake up. I pray for her kids and for all the "what ifs"  I pray for her parents, who wait so patiently, and for her siblings and extended family.

I've made an effort to make time to sit and pray, to think, to communicate with folks who are there and with folks who are far away, like me, and praying.  I spent time over the weekend going through the CD of family photos my mom gave me, looking for pictures of all of us as kids and smiling at all the happy memories.  There were lots of pictures, and lots of memories of things we didn't take pictures of.  Today, I spent some time playing from the hymnal our church used in high school for church and for choir--(My piano teacher would cringe...those flats and sharps are tricky to unpracticed hands). As I played, I  heard many voices in my memory. I could hear my friend take the high soprano, while I did my best to hit second and her sister sang alto. I could hear her laugh, and hear her tell me I could hit the higher soprano note, too. (And me laugh, "no").....I know that even if she leaves us now I will hear her voice again when we all reach heaven.

So for now we wait and pray and remember and hope.

The Other Village

Ok, yes, that one...So IM and I saw "The Sixth Sense" when it was in theaters (clearly  before children) and loved it...so we went to see "Unbreakable" and it was, um, not so good.  We actually had free tickets to see Unbreakable and won a hat and other bling...back when we could go to movie premiers late at night without falling asleep in the theater (I've fallen asleep in a theater..."Horton Hears a Who" really needs more action...Sigh.)  "Signs" was ok, but not necessarily great...I think we rented it (from a "movie rental store"...giggle...) So, when "The Village" came out, I don't think we saw it in the theater, I think we waited until it was "on video" (DVD, I'm sure...really) and rented it.  I thought it must have come out a long time ago...like the 90's, but surprise...it came out in 2004, the year The Boy was born.  Hmm...that was a long time ago...but not like 20 years, only 10.

I remember sitting through the movie, not liking it at all...ugh..it was horrible...then there is that turning point (no spoilers) and I said, "What?  No Way!!!! Oooh....that was cool!"

I try to remember that moment every time I'm slogging through some point in my life when I just can't see anything good coming.  Not necessarily a low or bad point...just that mind-numbing, daily life thing...I know that if I look God will put one of those, "What! How cool!" moments in my life--a sunset, the beautiful flowers in the yard, a sunrise on the way to work, a visit from a former student, a hug from my kids...those everyday turning points that can make all the difference.  Enjoy looking for those little blessings today!

A Ranch sunset from earlier this summer...ahhh.