Butterfly in the Wind

     I identify with this meme in so many levels. This last week we had temperatures rise over 80 degrees. Tuesday the pollen count was high, the winds were worth "emergency weather pattern" in the email, and the children were letting loose now that the masks are off.     Tuesday was the day I started working 8 hour days three days a week at school. Arriving at 7 a.m. to greet children on the playground at 7:15 a.m. My normal schedule would be to waive lunch and work until 12:30 p.m. Tuesday I was taking my lunch from 12:30 to 1 p.m., except there was a fire drill. I noticed a few pieces of playground equipment on the way back to the break room and dropped my walkie-talkie in the ball basket. ( It was not recovered until Wednesday morning.) I tutor 4th grade after school and watch a group of 3rd grade kiddos after tutoring until the bus comes about 3:35 p.m.      With the high winds and pollen I was sneezing my head off. There are 8 children in my...

My One Word for this year is JOY. A decade ago I used Ann Voskamp's journal to count 3 gifts a day for 365 days. That practice began a change in my lift to look for small gifts of joy in the day. We encourage the staff and students to pick One Word each year using the kid version of Jon Gordon's book. Last year my word was Kindness and I made a vision board with my word. In the next week I will have my 3rd graders make a vision board with their One Word. The 3rd graders humbled me last year with their sincerity when choosing their one word. The passion in an 8 or 9 year old's eyes when they spoke about why they chose that word was inspiring.  I took time during my winter break to read my first Donna Fletcher Crow book. I love church history and after rereading How the Irish Saved Civilization  I visited a friend who introduced me to Ms. Crow. A Very Private Grave was a fast read for me as I traveled through Ireland and followed the roads that Cuthbert had walked.  My fri...

Molly stood there for a half hour, just looking at the Nativity collection.     I have found this season to be a time of rest and "unpeopling".  I finished up my university studies for 2021 in mid-December and still had to work until December 22nd. On the 23rd I just sat in my chair and rested. As many in my school district had struggled with THE sickness, loss of family members, and many other calamities in 2021 I just struggled with exhaustion. With a mild sinus infection I just sat like Molly in the above photo, and stared into space. Rose Sunday, "Rejoice the Lord is near."     On December 24th I was at the church creating beauty for worship. December 12, Rose Sunday was our last full service. Many in our parish had gotten sick and after that Sunday I still felt devotion to continue to adorn the altar for the Lord even if only two of us were present for service. "   For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the mid...

  Today I received a writing prompt: "What are you listening to?" The author of the email had recently had a writer's workshop and this was her prompt. As I have been resting for the past 7 days I listened to the radio a lot. But she said, "Not the radio, the sounds you hear..." Well, for a couple of days it was: The pounding of my own heart.  The keys on my computer as I wrote essay after essay. The sniffs from going off my allergy meds. Molly "Meowing" loudly in the bathroom at the dissatisfaction of whatever... My windchimes. My own breathing. Finally, about Tuesday my heart stopped racing. I got caught up on the university essays, and I ordered a new RX for my allergies (Why do I have allergies in the Fall/Winter?) Wednesday morning I went in to get my fasting blood work that was ordered in August. The receptionist chided me for not getting it done before as they are open at 7 a.m. every morning. "Yes, but I work at an elementary school."...

  Chet the Praying Mantis This week I read a story with my 3rd grade reading group about Chet, the Praying Mantis. He is a private investigator who is asked to solve the Case of the Missing Drops . My students guessed the drops were chrysalis for butterflies. The villain in the story was Batty Bat. Near the end of the story Chet uses his camouflage skills to hide in a tree while Batty Bat and his gang are discussing the location where they hid The Drops.      We had 5 minutes left in the period and as we were sitting outside for the lesson... I asked the children to imagine Chet hiding in the tree next to us and Batty Bat with the gang. Then I suggested the town of Bug Box and Buggy Hall at the base of the tree. A few hours later as I was waiting outside the 3rd grade class with my 5th grade tutoring group one boys says, "Ms. Deena can I go see the Praying Mantis on the tree?" "HUH?! WHAT!?" Sure enough, there was a real Praying Mantis on the base of the tree exactl...

  For Everything there is a season....     This week I had a milestone moment while writing a paper in Multicultural Education . This class has not been a stretch for me, however the instructor has made me look at my childhood and that has been difficult. On the surface I had a two parent home with a mom who did not work out of the home until I was about 12. My family had dogs and cats and we went to church a lot. It was the 1960's and no one I knew went to Vietnam to fight in the war. My memories are lonely and filled with pain.     My assignment this week was regarding a classroom project that a 3rd grade teacher performed in April of 1968 following the  Assassination  of Martin Luther King Jr. I pulled out my photo album and realized that I was in 3rd grade in April of 1968. Little Deena is bottom right above Tom     The experiment done by Jane Elliott  could have been in my classroom by Mrs. Terrill. Mrs. Elliott divided the chi...

  September 2, 1978 What would you say to your 18 year old self? That was one of those Facebook questions a few days go. My mother told me on this day, 43 years ago, "You don't have to go through with this, we can just have a party and go home."  I would say the same thing to my 18 year old self. "You don't have to marry him." I felt I did. Five years later when he cheated on me with my best friend I wished that I had listened to my mom.  So many times I wished my children had listened to me, but they are all doing well. I am doing well. We all have life experiences that are unpleasant. We all grow from these experiences and hopefully become wiser, kinder, and more understanding people. same Bitmoji What is going on in this world?      49 weeks ago I made this my Bitmoji. I've lost 20 pounds since then. I have longer hair and a perm. I got permanent lip makeup since wearing makeup with a mask is impossible. For over a year now I have a mask in my purse o...