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We have a connection to this church since this is where Mama Jane attends and we always hit up their outdoor events in the fall. We got a little respite from the rain (though not enough to have the event at it’s regular location at their sports complex) so we went for it.
We bumped into The Young’s and hung out with them for most of the evening. Things have been busy for all of us (especially them) and they boys have really missed one another. Evan was off with Matt doing a moon bounce and Jake was waiting in line to climb a rock wall.
He must have stood there while waiting in line for a solid full minute with his hands like this. Too funny.
Evan’s first pony ride.
Lucas has been on ponies before, and even got to ride a horse, thanks to our dear friend, Leanne. He’s an old pro. 
Dinner time…winding down from all the excitement. LIstening to some Coffey Anderson and my former student, Robby.
Thank goodness, Mike spotted us. We were starting to worry we wouldn’t run into any Nason’s or Mama Jane! She snuck up behind Lucas and when he turned around to greet her he just couldn’t set his drink down fast enough to “hug her neck.”
In the event you haven’t heard of Coffey Anderson, here are a few links and videos to pique your interest: soul, pop, Christian…you name it. He’s having a good time and he’s talented for sure!
We’ve been busy. Isn’t life awesome! After soccer Saturday before last (I’m SO behind!) we went to Lucas’s friend Marlaina’s 6th birthday party. For three years running they’ve had the formalities (cake, gifts) in the Veteran’s park outside the Zoo and culminated the party (with the folks who care to stay) touring the Zoo. Marlaina’s a huge animal lover. We got there early and just looked around. The weather was just too good to pass up. It’s nice to see green.
Lucas was absolutely delighted to see his Mama Jane! We all were, truth be told. Life gets busy and you lose touch with people that are just down the road. We’ll certainly head over to her house for some outside play as the school year comes to a close. Can’t let so much time pass next time.
Lucas beheaded the pinata. Maybe we should strongly urge him to reconsider playing baseball.
Somebody loves his Mama. Forever picking flowers for me. I sincerely hope he does this when he’s thirty. I mean, he can do that for his wife too, but I don’t need store bought flowers. Maybe he’ll draw them for me and send them in the mail. I relish these days.
Lucas with his newly budding teeth and “treasure map,” the zoo map. You can tell this isn’t my shot. Too much head room for me! But still awesome!
I didn’t get a shot of a polar bear last trip because some dude saw my camera and fancy flash and wanted to talk “photography.” I still didn’t get the one I wanted this time because it was too crowded, but at least it was something. This fella was so playful. He kept swatting at the glass, the kids would laugh and then he’d do it again. So fun! The seals were out and about too!
They just love being together. They spent the better part of four years of their lives together at Mama Jane’s. Katia and I have vowed to do anything we can to keep them connected though they’ll be at different schools across town. There’s something to be said about having a history with someone. Sometimes it’s not so good, but most of the time, it’s family.
We got home and put the boys to bed for a few minutes, then Shelby came over to hang out with them so I could check out a student of mine who was playing with some other students I know at a famous venue in town.
It was a big deal for them and I have had numerous connections with his family over the past three years, plus I figured it was a good excuse to get down to Beale Street for one of these:
Easter Sunday was quite nice. We did the Easter Bunny thing and the egg dyeing thing…only problem…not such good pictures. I think the batteries are crapping out on the flash and I didn’t have time with Easter dinner, dyeing eggs and an at home egg hunt to worry about the pictures. Too busy building the natural memories.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Fall. Looks like Spring is giving Fall a run for her money!
There’s a whole heaping lot of stuff going on around here and it’s a real challenge to remain sane much less update the blogs and visit those of my friends. I assure you, I will more than make up for lost during during the sweet summertime.
Just a recap:
Grandma is still in the hospital. Sunday will mark two weeks. There have been differing reports of how much longer her stay will be as well as what her immediate future care needs will be. To say that this has been a constant source of frustration for my mother would be a serious understatement. She’s exhausted beyond belief and stressed to the max. Grandma is getting grumpy about the whole deal and she is just so incredibly weak that any movement at all is a strain.
I’m staying late at work nearly every day. Meetings for this committee and that committee. Senior video in its first “final draft” is due on the 17th and we are scrambling. As the quality of our productions increases, so do the requests (and demands) for our services. I’ve got to get a handle on how to best organize it all, but the time for that, unfortunately, is not when we’re right in the thick of it. Senior Video will be shown and delivered to the senior class the day before we pack up all our gear for a remote shoot to tape graduation which we need to finalize and burn for all who purchase it within a week. The good news is that exams for my classes are projects and I finally moved the due date up. So, I’ll not be dealing with exams on top of all the other stuff. They were due April 3rd. I have very few turned in and after tomorrow, students will lose 10 points per day it is turned in late. I’ll add a cut off date to the mix tomorrow. I will not accept them after the 16th. At that point, the best they could score with a nearly perfect project is a 50% anyway. Ah, a problem solved. This is another reason why I write it out.
We had a whirlwind week organizing and taping the Mock Car Crash and now editing it. Tomorrow we tape the Talent Show and edit that. The thespians want the archive copies of their productions for their banquet, which are all on DV CAM tape, not mini DV, so we have to convert all that. We taped Student Government speeches, only someone messed with the settings and we didn’t get video. Reshot those today. And so on and so forth. We’re in talks with the Chamber for a service project as well as the middle school for an orientation video. I’m also trying to write a grant. So much learning happening I think my head might explode.
Of course you know that Lucas is participating in Spring soccer, so we do that three days a week, weather permitting. Sometimes I’m grateful when it rains. Anyone ever been there? I used to be disappointed that I spent that $80 and he missed a practice. Now I think it was a lot cheaper than therapy. He’s also graduating from pre-school next month so we’re ordering gowns and taking pictures for that. Oh, I keep forgetting to call the elementary school about that pre-registration I saw on the sign! Tomorrow’s the last day. Do I need his birth certificate? Social security card? I just ran downstairs to get those before I forget again. Don’t have a shot record. Ugh.
Matt insisted we have a garage sale, even though I wanted to cop out & just donate to Goodwill. I figured it’d be roughly the same tax-wise, but I’ve never been good with figures. Anybody have any answers on that one? I just think that if we make $300, that’s all well and good. I could use it. But how much was that actually…you know per hour of my life that I will never get back? So…that might be happening on Good Friday. That’s when Grandma’s birthday falls this year, by the way. And she gets to spend it absolutely miserable.
Did I mention that Matt also decided he’d like to paint the playroom? I bought the paint and supplies per his request. Guess who has taped the room. Go on, guess. I love that man, I do. But if he gives me another job I’m going off the deep end. Did he tell me to tape the room? Did he ask me to? No. That is just my personality. I am a GO-GETTER. I make lists. Actually, I’ve started to grow out of lists to some degree. If I can take care of it immediately, I do. Saves me the time of putting it on a list, moving it to another list and eventually crossing it off. Even though the crossing off feels so very rewarding, I’m learning to just love the actual accomplishment. Plus, paint settles after a while. It’s really best to use it when it’s been freshly mixed at the store.
Evan turns three very soon and we’re gonna throw him a party. He didn’t have one at two (Lucas did, for the record), so this is quite exciting. I’ve been shopping for all things Thomas the Tank Engine and filling out invitations begging people to RSVP. That’s next weekend, by the way.
I am taking the time, in the midst of all of this, to connect with long lost friends though social networking sites (as well as keep up with current ones). It’s so cool. Amazing how the passage of time just disintigrates under the bridge. I am truly blessed to have such good people in my life. We strive to build eachother up and help one another along this journey. I wish I knew sooner how important all this really was in the grand scheme of things. Maybe I could have changed some things, I dunno. I still maintain that everything happens for a reason and I guess my spiritual journey is right on course.
Life IS so very good, and my goal is to figure out how to enjoy just a wee bit more of it! Matt and I are going on a date night Saturday (this happens twice a year!) and I bought us tickets to Wicked today for late June. It was a splurge, but we deserve it.
Over and out. I’ll see ya when I see ya. For real. It’s day by day this time of year.
I was once struck by a quotation on somebody's fridge, when I was selling educational books door to door sometime in 1993,that said, "Piles are unmade decisions."
I believe that to be true to this day.
I did make plenty of piles today that I felt were laden with unmade decisions that were actually decisions within themselves. Allow me to share a few with you:
No, they might not actually look like "piles," but they are. Collections of like belongings. Trust me when I tell you that just a day ago, there was nothing resembling a collection of anything anywhere in this house. It was a catastrophic mess. So, you see piles of Christmas decorations awaiting boxes. Distinct piles of items on the counters. I feel like I can actually locate something if I needed to do so. Plus it was fun trying to take pictures at night in my vampire den and have them actually turn out like they were taken in my house under such low-light conditions. I'm ready to take a few classes and get this picture-taking thing rolling!
Well, it is the very end of Day 2 in my teacher world. I have had a really great time just working through it all with everybody. I never realized until now, how delightful it can be to be able to connect with teachers from your own department. We have truly bonded. We miss Mark and have had our hearts with his family and one another already.
I am enjoying my students immensely. Why else am I there, anyway? Year nine, here I come. I am curious where you will lead me this time.
I think that sounds a little like a prayer. And maybe it is. I have much to be thankful for.
I just looked over some things my students wrote to me at the end of this year. These are things that were posted, not written in a yearbook or thank you card. They are digital evidence to me that I am making an impact.
I literally stumbled upon this site today. I was finally getting around to trying the website and I am thus far, very impressed.
I first heard of Watts through a friend of mine from junior high. We got back in touch this year through MySpace after managing to miss two or three years most recently. I remember staying up until all hours playing chess in seventh grade. We have shared many, many memories throughout the years.
Perhaps this is another.
Matt enjoyed it too and I was glad to be able to talk to him about art, pop-culture and make him laugh.
We’re taking a lot of trips this month and have been busy packing, driving, enjoying family times and resting for another round. I’ll get back to current family event postings on here as soon as I can. I’m also painting the kitchen/hearth room, I am reorganizing the main linen closet, the upstairs toy room and just about every corner in the house all at once. Summer is a challenging time to complete home projects, but somehow it always comes together in the end.
Wednesday is Open Swim, lots of folks are out of town, but we’ll still swim no matter. Thursday is painting and errand day and Friday morning, we’re off to Destin.
I have spent much time with this song of late. I really think it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I need to hurry up and listen to Leonard Cohen’s version. He wrote the song, after all.
Breathtaking, indeed. Do take some time to listen.
Fell in love with Jeff Buckley first, a long time ago, but most recently again last month. Thanks to last.fm I’m now listening to Allison Crowe too. I’m heading to Leonard Cohen next, for sure:
Nice, huh?
