Today I Love...umm...well...LOVING! Slice of Life 2015 Day 18

To borrow a phrase from a friend today, have you ever watched God thread the needle and sew things up?  That's what I had happen today.  

When I left my classroom last evening, I adjusted the Today I Love count that I keep for my students on the whiteboard and felt a bit of pressure as my own "count" turned to 1,000 days of loving.  Now, count is a very loose term...remember I am a word girl, not a number girl.  I have taken a day off now and again, still loving, but not always posting.  I may have miscounted, and I have definitely posted more than a few DOUBLE WHAMMY and TRIPLE WHAMMY and even QUADRUPLE WHAMMY Days when it was just not enough to only love one thing.  As I hit Day 100, I loved LOVE...I quoted some Bible verses and thought that it was a pretty stinkin' big deal to have intentionally loved for 100 days in a row.  

Day 500 came and went and I honestly have no idea what I loved that day...it very well may have been LOVE again.  And there have literally been a thousand crazy things along the way:  I have loved the electric bill, being left handed, all sorts of food, BACON (multiple times!), particular people and loved ones, strangers, keeping dry, getting wet, PBJs, particular colors, pinky promises, weddings, sleeping in, staying up late, getting up early...you name it!  But as day 1,000 came closer and closer, my mind actually started to wonder...would that be it?  Would I run out of things to love after 1,000 days and have to finally come through with my promise to love chocolate chip cookies and call it quits?

Heavens no!  Perish the thought!  If anything, what today (a long day!) has taught me is that it is the actual LOVING that I love the most.  It is the daily search, the wondering, the pondering over the day's happenings, and yes, sometimes the desperation to turn something negative into something positive before I fall asleep at night, that gets me through!  I have never thought of myself as a "glass half full" optimist.  Being medicated for depression several years ago pretty much stripped any idea of my being "positive" away from me.  It is sometimes a genuine struggle to find any light in my day at all.  But that's where this crazy obsessive habit has come in quite handy.  By "forcing" myself to look for, to find, and to LOVE something each day, I do not allow myself to wallow...well, at least not permanently!  

And the best best best part?  Seeing it show up in others' lives.  I found out late this afternoon that my seventh graders who are searching for that sweet spot between 6th and 8th (and keep getting in their own way as seventh graders will) just talked with their homeroom teacher and together they have started their own "Attitude of Gratitude" bulletin board; a place to sticky note up the things for which they are thankful.   

 
 So, silly as it may seem, when "beamish" showed up as the "Word of the Day" on my dictionary app (beamish; adjective, bright, cheerful, optimistic) I just had to laugh at God's sense of humor and absolute perfect timing!  I could see Him threading that needle and beginning to sew up this 1,000 day issue for me once and for all.

 

And THEN when He arranged chapel and had the song "Speak Life" by Toby Mac played, I was chuckling (and singing along!) again.  (Please listen if you have the few moments.)  He THEN sent Matthew Vohlwinkel, youth pastor at a nearby church whom I have never met, to speak at chapel this morning about how we must search out those positive things in our lives, not grumble, not whine, and not miss the daily blessings that God sends us...yeah, I was smiling again.  



So...1,000 days is a lot of days...but really not that many in the grand scheme of things.  I expect to make it to at least 100 years, as My Ol' Man has said he will do.  That's roughly 36,500 days in all.  I'm almost halfway to that 100 year old mark, so that means I have roughly 18,250 days (give or take) left.  So...what will I do tomorrow?  Why, look for something to love of course.  

Because today...
      
             and tomorrow...
          
                        and the next day...

                                        I will love the LOVING.  

                                                     Won't you please give it a try?

                                                              It really does make all the difference.








 

 

Today I Love The Art Show - Slice of Life 2014 Day 27

Thanks to the good people at Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Today is Day 27 of 31...and today I am blatantly steal...umm...borrowing an idea from my friend Cathy's post from yesterday as I attempt to sum up My Ol' Man's art showing in a series of six "6 word" stories.  (Spoiler alert to my students who are reading this...we'll be trying these after break!)

The Man and I had a great time tonight with My Ol' Man, my big brother, and his two sons, at the Bryn Du Mansion in Granville.  While three pieces were entered in the exhibit, he felt quite blessed to have gotten one accepted...many regulars were turned down this year.  And by evening's end, he had been given the wonderful (and profitable) news that his piece sold!  This year's show will be running through April 5, weekdays 4-8pm, Saturdays 1-7, and Sunday 1-5.

Today I love The Art Show

From "Red on Red" to "Picasso"

(zoom in close)

 

 

From The Shark to homemade crayons

(zoom in closer!)

 

I'm color deprived; craving "Brilliant Day"

 

Loved watching My Ol' Man hobnob

The boys sharing art, or technology?

 

My Ol' Man - quite the artiste!

"Clockworks"

 

Today I Love Frugal...Slice of Life Tuesday Challenge

Well, it's happened.  Finally, I am getting my pay back for all of the jabbing and teasing I have given My Ol' Man over the years.  Do you see that wrinkly sheet of waxed paper under those pieces of cookie dough I was getting ready to freeze the other day?  Yup...gasp!  It's...it's...it's...RE-USED!

Now, my Ol' Man is a child of The Great Depression.  Like many of those born in the early 1930s, he was raised to be conservative in his usage of materials and money.  He shops around for and delays major purchases for as long as humanly possible.  He appreciates a good bargain.  He does not buy something because he "wants" it.  He buys things when he "needs" them...and sometimes doesn't buy things when he needs them.  He is not in debt.  

Now, when I say "it's happened", I am not (alas) declaring that we are debt free...oh, the joy of that thought.  No, I am declaring something much more significant.  I am declaring that I have finally begun the transformation into something of a cross between My Ol' Man and his sister, my dear Aunt Freda, who many would have described, quite lovingly, as...well...frugal.  

Yes, one of the things that I have been jabbing at My Ol' Man about for a while now is his tendency to use the same piece of waxed paper when he reheats leftovers in the microwave.  The waxed paper reduces splatters, and thus clean up.  Most of us would use that piece of paper once and toss it.  Not My Ol' Man...he gets a good long series of uses out of one sheet of waxed paper.  I know Aunt Freda, may she rest in peace, had similar cost cutting strategies...rinsing zip lock bags, washing aluminum foil, and the like.  At her funeral two summers ago, there were many loving and humorous stories shared about her love for a good buy and her pursuit of a new way to save money.

So...yes, I'll admit it and I'll admit it proudly.  I am a waxed paper re-user.  It may not make me debt free, but it will put me in the company of some wise and loving folks, My Ol' Man and Aunt Freda for starters, and I'm guessing some loved ones of yours as well.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some baggies to wash out.  Today I love being frugal!

Today I Love Trustworthy

Today I Love Trustworthy

A few weeks ago I told my sweet seventh graders a couple of stories.  They bear repeating today.   We had just begun talking about our next memory verse, Revelation 21:4-5:  “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.   He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.

I actually have a couple of stories to go with that particular verse, but on that particular day I had just had to be pretty stern with a student prior this discussion.  I opened with this question, “What does this word in our verse, trustworthy, really mean to you?”  They answered basically that it meant that if you said you were going to do something, you could be counted on to do that very thing…that your actions matched your words.  I followed with this question, “Do you guys want trustworthy?”  Many of them said, yes, they wanted trustworthy.  They wanted to BE trustworthy and they wanted the people in their lives to be trustworthy.  I asked them if they were sure.  They again said yes.  I asked them if they remembered me telling them the rules in the beginning of the year and the certain things that would earn them some negative consequences.  Were they absolutely sure that they wanted me to be trustworthy when it came to them getting in “trouble”?  One sweet girl put it all in perspective.  (I can’t quote her exact words, but this is her basic message.)  “When someone is trustworthy, you have to be able to count on them for good and for bad…even when it hurts.”  And thus came the stories…

Once upon a time there was a young foolish high school girl who shall remain nameless (cough!me!cough!), who was all full of herself and eager to impress her friends.  One bright sunny morning as she and her friend were standing waiting for the school bus and chatting as young foolish high school girls will do, neither of them happened to notice that the school bus had indeed pulled up, stopped, and was just getting ready to pull away again.  Upon noticing this near tragedy, the young foolish high school girl who shall remain nameless was shocked and surprised to such a degree that a particular four letter word…a foul four letter word…came slipping right out of her mouth.  Now, it just so happened on this bright and sunny morning that the young foolish high school girl’s good hardworking father just happened to not have left for work yet…and he heard that particular foul four letter word slip right out of her young foolish mouth.  He protested mightily, as good hardworking fathers will do, but the young foolish high school girl and her friend were running to catch the bus.  That would have been the end of that story had the young foolish high school girl not been oh so very full of herself that she felt it necessary to mouth off to the good hardworking father later that night.  At that point the good hardworking father rewarded the young foolish high school girl with a quick smack right across the mouth…as good hardworking and TRUSTWORTHY fathers will do!  Needless to say, the young foolish high school girl quickly broke the habit of letting foul four letter words slip out of her young foolish mouth!

Fast forward about a year and the young foolish high school girl was now home with a most vile and despicable bout of the stomach flu.  Who was right by her side, but the good hardworking father?  It just so happened that this particular day was the day that the young foolish high school girl’s class ring was to be delivered at school.  The good hardworking father left her side just long enough to go to the store for 7-Up, but of course returned with the class ring as well, as good hardworking and TRUSTWORTHY fathers will do!

Fast forward many many years later and the married and a little bit wiser but still quite young girl and her Man had just suffered a miscarriage.  Her Man called the good hardworking father to inform him of the sad news.  The good hardworking father asked if he should come to be with the married and a little bit wiser but still quite young girl.  She was a grown up now and though she could not bear to talk to the good hardworking father on the phone, she told her Man to say, no, she would be fine.  Approximately one hour later, whose shoulder should she be crying into, but her good and hardworking father’s, who though he was told no, came anyway…as good hardworking and TRUSTWORTHY fathers will do!

Yes, my friends…we do want TRUSTWORTHY in our lives...for good times and for times when we need corrected.  In early 1977, My Ol’ Man became both good hardworking and TRUSTWORTHY father and mother to all four of us…whether he wanted the job or not.  He met the challenge head on, correcting us when we needed it, loving us through it all, trusting us when we proved trustworthy, suspicious of us when we proved sneaky, suffering a bit of high blood pressure in the process, and, I think, surviving the whole process quite well.  My Ol’ Man is to this day, the best good hardworking and TRUSTWORTHY father a girl could ever desire. 

Happy Mother’s Day, Ol’ Man…I love you!

Today I love touch...Slice of Life 8 of 31

     I’ve known since 3:00 this morning what I was going to love today.  If you recall, I was waxing poetic over my love for sleep yesterday evening, and the lack thereof in my life these last few nights.  Teenagers, you know?  Well, at some point in the night last night, I stretched out, barely conscious, but ready to roll over and curl up as I described doing in yesterday’s post.  But, just as I curled up, the soles of my two bare feet just happened to line up with the soles of The Man’s two bare feet.  

Toe for toe…heel to heel. 

     In that briefly conscious moment, in that simple unplanned touch, every single muscle that I didn’t even realize had been tense before, suddenly let go of the tight hold they had on the day and relaxed.   I slipped right back into that sweet deep abyss, until it was a rightful and proper time to rise for the day.  

 However, just before I drifted off again, I thought to myself, “I love touch.”

      In this day of political correctness and “oh we must be careful not to offend anyone” attitudes, I truly wonder if we are forgetting this basic human need.  In our efforts not to be inside anyone’s “bubble”, and frankly, not to be thought of as someone who may show up on the eleven o’clock news, are we depriving ourselves and those around us of a requirement for survival?  I knew I had heard something years ago in my teaching career about humans needing a certain number of hugs a day for proper growth and development, but couldn’t remember the statistics.  Upon a tiny bit of research, I found this information about hugs.  I agree with the child interviewed by the author of the article…I think we all need way more than eight hugs a day!

This is a photo of My Ol' Man and his cousin Betty...big huggers, both of them, and both celebrating 8 decades plus.  We visited with Betty in Topeka at the beginning of last summer's epic Kansas adventure.  I can't imagine ending that visit with anything less than a big hug and I can't wait to return for another!

Today, I love touch.