From a Burden of Material to Blessings of Quilts

We have missed 4 days this week due to the ice storm. I should do my homework (like I expect of the children) but instead, I have been making quilts for an orphanage in the Philippines. It's an interesting story of how someone's burden became the blessing of so many. One of my teacher friends had a "ton" of material to get "rid of" after her grandmother passed. While talking about it to me one day, I told her that I would be able to use some at our church for costumes. Long story short, she was able to bring three loads of the material to my house. Besides using it at school for bulletin board covers, at church for the stage at Children's Worship, and for costumes, I was able to send three shipments to a mission called Gifts for the Nations which uses/sends materials all over the world. And now several ladies from our church are making quilts from the last of the material for an orphanage in the Philippines. And a local nursing home has ladies ready to tie the quilts. The blessings keep growing and blessing more.

Good Food, Great Company

We were able to eat lunch yesterday with friends who happen to be the other set of grandparents for our granddaughter, Toots. We had a good time while Toots had the best. As she sat down to eat she turned and said, "I get to sit between my two Mimis." What sweeter words could we hear!

Above is a picture of her digging for dinosaur bones at the museum. She played with the sand and bones for the longest time. Didn't think we were going to get her out of there.

Disappointed

Yesterday was my birthday. At school only two people remembered. I'm disappointed because I always remember the birthdays of everyone else. I know that because of the Christmas frenzy, people forget. Several will be upset that they forgot. But it would have been very awkward to go up to someone and say, hey, it's my birthday. On the other hand, I had several students from last year's class remember. In fact, I received two gifts from them along with several cards. That was better than any adult acknowledgement.

Two Mimies, Who Could Ask For Anything More

I got to share some time with my granddaughter's other Mimi and Papa last night. They are moving closer because of work and were here on a house hunting mission. It will be great to be able to see them more often. Toots is already planning for us to go spend the night at their house. In fact, she wanted me to stay at Toots's house last night with all of them. I declined. Don't think Toots would have let any of us sleep.

Meet the Star of the Pineapple

While in Southern California hubby and I were able to visit some of the major sites. We took in Universal World during one visit. While hubby was on a ride I waited in line to get my picture take with the one and only Sponge Bob. No, I am not a fan of the cartoon, but knew that my granddaughter would really like the picture. And of course she had all kinds of questions to ask me about Bob. Made the wait and the awkward hug worth it all.

Bible Bowl Reflections

Well, we are home from the National Bible Bowl tournament. Our teams did well, learned much, and behaved within expectations. It is so rewarding to be with all the teams, sponsors, and parents who value learning designated verses of the Bible for competition. Thoughout the year we tell the kids they are learning God's Word to hide it in their hearts. At the competition, we reveal or show what is in their hearts as we play the games. Next year it is on to Denver for the finals.

Party After Party

The wedding is getting closer, less than two weeks now. The family had a bridal shower for H. yesterday. She received lots of nice things. The luncheon was very nice with delicious foods. And the company was fun to be with. Today is another shower from the ladies at work. H. will be showered with gifts again as well as deserved attention. My other daughter and I will need to drive a long way, but it will be worth it. Besides the shower today, I have two graduation parties to attend and a surprise 40th anniversary party for my brother and wife. Don't think I will be able to make all of those events this day due to the long drive and most are scheduled for the same time. I have already given my regrets to several. But I will make a special effort to attend the 40th!

Race Summary

Just a quick update of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure that we walking in on Saturday. This was our fourth one, but never have we be amongst so many people! I couldn't get through the crowd to get to the registration tables. I literally had to ask people to let me squeeze between them. Hubby and I got separated when I got out of the vehicle to go register while he tried to find a parking place. It took us an hour to finally find one another. Even with cell phones, the noise was so loud, one couldn't hear on the phones. Then my phone went dead. So there I stood, waiting for him to find me. Finally I asked to borrow a phone and we were together again. During the walk, we saw many people of all ages, from infants to very elderly. And even small children walked the 5K walk. We saw many with the pink t-shirts on, signifying a cancer survivor. They were interspersed throughout the whole walk. Congrats to them for making the effort. When hubby can help me add pictures, I will include share, especially the one of the port-o-potties.

Lesson Learned and Applied

While watching the season finale of The Secret Life of an American Teen or whatever the long title was, my granddaughter made an observation about the character Tom Bowman. She said he sounds just like a friend of ours and also a girl at her daycare. Luke Zimmerman, the actor, has Down Syndrome. Just like our friend and just like the little girl at the daycare. When Toots first met our friend, G, we were riding to the airport together. When he talked, she couldn't understand him. I overheard her say, "If you are going to talk in that whiny voice, then I can't understand a word you are saying." This phrase is used often at her daycare with her as well as others. G wasn't whiny, but she couldn't understand him. After I reprimanded her, she tried to listen more carefully and was soon able to understand him. They became fast friends before the trip ended. Kudos to the show for including real-life characters in their show. For a child as young as 4 can relate fiction to life.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! May you find happiness and fulfillment in this new year. May you make wise decisions. May you accomplish all you need to do and some of those you want to do.

Annual Staff Party

We had our staff Christmas party last night. Besides eating and playing Christmas games, we did the Dirty Santa gift exchange with few rules. A gift could be taken as many times as desired, only not immediately on the next choice. It actually took 15 minutes for one person's turn because of all the gift exchanging. Some formed teams with strategies of who would take what so that she could end up with the gift she wanted in the end. When the game was finally over, the three main culprits, quickly made a triangular swap to get the gift they wanted all along. It was the best gift exchange ever. I laughed so hard that I ended up with a headache. Of course, I got what I wanted and no one tried to take mine, and I wasn't interested in what the others where "fighting" over. As the group prepared to leave for the night, someone bemoaned that her shoes were missing! Seems someone took MJ's shoes and left hers by "mistake"???? The shoeless lady wore size 6 and the clunkers left behind were size 8 1/2 or 9. With no other choice, MJ put on the unattractive, over-sized clod hoppers and shuffled off to her car. I imagine there will be some lively exchanges at school today and maybe some payback.

Let's Go Shopping

Happy Columbus Day! Many of you will have the day off, especially if you are a government worker. Well, I also have the day off because I have gone to 6 hours of inservice after school hours. I could go to the Covered Bridge Festival, along with 3 million other people. But instead, a friend and I are going shopping for Fall clothes for us. Betsy and I have similar tastes and could buy for each other, no doubts or questions. So, it is always fun to go shopping with her. Sure beats fighting the traffic and the crowds at the festival. Besides, who needs more trinkets?

In Times of Pain

Pastor Bob came to my school today to meet with us and help with the healing process. He did an awesome job with the group who is in such pain from the sudden loss of a husband, sister, grandbaby, friend, or a relative diagnosised with cancer. We are a close staff so when one hurts, we all hurt. Thanks, Bob.

Death in an Instant

It has happened again. One of our staff members has lost a loved one in a violant vehicular accident. It happened so quickly, as accidents do. The loved one has been taken away without a chance to say goodbye. Makes one think about how we live our lives or more importantly, how we should live our lives. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Zona. May they find peace and comfort in Your loving hand.

Stressed

Stressed--that's what we are at my school. Did you know that stressed spelled backwards spells desserts? We need a banquet full of desserts as this week culminates the ISTEP+ testing, the NWEA testing, and ends the first 6 weeks of school. On top of all that, we will be attending the funeral of the husband of one of our teachers. I would like to say that we are upbeat about it all, but we tend to be downtroddened and a bit deflated. I suppose that when we complete this marathon, we will be much better prepared for the rest of the school year. But at this moment, we've hit the wall.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

We were eating dinner with family at our house last night, enjoying the food and the conversation. I was relaying a story when all of sudden my granddaughter, Toots, loudly piped up and said, "Yea, yea, yea. We've already heard that story. Move on." Well, we all burst into laughter (I know, we should not have done that, but...) while she kept on eating her dinner. I'm not even sure she knew we were laughing at what she said or what I WAS saying. Let's just say Toots is too smart for her own good for which she will reap rewards in many ways such as Time Out at school.

Sew, Sew, Sew

Would you believe that two ladies and I were able to sew 89 pairs of curtains in just 4 days?! Yeah, we used our talents to figure materials needed, purchase the sheets on sale at Wal-Mart, press, cut, sew, and transform them into custom-fit curtains. The curtains will be used for the 11 houses that are still in some stage of construction. You see, when the hurricane victims move out of their 300 sq ft FEMA trailer or 720 sq ft FEMA cottage into the 1100+ sq ft house built by IDES volunteers, the victims cannot remove any furniture or even the microwave from the trailer or cottage. So besides building the houses, the houses also require curtains, furniture, etc. Living in our own sheltered world, we have no comprehension of the magnitude that the hurricane still holds over its victims. I am now back to my home, enjoying the many comforts I have always had. I hope I will continue to be involved in helping them in some way.

Inspirational Video

While watching the Today Show yesterday I was able to see the Lion video from You Tube. If you haven't seen it, please check it out. The original was shot 34 years ago, but is worth seeing.

Dog Eats Dog

I walk with a friend almost every evening for the exercise. She has a Jack Russell terrier, Jetta, that is very active and loves to out-walk us, and is not afraid of anything. Well, Monday night I was unable to go walking but found out that another dog attacked Jetta. It grabbed her behind and shook her. My friend held on to the lease and began screaming. People came to help. Someone called 911. A woman drove her car up and had the friend who somehow got her dog out of the teeth of the attacker get in the car. The other dog even put several scratches on the car door while trying to get Jetta again. Jetta spent time in surgery and the night at the vet hospital. She is lucky to be alive. My friend probably saved her life by keeping Jetta,s neck away from the other dog. Jetta will not be walking with us for a little while. Don't know if this will cause her to be afraid. What scares me the most is that many young children, including my granddaughter, have walked the course. The dog could have easily gone after any one of them. The sheriff showed up immediately. Maybe he will have a solution to get rid of the dog. But we need to be prepared for this to happen at any given time. Perhaps I will do some research today to see how to best protect ourselves.

Happy 4th of July

Well, it is pouring rain, like really pouring for a long time. We don't need to worry about flooding here in our house, but so many others near creeks and rivers must be a little uneasy again today. All those planning to go to Fourth of July celebrations complete with picnics and fireworks are probably wondering just how much fun there will be today. Could be that things will clear up and we will be able to celebrate as usual. Hope your day is filled with all the fun things that you choose.