Life.....

is happening all around us. Good & bad, up & down, around & around & around. In my last post I said I was going to match the rhythm of my days to my heart & spirit. It's already Feb. & I don't feel like I have much success. Circumstances, earthquakes in Haiti, family & friends in crisis, all contribute to a mounting sense of it's out of control. And I realize, luckily for me, it is out of my hands and all I can do is pray, live by faith & do what I have been called to do. This life is difficult for everybody at one time or another and at any given moment it can be altered beyond recognition. And so, I am amending that statement to say I am going to match my heart & spirit to foundational truths whether I can see them in the moment or not. Faith shall be my guardian and with help love will hopefully be my response and I believe I will keep trying to leave the author of my story in charge of the pen. Blessings.

Oh my goodness...

I just discovered that somebody read my blog & I can't believe it. So now, I have to write. What to say? Oh yes, big news, I turned 50 this week and I feel like I have crossed over to a place where each day is a gift and the pace of life needs to match the rhythms of my heart and spirit. I'm not exactly sure what that means and how it will play out practically, but did you see that movie The Proposal? There is a scene where the mother is returning to the house and there are 75 people there for a welcome home party and she is deliberately just strolling across the dock in no hurry to make sure everyone is taken care of or the caterers are doing their jobs or whatever. She seems intent on just taking in and enjoying the moment. Can it be done? I think I intend to try. Don't you just love a creamy cup of coffee on a cool morning? I wrap my hands around the warm cup and breathe in the steam and the fragrance and take the first yummy sip........Thank you for simple blessings--let me not take them for granted and to remember the cost.

Back again.................

Wow, is it October almost November already? I can't even remember the last 5 months as they are nothing but a blur. I stumbled back onto this blog and thought, hmmmm, I should write something although I don't think anybody really reads it so I will just air my thoughts for the purpose of clearing my own cobwebs. Back to another school year that is going pretty well since I have decided to lay low for awhile and see what people do. Can they really figure it out on their own? Oh, I am still plenty visible and I never lose sight of making sure that I and my library are indispensable--tough economic times, you know. But, there are times when you have said all that can be said and you have done all that can be done and then the rest is up to the powers that be. May they choose wisely.
It's Red Ribbon week so we are wearing keys (Drug-free is the key) and sunglasses today (Too cool for drugs) and we get to wear our slippers tomorrow, I'm not sure why but who am I to argue wearing slippers? Especially since I am in a skirt and heels today.
Aren't the fall colors lovely? The cool air is a welcome respite from summer heat although it does mean winter is on the way, gloomy, icy, snowy, rainy, winter that I love for a while and coffee just is delightful on a winter morning and hot tea is lovely on a winter afternoon. 4 seasons are a blessing!! Off to lunch, I think I will pop over to the shoe store and check out their slipper collection for tomorrow.
Have a chocolate afternoon ;)

The end...............

And, so I am out of here. Until Monday at noon when I interview for a new position. Which could be interesting--should I go or should I stay? I love what I do but is it time to move on? Are their other opportunities and as things are minimized is this provision I didn't know I needed? On the other hand, 15 years in the same place can sometimes be tedious although my list of to-do's for next year is well begun. Not burned out but a willingness to (as a dear friend put it) lift my foot so that I may be planted. Summer looms with all its myriad possibilities--leisure, home projects, outdoor recreation, my parents' 50th with the whole family in attendance, and some days away, I hope. So here's to next year's coffee breaks wherever they may be..........................

Spring................

It has taken 3 months of winter blahs to come back but finally, the time has changed, the weather is trying to change and I have lightened my load by figuring out what I need to own and what doesn't belong to me I disown. So many times I get caught up on my soapbox and forget to leave it behind when I step down. Some things just are what they are and life is too short to choose minor battles. Ahhhhh, that feels better. And so, in these "troubled economic times" the uncertainty game could be played but I think I choose not to participate. My purpose is clear, the plans for me have been set in motion and I will choose that path. As we journey towards the end of the school year, I want to finish well and so be able to restart on a lighter note & with the wind of positive changes blowing. My new favorite middle school book? Peak by Roland Smith. A story of places & things foreign to the everyday & of selfless sacrifice and comtemplation of what is important in this mortal life. So refreshing. Thank you Mr. Smith. End of coffee-break (actually India Chai, yum. Did you see Slumdog Millionaire? Awesome.).......

December

It is that month when all should be merry & bright and I do have all that I need. But so many don't and it feels overwhelming as I cry over the news reports coming from Mumbai and Zimbabwe. I heard a commentator say that many in this country wonder if they have a reason to celebrate due to the receding economy and it broke my heart to think that we in America, the richest and most blessed nation in the world, could not find reasons to celebrate the very thing that this country was founded for and on. If I lose my job, I can go to the unemployment office and even tho I may not be able to buy the latest gadget to put under the Christmas tree the water will still probably run out of my faucet and clean water at that. If I can't find another job, there are a myriad of agencies I can apply to for help. If I or anyone I love is attacked by a devastating illness we have access to the best medical care albeit if we don't have insurance it will not be a pleasant experience and it could devastate us financially which sends me back to the agencies that are willing to help me survive. I have eaten my share of welfare cheese and drunk the powdered milk and shopped at the Goodwill when it wasn't in fashion but I have never lived on the streets and so am not an authority. I do have a job and health insurance although my grown children do not and it worries me until I remember where their security comes from. I am going home to my warm, modest home tonite and putting the wreath on my front door and the stockings on the mantle and some cute snowmen in the nooks and crannies. I will send pretty Christmas cards and bake delicious sugar cookies and watch all of the old Christmas movies and count myself one of the most blessed and richest people in the world. And how will I share my blessings and my wealth? Donating time and money, praying for those beyond my reach and praying for us all to share our resources. We all have something to give. A newsperson told Mother Teresa that all of her work in Kolkata was but a drop in an ocean of pain and sickness and she replied "yes, that is true but the ocean is made of drops" and I think if we all just address one drop it would make a tremendous difference. What does your drop look like and what will you do? Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving

That word is a verb right? So, I am giving thanks for..........
A God who loves me
A husband who adores me
Children and their spouses that tolerate me
Grandchildren who delight me
Extended family that is a joy to me
Friends, church family and coworkers that support me
A home, a job, running water, heat, finances, food, clothes, sunshine, clouds, trees, flowers, sight, hearing, mobility, holidays, weekends, webcams to see my granddaughters, airline tickets to take me there, etc., etc., etc., etc.....................and the homemade chocolate chip cookie that I just ate with my coffee :)

Happy Thanksgiving!