Throwback Thankful Thursday

Shared this photo above with Henry last night.

He replied to me via text - those were the days!

To which I replied,
 "Yes, they were...  but these days are just as great!"

Fifth Grade Fun {thankful thursday}

Today was "Donuts with Dad" before school in the multi-purpose room.  Well, Dad can never make it because he works early AM hours.  So "stand in" Dad always obliges year after year.   Yes, me.  This morning when I tried encouraging Oliver (and myself) that I wouldn't be the only non-Dad there, he told me I could have worn a bald cap to fit in.  Funny, funny kid. Guess what, I only saw one other non-Dad in the joint, and she was on her way out the front door.  Oliver and I chatted about how the vibe in the room is definitely different than Donuts with Mom.  The Dads seemed to sit along the sideline and talk quietly.  When Moms are there, it's wall-to-wall and the chatter is so loud you cannot hear your child next to you.  He informed me that it was because it was all the Moms were stay-at-home-Mom's.  Hmmmm, well, not this one.  Anway, I felt a little awkward and out of place this time.  So we moved on.  After all, it's our last year at Sonnesyn.

We took a picture and texted it to Dad - "miss you! xo"

After our donuts, we wandered back down the hall to his classroom.  Yes, I may have eaten quickly and ushered us out of the room.  Looking for some small talk to offer up, I asked about any artwork he had on the walls, or reading points for the AR club. 

He pointed me to this...

A self-portrait among many.  I see the curls.  "What's with the background and look on your face, Oliver?"  He informs me he was angry and it's the end of the world.   {gulp}   Um, okay.  Maybe that explains the sullen, moody, young blond boy who has invaded our home recently.  I promise not to over-analyze.  And we press on.

Into his classroom, another friend is nearby cleaning out his desk with his father looking over his shoulder.  Piles and piles of paper sit on said friend's chair, the desk overflowing.  He smiles and laughs a bit as he misses the trash can and continues to clean his desk.  Meanwhile, Oliver proceeds to take his backpack to his desk and start taking things out.  A permission slip to the teacher's desk.  Planner back into his desk. 

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Oliver's desk.  Remember, he is Felix from the Odd Couple.  Neat to an extreme.  Yep!  A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Back to unpacking.  His lunch bag to his shared locker. "Who do you share a locker with, Oliver?"  Can you guess?  Yes, indeed...  aforementioned unorganized friend.  Well, at least Oliver is learning that everyone has a style, and it may not always the be same.  I ask him where his boots were?  There's no room in the teeny-tiny locker for the belongings of two kids in winter.  He brings me around the corner to a PILE of winter items strewn about the floor.  "Here they are!"  Really?!  I mean, that's where they store things that don't fit in a locker?  He informs me that it's fine, until Friday, and then anything left behind will get cleared out of the hallway by the janitors.  No wonder the lost & found is overflowing.

I am thankful for my son.  For his independence.  His organization.  His ability to adapt.  And I am thankful for all of the final moments of Fifth Grade Fun that I get to share with him this year.

Thanks.... giving in review

Lots to be thankful for this year.  

too much to list, actually.

So I'll just share the pictures

{in no particular order}
from our wonderful weekend spent with friends & family.

ads for Black Friday...  read and re-read

making the yummy gravy

one can NEVER have enough homemade olive bread

place setting at casa de Foreman (Minnetonka)

tired puppies on their *NEW* bed from Black Friday shopping

the chef...  busy, busy, busy

making a new dessert...  chcocolate-pumpkin bundt cake

time for a game of Mancala, or three

and what would Thanksgiving be without a game of cribbage too!

beautiful bird

turned out to be the most yummy, moist, chococlate-pumpkin desert - EVER!!

place settings at casa de Foreman {New Hope} on a card table, ha!

and the cleaning crew dressed in style...

Embrace it

The Starfish represents

A woman

Of a certain age

Sassy and confident, in the fullness of her life

She now understands that the care & nurturing of others is possible only 

when she herself has been properly cared for.

Her energies are no longer depleted by trying to
BE ALL for all.

This woman loves herself, knows herself, respects herself

LIVES for herself and

in doing so…

has the best of herself to share without sacrifice.

She surrenders to the sensual beauty
in her midst;

In the simple glories of nature

In birdsong and dappled sunlight,

In food and friendship,

In hearty laughter.

She embraces her womanhood & her sexuality

without apology.

She IS.

Written by friend, Ginny V.

I adore this poem ~ written and gifted to me recently by my friend Ginny.  She also created some gorgeous starfish earrings for me.  It is simply perfect for the time and place I find myself in these days.  And as much as I know that I am steadily marching forward, reaching whatever "that middle age" of womanhood is all about...  I still feel like a school girl, skipping along to life, most days.  Thank you, Ginny, for your wonderful friendship!

what's on your mind?

One of my favorite subjects in school was English, the other, Psychology.  Interestingly enough, my teachers in these two classes were polar opposites in every way.  I won't say that I despised my English teacher, because I really learned a lot from him ~ all three years I had him in high school. He challenged me. However, I adored my psychology teacher.  What they had in common?  A passion for the subject they each taught.  As I look back now on those impressionable young girl years, I can see how my favorite two subjects went hand-in-hand in helping to create who I am today.

Lessons learned from English teacher:  

1. Do not tempt your English teacher (who was a bulldog and the boys' high school basketball coach) if you were not prepared to answer in debate.  He knew his stuff.  His reputation both on and off court was something to be feared.  Clearly he had a passion for both.
   
   
2. Push yourself.  You know more than you think you know.  Let the learning sink in and then find ways to apply it.  I never understood the "reading aloud" thing in school, but for no other reason than to keep us awake with fear we might be called next.  However, it gave me courage to speak up, even if only in prose and through the written word of some fabulous historical writers.  One of my favorite books was Don Quixote; and the character he adored, Dulcinea, resonated with me in a mysteriously unclear way that year.  [So much so that the name I had engraved on my senior yearbook was Dulcinea, not my own.  Perhaps more on that in a future post.]
   
   
3. While pushing yourself, keep lesson #1 in mind.  Do not leave class early, even two minutes, to get your band instrument if you failed to bring the proper pass.  This is the one and only time I was suspended.  Yes, really.  It turned out okay in the end ~ the next day when I was called to the Principal's office and told the news, I called my Mom and we had lunch and went shopping for the day.  I believe this was my senior year in high school.  I had never, I mean NEVER, gotten in trouble.  At the time it was something to laugh about, heck, it still is...  and I now have a story to tell my children about the day I was suspended from class. 

Lessons learned from Psychology teacher:

1. It's okay to dream.  Embrace your inner-Freud and follow the desires of your unconscious mind.  There are reasons behind your psychosis. In your quest to find out why you exist and who you will become in this world, it will take some deep digging into self-understanding, social upbringing and uncontrolled circumstances be damned.  And the hard truth to swallow is, the why & who will never fully be defined.  Keep learning, searching & dreaming.
   
   
2. Even if you feel that no one else believes in you, your ability to define yourself in these formative years will be what carries you through the turbulence of young adolescence.  Your teacher believes in you.  He knows that your mind is thirsty for knowledge and it his daily quest to see you drink from that cup of education.  Who better to have on your side than a psychology teacher?
   
   
3. Writing and lessons learned in English come in handy when having to create papers of self-analysis.  You may not always agree with the forefathers of the mind, but there is certainly enough fodder for consideration that defining your dreams of who you will become as a young adult becomes a daily game of reinvention.

So my perfect blend of classes in high school consisted of taking the best of both teachers and letting their words of wisdom resonate into my being.  My motto became, and has been since, Carpe Diem. Sure there were other classes and teachers who made a lasting impression on me, but as I reflect on my life's passions lately, I clearly see how these two were in the forefront.  I am a social being who loves to explore the mind and write about it.  This much is true.  I don't have all the answers, my use of English grammar is lacking most days, and I have evolved enough over the years to know that perfection does not exist.  And as I thirst for knowledge...  my glass will always be half full, with an eagerness to make it overflow someday.

Today and every day, I am thankful for teachers.
May we never stop learning!

Uncle Jim's Cabin

My Uncle's Cabin is on the market.  Sure, I know I will always have the memories and it's not mine to hang onto, but it's a sad, sad thing to see it go.  I had hopes of bringing my boys down there this summer or next, now that they can finally swim without assistance, and share in the fun times I had as a kid ~ creating memories for them in the process.

This is the view from the boathouse. The place we learned to jump as kids, learning to do it without fear or else be pushed into Lake Burton 20 feet below.

Silly Uncle Jim.  He would take us on boat rides.  Teach us how to water ski in this lake, oh so patient was he.  We learned to make home-made ice cream here and played with his 8-track cassette machine (ancient as it seemed).

We would take long walks through the winding, unpaved, Georgia-red-mountain roads.  A short drive into the little nearby town and it felt as if we had walked into a German time-warp!  [Edited to add name and link of little German town - Helen, GA.  Thanks, Mom] There were trolls and candy, burgers & lots of fun to be had for young and old alike in that town.  Not far away is a drive to the river rapids and Blue Mountains as far as the eye can see.

 See the troll atop the barrel under Norwegian flag?

Oh, the memories.

When I was pregnant with Alek in 1992, I took a drive down to the cabin and stayed a week with my Mom.  It was a very relaxing time.  So serene.  Sunshine and solitude.  That was my last trip to Georgia.  Alek got to return again as a teenager on a trip with Grandma and Grandpa.

If only it were closer and we could pool resources to purchase this as a family cabin.

Ah, sweet little ol' cabin in the woods, I will miss you.

I am thankful that I got to experience all your charms & wonderment over the years!

...thankful Thursday!

 I took this picture while having lunch with my boss yesterday. I love a good balsamic and when I added it to the olive oil, I got one eye looking back at me... so of course I had to make a complete photo op out of it!

Today I am thankful for new beginnings... in whatever shape or form that takes on, there is most definitely something to praise about them! May each of you find a blessing and opportunity in a new beginning today... even if you only see the door closed right now, know that the opportunity for abundance and happiness waiting on the other side is exactly what YOU needed - right here and right now.

...thankful thursday...

Now is the only time there is. Make your now wow, your minutes miracles, and your days pay. Your life will have been magnificently lived and invested, and when you die you will have made a difference.
--Mark Victor Hansen

I continue to be thankful for so many things...

our health, despite the sniffles and a few aches & pains

family & friends, near and far... and those who have distanced themselves, if only we will remember one another in our time of need and reach out for comfort.

boys who behave (most of the time), who are growing up so quickly that there are days I just have to stop, grab one and hold on tight!

the love of my life, who doesn't mind being the domestic one (again, most of the time)... he has made me a better woman!

employment... 8 years for me and 9 years for JP

the cardinal and robins who sing every morning outside my window, reminding me that Spring is ready to burst with color & all things new

the crazy dog who jumps on top of me (even if no one else notices I am home), begging for attention or just a snuggle... every.single.day!

and

Our Lord & Savior, who keeps us on a path to heaven's gate... though sometimes we falter, He is there to pick us up and get us going again.

...thankful thursday...

Thankful Thursday

All of our pestering, badgering and getting on Henry over not being caught up since the beginning of school is finally paying off... I just received an email from one of his teachers:

I just wanted to let you know how good Henry is doing. He is getting a lot done in class and is really utilizing the time given to work. He is paying attention and participating. He is staying all caught up!

Mrs. Dennis