Livin the DREAM

Today a kid kicked a locker, screamed an unmentionable curse word at me, and walked out of the school. I'm second-guessing yesterday's post.

Privilege Mentality

This summer my fabulous, loving, supportive, hilarious, beautiful, hard-working, talented little sister attended "Orlando Project" (run by Campus Outreach). From my understanding, it's a kind of super-intense Bible study that lasts all summer. Mom and I went to visit her for a weekend, and had a blast. (Hellllooooo, Mama Croft meeting Mickey!)

(If my mom ever sees this, I'll surely be dead. It's been nice knowing you, kids.)

While we were down there, sister was telling me all about a new viewpoint they learned about. The "privilege" mentality takes all of your negative thoughts/feelings and flips them upside down. No matter how horribly your day is going, you are, in fact, privileged to be here experiencing it. There's a fantastic chance that you're going to learn from that experience and become a better person for it. How lucky are you for that?!

This thought process has come in especially handy for me over the past few days when the kiddos have been absolutely off-the-wall-make-me-scream-i've-called-93-parents-since-yesterday C.R.A.Z.Y. Today, I seriously contemplated getting in my car and driving away at lunch. Seriously. Then I just called my dad and cried on the phone for approximately 20 minutes. Then I splashed my face with water, pretended I was having thebestdayever, and willed myself through the next four hours. I wish I could describe more to you, but words wouldn't do it justice.

You know what, though? This is my dream. It's what I've always wanted. And, at the end of the day, when I'm sitting in my room thinking about them.....I kind of love these kids. How many people get to live their dreams? Not many. But I'm one, and I consider myself beyond privileged for that opportunity.

Skanks

I love a good reality show as much as the next couch potato. My dad sent me this link and it was too good to pass up. It even managed to distract me from my third viewing of The Cutting Edge in as many days. Classic. (Both the movie and this clip.)


In The Know: Are Reality Shows Setting Unrealistic Standards For Skanks?

Heaven...

...I think I went there today.

Generosity

Backstory: My friend Lauryn teaches first grade down the street from me. She is one of the most patient, calm, devoted teachers (and people) I know.

Lately, Lauryn and I have spent our infinite snow days discussing the generosity of others. We both teach underprivileged children and are always looking for ways to make their lives better. Try as we might, we can't do it all ourselves.

You know all about my DonorsChoose page. OUR PROJECT GOT FUNDED!! I don't even know how to properly thank everyone who donated to this endeavor. Our supplies arrived on Wednesday and I stayed there until an ungodly hour to unpack and organize everything. My students oo-ed and ah-ed over the transformation of our supply cabinet. They are so excited to start using their own supply boxes and to have access to everything they need! Pictures to come!

This morning, I went to LP Pencil Box to shop for free school supplies. The Pencil Box allows teachers to come once a semester and pick up a few things that are needed to keep a classroom running. Though there are limits on how many items you can take, this is a fantastic resource for teachers. I left there with somewhat of a holy grail: pencils and three-prong folders, scissors and magazines. And BOOKS. These are precious commodities in the middle school classroom.

I sent out a plea for magazine subscriptions back in November, and the response was beyond what I could have hoped for. My kids are reading everything from Sports Illustrated to Discover Kids. Great to see!

Lauryn's students got to have a Christmas party with the Vanderbilt student-athletes and experience their first pajama party thanks to a friend of her family.

The generosity is astounding. It's good to know there are amazing people out there. You rock. :)

Go Team!

Though I only know the guy through other people, something tells me he really wrote this. I'm pretty pumped for the game and plan to keep my cheers "as fresh and clean" as Dolla. No worries.

In other, but related news, I'm hugely pumped for the prospect of revenge against my #1 most hated man alive, John Calipari. Dores better bring it. I want a win for Vandy, with the added bonus of revenge. I always said I wasn't one for holding grudges. That changed back in April, when this man stabbed my hometown in the back.

In other, unrelated news, I'm watching The Cutting Edge (in honor of the Olympics). And doing my taxes. GO AMERICA!!!

What I Love

In honor of Valentine's Day, and because we're on snow day #8 and I clearly have nothing better to do, here's a list of things I love. I typed until I was tired of typing. Then I stopped...I don't love doing things to excess. Moral of that story: this list could go on forever. Love. :)

Baseball.
Nashville.
Vanderbilt.
Marissa Lynn.
Sweetie.
Mama n Papa.
College football.
Early morning Saturday naps.
The First 48.
Dog the Bounty Hunter.
Visiting my loves.
Delta Gamma.
Delta Gammas.
Running.
Sunrises.
Sunsets.
Memphis.
Memphis skyline.
Farm life.
Children.
Teaching reading.
DVR.
Sweet CeCe's.
Waiting for summer.
Snow days in moderation.
DonorsChoose.org.
Tailgates.
Clarinet playing.
MUSIC.
The Stage.
M&Ms.
Sunset nachos.
Quotes.
Being a big girl.
Taquitos.
Fruit.
Diet Coke.
Hank Jr.
Coming up with new hobbies.
Good people.
Routines.
To do lists that get done.
Plans.
Love. Love. Love.

Disclaimer: I'm not even original enough to come up with this on my own. Thanks, Pioneer Woman!

"Love is about justice, not sentimentality. Standing on the side of love is choosing to stand with all those excluded, marginalized and oppressed - without succumbing to hate for the oppressor. Nothing could be harder - or more essential for our common flourishing."
- The Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, President, Union Theological Seminary

Exciting Update!!

While sitting on my parents' couch mourning the losses of my two teams, I wandered over to my Donors Choose page to check the status of our project.

What do I find? Great news! A grant has been issued to Donors Choose that will fund 50% of certain projects.

What does this mean for us? (Hopefully) More great news! We're only about $60 away from being fully funded!

I know that I have solicited many of you via phone, email, face-to-face conversation, blog post, Morse code, and the occasional telegraph. If you want the peskiness to stop--you know what to do! Just head on over to Ms. C's Donors Choose page and help us out. You'll get my never-ending gratitude and some supremely awesome thank you letters (mark my words)!