Cheshire Cat

One thing I'm going to miss in 7 days is my daily serving of hot chocolate. The Life Skills class at school brings around hot chocolate and coffee to us every morning around 10:30. In exchange for their services, I pay them with a "$1 bill" printed on a sheet of paper. They collect this money from alllllll the teachers and then are able to use it to purchase things in their own little community! My love for this process is two-fold:

1. I get hot chocolate no matter the outdoor temperature!! (watered down and soapy tasting as it might be)
2. They bring me the money to pay them with. And I don't even technically work for it!! (I like to pretend it's my own trust fund. Provided by the LMS Life Skills students.)

For some unknown reason, they have begun drawing designs on my styrofoam hot chocolate cup. It's always been labeled with my name. BUT NOW is has a picture of.......wait for it.......the Cheshire Cat!!! (I know what it is because they always label their pictures.)

Only problem: I can't for the life of my figure out what this animal has to do with me or my hot chocolate. Any ideas?

(If I'm supposed to be offended by this, please enlighten me.)

Gifts

Everybody has their own little way of helping out. For T. Swift, that means donating $500k through the telethon. For my minister, it means making phone calls and providing mental health services to flood victims. For police officers, it means asking each person turning into the River Plantation subdivision (which was devastated beyond belief) if they need directions to somebody's house to help out. For me, it means being "in the trenches".

I want to rip up the floor, pack the china, and lay the clothes out to dry. I just do.

Everybody has their own gift. Mine is not organizing clothing drives, baking copious batches of delicious sweets, or giving money. I want to be there, getting my hands dirty and helping to pick people up.

That's why today was so difficult for me personally. In fact, it was probably the most difficult day for me since we realized how bad the flooding was really going to be. I had to report to work, but my students weren't there. I want so desperately to see each one of them, give them a hug, and be assured that they are, in fact, okay. And I know that some of them aren't.

If I'm not able to hug and speak with them, then at least let me be out helping people I know who have lost so much.

I am infinitely grateful to have not lost any personal belongings in the flood. But let's not pretend that this means we're all okay.

Nashville will recover, and I want to be out there helping to make it happen.

One hand in my pocket

After leaving school today, I realized that my pants pockets were still stuffed with school junk. I normally make a habit of clearing out my pockets before I leave, but that simply didn't happen today. What had my pockets overflowing, you ask? Well....

• 2 paperclips
• 2 Sharpies (one confiscated, one of my own)
• a pink polka-dotted pen (it's the only writing utensil the boys won't steal off my desk...bwahahaha)
• 11 USA State Bingo cards (did you know that New Hampshire markets itself as "The Granite State"?)
• 2 blingin super-cute earrings (mine)
• a similarly as cute blingin ring (mine)
• annnnnd quite a bit of pocket lint.
  

These contents pretty much sum up my life. You know it's true.

I always have liked peaches

No, really. They're my favorite fruit. And fruit is my favorite food. So basically, peaches are the best thing ever.

Consider that a sidenote, because the real purpose of this post is to update you on the progress toward my non-resolution. In case you don't remember, I made quite the list of books I wanted to read this year. It's really nice to have them written down to refer back to as needed.

I read James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl during our independent reading time at school, and finished it a couple of weeks ago. I know it's a classic, but something about it just wasn't that great. I found myself constantly wishing for something better and more exciting to happen....and then the book ended.

A discussion my students and I often have is about connecting with the book and the characters. We talk about reasons you connect with characters (i.e. you have something in common or you think you might want to be their friend). Perhaps the reason I didn't really like this book is because I never was able to connect with any of the characters. I felt like it was a stream of events, without ever really giving a "feel" for their personalities. Sure, Roald Dahl does a great job of telling you what each character's faults are, but these aren't effectively shown.

So, I've never lived in a peach. Basically this is why I didn't like James...or the book, really. Glad I've finally read it, though. Something tells me I read it as a child, but it didn't make an impact on me, and now I can see why.

On to my next book...Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Loving it so much that I did an impromptu read aloud from it on Thursday, and the kiddos were spellbound! I'll let you know what I think at the end of it.

Love!