Something you've probably never seen before

Holy Smokes.

I was looking for something reminiscent of this.

In an attempt to capture that sentiment, I "Google Imaged"the words "animals in a hurry" and came up with this.

Love. it.

In short, we're busy.  Too busy to blog, that's right.

Life is weird right now.  Good, but weird.  There is clean laundry everywhere and no hangers.  I'm living in a house 1/2 full of pumpkins with christmas decorations waiting in the wings.

Tomorrow is the day.  It all gets put in it's proper place.

Fingers crossed.

Today, our kindergarten aid was putting up a snowman bulletin board.  I caught the curve of the orange carrot nose out of the corner of my eye, and said, "For a minute, I thought that was the beak of a turkey!"

Shows how much I know.

Oh, and by the way, stop whatever you're doing right now (cause we all know you're multi-tasking while you're reading this).

Just stop.

And go see the new muppet movie.

At one point, I actually could have cried.

Love and what day is it again?
H.

And if you've seen the snail/motorcycle thing before, I probably owe you a dollar.

photo: funnypk.com

It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out

Husband of Mine,
    Do you remember when we drove up the coast of California during the dead middle of summer and the whole world smelled like strawberries?

Good. Because I do, too.

And I am holding on closely to those days.

Love and if I were a color, I'd be blue,
H.

Oskar's List

     I know the internet will be overwhelmed with blog posts, tweets, and Facebook status updates about 9/11.  I definitely do not want to be overly dramatic (because I didn't lose anyone on that day), but I absolutely dread this date every year.  Not that anyone actually looks forward to it, but the feeling seems to get worse as I get older.

     This time last year, I had just finished reading Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close which is about a boy named Oskar who loses his father in the attacks on September 11th.

   To put it bluntly, after reading it, I got a little obsessed.  I can remember spending the better part of an entire day finishing the book and then researching facts about 9/11.  Watching youtube videos.  Looking up documentaries.  The list goes on.

     I started trying to list really obscure things that would have been in the buildings at the time.  It sounded like something Oskar would do.  Someone had walked in the office and put their lunch in the fridge.  I bet someone had a houseplant on their desk.

Man, I love a good houseplant.

And listing things made me sad.

     It was sort of sick.  Really.  Not sick as in "twisted" but sick as in maybe not that healthy.  I guess I was trying to re-grieve if that's possible.  I don't know.  I think, perhaps, I was trying to make the whole thing more relatable.  I have always had a hard time wrapping my head around all of it.

     I woke up this morning with a lot of hope.  I love Cincinnati.  I love Ohio.  I adore this country.  I know we've had our mess ups.  Plenty.  But I believe we are a nation that always roots for the underdog.  We are still a nation "under God" whether people want to believe that or not.  The Bible is full of characters who have screwed up and afterwards been rescued...redeemed.

I think we are a nation in waiting.  We are waiting to be rescued by Jesus.

This weekend, I'm going to light a candle, say a prayer, and be grateful.

Be near, O God.

Source: fortheloveofprep.tumblr.com via Holly on Pinterest

Love,
H.

On knowing Your Moment

In case you didn't know this,  I am moving to Kindergarten.  In case you also didn't know this, moving a classroom is like trying to move a small country.  There are 1,000 things.  1,000 times 1,000.  


After a week of cleaning/packing/unpacking/cleaning, believe it or not, I'm better now.  


Circa...one week ago....     


     There is something very emotional about cleaning out a classroom.  I fell in love with Tim in that room.  I moved out of my parents' house in that room.  I went from "Bierly" to "Young" in that room, and I don't know that I'll ever be back.  I pitched and sorted all kinds of things- things from college, things from my early years of teaching (or am I still IN my early years?  Please say yes).  Things that really, truly needed to be sorted and pitched.  But they were still Things.


You know?


I'm excited about the idea of teaching kindergarten.  I'm nervous.  I'm excited because I love to read, and that's what we do in kindergarten.  We learn to read.  Words like look.  go.  see.


I see a...


I see a...


I


SEE.


Think of all the things those kiddos will see in their lifetimes, and I will teach them how to get it all down on paper.


However, in these anxiety-filled early days of getting used to my new position, I go from a day-dreamy state of...


"I will teach them how to read."


 to a panic-stricken...


"I will teach them how to read!?!?!?!?"


     It's not that I don't have confidence in my abilities.  I do.  It's just that I'm very aware that we have a lot of work to do in a 9 month school year.  Very aware.


     I have come to realize that whether it's pre-school music class or 11th grade chem. lab, teaching is a lot of pressure.  It is hard, and it is important, and it is hard because it is important.

source

     Yesterday,  I thought to myself, "I am going to put on a record and clean the kitchen."  In The Young House, when the mood strikes to CLEAN THE KITCHEN, you take advantage of it.  Honestly, that mood doesn't come about very often.  Sometimes, it gets done because it needs to get done* and sometimes, it decidedly...doesn't.  


     The first few measures of Hey Jude rang out, and at that moment, I very well could have cried Lake Huron. 


 But I held it in.  


I held it in because I knew that if I started then I might not ever stop.  And dinner wasn't going to cook itself.  Isn't it funny, how we can sometimes control it like that?  


Or so we think?


Stress.  The truth is, change is stressful.  Even the good kind.  


This morning, I got in the shower, and I thought to myself, "Now would be a very good time to cry."  I thought it was My Moment.


But, it was too late.  The tears were, as Sabrina Ward Harrison would say, "stuck too far down."


And they have yet to come out.


So, Dear-Future-Maybe-Daughter, I encourage you to cry.  When Your Moment presents itself**, take it. Because, "I'm crying and I just can't stop."  is a whole heck of a lot better than, "stuck."  Take it because, the truth of the matter is- Yes, my love.  Eventually, you will stop.  


All my love, 
Mom


*Sometimes, I like to use the word, "done" even though I know it is supposed to be the word, "finished."  


**And in case you were wondering, Your Moment will appear when you are alone or with someone you have trusted and loved for a long time.  Be brave.  Be bold.  Do not cry when you don't get your way at work or your boyfriend won't hold your purse at Target and claim it is "Your Moment."  That's a lousy excuse to behave badly.  Do not abuse the incredibly cathartic "thing" that is Having a Moment.  Then again, I'm sure I'll have raised you better than that.