Field Day

 (I love living in the shadows of a mountain range and I always will.)

Yesterday was field day and it was pretty good.  There were the struggles of herding children from station to station, but I told them I would carry neither water bottles nor jackets and for the first time ever, no one lost anything.  Pretty amazing.

Most of them had a good time.  The aides and specialty teachers run the stations and do a great job.  Besides field day we did some math and I read to them--I am in the second to last chapter of our Humphrey book.  

The teachers beat the 6th graders in the kickball game and the PTA sold candy to the students and I think they made good money!  Most of the younger kids sit in the grass and eat candy and ignore the game.  Alissa and Miriam both played kickball so I was minding the third grade.  A boy in Miriam's class couldn't find his money.  He 100% knew that he had brought it outside.  I offered Takis for anyone who could find it and they fanned out around the grass, scouring the place.  

One of Alissa's students came up to me and said, "I'll share my money with him if he can't find his."  They really are the sweetest sometimes.

Finally the boy said, "Maybe I left it in the classroom..." So a group was sent on a quest back to the classroom.  Sure enough it was there.

I opened soda cans for kids who bought soda, but couldn't open it.

One of my students came up to me with a wad of chewed up caramel.  He showed me that one of his teeth was stuck inside.  I said, "Wow," because I had no other way to respond.  He dug the tooth out and held it out for me and I really didn't want it.  I said, "Do you have a bag the candy came in?"

He fished a ziplock bag out of his pocket and said, "It might have a hole in it."  Then he stuck his finger in a hole and said, "Yep."

I said, "Well put it all in your pocket."  He put the holey bag and tooth in his pocket and popped the caramel back in his mouth.

Besides that, I told everyone who asked if they could use the bathroom to go in the PE door because it was open.

Today we will do all the end of year things for real--I will show them the slide show, give them their awards, clean out desks, send everything home.  Friday is an hour and a half long and a lot of kids don't come.  I don't know why we go through that charade, but we do.

Also today (late), Adam is coming home.  That guy is having about 5-6 weeks of traveling off and on.  Happily I will be along for some of it.

I think I can, I think I can

 Yesterday we had Camp Day.  Miriam and Alissa moved their desks and set up tents in their classrooms.  My part of Camp Day is an art project and they need desks, plus I don't want to mess with tents. 

(I like not camping.)

My same student who groused about not liking the treat from testing, was unhappy we didn't have tents (even though we were rotating classes and he would get to be in tents).  I called him over to my desk and told him that him complaining made me want to do less for him.

He stopped complaining.  

I read them The Berenstain Bears book The Bear Scouts.  They love it just like I loved it when I was their age.  That silly Papa Bear....

Then we did our art project.   It all went well and I did it three times and didn't run out of any of the art supplies so high fives all around.

We worked on their memory books in the afternoon and I spelled a million words for them.  One student was just having me spell everything.  She even asked how to spell OK.

I said, "I bet you can figure that one out."

She looked mystified and then it occurred to her.

They got to sign autographs with other third graders so everyone was running around getting signatures like they weren't going to lose the memory book 15 minutes after they got home.

During recess, I noticed the 6th grade boys playing kickball with all the intensity of 6th grade boys who are going against the teachers the next day.  I said, "Are you guys practicing for tomorrow?"

One of my former students said, "Yes, and Coach Childs thinks we have a 50-50 chance."

I didn't tell him, but they don't have a 50-50 chance.  The teachers are not in a mood to show mercy to 6th graders at the end of the school year.

I will do my typical duties of holding all the teachers' keys and cell phones and minding all the children.  In addition to liking not to camp, I like to not play kickball.

Mark came after school and helped me get my room whipped into shape.  He'll come back Thursday to help me cover everything since we are getting new ceiling tiles and the other ones have been there since 1977.  They are expecting a lot of dust and we need to plan accordingly.

The last week of school

Yesterday my team and I were talking before school.  We all agreed that this is not our favorite week.  We are less teachers and more camp counselors.  Basically we are just trying to keep things going.  For science we talked about pushes and pulls and force and I had those little frogs you push down on and they jump.  I made a bracket and we had a competition.  A little bit educational.

My hardest student was gone.  It was an amazing day.  Remarkable.  I kept wondering where half the class was.  

He was the only one absent.

Never let anyone tell you one person can't make a difference!

In order to balance the aggravation scales, I didn't have that extra measure of energy sapping, but I have lost our mail key!

It is so frustrating.  Losing things is the worst.  We have a locked mailbox down the street and I always keep the mail key in a little compartment in my car.  For reasons beyond my understanding, we don't have a spare.  But in nearly 12 years of living here, I've never once lost the mail key.

I have looked everywhere. Multiple times.  I have looked all over my car and in my bag and every coat pocket.  Everywhere.  The best I can determine, maybe I accidentally threw it in the recycling bin when I was recycling junk mail.  (Although I always leave it in the car, so I don't know why I wouldn't have done that.  Except I didn't.)

I need to go to the post office in person, which feels like adding insult to injury.  They will likely have to drill it out and issue a new key and it will take "7 to 14 days" and I just want to hit my head against the wall.

Ugh.

At least my hardest student was absent.

Also, we had our animal showcase.  Each student had an art project about their animal and they had written a paragraph about the animal they had researched.  They did a great job.  Their parents came to see the projects.  The students were super nervous, which I didn't really understand.  Then I realized some of them were nervous their parents wouldn't come.  And several of the parents didn't come.

The parents who did come went around and looked at other students' work which was so kind.  One of the mothers in particular was so friendly and made even the most reticent students come alive and talk about their projects.  It made me happy.

There are a lot of ways in this world to be a hero.

Weekend

I left school in a ratty mood on Friday.  I had created a wrapped box for my students with seven ribbons tied around it.  Every time we finished a test, we cut a ribbon.  They were excited to know what was inside.  Several of them asked me if I knew what was inside.

Do they know how the world works?  I wrapped it....

We cut the last ribbon and their prize was that they could either choose Takis or Twinkies (for the white kids for whom the Takis are too spicy).  Most of them were thrilled.  A few of the boys complained that they had been "scammed" and "gypped."  I don't know what they were thinking would be inside the shoebox sized box.  A new car for everyone?

It bugged me though.  I don't have to give them anything, and I told them that.  I said, "Buying you treats is not part of my job and you don't have to have one if you don't want one."

They looked chagrined and took a package of Takis.  Some of the girls, who are more socially aware, thanked me in an exaggerated fashion, then gave those boys a side eye.

Their behavior was pretty wild too. We practiced for our animal showcase.  The parents are coming today to see their projects and we had them show their projects to the other third grade classes.  It was chaotic.  The past few years I have done the same fun activities the last week of school.  This year I also have a stack of worksheets because this group can't really handle much unstructured time.  If they lose it, we'll just do worksheets.

I had gone to school early several times in the week so that I could leave early Friday.  I went home and we finished packing up and hit the road for Starr Valley.  I think by the time we hit the dirt road, my shoulders had fully relaxed.  Adam emptied the mouse trap (I am grateful for him!) and Mark immediately started vacuuming flies although there weren't too many.  I wiped off the counter and put stuff away and took the dust-covers off the furniture.  Soon enough we were in good shape.  We went over to visit my dad.  He shaved his mustache to work at the temple and he looks more like his brothers without it.  We enjoyed visiting him and I missed my mom.

Saturday morning Hannah and I took a walk.  (I would have tried to have Olivia join us, but she was at a track meet.)  While I was tying my shoes, Hannah said, "Look at those tiny petite shoes!  You are so little!"

Only one of my Dahl cousins would think that my size 9 shoes are tiny and petite.

We started walking and talking and soon enough we were both crying.  We talked about grief and life and things we have learned in the past year.  Losing her daughter, Norah, last October has changed Hannah.  She was always my beautiful and stellar cousin.  Now she is more wise and compassionate and has been refined into someone else.  I will think about some of the things she told me she's learning for a long time.  When we got back to our house, we sat down inside and visited.  She wanted to share something on her phone but didn't have her reading glasses.  I gave her mine, but they are progressive lenses and it made it worse.  I went and got Adam's glasses off his nightstand and they worked.

I still marvel that we used to play in the orchard and sit on Olivia's bed (Olivia, Britta, Hannah and me) and draw page after page of girls in fancy dresses.  

Now we need reading glasses.

I used my Tineco mop (with the replaced part so it no longer leaks) and cleaned the floors.  It is an amazing machine and I couldn't be more happy about it!  Adam and Mark worked outside.  My dad came over for lunch.  He drove his excavator over.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I thought you might want to drive it."

Ha ha.

He had brought it over for a project though and wanted to leave it there, so we gave him a ride home.  First, after eating and visiting a bit, we went to the cemetery.  We saw my mom's grave and Norah's, then my grandma and grandpa's grave as well as my cousin Amanda.

Here my dad was telling us some story and Mark snapped a picture.  That sky!

When we were dropping my dad off, I decided I wanted to go and talk to him more.  I did and had a good talk and a good cry.  I told him that it is a good thing I don't have an eye condition that is worsened by crying....

I am grateful to have my dad.  He is wise and gentle and a good listener.

He took me back home and I was emotionally spent, but better after all the crying.  I think I've been on autopilot a lot, just getting through the days.  It's good to have a cleansing cry every once in a while and confront whatever is beneath the surface.

A piece of Adam's sprinkler system broke off inside another piece and he thought he was going to have to go to town and buy a new part.  We took it over to my dad and of course my dad could fix it.  

We had dinner and then I looked around longingly at the little house and declared I didn't want to leave.  It is the same every time.  

Sunday we woke up to falling snow.  I took a picture out the kitchen window.

Adam braved the elements and took a picture outside from the exact view as his sunset picture from 12 hours earlier.

In this chaotic weather year, we had a winter without nearly enough snow, it got warm, then cold and the blossoms froze, then it was blazing hot, everything's dry too soon and then snow on May 17.  

We went to church (I brought sandals).  I finally saw Olivia at church.  I asked her what she was doing during the second hour.  She said, "Sunday School?"  I said I thought maybe we could visit.  She said, "I guess we could have a presidency meeting."

Adam and Mark went to Sunday School.  After, Adam said, "Your dad asked where you were."

I said, "And you ratted me out?"

When I hugged my dad good-bye he asked me if we had everything decided in our presidency meeting.  I said, "Yes, it was very productive."

We headed back to Utah, stopping in Salt Lake to briefly visit Emma.  Mostly we were all cold and tired and happy to get home.

Grateful Friday

 I am grateful we are going to Starr Valley for the weekend.  I am looking forward to seeing my dad and Olivia's family.  I am looking forward to our little house.  I am hoping we still have some lilacs to take to my mom's grave.

I am grateful for my team.  Yesterday we mapped out the rest of the year.  When I said, "But what are you doing that afternoon?" because we are finishing up a lot of the regular curriculum, they gave me good ideas.

I am grateful for my students.  Those maddening chaotic students are very sweet.  I love when one of them sidles up to my desk first thing in the morning to tell me a tale.  Yesterday a boy told me about the only time he ever saw his dad cry when both of his dad's parents died on the same day.  He told me he hadn't ever met those grandparents because they live in Mexico.  He told me that his parents couldn't afford a plane ticket when they came to the United States so they walked.  He was two years old at the time.

I said, "So you had a big adventure even though you don't remember it."

He is such a dear boy.  When he isn't rolling on the floor or being a scoundrel in one way or another, he is telling me he loves me or earnestly trying to finish his work even though it is really hard for him.

I am grateful these children were my people this year.  It was for sure the hardest school year I've had.  I had some really difficult students and, you know, cancer, and my mom passing away.  It's been a lot.  But they were my people and I love them.

Eventually I will stop talking about end of year testing....

 Yesterday we had a leadership meeting after school.  Matt had us report on our celebrations surrounding test data.  Basically he wanted to hear from those who had either met or exceeded their goals.

I had nothing to add.

It is depressing.  We didn't reach our goal; we tried so hard!

In order to stop perseverating on the unmet goals, here are some other things to report on.

The preschool teacher gave all of us a personalized and homemade keychain.  So kind!

My hardest student (the one I talk about often) had the most growth of any boy in math.  He went from well below grade level to proficient at grade level and it feels like the biggest win in the world (until I start thinking about those goals again....).

Also, Emma sends me stuff like this:

me if I were a british person with an unsuccessful tea business in a rap battle against someone who refused to shop at my store and I wanted them to feel bad about it:

i'm losing pounds like i'm on a diet/i sell a cuppa but you never buy it

It's hard not to be happy when Emma is in my world.

Times are changing

 Mark helped me assemble end of year gifts for my students last night.  We are in the winding down scenes.  We are finishing up our last tests.  I am trying to declutter my classroom a bit.  We are feeling collective angst about some test scores and cheering each other on about the good ones.  (The disappointing ones hold more weight in our hearts.)

It has been unseasonably warm.  The weather all year has been sort of wacky.  

I haven't been sleeping well and I think it is a confluence of a lot of circumstances, but it is also a fact that my routine is changing and I am a toddler.  It throws me off when my routine changes.

Despite being thrown off, there are a lot of things to look forward to this summer.  I am excited about some trips and looking forward to spending time in Starr Valley.  I want to roast marshmallows for s'mores and watch the sunset and fireworks from our deck.

I want to eat berries.

The last field trip

 Yesterday we went to the Bean Museum at BYU.  I had a plan that I would be with my hardest student and I had the rest of the students divided between the parent volunteers.  One of the parents was sick and couldn't make it so I had the hardest student and her group.

It was hard.

Before we left, he told me he felt like throwing up.  A glimmer of hope!  Maybe my day wouldn't be as hard!  His mom was at work and he insisted he couldn't call her and he insisted he was feeling better.  I didn't really believe him, but I didn't know what else to do.

He rallied health wise, because keeping up with him was the challenge of the day.  I had a sweet boy who wanted to look at everything, another boy who just wandered off at every juncture, a climber and then that hardest boy who just ran around and touched everything he wasn't supposed to touch.  

It was exhausting.

We finally left the museum and went to a park for lunch and to let them play.  It was hot--near 90.  A lot of my students were spinning and spinning on the playground equipment and then they lay on the grass moaning because they were so dizzy.  We walked back to the school and the students were sort of wilting in the hotter day than they've been used to.  My hardest student pulled away from me the entire way back to the school.  I had an iron grip on his arm and he seriously would have fallen over if I'd let go because he was pulling so much against me.

Sometimes I wonder why he isn't ever absent, but then I realize that if I were his mother, he would never be absent.

I read to them with the lights dim when we got back to the school.  They got a lot of drinks and several of them told me they were going to throw up so I placed the garbage next to them.  No one threw up.  We survived the day.

We only have one more Monday.

Weekend

 We enjoyed having Braeden around for part of our weekend.  His friend Joe, also a student at UC Davis, came for the conference and stayed with us too, but we didn't see him until Saturday morning.  He came to our house after we were asleep and they left before we woke up Friday morning.  (They went to the temple before their conference started.)

Friday, we picked Braeden up at BYU and we went to dinner at Bumblebee (Joe was meeting up with friends).  My K Pop fries were spicier than normal or I am getting wimpier.  It could be either thing.

We came home and just visited and enjoyed each other.

Saturday morning, before anyone else was awake, Braeden and I took a walk.  It was a lovely morning and so nice to walk along and chat.  We drove to Salt Lake and met Emma at Casa del Tamal for lunch.  It has turned into one of our favorite places and now we are wondering if Edgar would like it because he is the gauge for us of how good Mexican food is. 

We didn't know Joe would be joining us for lunch so the reservation was for five instead of six.  They didn't have a six person table for us, but seated us outside.  People with sunglasses sat on one side of the table.  Adam accidentally bumped Mark's soda all over Emma.  It was a bit of a rocky start, but we got it together and had a good lunch.

After dropping Braeden and Joe off at the airport, we did our Saturday errands and then Adam and Mark and I took another walk around the cemetery.  It is just prime walking weather.

Saturday afternoon, the sacrament meeting program fell apart and Adam asked me to speak in church.  One of the...perks...of being married to the bishop.  

Sunday morning he said, "I hope that won't ruin your Mother's Day."

I said it reminded me of being a mother.  You are constantly thrown fast balls and curve balls and change ups.

He said, "Look at you, using baseball terminology."

My talk went OK.  I felt a little hollowed out all day, missing my mom.

We took a walk after dinner and in talking about graves to visit on Memorial Day, I told our kids that my dad had told me my grandma's Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary were buried in the Salt Lake cemetery.  I was telling them a story about them, but was fuzzy on the details.  I almost said, "I will ask my mom."

Then I remembered.

My dad called to wish me Happy Mother's Day.  I asked how he was and he said, "Fine."

I said, "You always say you're fine, but are you?"

He said, "I might as well be."

So my dad preached a sermon in one sentence and I'm going to try to be more like him.

Grateful Friday

 Yesterday was Marianne's birthday.  I'm grateful for her!  (And I'll be grateful when she is home so I can talk to her more.)

Braeden is here for a few days.  I'm grateful to have him around and hug him.  Braeden hugs are enthusiastic to the point of teeth rattling sometimes, but I am here for it.

We took a walk after dinner.  Just missing our three girls and the Young Prince.

And guess what?  We got an email that said we could sit in the massage chair even if we hadn't kissed the frog.  Miriam and Alissa and I hightailed it in there after school--and traffic duty, because it's our week.  We had to wait our turn so we dragged chairs into the hall and sat outside the room so no one would take our spot in line.  You would think with our commitment to getting massages we would have just taken the picture, but you would be wrong.

Miriam is 6'2" and Alissa is about 6' tall.  I'm the short one.

But I fit in the massage chair better, so there's that.  On airplanes and in massage chairs, it pays to not be too tall.

We enjoyed our 15 minute stint in the chairs, then we went and graded our math acadience tests and I felt all the tension return to my shoulders and neck.  

It didn't go well.  It is a timed test and during it I had about three students just looking around the room and looking at me.  

Ugh.

It's always like this in May

Yesterday we had a faculty meeting after school and Matt outlined all the things on the calendar between now and the end of the school year.

It felt like getting hit by tiny pellets.  Not painful, but the cumulative effect was real.  

Then he told us that since we're getting a new HVAC this summer at the school (yay!), we need to take home anything that can't withstand a lot of heat for the no AC summer.

He told us that since we're getting new ceiling tiles in all the rooms, we will have lots and lots of dust and we need to cover everything.

So that is all a bit overwhelming, but then I remembered Mark.  I told him I would hire him to come and help me and he said sure.

It is teacher appreciation week and I feel grateful for the efforts being made, but also I feel too tired to be bothered.  If we take a selfie of ourselves kissing a plastic frog, we can have 15 minutes in a massage chair.

Not worth it.  

Taking a selfie of kissing a frog doesn't sound like something I would do. (The third grade teachers all concur and Miriam, the eternal optimist, said, "Are we scrooges?")

Maybe.

Bah. Humbug.

Alissa said, "Can't they appreciate us without making us do dumb tasks?"

Just your average Tuesday in May

 Believe it or not, this is me trying to keep my desk clean.

It gets away from me every single day.

We did more testing in the morning.  One boy was pretty out of it and refused to work and I could tell he was sick.  He also refused to admit he was sick.  Sometimes it is clear that parents are at work and they are not allowed to call home.  It breaks my heart a little.

By 10:00, he was sitting there, quietly crying.  I took him to the nurse's room where he could lie down.  The lady in the office that speaks Spanish called his mom and she was indeed at work, but far away and couldn't be there for a while.  The sweet boy just sat there and wept.  I asked him if I could do anything for him.  He didn't want anything.  It got to be lunchtime and I tried to get him lunch, but he didn't want any.  I asked the office ladies to call his 5th grade brother down.  I thought he could maybe cheer up his brother.  This student is the third one in the family and I love them all completely.  I wish that I could follow their mother around and have her teach me her ways, because I have never met such sweet boys.  They have a kindergarten or maybe first grade little brother and I hope I get him in a few years because I want the entire set!

The 5th grader was the picture of sympathy like I knew he would be.  He spoke to his brother softly in Spanish.  I asked him to ask the brother if he wanted to come to my classroom and watch something on Disney+ on my computer while everyone else was at lunch.  He didn't.  Finally, he just bent over his brother and wrapped him in his arms and told him he loved him.

It was the sweetest thing I've seen in a very long time.

His mom eventually was able to make it and I hope the dear boy feels better soon!

A girl had sauntered in right when we were finishing testing.  I asked her why she was late.  (They know we're testing!)

She said, "Oh, my parents went to the temple and then we all went to McDonald's."

O-kaaaaaaaay. 

A girl dropped her completely full water bottle on the carpet and I handed her a paper towel from the classroom roll which is the least absorbent material probably on earth.  Happily we live in a desert and while the wet spot was still there when I left for the day, it will dry eventually.

A girl brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Teacher Appreciation Week. She included a card that thanked me for teaching her the metric system.

A few students looked closely at the flowers and wondered if there was pollen in there.  (The day before we'd had a science lesson about pollinators.)

At lunch recess, the aide on duty confiscated a glass bottle of liquid some my students were taking swigs of and sharing around.

It was hot sauce.  

Valentina's hot sauce.  One of them had brought it from home.

I had recess duty in the afternoon.  One of my boys, who mostly sits morosely by himself in the middle of the grass every recess, was invited by a girl in Miriam's class to play four square.  

It kind of made my day.

On the heels of that, a girl in my class came outside with her fingers pinched on the least amount of fabric possible on her sweatshirt.  She said, "It got toilet water on it."

I didn't really understand.  "It dropped in the toilet?"

She said, "Yes, I put it on the toilet paper holder and it fell in."

These are the kinds of problems one doesn't get taught about when you are getting a degree in elementary education.  I have a healthy stash of plastic grocery bags and I put it inside and hung it up and reminded her to take it home when the bell rang, because she was merrily leaving without it.

Just another day of highs and lows; chaos and sweetness; you won't believe this and I can't make this stuff up.

Not giving up yet

 I told my students not to finish the math test in one day.  I told them that there were 60 questions and if they finished it in one day, they are going too fast.

Two of them finished and got the lowest scores I've ever seen on the math test.

I feel demoralized and humbled.  It is easy to feel like I failed them.

It is also easy to feel like I just want out of there.  Everyone from the school counselor to the administrators to my team teachers to the aides think I have a super hard class.  They exhaust me.  Much of the challenge is from things beyond their control and beyond my control.  Until I have Adderall in my skittle jar, those things will just continue.

But, I wish I could have made more of a positive impact.  I keep thinking, maybe if I hadn't missed so much school!

I know how to make myself feel even more discouraged....

I have 14 more days and I will try my best to be positive.  Even if they aren't at grade level, I will do my best for them to know that their teacher loves them.

For the counterweights, Hannah texted me a witty description of the birds outside her office window.  (We have a fantasy of being bird watchers together.). I had a nice walk with Kim.  She told me a tale that had me laughing out loud.  Adam and I made dinner together and chatted about everything.  Even on my worst days, there are things to be thankful for.

Weekend

 Such a good weekend!  It was full of expected and unexpected goodness.

Friday was a typical May school day, just in time for the first day of May.  Chaos and anarchy.  We didn't have any testing.  We read about Greek gods and did partitioning in math and were well on our way with phonics when I got called into an IEP meeting that they forgot to tell me about.

The person who forgot apologized profusely to me multiple times.  I told him he should apologize to the aide who took over my class with my jumble of instructions as I walked out the door.  She was in fact thrown to the lions.

The IEP was supposed to take 30 minutes.  At 1 hr 10 minutes, I ducked out to get my class whipped into shape before leaving.  You never saw a more relieved person than the aide when I walked in the door.  All the kids were yelling and clamoring around and she was standing by the outside door like she was ready to bolt at any moment.

I went back into the IEP after the students left and the meeting eventually came to a blessed close.

May.  Not for the faint of heart.

We had a quiet and welcome evening at home.  Saturday I did my things around the house then met Emma for lunch.  After, we went to The Devil Wears Prada 2.  Emma said she was tempering her expectations because sequels were never as good so I tried to follow her wise example.  I don't think it was as good as the first one, but we enjoyed it and we enjoyed the people next to us who were so tickled by everything from the trailers to the end of the movie.  It's nice to be around happy people.

I hugged Emma good-bye and she casually mentioned she wouldn't be coming to Sunday dinner and I know that I'm lucky to have her as often as I do.

Still.

I like it when she comes home!

When I got home, Adam and I started our errands.  We went to Deseret Book for garments for me.  While I was puzzling over the new sizing, Adam was looking at art.  He will probably finally make a decision for what to buy for the bishop's office by the time he is released.  I was shocked and so pleasantly surprised when Erin and her daughter Aubrey walked in!  We hugged and then immediately started talking about the garment sizing like we were picking up mid conversation instead of we hadn't seen each other in at least over a year.  Adam came looking for me, because I was taking so long.  He asked, "Did you get lost?"

I said, "Look who I found!"

We chatted for a minute and then went our separate ways and it was such a happy thing to have run into each other!

Adam and I finished up our errands and brought Jersey Mike's home to Mark.  They have a pretty good gluten free Philly cheese steak sandwich.

Sunday morning, I was getting a slow start, watching the Follow Him podcast on YouTube and just easing into things, when I got a text from Erin asking if I wanted to get together.  She said she had until 10:30 and I did too.  I said, "Yes!"

She said she was coming my way.  I took a speedy shower and got ready and even had time to straighten the pillows on the couch before she arrived.  It was such an unexpected and wonderful turn of events!  We chatted for about an hour.

Her cute grandson was being blessed and we had the Lindon Temple dedication so we hugged good-bye again.

Adam was at the stake center with the other bishops in case of any recommend issues and there was a sign posted that there were no seats saved, buy Melva saved us seats all the same.  I brought my actual paper scriptures to read while I waited for it to start and I forgot how much I like those old fashioned things.  Adam joined me right before it started and it was nice to sit next to him and such a blessing to be able to watch the dedication.  I loved every minute of it.  There were great speakers and then President Eyring dedicated the temple and I was filled with the desire to be better.  Always a good thing.

After a quick lunch of cheese and crackers and grapes, Adam and I went to our church where we were having child care for kids from our ward who were too young for the dedication (which was being rebroadcast at the stake center in the afternoon).  It was Adam's idea; he's a good kid.  Melva and Neil came and helped too.  We had seven energetic and cute kids.  They played a bit in the nursery.  I did a singing time and Neil had made a slideshow about temples.  Then we let them "build" temples out of sugar cubes.  More than one sugar cube was popped into a mouth!  Yuck.  I love sweet treats, but just eating a sugar cube?  Doesn't seem good.

We went to the gym for some chaotic games, then cleaned up the nursery, gave them a snack and their parents started showing up.  All four adults thought it was easier and went faster than expected.  I had brought books to read to them, a few more games and coloring pages, but we didn't need any of it.

It's better to have more things than you need!

Mark was accidentally glutened on Saturday so he was feeling sick all day, poor kid.  It makes me sad and I think it would feel a little demoralizing to have celiac's desease.  There are so many foods you can't eat, good foods, and then sometimes you accidentally get sick anyway.

Adam and I took a walk, but stopped and sat on a bench when we got a FaceTime call from our favorite Californians.  We came home and had dinner and watched the YA fireside with Elder Stevenson.  (Adam and I are young at heart?)

Today I am off to school for more testing and I am sporting a Star Wars t-shirt that none of my students will understand.

May the 4th be with you.

Grateful Friday

 Another Friday has rolled around.

I'm grateful for my team.  They are flexible when I need them to be.  They are funny and supportive and OK with my foibles.  They have good ideas.

We like to take walks together when we are collaborating.  Yesterday Caroline said, "I keep seeing you guys everywhere."

Alissa said, "Well, we're team of the year."

I said, "For a few more weeks."

Miriam said, "Nah, we're going for a repeat."

I love my team.

I'm grateful for a weekend where I am crossing all the fingers that I will have more time with Adam.  Time with that guy is at such a premium.

I'm grateful for the Lindon Temple dedication this Sunday.  

I am grateful I have Kim to walk with.  We chat and the walk time just flies by.  I loved loved loved my walking buddies in Washington.  It only took me over a decade, but I am grateful to have found a Utah walking buddy!

I am grateful for the growth that I am seeing in some of my students.  I am grateful for their sweetness and affection.  I am grateful it is almost the end of the year because I am so over a few of them and their behaviors!