The Dawn Has Come

I have been friends for the last five years with a little old Danish woman from my hometown named Ordell. And on Christmas Day this year, she died. She was 90 and I went to her funeral over the weekend. 

We became friends because she saw the announcement in the newspaper saying I had graduated from college (hello, small town) and she called me to say something about it.  I knew her from church and I remember it well because I was bewildered by the invitation. She said,

"Congratulations.  Now come on over."


It was really beautiful to know someone like her. She asked about other people all of the time, and had interesting things to say, and kept up on the news in the world, and prayed for everyone. She was a great hostess and her husband, Virgil, was a great host. Instead of saying, "How's it going?" she'd say, "What's the score?" and when you talked, she really listened.

Crisis Averted

Yesterday at school, I made a fairly sizable mistake regarding a test I had given the 8th graders in December. In retrospect, that was quite a week...I was probably not in the best shape to even make a key for the test that would be accurate.

So I messed up on the key to my own test, but in addition to that I had accidentally begun to grade half of the tests with a 7th grade key, and then had to cross everything out and start over. Another clear sign of fatigue before Christmas break. I guess you are supposed to sleep and eat at normal times and think about things besides history and connections through time. Seriously, point taken.

Reset and Go

It's 2012 now, and I'm back to the job again. 

After a night of reckless dreaming....(fighting a turkey, and winning??...being held hostage by two French people?...suddenly getting on a plane to go to Washington, D.C.?...running a relay race?...someone coming up to me and cutting off all of my bangs?)

..I woke up. 

What I Don't Do - Part II

Back when I wrote about things I don't do, did I add 'sewing absolutely anything' to that list? Part of me said that if I didn't, I certainly should have. The other side of me said that learning takes patience and verve and the ability to keep going. People become boring if they forget that.

All of this thinking yesterday while experiencing total angst at the kitchen table. I was sewing.

It's in the moments where I'm completely frustrated that I remember that some of my students are naturally more bent toward math, and still spend 5 hours of a week with me, the teacher who tends to obsess about themes in history. Learning is hard work and being a teacher creates such a humbling experience.

This post is not about teaching though....surprise of your life, I am sure. Instead, it's about sewing. Everything I know about it, and why it matters. Here goes.

Jenna and I planned to make infinity scarves, and spent yesterday morning working on this project together. Every so often one of us (usually me) would jam the sewing machine. Then I became like a 4 year old and called for my mom for help. It felt like a nightmare, and I know why. I am not detail oriented, struggle with spatial concepts, and have much more patience for people compared to tasks. Sewing is precise too, which is something I like in other people, or spelling words, or your basic conversation.

From the Head and the Heart

I have been away from writing on this blog, and the hiatus felt wholesome and good.  I don't know why I needed time away, but I did.  In the past few weeks, I only did a few things each day.  Mostly I worked really hard at school.  I would work for 15 hours and then walk to my lone car in the parking lot and wonder what the heck I was doing with my time.  But I did not feel that tired.  I think I was wired and preemptive about Quarter 2 at school.  In four years I have learned that you work your butt off in December so that January has flow.  

I turned off the radio, and listened to Amy Grant sing hymns instead.  Her voice is a strong reminder of my 90s childhood, and hearing the solidarity of hymns and the promises of Jesus was how I found the buoyancy in these weighty days.  I had long conversations with some of my friends that rooted me to the understanding of how I'm really doing.  I chose to believe them when I said I was brave.  And after every conversation, I felt intensely grateful to know such a soul who had become my friend. 

Advent Thoughts

All week long, I've been thinking about a story I heard on Sunday at church.  It immediately caught me because it was about G.K. Chesterton, and this is a man who was very honest and very jovial all at once when he wrote things on paper. Kind of like Mark Twain, who is another refreshing soul to me from an earlier time in history. 

The pastor said that Chesterton was known in England as an apologetic and a cultural analyst, which intrigued me right away.  I love analyzing cultural patterns, and it confirmed the connection I feel to Chesterton's style of writing. 

A Tribute to Excellence

First, a confession.  This is horribly dramatic of me, but last year, when I revisited this episode of 'Boy Meets World', I cried.  And I just cried again.  George Feeny is oddly inspiring, and in 'Killer Bees' (dorky puns were titles for 90s sitcom episodes!!) he's speaking my language. 

Feeny wants to win the Geography Bee with Minkus for the 6th year in a row.  Instead he takes Cory who doesn't win at all.  Start watching this at 3:25 to see what I'm talking about.

In the last few days I've talked with numerous people about teaching.  Not my students, the current grade book, or the specific school where I teach.  The stuff beyond daily life.  It has been refreshing.