A New Spin On Recycling

Check this site out--ReadyMade: MacGyver Challenge. You see one guy's technologically cutting edge use of a couple of ALTOIDS TINS. I'm intrigued with the evidence of sheer ingenuity. If you have any left over strawberry containers and demonstrate your own ingenuity, you might win the next challenge! And if you are looking for some wedding cake ideas....
It's made out of DING DONGS :)

Squirrel Fishing

I think this is so funny. This guy and his friend went out with peanuts tied to the end of strings. They called it "squirrel fishing" :) It reminds me of the squirrels on our university campus. If you want to see more photos this guy took of these determined squirrels, click here.

By the way, to my knowledge, no squirrels were harmed in this liitle fishing expedition. Desperation requires no hooks!

One Clip At A Time

Wow. That's a big paperclip!

I want to put a plug in for the paperclip. Certainly, as a teacher, I already have a working relationship with the clip (we're on nickname basis with eachother), but as of last night I have a renewed interest in them.

Last night Susie and I watched a documentary recommended by a co-worker who is Jewish. The movie is called PAPER CLIPS . It followed the unfolding project at a middle school in the back hills of Tennessee. The project began from a simple question asked by one of the middle school students during a lesson on the holocaust: "What does 6 million look like?"

In the graduate class I am taking this semester to complete my Master's of Education, we are talking about how it is that people really learn. Is our education system really using effective methods? Our manner and styles have gently changed over the years, but the philosophy of education really hasn't. Basically, we function in a very "top down--dump knowledge into waiting minds" way. My own philosophy of education has evolved away from this mainstream flow. I love that this documentary showed the power of trusting kids to ask questions. Trusting kids to want to know things, to desire to discover, to work hard at uncovering mysteries, to reflect and connect deep human tendancies with their own mundane lives.

I loved that the paperclip project took a very ordinary object and made a monumental symbol out of it. Can a simple paperclip really impact a heart? One paper clip can attach two pieces of paper together. That same paper clip can also link two human stories spanning decades, distances, and differences.

Is there anything too small to be used in unthinkable ways?

Spring Will Come...

I spent the first part of Spring Break with a friend in Omaha, NE. It was a needed trip. A journey away from a battlefield and into a home that had warm light spilling from the windows. As I settled into an almost permanent place on my friend's couch, it began to snow. And snow. And snow. I was given a blanket of white winter wonder. It quieted the swirling thoughts a bit. The blanket wrapped me up in the warmth of a home and a friendship. I took sips of the warmth from moment to moment and appreciated the cold contrasts. My friend offered me two really valuable gifts: space to just be and a reassuring reminder of who I am. Ok...there were other gifts taken....I liked the mega cable stations to flip through, snacking on her food, and snuggling with her cat, too.

Linda has known me since 1987. That is a long time. Nineteen years. She's seen me as an aquaintance, a roommate, and a friend. Do you have friends who remind you from time to time who you really are? They are gifts. I hope I am that kind of friend. A warm space in the presence of winter storm warnings. A reminder that spring will come.

Here I am.

Today is my birthday. There is a full moon tonight. I think it is beautiful, bright, captivating.

It is full--complete.

I just came from a coffee shop where I was surrounded by several of my friends. Friends who know me for who I am (or are getting to know me) and were willing to sit at a table and visit with me and eachother. It was delightful. I feel full---Thank you Kelly, Dee, Liam, Darci, Maris, Ben, Susie, Scott, Heather, Jean, Anna, Amy, Julie W., and Kristen.

With only 45 minutes left of the actual day, I think I will note some of the things I am hopeful for this year:


1. I hope I am able to have several more experiences like tonight....I love it when the cross section of people I love and care about get together and make connections among themselves.

2. I hope amazingly surprising things happen in the most unlikely situations and relationships.

3. I hope I move back into my home June 2007 a free woman.

4. I hope to break from darkness into bright sunshine. I want to have bright eyes again.

5. I hope I have a delightful summer as the Snow Cone Lady!

6. I hope I can be true and live full.

7. I hope I complete my Master's Degree this summer.

8. I hope I understand new dimensions of grace, peace, desire, contentment, and love.

9. I hope I get a new platform bed that has a down comforter and many, many down fluffy pillows so that I can
read in bed and read "in style."

10. I hope I go on another road trip with a friend.

Goodbye...Hello

This the eve of my birthday.

I have several things rattling aroung in my noggin today. I think I would like to make a list of the things I have lost and gained this year. Then tomorrow I will make a list of things I am hoping will happen in the next year of life.





Things I have lost---with the post-script that I believe NOTHING can be fully lost. Even loss will have some redemptive element within it:

1. My masked view of my past. Looking at things with someone and naming those experiences for what they
really were is a painful freedom involving both loss and gain.

2. Two dear friendships.

3. More than 10 pounds. Thank you Weight Watchers!

4. The contents of my garage due to an intentional clean sweep.

5. Rumsey my pet bunny who died this summer after 9 years of being cared for by me, and Babs the butterfly who left home to live the life she had been waiting for!


Things I have gained:

1. A wonderful roomate for three months. Very redemptive!

2. New dreams and passions. Namely, I have new ideas brewing in my head and heart regarding things I
want to do and accomplish with my teaching, my business, and future creative endeavors.

3. A renewed sense of direction regarding the pursuit to be debt free in a year.

4. A life changing experience shared with the Indonesian people and my teammates.

5. A tiny, tiny, tiny interest in writing my thoughts down (like in this blog). Like a burning ember.

6. Perspective to see the end of the journey toward my Master's Degree in Education. This perspective led to
the needed committment to see it through.

7. An fruition of a dream and an amazing small business that encompasses so much of my potential. It came with a road trip with a dear friend. The business makes delightful fun for many and many delightful memories
for me.

8. A small, and growing ever smaller, number of people who want to walk with me through anything. I'm grateful
for them.

9. A new pair of black pants that both feel and look good.

10. Several new friends/aquaintances--about five come to mind immediately.

11. Two really enjoyable student teachers with whom I shared my life, students, and classroom.

12. Three separate individuals who gave me gifts that actually sustained me through three separate droughts.

13. Much more clarity about who I am. When I look really honestly at who I am, and I ask others who know me what they see...I really do see amazing value in who I am. Reason enough to celebrate tomorrow!

Castle Neuschwanstein in Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany. This is the MSN Picture of the week that I voted as my favorite. I think it is simply beautiful.

Mark Twain Moment

OMPOUS.


Mark Twain is known for his quotable quips. Here is one, for example: "All you need is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."

I was talking through this week's spelling list with my students. I help point out spelling patterns, things I love or appreciate about the words, or help them with the meaning or use of the words. I spontaneously had what I am calling a "Mark Twain Moment" when the kids wanted to know the meaning of POMPOUS. Here's what I came up with:

pompous= when your head grows larger than your heart

Alot of my seventh graders were perplexed for a moment...some demanding they were certain that your head is supposed to be bigger than your heart. I asked them if they could think about the statement in any way OTHER than anatomically. It was fun you see the light bulbs come on-----Ahhhhhh. Yeah! Ohhhh....They got it....it means a person is "full of himself!"
As the laughter died down, I seized the moment and hinted to them that perhaps the second syllable of the word really should be spelled differently! More puzzled looks. And then some creeping grins. Only a couple of kids each hour got that last tongue-in-cheek comment!

So my Mark Twain Moment unfolded further when I got home...
You are pompous when your head grows larger than your heart and suddenly drops down into your posterior region.

Lord, help my head and heart be in proportion...and keep me from becoming anything that resembles my posterior region!

Simon...renamed Peter

I'm thinking about Peter. One of the twelve who was called out by Jesus. A common fisherman, called to be an uncommon Fisherman. Believer...betrayer. Faith to step out...fear causes him to sink. He's known by his extremes. But it is what makes him the loving, tender, leader-learner.

Peter is a man who utters his heart, "You are the Christ, Son of the living God." (Matt. 16:16) His heart is marked by Jesus in that moment as one that is aware of the revelations of God himself. His heart is alive and receptive to things others' hearts are not. In the face of a broken reality...that Jesus would have to suffer and die...Peter utters his heart again, "This shall never happen to you!" (Matt. 16:22) Jesus identifies Peter's heart as something very different than "in touch" with the heart of God. Peter's heart is trapped in the net of his mind and flesh.

Would Peter have responded like that if he had not first adored Christ? I think not. He saw the truth. He hated the outcome. Jesus was the truth. Jesus became the outcome. How does Peter learn to embrace this, the greatest of disappointments? Truth crucified. I'm looking for this revelation.