Monday, January 12, 2009

Theme Week 1 Know Thyself , Know Thyself?

Monday
Back to work for the week. Sixteen kindergarten children. Do no harm. They love school. They have so much to learn about how to be citizens of the school and still have to learn reading and math. They come in so happy to be part of the school system. What do we do to them to make them hate it by 5th grade? Work with a teacher that I love. I go between thinking she is whacko and thinking she is a brilliant teacher. Both true. Love her. Love the children. Love my job. Having a Merlot while I do my homework. Love this class.

Tuesday

Beautiful moon last night and walking across the parking lot into work was a beautiful sun and moon. Good day today. No crazy teacher. A sweet substitute. Too quiet, too sweet. Children turning to chaos. Tried to hang back and let the sub learn. Couldn't. Had to step in and take control. Better for everyone. The children appreciate boundaries. Went for a nice walk after school. Met my friend, unplanned. Had a walking visit. Met a boy and his Lab. Little visit. Going to the basketball game tonight. Watching my wonderful, beautifully mixed raced nephew play. Hope he gets some playing time. He's quietly good, not flashy.

Wednesday

Work was good. Getting really cold. Went to sister's house to siphon wine. Sacred Sisters winery has 12 more gallons bubbling. Really glad she's come home after 26 years in CA. Fun. Had a birthday visit with friends I don't visit with much. Love them, but not into the sitting and drinking coffee visit thing. Friends need to move to hang with me.

Thursday
Started a weight lifting class. Feeling good and strong. Joke is that I don't want to blow out a pec and end up with an implant near my belly button. Breast cancer, not enhancement. New exercise buddies. We had so much fun. Laughing, teasing. Something to add to my skiing, walking, snowshoeing, golfing, kayaking. Staying strong, staying healthy. Never take movement for granted. Home this evening, glad I don't have to go anywhere. Enjoying a Dean Koonz book. Just finished a Stephen King. In between, I read a book called The Shack, a novel about the Trinity and forgiveness. Still thinking about it. Haven't been to church for months since my priest shot himself after allegations of child abuse over 20 years ago. Loved and respected him. Looking forward to bed and book. When your body is tired exercise your mind, When your mind is tired exercise your body.

Friday
Yay, Friday! The forty year husband crashed his jeep into a tree. More like backed into a tree. Always bragging about never having an accident. (I have, of course, hit 3 deer) Always telling me I need to learn to use my mirrors. (I turn my head) My first thought was "deductible!"Cold, cold. The thermometer wouldn't even register this morning. The basketball game tonight was special, like a movie. The JV game. Mocha nephew having fun. Team losing by over 20 points. Small boy with Autism and no playing time in the game. Last minute of the game. The boy with Autism makes a beautiful 3 point shot. The first stringers on the bench go wild. The coach stations the boy on the 3 point line while the rest of the team work to get the ball to him. Beautiful fade away jump shot. 6 points in seconds. The team goes wild in the center of the court, piling on the boy, trying to lift him up, celebrating a 20 point lose, while the opposing team looks on bewildered, wondering who won.

Saturday
Too cold even for me to go out until around 11 that is. Went to another friend's birthday party. Beer, wine, pizza. I have so many friends that get me through so many facets of my life. Don't know what I'd do without them. Friends to talk over problems, mine and theirs, friends to cry with, laugh, with exercise with. A husband that is the soft place to land friend when I'm done flying around in my day. Sweet, simple guy almost always easy to be with. The birthday girl is the exercise friend. Then went for my weekly nursing home visit to my 91 year old mother in law. Aways enjoy my visit with her, but that is no way to end your life. She says she is living to long. I have to agree with her inside my heart.

Sunday
To the restaurant for coffee with friends, skiing with the exercise friend, sweating the zero degree. Husband and little dog ice fishing. Hope he doesn't let the babydog get cold. She's not like the previous big lab. Bread raising on the counter. No bread machine in this kitchen. Love the feel of the almost alive dough, the ancient ritual learned from my sweet mother, the smell of the grain sometimes reminding me of the bin in the neighbors cow barn when I was a child.
I've read over my week of journaling. The shallowness has fleshed out a bit. The pollyannaness is true and absolute and well earned. Whether it is surviving cancer 4 times or simply living long enough to learn what is important in this life, I never have a bad day. Interesting moments, but no bad days.

3 comments:

  1. 'Do no harm' is the key for teachers and doctors both--and sometimes it is so hard to know how to avoid it in individual situations. But when the system does harm by its very nature, then there's no surprise that little kids wind up thinking school is not for them--in many cases, as school is constituted, they are absolutely right! I could go on....

    Like your breezy style here! Love it!

    "My first thought was "deductible!"Cold, cold. The thermometer wouldn't even register this morning." Which was cold--your first thought or the temp? :)

    Nice hoop story....

    Ah! It's all been good, but this is the liftoff moment: "Bread raising on the counter. No bread machine in this kitchen. Love the feel of the almost alive dough, the ancient ritual learned from my sweet mother, the smell of the grain sometimes reminding me of the bin in the neighbors cow barn when I was a child." Do you know Carol Shields' 'Stone Diaries'? Starts with a fantastic description of bread making.

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  2. It's not easy to create a self-portrait in a half-dozen shots, but you carry it off in great style here: picking the right details is an art, even if it seems artless to the writer.

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  3. I have never Stone Diaries, but I think I should.

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