Today we are going to skate right into the Christmas Holidays. I can’t wait. It is only 1/2 a day and then we are finished for the joyous season. I don’t know who will be running for the gate faster, us or the kids!
Tag: school (page 9 of 15)
I am not sure about writing this, I don’t know if it is a good idea to put my thoughts into words over this situation. I can’t seem to think about what exactly it is that I want to say. I am sad beyond measure for what happend at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday morning.
There came a point this weekend where we had to step away from the TV and the internet and get out of the house, I couldn’t watch it anymore, I have cried, I have been angry, I have felt sick. Mr. Michie took me to the movies to get our minds off of things and we watched a little Birthday party come in to see The Hobbit, they were about 8 or 9 years old and I thought, Birthday parties, there is something that will never happen for those little people in Connecticut again.
This story has affected both of us, we have not been sleeping and have had nightmares, in which the faces of those young children are replaced by the faces of our own students. I keep thinking about how frightened they must have been, how awful their last moments were. And then what if it happened here? I pray that Angels were with those children, that they protected them from the worst, that they surrounded them with love.
I look at our Christmas decorations and think of those little souls who won’t see that, who won’t be waking up before sunrise to see if Santa Claus has come, who won’t be giggling again, playing on the playground, swinging their legs from their seats, those little children who won’t be coming home.
Not only the children but also the adults who won’t be coming home as well. They all set out, thinking this was just an ordinary day. It was Friday, they had weekend plans, they had Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, homework to do, it was just any other day.
But it wasn’t, this one stone dropped in the pool and rippled, this one decision made by this person, a choice we might never know the answer too, has changed the course of all of their lives forever.
I am always saddened by loss, but somehow the loss of children, of a sweet innocent being, a life wide open, a flame sputtering out is one of the saddest losses of all. I can’t comprehend why someone would do this.
One of my favorite movies is an older movie called, Where the Heart Is, it stars Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. After Ashley Judd’s character is beaten up by her boyfriend and her children abused by him she moves in with Natalie Portman and Judd asks Portman, “What do I tell my children about what happened?” To which Portman replies: “You tell them that our lives can change with every breath we take… and tell ’em to hold on like hell to what they’ve got: each other… You tell them we’ve all got meanness in us, but we’ve got goodness too. And the only thing worth living for is the good. And that’s why we’ve got to make sure we pass it on.”
We must pass it on, tell someone you love them, smile at a stranger, listen to someone, ask someone how they are and mean it!
I pray for those children and the school staff who lost their lives, I pray for their family and friends and classmates. I know it is not an easy task but it is times like these that we must walk in faith, all we can do is pray, is offer comfort, is offer hope. We must still believe in miracles, still believe that good exists, that Love abounds. We must have hope that a brighter day will dawn.
It is cold outside. The windowpanes were frosted this morning when we woke up, but the sunrise was gloriously greeting us as we headed to school. The sky was filled with pinks, peaches and hues of lemony yellows. It quickly turned into a violet gray and began to get darker and darker.
We arrived at school and I went upstairs to the Art department to get ready for our second day of exams, I had to run an errand at the front of the school and as I went downstairs and headed for the door the sky had gone from a violet gray to a charcoal white and snow was billowing down in great puffy pom-pom shaped balls.
I felt like Lucy from “Charlie Brown”, I wanted to dip my head back, lift my face to the sky and stick my tongue out and catch them. It lasted for only an hour or so and unfortunately didn’t stick, but it made my morning.
I have been listening to Christmas music all day today in the cupboard and I thought I would share an album I really like with you, enjoy!
Happy St. Nicholas Day! I have said it before and I will say it again, this was one of my favorite days growing up. We would be in our classrooms, trying so hard to concentrate on what Sister Marion was saying, one of our elfin size shoes would be waiting in the hallway and we would be intently listening out for the sound of bells.
When you heard that tinkle, tinkle, getting louder and louder as it came closer to your classroom door, it was all you could do to contain yourself. A shadow would cross the doorway, the tinkle of the bells would fade into the distance and you knew he had been. He, being St. Nicholas! We were allowed outside and tucked in our shoes was usually a miniature candy cane, a fat little orange and a plastic snow globe of the nativity scene.
It was always such a magical day. I hope that St. Nicholas brings you a bit of magic today as well.
I have been on a very intense First Aid course all day, so I am more than ready for the weekend to be here!
There was a frost on the ground this morning. The grass looked like sugared spearmint.
The sky was beautiful, when we left the house, the moon was still out to the west and the sunrise to the east was filled with purples, strawberries, oranges and blue velvety colors. I can’t think of a better way to start the day then to be greeted by a sight like that!
Here’s to the weekend! Long may it last!
Above the Art Department is a little space that has been created to be utilized as the Art studio. The kids call it “Narnia”, as it is “up” there and I will agree with them, there is an air of magic to it, as you feel like you are in a secret hideaway.
I was having to gather together some ex-student’s work from the studio and saw this on the wall and snapped a photo of it.
It is a line from a song by The Spill Canvas called “Sunsets and Carcrashes”. I liked what is said.
Yesterday was a long day. Today has not started off so well either.. Everyone seems to be in a bad mood, me included! I must have just woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
I went out this week and I knew from the moment I got in their car that it was a bad idea. The person I was with was in a bad mood, very standoffish all through evening, argued with others around us, including me. It was meant to be a night of fun, however, I was so happy when the evening was over with, as it was not enjoyable at all. You want to be around people who uplift you not bring you down. I was looking forward to this night and came home feeling deflated.
This morning the bus driver was grumpy and rude, even after I smiled and said, “Good Morning!”, he had words with another passenger, for no reason and she being annoyed with him carried on the verbal disagreement. For what purpose? Why can’t we all try to get along, to just be friendly. Saying “Good Morning, “, “Good Afternoon”, “THANK YOU”, “PLEASE”, are all cheap, they don’t cost a thing! Having manners counts for something in my book, just being generally polite counts for something and doesn’t it make you feel better to be NICE as opposed to GRINCHY?
I think I need to catch my breath, and just try and be for a little while. The very thought that it is Friday and once I get home this afternoon, I am own my own clock for the next little bit, is making me feel better already.
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The pace of life. You don’t always hear it that often, but once in awhile, someone tells you they are changing their pace of life, they are quitting work, to travel, or working from home, or working less, or having a family, or going to enjoy spending time with their family, or simply enjoy small pleasures, like dancing barefoot around their house.
Today, I was up first and showered and while Mr. Michie finished getting ready, I ran out to get us coffee instead of making it this morning. It was still dark outside, the glow from the coffee shop was a warm welcome, the door was open, beckoning you inside and the aroma of coffee beans permeated the air and my nostrils.
One of the Brandenburg Concertos was playing when I walked in. The mood was right, the atmosphere was calming and I should have been sitting there savoring the moment, instead, I was agitated, I could only think about how much time I had left before I had to get to work, tick, tick, tick, what my morning would entail, what I needed to get done, what I can’t plan for, because there are always last minute requests, tick, tick, tick, in my head I was becoming impatient, I thought, “make the coffee already!”, tick, tick, tick.
Then, I stepped back, I took a deep breath, what pace of life am I trying to keep to? At work, it is for the most part, constant, there is a rare moment to catch your breath, there are high expectations on staff and students, as there should be, but not always enough time to have a minute or two to call your own during the day. I should have been savoring those 15 minutes while I was standing in the coffee shop as my own, but instead I wasn’t.
I need to become better at that, I need to become better at catching my breath during the week, of not thinking so much about work, till I actually get to work, not an easy task, but I am going to work at it. I want to enjoy my own time, as my own, with my own thoughts. I want to change the pace of things.
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We try and vary our lunches from week to week. We decided to make pasta salad this week. Now, as Mr. Michie will tell you, I have a thing for packaging. I can’t help it, I have been known to buy something simply for the packaging. I have been staring at this pasta every time I walk down that particular aisle of our local grocery store, today it jumped into my hands.
This box of pasta was so beautiful, I just had to photograph it. In 1927 at the age of 14, Domenico Cocco began learning the art of making pasta. In 1944, he passed on his passion and knowledge to his son Giuseppe who continues to make pasta today in the village of Fara San Martino in Italy.
The taste of it, just on its own with nothing on it was simply wonderful. It tasted more like fresh pasta then dried pasta. I can’t wait to taste it in our lunch tomorrow after it has absorbed the flavors of the tomatoes and olives and mozzarella and olive oil and oregano, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
I love this little picture. I found it awhile ago, I am ashamed to say, I don’t remember where, and the caption underneath it said, “Sometimes life is tough and that’s ok!”
What a day this has been! I feel like this miniature bunny, I need to be on my couch, with a soothing eye mask and recovering from the hectic pace of my school day.
We had our first Art Show of the season tonight. One of the students cut her finger pretty deeply while trying to trim her work to be mounted, so off we went to see the school nurse and then off she went to the ER.
That was the only major drama for today. We hung the show in a day, piecing it together as more work trickled in. It finally came together in the end as it always does, I don’t panic, because I know that it will be alright.
Mr. Michie took care of me and brought me a banana and a bottle of water for lunch to make sure I ate. I don’t worry about eating on days like this, our time is too precious in setting up the show to waste any of it, as I am working to a deadline, but, I appreciated him looking after me and my banana was a welcome gift.
We had a wonderful turn out and a lot of nice work. Now I am home, lying next to Mr. Michie on our bed, the hum of the radiators is the only noise besides my typing away and we are pooped! There is a comfort in the silence.
Tomorrow is Friday and I am so glad I made it through this week!