Life tends to place a great deal of emphasis on “firsts”. Though I don’t really remember it, I’m sure my first Mother’s Day was a monumental occasions. When I was pregnant with Erin, Mother’s Day began a nine month period of tossing my cookies. And over the years, each of the girls as made me gifts at school, many of which still occupy places of prominence in my office. But this Mother’s Day may be the best yet. I think…
Well, I have made it through another semester. As of 11:17 yesterday, I am a free woman – until I start getting all those complaints from students who are not happy with their grades. “Why did YOU GIVE ME a C?”“It was a gift. I could have given you the F you deserve.”“I was not failing your class.”“No, not until you turned it the paper of which 80% was copied and pasted from Wikipedia.”“But I worked hard on that paper….
About ten days ago, Erin and I went shopping for a dress for her to wear for Confirmation, which took place last Sunday. Dress shopping is not a happy experience for any of the girls in our family. It is unpleasant for both Brooke and me because we don’t wear dresses and because any occasion that requires a dress is usually not one that we will enjoy. Erin, on the other hand, doesn’t mind wearing the dresses, it is just…
“I don’t have to sting anyone, do I? “Life is fun among the flowers!” “Do these antennas make my cheeks look big?” “Snug as a bug.” “Mom loves me. She loves me not. She loves me.” “Watch my face, not my stinger.” “Of course I’m precious.” “Okay, Mom really doesn’t like killer bees.” “Still life.” “You may remember me. I stepped out to make a phone call. Yep. Mom wants the picture.”
Most teachers from preschool through elementary school are all faced with the same task at this time of year – creating a memorable Mother’s Day project for their students to give to their mommies. Middle schoolers and high schoolers around here are too busy taking the #*!@ TAKS test (the state of Texas standardized test) right now and besides, many of them think that parents are stupid and are unworthy of a present. So, those teachers of older students are…
Yesterday a friend gave me some bubbles. I must admit that I have not played with bubbles since the girls were little and I had forgotten how much fun they are. I had nothing pressing to be doing so I took the bubbles and went outside to enjoy the beautiful spring evening. Blowing bubbles into the soft breeze and watching them float through the air reminded me of how awesome the simple things in life are. I spent a great…
For the most part, life in th country is awesome – no traffic noise, just coyotes and cows. No bright lights, just the moon and the stars. And no city code enforcement, so the grass in our front yard can be six feet tall if we so desire. I must admit though that this really is not a good idea because the down side of country life is that there are many critters that share this land with us. The…
It is hard for me to believe that we are two weeks from the end of another semester and that I am writing the final assignments and tests for my classes. Though I like considering questions for tests, I really don’t like to “give” the tests. I would much rather just gather around and have a group discussion about the questions at hand. Unfortunately, undergraduate academic life does not work that way. So, I must write questions in such a…
I have reluctantly joined the text messaging generation. I still think that if you need to say something to another person, it is best to dial the phone and speak to them; but, over the past year or so, I have had to admit that there are times when a text message is the best means of communication. Personally, I have about a one message limit. It takes me forever to type a message and that is with no punctuation…
There is no question that we live in an automatic, electronic, remote controlled world. We have lights that turn on when you clap (or the dog barks, or the cat knocks something off the kitchen counter, or it thunders and the power has not yet gone off), electric toothbrushes because we wouldn’t want to burn an extra calories by actually having to move our arms back and worth, and then there is the sacred remote control. At my house a…