Books.

I absolutely love reading children's books. Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth is my current favorite! Here is a short excerpt:

A Heavy Load

Two traveling monks reached a town where there was a young woman waiting to step out of her sedan chair. The rains had made deep puddles and she couldn't step across without soiling her silken robes. She stood there, looking very cross and impatient. She was scolding her attendants. They had nowhere to place the packages they held for her, so they couldn't help her across the puddle.

The younger monk noticed the woman, said nothing, and walked by. The older monk quickly picked her up and put her on his back, trasnported her across the water, and put her down on the other side. She didn't thank the older monk, she just shoved him out of the way and departed.

As they continued on their way, the young monk was brooding and preoccupied. After several hours, unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "That woman back there was very selfish and rude, but you picked her up on your back and carried her! Then she didn't even thank you!"

"I set the woman down hours ago," the older monk replied. "Why are you still carrying her?"



Wow. That goes straight to the heart! ;)

Transition.

We finally move tomorrow!

No more cleaning the kitchen after my roommates.

No more nastiness.

Yay!

This will be my fifth home in the past year and a half.

I'm learning to love to move.

Change is good.

It keeps life interesting.

And, it helps me remain very simplistic in my belongings.

Now, only packing is left.

Ahh.... I cannot wait!!!

Gradumatation!

Ahh... The kids were so cute tonight!

It's crazy to think that the school year will be over in just one week. Where have the days gone? I remember those first few weeks, well months really, when I thought I was never going to make it. Now, I realize that, whoa, I did make it! And, I loved it!

These kids have made me laugh. A lot.

I will certainly miss them.

One Week!

In one week, Krista and I will move into our new apartment!

I cannot wait!

It will be clean. It will be cozy. It will be ours!!

Yay!

Goodbye.

Teaching is such an interesting profession. You pour out your heart on a class of students for nine months, loving them through thick and thin. Then, June arrives and you have to say goodbye. Some of the kids you'll never see again. And, you hope that their next teachers will love them as much or more than you did. That they will learn to see the true child inside each student. Oh, gosh, I think I'm becoming sentimental knowing that our graduation is but one week away. I'm going to cry the entire time. These kids have become my life this year. They are so precious!

Then next year we will start all over with a new group of kids.

Thoughts From the Farm.

Today we visited a cute, little family farm in Hugo. And, it made me miss Iowa! I miss the simplicity of life in Orange City. Not that the people or their activities were anything less than amazing...but, I miss the carefree nature of life. Sunday morning church followed by brunches, first with friends, then later with the Barkers. Afternoon naps. Carefree walks around town at all hours of the day, and night! Buying little. Loving many.

Being at the farm with 16 preschoolers clad in pink was also exhilerating. The sincere joy children express around animals is so contagious! Seeing our most physically aggressive boy gently hold a small kitten stopped me in my tracks. His giggle brought tears to my eyes. Little ones loving big.

And, through it all, I realized, once again, that I can never not work with kids! ;) They bring me such joy...as well as a reason to become a better person. These little ones this year have caused me to grow in patience. Act in kindness. Reach out with true compassion. They have inspired me to truly become a person worthy of being emulated. I sincerely want to be a woman of character and integrity who these kids, especially the young girls, will want to be like. Making little changes. Loving big.

XX.

No, I don't drive a Honda Civic.

It's a Honda Accord.

You can ask me 5 more times if you'd like.

The answer will still be no.

I may be a girl.

But I do know what kind of car I drive.

Thank you very much.

Plan A.

I think that, after I pay off the last $24,000 of my student loans, I will go to Switzerland.

Yes, that is the plan.

35 years.

Ms. Stromgren, do you have a husband, or are you still a daughter?

I'm still a daughter.

Hmm. I thought you were old enough to have a husband.

I am old enough. I just don't have one.

When do you think you will have a husband?

I have no idea. When do you think I will?

Probably in 35 years.


Sometimes these kids make me want to pull out my hair and cry. But, mostly, they make me smile and laugh 'til the tears fall.