On the First Sunday of Lent, Contemplating the Beauty of Melting Snow

This afternoon I took a brisk half hour walk in the late winter air to watch our son coach basketball. Along the way to Lucky's final game coaching a team of 9 and 10 year old girls, I heard water dripping. Snow is melting and findings its way to water drains.

My Frozen Soul and My Lenten Journey

This whole winter it feels as if I have been stalled. In our small town, there is a seemingly never series of water main breaks, which means we can't use our tap water. A pipe burst under the river, which meant the air was filled with the smell of gas. There have been blackout after blackout in many neighborhoods because of our ailing electrical system. And despite all the efforts of so many, our public schools appear to be breaking and our elected officials indifferent. One of our sons is struggling in school. And the older child is still waiting to hear back from the many colleges to which he has applied. No word from any of them yet. Oh and then there is the snow, inch after inch of snow, day after day, delaying the start of so many school days. It feels as if my family will never unfreeze, never move forward from our permafrosted positions.

My Life is Beautiful, Even When I'm Bone Tired

I decided to post this picture first to remind myself that my life is beautiful. This was the front of our house yesterday. New Jersey has been hammered with snow and the boys and I had yet another snow day from school. I am tired, bone tired, between working full time, taking two graduate classes in Special Education, advocating for our own son and helping to organize resistance to our local Board of Education, which hired a technocrat to run our local public schools and who seems intent on destabilizing our tiny school district. And so it is I find myself sitting in the family van at the end of another long day, unable to find the energy to open the door and walk into our home.

Home Sweet Home with David and Goliath

All of New Jersey, it seems, is dealing with a snowstorm. The public high school where I work closed a little before noon. I figured it would take an hour to drive home. Instead, it took three hours to drive 40 miles. The roads were clogged with every other New Jerseyean who had been let out early to beat the storm. I had my latest audiobook, Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath, to keep me company. I ended up finishing the book. Friends have been gushing about Gladwell for years; now I know why.

Seven Quick Takes for Friday

 http://photographybydarmetko.blogspot.com/

1.  Today's drive to work was treacherous. Snow was pelting down and the roads were slick. I was driving our 20-year-old Saturn, which has a poor defroster, no upholstery on the ceiling and no working horn up an interstate jammed with trucks and littered with accidents and police lights. (Our van is in the shop.) About halfway through the commute, I began praying the rosary out loud. Ten Hail Marys followed by the Our Father and Glory Be. Over and over again. I began to feel calm and the presence of peace. I made it to work. Thanks be.

Five Favorites

sponsored by moxiewife.com

These are a few of my (current) favorite things.

1. Ogi Eyeglasses. These are the glasses I currently wear. I lost my other pair about eight months ago, and went without. These I love.

2.  Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
The second in the Odd Thomas series. I am taking my time getting through it, but the book is a real pleasure.

3.  This Blouse.  It's called an Eyelash Blouse. (?) I bought this on clearance at Catherine's. I could wear this every day to work. (Though I restrain myself.)  Something about the color and the little bits of glitter all over it makes me happy.

4. This Picture of our 16 year old. He will NOT let me photograph him. A friend of his took this shot.

5. Crocuses. As much as I try to enjoy it and keep my spirits up, I hate winter. Nothing like our front lawn thawing and turning to mud and the crocuses peeking through to cheer me.

 photo courtesy of landscaping. about.com

Sunday Morning Walk in Neshanic Station

The word Neshanic comes from the Algonquin language and  means "double stream." 

Seven Quick Takes for Friday

 (painting by Jason Tako)

1. Spring is coming; I can just feel it. It is so glorious to see more and more of the sun these days. As much as I try, I don't do well in winter.

Seven Quick Takes for Friday

1. It's snowing here. Hard. The Northeast is expecting a major blizzard. Our home is ready with newly made beeswax candles, food, unread books and for me, some cross-stitch. My husband and I worry we will lose power; Superstorm Sandy showed up the infrastructure here is pretty fragile.

 newbrunswick.patch.com

Planting Seeds in the Face of Discouragement and Then, a Shooting

Maybe it was transitioning back to our work and home routines after a three-day getaway with my family, but this morning felt as gray as the skies. It snowed as I drove to work and then it rained while I was teaching classes. I teach struggling learners and I like to think I make a difference. But today was a day when I felt discouraged. What am I doing wrong? What can I do differently? How can I help each and every student want to learn and succeed at learning?

By lunchtime, I realized my discouragement is merely a mask for my pride. My discouragement is based on the misguided notion that I and I alone am responsible for whether a student put in front of me for 44-minute period each day wants to learn and is successful at doing so.

Unplugged in the Poconos

This is me Friday night at a condominium my family rented in the Poconos. It was a blessing for the four of us to spend three days away from the never-ending demands of school and work and basketball and cycling and orchestra and band and choir commitments. As an added benefit: the wifi didn't work at the resort where we stayed.

Bigger Picture Moments: From the School Cafeteria, Snow Out the Window and Thinking about Wordsworth's Lucy Gray

My students told me yesterday morning that life is supposed to take an ironic turn on Leap Day.

Well, that afternoon, hours before March, it started snowing. At the high school, the classrooms have small windows to the outside. We could see the snow. I raised the blinds in class to watch and let my students watch.

It is mesmerizing, this snow after a long winter with few flakes.

In the cafeteria, a colleague told me he is heading north as soon as he can; he lives in the mountains and worries about getting home.