Three Day Weekend

I LOVE three day weekends. The only thing I don't like about teaching is I can't work 4/7s and always have one. There is something exquisite about having a day to do all the things you usually do on Saturday and STILL having a free day. (Our Sundays are family time, church, etc.)

Even with being up late last night at the Teachers' Day party, dancing and dancing, I could take a nap during my daughter's rest time and not feel like I had missed my opportunity for things I needed or wanted to do. Yippee for the extra day!

To top this all off, a dear friend is in town this weekend. (In fact I need to finish this slice so I can go iron an outfit to attend a wedding of someone in their extended family.)

Thankful that tomorrow is only Saturday!

Blazing Candles

Lebanon celebrates Teachers’ Day as a national holiday. Really. There is a day off school and everything. Our parents put together a lovely luncheon for us, providing coverage in our rooms for an entire hour so that we were able to sit together and enjoy a scrumptious, relaxing lunch. There were table clothes, linen napkins, high water glasses, real china, a catered meal, and a cake.

The cake was where the afternoon got a bit crazy. Even though we don’t let kids have candles on birthday cakes in class, (anyone who has been in a school with touchy smoke detectors understands why,) they put the blazing, sparkler tubes on the cake this afternoon. And, if they had looked up, would have seen that it was placed DIRECTLY below the smoke detector.

(Blurry, but you get the idea.)

You guessed it. The fire alarm went off. First thought of every teacher in the room? Our kids are in the classroom with parents who don’t know ‘the drill’. Next thought? I hope all goes well. The head of school as well as all the lower school principals were in the room. They could take care of how ever they wanted to do the ‘all clear’.

I did call my husband, who works in the other building, to see if it was going off there too. Nope. Now I wonder if the alarms are building specific or if there is a glitch in the system. Either way, there was a glitch in the planning of the cake.

Just before we were heading back to our rooms the ES Principal informed us that if we thought our kids were riled up before, we should see them now. Great! What a relaxing way to start the long weekend – an hour of riled up kids. (I did find a way to focus them when I got back. I promised, and then gave, a quiz five minutes before school ended.)

Happy Teachers’ Day!

Ashes to ashes

There is a smudged ashen cross on my forehead.

A pathway to Easter with 40 days, plus Sundays, is up for the little one to mark off each day as we proceed through the season.

I remembered where I had put the ornaments to mark each day's Bible story for us to read as a family and then place on the 'tree' drawn on the sliding door.

Now I just wish I had some swashes of deep purple fabric to place here and there as a color reminder that we have entered Lent.

A New Grandmother

While I was in India last week I had the opportunity to meet one of my student’s great grandmothers. It was both an honor and a privilege to spend an afternoon with Hazel and in the end I feel like I have gained a grandmother.

My grandmothers were both dear to me. One died when I was ten and one died when I was pregnant with my daughter. Even though more than 25 years span between the two losses I felt them both differently.

My paternal grandmother, Mater, had four grandchildren, but only one grand daughter. I loved being the only one. I sewed my first pair of pants in first grade (navy blue polyester) using her Singer and guidance. I had started cooking long before that. I still make homemade granola each week from her recipe. She had been a kindergarten teacher and her ease with us when we were little was evident. Mater loved nature and camp and those are things she helped instill in me. I wish I could have known her as an adult as I can only imagine what deep conversations with her would have been.

My maternal grandmother, GramGram, was not a grandmother who got down on the floor and played with her grandchildren. She had a great house to go to and play when we were kids, but we didn’t play with her. As an adult, however, she and I had endless conversations about everything from books to baseball. We shared our travels, both in story and in actuality. As she got older and less independent I would escort her to the grocery store, doctor appointments, arts events, baseball games, and memorial services. I will never forget the conversation we had when she was in her early 90s when she told me she had changed her mind on the death penalty. I honestly can’t remember which was she switch, it was much more striking to me that she HAD changed.

When I was married I gained another grandmother, my husband’s paternal grandmother. She was the sweetest woman I have ever met. I do not think she could have an unkind thought or word. She also died when I was pregnant with my daughter.

Five years later I head down to the lobby of my hotel to have tea with Hazel and over the course of the next many hours my smile grew and grew. Hazel was a teacher for 70 years. She taught little ones and her love of them still energizes her. I was honored to hear stories about her life, family, and teaching. When she insisted I shared story after story bout my own little one. I now have another grandmother. I can’t wait until she comes to Beirut for a visit!

How much sleep is needed?

I am not even talking about how much I need. Recently we have realized that we needed to revisit our daughter's bed time. She had been needing about 12 hours for the past several years. In the past month she has gone to bed at the same time, but hasn't fallen asleep for an hour or more and is often up before her clock turns yellow, even if she had been acting tired. Perhaps it is time for a change.

Our research shows that 11 hours is reasonable for a one who creeping up on five. We are actually excited to have more time in the evenings together, but it is an adjustment. After years of coming home, getting dinner on the table, and then starting the bed time routine the extra time feels both luxurious and neglectful.

We will get used to the new schedule. (She seems to have already.) What will it mean as we head into the coming weeks and months? She really wants to have piano lessons. Is this possible now? In the summer we can actually hang out with people in the evening. We are excited for that! I have no idea what else it will bring. She is really enjoying chapter books, perhaps we can lengthen reading time in the evening to encompass both picture books and a few chapters. Any other ideas?

Airports and Other Joys of Air Travel

I just got home from a 1:1 conference in Bombay. I am a pretty patient person. I have also traveled enough there isn't really much about airports that can surprise me. I also realized that by the time I land I have forgotten about the annoyances at the previous airport or two. In order to share a slice of my day, I am having to force myself to relive this morning.

My school had booked my airport transfer through the hotel (not the way I roll when I am taking care of the arrangements). I called last night to make sure my pickup time was set. My roommate's flight was many hours earlier than mine. I awoke to find that my internet had been turned off. I figured out right away what had happened, she checked out and they turned it off. I called down to remind them that I was still there and would like to have access (and reconfirmed my airport transfer).

After I finished my breakfast I went to turn in my key and let them know I was ready for my transfer. They informed me that my transfer had already left with my roommate as their directions said 'one transfer per room'. I told them that she left 3.5 hours ago. Did it really make sense for me to have gone with her? They asked if we had shared a transfer when we arrived. I said we hadn't as she didn't want to wait at the airport the several hours before my plane landed. I also pointed out that I had confirmed my transfer twice in the past twelve hours. After some discussion in a language that was not English so I can only infer what was said, I was told that a car would be pulling around for me.

On a Sunday morning there was no traffic so I arrived at the airport in no time. There were several entrances into the airport. Of the three I was closest to, one had a long line and two were empty. Bombay has a new international airport so I wasn't sure how things would go. The last time I flew out of there everyone's bags were scanned upon entering the airport, which could have explained the line. (It was more of a mob the last time.) I caught the eye of two of the guards standing at the empty entrance and they signaled that I could approach. I showed them my passport and told them my flight. They said I had to have a ticket. Um, I had an eticket and was already checked in. They started conferring in another language. While they were conferring I pulled out a copy of my itinerary (not a ticket at all), but this satisfied them and I was allowed to enter the airport.

I had checked in online so wasn't really concerned about the length of the line for my flight. I had my aisle seats, had already confirmed the legality of the objects in my bags, and had told that I would just need to drop off my bags and pick up my boarding passes upon my arrival at the airport. I joined the queue and when a representative passed by I inquired if there was a separate line for dropping off bags. He pointed me to another area. I knew it wasn't the correct line as the gentlemen were sitting behind a solid wall with no place to accept bags through the wall, but I followed the directions I had been given. Those gentlemen directed me back to the line I had now abandoned my spot in. I told them that the gentlemen there had sent me this way and explained why. I was then shuttled to another kiosk where I waited my turn.

I will spare you the conversation with that agent as it involved things like my telling him I had checked in and him asking me if I had checked in, after he was looking at my checked in record on his computer screen. Once I saw the luggage tags be affixed to my bags I headed to immigration.

This section appeared to be well thought out. It was open and bright with at least forty immigration counters spread down an expansive space. There were several different lines depending on where you were going and what your passport/ID was as well as a very direct, short line for elderly and babies in arms. I got in the line for 'all other passports'. And then I stood. And stood. And stood. Upon further observation each of the other lines, with about 20 people per line, had a couple of immigration officers working the line. The direct, short line has five or six people and two officers working the line. The line I got to join had at least forty people and, wait for it, one immigration agent. Ya, that was fun.

Having re-lived all of this and I am not even into the terminal has me ready to stop writing and go spend some time with my husband. I will add that the fun things like people headed on a religious pilgrimage who feel the need to push and shove to be sure they are first is hard to stomach. That goes along with there being people standing in the aisles as soon as the plane has landed and slowed down to nearly stopping, the first time. Ah, the joys of air travel.

Let The Challenge Begin!

How did it get to be March? The Slice of Life Story Challenge starts today. The Iditarod starts this weekend. Ash Wednesday is a few days away. Before I know it Spring Break will be upon us and when I turn around my little one will be five and then summer will be here. 

It is a good thing I get get 31 opportunities to reflect on what is going on in my world. Thirty one opportunities to slow down. Thirty one opportunities to find things to be thankful for. Thirty one opportunities to reflect on the world around me, specifically. Thirty one opportunities to admire the writing of others and multitudes of opportunities to connect with others and their stories.

During this time there will be big things and small things to write about. There will be celebrations and grief. There will be the monotony of life and the adventures. There will be days when I am exploding with ideas and days I struggle to get something down.

I appreciate this yearly challenge. I appreciate the focus and the challenge.

Welcome everyone! Here we go...