Today was for me

It seems like it's been weeks since I've really had any time to myself, not that everything I've been doing with, and for, others has been unrewarding, because that is not true; however, I enjoyed a fairly carefree day. I spent the morning at the monthly Democratic party meeting - four candidates spoke about their campaigns, but the coolest thing was the last speaker. Barbara Cross was the guest speaker in honor of black history month. Her father was the pastor at the 16th street Baptist Church in Birmingham, and she was best friends with one of the girls that was killed and friends with all of them. One of the things that stood out to me was her admonition to all children to obey their parents and their teachers. She was supposed to go the restroom with her four friends (which is where the dynamite exploded) but her teacher asked her to make a list of students who would be promoting to the next class. Instead of giving excuses or saying she would do it when she got back, she did as asked. It saved her life. Her wallet was recovered from the rubble because her friend had taken it with her.

In the afternoon I cleaned up Bradley's bedroom apartment - a huge mess! But for some reason I enjoyed puttering around in a leisurely manner. I found some things I think he was supposed to take with him. Guess he'll manage!

Then, because the sun was shining and it was some warmer than it has been, I decided to go shopping! I spent four hours moving from store to store, trying on a few clothes, looking for items on sale for the house, just generally enjoying myself! I bought a few things - all good bargains, of course and came home happy. I'm looking forward to Sunday.

The Weeks Go So Quickly

Saturday the weather was spring and I baked all day. Sunday was an open-house for Bradley...lots of fun, lots of people, lots of smiles. Monday Bradley was set apart as a full-time missionary by President Johnson. (His son's last area in his mission was Tumwater, WA.) John, Sylvia, and I went. It was a very nice evening. Tuesday morning John, Barry, and I took Bradley to the airport. Not too many tears. Bradley was anxious to get going. Today Bradley reported to the MTC - we assume he got there, though we haven't heard from anyone! Guess I could call Lloyd's sister and find out how things went taking him. And tomorrow is already Thursday, then Friday, then Saturday again. Where does the time go? And Sunday is already February 28, then Monday is March 1st. Wow.

Wow! What a Saturday!

It's hard to imagine that last Saturday we were dealing with the effects of 5 inches of snow and ice and today it is 60 degrees and sunny! I bought flowers to put on the porch, because even though the grass is still brown and the leaves have not budded yet, we need a little spring with color!

I have finished the shopping, now will continue the baking. Cookies, which I love to bake, are my downfall however, because everytime I pass by the counter with the cooling racks, I do a double check on the quality control aspect. Where is my self-control? Cookie Wednesday, as alluded to by Rebecca, and discussed at length by Amy, absolutely would not work at my house. There would be too many Wednesday binges for me.

Mother/Son Date Night

I wanted to write about school today, but I didn't want to combine it with my date with Bradley tonight, so I'm writing a second post. John took him to lunch earlier this week, and yesterday they drove 190 miles to the Columbia, SC temple and back, so I claimed tonight as my night to spend with my youngest son. We had such a nice time. We ate dinner at Olive Garden, his choice, and I enjoyed the conversation and the food. He still needed two pairs of slacks, so we went to Kohl's and found some that fit nicely and fit the bill (conservative, washable, dryable, etc.) We also got to Sam's to buy supplies for the open house and then we went to Publix to order the fruit tray. While much of the evening was spent doing ordinary things, it was nice to spend the time doing it with Bradley.

We reminisced some - but mostly I felt confident that he has grown and matured emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually and I know he will work hard on his mission. I will miss him, but I wouldn't want him doing anything else at this time in his life. So I won't miss him, because he is where he is supposed to be. But I will miss him because he lights up the room when he comes in. But I won't miss him because I am content with his choice. You get the picture!

TGIF

The teacher who was loaning me a movie to show my students told me yesterday she wasn't finished with it...:(

I had to come up with a new lesson plan this morning. After WEEKS of cold, dreary, gray, snowy, wet weather, and three DAYS of testing, the sun was shining and was supposed to be in the 50s - a heat wave. I really didn't want to be at school, or if I had to be, I wanted to be outside or at the very least, playing at something. Not surprisingly, the kids felt exactly as I did!

Three of my students came in early, asked what we were doing today (of course, they thought it was the movie because that was what I had told them). I told them my new plan. They didn't like it, so they decided to create their own plan for my consideration. I liked it! So I gave every class a choice of my plan or their plan. Quite a few picked my plan, but more picked the girls' plan: a group project of creating a picture book about Apartheid, a really great review of our study of South Africa. The creators of the lesson plan were just as happy as I was! Turned out to be a very pleasant day.

Monday, Monday, So Good To Me (The Mamas and the Papas)

A holiday - and I was teaching school to make up the snow day we had in January:( But when I got home, I painted my bedroom! It is such a beautiful color - it's hard to describe, but when the room gets put back together I will take a picture and post it. The color is actually custom matched to an old chip that came off the trim in the living room. When I saw that color, I knew it was what I wanted for the bedroom, so Eli, my friendly paint man at the neighborhood Ace, was able to match it exactly! Eli's grandfather built the house we live in and he remembers playing in the house when he was a kid. He has some pictures, but I haven't seen them. Next time I'm in the store I'll have to ask him. We live in what's called the "Cowan" house, and the store is Cowan Ace Hardware!

Super Sunday

Sundays are wonderful! Today we went to two sacrament meetings - our ward and then the single's ward because Bradley was the speaker. It is remarkable how much he has developed spiritually in just a relatively short period of time. When I see him I am reminded that patience is a virtue when it comes to parenting. The Lord knows the timetable. We just have to make sure we're not behind or trying to push ahead of His timetable.

Another blessing of Sundays is that it's nice to have a day when all the regular projects can be left behind and time is spent in maybe more meaningful? activities. Teaching primary is fun - playing the piano in primary is really fun! (I like it when the pianist is absent!) Though our choir is small... really, really small...I always come away with an increase of testimony because of the hymns that we practice. I appreciate the support from the few consistent members, which includes John - usually the only bass.

The second Sunday of the month is our multi-generational Family Home Evening, so tonight we played peek-a-boo with Natalie; Barry and Bradley gave John a blessing (he hasn't been able to get his blood sugars back to normal since he was in the hospital); and then Barry and Melanie, Bradley, John and I just talked and visited. It was very low key, but I think we all felt spiritually blessed. (The rest of our multi-generation is in Mississippi this week.) I' m looking forward to this next week, hoping to spend as much time as I can with Bradley and helping him get ready to leave the following week.

Snow in the South - Seventh graders in Heaven

What a beautiful day! The snow started about 1:30 this afternoon. By 2:00, when we finished lunch it was falling pretty heavily, so when we got back to the classroom, I turned the lights out and we just watched the snow fall! They were so cute - 1. They really appreciated that I let them just chill and watch the snow. 2. They were excited because it was snowing! 3. It was a nice way to end the week. I let my next class, which is the last class of the day, do the same thing. This is my rowdy class, so I shared my valentine M&M's with them while we watched the snow. They were especially cute - they loved the M&M's - I made them read them before they could eat them. "Doreen I love u." John gave them to me for Valentine's Day - he ordered them on the internet! So when I told them that my husband had given them to me, even the boys little faces softened and they smiled! It was so sweet and absolutely made my day! Walking out to the car in the snow reminded me of college at BYU - probably the last time I've actually walked while it was snowing significantly. The drive home was slow, but absolutely gorgeous. What a nice way to start the weekend.

Preprospectus Finished

Preprospectus is finished, printed, in the envelope, addressed and sealed for mailing tomorrow (by John who runs so many errands for me.) I thought it was done Saturday, then decided to reread last night one more time. I made some more revisions, then printed all 37 pages....then I realized I had not included the running head (although my head certainly has felt like it was running, and not necessarily in straight lines either). So-o-o after working 3 hours last night, I put in another 3 hours tonight....I decided I better check the references one more time to make sure everything cited in-text was listed in the Reference List and vice-versa. It was not - so I revised again. Then I skimmed the paper one more time and realized it stops abruptly. I did NOT write any more. I called it quits and sent a cover letter stating that I would probably add a chapter at the end tying it all together and discussing areas for further research. Now we'll just wait and see what the feedback is. In the meantime, I'm going to get my presentation ready for Saturday and start writing the first chapter for real. But I think I'll take some time to spend with Bradley this weekend too!

They want me...

So, I learned today that I have been accepted to make two presentations at conferences in the next few months. The first is for the Conference on Literacy, Urban Issues, and Social Studies Education (CLUES) sponsored by Georgia State University along with Atlanta literacy and social studies educators. One of my colleagues is a doctoral student at Georgia State and she asked if I would like to co-present with her, so we wrote a proposal and we're in! That presentation will focus on implementing the arts (film, literature, poetry, visual arts, etc.) in social studies instruction with an emphasis on social justice. Rabbit Proof Fence, a video, will be discussed as part of the presentation - good movie about the Australian government's plan to rid the country of the aborigines through kidnapping and then "educating" (indoctrinating) young girls. The movie actually features one girl's true story of how she and her little sister ran away and found their way home against difficult odds.

The other presentation will be in May for the Mormon Scholars in the Humanities conference in Claremont, California. This is a group sponsored by BYU scholars. They sent me an email saying they would like to hear what I have to say, but could I please rework the presentation some. They gave me two different scenarios of possibilities, so I will be thinking that one through in the next few days!

I'm really thrilled about the opportunities, but then I start to wonder what is wrong with me that I keep adding projects to my life...a topic I've blogged on before. All the while, I am still working on my dissertation - should be ready this week to send in my preprospectus. Then starts the nitty gritty of writing the first three chapters.