Easter in Nashville

Just got in from Nashville. Happy Easter! It was a great day...I got to follow around my cousins' baby girls, Kate & Gracie, as they experienced their first Easter egg hunt (and by that I mean we threw the eggs down in the grass and they picked them up.) Yes, Gracie is wearing a bunny jacket. For a moment, it made me want a little one. But just for a moment.

That's it for now. Oh, I did add one more item to my running list of 43 things to do before I die. I want to perform in The Sound of Music. As Liesel. Do you think I could do it?

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

a few favorite pictures of late

To the left:
my cute
brother &
sister in law
at their
reception in
December

Upper right:
as seen in the dressing room at the
above forementioned wedding

Below: a yard in my neighborhood

Above left: a street in my neighborhood
Above left: church last Sunday
To the right: my hero, inspiration, and former lover

My list.

On the tails of Lacey and Laura, I've made the list of things I want to do before I die. It's tentative, but most items on the list have been there for a long, long time, so they probably won't soon be coming off. Particularly #'s 15, 18 and 20. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Dance like nobody's watching
Kidding. I just wanted to make you throw up a little bit.

2. Adopt a foster child
Just one…or three or twelve.

3. Spend Christmas in New York
Or shoot…just GO to New York. I’ve always been in love with New York City, but I’ve never been there. Oh to spend Christmas Eve ice skating at Rockefeller Center.

4. Start playing the piano again
I still remember the last song I ever played on the piano: Velocity. And I played it with gusto. Now, I can’t even play chopsticks. I couldS kick myself for quitting. So, I want to relearn. Or, I could always go back to the trumpet.

5. Learn to love sushi
I try to love it, I really do. It’s so healthy and chic. But I have a lot of trouble with this endeavor. It’s just so…squishy.

6. Start an inner-city residential school with Anna Duggan somewhere in the South
Duggan and I have had this in the works for a couple of years now. She and I will teach, but we’ll need people to do PR, fundraising, and administration. Any takers?

7. Run the Boston Marathon
Ideally, this would happen before I’m 30. You don’t even want to know how painfully far away from this goal I am right now.

8. Pull off the perfect prank
And just what is the perfect prank, you ask? Can’t tell. You may be the victim.

9. Watch all 5 previous seasons of 24
Live a day with Jack Bauer, if you will. This could easily happen this summer. Starting at 8:00 a.m. one day, and ending at 8:00 a.m. the following day. Makes perfect sense, really.

10. Live in a foreign country
France, China, Mexico, Austria, Yemen, New Zealand, Russia, Switzerland, Alabama. It’s all the same. I want to live abroad for at least a year of my life…not sure how, when, or where this would happen, but it’s worth a top spot on the list. Well, okay, maybe not Mexico.

11. Write a book
I love to write. When there’s no pressure to write, anyway. How much fun would it be to write children’s books?? I did actually begin a novel with my best friend in junior high entitled, “The Mysterious Chrome Ladder,” does that count?

12. Pick one favorite author and read everything they ever wrote
I just like this idea.

13. Stop hitting the snooze button
The snooze should never have been invented. It really has no purpose…no quality additional sleep ever comes from hitting the snooze button.

14. Work in an art museum
Or a multi-arts organization/festival. Ever since the summer of 2003, this has been on the top half of the list. Love it.

15. Own a canoe, and row it often
Laugh all you want, but I’m serious. Very serious, actually. I already tried to get one on ebay…but just before I cast my bid, I noticed the fine print at the bottom: “inflatable canoe and paddles.”
Better luck next time.

16. Live next door to Meredith M. Horn
We are double trouble when we’re together, so naturally I think we should not only live in the same state, but also on the same street.

17. Buy a really old house and fix it up
Old houses are the best houses.

18. Be in a Movie
Okay, I realize that this probably won’t happen, but old dreams die hard. I still have the “money for California” piggybank from my childhood, and I will never throw it away. Ever.

19. Plant red tulips
Anytime I’ve ever tried to plant anything, it basically starts growing already dead. I want to plant a TON of red tulips and watch them grow…

20. Have coffee with Martin Short
Those of you who know me will need no explanation.

21. Perform in The Sound of Music
One of the greatest musicals of all time. Could I please be Liesel??!! Better start voice lessons tomorrow.

"Hey White Chocolate, let me teach you how to C-walk!"

I've just walked in the door from school, and all I can do right now is sit here and stare at the wall. Well, and blog. Today kicked off state testing, and I thought it would be relatively tame after yesterday's three fights within a 20 minute time span. WRONG. Manhandling 12 year olds all day is one thing, but being shoved and told to "get up out my face, I'm not playin witchyou," is quite another. Not surprisingly, we have a conference tomorrow with this student, the parent, our assistant principal, and four other teachers.


But alas. This blog is not about teaching. It is about matters far more serious, like C-walking. See picture above. This, a semi-typical day in my classroom, may give you a small peek into my world. After a heartbreak of a day like today, I usually need to take a few minutes to get re-centered (is that even a word?) and wonder over these fascinating personalities that have made their way into both my nerves and my heart.

So, I'm posting a couple of my favorite pictures I've taken this year...is this a legal hazard? If so, someone please tell me.

Ode to Seth and Laura Beth

614 Greensboro Street, December 2005
I sat at the kitchen table and thought,
"It's good to be alive!"
In strolls Laura Beth, with her sparkling winter's tan
"Seth and I are dating," said she, a can of Pimp Juice in her hand.

"Oh my!" was my reply, "Do tell me how this transpired!"
LB pulled up a chair and tossed her hair and said with a twinkle in her eye...
"Over coffee at LJ's and nights at Crusade,
this mere seedling of like
grew to a love fern gloriously displayed."

Days and weeks passed, and with my own eyes I did see
this love fern of splendor
grow into a tall, sturdy Oak Tree.
LB fled to Brussels, and I moved to the Ham
While poor, poor Seth
Journeyed off to the Rebels' heartland

As we parted ways, I must admit
My heart worried about this Oak Tree,
and just what would come of it.
More days and weeks passed, and the Oak Tree grew and grew,
Laura Beth came home, and Seth yelped, "I love you!"

So now here we are
On this April spring day,
LB with a ring on her hand
and a wedding to plan,
and Seth crying, "Yippeeyo Yippeeyay!"

And lest I forget to say...
That these words he spoke (without hesitation,)
"Oh the day that we marry,
there shall be palm trees asway!"

Congrats to them both, for I love them so,
To my heart they are both so dear
On their wedding day, I think I may
Shed one solitary tear

Palm Sunday

Here it is, Sunday night, and I'm blogging AGAIN. Seriously...I cannot continue at this rate, or I will literally get nothing else accomplished. But before I dive into the pile of papers I must grade before bed, I wanted to post a hymn we sang at church tonight.

I love Palm Sunday. Love it. There's something about the image of Jesus, with his jaw set like flint, riding into Jerusalem with such steady, unwavering decisiveness that leaves me astonished everytime I think about it. I am once again astounded at the depth and changeless nature of his love.

Here's the hymn.

Who is This so Weak and Helpless
Words by William Walsham How, 1867

Who is this, so weak and helpless,
child of lowly Hebrew maid,
Rudely in a stable sheltered,
coldy in a manger laid?
'Tis the Lord of all creation,
who this wondrous path has trod;
He is God from everlasting,
and to everlasting God.

Who is this, a Man of sorrows,
walking sadly life's hard way,
Homeless, weary, sighing,
weeping over sin and Satan's sway?
'Tis our God, our glorious Savior,
who above the starry sky
Is for us a place preparing,
where no tear can dim the eye.

Who is this? Behold Him shedding
drops of blood upon the ground!
Who is this, despised, rejected,
mocked, insulted, beaten, bound?
'Tis our God, who gifts and graces
on His church is pouring down;
Who shall smite in holy vengeance
all His foes beneath His throne.

Who is this that hangs there dying
while the rude world scoffs and scorns,
Numbered with the malefactors,
torn with nails, and crowned with thorns?
'Tis our God who lives forever
'mid the shining ones on high,
In the glorious golden city,
reigning everlastingly.

Uh oh...

I can already tell this is going to be horrible for time management. Seriously...I've finally gotten used to the kind of time management I need to have to balance work and grading with having a moderately normal social life, and now I'm blogging again. Consider it all shot. I woke up thinking about blogging this morning.

I think it's going to be worth it, though. See Exhibit A. This is one of the best things I've ever seen, so naturally I want to share it with all of you. This is actual record album cover art. And artful it is, indeed. Why have I never heard of this phenom? A handless organist? Really? Not unlike Yanni and his majestic, awe-inspiring man-mane, such talent should never remain hidden in the shadows of Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson, and the like. Come on people, don't you know real musical flair when you see it??!!

Enter the Handless Organist. Truly a miracle of God.