I'm taking a day off.

Every so often there comes a day when I just know that I cannot go to school the following day. It hits me that until I have a day off, my being at school is not doing anyone any good.

Today was one of those days - with Homecoming week (which really turned out to be two weeks) and nine-weeks grades behind me, there's not much of me left.

I'm physically sore from being stampeded by herds of middle schoolers at yesterday's pep rally (and maybe also from the students vs. faculty volleyball game), my voice is gone from repeating things like "Don't climb on the windowsill!" and "You only space ONE time after each sentence when you're using MLA style!" and "For the love of everything that's good in the world, DO NOT unzip your pants unless you are in the bathroom!"

So, today I called my trusty sub and wrote my principal a brief note letting him know that I would not be in tomorrow.

I stapled this article to the note. I really did.

Here's a glimpse of why I might need to put away anything flammable that I have access to:

I do exaggerate. They are really sweet kids. I tell them all the time that try as they might, I am seriously more thug than they are. I love these faces more than I can even tell you.

But they drive me to the brink of insanity. Exaggeration...maybe. Or maybe not.

So this weekend, when I'm not passed out flat on my back, I plan to finish off this treat of a book, continue my end of summer summer love affair into the fall, and hang out with good friends at my favorite Greek cafe down the street while it's still within walking distance.

Yes, I might be moving at the end of this month! :)

So crispy, so tender

I've been short on blogging material lately. If you follow Don't Test My Gangster, then you know that either I've quit posting to it or my students aren't saying anything particularly funny this year. Unfortunately, it's the latter, so far.

I don't know if it's the group of kids or if it's me - but the ridiculousness hasn't been abundant this year.

Today, though, I do have something, but as it's too long for Don't Test My Gangster, I'm saving it here.

While we were working on parts of a short story and discussing Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-tikki-tavi, there was one young man who was concentrating particularly hard on his work.

"Gosh, he must really be GETTING internal and external conflict," I thought, as I watched him hover over his desk, head hunkered, eyes squinty with concentration. He was writing ferociously.

This was yesterday. Fast forward to today, when I found this - in his handwriting and on the orange sticky notes he was using....

Last year I found

baked beans on top of my house

and I ate them.

I got butter in my shorts.

So crispy, so tender

Got those BK chicken tenders.

Those crispy crispy bites

inside tender white meat briiiiite.

Got's to get me some,

Got that yummy yum.

CHEEEEEEEESE!

How come turkey bacon isn't crispy

Dad, da, da

Dada, I love to eat pie

Da, da, da, da, da

It helps me fly

Da da da da da

Dadadadadada

Remember how I said that 7th graders' brains are literally always in a really thick fog, kind of like they're constantly smoking weed?

I think I might take a mental health day tomorrow.

Delicious autumn!

Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourd-ish squash has its own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin.... We anxiously anticipate it every year.

~Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer, October 2010

9.11.01

¹ There is a time for everything.

There's a time for everything that is done on earth.

² There is a time to be born.

And there's a time to die.

There is a time to plant.

And there's a time to pull up what is planted.

³ There is a time to kill.

And there's a time to heal.

There is a time to tear down.

And there's a time to build up.

⁴ There is a time to cry.

And there's a time to laugh.

There is a time to be sad.

And there's a time to dance.

⁵ There is a time to scatter stones.

And there's a time to gather them.

There is a time to hug.

And there's a time not to hug.

⁶ There is a time to search.

And there's a time to stop searching.

There is a time to keep.

And there's a time to throw away.

⁷ There is a time to tear.

And there's a time to mend.

There is a time to be silent.

And there's a time to speak.

⁸ There is a time to love.

And there's a time to hate.

There is a time for war.

And there's a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

30 things I learned in my 20's

I'm allowed to post a one man shot for a post like this, aren't I? Good.

I admit that I've been thinking about this list ever since yaya published hers, and come my 30th birthday, I was still stuck at #16.

Maybe I'm growing more and more hard-headed with time? A scary thought. I'd like to think I have just learned SO MUCH over the past 10 years that I could never get it organized into a list of 30 things. Something like that.

Anyway, I think I did learn a few things, and most are things that I am really thankful to have learned.

Here they are:

30 Things I Learned in My 20's

1. Hot chocolate is exponentially better when made with milk vs. water

2. It's worth whatever I might be missing out on ( 95% of the time) to go to bed early.

3. How to appropriately correspond with someone who wants to sue me. Thank you, Matt Jackson.

4. I am, in fact, more like my mom than I thought. And that's a good thing.

5. Root canals aren't as bad as most people think they are. But it is still a bad idea to watch a cartoon video of the procedure the night before.

6. The astounding impact a Volvo can sustain while keeping a person relatively unharmed.

7. That sleeping in my contacts for months is, in fact, a bad idea after all.

8. That I am a lot tougher than I thought I was.

9. That #8 is singularly by the Lord's grace.

10. That children's literature is some of the very best there is.

11. How to negotiate a ridiculous deal with used car salesmen.

12. That being single throughout my 20's is a lot more fun (and fulfilling) than I thought it would be.

13. That cable TV is not worth the money it costs. Nor is Tivo.

14. That I will give up cable TV, but probably not Netflix.

15. That Dave Ramsay knows what he's talking about.

16. The unspeakable value of the oldest of friends.

17. To trust my gut...but only sometimes...

18. Because my gut knows how to play tricks on me (thanks Kathryn Evans)

19. What an overhead projector is, and most importantly is not, capable of (thank you, Graham Bucciantini, for the digging up of this memory)

20. That email will never, ever replace the handwritten, mailed letter. At least in my world it won't.

21. When to speak up, and when to shut up (at least, I think I have a better grasp on this than I did ten years ago...)

22. Cheesy, but this song helps to articulate A LOT of what I learned in my 20's (not surprisingly, it's Sara Groves):

"so conditioned for the win
to share in victor's stories
but in the place of ambition's din
I have heard of other glories
and I pray for an idea
and a way i cannot see
it's too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave
I can't just fight when I think I'll win
that's the end of all belief
and nothing has provoked it more
than a possible defeat"

23. That Clifford IS hilarious and NOT because I was 12 when I discovered it. It really is a work of art. Say what you want.

24. That I will always, always sleep better with clean sheets on my bed. Yes, this took me 30 years to learn.

25. That being a part of a church that I LOVE (by choice, mind you, not because it's got everything together) is something that I need far more than I thought I did.

26. That I can eat on $25 a week if I have to.

27. I consider my discovery of Patty Griffin one of the best things I learned in my 20's.

28. That when in doubt, listen to Dad (I realize most people learn this earlier in life. Oops.)

29. That being tan isn't worth what the sun is doing to my skin.

30. That just like my 20's, my 30's will be fleeting, but that's okay, because the best part is what will be eternal anyway.

Aand, I ended it with a rhyme. BAM.

Here's to the 30's!!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

I love you dearly.

summer highlights

Ah, lovely June has me in her clutches.

So far, the summer has been filled with time in the park, avocado smoothies, afternoon naps, good friends, a middle school writing class (only eight days; I temper my exposure to adolescents in the summer), morning runs, and today, I watched The Book of Eli and, I hesitate to admit to

you, crafted a cat bed out of fabric and a cardboard box. Because during the summer, there is time for things like that.

Among other happenings:

The baptism of a dear friend's baby boy, Jaxon (Isn't he adorable?? Look at those shoes!!)

The wedding of another dear friend, Amanda Blake. One of the sweetest, most beautiful weddings I've ever seen.

The little chapel

That morning, setting up for the reception

A visit from Dwana, Tyler, & Biggie!! Other dear friends from New Orleans. I lived with them during my time there last summer (you might recall my somewhat dramatic departure).

Visiting 16th Street Baptist Church

And then this.

I've been meaning to share this with you for awhile now...one of my students - I'll call him A - gifted me with this drawing on the last day of school. Let me first tell you that this kid is (and I know I say this a lot) one of my favorite humans on the planet. He's 13, but you'd think he's 8. He's about 4 feet tall and skinny like a pipe cleaner. But what he lacks in stature he more than makes up for in personality - the kid is brilliant. A voracious reader, articulate and dynamic orator, and analyst of global news (he's the one that credited me with the sniping of Bin Laden on my days away from school), he's constantly debating, declaring and proclaiming, and spouting wry commentary about everything. He is truly hysterical. He regularly gets himself so worked up that he breaks his glasses on a daily basis (granted, he sneezes and they break) so half the time he's got them taped up with masking tape, which only adds to his charm, in my opinion.

I give you this intro because I think it makes this even better.

Anyway, if you know me then you know that I have a somewhat distinct, yet unconscious, way of walking, particularly when I'm on a mission. It dates back to high school (or maybe middle school, now that I think about it) when I steadied my backpack and carried books with one arm and would swing my other arm ridiculously fast so that I could maintain my desired pace (which is notably swift).

In college, it was coined by several as "The Gorilla Walk" and "The Speed Skater," among others. At every school I've taught in so far, the kids have perfected it themselves and have taken great pride in showing off their renditions of what has become, to them, "The Hardin." Yes folks, I am a verb.

So you can only imagine my delight when A proudly yet casually handed me this drawing on his way out the door on the last day of school. I love the detail - the cropped pants, flats, and ponytail I always wear + the "swangin arm" and if you look closely...very closely...you'll see there's a worm in my hand.

It's scary how much attention to detail they exercise on a daily basis. Makes me wonder what other evils they've noticed in me, particularly on my worst days. I'm astonished at the levels of grace they give - I've been the recipient of a whole lot. Heaven knows I don't deserve their affection. Pretty sure I teared up when little A handed me this, gave me a hug, and hopped off on his sprightly way.

As grateful as I am for my relationships with these kindreds, I am so, so unbelievably thankful for summer and for the respite it brings.

Hope you're having a happy June - soak it up - can't believe it's half over!