Enough

/ khays41

Today was enough.

I folded 4 loads of laundry.

Planned my wardrobe for the week.

Read some blogs.

Showered and dressed quickly because I lost track of time.

Went to the dollar store.

Went to a board meeting.

Went to the post office.

Put dinner in the crock pot and laid out ground beef to thaw.

Planned my menus for the week.

Talked to a friend on the phone.

Made the grocery list.

Went to Wendy’s for lunch on the run.

Went back to the dollar store.

Went to grocery store number one.

Went to grocery store number two.

Finally made it home where there was plenty of help to put away the stuff.

Grabbed my book and a water to settle in for 2 basketball games.

Took nap number one.

Made popcorn for ballgame number 2.

Took nap number two.

Watched a team lose that shouldn’t have lost.

Took a third nap.

Browned the beef for tacos and made rice.

Cleaned my bedroom.

And I am headed for bed.

Today was enough. Just sayin’.

Disappeared

/ khays41

He came to us when he was 8.  His family needed to move and they couldn’t take him along.  He was a fighter and they weren’t sure how long he would live.

He would fight and recover. He would disappear.  He would be gone and just about the time we thought he was gone forever, he would reappear.

Time passed.

Each year he lived we felt blessed.

Each winter would get harder on him.  We would think it was his last.

He turned 19 last spring and finally showed signs of slowing down.  He didn’t leave the yard and his favorite spot was wherever the sun was shining.  If the dryer was on, he could be found under the vent warming himself.

Winter was rough. We wanted him to stay in the garage to be warm.  He hated being cooped up.

And then one day, he was gone.

We think that he wandered off and it was so very cold that he just couldn’t make it back home.

Disappeared. And missed by all. Just sayin’.

The Queen

/ khays41

On Tuesday, a kindergarten class invited me to read my favorite book to them today.  Perfect. This is no brainer. One of my very favorite things is to read aloud and I do LOVELOVELOVE sharing books.

The kindergarten teacher and I decide it will be great fun if I bring my class of 19 first graders along.

We show up at 9:30 ready to read.

I introduce myself by asking if they know who I am.  They shout out–‘you’re Ms. Hays’ MOM!!!!!’ Indeed I am.  My offspring is an aide in this classroom.

‘But you are MRS. Hays because you are married to MR. Hays!’

Right again.

At this point, I ask them if they know what else is special about me. They’re puzzled but my class is not.  My class shouts out…..wait for it…..

‘SHE’S THE QUEEN!’ I tell the kindergartners that I am The Queen and it’s OK to call me that if you see me. My offspring has bolted for the door, the kindergarten teacher has tears running down her face and the para is just giggling like a middle school boy.

At the end of the day as the kindergartners are passing my room on the way to the bus, a little boy looks right at me, smiles and says, ‘Hello there Queen!’

Day made, friends.  Just sayin’.

One Little Word

/ khays41

My OLW for 2017 is write.  And then life happened.

Reflecting on my writing, I really probably did write something every day–an email, a thank you note, a message to my kids.  It certainly hasn’t been what I thought it would be.

Life never is.

When I decided to go off the grid for #sb2017 (spring break 2017), I did not know it would last until June.  I mean #sb2017 did NOT last that long, unfortunately, but going off the grid for my writing did.  Going off the grid for that 10 days included all social media, email and blogs.  I don’t think I opened my computer that whole 10 days.

Here is what I found: I spend too much time on the unimportant.  I had over 500 emails in that 10 days between my school account and my personal account. And I knew had too many when about 10 0F THEM WERE IMPORTANT and I could delete the other 490 without opening them.

I slowly began the process of unsubscribe, delete and focusing on the 10 while skipping the 490.

Because life happens.  And I want to be a part of the 10, not the 490.  #justsayin’

 

10 Thing Thursday

/ khays41 / 3 Comments
  1. Totally and completely forgot to write yesterday.  Woke up from a dead sleep at 9 pm and realized it.  Too tired to do anything about it.
  2. Kids last day was today.  They said, ‘See you in 10 days, Hays! Hey that rhymes!’
  3. I ‘get’ to present to adults at 8:30 tomorrow morning.  Ugh.  Not a fan of presenting to adults.
  4. I have 4 closets to clean out over spring break and 4 books to read.  Hmmm….wonder which one will get done?
  5. This time is my favorite weekend of basketball season.
  6. Currently I am counseling a good friend whose son is suffering from skin affliction.  I am an expert rash diagnoser.
  7. Friday suppers for Lent are challenging this year.
  8. Our 3 Kansas basketball teams play tomorrow night at nearly the same time.  I am gunning for all our TV’s to be hauled into the living room so we can see all 3 play.
  9. Even though I don’t like Duke, I picked them as National Champions.
  10. Kansas weather today was crazy.  It was 50 degrees at morning recess but felt like 33 (and it was freaking COLD) and it was 72 degrees at afternoon recess and felt like 78. Welcome to Kansas. #justsayin’

Chosen

/ khays41 / 5 Comments

Alas, I did not get chosen for jury duty.

It was a very interesting process.  It certainly doesn’t work like it does on TV. Much, much slower and the judge wasn’t nearly as contrary as they are on TV. There were 35 of us called to today and 7 of us attend the same church.  I thought that was interesting.

Other interesting things: We had to report between 8:30 and 8:45 but were not called into the courtroom until 9:15. A father and daughter were called as prospective jurors and were chosen to serve on the jury. The questions we were asked made me chuckle.  Things like do you know this witness? Well, yes.  I have known him his entire life. Are you a close personal friend of anyone on the jury? Well, yes. 2 of my very close friends were there today. Do any of the prospective jurors work together? Well, yes. The school secretary and I work at the same school. Do any members of your family work in law enforcement? Well, no.

And so and so on.  I had no idea that any of those things were asked to prospective jurors.  I think I have watched way too much TV courtroom dramas and was seriously expecting the whole process to look like Law and Order.  #justsayin’

Jury Duty

/ khays41 / 4 Comments

About a month ago I got the letter.  I had been selected for jury duty.  After much eye rolling and grumbling, I decided that there wasn’t much I could do other than to show up and hope I wasn’t chosen.

Well a month passes quickly and tomorrow is the day I must report for my civic duty.  I am torn–I think this will be an interesting process and I will probably learn a lot. On the other hand I am supposed to be at a meeting to discuss our ELA adoption and I am DARNED excited about this process.

I am concerned that I won’t be chosen for jury duty due to the fact that almost everyone who is on trial has been in one of my classes or could have a child in my current class.  Also, almost all of our trials have involved drugs and I am sure this one will not be an exception. It’s really hard on my heart to watch people who are suffering from the effects of drug addiction.

I don’t really want to miss the ELA adoption discussion either.  It’s kind of a big deal that I was chosen and we haven’t had an ELA adoption for about 12 years.  Plus, the thought of a real lunch is so enticing.

I believe this is what my mom would call a rock and a hard place. #justsayin

 

No Regrets

/ khays41 / 5 Comments

Last month my husband and I took a day trip to our state museum of history.  Neither of us had ever been.  We have always lived in this state and it seemed ridiculous that we had never taken the time to see our amazing history.

Why?

As kids, my mom took us places such as this if we could get in free.  My husband is one of six kids–five of which are boys.  They are lucky to have lived let alone have gone to a museum. But it prompted us to look back on our children’s lives.

I have always thought that admitting I had regrets was saying what I did was wrong. Maybe. Maybe not.  As we continued our conversation, we realized that we wish we had done one thing differently.

We wish we’d skipped the traveling sports teams and spent that time going to museums, libraries, zoos, parks and places.  We talked for quite awhile about why we chose to let them play.  We knew better.  We were caught up in a cycle that we had total control over.

Why didn’t we say no?  Were we worried what people would think if we said no thank you? Were we worried that our kids wouldn’t have friends if they didn’t play?  We knew our kids weren’t going to college on an athletic scholarship.  Was playing on that team about us or about them? Playing on those teams did not make them better players or better people for that matter. What were we hoping to gain from those experiences?  We certainly could not afford it and yet, we did it anyway.

Crazy.

Here’s my message for parents of small children who are thinking of signing up to play on one of those teams: skip it.

Go to the museum. Take that weekend trip to a zoo.  Stay home and play games. Cook. Go to Grandma’s. Bake cookies and take to shut-ins.

Do we regret letting our kids play? No. We were always with them and we went as a family.  We like watching sports together now and often have family fantasy leagues.  Our NCAA brackets will be filled out by morning. When our team won the World Series it was like we had won the World Series.

I just wish we had done it differently.  #justsayin’

 

My Language 

/ khays41 / 7 Comments

My love language is food.  I don’t even know if that is one of the love languages because I haven’t read that book.  I just know that if I love you, I make you food.

When my grandma and my mom let me help them in the kitchen, they gave me an incredible gift.  And when they taught me to make noodles over the phone, I definitely found my love.

My kids always chose homemade meals for birthday dinners.  We always had Sunday dinner after church.  For years I made cookies every Sunday night.

I make cookies once a month and deliver them to random people.  This is the best day of the month for me.

Today I made homemade beef and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and homemade bread.  I was going to make fruit salad but forgot to put the stuff on my list so the ingredients did not get purchased.

Tonight’s love was for my son-in-law.  He has a new job that starts on Monday and he will be gone for 2 weeks at a time.  For now, my daughter is staying put while they see if this job works out.  Eventually she may move.  We are crossing one bridge at a time.  No borrowing trouble here (said in my most bravest voice ever).

Making food for others brings me great joy.

Yes. That stove is pink.  And has push buttons.  #justsayin

Reflection

/ khays41 / 4 Comments

On Thursday, we took our end of module assessment in math.  I had kids working at the rainbow table who needed extra support and kids working on their own around the room.  

I had kids who were in tears.  I stopped everyone and reminded them that we do not cry over math.  We cry when our grandma dies or our dog is sick.  A little guy pipes up to add it’s OK to cry when you have an injury and there is lots of blood.  WE DO NOT CRY OVER MATH.

I am alternating hanging out at the rainbow table and circulating the room.  As I stoop to help a little person, I hear a screeching voice shout the words, ‘STOP PEEKING AT MY PAPER!’

Suffice it to say what followed was not my finest 15 minutes.

Upon immediate reflection, I realized I had made a terrible mistake. Upon further reflection, I realized I had not listened to what my little person was saying.  I had not asked enough questions.  I had acted irrationally.

Here is where I could list all the reasons I did what I did.

It comes down to this: When I am asking too much of my kids and myself, meltdowns such as this occur.

Today I asked for forgiveness and was granted grace by a 7-year-old girl who has the heart the size of Texas.  #justsayin