No one ever pays attention to me.

At my literacy center today we shared Weekly Readers about Healthy Foods. (Thank you donorchoose.org and the FABULOUS people who made this teacher’s dream come true.)

To prepare, I made word cards for some of the words that the children would see over and over. One of them was the word ARE. I showed them ARE; we talked about ARE; we wrote the word ARE and even used magnetic letters to make the word ARE.

Then, we read a poem about healthy food that ended EACH TIME with “Colorful Foods ARE good for you.”

At the end of the 15 minutes of the ARE barrage, I asked the kids how to spell ARE.

Frank immediately raised his hand. “A. S. S.”

And so endeth lesson number 4,321,405. (Oh sure, he lisped, but I KNEW what he said.)

I am bundled up and weathering the storm.

I am struggling to stay afloat in this tumultuous Sea of Change. I reach out to draw my children under my wings, only to find that they have managed to become strong human beings.

Each morning I open my eyes, only wide enough to view the day. My heart aches a bit if I find myself looking to far around the corner, and I instinctively wrap my arms around the day. Just the day.

I am surprisingly lifted, incredibly lifted, by the warms thoughts and deeds flowing in my direction. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and can honestly say that I feel each and every good thought. As soon as I land from this painful journey, I will share some of these amazing stories.

I would ask, however, that if you do find the time to send a thought and prayer this way, that you wrap each of us in your wishes. All of us.

In the meantime, I spent a few minutes over here today, having coffee with my girl.

Remains of the day.....and someone's turkey.

I think the turkey is rabid. (Not unlike's its owner.)