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The Book Thief

Posted on October 18, 2012 by auburnchick

Tuesday night, I finished The Book Thief.

At 576 pages, I’ll admit that even I felt a bit overwhelmed when I first opened this book.

Although it took me a few pages to get used to the voice of the narrator, I found myself drawn further and further into this book.

It is told from the perspective of Death, who observes (and cleans up) the mess left from WW2 and, specifically, Hitler’s reign of terror.

Death explains the happenings of a young girl who is taken in by foster parents after the death of her brother.  She is illiterate and, after stealing a book during the burial of her brother’s death, her new Papa teaches her to read.

It’s a slow, painful, yet poignant process.

In the meantime, she grows to love her new parents, her best friend, and even the mayor’s wife, who is a bit odd but provides even more books to read.

There were several points during my reading that I had to set this book aside…to think about what I’d just read.

I was moved to the point where I could no longer turn pages because I wanted to really absorb the messages being put forth.

I excitedly told my students about the book, and two young men were quick on the draw.  One easily gave up though (struggling readers are going to be very intimidated by this book).  The other young man took on the challenge.  I’m going to work with him closely, encouraging him to stick it out.

I think that if he does, his world will be opened up to larger-than-life messages about life, death, and the potential for change that words bring into each person’s life.

This book is a keeper…one that demands to be read, discussed, and treasured.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Word! It’s the Hodgepodge!

Posted on October 17, 2012 by auburnchick

Wednesday rolls around quickly, doesn’t it?!  This is Homecoming week for my high school.  The students are acting a bit nutty with all of the fun activities, so I’m trying to keep things on the light side…kind of like the Hodgepodge!  Thanks, Joyce, for the fabulous questions!!

1.  Noah Webster was born this week back in 1758….besides the online version, do you own a dictionary?  Do you ever use the hardback copy or is your hunt for a definition strictly online these days?

I do own a dictionary, and I have a number of them in my classroom.  Go figure.  Reading teacher…dictionaries.

Yeah.  Sarcasm.  Forgive me.  I teach high schoolers.  😀

I love hardback dictionaries.  Dictionaries are so full of interesting information!!!  I really love teaching students how to use them; however, most often these days, I’m teaching kids how to look up words on their cell phones.  We are living in a time of technology, and my kids run across words ALL THE TIME that they are unfamiliar with.  Hence, it’s imperative to be able to look up words on the fly.

2.  Should public schools ban Halloween celebrations?  What about other holiday celebrations currently under fire?

I do not think Halloween celebrations should be banned.  I do, however, think that schools should allow ALL religious holidays to be celebrated, or at least acknowledged, rather than only allowing certain ones.

When my children were in elementary school, there was a holiday assembly held in December.  Holidays such as Kwanza, Hanukkah, and the secular version of Christmas were on display.  Did you see a manger?  Nope.  Yet you saw the religious aspects of the other holidays, and you can bet your behind that you saw Santa Clause.  I was peeved.  Be fair…do it all or do nothing.

3.  What’s your favorite ‘dog’ movie? 

I don’t really like dog movies because they are always sad, and I can’t do sad animal stories.

I do like the movie, Over the Hedge, which has a dog that utters the famous words, “Play?”

4.  When were you last somewhere you’d describe as ‘too quiet’?

A couple of weekends ago, I was home alone, so to speak.  The Mr. had gone to watch Chicky play soccer, and I was stuck in the house.  It was very quiet…almost too much so.

5.  Are you a neat cook or a messy cook?  In other words do you clean as you go or make a big mess and then deal with it later?

I am not a cook.  If, perchance, I do, I’m a neat one, preferring to clean as I go so it’s not left until the end.

6.  Did you hear about Felix Baumgartner, the skydiver who broke the sound barrier via parachute?  Was your first thought  COOL! or was your first thought CRAZY!  Are you adventurous?

My first thought was…hmmmm.  I discussed this event with my students last Friday when we watched Flocabulary’s News in Rap.  Many of my students said they would love to do something like that.  I decided I’d like to parachute jump but only in tandem…with a cute military guy as my “expert.”

heehee

😀

7.  What’s not a word but should be?

AuburnChickFabuloso.

Seriously.

Play along and feed the ego, okay?

😉

8.  My Random Thought

I have a student who is such a cutie pie.  I’ll call him “K.”

He recently finished reading the book, 13 Reasons Why.  He is a very slow reader, and the format of this book was difficult for him…at first.  He worked hard, though, and finished that book.

Let me tell you…he was one proud young guy.  You should have seen the light in his eyes when he announced that he’d finished.

He had previously told me that he hasn’t read a book in a long time.

He expressed displeasure at the way it had ended, and we had an engaging conversation about how he would have changed the ending.

That happened on Friday.

Monday morning, I saw him looking for something.  When I inquired, he said he was looking for another of the author’s books, The Future of Us.  I happened to buy and read this book last summer and had given a book talk about it.

He’d wanted to get the book last weekend, but he wasn’t able to.

I proudly told him that I owned the book but that another student was reading it, but then I did something.  I pulled the book from that student’s folder (he’s in another class period).  We agreed that he could read it, and I gave him a sticky note, my version of a bookmark, and he began reading.

Every day, after K finishes his reading time, we put the book back in the other gentleman’s folder.

I love when things like this happen.  My goal is to cultivate a love for reading in my students’ hearts.  It means that I buy a lot of books, and I read a lot of them too so I can give honest evaluations of them and exude excitement when I recommend them.

I continue to love what I do!  What a blessing and honor!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: | 5 Comments »

I’m Always in Some Sort of Scrape

Posted on October 16, 2012 by auburnchick

Last night after getting out of the shower, I noticed the following…

What you can’t see is the deep red bruise that runs nearly halfway down the outer edge of my sole.

How I got it is a mystery.

Yesterday, I wore a pair of sandals to work.  I didn’t feel like changing clothes before I headed to the homecoming bonfire later that evening.

I suspect that my foot slipped, and it turned sideways…perhaps after stepping on gravel or uneven ground.

The swelling was quite noticeable, and the discomfort increased the longer I taught today.

This reminds me of when Rooster was in kindergarten and broke a small bone in the same area of his foot.  He had gone down a slide…hand-over-hand…and had dropped down to the ground…not a far distance, but enough of one that his foot turned sideways when he hit a small rock.  He wound up with a swollen, bruised foot that I had xrayed in the emergency room.  The bone was too small and inconsequential to cast, so he took it easy for a week or so.

Despite my troubles, I still managed to do something fun today…

I usually get my toes painted too, but I decided to forgo the treat and allow my foot to recover without extra manhandling.

Tomorrow’s attire includes a different pair of sandals…one I hopefully won’t turn my foot while wearing.

One can always hope, eh?

😉

Filed under: This-n-That | 1 Comment »

A Turtle, a Light Saber, and a Dog

Posted on October 15, 2012 by auburnchick

Once upon a time, there was a dog named Gambit.

Gambit was a curious dog, always prone to mischief.

One day, while out exploring the world that consisted of his itsy bitsy back yard, he spied a turtle…

Poor little turtle.

There he was just minding his own business when, all of a sudden, some lanky hairy beast began to bark at him.

Fortunately for the turtle, there was a fair young (ahem) maiden living in the castle beside the yard, and when she heard the commotion, she ran out to the middle of the yard, chips and salsa in hand.  She was, after all, grabbing a quick bite of the delicious food she’d picked up from the local Mexican restaurant on the way home from work before heading back to the school to attend the homecoming bonfire.

As she ran to the back of the yard to investigate, she saw the defenseless turtle with one very agitated Gambit, who alternated between barking and snapping spells.

The fair maiden’s attempts to remove Gambit from the scene proved unsuccessful.

That is when she spied a secret weapon…

The light saber that some young Jedi-in-training had dropped over the fence.

Grabbing it (she now had chips, salsa, and a saber in hand), she jabbed the air in front of the dog.

Gambit looked at her…

And laughed in his barking sort of way…

Oh, but for shame.

That was no laughter coming from his mouth.

It was mockery.

The fair maiden attempted to chase the dog from the back fence.

The dog thought it was a game and always circled around, daring her to drop the chips while he was at it…

“Come a little closer, my dumb fair maiden owner,” he taunted before running the length of the yard at a speed that would break the world record…

The fair maiden grew angry and huffed into the house, setting down her chips and salsa before heading back out.

This was war.

A losing one, that is.

The dog wasn’t scared.

The fair maiden posed no threat as fair and slow she was.

She was a bit afraid, though, of stepping into dog poo and smearing it all over her sandals.  Thus, she was careful where she stepped.

She finally smartened up, put down the saber, and coaxed the dog in the way maidens always lure the male species to them…

By playing nice.

Oh, fear not, for it was all an act…one that worked brilliantly.

The dog ran away from the turtle and straight to the back door…

Where the fair maiden proceeded to give him a gently butt-whooping for not listening to her in the first place.

The battle had been won…temporarily.

The turtle earned another day to live.

And the fair maiden was finally able to eat her chips and salsa in peace.

And everyone lived happily ever after…

At least until Gambit had to go potty a few hours later…

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

Once Upon a Time

Posted on October 14, 2012 by auburnchick

I just finished watching this week’s episode of Once Upon a Time, one of my favorite shows!

I must confess something.

I shed a few tears near the end when Snow and Emma (mother and daughter) hugged.

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me just quickly get to the point by saying that Emma is Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter, whom they had to send away to save from the evil queen.  Emma grew up without knowing who her parents were, and she’s been quite unforgiving even after learning about why they had to give her up.

Watching mother and daughter hug tugged at my own heart strings for, as you’re well aware if you’ve read my blog over the years, I’ve had my own tumultuous relationship with my very own Chicky.

It’s only been in recent months that I sense the healing that is taking place.

On Friday, I took 1/2 day off from work and drove to Lakeland to spend the weekend with my girl.

The weather was gorgeous…

The drive is a long one, but the beautiful scenery as I got closer, plus the knowledge that I’d be seeing my baby, made the hours spent in the car very worthwhile.

I arrived around 8pm local time and waited until Chicky returned from eating dinner.

I gifted her with a Halloween surprise before we headed to her dorm, where I would be camping out for the next couple of days…

The cat bag belonged to Chicky.  Shh.  Don’t tell Rooster, but Frankenstein will be mailed to him.

😀

Chicky chuckled and then moaned as she saw all of the stuff I’d taken on the trip…

Yeah.

I know.

Throw in the kitchen sink, and I’d be completely set, eh?

Chicky and I ran to Starbucks for a late-night treat, and she filled me in on some of the details of her life…the kind of stuff you don’t really talk about over the phone.

My heart hurt for her as she shared some personal challenges she’s been facing.

I could not help but feel so proud of her, though, because of the way she’s handling these challenges.

I won’t share details out of respect for her privacy, but I will say that she is certainly showing more grace (and extending it as well) than most people would given the same situation.

We returned to her dorm and settled in to watch a movie…one of our favorites…Phantom of the Opera.

That night, I slept on a cushioned chair thing that unfolds to become a bed.  I was quite content simply to be in the same room as my girl.

We slept until 9 or 10 and putzed around the dorm until it was time for Chicky to go to the locker room to prepare for her game.

I did a little bit of grading but spent most of my time reading.

Game time arrived, and it was HOT!!!!  Oh word!

I was happy, though, to be spending the day doing what I’ve done since Chicky was six years old…spending a Saturday watching soccer…

I sat and listened while people talked about my Chicky’s ability to maneuver the ball and beat everyone on the headers.  For a tiny thing, she gets more air than just about anyone I’ve ever seen.

The game ended tied, unfortunately, but the girls had played well, so they had nothing to be ashamed of.

Afterwards, I saw my nephew, and Chicky invited him to eat dinner with us.  What fun to watch the two of them chat.  My nephew is an amazing young man with a good head on his shoulders.  His sense of humor is very dry, which makes me chuckle all the more.

Later, we returned to the dorm and watched a bit of football.

Chicky wasn’t feeling too well.  Unfortunately, she’s becoming more and more sensitive to milk (she’s hating her gene pool right now because cheese is her favorite food), so I offered to rub her belly.

Totally not cool, let me tell you.

Instead, she “allowed” me to scratch her back.

I hopped up on her bed gleefully, and we spent the next hour chatting, watching TV, and talking with her roommate and her roommate’s friend, who was staying over as well.

The night ended with me crawling onto an air mattress out in the common room so Chicky’s roommate’s friend could have the cushioned chair/bed.

Sunday morning arrived all too quickly, and it wasn’t long before Chicky was escorting me to my car.

I.

Hate.

Goodbyes.

They are so tough…

Still…

After three years.

I put on my brave face, though, and hugged and kissed my girl.

She hugged me back.

I drove away from my girl, and I sighed as I left campus…

Which takes me back to the beginning of this post.

As I watched tonight’s episode play out, my mind returned to the evolution of my own relationship with my girl child.

There have been so many misunderstandings…so many hurts…that we’ve had to get through.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes, as is typical of a mama who wants desperately to have a better relationship than what she had with her own mother.  I’ve definitely over-compensated.

Chicky’s fought my iron-clad arms.

For so long there’s been a chasm between us that is finally, finally, finally beginning to close.

Oh, I realize that we don’t live in a fairy tale, and that happily ever afters cannot be had by sprinkling pixie dust around.

However, through God’s grace and mercy, we can and will have our own happy ending because we are choosing to forgive one another and move on, actively cultivating a relationship built on trust.

That is the best happily ever after that could ever be written.

Filed under: children | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

Sharing More Than Words

Posted on October 12, 2012 by auburnchick

Sometimes this profession I’m in calls me to do more than feed my students words.

Sometimes, I have to really feed them…literally…

One of my students approached me yesterday and explained that she was staying with her sister and didn’t have lunch money.  She asked if she could borrow a couple of dollars and promised to pay it back.

I NEVER carry cash with me.

EVER.

God had prepared the way, though, and I happened to have money in my coin purse, which I gladly handed over.

This little girl is especially precious to me.  I taught her last year, and she was hardly ever at school.

She’d been transferred into my room from another class, and she had major trust issues.

I had discovered, after questioning her gently, that she was having some serious family issues that were causing her to miss school.

I think she was also choosing to skip school, as evidenced by the goal she wrote for herself this year…to stop skipping school.

When she entered my room on the first day this year, I gushed over her and told her how happy I was to have her back.

Every day, I share affirming words with her.

I want to make her feel worthy and cared for.

Thus, yesterday’s plea for assistance was HUGE.

It signified trust.

Last night, when I was getting my football boys’ bags ready, I reached into my pantry for extra goodies.

See, God had prepared me for this day as well.

I never, ever go shopping, if I can help it.

Last Friday, my friend, Jane, and I had eaten lunch together and then hit Target, where I bought a cart full of goodies from the dollar bin…loads of snacks…intending the yummies to hit my boys’ bellies.

God had other plans.

I put everything in a pretty little bag…

The fruit was what I had left from a package I’d bought for my boys.

Here’s what I’m taking to school today…

Folks, I don’t share this because I seek glory for myself.

It’s simply that I’ve been reminded that I am an extension of God’s hands, tending to those who need Him most.

I don’t know if my students are followers of Christ.

That’s not for me to know.

What I do know is that they can come to understand who God is through seemingly simple actions.

There is a world of hurting people…desperate for others to take notice and lend a helping hand, whether it’s though something tangible or intangible, such as a listening ear…

…or a bag full of snacks.

 

Filed under: Christian, This-n-That | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

Stringing the Moments Together

Posted on October 11, 2012 by auburnchick

Today was busy, let me tell you!

I’m going to take 1/2 day off tomorrow, so getting ready for a sub consumed me!

I’ve been fighting some sort of sinus thing, so my head has been a bit woozy all week.  My students have been a bit giddy too…with it being a four-day week.

Needless to say, I’ve been a bit tired.

After school, I had the first of twelve training sessions on behavior management.  If you’re a teacher, then you’ve heard of Fred Jones.  Although I’ve gone through much of his training in other “teaching” classes, my district requires that all new hires, one to three years with the system, go through this training.

Consider how happy I am to be spending an additional two hours…after school…on training I’ve already had.

:::Insert sarcasm:::

There are two positives about the training, though:  1) 18 continuing education credits, and 2) $195 when I’m finished.

Oh yeah.

I see bling in my future.

😉

Training wasn’t too bad today.  I’m in there with three other teachers I know, and the facilitators are FABULOUS!

One would think that I’d go home and plop on the couch.

One would be wrong.

I ran home for ten minutes, fed the dogs, and ran back out to attend a JV football game.

Many of my boys play, and I have a gal on the cheerleading squad.

During the game, one of my students from last year sat beside me, and we had a very pleasant conversation.

I adore this young lady.  I see her often in the hallway outside of my room as she makes her way between classes.  We always exchange hellos, and I’d told her recently, as she was preparing for FCAT retakes, that I had been praying for her.  I’d also told her that I KNEW she could pass.  My confidence, it seemed, outweighed hers.

She had been extremely touched when I’d told her that.

Tonight, I told her that I can’t believe that she’s going to be a senior next year, and that I’m going to cry when she walks the stage.

Once again, she seemed genuinely touched.

She gave me wonderful feedback about the instruction I’d provided last year, and it was my turn to be touched.

:::Insert a big heart here:::

Throughout the game, my little cheerleader student came to see me.  She’s a sweetheart and one of my favorites this year.  She’s incredibly bright but knows her limits and isn’t afraid to advocate for herself.  For a ninth grader, this is a huge sign of maturity.

One of my football players made a number of great defensive tackles, and every time his name was announced, I hollered, “That’s my boy!!!”

I was a little obnoxious.

I didn’t care.

I love these kids.

The best moment of the evening came when I was leaving the field after the game.

I saw one of my other football players, and I stopped to tell him that he’d played a good game.

You should have seen him beaming with pride.

Then he introduced me to his mother.

Oh.

My.

Word.

What a lovely lady!!!

It was easy to see where he got his charismatic personality from!!!

She told me that her son wants to be a teacher when he gets older because when he was younger, he had a male teacher who made a real impression on him.

He made up his mind, at that point, to get his act together and work hard.

That is what he does.

He’s quite the class clown, but he is diligent about his work.

Even when he gets frustrated, he still keeps on trying.

Meeting his mother was simply the best way to end a long, but very rewarding day.

I say it often on this here blog of mine, but I’ll say it again.

I love what I do.

I love the students I teach.

I am incredibly grateful that God gave me the gifts that He did, and that He steered me into education.

I’m especially glad that I teach intensive reading…a very, very difficult area where the kids struggle twenty times more than other students.

I know that God is using me…to help my students academically and personally.

Moments like these…strung together…shine like beacons on what can sometimes be a dark, lonely road.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: | Leave a comment »

Indulging in the Hodgepodge

Posted on October 10, 2012 by auburnchick

Holla Peeps!  It’s time for Joyce’s Hodgepodge!  Woo Hoo!  I love the questions this week…fairly light…not too much thinking involved!  Thanks, Joyce, for keeping things somewhat easy for us!  My brain mostly thanks you!!

1.  In what ways do you indulge yourself?

I’ll let the photos do the talking…

In case you can’t tell, I love getting my nails and toes done!  My students are always eager to see what I’ve gotten done as well!

2.  Have you ever taken a cooking class?  Any interest?  What type of class would you most like to try?

I have never taken a cooking class and, honestly, have no desire to do so.  If I had to, I’d take a class that helped me learn how to make vegan cupcakes.  I think it would be fun to be instructed by one of the vegan cupcake winners from Cupcake Wars (have you ever watched this show?  Love it!).

3.  What does it mean to be a good citizen?

Being a good citizen means exercising your right to vote and pitching in to help one another.  Common sense, don’t you think?

4.  ‘Tis the season of the political advert…do these ads influence your vote?

No, ads do not influence me at all.  If nothing else, the person whose ads show up the most are likely NOT to get my vote.  I typically mute the commercials of the candidates I do not like (cannot stand hearing their lying voices).  Grrr.  I do not like this time of the year.

5.  What’s something you see today that makes you wish you were a kid again?

I will answer this two ways.

First, philosophically.

What I see today that makes me wish I were a kid again is how stupid all of the drama is.  I wish I could go back, knowing what I know, and IGNORE the drama and just enjoy the freedom that comes with being a kid.

As an adult, I will NOT do drama if I can help it.  Just because I teach high schoolers doesn’t mean that I have to act like one!

Sorry.  I’m digressing.

Now, for my tangible answer.

I’d love to be a kid again and experience kid-dom with the technology that exists today.

As an unpopular child (see previous post), I lost myself in books…hence my extensive vocabulary and love of word games.

I would have thought I’d died and gone to heaven if I could have had access to a Kindle way back when.  Oh the joy of having thousands of books at my fingertips.

6.  What’s your least favorite cliche?

I’m not going to pick just one.  Sorry.

One that I don’t like is “Time is money.”  Gee.  Let’s be uber-superficial, why don’t we.

Another I thought of is “Cold hands warm heart.”  Really?  That’s kind of gross.  Cold hands make me think of nervous, sweaty boys from my teenage past.  Yucka.

And one other, “Time makes the heart grow fonder.”  Really?  This is just a nice way of saying, “You’ll get over your children being gone for months on end.”  No thank you.  I was quite fond of them when they were living 24-7 under my roof.

7.  What percentage of your Christmas shopping has been completed?  How does that make you feel?

0% is done.  How does this make me feel?  Like I’m right on track, as usual.  The only time I will ever get ahead is when I am retired, which won’t be for forever.  I think my body would go into shock if I actually started Christmas shopping early, and I really would like to make it to retirement age, so I won’t do anything to risk my health.  😉

8.  My Random Thought

My school district observed Columbus Day by allowing us to have the day off…making for a four-day weekend.

Thank goodness!  I spent Thursday evening grading assignments.  Friday, I ate lunch and shopped at Target with my friend, Jane.

In the midst of all of that, I was fighting a nasty cold.

I stayed inside (the Mr. had taken my car down south to visit Chicky) the rest of the weekend, feeling too poorly to do any lesson planning until late Monday afternoon.

This is what my couch looked like…

Texts were flying among a few of us in the reading department.

Yes, folks, we truly are teacher geeks.  Who else would spend their days off talking shop?

Y’all have a terrific week!

Filed under: Teaching, This-n-That | Tagged: , | 7 Comments »

You Were Ugly?

Posted on October 9, 2012 by auburnchick

My students LOVE the new Flocabulary Week in Raps that come out on Fridays.

Because we were out on Fall Break last Friday, I showed them Friday’s video today.

If you’re a teacher and have never heard of Flocabulary, I INSIST that you visit this site.  There are so many wonderful videos.  Students absolutely adore them!!

Anyhoo…now that the commercial is over…

😉

The weekly news raps help students stay abreast of what’s going on in the world, and there are links to news articles for further discussion.

Once again, this site is WONDERFUL with so many potential extension activities.

So, one of the stories last week was that of Whitney Kropp, a sophomore whose classmates voted her onto the Homecoming court and later revealed it was done as a joke.

Talk about cruel, eh?

She decided to go to the ceremony anyway, and as word leaked out about how she’d been treated, her supporters showed up in droves.

This story opened up a bit of discussion as I admonished my students to be very careful about what they say to others. I told them that words and actions are very powerful and can affect a person for an entire lifetime, as evidenced by my own insecurities.

My third class asked me why I wasn’t popular in high school, and I told them that I was not pretty back then.

One of my girls sat, shocked, and said, “How could you say that about yourself?”

I told her that simply put, I was ugly.  I was also a nerd.

Those don’t have the makings for a good high school experience.

I remember one especially bad experience when I was in the sixth grade…new to the school and, apparently, new to the high school mentality of teenage boys.

One boy, known to have a mean streak, used to stand behind me as I retrieved items out of my bottom locker, and made lewd gestures behind my back.

Although, at the time, I didn’t understand exactly why everyone was laughing, I understood that I was at the butt of their jokes.

That is why the news story touched me, and that is why I feel the need to get out the message to my students that being kind to one another is imperative, despite whatever drama may be going on around them.

It is my prayer that my students will not grow up and think of themselves as being ugly way back when they were in high school.

I pray that those around them make them feel beautiful and worthy.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

More Than Sisters

Posted on October 9, 2012 by auburnchick

On Saturday, I found the following in the mail…

It was a “just because” gift from Super Sis.

Since school has started, we’ve taken to calling or texting each other on Mondays…just to see how our week has started off.

She teaches preschool (God bless her), so we have a lot of fun talking about our days.

We’ve found interesting similarities in our work.

Although our pupils are many years apart, we still find ourselves teaching them social skills.

Although my academic curriculum is a bit more advanced than hers, we’ve found that we both struggle in the same areas…the best way to set up activities…timing…etc.

We also marvel over our students’ personalities and how even one strong-willed (usually a leader, to boot) child sets up the temperature for the rest of the class.

People often bemoan the fact that they are getting older.

Super Sis and I embrace it, however, because it’s only through our aging that we’ve become especially close.

Parenting, marriage (to brothers, none-the less), and work have bound us together so that we’re more than just sisters.

We truly are friends of the closest kind.

I love you, Super Sis, and am blessed that God made us part of the same family.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

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