Good Friday

Olivia and Ivy – a year ago today!

We are off from school to allow students and their families to observe Good Friday as they choose. Sometimes the day comes as part of Spring Break as it did last year and other times, like now it comes as a separate holiday. Regardless, it is time to think about what is important and rest, relax and spend time with the family.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV

Last year on Good Friday, we were in Michigan, had finished yard work, and enjoyed a warm day in the sun. We had wanted to have a fire in the fire ring, but could not because the area was under Fire Warnings because it had been so dry. The next day we headed home and got a dog. That in itself, in itself, it is a long story, but it has been over a year since we got Ivy and all of us have grown to love her and she has grown to love us.

This year for Good Friday, it is cold and wet. Olivia’s softball practice has been cancelled for the day and Beth and the kids are out on an adventure. Tomorrow, William will have his first lacrosse game and I am looking forward to it. I hope that we will be able to have our Easter picture taken in the daffodil glade at the Morton Arboretum.

William and Olivia in the daffodil glade – April 2006
William and Olivia in the daffodil glade – April 2010

I, on the other hand, have spent the morning and most of the afternoon (until now) catching up on my role as Communication Liaison my teachers association. There is much to communicate about what is happening politically in Illinois and how it affects teachers (and me). It is a busy time and it is tough juggling all of the roles, which I have taken on. I have quizzes to grade and next week’s lessons to plan as well. We finished reading The Giver in class Thursday, but we are far from finished with it. There is a final test, next week, and the persuasive essay the following two weeks. I will be modeling it with them and sharing through MtDC, as I did with the personal narrative. At least that is the plan. The students enjoyed the book and walk away from it with a new perspective on our world and our place in it. I enjoyed the book and read it for the fourth and fifth times – I teach two classes and we read it daily, therefore I count it as two reads! I read it for the first time in February or March of 1998 as part of my Children’s Literature class. It was eye opening then and each time I read it, I walk away with a new perspective. When you read a book like The Giver, it should change the way you think or at least give you something to think about. It does it for me.

It is hard to believe we are below the thirty day mark for days left in the school year; this is the time of the year when the days vanish like ice on a sidewalk in July. William and Olivia have a few more days than my students do, but they also do not have to go to school on teacher workdays or meeting days like I do. For me, Monday is a meeting day for teachers and when students come back to school Tuesday, there will be twenty-eight days remaining! WOW!

In the meantime, I have more to be done before Beth and the kids return from their adventure. I hear Ivy upstairs and it probably means she spies something in the yard she wants to chase. It will be a good day today, with tomorrow forecast to be a million and six times better. Making the Days Count, one day at a time!

Thanks for visiting MtDC. How are YOU Making YOUR Days Count?