Tag Archives: Spring Break

Half-light – a photo challenge

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

We are away this week, but I have my laptop. I never travel without it, though sometimes I don’t use it, or can’t use it. It is Spring Break, a much needed break. We left town Thursday night and arrived here, at the beach, Friday evening.

this morning's early half-light, a new day is coming
this morning’s early half-light, a new day is coming

It’s been a while since I posted anything, my last post was early February. It has been a long break from writing, I’ve been overwhelmed with life, seemingly been in the half-light of the world. Sometimes we need to press the ‘reset’ button. Continue reading Half-light – a photo challenge

The state bee

Today is gonna be a great day. I usually end my posts with this, but today I’ll start AND end with the quote. The quate is aline is from a song, aptly named “Today is gonna be a great day” and it was in part, part of the inspiration for Making the Days Count almost five years ago.

This could possibly be the best day ever
And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be
A million and six times better

So make every minute count
Jump up, jump in and seize the day
And let’s make sure that in every single possible way
Today is gonna to be a great day

It is gonna be a great day, because today is the National Geography Society’s state Geography Bee and my student qualified for it. Actually, he really isn’t my student he’s a sixth grader and he goes to my school. I just happen to be the Geo Bee coordinator and very passionate about geography. I’ve been helping him prepare, first for the state qualifying test and then for the state competition. We’ve had two study sessions where I’ve helped him and guided him by asking questions from past geography bees, but he really knows his stuff. Today will be the big test and he’ll be up against 100 other kids from across Illinois from grades 4 to 8 or ages 9-14. Most of them will be boys, about 80-90% and I wish him the best.

The best part is that I get to go and watch. Continue reading The state bee

Weekly Photo Challenge – Relic

reidcropLast April, for Spring Break, we came to visit my mother-in-law and father-in-law. In fact, that’s where I found myself yesterday morning, in Ohio. We arrived Saturday night in time to watch the Reds score five runs in the fifth inning with my mother-in-law, then watch the Pirates tie it in the ninth, and win it in the eleventh inning with home runs by the same batter. The reds lost, but, I digress. I usually do, apologies.

It was an odd spring break, while most of our contemporaries were enjoying time away with their kids, B and I were dealing with end of life issues with her older sister and her father, my father-in-law. We still are. B’s sister passed away in April, and her dad passed away in June. We are reeling. While B has been driving back and forth to Ohio, I’ve had the kids. It’s easier for us because of our flexibility during the summer. I am relatively free.

I couldn’t have been more fortunate to have found the family I did – my in-laws are like second parents, like friends. Several years ago, I began joking with my mother-in-law that she was my favorite mother-in-law and she retorted that I was her favorite son-in-law. Every now and then I’ll start a conversation with, “you know, you are my favorite mother-in-law….” And she will respond in kind. We’ll howl and sip our coffee and talk about the day or what is happening, or just talk baseball. She’s a big Reds fan and part of the reason I pull for the Reds. As for the ‘favorite’ business – it is a no contest, as she and I are the only ones of each kind. I suppose it would be a tight contest if my brother-in-laws were still around. I lost one to divorce in ‘92 and I lost another when he passed away unexpectedly in ‘03 at the age of 52. Both were great men and treated me like a younger brother. I certainly could’ve used their support this spring and summer.

For Spring Break, we divided and conquered – B went to Ohio and I went to Michigan with the kids and the dog. We, the kids and I, went to Michigan to ski and relax while she went home to her parents to help her sister and her dad, as well as her mom. It’s a complicated story.

Regardless, her mom is still in her home and doing well. Her dad was dealing with dementia and steady decline in his physical capacities – he’d lost a lot of weight and was struggling to walk and get around, as well as dealing with balance issues. His decline began a few years ago in 2011 or 2012 and he began requiring daily assisted living care in the summer of 2012. It was difficult for all of us because until then, he’d lived a fairly vigorous life – gardening, working, playing, fishing, and just plain, living. My kids have many wonderful memories of grandpa up at the cottage or at Christmases or other visits. Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – Relic

Postcards from Spring Break – 2013

a warm sunny day at Bahia Honda State Park with the Atlantic in background
a warm sunny day at Bahia Honda State Park with the Atlantic in background

It has been a great day, a great week, and a great month. I just don’t know where it went. Three weeks ago, I was on a beach on a warm sunny day with the breeze in my hair. It felt like it would last forever and I guess it has. Memories of our vacation to the Keys has sustained me over the past few days – from torrential downpours to flurries in the air, it has been quite a few days.

Yesterday morning, it was raining and I went to the basement and I discovered water pouring in through a crack in the foundation. I soon realized I wouldn’t be able to keep up and woke W who jumped in to the job grudgingly, but soon embraced the task. By 5:30, I knew I had to stay home and was busy writing a quick sub plan when W’s school called the day off. An hour later, my school called off, too. So, I spent the second day of summer vacation (see a NO SNOW snow day) fighting with the water in the basement, moving furniture, bookcases, pulling up soggy carpet up and hauling it to the curb. We were lucky our water was just that, water. Other homes in the area had water coming in from the sewer (yeah, ewwwwww). Continue reading Postcards from Spring Break – 2013

Postcards from…

 

imagesIt’s Friday morning and I have already started to wonder where the time went, but I already know. Time on vacation goes much faster than real time. Even when you try to make sure time is counting or days are counting.

I remember when my dad would travel, before my parents divorced, he would send us postcards. It was great fun to get a postcard and short message in the mail from him and even after my parents divorced, he would send a postcard now and then, from where he travelled. Of course, this was before e-mail, text messages, smart phones, and Facebook or other social media sites. Postcards were the social media! I have tried to bring back the art of the postcard and send one or two, or even more from wherever I am.

A few summers back my mom sent me all the postcards we had sent her and the ones she had collected. Continue reading Postcards from…

Being thankful, the Liebster Award

liebster_awardA couple of weeks ago, my phone buzzed I looked down to see I had a comment posted to my about page and it was from the Undeaddad. He had nominated me for the Liebster award an award given to Bloggers by Bloggers and I am honored. I’ve been at this blogging thing for almost three years and I’ve been mentioned on other blogs a couple of times and given a previous award, but never followed up on it. That’s on my list of to dos or wishes, and I can change them to I wills. More on that later.

I stumbled across the Undeaddad after he had been Freshly Pressed for writing about shoveling snow. It was a great post that encapsulated my feelings about work and pride. He has written several more posts that resonated with me, most recently about ‘date nights’ and children who are picky eaters. If you have time, please give him a whirl.

Continue reading Being thankful, the Liebster Award

The List – Part 2

Over a year ago, I wrote ‘The List.’ It was blog post about winning the lottery, or more specifically, what I would do if I won the lottery. With tonight’s jackpot listed as $540 million or a half billion, it was hard not to think about it as I drove home, yesterday. I mentioned to grandpa and grandma that a lot of good could be done with that much money and it could. So, I decided to dust off last year’s post, revise it, and repost. Continue reading The List – Part 2

Spring Break Part II

Sunday’s post was brief, but it cut into my morning time. I usually try to get up before anyone else and enjoy the quiet time before the day begins, but yesterday Olivia got up with me, and grandma and grandpa were already up and moving. By the time I was writing, the cottage was in full motion with everyone moving for the morning.  I started to write but, realized it was futile to continue and stopped, vowing to finish at night when everyone was spent from the day. But, I forgot I was one of the ‘everyone,’ and fell asleep on the couch, reading one of my spring break books – Scat by Carl Hiaasen. Even Ivy had gone upstairs by the time I woke up at 1 AM and stumbled upstairs and climbed sleepily into bed. Needless to say, I didn’t write last night. Continue reading Spring Break Part II

The Sunshine Report

Night and Day 2002 - courtesy of sunthingspecial.com

Today, where I am the sun rises at 6.51 and sets at 7.08 bathing the landscape with twelve hours and seventeen minutes of sunshine. Actually, there is more sunshine because it is light after the sun sets and the sun bathes us with a bit more light before fading into night. Lately, the weather has been warm, really warm. It feels more like May than March. However, considering the winter weather we had, it is par for the course. Continue reading The Sunshine Report