Tag Archives: Family

Weekly Photo Challenge – New

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It’s a new year, with the some of the same responsibilities. Perhaps, I need a new outlook?

ivythesnowdog
new fallen snow and Ivy the Dog – the wonder dog

 

Normally, January 1st is not the day I choose for resolutions, usually my resolutions fall in early June when school lets out for summer and I have more time to reflect, rest, reset, and restore. But, that is summer or rather ‘some ‘er’ which sounds like summer but means some are – as in some are and some aren’t. Some summers I am more successful with the ‘reflect and reset’ than others. This past summer was one of those in which the reset was not complete. Now, I find myself in the beginning of winter and new fallen snow is beginning to cover the landscape. It brings a new outlook to the world; it’s fresh, clean, pure, and powdery. Ivy tested it earlier and came inside, curled up on the hassock, and went back to sleep. It’s a new beginning, sort of.

new snow, looking south
new snow – looking north, sort of

Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – New →

Stille Nacht

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It’s Christmas morning and we are all in Ohio. We are at grandma’s house and it’s quiet, very quiet. The kids are still sleeping, Ivy is curled on her pad, and B is visiting her mother – grandma – at the care center on the other side of town. She’s been at the care center since late September after a very nasty fall.

We arrived late Tuesday evening and visited with grandma. It was good to see her and laugh and tease – I hadn’t seen her since mid-July when I last visited Ohio. She’s my favorite mother-in-law and she still has her wicked sense of humor and a great smile. It was good to see both in action again. B’s been home a couple of times to check in on her mom and square up the house as best she could. It’s been a tough year for B and her mother – first B’s older sister passed away and then her dad passed away two months later. Truth be told, it’s been difficult for all of us.

We are staying in grandma’s house – but she’s away and it seems a bit odd. There is no one to sip coffee with in the morning and it’s even quieter than normal – even with two noisy kids and a dog. Yesterday, I visited with grandma in the morning and again in the evening. She was restless and had a difficult time settling down after dinner. I had taken a book to read to her – a children’s book – Shooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914. Based on the true story of the truce on Christmas Day in 1914 when the British and German soldiers took the day to stop fighting and share the meaning of Christmas with one another. This being the centenary anniversary of the beginning of the war several books have been published as well as a British supermarket chain, Sainsbury, produced a controversial video advertisement about the truce. Continue reading Stille Nacht →

Thanksgiving – being thankful

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Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family, friends, and memories – past, present, and future.

thanksgiving

We are supposed to wake up in Ohio this morning, but we’re did not. Instead of travelling to visit B’s mom, we decided to stay home. It was a tough decision, but the right one. B and O are sick, or were sick, or in the process of getting better, or somewhere on the continuum and it’s just not worth spreading our germs to grandma or anyone else. So, we stayed home.

The turkey is in the oven, the sweet potatoes are cooked and cooling on the side burner waiting for B to turn them into sweet potato casserole. I need to clean the beans and the table, but, first, I need to say thanks. It smells like Thanksgiving in our home.

I am incredibly thankful. I have so much for which to be thankful. After getting the turkey in the oven, I sat down with a cup of coffee to read the newspaper. Ivy snuggled up beside me, resting her head on my thigh warming my legs. I read about Ferguson, Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington, the Nor’easter hammering the northeast, the Bears and today’s football games, and a guy named Steve who runs an incredible hobby shop. I read my horoscope and the weather where I learned that this Thanksgiving will be the coldest in Chicagoland in 58 years. Yikes. Then, I called my mom in Texas to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving, then my step-mom in Mississippi, and texted my brothers, too. Then, I sat down to write a short post.

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been blogging @MakingDaysCount for over four years and this will be my fifth post. I went back to read all four, they are below.

It’s amusing how time blurs lines and memories. I enjoyed re-reading each post. I smiled, laughed, shed a tear, and watched the rocket videos, boy that was fun. I remember writing each post and where I was. Interesting. Every year, I wrote a list of why I was thankful and I don’t believe I could have written a better list of why I am thankful, so I won’t.  You are welcome to go back in time as I did and re-read, but please take time to be thankful in your world.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Make Your Thanksgiving Day Count, make the next day a million and six times better than the day before it and pay it forward. Light the world with your smile. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, saying thanks and praying for wonderful day with many more to come.

Thank you.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Angular

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In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Angular.”

store fronts, brickwork, and intricate moldings - a new look on an old angle
store fronts, brickwork, and intricate moldings – a new look on an old angle

On the way home from school yesterday I stopped at a local independent bookstore in downtown Naperville. Downtown was bustling with activity and I waited patiently in line to purchase my books – Truce, Shooting at the Stars, and The white House is Burning: August 24, 1814 as well as to get B’s wristband for the author visit Monday, 41‘s author will be speaking and signing books and B had purchased two copies to be signed. Very cool.

Downtown Naperville is a busy place. It has local merchants as well as the big guys – Barnes and Noble, Williams Sonoma, and Starbucks all nestled in mostly older buildings with new construction and updated storefronts along city streets just wide enough for street parking and two lanes of traffic. The sidewalks are usually crowded with shoppers and yesterday was no different.

love the old roof lines - a wonderful look at an old angle
love the old roof lines – a wonderful look at an old angle

As I left, I looked around – up and down and stopped to notice the buildings and there intricate moldings and brickwork along their roof lines. Such lovely structures dating back to the early twentieth century. It was a lovely day and the blue sky and bright sun finished the scene.

It felt wonderful to be outside and breathe the cool late fall air, even though it felt more like the dead of winter. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in America and the holiday shopping season begins the following day. Tuesday afternoon the shoppers weren’t waiting, they were making their days count – early and often. I have much for which to be thankful, Thank you for following along, reading, commenting, liking, and helping me Make the Days Count.

Making the Days Count is my angle, what’s yours?

a lovely old sign to let folks know where to stop
a lovely old sign to let folks know where to stop

The Can Crush

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It’s been over two weeks since I wrote a post. It’s not because I haven’t had ideas. I’ve had loads of ideas and I even started a post last Sunday morning, but I ran out of time. That post died on the vine, it’s no longer relevant.

Since my last post, O has been to her first middle school social. The social was the day after her birthday and she had a wonderful time and could not stop talking about on our way to W’s final regular season football game. We arrived with a minute left in the second quarter to watch the Tigers score a touchdown and take 14-9 lead to the locker room. They needed to win the game to make the playoffs. This is how they did it.

Since then, W’s football team has ripped off two more wins and next weekend play in the state playoff quarterfinals. The team’s first playoff win was in the blinding snow and howling winds on Halloween night with a last minute field goal to tie and a touchdown to win in overtime. The second win was yesterday afternoon – it was a beautiful fall afternoon, perfect for a high school football game. Continue reading The Can Crush →

It’s a Girl! Throwback Thursday Edition

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It snuck up on me, I don’t know how it did, but it did. Today is O’s birthday. She’s 12 and it doesn’t seem possible. I remember the morning we went to the hospital. The delivery was scheduled and B’s parents were here from Ohio to keep an eye on W and help where they could. When we came home with O – she didn’t have an official name, yet – we would decide between two choices: O and Hannah. We stuck with O and I’m glad.

October 23, 2002 - "It's a Girl" fly from the mailbox and leaves litter the ground. It's fall.
October 23, 2002 – “It’s a Girl” fly from the mailbox and leaves litter the ground. It’s fall.

So much has happened between then and now – O’s growing up and is now in sixth grade. Sometimes, she’s sassy, but most of the time she’s my O.

Today’s her birthday; and there will be more birthdays to come. There will be more growing and probably a lot more sass, definitely a lot more sass; but she’ll still be my O, and B’s too, but I write this blog, so she’s mine for now.

Last night we looked through the photos of her first day and we snuggled, laughed, and cried. It was a special day twelve years ago and I captured it with our first digital camera. The photos look grainy but we don’t have similar photos of W – he’s pre-digital and I didn’t think to bring a camera into the delivery room when he was born.

O and I - less than an hour old all swaddled and warm...
O and I – she’s less than an hour old and all swaddled and warm…

Since that first camera, we’ve had five more – including the two we are using now. And, we have loads of photos, more than I can process. I am not including our phones, which happen to have better cameras than that first digital camera from 2002.

O came into the world about 8:35 AM on a Wednesday morning. I had a sub in my classroom and my students were researching in the library. I don’t have a sub this morning, but I’ll share the photo and a memory. Later this morning, my science students will be researching in the library – just twelve years later; my how some things change and some things simply stay the same.

B's parents welcome O - grandpa passed away this summer - we miss him dearly - glad we had the memories of his laugh and the twinkle in his eye...
B’s parents welcome O – grandpa passed away this past summer – we miss him dearly – glad we had the memories of his laugh and the twinkle in his eye…

Tonight, will have dinner and a cake – a delicious Italian Cream Cake. It’s our birthday cake, homemade with real buttermilk and frosted with cream cheese frosting. You can’t beat it. A birthday in our home isn’t the same without it. But for now, I’d better get moving. It’s gonna be a great day. I know it and I can feel it, so I had better jump up, jump in and seize the day. Making the days Count, one day at a time, one memory, and one birthday at a time.

Have you ever come close to forgetting a birthday? Or, let one sneak up on you?

“The Day the Series Stopped”

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I love baseball, I always have. This past season, I was able to get to the ballpark twice. Once in Detroit and once in Chicago and both were good games.

Baseball is in the post-season and the San Francisco Giants will face the Kansas City Royals in the World Series starting next Tuesday. I got home tonight in time to watch the bottom of the ninth and three run walk off homer that propelled the Giants into their third World Series in five years. Tonette, my friend from San Francisco, is going wild in San Francisco. I can’t say I blame her.

I’ve been thinking about San Francisco lately. I enjoyed living there and I will never forget the three years I lived and worked in Bay Area.

ESPN is showing the 30 for 30 film – “The Day the Series Stopped.” The sports network produced the film about the Lomo Prieta earthquake and the World Series and it does a fine job capturing what I remember of that day and the weeks that followed. The film debuted Tuesday evening and I’ve watched it three times, each time I take away something different. It’s well put together and the message is how sport transcends life. Oakland A’s manager Tony La Russa explained it best –

Continue reading “The Day the Series Stopped” →

Weekly Photo Challenge – Dreamy

dawnsearlylight
the two maples work in concert to brighten our front yard – dreamy

Trees are ablaze around us. It’s fall. We have two trees, which appear as if they are afire; yesterday the sun’s light reflected into the bedroom and illuminated it in an orange glow. Soon the leaves will be falling to the ground and covering the lawn. Soon, my weekend activities will shift from dreaming to working on the lawn clearing leaves. That’s okay, that’s is what happens at this time of the year; the days get shorter and the dreams become stronger.

The dream of the lake, the pull of the lake.

I long to see the sun rise over the lake and watch the sun’s rays slowly bring the hills and trees to life. It’s quiet at the lake at this time of the year only a few people visit in the late fall. I’ll be there soon enough, I have a few chores to do before winter sets in. Last year I went alone, this year it’ll be a family affair and all of us will venture north for a short weekend of working the yard and getting the cottage ready for winter. It’ll be all hands on deck and then we’ll get to rest and relax Saturday night and dream.

dreamymorning2013
the lake on early summer morning, mist rising off the still lake and the sun slowly bringing the hills to life on the opposite shore – dreamy

In the meantime, my dream is to finish grading lab reports and articles of the week today. It’s going to be a great day, the weather is cool, misty and the forecast calls for rain. Perfect weather for sitting down and working. My dreams will have to sustain for another day. Making the days Count, one day at a time, one trip back in time, one dream to keep me going.

What dreamy place gives you a ‘gentle push’ when you need it?

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campfire and the moon when the sun sets – dreamy

Today’s post is in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge – prompt – at Word Press.  The week’s prompt is “Dreamy.” This week, we’d like to see an image that looks dreamy to you. A photo of a place you often visit in dreams. A snapshot of your dreamy boy- or girlfriend. A scene that looks a bit out-of-this world. Take us on a flight of fancy!

Think PINK – Freedom Rock

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I have been to two funerals as a teacher. I do not want to go to another funeral again. Ever.

Both funerals I attended were in my first two years as a teacher. Actually, the first funeral was in the summer of between my first and second years of teaching. It was awful. The second was less than a year later. It was just as awful. I have not been to another funeral since though one of students lost their dad last spring. The teachers were not invited and I wanted to go, but I couldn’t; I had my own family funeral to attend to last spring.

one of my favorite teacher gifts ever. Cherished.
one of my favorite teacher gifts ever. Cherished.

At the time, there were not words in my vocabulary to express the feeling of awfulness I had when I looked into the eyes of my twelve year-old student and told him and her that I was sorry that their mother had passed away. I think I fumbled with some words like “I am so sorry for your loss.” Or maybe I said, “I have been praying for you and your family, please let me know what I can do to help you.” No matter what I said, it didn’t take away the pain of losing their mother. Or the uncertainty of what the future held for them. Those kids – Melinda and Jeremiah – are now in their twenties and out of college and have jobs like me. Occasionally, I get to visit the high school and I ran into Melinda on my way in one time, we had a nice conversation and then we parted. I had Jeremiah’s sister two years after their mom passed away and she wrote an amazing essay about how her mother’s passing was an important event in her life. I remember the essay well, it was good, thoughtful, well written; it was head and shoulders above her peer’s papers. I followed them along in high school occasionally asking high school teachers or counselors whom I knew how they were doing and then they graduated high school and I lost touch. They’re grown now, or as grown as someone is when they are in the second half of their twenties.

Fourteen years later, I still don’t believe I have the right words. Continue reading Think PINK – Freedom Rock →

Weekly Photo Challenge – Nighttime

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There was a time in my life when I was a nighttime creature. Thirty years ago this past summer, I met a girl and I was attending summer school full-time, working full-time, spending the weekend nights with her and her friends – up all night, and sleeping part-time. I could do it then, but not now.

the end of game discussion - the South end of the field

the end of game discussion – the South end of the field

Thirty years later, that girl is my wife and next week – in seven days – we will celebrate 23 years of marriage.

Thirty years later, my eyelids are heavier than they once were and I can’t hang out too late, but on Friday nights in the fall – there is Friday Night Lights. I have been a high school football fan for a long time and I enjoy watching the games. It’s even more fun because W is out there this year – hanging on the sidelines. He has yet to play Friday night, but he’s there for film, weights, conditioning, and practice working and waiting for the moment when the Tigers will need him. Every Tiger player was there once, too. It’s the way things are. Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – Nighttime →