Today started in a bittersweet sort of way - I took Sonia, Claire and Tessa to the airport for their trip home. Sonia has been here since last Thursday, and we've spent several hours together most of the past several days. There are few people in the world with whom I can fall into an effortless comfortable relationship, and Sonia is truly a friend of my heart. I was so glad to be the person to drive her and her girls to the airport, since it gave me some additional time with her, and some quality conversational time at that. But I was so sad that they were leaving; I haven't had NEARLY enough catch-up time. For whatever reason, being with Sonia lets me drop all of the external responsibilities and roles that I've taken on as an adult here in my community, and allows me to be my most true self. It's been so reassuring and fulfilling to get back to what's most essential.
At any rate, after I pulled over in the parking lot and had a little cry, Lauren and I headed into Wichita proper to explore a little. We started with Hatman Jack's, as a surprise to Lauren. She's been dreaming of a "real" cowgirl hat for almost a year, and what better place to find one than Hatman Jack's? We tried on dozens of hats - fascinators, cowgirl hats, bowlers, derbies, top hats... Lauren's favorite was a steampunk-themed leather top hat with a big metal gear on the front.
After that, we went down the block to Twist, a yarn & knitting store. The proprietor was fantastic and spent quite a lot of time helping Lauren, talking to her about knitting for beginners, recommending websites and other resources, and helping her choose some new yarn. (Tonight, Lauren finished her first knitting project - an afghan for the dollhouse!)
After that, we went to the Old Tasty Mill for lunch. It's in Old Town on Douglas, and is worth the wait in line! Lauren had a cheese quesadilla and I had pork verde monterrey - it was amazing!
After eating, we headed to Hannah Bananas to look for some new school clothes. Jill and the kiddos came to meet us there, and we found a few cute things! I love, love, love my adorable nieces and nephew!
We then went to The Donut Whole, and that might be a transformative experience for me - they are a tiny, quirky shop that has about 30 or more different flavors of donuts each day. They are well known for their maple bacon donuts, but they were out by the time we got there. There were 6 of us, and we got 12 donuts and shared bites - my favorites were Caramel Sea Salt, Citrus Cherry, and Double Cinnamon. We stayed and taught the kids to play pinball and enjoyed the atmosphere, until the littlest one frustrated herself playing games and the crying began. :)
Lauren and I headed to one last destination - Trends, a consignment store that specializes in teen clothing. That was a fun find for us, and we stayed until they closed - we'll be going back!
We are relaxing now, eating some cheese & crackers instead of "real dinner", since I'm still full of donuts, and watching the Olympics.
I feel so blessed that my life includes my amazing daughter, who I LOVE spending time with and who still likes to spend time with me, my sister & nieces & nephew that I can't wait to see again, a best friend who truly brings out the best in me and who helps me remember the blessing of opening your heart to another person, and a husband that I can't wait to come home to each day.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Kingdom of the Mentally Unstable
One of the joys of being a teacher's child is that when all of the other students are gone, you often gain some freedom in terms of roaming the school. Lauren and the J girls spent the Friday after school was officially out at school while their mother and I (and the other teachers) worked. They mostly entertained themselves in our classrooms, but by mid-afternoon had begged to go play on the stage in the gym. They were practicing a play they had written and eventually came to get Jenn & I to be the audience. It was a long, drawn-out play with the girls each having multiple parts - Lauren as narrator, the girls as queens, kings, princesses, ninjas, etc. Eventually, I was rushing them along, since I had HOURS of work left to do, and the gym was hot. I was glad that I'd stayed, however, when it got to the part where Lauren explained that in the land of the play, they all celebrated birthdays with "cake and vodka", and then a bit later when she described the kingdom as "the land of the mentally unstable, obviously". :) Yeah, that's my kid.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Lately
So I have a couple of things that have happened lately that I don't want to forget about, so I'm "writing them down" here!
This past Wednesday in library, my kiddos were following me around during check-out time, asking me to recommend books and then clamoring to borrow them next. One of my students, Harlea, told me how much she loves reading now, even though she didn't love reading before this year. She said that last year she only read enough to finish her Sunflower Reader, but that this year, she loves to read because I love to read.
Makes my heart happy!
The other evening, Lauren said two things in the space of an hour that really illustrate what sort of kiddo she is:
*We went for a walk after dinner. It was dusk, and we walked past Jim's shop, which has a huge puddle beside it. Lauren said, "Is it just me, or is that a malevolent-looking puddle? Maybe I've been reading too many scary books lately..."
*When we got home, we sat down to watch "The Tooth Fairy 2". When the movie started, Lauren said, "So you're saying that I get to watch Larry the Cable Guy, in a pink tutu?? Rock. On."
Oh, yeah, that's my kind of kid!
This past Wednesday in library, my kiddos were following me around during check-out time, asking me to recommend books and then clamoring to borrow them next. One of my students, Harlea, told me how much she loves reading now, even though she didn't love reading before this year. She said that last year she only read enough to finish her Sunflower Reader, but that this year, she loves to read because I love to read.
Makes my heart happy!
The other evening, Lauren said two things in the space of an hour that really illustrate what sort of kiddo she is:
*We went for a walk after dinner. It was dusk, and we walked past Jim's shop, which has a huge puddle beside it. Lauren said, "Is it just me, or is that a malevolent-looking puddle? Maybe I've been reading too many scary books lately..."
*When we got home, we sat down to watch "The Tooth Fairy 2". When the movie started, Lauren said, "So you're saying that I get to watch Larry the Cable Guy, in a pink tutu?? Rock. On."
Oh, yeah, that's my kind of kid!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Photos of my recent maps
The week before last included Hays, Liberal, Buhler and Newton!
Last week's traveling - Emporia, Paola, LaCygne
Last week's traveling - Emporia, Paola, LaCygne
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
KTOY trip to Topeka to speak at the Capitol 1/17/2012
Tonight (it's Tuesday evening) I'm in Emporia, after spending the past three days in Topeka, doing KTOY activities. I've been in Topeka since Sunday morning, training with the rest of the KTOY team, getting ready for today. We all got to stay in ghte Capitol Plaza Hotel, which was swanky and beautiful.
Sunday we met with 3 principals from around the state and then with Commissioner Dale Dennis to talk about current issues in education. Then our team, along with Sherry and Kathy, went out for dinner at Paisano's Ristorante - and I had the most amazing salmon with cheese tortellini in a cream sauce - wow!
Monday we started bright & early, meeting with Dr. DeBacker and Deputy Neuenswander, and then with 2 superintendents. We got some more input about the current issues in education, as well as some prep for what types of questions the legislators might have for us. We spent the afternoons on both days practicing our speeches for the legislators, with feedback from the group on making our speeches as compelling and fluid as possible, while staying within our 2-minute limit! Monday night our group chose to go to The Blind Tiger for dinner, which was a really fun atmosphere. It's a microbrewery & restaurant in an interesting old building. The inside has 3 levels of seating areas, as well as big metal tanks for brewing. They also brew their own root beer. I almost bought Lauren a big jug of root beer as a souvenir! I had chicken & noodles over mashed potatoes for dinner; my friends said that the chicken and BBQ and homemade potato chips were delicious!
Today we headed for the Docking Building, across from the Capitol. The Capitol Building is undergoing renovations, and so the House of Representatives is meeting in the Docking Building for now. We met with the House of Representatives Education Committee in a meeting room. There were about 15 representatives present, and they were polite and attentive. After we each gave our speeches, they spent about an hour or so asking us questions about education, the budget, assessments, passing/failing students, raising scores, the time and money that teacher spend in the classrooms, and what advice we have for legislators.
It was interesting to spend some time visiting with the representatives after the session was over. I'll definitely be more compelled to write/email my representatives - these people were truly interested in hearing what we have to say and in making responsible choices. The head of the committee was taken with the fact that I call my class "kiddos". :) I enjoyed speaking with Representative Loganbill, who is also a Bethel grad, and another representative who is also a Vera Bradley fan (we compared purses!).
After meeting with the House Representatives, Sherry and Kathy took us for lunch at the Celtic Fox, near the Capitol Building. It is a pub with AMAZING food! I had an Irish chicken stew and a roast beef & cheddar sandwich. Much of the food and all of the decor had an Irish theme - bagpipes on the wall, enormous "pints" hanging from the ceiling, etc.
After lunch, we headed to the Capitol Building. We had some time before our first appointment, so we did some walking around, taking photos, buying souvenirs, etc. We all got postcards for our classes. Then we took turns sitting in Governor Brownback's chair behind his desk and taking our photos (he wasn't in his office today!) :)
We met with the Senate Education Committee next, in a meeting room. This was a smaller committee than in the morning. They were very positive and involved. Senator Shodorf was our sponsor for the day, and she was very encouraging and supportive. They asked great questions for us, mostly regarding the same topics as in the House.
Then they walked us to the Senate chamber for the 2:30 - 3:30 session. It was the most beautiful room! I've never seen a Senate meeting before and the process was very interesting to me - the wooden gavel that is banged after every decision, the repetitive calling of roll for voting, the pages, the Senators' freedom of movement/talking during the session - very interesting. They passed a resolution honoring our team and each of us by name.
After that, we stayed until the end of their session and then visited with the few senators that hung around. Some of our team's senators came over to congratulate them and/or take photos together, etc.
Then we piled back into the van and headed for the hotel. Most people headed home, and a couple stayed at the Plaza. I headed for Emporia. I'm thinking now that perhaps I should have stayed at the Plaza - my room there was pretty luxurious, and this one seems shabby by contrast. However, this way I don't have far to drive in the morning, which is a blessing for me!
Carla
Sunday we met with 3 principals from around the state and then with Commissioner Dale Dennis to talk about current issues in education. Then our team, along with Sherry and Kathy, went out for dinner at Paisano's Ristorante - and I had the most amazing salmon with cheese tortellini in a cream sauce - wow!
Monday we started bright & early, meeting with Dr. DeBacker and Deputy Neuenswander, and then with 2 superintendents. We got some more input about the current issues in education, as well as some prep for what types of questions the legislators might have for us. We spent the afternoons on both days practicing our speeches for the legislators, with feedback from the group on making our speeches as compelling and fluid as possible, while staying within our 2-minute limit! Monday night our group chose to go to The Blind Tiger for dinner, which was a really fun atmosphere. It's a microbrewery & restaurant in an interesting old building. The inside has 3 levels of seating areas, as well as big metal tanks for brewing. They also brew their own root beer. I almost bought Lauren a big jug of root beer as a souvenir! I had chicken & noodles over mashed potatoes for dinner; my friends said that the chicken and BBQ and homemade potato chips were delicious!
Today we headed for the Docking Building, across from the Capitol. The Capitol Building is undergoing renovations, and so the House of Representatives is meeting in the Docking Building for now. We met with the House of Representatives Education Committee in a meeting room. There were about 15 representatives present, and they were polite and attentive. After we each gave our speeches, they spent about an hour or so asking us questions about education, the budget, assessments, passing/failing students, raising scores, the time and money that teacher spend in the classrooms, and what advice we have for legislators.
It was interesting to spend some time visiting with the representatives after the session was over. I'll definitely be more compelled to write/email my representatives - these people were truly interested in hearing what we have to say and in making responsible choices. The head of the committee was taken with the fact that I call my class "kiddos". :) I enjoyed speaking with Representative Loganbill, who is also a Bethel grad, and another representative who is also a Vera Bradley fan (we compared purses!).
After meeting with the House Representatives, Sherry and Kathy took us for lunch at the Celtic Fox, near the Capitol Building. It is a pub with AMAZING food! I had an Irish chicken stew and a roast beef & cheddar sandwich. Much of the food and all of the decor had an Irish theme - bagpipes on the wall, enormous "pints" hanging from the ceiling, etc.
After lunch, we headed to the Capitol Building. We had some time before our first appointment, so we did some walking around, taking photos, buying souvenirs, etc. We all got postcards for our classes. Then we took turns sitting in Governor Brownback's chair behind his desk and taking our photos (he wasn't in his office today!) :)
We met with the Senate Education Committee next, in a meeting room. This was a smaller committee than in the morning. They were very positive and involved. Senator Shodorf was our sponsor for the day, and she was very encouraging and supportive. They asked great questions for us, mostly regarding the same topics as in the House.
Then they walked us to the Senate chamber for the 2:30 - 3:30 session. It was the most beautiful room! I've never seen a Senate meeting before and the process was very interesting to me - the wooden gavel that is banged after every decision, the repetitive calling of roll for voting, the pages, the Senators' freedom of movement/talking during the session - very interesting. They passed a resolution honoring our team and each of us by name.
After that, we stayed until the end of their session and then visited with the few senators that hung around. Some of our team's senators came over to congratulate them and/or take photos together, etc.
Then we piled back into the van and headed for the hotel. Most people headed home, and a couple stayed at the Plaza. I headed for Emporia. I'm thinking now that perhaps I should have stayed at the Plaza - my room there was pretty luxurious, and this one seems shabby by contrast. However, this way I don't have far to drive in the morning, which is a blessing for me!
Carla
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