Westwoods

This has got to be the best ole Sunday dinner ever...It's simple.  It's pretty.  It has five ingredients.  It took me five minutes to throw together and then I crawled back in bed for another hour.  Most importantly, the family swooned and devoured it.  I think that means something. I was looking at my sister's Instagram last night and had a deep passion to get a smart phone and an Instagram account. I love nature.  It always makes me feel like worshiping my Creator even more.  Plus, I feel kinda artsy when I notice nature photographed, and possibly, there is a side of me that is a bit earthy.  I like rocks and sticks too.  Hopefully, that is all good and balanced in my worship for the Creator of those things. But anyway, I went to bed and forgot about my desire for the smart phone. Instead, I decided to go on a walk with my parents this afternoon with my Nikon Cool pix S6800.  My pictures aren't edited.  They're kinda raw and ugly if you don't

I can teach new concepts all day long while the kids memorize rules for proper punctuation, verbs, and other parts of speech, but it doesn't mean they really know it.  It is possible to memorize the rules without truly catching their meanings.  For example, I have explained predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives until I am blue in the face and three boys in particular still don't know what they are. I have learned that to follow the rules for not whining or complaining about my life, I need to replace every grumble with two praises.  I know this is true, not only from personal experience, but also from Scripture texts.  Pretty often, the command to not complain is followed with being thankful.  In all things.  That kinda eliminates any excuses. Imagine then, my surprise when out of the blue, I am dropping complaints and whining.  Here's how it happened:  Last week, I asked the trustees of the school to put a blind on my beautiful large classroom window. ( The ki

I was sitting in the hot tub with Bruce the other day.  It was the middle of the day.  It was an afternoon off school.  It was our anniversary.  So, I was sitting there wondering how in the world I was supposed to relax and enjoy relaxing when my brain is still zooming from morning classes, a behavioral issue or two, and the rigmarole of trying to find a sub for the afternoon.  An hour earlier, my husband had picked me up from school in his little white convertible.  We drove home with the top down in a momentary display of sunlight.  For lunch we had steaks off the grill and salad and sparkling juice.  I didn't bother lighting a candle. Mostly, because I forgot. All was well and good in our world. Yet, as I sat trying to relax, I was hankering to go wash something, maybe the floor or the dishes.   I asked God about it as I lay in the bubbles and He gently reminded me of my lack of gratitude.  That is really all it takes for an attitude adjustment.  Realize the disconten

 I hope your Valentines Day was lovely...Around our house Valentines is also when Bruce and I celebrate our anniversary, which is the day after.  Yesterday, I spent time preparing steak for the grill and cheesecake for our desert.  This morning the girls peeled potatoes and then surprised me with setting the table like this...  I was so impressed with their simple classic look.  I thought of the azalea sprig during church.  I must confess.  Have a good week...Think pink thoughts...Love your people... Or something like that...

I don't have any secrets.  I used to but my kids have given them all away.  A friend called last night and I was in the middle of something so I asked my youngest to answer the phone.  I said, "Tell her I'll call her back.  Just say, Mom can't come to the phone right now."  Instead, my darling said, "Mom is coloring her hair and can't use the phone right now."  So busted. This same spokesperson needed to talk to her daddy the other evening.  She just wanted to hear his voice and say goodnight.  I think this is sweet and dial her daddy.  He answers right away and is miraculously not too busy to chat with his baby.  I hear his questions through the phone.  He asked, "What did Mom fix you for supper tonight?"  She says in reply, "Nothing."  He says with slight alarm, "Oh?"  She answers, "Yes, but I fixed my own supper cuz Mom didn't want to, so she let us make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."  Another al

There was a discussion in my classroom the other morning.  The students weren't sure if it was a good thing or not that Pastor Saeed was finally freed.  This was in light of the previous news they had heard regarding Pastor Saeed's wife no longer caring if he was freed or not.   Since I have never been one to be involved in politics or the media, I was quite ready to give my opinion on the matter. Goodness me, out of the blue, I had years of held- back opinions blurting forth!   I used to think as a little girl that I would love to be a journalist who got the story straight.  I would get to the bottom of situations and only report the truth of a situation.  In this way, the world would be rid of half truths and over dramatic scenarios.  I would start a new trend of reporting only truth and all the world could be set free of prejudices, terrorists, and drug dealers.  How that was related, I don't know.  But somehow through peace talks and the smoking of the peace pipe we w

I stumble into the kitchen with the half light of dawn.  The dawn in winter has only enough light to imagine it is truly dawn.  There is that gnawing in the pit of my stomach still, after having a good night of rest and performing all the proper healthy habits of the day before.  How long will I drag along in this sluggishness?  I enjoy my work immensely. There is fulfillment in every aspect. It involves a good and happy husband; normal, functional kids that bicker and love and fight. Sometimes all at the same time. Things couldn't be better. There is the dread of honesty with questions posed: How are you getting through the winter?  Are you fighting depression this year?  Does being busy help?  Well, yes and no.  I would never like to admit to depression.  I guess you could call it that.  Mostly, I think it is lack of sunshine.  And yes, I would say I am getting through just fine. Everyone does eventually and yes, being busy helps.  In a weird way it does. It's hard to e