This and That

Danielle has become friends with a little girl in her class who lives with her grandma. She wants to have the girl over to play, so we were discussing her at dinner tonight. I've met this girl but Ron hasn't, so Danielle was trying to fill him in a little. Ron asked why the girl (and all her siblings) live with Grandma. Danielle said, "Well, her parents got divorced and her dad decided he didn't like her anymore and her mom left. They visit her on holidays." I'm sure Danielle was just repeating what this girl has told her. How heartbreaking for an 8/9 year old to be abandoned by the two people who should love you the most! How wonderful Grandma was there to step in and fill the gap as best she can. As Ron looked across the table at his little blonde daddy's girl, he couldn't help but tear up. What kind of "father" allows his 8 year old daughter to think he dislikes her? He should be her hero, her cheerleader, and her security. People - even children - carry so much "baggage". I am amazed at some of the stories I hear at the jr. high. The stories make me wonder how some kids can be so shockingly "normal" when they have so much going on at home, and sometimes it puts the behavior of those kids who are not quite "normal" in perspective. My goal at work for this school year was to be more mindful of the situations some of these kids are going through, and to be the smile they may need in the middle of their day. This was a good reminder for me.


I have been consumed with finding a place to vacation this summer. It was 7 degrees this morning. With the wind chill, the temperature was -13. There's not even any snow to enjoy (assuming it would warm up a little.) Once Christmas is over, I'm ready for summer - no school, sleeping in, playing outside, riding bikes with friends, and making happy summer memories. With 4 months of school left, I have awhile to wait. So, looking ahead to summer vacation makes it a little easier. We gave the kids the option of going to Disney next month or taking a beach vacation this summer. Thankfully they opted for a beach vacation. We've decided to do something a little different, though. We are going to combine the woods, mountains, and wildlife we love in a Smoky Mountains vacation with the ocean we love in a beach vacation and have decided to go to Maine. We found a beautiful house nestled in the woods along the shore in a cove. We are going to enjoy the national park, go whale watching, visit the beach, and explore tidepools. It's a little daunting to plan a visit to somewhere you've never been, but I trust everything will work out. I don't remember ever having a family vacation that we didn't all enjoy. I am really looking forward to it.



Last week one of my FB friends commented on someone's picture. Since you can see basically everything anyone else likes or comments on, even if you're not the other person's "friend", her comment on this picture showed up on my news feed. It was a picture of 2 kids with an ear of corn - popcorn. I had no idea you could buy popcorn that would pop while on the cob! How cool. I stopped to get some at the local market that carries them, but they were sold out. (Probably half the town could see this picture, and they all had the same idea!) I was told it would be at least 2 weeks before they had more, so I turned to the internet. I found some online and ordered a box. It was not that much more than you would pay for decent popcorn, free shipping, no tax, and it arrived at my doorstep. (I love Amazon prime!) We made an ear tonight. I was hoping more of the corn would actually stay on the ear, but it was still pretty cool. Ron and Danielle, our popcorn lovers, didn't have time to add butter or salt before basketball practice tonight, but they said it was excellent popcorn. They are looking forward to movie night on Friday so they can enjoy a couple more ears of popcorn on the cob.