Spring is a fresh start. In the spirit of spring I am renewing my blog! I've renamed it and given in a new look. The name "Burst with Song" comes from Psalm 30:10-12
"You did it: you changed wild lament into whirling dance; You ripped off my black mourning band and decked me with wildflowers. I'm about to burst with song; I can't keep quiet about you. God, my God, I can't thank you enough." All around me I see His glory and mercy. Especially outdoors!
My decision to start writing again came from me being accepted into the Middle TN Writing Project at MTSU. It is a 2 week intensive that will focus on me as a writer, as a teacher of writing, and as a leader in my school. I am very honored and excited to go! During the interview they asked about my writing habits, and I realized how much I used to write in school. I loved it then, and I missed it. So the old blog has been revitalized!
I have been revitalized, too! My usual distaste for winter was not as strong this year. Partly because we had almost no winter to speak of, and partly because I took up running (jogging). In January my teammate, Kirby, told me she was going to do the Couch to 5K and I decided to join her. The program calls for you to run 3 times a week. So three afternoons a week I was outside. I think just getting outside during winter helped it be more bearable. I felt energized when the cold wind blew through my hair. Just being around the trees and plants and sky cheered me. The running kept me warm despite the numbing cold.
Running was so much better for me mentally than physically (although physically its been great, too). When we started out, I wondered how far I could push myself. At the third week we were asked to run 3 solid minutes. I did not think I could do it. I was very doubtful. I was filling my head with nonsense about being ok with it, that I would just push myself as far as I could go and stop. But my mind was filled with encouragement from God. I remembered the scripture about running the race with endurance and the cloud of witnesses around us. I imagined all the people who I knew that would want me to succeed. I imagined the saints in heaven cheering (and they all look like Ben Austin...). I remembered the song my parents sang in Children's Church "I can do all things, all things, all things. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". I made it through 3 minutes. It seems such a small thing now, but in the moment it was huge. After that, I knew I could do any amount of time I set my mind to. My body would not give up, I just had to keep my mind occupied.
I learned that I can endure much more than I ever thought possible! That realization makes me feel so good and confident. It helps me trust that whatever life brings, God will see me through if I can trust him to help me endure. All that from running around my neighborhood in the cold!
Now the cold is gone (maybe? this week has been so chilly) and it is spring. Only 6 more weeks til school is out! (It seems like only last week it was August and I was just meeting my little darlings.) The flowers are beautiful and the trees are full again. Our neighborhood has attracted more bees that I've ever seen and the pollen has been EVERYWHERE! So much so that I even had terrible allergies for a few weeks. But now things are evened out and its just lovely.
More writing to come soon! Love!
Saturday, April 14
Thursday, May 5
Windows
Moe is having a hard time today. He is facing the challenging concept of windows.
This weekend David and I "cleaned out" kindasorta our "art room". Where David is SUPPOSED to work on art. Its more like a giant closet.. But anyway, we moved some stuff around. Put some artwork in the attic, and moved 2 chairs up here. I am sitting here with the window open enjoying the new view and birds singing.
Moe, however, can just not handle it. He is up in the recliner with me as usual. But now he sees birds and cars and trees and people. He can hear other dogs. He smells a new smell in the air. But he can't be a part of it. He keeps reaching as far as he can and sniffing. He will not stop looking out the window! He is actually standing on my legs to get a better look out the window. He keeps starting to go toward the window, but stops. Too much junk is in the way.
He is very agitated about this. Let's do an experiment. I'll close the window. We'll see if he's still interested. Here goes! ......
Still interested! Even though he can't hear it or smell it anymore, he still sees something out there he wants to get to...
.....2 minutes later... Still looking intently but not lunging towards the window as much anymore.
Hmmm. I feel we must draw some conclusion about life from this interaction. Anyone??
This weekend David and I "cleaned out" kindasorta our "art room". Where David is SUPPOSED to work on art. Its more like a giant closet.. But anyway, we moved some stuff around. Put some artwork in the attic, and moved 2 chairs up here. I am sitting here with the window open enjoying the new view and birds singing.
Moe, however, can just not handle it. He is up in the recliner with me as usual. But now he sees birds and cars and trees and people. He can hear other dogs. He smells a new smell in the air. But he can't be a part of it. He keeps reaching as far as he can and sniffing. He will not stop looking out the window! He is actually standing on my legs to get a better look out the window. He keeps starting to go toward the window, but stops. Too much junk is in the way.
He is very agitated about this. Let's do an experiment. I'll close the window. We'll see if he's still interested. Here goes! ......
Still interested! Even though he can't hear it or smell it anymore, he still sees something out there he wants to get to...
.....2 minutes later... Still looking intently but not lunging towards the window as much anymore.
Hmmm. I feel we must draw some conclusion about life from this interaction. Anyone??
Monday, April 4
RUSH
So last night, we went to see RUSH in concert! It was amazing. Here's why.
1. RUSH fans are very devoted. The arena was SOLD OUT! There were people from all over the place there. And all of them were hardcore. They knew the words to the songs. They could drum the beats. The were wearing RUSH t-shirts. I counted 86 while we waited for our dinner and walked to the arena. Then I stopped counting because once inside the arena, there was no way for me to continue counting.
2. RUSH is a band who enjoy making music together! There are three of them (if you are uninformed. shame on you.) and they have been in the band since high school. Over 30 years of working together and touring. All the original members! How rare is that? They are getting older, but still rock out! AND they have fun! You could tell they enjoyed playing together. It was nice to see.
3. They are ridiculously talented! Alex Lifeson plays main guitar, and WOW. He is absolutely amazing! Geddy Lee, the singer and bassist, sings really high. If you've ever heard him, you'd know it. He was still hitting some high notes last night! I mean, he has had to change some stuff, because he is getting older, but what a strong voice! And then, my favorite, Neil Peart. The best drummer in the world. He is very focused, but also relaxed when he plays. And his drum set is HUGE! It swivels around so he can play even more stuff. He had a 20 minute drum solo covering about 4 different genres of music. AMAZING!
4. Their videos were funny. Not stupid annoying boy humor funny, not gross funny, not provocative funny, just FUNNY! I appreciated them.
It was a great experience. So much fun despite me losing our tickets. Wait, what? You lost the tickets? Of course I did, do you even know me? I lose absolutely everything. Luckily Ticketmaster has a plan for that. Way to go ticketmaster!
Lessons learned: RUSH is the best band ever. Always order tickets to be at will call.
1. RUSH fans are very devoted. The arena was SOLD OUT! There were people from all over the place there. And all of them were hardcore. They knew the words to the songs. They could drum the beats. The were wearing RUSH t-shirts. I counted 86 while we waited for our dinner and walked to the arena. Then I stopped counting because once inside the arena, there was no way for me to continue counting.
2. RUSH is a band who enjoy making music together! There are three of them (if you are uninformed. shame on you.) and they have been in the band since high school. Over 30 years of working together and touring. All the original members! How rare is that? They are getting older, but still rock out! AND they have fun! You could tell they enjoyed playing together. It was nice to see.
3. They are ridiculously talented! Alex Lifeson plays main guitar, and WOW. He is absolutely amazing! Geddy Lee, the singer and bassist, sings really high. If you've ever heard him, you'd know it. He was still hitting some high notes last night! I mean, he has had to change some stuff, because he is getting older, but what a strong voice! And then, my favorite, Neil Peart. The best drummer in the world. He is very focused, but also relaxed when he plays. And his drum set is HUGE! It swivels around so he can play even more stuff. He had a 20 minute drum solo covering about 4 different genres of music. AMAZING!
4. Their videos were funny. Not stupid annoying boy humor funny, not gross funny, not provocative funny, just FUNNY! I appreciated them.
It was a great experience. So much fun despite me losing our tickets. Wait, what? You lost the tickets? Of course I did, do you even know me? I lose absolutely everything. Luckily Ticketmaster has a plan for that. Way to go ticketmaster!
Lessons learned: RUSH is the best band ever. Always order tickets to be at will call.
Sunday, February 13
The Collective Noun for Turkeys is a Gang.
I live in a duplex right in front of some woods. There are many creatures in this wood. We have seen deer, possums, rabbits, and TURKEYS. In fact, the day my parents and I went to look at the house, there was a gang of these turkeys strutting around the parking lots!
If you have never had the pleasure of meeting a wild turkey, here's a peek.
Ok, so we move into the house in June and on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we see a huge gang of turkeys! We counted. 29 big fat gangsta turkeys! Just strutting around like they owned the place. I told them that they needed to hide so they wouldn't be eaten, but they did not care.
Fast forward to the next summer. I am trying to sleep in, because its summer. I have a hard enough time sleeping in as it is. I actually just got up from a nap to type this because once my brain gets going you just can't get it to shut up. So, trying to sleep, and I hear this loud THWACK sound! It sounded like someone was slapping a plastic trash can by my front door. I figured that was unlikely, as I live surrounded by the elderly... So I go downstairs, peek outside, and two turkey gang members are smacking my door with their wings! What did I ever do to them??? I opened the door to look at them, which intimidated my dog, and they strutted away.
This morning, it is beautiful outside! Warmth and sunshine have broken through the persistant winter Narnia-ness that had been hanging over middle Tennessee. So I am taking Moe for a walk and I see something red out of the corner of my eye. I turn and see two turkeys by a neighbor's front door. One turkey is leaning down to look in a window, and the other turkey is guarding the front door! What the what? They are seriously spying on this house. What in the world would cause a turkey to do this? They are gang members, I tell you! So, I continue around a corner, and when we walk back by, there are three of them! In turn, they each raise their wings, as if to give the all clear signal, and strut off together.
These turkeys boggle my mind. The new collective noun for turkeys is a gang.
If you have never had the pleasure of meeting a wild turkey, here's a peek.
Ok, so we move into the house in June and on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we see a huge gang of turkeys! We counted. 29 big fat gangsta turkeys! Just strutting around like they owned the place. I told them that they needed to hide so they wouldn't be eaten, but they did not care.Fast forward to the next summer. I am trying to sleep in, because its summer. I have a hard enough time sleeping in as it is. I actually just got up from a nap to type this because once my brain gets going you just can't get it to shut up. So, trying to sleep, and I hear this loud THWACK sound! It sounded like someone was slapping a plastic trash can by my front door. I figured that was unlikely, as I live surrounded by the elderly... So I go downstairs, peek outside, and two turkey gang members are smacking my door with their wings! What did I ever do to them??? I opened the door to look at them, which intimidated my dog, and they strutted away.
This morning, it is beautiful outside! Warmth and sunshine have broken through the persistant winter Narnia-ness that had been hanging over middle Tennessee. So I am taking Moe for a walk and I see something red out of the corner of my eye. I turn and see two turkeys by a neighbor's front door. One turkey is leaning down to look in a window, and the other turkey is guarding the front door! What the what? They are seriously spying on this house. What in the world would cause a turkey to do this? They are gang members, I tell you! So, I continue around a corner, and when we walk back by, there are three of them! In turn, they each raise their wings, as if to give the all clear signal, and strut off together.
These turkeys boggle my mind. The new collective noun for turkeys is a gang.
Tuesday, January 25
Just some anecdotes
"Mrs. Person, my neck hurts." (she means throat... she tells me this daily.)
"What is a hotdog?"
"You know, a weeeenie. Like a weeenie. With a bun. The bun opens on one side and you put the weeeenie in it!"
"Oh...." (exit Mrs. Person from the room- cracking up)
"knock knock"
"who's there?"
"bat"
"Bat who?"
"bat who! That's right!" (i have no idea why that was funny...)
"Mrs. Person, how's your day been yesterday?" (this child asks me this almost everyday...)
a student was standing at my desk watching me, I turned and asked "What do you need?"
"A hug!!"
"We have pictures! And we are going to put them on our shirts!" (one child's explanation of our self portraits in which we are drawing our heads and torsos, and gluing photos on the shirt part...)
"Valentimes" (all of my kids during our Valentines' Day program practice)
child: "The art teacher's going to get pregnant!"
me: "I think you mean she IS pregnant and is GOING to have a baby... "
"You know Jesus? He looks into our hearts. He lives in the sky and he can see us. And sometimes he eats grass."
"He eats grass? Why?"
"I don't know, we haven't gotten to that part of the book yet."
Just wanted to remember why I love my job. My kids are the best!!
"What is a hotdog?"
"You know, a weeeenie. Like a weeenie. With a bun. The bun opens on one side and you put the weeeenie in it!"
"Oh...." (exit Mrs. Person from the room- cracking up)
"knock knock"
"who's there?"
"bat"
"Bat who?"
"bat who! That's right!" (i have no idea why that was funny...)
"Mrs. Person, how's your day been yesterday?" (this child asks me this almost everyday...)
a student was standing at my desk watching me, I turned and asked "What do you need?"
"A hug!!"
"We have pictures! And we are going to put them on our shirts!" (one child's explanation of our self portraits in which we are drawing our heads and torsos, and gluing photos on the shirt part...)
"Valentimes" (all of my kids during our Valentines' Day program practice)
child: "The art teacher's going to get pregnant!"
me: "I think you mean she IS pregnant and is GOING to have a baby... "
"You know Jesus? He looks into our hearts. He lives in the sky and he can see us. And sometimes he eats grass."
"He eats grass? Why?"
"I don't know, we haven't gotten to that part of the book yet."
Just wanted to remember why I love my job. My kids are the best!!
Thursday, December 16
Pedro the Lion speaks
Love this song. Praying that I can act it out daily. My armor and fight sure isn't getting me anywhere...
The sun shines
And leaves blow
And my hope like autumn is turning brown
I know it seems like I'm always falling down
But it does not matter to me
Although it seems like it should
It's because I know I'm understood when I hear Him say
"Rest in me little David
And dry all your tears
You can lay down your armor
And have no fear
Cause I'm always here
When you're tired of running
And I'm all the strength that you need"
It's uphill both ways
Tomorrow I swear I won't act this way
And I know it seems like that is what I always say
But it does not matter to me
Although it seems like it should
It's because I know I'm understood when I hear Him say
"Rest in me little David
And dry all your tears
You can lay down your armor
And have no fear
Cause I'm always here
When you're tired of running
And I'm all the strength that you need"
You know I want to be like Jesus
But it seems so very far away
When will I learn to obey?
Obey...
The sun shines
And leaves blow
And my hope like autumn is turning brown
I know it seems like I'm always falling down
But it does not matter to me
Although it seems like it should
It's because I know I'm understood when I hear Him say
"Rest in me little David
And dry all your tears
You can lay down your armor
And have no fear
Cause I'm always here
When you're tired of running
And I'm all the strength that you need"
It's uphill both ways
Tomorrow I swear I won't act this way
And I know it seems like that is what I always say
But it does not matter to me
Although it seems like it should
It's because I know I'm understood when I hear Him say
"Rest in me little David
And dry all your tears
You can lay down your armor
And have no fear
Cause I'm always here
When you're tired of running
And I'm all the strength that you need"
You know I want to be like Jesus
But it seems so very far away
When will I learn to obey?
Obey...
Monday, December 13
Oh the weather outside is frightful
A hoodie and blanket are so delightful....
I just watched Julie and Julia. It was a lovely film. It reminded me that I have not written in such a long time! But, alas... I don't have any issues pressing on my brain enough to write.
I'm off for a snow day today. I love watching the snow fall, as everyone else does. However, I hate snow, because it is cold. I would be perfectly content to never see snow again.
I am considering a venture based on the Julie/Julia project. I may begin a Jillian/Lauren project. This would entail me doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout for 30 days straight. I really do want to do that... I started a few weeks ago and then got sick on day 2 and had to stay in bed all day. However, I am considering trying it again.
Christmas break would be the perfect time to do this for 2 reasons. Number 1- I have more time on my hands. Number 2- It will help me not gain 5 pounds over Christmas!! Here are some concerns I have- vacation. We are having our own Christmas Vacation, am I required to workout then? Would a 3 day rest invalidate my work? Lastly, I like to work out with other people. If someone joined me on this journey, I am 99% sure I would complete it. Volunteers??
I just watched Julie and Julia. It was a lovely film. It reminded me that I have not written in such a long time! But, alas... I don't have any issues pressing on my brain enough to write.
I'm off for a snow day today. I love watching the snow fall, as everyone else does. However, I hate snow, because it is cold. I would be perfectly content to never see snow again.
I am considering a venture based on the Julie/Julia project. I may begin a Jillian/Lauren project. This would entail me doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout for 30 days straight. I really do want to do that... I started a few weeks ago and then got sick on day 2 and had to stay in bed all day. However, I am considering trying it again.
Christmas break would be the perfect time to do this for 2 reasons. Number 1- I have more time on my hands. Number 2- It will help me not gain 5 pounds over Christmas!! Here are some concerns I have- vacation. We are having our own Christmas Vacation, am I required to workout then? Would a 3 day rest invalidate my work? Lastly, I like to work out with other people. If someone joined me on this journey, I am 99% sure I would complete it. Volunteers??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
