snacks and gas

one of my responsibilities as a title 1 aide is to read or listen to ISTEP tests. wow. all i can say is wow. oh, and apparently the snacks make it all worthwhile, or at least bearable.

i have two humorous bits to share with you.

student: i really hate these tests. i don't like doing them. i want to get done and go to the computer lab. can i go to the lab now?

me: i am sorry you hate the istep (in my head i say that i hate istep as well) no you may not go to the computer lab now. we can, however take a break. would you like a snack break?

student: yes. i guess i'm just here for the snacks.

me: well, ok, then. let's eat.

2. let me preface this by saying that i have a horrible sinus infection right now and am MISERABLE with a capital M. i can't take penicillin or any of his friends, so i go straight for things like keflex and zpac. heavy duty. hard on the intestines if you know what i mean. ick.

my stomach: gurgle, gurgle, pop

student: wow

me: sorry, i'm taking some nasty medicine right now, but don't worry, all the air bubbles are staying inside my stomach. (i hope)

student: oh, well, that's ok mrs. solms... my dog does that too.

me: oh, really?

student: yes! when my doggie lays down at night and puts her belly up in the air, she makes those same sounds.

me: alrighty then. let's keep working.

snacks. gas. istep. i think they go well together, don't you?

rabbit trails, thankfulness

coffee and custard

as i was browsing through my pics on the cell phone, i happened upon some shots of a great semi-local custard/coffee joint. the name is Payne's Custard. but baby, it is SO MUCH MORE!

they have fresh roasted beans, made from scratch custard. great soups served with crusty bread, or in a bread bowl. once i had soup there, and ordered crusty bread on the side; they waitress apologized for serving me such a large hunk of bread. there is no such thing as too much crusty bread with a soup, am i right?

my friend jaime and i met up there for our mini christmas gift exchange. in february. late february. we may be a bit over committed, preoccupied, or just plain bad friends to each other.

before i got around to posting about our wonderful excursion, life got in the way.

kids, work, homework, church, well just stuff.

i have been thinking about the importance of embracing the wonderful, positive, meaningful moments that God has given me. meals shared with friends, unexpected kid-free hours on a saturday morning (time alone with the husband). lately i have allowed the sad parts of my life to cloud my thoughts. too much boohoo time makes layla a cranky lady!

other photos/reminders i found in my pics on the phone...

great sweet treats consumed in lousville with my husband

happy kids

kids with friends

meals with friends

how can we appreciate the fun, shining moments without the willingness to accept, even embrace the bad times? just a little lesson in the art of comparison.

i challenge you to make a list of at least 5 things for which you are thankful

you may find your list grows beyond 10 or 20. i would love to hear from you, and see your lists!

here is my mini-list

husband he is my best friend

children they challenge me every day to be a better mom, and i love watching them grow

car (old honda) to drive

job

four walls and a roof over our heads

growing friendships

struggling friendships-- to remind me that i'm not perfect, and i need to keep learning/growing

(maybe the struggling friendships are the real "growing" ones)

leave a comment to tell me what you are thankful for and why. it can be an encouragement to us all :)

happy belated april fools' day

i still want my elephant!

i'm not really trying to extend the 1st of april, just do a bit of a rewind and remember. i am amused by younger kids who don't get the joke of april 1st, and love to see their reactions when you explain to them, that they really DO need to come to school on the 2nd. hey, i didn't write that joke, our school news team did that.

anyhoo

all during the day on april 1st i heard funny little stories of kids and their jokes to each other. some students even fooled teachers saying "miss ______ your shoe is untied" well, miss _______ was wearing slip-on shoes; but i digress

my april fool story centers on me at age 5, and my grandpa oscar. when i was little i lived with grandpa oscar and grandma lorene. (you almost never hear those names anymore--well, oscar for the award, but anyway...)

grandma lorene went to work early everyday so grandpa oscar got me ready for school and gave me breakfast. he would wake me up when he was dressed and ready (we only had 1 bathroom). grandpa woke me with a startled voice calling from across the house, "layla, there is an elephant running around in the front yard! go look!" i hopped out of my bed quick as a lark, and scurried down the hallway to the den. "where grandpa? where is the elephant?"

grandpa: oh, darn he must have gone around to the backyard, go to the kitchen window

me: ok i'm running. grandpa! i can't see him! where did the elephant go?

i really don't quite remember how the rest of this charade went down, but it wasn't pretty. i was honked that we did not have an elephant in the yard, and i am sure i probably cried. my grandpa had the patience of a saint. he explained the idea of april fools' day and that people like to tease each other for fun. this is the same man who took the time and energy to explain the sunday comics to me. how do you explain comic strips? explaining jokes really must have taken the humor out of "beetle bailey" and "wizard of id" (are those still in print?), but my grandpa wanted me to enjoy comics so he made the effort.

the elephant in the yard was a pretty darn good joke, and makes a great story even 30 years later.

sometimes

sometimes i wish i had the drive to run a marathon

sometimes it would be nice to run a complete mile without my shins screaming in agony

sometimes i wish i could meet emily dickinson

i would put on a white dress, go barefoot, and put my hair in a bun

i would bring along a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils and share them with her

sometimes i dream of having a smoke with c.s. lewis

though eavesdropping on him would suffice

sometimes i wish we lived out in the middle of nowhere

sometimes it would be nice to live in the middle of the windy city

sometimes i am happy to live in our little yellow house on east 3rd

sometimes i wish i had more friends

or that i treated my few friends better

sometimes i dream about cooking a gourmet meal (cruelty free, whine free, and healthy)

sometimes it would be nice if i cleaned up after the meals i do cook

sometimes i wish my grandma and grandpa were still here

mostly i am glad they are no longer suffering

what are you eating? from where did it come?

did you know that fish (tilapia and salmon) eat corn? i just learned that this morning. yuck. the farmers have found a way to encourage salmon to grow teeth so they can eat sweet corn.

NO? you don't believe me? well. ok. the fish do eat corn. really. just without teeth. and probably without butter and salt.

good thing i have a carton of Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt in my fridge, or i might be going hungry for lunch.

a pretty cool life.: Festive Valentine bunting and a crash course on bias tape

a pretty cool life.: Festive Valentine bunting and a crash course on bias tape

GO TO THIS BLOG. FIRST GET MUG OF COFFEE OR TEA. BROWSE AND ENJOY.

where are the photos?

I lurk on some people's blogs just for the eye-candy. Glorious photography skills can suck me in for hours.

I pine for delicious photos. I long for a fabulous camera. I also want a lot of other junk. Perhaps I should have given up "wanting" things for Lent. forever.

polka-dot pj pants

pink rubber rain boots

floaty-flirty skirts in 6 shades of cocoa

moleskine books for every topic and whim

bistro chalk markers

perfect blonde hair

a never-diminishing amazon.com giftcard

and maybe also a card for jcrew, gap, anthropologie, and crate&barrel

I digress.

oooh, and a spring trenchcoat, hip-length. khaki. size M.

ok, there.

a camera. i don't know which one i want/need, except that it must be fast. you know, so i don't keep missing action shots of my kids flinging pillows and such around the house.

a camera that doesn't take 67 minutes to focus.

and while we are wishing, maybe a printer with plenty of ink and paper would be a good idea.

so, until the perfect camera finds its way to my grubby mitts, i'll be pirating photos from google or uploading shots from my phone.