Charm and Grace

I finally put my finger on it.  It was grief.  I am emerging from an eleven-month period of feeling acute loss.  Tears would well up at any time.  Driving in the car on the way to work was Prime Time for tears. I figured it out two weeks ago.  I can name the day when it started, and I can now give it a voice. I am fifty-nine years old and I have eight grandchildren.  This is amazing to me. My four children are essential to me.  I grew up with them, tried not to break them, and now they are my friends. I lean on them, and remarkably to me, they occasionally lean on me. While it may not be strictly accurate, there seems to have been one or two grandchildren per year for about six years. They run the painter’s pallet from blonde with bright blue eyes, light brown locks and soft brown eyes, black hair with gray-green eyes, and most recently, strikingly red hair with Texas blue bonnet eyes.  While my children are the air that I breathe, my grandch...

The Produce Patch 4363 Thompson Mill Rd. Buford, GA. 30519 Cameron Oliver & His Mom, Lynne The Produce Patch is another great reason to live in Buford, Georgia.  Their produce shop is located at the corner of North Bogan Rd. & Thompson Mill Rd.  They sell fresh, local produce, canned goods and local honey. Lynne is a beautiful and gracious lady.  Her son Cameron will help you select the best produce.  I picked up a bag of South Carolina peaches today. Here's Lynne's email:  the producepatch@yahoo.com ; They have a Facebook page you can like: Facebook@theproducepatch Lynne Oliver, The Tomato Lady,  770-912-8547 The artwork got my attention first. A family member, Terry Sandstrom is a professional artist that works on movie studio sets.  I'm a fan!!!

http://www.patconroy.com/the-death-of-santini.php I read the book in 3 days.  I woke up at 2 AM to read the book, went back to sleep, and finished it this morning.  It's great to be on Christmas break! This book is about so much more than Pat's dad, The Great Santini, a distinguished Marine fighter pilot, so well described in his book by that title.  We meet Pat's mother, father siblings, grandmother, grandfather, and others that have touched his life. He writes about the filming of The Great Santini, and how the book and movie heal his family over time. It is a story of mostly forgiveness that I can relate to in this time of my life. Incidently, I discovered that Pat's ancestors come from Sand Mountain in Alabama. I claim the same ancestral locale in Northern Alabama. My Dad has told me many stories of the place so that I understand the poverty that drove his grandmother to flee to Atlanta. I can tell you that this books makes me want to go back and reread Prin...

Little did I realize that the rose that Lauren Ann and I planted together when she was still in high school would be a gift that would be returned to me each year. This is a shot taken from the garage window. I noticed the roses blooming when I pulled into the garage and stepped out of my car.  Memories as fresh as the blooms drew me to my daughter and I sent the photo to her by email saying "I miss you."  Her response, "Just a reminder of how much I love you."

Loves remotes...just like a man! and trains... but, who wouldn't love this train??? The hair cover was almost a deal breaker for Ellie. Lovin' this cow milking thing! Poppy loves it too! Two maids a milking Followed by ice cream

started with my Mom. She held the coordinating shoes and handbag rule as one to never be broken. She made sure that my Easter dress, bonnet, patent leather Red Goose shoes, and patent leather handbag were a coordinated ensemble.  Red Goose Shoes (Not all Red Goose shoes were red. Mine were always white or black.) I enthusiastically adopted my mother's philosophy when in high school. My Christmas wish when in the ninth grade was for a brown leather John Romaine, single strap satchel bag. That bag was followed by a Aigner fish basket shaped bag with leather straps. I actually found the exact bag on a vintage bag website. Now I wish I had kept it! http://www.etsy.com/listing/99936849/vintage-aigner-woven-nantucket-fishing?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_includes%5B%5D=tags&ga_search_query=fishing+basket+purse&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

These flowers were a gift from my Joyce Crank, my visiting teacher.  I noticed that the light was just right at my kitchen window...

Homecoming Summer 2012

 http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Carpets-Giant-Road-Carpet/dp/B00001P4YD  I had a dream about a play quilt sort of like this one. The quilt in my dream had roads with boulders, houses & trees along the side of the road. In the first part of the dream my view was at the floor level so that I could see the topography of the 3-D play mat. The boulders were large enough to obstruct the complete view of the mat. I could however move the boulders. That fact surprised me because the boulders looked too big to be moved. I was allowed to stand up and look down upon the boulders to see that they were really just large rocks. Upon lifting one of the rocks, I had the thought, "The world is as big or as small as you decide to make it". I think this observation applies equally to problems, as well as opportunities. We can choose our point of view of any boulder. We can magnify it, or shrink it. And, the size of our influence can be diminished or enlarged by our point of view...

I've been working on my "To-Do" List. This is a list that is difficult to work on during the school year. It's only Wednesday and I've: Bought a new desk, put the desk together, organized my new desk, transferred 10 boxes of Physics files home, sorted through them & kept one copy of the best stuff & refiled it into my new 4-drawer filing cabinet at home. Began working on lesson plans for the Fall. Shampooed the den carpet. Put up new drapery rods in the den, washed the drapes & rehung them. Tried a new dinner roll recipe that turned out to be Fabulous!!!!  & all this, just to avoid going to the gym . The recipe: 3-2/3 Cups  King Arthur All-purpose flour 3t                 Instant Yeast 1/3- Cup     Granulated Sugar 1t                 Salt 1-Cup   ...

If I were an angel I would: Visit every member of my family daily and help them do whatever they needed help with. Remind each member of my family how great I think they are. Remind each member of my family of how much they are loved. Show each member of my family how to get through their most difficult trials. Participate in what ever missionary effort they've got going on; Maybe I could be a temple angel. Help at least one stranger per day, like the "Touched by an Angel" TV show. but alas, I'm not an angel either. So I can: Let every member of my family know that I think you are wonderful! Let you know that I pray for each of you by name every day. Listen to you if you ever want to talk about ANYTHING. Stay in touch with you through Facebook, Skype, telephone & email. Let you know that I long to hug you & pat you on the head! Let you know that you are loved by God. Be kind, loving and patient to my teenage students & perhaps let them kn...

Friday was a long day, at the end of a long week.  I had 6:45 AM duty. My students took a quiz about Spherical Mirrors after a short review session.  I got all the quizzes graded, graded all the miscellaneous make-up work, typed in all the grades & posted the grade report on IGPro.  I had an after-school parent conference with a sweet girl and her lovely family and returned a parent call to the Mom of a struggling student at 5 PM, and then left the building for home.  We have a four-day week next week, followed by Spring Break.  I worked in the building past 5 PM three out of four days last week. Next year the teachers at our school will have an increased number of students, or an increase in the number of classes that we teach, or both.  We will continue to have furlough days next year.  I'm thinking about ways to make my work easier.  I think writing about it will help me. 

That's a quote from our Ellie dear as she peeled back the wrapping paper covering her new wooden blocks. Here's some photos:

Conference was great today!  John & I always pray daily, morning & night for each of our children and grandchildren.  I going to begin to ask daily about what I can do to be of help to each of my children and grandchildren. I was prompted during the talks to check the Church Distribution website for gospel books for my grandchildren to keep at the house.  I'll look for Family Home Evening resources to give as gifts to each of my children. I'm going to be more diligent about praying for my students. I may be the only "Mormon" they know. What kind of example am I????  I'm going to be kinder. I'm going to reach out to them individually before the end of the semester & let them know that they are of great worth.  I'm going to pray for more missionary experiences.  John placed 15 Books of Mormon when visiting a friend's Sunday School class.  It was wonderful to watch him teach.  We've been invited back to share more about our fai...

Bogan Aquatic Park is a nearby indoor pool with slides, waterworks, and a lazy river. This will be a family favorite location for years to come. It's perfect family fun and the ideal spot for relief from winter weather.  Too young for the swimming pool   Grammie & Jonathan, and Bradie & Ellie  Splish Splash! Bear & Jonathan, and Grammie & Ellie on the Lazy River Grinning for Mommy! Followed by ice cream at the Dairy Queen...what a great day!   

Several weeks ago, the first cold day of the season, I mentioned to my students how a cup of hot chocolate & a fresh doughnut would hit the spot. An idea was born, and volunteers from each period organized the "event".  I made hot chocolate all day & students supplied the eats. One of my first period girls brought in a toaster & some toaster waffles with all the fixings. Lovely! A good time was had by all.  I had my picture taken but didn't take any, too busy making hot chocolate. Oh well, next year.  This was such a hit, I think I'll do this again, different menu, right before Spring Break.

My friend Connie was waiting for me when I got home from work. (How did she know that it was a discouraging day???) A lovely Pumpkin Spice scented candle was waiting for me in a beautiful gift bag with cheerful paper. (How did she know I adore Pumpkin Spice????)  Obviously, Connie has connections!!!

MACS 1206 lies 4.5 billion light-years from Earth Each of the "lights" is a separate galaxy, like unto our Milky Way. Moses 1: 8 " And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world thereof and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered." Moses 1: 33  "And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. Verse 35 "But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them. I read a story in the Ensign about a returned missionary that became inactive in the gospel because he on...

My 55th birthday was a quiet day. I picked up a letter from Miles at the post office. He had no way of knowing that earlier that morning I had been cleaning up in the kitchen and wondering if my children remembered me playing with them or reading to them.  In his letter he listed several memories of things from his childhood that brought him happiness. The gift of remembering is a great gift to a parent. Thank you Miles for the very sweet gift. I will always treasure the letter. I opened and read the letter while in the post office. I pondered how I might save it so that it will never be lost.  I need to work on how to save my most precious possessions. I'm still considering how this might be done, and I don't have the answer just yet. I got phone calls from everyone. Ann and David are in Virginia, while John is in China. John & I "skyped" tonight. They are all happy and healthy. I thank God for the technology that makes it possible for familie...