Hodgepodge: Reminiscing and Romance

1. What is something you are loving right now?

My daughter's excitement over getting hired to teach first grade full time. She will be starting this Friday. What a blessing to land a position literally a month after her graduation ceremony! The school is exactly the kind she's been praying for (an economically-challenged, low-performing school where kids seem to need extra TLC). But oh, boy, she's got a learn to learn! She will have 32 students and has to learn all their names, which isn't easy, considering some of the names sound like what you hear when you drop a handful of silverware on a tile floor.

She has been "teaching" since she was a little girl. (Here's a picture of her with her great-grandpa when she was five months old.) I remember how, at the tender age of five, she used to line up her stuffed animals and dolls on her bed and situate them attentively against the wall. Each one would get an imaginary pencil in their paw or hand. I'd eavesdrop outside Sarah's door and hear things like, "Mandy, are you yistenin' ta me? Sit up stwaight. Bobby, are you payin' tension ta me? Diss is not pway time, it's cwass time." (Her older brother used to say, "Mommy, she's not teaching. She's bossing!")




2. Paris, Venice, New York, and Rome are considered four of the most romantic cities in the world. Which one would you most like to visit?

Talk about a hard question to answer! The French Impressionist, French-speaking dreamer in me would love to see Paris. However, I have not given up on my my greatest travel dream which is to see Italy with my husband, and when we do (I'm not even letting myself say "if" but "when" ) we will include both Venice and Rome. If I had to choose, that would be hard. The romantic artist and historian in me wants to see Rome, but the artist and lover in me says Venice. Pressed for just one, I guess it'd be Venice. When we return, I will be sure to blog ad nauseum about our "Rome antics" and "Venice vistas."

















3. Are you a romantic?

Absolutely! Such a romantic that I gave birth to my last child on Valentine's Day. I didn't choose the day; I had to be induced because he was over 9 pounds at 38 weeks, and the only time slot open in Labor & Delivery for me was February 14th. That ended up being wonderful, because Valentine's Day had become my favorite holiday over the years, thanks to my daddy, Lyle. He has always honored my mom and us girls every year with chocolate and heartfelt cards. We would wake up and find those things at the breakfast table, and then as adults await his gift in person at the door or in the mail, depending on where we lived.

I always felt I couldn't thank him enough. I knew I was going to name our last son after him but the bonus of having that baby on Valentine's Day allowed me to place Joel Lyle into my father's open and eager arms. "Here, Daddy. A Valentine with your name on it." If my dad was a balloon he would've burst from joy at that moment.


4. What's your favorite love story made for the Big Screen?

"The Notebook" ranks up there because it pictures the love of a man for his wife
who has been stricken with Alzheimer's. He is loyal, patient, and kind long after she has forgotten him or their story. It reminds me of my grandparents when they lived across the hall from each other in the nursing home. Grandpa would say, "Kathryn, here are our grandchildren. They've come for a visit. You remember Rachel?" Grandma would smile and stare blankly at my older sister and ask, "Who do you belong to?" And my sister would say, "Your son, Lyle." No recollection in her face whatsoever. Grandpa would touch Grandma's arm and say, "Lyle's family used to live in Alden when he was a minister, you remember?" And she'd say, "Lyle was a MINISTER?" Oh, the heartbreak. I remembered the days when she'd go on and on about how she loved having a son in ministry. Ironically, she remembered me, and how we used to play with baby dolls in the metal camper behind their house. I think it must be because Grandma and I were like two children playing together, and she remembered childhood things, but the fact is I was nine and she was about 59 when we played together.

5. Everyone loves Pooh bear and friends...which character are you most like and why? Click here for help in answering this question.

Kanga. According to the quiz results, I am "warm and loving and great with children. But kids know not to misbehave around me or I'll put them in time out." Hmm, see answer # 1 for someone who might be Kanga, Jr !

6. What's the best chocolate something you've ever eaten?

Triple Chocolate Layer cake made by my friend Sharon. It is a chocolate cake with chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, and chocolate frosting. Technically that's a quadruple chocolate cake, right? You serve it warm and the chocolate is like sweet lava in your mouth. I think I could eat it for lunch right now.

7. Share a favorite quote about love.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That's exactly what Jesus did. He did the ultimate laying down of his life after 33 years of dying to himself day in and day out.

To me, it's easy to think of jumping in front of a Mack truck or a bullet to save my husband's or child's life, because "perfect love casts out all fear" and I wouldn't stop to think about myself. I'd just do it with everything in me, out of love. But to lay down my life in small ways every day by choice has been quite the test of love, and often I've failed. Yet they still love me after decades of failures and maybe a few successes? And vice versa.

8. Insert a random thought here.

A couple weeks ago I posted the "dream dress" my girl steered me to, as she was squelching major guffaws all the way to the rack. (We were at this bridal shop in NJ for my future DIL's dress fitting.) This "dream dress was ugggggggleeeeee!"




















But I failed to show you the really, truly dreamy-romantic dress that my daughter would love to wear someday. It's one I would wear if I had it to do over. (Click to see details. This one is stunning!)

I can't wait to get a new battery for my Nikon so I can get back to taking pictures with good lighting and better resolution than my easy-peasy purse camera. Nonetheless, this dress is a work of art, and merited a picture of any quality.

Hands of God, Michelangelo, and Half-Grown Kids

A couple of weeks ago I assigned a drawing project of the human hand. Students (all 5th and 6th graders) had to draw their non-drawing hand as it rested on the table with the index finger touching the thumb. For all of them it was a first experience at hand drawing, and super challenging.

Drawing hands is advanced work, but we were studying Renaissance artist Michelangelo who considered himself primarily a sculptor, not a painter. He is arguably the greatest sculptor of all time. (Think "David.")

Yes, he was the mastermind and master artist who painted the Sistine Chapel in Rome, but he only consented to doing the job because Pope Julius II asked him to, and well...you just don't say no to the Pope.





Can I get an "Amen" if you're glad that Michelangelo said a subordinate "yes" to this rhetorical request?

I try to throw in tidbits of trivia as I teach, and often it's of the culinary sort because I'm often hungry as I work off calories handing out art supplies. Did you know that Michelangelo hailed from Caprese, Italy? I asked them. No, they didn't. Well, have you ever heard of a caprese salad? No, they hadn't, so I told them it has the three colors of the Italian flag--tomato, basil, and mozzarella. Jot that down in your memory, I say; you never know when you might need it to answer a final Jeopardy question.

Moving on to the real reason we gather every Thursday, which would be to learn the grammar of art, as my principal says...

I was impressed with my students' tenacity, as well as the results by these novices, but in fairness did not grade this piece. After all, the first time I drew a hand (maybe three years ago?) I would have received a citation from the Art Police, not an A, B, or C.


The main thing I want to impart to my students whether in art, history, geography, or English, is the greatness of God. (I am so thankful to have the privilege of teaching in Christian schools and homeschool co-ops in which I can speak freely of His greatness.) In this particular lesson, students learned to appreciate God's creative design of the human hand by looking at it in detail--its creases, knuckles, curves, texture, nails--as well as how difficult it is to replicate the hand using a pencil, paper, and forty minutes on the clock.

(They also learned that their teacher's hands include age spots, wrinkles, and more fatty tissue, but they graciously didn't point those things out. I did it for them.)

Naturally, I couldn't resist being corny as they finished their drawings. "Give yourselves a hand. You did a great job today."

The corn is what keeps them coming back. I'm sure of it.

22 Words

Inspired by a blog called 22 Words, by Abraham Piper....



Last minute invitation to a marriage seminar this weekend fills me with hope, gratitude, and giddy excitement even after our silver anniversary.

Hodgepodge: Love, Pain, and Head-banging

On the first day of February, my true love gave to me ... nothing.

But Joyce gave me (and a few hundred of my closest cyber friends) a new batch of Hodgepodge questions to ponder and answer.

1. It's that most wonderful time of the year...tax season! Do you complete your own returns or farm that job out to the professionals?

Well, I don't personally do them, but my hubby does. Doing taxes involves math, to which I'm allergic. But my pentagenarian man is really good with all things financial, and I trust him implicitly. (He's kind of my personal Dave Ramsey, sans facial hair and southern accent and maybe a few million bucks.) With regard to taxes, the only things I do are:
1) itemize the things that I put out for the charity trucks
2) file the tax-related mail that comes in this time of year
3) sign on the bottom line when he has done the hard part, and about six weeks later,
4) spend whatever I can get my grubby little hands on.

One of these years we might farm out the job of doing taxes, but it would be to our son the accountant, and he owes us a lifetime of pro bono work. Not that I'm keeping track or anything.

2. This next question comes from Kansas Bob...he posed it in his response to something I asked in an earlier Wednesday post and I asked him if I could add it to the Hodgepodge some day. Today's the day....

Which do you think has changed you more-love or pain?

Great question. Some of the world's best minds come from Kansas, or spent time there, did they not?

I'm glad we get these questions a day early so that I have time to ruminate, or I might I have to give a Miss America answer that always begins with, "I think that...."

Love has been most effectively shown to me when I'm being a pain! That is, the people who have loved me in spite of my egregious sin (Jesus, parents, husband, children, close friends) have proven that love lasts and is real. I've been changed by pain, certainly, but to a lesser degree than by love. (For example, I don't cry as much as I used to, and I think that's because I've grown callous as a way of blocking pain in certain relationships. I have become more understanding of people who suffer with chronic pain, loneliness, isolation, depression, fear, and longing for death as a result of some of the things I've suffered in my life. But I have also been more aware of the precious love and power of the Lord and His presence and the joys awaiting me in heaven when I change perspectives (usually with the help of others who get in the trenches and love me through the tumult and ugliness). Love goes deeper and wider and higher than any pain ever has.

Now I have this cheesy Andy Gibb song going through my head: "Love is higher than a mountain, love is thicker than water."

Moving right along...

3. Tangerine Tango has been named color of the year for 2012. Your thoughts? Would I find this color anywhere in your house? How about in your closet? If not, will you be adding this color to your life in some way in 2012? If you're not sure what tangerine tango looks like click here.

Okay, I have to admit to a midlife moment. When I read "Would I find this color anywhere in your house? How about in your closet?" I was thinking, "Umm, no, I didn't paint my closet that color."

That color is cool and fresh, and I have seen it liven up kitchens and bathrooms, but if I were to wear it, I'm fairly certain I'd resemble a tangerine on steroids, which has never been my best look.

My closet is beige, by the way .My wardrobe, on the other hand, is full of autumn colors, not fruity summer ones.

4. Are you a collector? What do you collect and does it get admired, used, and/or dusted regularly?

I have one main collection-- treasures from around the world. They don't get used or dusted regularly, nor admired except by me when I dust. Or maybe by first-time visitors, but only if those visitors initiate conversation about them. I don't pipe up and say, "Hey, wanna see my collection of treasures from around the world?"

( True story: When we were a young and poor married couple, we were invited into the home of a couple a smidge older who were making six figures and whose idea of hospitality was having folks over for dinner and then taking them on an unsolicited tour of their spacious home where they pointed out every luxury we could only dream about/covet. Oh, yes, nice...your jacuzzi in the basement, adjacent to your complete home gym, gun collection, theatre, ...and oh, what's this outside your waterfront property? A crab house with guest quarters sitting in front of your boat slip? I determined then and I there I never wanted to be a hostess-turned-tour-guide. It pretty much filled me with such envy I could hardly eat dinner, which of course was a six-course feast served on fine china. From China, not Goodwill.

Boy, that was a long description of someone else's collection, huh?

I have another, smaller collection, to which I've put a halt. That collection is white ceramic pitchers, and I choose from among them to use as a flower vase whenever I get a bouquet, so the answer to "used frequently?" would be "not frequently enough!"

5. February is National Heart Month...besides a green salad, what is one tasty heart healthy dish you like to prepare?

Baked Apple Oatmeal, a recipe from my friend Briana. It would be more heart healthy if I wouldn't graze on it all day when I make it. It's tasty enough to seem like a dessert.

6. When was the last time you had car trouble?

About six weeks ago the engine on the van (which has almost 120K miles on it) was being chuggy-sluggish, doing that jerky motion whenever I changed gears. It made me suspect the transmission. Come to find out, it was just water from all the rain getting in where it didn't belong. A few days of sunshine cleared it right up. For free. (My husband's mood cleared up as well when the engine improved, because he'd just had to shell out $800 for brakes and some sensor thingy that controls acceleration on his car.)

7. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Is that a good trend?

More, and yes.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

What's a mother to do with her class clown of a boy? After school today, we were driving to piano lessons and the youngest (9 years old) started with a confession.

Him: Mom, I got in trouble today.
Me: Oh, for what?
Him: For banging my head on the pew in chapel.
Me: During the message?!!
Him: No. During prayer.
Me: HONEY! You know better than that!! Why did you bang your head on the pew?
Him: To get people to laugh.
Me: Did they?
Him: Yeah, some of them. But not {the principal}. She took me to her office, made me write a letter to you and Dad about what I did--you have to sign it--and she made me apologize to
Pastor D and ask his forgiveness.
Me: Did he forgive you?
Him: Of course, Mom! He had to. He's the pastor!
Me: Well, what exactly did you say to him?
Him: I don't know exactly, but I can tell you pretty close to what I said.
Me: Okay.
Him: I said I was sorry for disturbing people during chapel by banging my head on the pew.
(Pauses, thinking.) But Mom, maybe I should have said "disrupting" instead of "disturbing."
Me: What's the difference?
Him: Disturbing is when people leave the door open when they go to the bathroom.