a friendly letter

So one of the writing tasks in first grade is learning to write a friendly letter. I just have to share a few excerpts from letters that made their way to our home this week...

Dear Adam,
I am your friend. Is Curtis also your friend? I hope not.

(We had a little discussion about this one!)



OK, I'll have to edit this post later when I find the other funny one...but here is a nice little piece of writing by Titus....

One day Billy met Silly. Silly said, "Can we be friends?" Billy said, "We are already friends!" Silly said, "Great!" So they talked and talked and talked.

The end.

another first

Titus scored his very first goal ever in his soccer game tonight. Way to go Titus! He made a run too - took the ball at about 1/3 into his backfield, crossed mid-field, kept kicking it past the defenders, winning the ball, and making his way to the goal box...and then he did it!

It wasn't the perfect picture of ball control by any means, but he was aggressive and persistent.

mother's day

This year for Mother's Day, I received a morning glory planted in a green plastic cup decorated with foam cutouts. And a letter. They were left as a surprise for me by the computer on Sunday morning. Here's what the letter said:

Dear Mom,
I made this plant just for you. I love you and this is a morning glory. When it bloms you shlud see it in the morning and that is why it is called a morning glory. This is how I planted my flower. First I planted the seed. Sukinly I wated and wated. Last I put soil and sand in the cup. I love you and happy Mother's day.

Love, Titus

PS I (heart) you

That was a heart, not the word heart in parentheses by the way :-)

Super cute. He even underlined the words he doesn't know how to spell. Then last night he told me that he wished every day was Mother's Day so that he could tell me how much he loves me.

I love being a mom!

shel silverstein...titus' poetry muse

Today, apparently after having his teacher read Shel Silverstein poems, Titus was inspired to write one of his own. Check it out...He even included a title, his name and age, and had the lines, punctuation, and line breaks as written below.


Cluk. Cluk. by Titus W. age 6

An egg lay
in a nest of
hay. Cluk. Cluk.
He took his
shell away.

Some dreams fulfilled

A few highlights so far from San Francisco:

- Chatting biz with education reporters from, among other places, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times.

- Gossiping about The Wire with the Education Writers Association's education editor, Linda Perlstein. It turns out that Linda, who lives in Baltimore, is a good friend of the creators of The Wire (a show to which Nancy & I recently became addicted). At bar mitzvah, Linda danced and kissed the actor who plays McNulty. She says he's very "flirty." Sigh.

- While walking to The SF Chronicle, getting asked by an obviously drug-addled woman to purchase a cell phone for $3. I demurred.

- Meeting some very old school reporters in the Chronicle's newsroom. These are guys with 30 or 40 years under their belts. They remember when drinking and smoking were just allowed in the newsroom, but required.

- Seeing some hand-edited pages of Herb Caen columns. I nearly cried.

Well, that's enough for now. I'm off by BART and CalTrains to see the fam in the west bay. Peace.

ray is such a stud writer

So it is awards season again. As many of you know, Ray has won awards at both Des Moines Area Community College and the University of Iowa for his writing. He has also won awards from both the Iowa Newspaper Assoc. and the Missouri Press for stories he has written on the job. But today he found out that he just won his first national level award! Way to go hubby!

In fact, Ray won two national awards doled out by the Suburban Newspapers of America. He is the education reporter for two papers originating from the same Northland office, one covering Clay Co. and the other covering Platte Co. He can correct me if I'm wrong, but the details are as follows:

Sun-Gazette won 3rd place for education coverage
Sun-Tribune won 2nd place for education coverage

Pretty good, huh?

happy little update

this morning ray had an interview with the northtown high school principal. i had interviewed with him last summer for a school counselor position that i didn't get. at the time, he said he really wanted to find a place for me on their staff and told me to get in touch with him in the spring.

with my recent resignation from the kcmo school district, ray and i kind of figured i had ruined my chances for a job with nkc schools for a few years. however, in their conversation this morning, ray was able to fill dan in on my situation. dan said that he still really wants me on board. he added that he felt like we really personally connected and then gave me some nice compliments (that i'm talented and intelligent...).

so, i'm hopeful that maybe i'll be back in the schools next fall. keep your fingers crossed, pray for me, rub that lucky rabbit's foot, make an offering to the job gods...i'll take all good fortune for a job at northtown!

one week down

So I entered back into the work force this week. It was a big adjustment getting dressed everyday! I really slipped into full unemployment mode there for a while. I really have a generous boss - when I was interviewed and we discussed my hours, I requested that I be able to either take Titus to school or be able to pick him up. Furthermore, I told him that on Tues & Thurs, I need to be able to pick him up due to Ray's work. He created a schedule just for me. I now work M, W, F 10 am to 6 pm and Tu, Th 10 am to 3 pm. I get to take Titus to school everyday. I love it.

I also love what I'm doing. I have this deep desire to help people. It is so rewarding to meet with my students and help them along their path of self-development. In just one week, I'm pretty enamored with D. who comes every day to work on her GED, L. who is a very bright, quiet woman who wants to go to massage school but can't until she passes her GED. Both are motivated by wanting to be able to be better providers for the little ones in their lives - a granddaughter and a son. They are lovely women. I'm blessed to be their teacher and guide on this part of their journey.

Of course, it is nice to have students say in just a few hours with them that they feel encouraged and respected by how I talk to them and how I'm explaining the rationale of their educational paths. I love it. I am able to combine my counseling skills and educational skills in a way that people are hungry to experience. It gives them hope to see how they can get to their goal and make their lives what they know they need to be. When I was preparing to see my first client during my counseling internship, my supervisor said "give them hope". I've never forgotten that. And over the years, I've become more adept at assessing the strengths people have, hearing their fears and desires, and speaking words that bring comfort. It is so powerful to understand their motivation, hear their goal, and lay out a plan for how they can get there. And then, enter their journey with grace and love and kindness. Can you tell I love my job?

Then there are my ELL students - a physician from Argentina, a mom and her adult children from Honduras, a man from Mexico and his friend...they are working so hard. And it is so fun to spend time with them learning English. I have a lot to learn in my effort to be an effective teacher for them, but it will come. And I have a great co-teacher, Patricio...a journalist, musician, and political junkie. What a cool group of KIND people I get to spend time with!

The nice thing is that I'm not feeling any new job honeymoon-high. I'm too beat up from my last gig to think that all will be peachy. But, I'm certainly appreciating the good things about Whatsoever.

And one last thought...yesterday my boss came in and said I'm getting a raise. It's been a good week.

coolest valentine ever

whatsoever community center

So today I met with one of the directors at the Whatsoever Community Center. (The center is in an old school on 12th St, not far from I-435. They have been around nearly 100 years...yes, a century of community based social services.) I had responded to a Craig's List posting for an early childhood teacher working with infants to 18 month olds. I thought it might be a nice way to be around babies. The director had emailed to set up an appointment and suggested that they might have another position for me to consider.

Anyway, the other job is a hybrid of GED teacher (more like case manager/tutor), job skills/computer skills trainer, and ESL teacher. I am so excited about the possibility! I have wanted to work in ESL for a long time, but have never had the right opportunity. Plus the educational and counseling elements are a great fit. I really think I would love working with this team and could put my all of my assets to good use!

I'll be meeting with the executive director and youth services director some time this week. Keep us in your thoughts. It isn't easy being unemployed!

Our new Prez in his new ride

Streaming inauguration

Hulu is offering steaming, live online coverage of the inauguration on Tuesday. Check it here or on Hulu's Web site:

the big part-ay

Monday night we were the guests of our friend, State Representative Trent Skaggs, at the Missouri Governor's Inaugural Ball in Jefferson City. It was a blast. The building is magnificent and was packed out with people dressed to the nines. Offices line the perimeter of the first two floors and tables full of food and drinks lined the halls. Here's a little pictorial sampler of our night.

the beatles

ray has successfully passed on his love of the beatles to titus, who now goes to sleep every night being serenaded by the fab four. last night, when putting him to bed, titus said to me. "mom, every time i see cate or ella i start singing this song." want to guess what it was? "I Want to Hold Your Hand". he's got it bad.

bffsmias

The daily ritual goes something like this. "How was your day?" "Great. I stayed on red." "Good job buddy. What was the best part of your day?" "Recess/music/that we had pizza for lunch." But not today.

"How was your day?" "Uh, I'm so mad at Kylie. She told everything I said to everybody." "She told everybody?" "Well, no. Just Cate." "What did she tell Cate?" "That she's not my bffsm." "Your bff...s..m?" "Yeah, Cate was my bffsm but now Ella is and Kylie kept trying to hear everything she wasn't supposed to hear and then she told Cate and then Cate got mad at me because I said she isn't my bffsm." "What's a bffsm?" "Best friend forever sister marry." "Sister marry?" "Yeah, s, you love like a sister; m, you want to marry them. So ever since Ella invited me to the ball she is my bffsm and Kylie told Cate and she wasn't supposed to."

Then there were feeble attempts to try to get Titus to see that he's only six and that lovers' triangles are confusing entanglements that are best avoided by appreciating the outstanding qualities of individuals and that labels such as BFF, BF, BFFSM, BFFS...although purposeful, really can end up hurting people's feelings. Even though none of that hurts yours.

And then came a few more minutes of clarity. "So, mom, how many people can you marry?" "Only one at a time, but you can love as many people as you want. I thought Cate was the nicest person you've ever met." "She is. That's why she's my bffs...but I think I'll make her a bffsm too."

"And what about Grace Middleton?" "Just a minute. (At this point, Titus ducked down in the back seat for about 30 seconds and then returned to his perch on the console by my driver's seat.) She's my bffias. Bffias? Yeah, my best friend forever in another state."

I guess my advice about labels will need more time to soak in.

inauguration

so this will be the only year in history that we have two official inaugural letters at our place - one saying we have tickets to the presidential inauguration and one saying we are invited to the missouri governor's ball and inauguration festivities in jeff city.

kind of cool. but here's the best part. we'll get to party with our friends trent & amanda and their kiddos - ella, cora, and levi. ella and titus have been classmates for the past two years. we try very hard not to marry off our 6 year olds. the little master needed some fancy duds. it's nice that at age 6 you can get fancy duds for $20.

recently ella asked titus if he thought that going to the ball with her was kind of like a date. he said yes. she said, well it's not. all i can say is get used to it son...there is life time of confusion ahead!