A Day In Photos - 3-17-09

7:10 - Up and at it! I had a terrible time sleeping last night. My back has not "reset" enough for a new day.
I came back to the room after breakfast. She has not moved. Lazy, sweet, wonderful dog!

8ish - Prayer and journaling while icing my back.

9ish - Going over to be mentored by Z :). I can see the school from my front steps.

Arrive at Ms. J's 1st grade classroom.

Ms. J and I have a serious talk about Z's progress? Nah - gossip!

Z didn't get much sleep last night, either. She is struggling :(

10:30 - I interrupt this day for a RANT! Please don't get me started on school lunches! OK, you started it! How can one little school lunch produce more trash than I do in a day? How is a first grader supposed to eat everything from chicken to tacos to soup with a PLASTIC SPORK? What kind of wasteful idiots think that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches must be made 5 states away, on thin white bread, smashed into a tiny little circle, packaged by Smuckers in a plastic bag and sent here to us (not pictured)? I guess it is a pretty high skill, pb& j! What up' with the napkin so small and thin that a child cannot even wipe their mouth with it? - Breathe, Evelyn! -

These kids inspire me. They are amazing. They are at the bottom of the heap in our "1st world" nation. This school of 270 students is a stone's throw from one of the top magnet high schools in the country. I bet not ONE of the current students will ever go there. Why? Because their school is FAILING. Ms. J is so dedicated, works like crazy ... but what is a teacher to do when 80% of her kids can't read at grade level? Arrrgh!

11ish - (Back to a normal description of my day.) Catching up on your blogs, yahoo group, e-mail, etc. Goal: get through all the junk on this desk!

Finally sending Courtney a bead!

Noon - A benefit of having Bill work so close to home - lunch together almost every day. I took too long to figure out my lunch ... who isn't crazy about some cottage cheese and leftover salad? Bill had already finished his by the time I got to the table.

12:30 - Midday prayers. I guess it's obvious I'm coming out of the religious closet here. Bill and I are both ordained ministers (Yikes! Please don't stop reading my blog :) or sensor yourself or change any opinion of me) . Our "church" is our community. We started a Community Development Corporation here 7 years ago. We try to pray at this time on weekdays for our neighborhood and our world. This week, I added all my blog friends to our prayer list. Today, we thougth something stupid was funny and ended up in fits of laughter. We could barely pray. Hey, God MUST have a sense of humor!

2:00 - Samba and I head to our favorite park. Can you smell the pluff mud below? See the little crabs running around? Samba is on a mission.

Yikes! He's a BIG one. Enlarge this pic and you will see. I estimate 10 ft. Shudder.

3:30 - Back home!

3:30 - 5:30 - Stared at computer. Must. Finish. Stinking. Paper. Due. Two. Years. Ago.

5:30 - Goofing off while waiting for J to pick me up for yoga.

8 ish - Bill made home made pizza for J and me.

9:00 - Bill cooked, so I clean.

9:30 - Started loading these pictures ... wearing my patience - I'll finish tomorrow.

10:15 - I rush to get in bed so I can read, though hopefully not as long as last night. This book does have the potential to keep me up...

Getting sleepy (thankfully)...

11:09 - Yawn... but I am beat. Enough for today!