Glasses

Bewildered? Dumbfounded? I’m sure these emotions were spelled out on my face as I listened to Sophie’s eye exam transpire.

On the way there she had told me about the glasses she would be picking out.

“They’ll be pink and have flowers… like Gracie’s. No wait, maybe they should be purple…” Her voice would trail off as she weighed the elements of this momentous decision.

“Sophie,” I said as we sped down the interstate on our way to the appointment, “you probably won’t need glasses, honey. I’m pretty sure you won’t.”

“Well, if I do, they will have a little flower over here on this part…”

I thought she was the one oblivious to reality, but it was me.

So here she is with her specs. Maybe we’ll have less headaches and tired eyes. So glad there’s a directive to have parents of kindergarteners to get their sight checked. Who knows how long it would have been before anyone figured it out.

Good thing she arrived having thought through what she wanted. :)

Thoughtful Gift

Joe and Amanda’s wedding was Fabulous!! I will be posting pictures soon.

In their incredible thoughtfulness, their gift to me (for helping and being the sister and all that) was 3 books. One was a book of quotes of inspiration – possibly to be used in the cards I make. One was Secrets of Millionaire Moms and the other is called How to Start a Home Based Craft Business. Super thoughtful and inspirational.

I’m a bit of a cynic, so while I was curious about the Millionare Moms book, I was also skeptical. I don’t really have any intentions of becoming a millionaire. I’m not even sure that I really think I can make any money on my cards. But I started reading, and was delighted to find some encouragement.

The author, Tamara Monosoff, gets right to it – discussing the fears that women typically have when they think they have a good idea, but they are hesitant to do anything with it. Sounds familiar. Then she starts talking about fears women typically have concerning money and power and success. Intriguing. Her book highlights 17 moms who have found great success with their ideas, many of them starting with nothing. So even if I don’t want to take all of her advice, the subjects of her book are interesting.

But it really has been inspiring. It’s made me take a second look at my goals and plans for the next few years. If I’m not going back to work until after I’m done having kids (and what does that mean?), what will I do until then? Certainly my children will keep me busy, but can I really still identify myself as an English teacher? Couldn’t I be something else in the meantime? I started this idea PagesbyAngie, because I love creating things that bring encouragement and joy to the recipients. Couldn’t this be more than an occasional behavior?

So at one point she refers to “redirect[ing] the course of your life.” The course of my life has been to teach English – for a long time. As a mother of young children, I feel strongly that I am needed in another direction – as a mom closer to home. Yet, I have still thought of myself as a high school English teacher. But the word REDIRECTION is powerful and is helping me to understand. Just because teaching is important to me and is a part of who I am, doesn’t mean it’s the only thing I am. This is a realization I’ve been coming to understand more and more since we moved, but I see that it still exists powerfully enough to get in the way of new ideas. How long will it be before I teach high school English again? If I plan to sub meanwhile, and take care of my kids, why couldn’t I also work seriously on becoming something completely different than an English teacher?

This may not seem like it’s a big deal, but self-concept is kindof huge. When we perceive ourselves as one thing, we can build a box around ourselves. These boxes can be good boxes – I love being an English teacher – but this box isn’t doing much for me right now. I think I need to work on getting outside of the box, to see what else I can be right now.

Lovin' It

A friend of mine with a blog (hey girl ;) does a Favorite Friday post on Fridays with her favorite things from the week. I love this idea, and I am now going to steal it, sortof.

Lovin' It

1. Girlfriend time on Thursday afternoon swimming AND Friday night scrapbooking!! Awesome.

2. Getting to spend time with my Dad on Friday (no little girls with us) to find him a suit for the wedding.

3. Haircuts. My own and Sophie's.

4. Sophia plays so good with Clare and her patience is often broader than my own.

5. 3 of the past 4 days Clare has gone poddy on her little poddy by herself (randomly. not really from us sitting her down on it). Yeah! (This could last 4 days and that's it. We'll see.)

6. I got to go to Amanda's super fun bachelorette party this weekend. Love bonding with my new sister!

7. Brad willingly took care of the girls this weekend and took them school shopping today ( I met them there on my way home). He's great.

8. Sophia picked out a Hello Kitty bookbag instead of a Hannah Montana bag! :)

9. Practical Scrappers 2nd Week Challenge of Stickers and this weekend's New Sponsor Challenge - The Crafter's Workshop.

10. Wedding countdown: 5 days!

Learning

Life has been busy and exciting for me lately, as I've been working with a good friend on a blog she created called Practical Scrappers. I've been putting a lot of time into the online world of scrapbooking. It's been time consuming, but it's also been fulfilling as I've seen how much I can be learning from others who share my passion. I am finding (or remembering) that when we share our ideas with people who love the same things we do, we are better able to define our passion and our beliefs. It works with anything - parenting, teaching, friendships. We all have our own perspectives and approaches to these things. When we compare ideas - what has worked and what has not, why we do what we do, or our frustrations, we realize to a finer degree what lies inside us. How DO I feel about poddy training at this age, or evaluating the papers of my students, or a structured bedtime? When I'm forced to speak aloud (or type) what I know about the topic at hand, my ideas become more real. And sometimes we realize that the things we "know" or thought we knew, maybe aren't the best ways to do things.

Last night I went with Christine to a party at which she was selling Close to My Heart product. I learned a lot that I thought I already knew including that scrapbookers are often using someone else's designs, or a template, to create all these beautiful pages! :) You mean, there are a lot of people that are getting directions on how to create pages?! :) ok, so I kindof knew this.

We get in our own little boxes we keep things to ourselves, and sometimes we're missing out on some really useful information. I don't want to do that with my parenting. I don't want my kids to think that their way of life is the only way of life. I don't want to do that with my creating or with my marriage. I want to learn more and keep learning. I want to use this info to better understand me and my family and my life.

So I bought a book. It's called Reflections. It has patterns in it for page layouts. It even tells you what paper you can/could use from the company and what embellishments will go just perfectly. Not sure that I'll be following their instructions to the letter. But I bet that a little bit of their direction, a lot of me and my style, and a little prayer and I can create something fantastic.

Apply to your own life as needed.

Now go learn something.