dusty days

note:this is an OLD post but when i was labeling today, it jumped here!


Literal dust is what i fear these days. I am expecting a lot of it as the Indian chaps enter my home with (what? only ONE screwdriver?) and a pneumatic drill. So i have been on a back-breaking frenzy to cover everything thing up, bought and used up more masking tape than ever before in my life, shove everything that would fit into the other rooms..and, move all the human inhabitants away!

So here we are learning to live in Grace with in-laws, where i encounter more dust - this time of a different speci. This kind is aka memories and habits. The heart breaking work this time is to rein in my heart, soul and mind and maintan a posture of gratitude (we are in asylum here), and even as the Spirit reminded me, believe for new, better memories.

Finally, in a time of need, there is always that one person i long for: mom. But she is not physically available to me anymore.

Today's discoveries

HAVE you ever felt glad that something you believe to be true, a gut feel, a hunch, a sense...is verified or supported by

research
others sharing your view
a line in a book
actual stories baring it out

i do

and today, i discovered--

- at breakfast with a working-class couple: Singaporeans' average income as often represented in political speeches is perceived to be inaccurate. They should average white-collar incomes and blue-ones separately.

- while reading on the internet: advertising can rightly be considered pollution and a form of imperialism writes Micah White; we live in a toxic culture that hurts us more than we realize.

- more ideas for the children on the internet such as www.seterra.com - a geography download full of quizzes to help them navigate planet earth! (Keith and I merrily clicked on Asia and filled out the countries)

- all leaders feel lonesome and the business of leading can leave one little time and permission to say....grief?

- that being loved can be hard when you are not loving

Till next time fellow earthling, human and friend!

The Teen Dance

There is this new dance i am learning. 

Darn, it's hard! Quick steps, slow steps...and so easy to step on those turning toes!

What? Step back ..now?!
O, ok...catch up and do the twist here..
Keep in step, side by side...

Fools we are all. We never believe what we are told.
Dreamers we are all. We never full awaken to the force of truth...

What did i expect? it's hard to parent a teen, tween... She's like:
40% darling girl
10% secret, spying agent gathering more and more tricks (what? from youtube?!)
20% angst, mood swings
20% rough, angular
10% total mystery [if the other bits are not mystifying & frustrating enough already...]

This is 60% majority challenge - and yes, it is major exam year! Augh!

I have read, I have loved, I have led...but in my own turf, under my nose each day, the wind blows hither and thither! O to really love and to let her really live... daily i trip all over myself trying this new dance of space-distance-privacy-connection-communication.

We have so much to say to each other and then nothing comes to mind.

We want to laugh but it happens so much less because she is growing slowly into her own skin and we don't always find the same things funny anymore.

We want to stay close - forever - but growing is forcing a needed distance.

I miss the dances we did when she was little enough for me to turn, twirl and lift off the ground.... God, help me see the crazy steps of this new dance as a joy-dare dance and swing along!

OLYMPICS! fun with kids..

The Olympics is fun to watch and even more fun when you can do some activity along with it!
Check out the nicely done worksheets which surely breaks the ho-hum of homework...but does the job too!

http://www.schoolfamily.com/print-and-use-tools/category/188-summer-olympics-printables?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=ednote&utm_campaign=8_2_12_connect

ENJOY !