Thank You

for showing me that independence matters.
for teaching me a college education matters and will help with Independence, when you never had one.
for pushing me forward when I so wanted to stay where I was safe and comfortable.

for getting me out of my comfort zone.
for making me strong.
for working hard and the even harder when the weight of the world came crashing down.
for never giving up on me.
for wrapping your arms around me tightly and crying with me when I thought the weight of the world was coming crashing down on me.
for caring and even caring more than I do sometimes.
for believing in a high power and forcing me at times to believe, too, then backing off and letting me find my way.
for teaching me that everyone is carrying around something, they don't always show it on the outside.
for being kind to strangers.
for reading to me when I was little and continuing to share that love with me 34 years later.
for helping those in need.
for never judging me, even when my house is a disaster and my bathtub looks like it hasn't been scrubbed in 5 years.
for teaching me that the greatest things in life cannot be seen or touched, borrowed or bought...they are within us.

Grandma and Toby

Vacation all I ever wanted...

Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone

A week without you
Thought I'd forget
Two weeks without you and I
Still haven't gotten over you yet!

I'm hoping 3 months is enough to help me find why I became a teacher. This year was such a mental drainer. I'm exhausted.

So I picked up James from his visit at Grandma and Grandpa Farm's. He had a blast despite the road rash from a "spill" he took on the gravel. It's a war wound and we all know how much he loves those.

Less than 24 hours into vacation I have already learned something new. How to jump start a car. Don't ask why the lights were left on in the front seat of the car, there's only one 3 foot scab-faced monster that can answer that question and he aint talking. Oh well, you learn something new all the time.

Now, what will we learn tomorrow?