My life today: I am resolute! (or am I?)

My life today: I am resolute! (or am I?): This happens every year. One would think that after so many December 31sts I would come upon this day more prepared. I of course, once aga...

I am resolute! (or am I?)

This happens every year. One would think that after so many December 31sts I would come upon this day more prepared. I of course, once again, am not. Every year I tell myself that what I need is ONE great goal to focus on in the coming year. It's so cool that we get to "start over" every 365 days and the pressure to arrive at the perfect decision regarding what to change and/or improve is overwhelming. Here it is, time for another "do-over" and I am uncertain about the direction I need to take for 2012. So many thoughts run around in my head as the hours tick away and we approach 12 midnight.

Let's get the obvious ones out of the way: diet and exercise. Okay, so this year I will flatten my abs, shape my arms into something other than large tree trunks and drop 100 lbs. I will get up 3-5 times a week at 5:00 am, hit the rec center allowing myself enough time to get home, shower, eat something healthy, feed the kids and get them to school WITH their homework, all money needed for donating to the cause of the month AND the appropriate coats, hats, mittens, and/or boots based on my preordained knowledge of exactly what the weather will do that day. Yea......not gonna happen. What will happen is this:

I will promise myself that in the new year I will get to bed EARLY every night as women in their mid life phase tend to need more rest because the rest that they DO get will be fitful and sweaty. Upon trying to get to bed early I will realize that I have not checked the kids backpacks in weeks and I am now afraid of what might be lurking in there. Upon thinking of their upcoming day at school I will realize that they have no clean pants for their school uniforms and wherever their pants are, their required belts are not because they have become lost somewhere in the dirty laundry plus too cluttered house continuum. I will get to bed late and lose even more sleep because I will worry about what they will wear, what needs to be hosed out of their backpacks and how exhausted I will be when the alarm goes off in 5 hours. Diet and exercise are out and so is getting to bed early.

Maybe I'll learn to sew. Where would I put a sewing machine?

Maybe I will iron everything that needs ironing once a week. This of course would require needing to understand how to iron without the item looking more wrinkled than when I began which is the whole reason I never iron. Ironing is out. I can't learn to iron in the next 12 hours.

Maybe I will exfoliate and moisturize. I could vow to never go to bed each night without washing and using an oil reducing scrub on my face followed by 3 different kinds of moisturizers.......one for age spots, one for under eye wrinkles and one for pore reduction appearance. I could follow this up by applying my two different kinds of psoriasis creams to my elbows and the third kind to the inside of my ears so that the incessant itching is held at bay. If I am not too tired I could moisturize my arms and legs with the lotions from bath and body that are solidifying in my medicine cabinet from lack of use. By this time my plan to go to bed early is out (again) since it will take me over an hour to moisturize and exfoliate.

I could floss. I mean everyday and not just when I have popcorn stuck in my teeth.

I could become a professional organizer.......except that I have no money for an additional degree.

I could become a clean freak and disinfect until my fingers smell like bleach and crack and bleed. Wait. That would cause me to need more cream. Not gonna happen.

I could become better at investing.....if I had any money to invest.

Seriously, the longer I write, the closer it gets to midnight and I am still resolution-less.

Maybe I can resolve to simply survive another year. One more go-around of getting up, getting the kids to school, paying the bills, helping with homework, buying the groceries, saying I love you, making it to work and keeping all health care, dental and vet appointments for all of us. Maybe in the end, that will be good enough. It's really all I'm up for anyway.

Happy new year!

Christmas Letter 2011--Alex's year & Adam's questions

Merry Christmas friends!  I am so grateful for another year of happiness and health and all of the other mundane things that we take for granted all too often!   Nothing in my (or James’) lives has been so devastatingly horrible or overwhelmingly exciting that it was worth writing about.  (Although our first trip to Disney in March came close to the exciting part!).  I cannot say the same however, about the year that our  11-year-old son Alex has had.

This year has been one of extreme highs and lows for our oldest son.  Recently, Alex experienced the death of his good friend Shane who was also 11 years old.  We have been so proud (and indeed humbled by) Alex throughout this entire life changing event.  He attended Shane’s visitation and was asked to serve at the funeral mass which he did without complaint.  The sudden death of his friend came as a complete shock to every parent and child in our little Catholic school family.  It was (and continues to be) a time of deep sadness and premature “coming of age” as we witness him having to deal with the unimaginable loss of an 11 year old peer.  Things around our house were very sad.  We worried about his disposition and hoped that it would not be soured by such a grim reality.   And then…….

Last April Alex began watching the St. Louis Cardinals on t.v. as he took a sudden and serious interest in baseball.  (NOT PLAYING mind you, but watching).  He watched every single game that was televised all summer long and could tell you to the minute where the Cardinals were in the standings.  He took his new obsession so far as to even ask to come in from boating in Arkansas so he could watch the crawl on ESPN.  He LIVED for Cardinal baseball.  As the fall approached he knew the team would not make the playoffs.  They were, afterall,  10 1/2 games out of the wild card spot.  Then the unbelievable happened.  Around the time of Shane’s death, the Cardinals started to WIN and I mean WIN EVERYTHING.  There were many days when I thanked God for the Cardinals’ winning streak because I watched it keep the child-like hope alive inside our son.  Alex and I drove to Busch stadium and watched game one of the World Series together.  The Cardinals won their 11^th World Series Title in 2011 when our son was 11 years old.  This happened just after Alex had to say good bye to his dear little friend.  It was as if God (or Shane?) was sending Alex a wink to say that life for an 11 year old little boy should be filled with magic and wonder and not sadness and loss. Thank you St. Louis Cardinals, your timing was perfect!

In between keeping up with Alex’s emotional year, we had Adam to contend with.  Adam is 7 years old and is the living definition of the word inquisitive.  In January, James and I started to keep track of the questions that Adam asked us throughout the year specifically so we could share them in this letter.  Over the past 12 months, Adam has asked us the following questions, often while driving in the car or sharing a quiet moment before bed.  Tell me, what would YOU do with some of these questions?!?

What is sharper, a shark’s tooth or a sword?

How can we talk in our head?

Is it still a car if it has 6 wheels?

Can you move with only three tires?

Does my bladder fill up with water?

Which is faster, God or water?

When was water invented?

Do fish have noses?

Can fish smell oxygen?

Why is oxygen clear?

If you could breathe but there wasn’t anything TO breathe, what would happen?

If I lived in Arizona, would a cactus pop my balloon?

Can a mountain lion catch my balloon?

Do fans grab air and throw it?

Would we die if it was 175 degrees outside?

Do we live down town or up town?

If a squirrel bit a turkey and we ate the turkey would we get sick?

Will you die if you swallow a key?

Who is God’s wife if Jesus was his son?

If you broke a vein in your arm, would you die?

Can you swallow wind?

Which came first, colors or water?

Why do your eyes water when you yawn?

And my personal favorite Adam-ism of the year is this:

A few months back I received an e-mail from Adam’s 2^nd grade teacher.  He was assigned to read an introduction for the reading at mass that week and she (the teacher) wanted to tell me how he was progressing.  She told me that he was doing a good job with his reading BUT if I could stress that the patron Saint of the day was St. Sebastian and NOT St. subtraction, he would have it down cold.

We are grateful for laughter, the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals and our children. We are happy.  We are healthy and we are BLESSED this holiday season!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

James, Melissa, Alex and Adam

Christmas letter 2010--A note from "that" family

So there I was standing at the top of my steps discussing my 7 theme-decorated Christmas trees with Jordan and Kelly (students of mine who double as Alex and Adam’s tutors in their free time) when Jordan turns to me and says “OMG Ms. Passe, are you THAT family???”  I turn around and look behind me and say  “What family, OMG, were we on the news again?”  She said, “you know THAT family….the family that sends Christmas letters with pictures of your kids and all dresses alike on Christmas?”  I said “well NO, we only dress alike on Christmas Eve when we wear matching pajamas.”   Then it hit me.  Wow, we ARE that family.

A few years ago I decided life was too short to be unhappy (ever) and dedicated myself to being happier with life in general.  It wasn’t that hard either.  I already loved my husband, kids, job, pets, friends and (sometimes) house.   The real trick to this life change was to be conscious in looking for the silver lining in everything that happened.  This is not easy people.  Sometimes, you really have to work at it.

Last week end James and I hired a sitter and headed off to Columbia Missouri (90 miles South) to do some Christmas shopping.  If you know Kirksville (you know, the town where THAT family lives) you know that it’s impossible to buy everything on your Christmas list.  Items like “Happy” lotion made by Clinique are not there.  You can shop in Kirksville all day long and finding that stuff is NOT gonna happen.  So there we were in Columbia Missouri hitting Macy’s and where else??  Walmart.  Why were we at Walmart?  Because the only thing the kids wanted for Christmas were Harry Potter Legos which they picked out at the Kirksville Walmart.  Since we were in Columbia, we thought we would go ahead and pick them up. 

Now understand that we saved this item for last because we knew it would be the easiest.  I mean, you never know if PETCO will have a sudden run on the holiday anti-itch large breed senior Christmas dog food or perhaps Macy’s will run out of “Happy” lotion.  Columbia being the busy metropolis that it is (which to us means there are no corn fields visible from the road) has 2 Walmart stores and neither of them had any Harry Potter Legos.  We decided to head to the mother of all childhood Christmas stores “Toys are Us.” 

Once inside this insane world we found the Lego section quickly and eye balled all of the Toy Story 3, Star Wars , City and Sponge Bob Legos.  There were ZERO Harry Potter Legos.  James stopped one of the (I am not kidding here) 15 teenage employees wandering around aimlessly in a daze and said” excuse me, can you help us?  Do you have Harry Potter Legos in stock?”  The kid said “of course we do” they are over on the Lego wall.  I will show you.  (en route, the kid saw a younger bustier female and dropped James to help her for just a “sec”)  I meanwhile, was leaving the Lego section when I was literally run

over by a small child on a scooter who had to be doing 20 around the corner.  When I screamed and gave her the “eye” her parents over in the baby section shouted “Cholandra, get your skinny  (blanket-blank) over here!  You too Jamal” (who I soon learned was RIGHT behind her on an actual two wheeled bike and able to do more like 30 around the corner.) 

It was 8:30 at night.  We had been shopping since 12:30 in the afternoon.  I finally said “That’s it.  I’m going to customer service.”  When I arrived and FINALLY got my turn in line I said “Do you have any Harry Potter Legos in stock?”  The guy said “Of course.  They are over on the Lego wall.”  I said “Can you show me?”  He said (pointing) “Ma’am, they’re right over there.”  I said “TAKE ME TO THE HARRY POTTER LEGOS please.”  He sighed, came out from behind the counter, dodged Cholandra and Jamal and found himself in the Lego section of his store.  He carefully inspected every wall and turned to me and said “we must not have them.”  (You think??-----silver lining Melissa……at least you were right)

The kids were pretty good this year and if all they wanted were Harry Potter Legos then we were determined to help Santa find them.  (Never mind that Alex took a toy arcade-game gun into Catholic School last spring for show and tell and nearly got expelled or that Adam grabbed a kid’s lunch box from him which prompted  the kid to punch Adam which landed both of their names on the dreaded “board”)  On the way home we stopped at the Walmart in Moberly (60 minutes South of Kirksville) and Macon (30 minutes South of Kirksville).  They had no Harry Potter Legos either but the parking was better each time and the stores less crowded. (Silver Lining)  We finally ended up at the Kirksville Walmart with the LAST Harry Potter Lego castle at 11:00pm.  At least there was ONE!

This year we count our blessings as we sit in our house with seven trees, the Christmas train, the Christmas card organizer and every inch of space draped in huge fat Christmas lights.  As we drink cocoa from Santa mugs and watch Christmas movies together as a family, it is less difficult to find the silver lining. (Maybe because everything around me is lined in silver.)  We enjoy each other’s company and are truly happy.  Even though at times it has been difficult to find the silver lining, (we lost a family icon this year as Grandma Fulton decided to journey on to heaven) it is always there if you look hard enough.  I now wear (trendy unlined) bifocals but I can still see it!

Merry Christmas from THAT family!

James, Melissa, Alex Adam, Maddie and Lucy (newly adopted Springer Spaniel)

Christmas Letter 2009---Dear Diary

December 4, 2009: 

 Dear Diary, We’ve officially lost our minds.  We’re three weeks away from Christmas and have decided to rip the wall paper out of the foyer, paint the living room and hall and install a new front door.  Adam just came home from the neighbor’s house (who have their tree up and adorned) and said “hey mom, where’s Christmas in our house?”  My only response was “uh……under the painting tarp?”  As a result, we have purchased 4 small trees for the kids to decorate (one for each of us) until we can get the family tree up in the living room IF the paint ever dries.  I have no time to write a Christmas letter because I am too busy vacuuming and dusting away all of the dry wall sanding dust that is a result of this little pre-Christmas remodeling project.  I have decided to take the easy way out and use diary entries from this year for my letter.  Please forgive me dear readers……

January 20, 2009:

Dear Diary, Today we took the kids to St. Louis.  James and I took the kids to Forrest Park and Alex learned to ice skate.  He’s not in love with the sport but can now check that off of the child hood “to do” list.  Adam sat inside with me and critiqued the other skaters……an easy job when you’re not the ones skating and subsequently falling all over the ice.  Did I mention the hot chocolate was excellent?

March 21, 2009:

Dear Diary, Today is Alex’s 9^th birthday.  I had a meeting in Washington D.C. and brought Alex with me.  Dad and Ginny joined us for an extended weekend and we saw nearly everything our nation’s capitol had to offer. Alex was exhausted from all the walking and claimed the subway gave him a migraine.  He spent the night before his birthday sick in the hotel room and when asked what site he was most excited to tour he said the hotel game room.

May 13, 2009:

Dear Diary, Today a tornado hit Kirksville.  We were very lucky in that we live in the South part of town and it touched down in the North.  I spent the evening with the kids and dog in our basement (the goldfish were on their own) while Alex hid under furniture and prayed.  (Have I mentioned he is studying to be the first American pope?) Adam and I hid under a blanket as the weather man SCREAMED warnings at us from the T.V. and tried to guess when the next alarm would go off so we could scrape ourselves off the ceiling from the jolt of the siren. Adam spent his time asking me things like “Mom, do you think the fridge will make it because Dad just made my Kool-Aid!”  James kept watch from under his friend’s car which was parked in our garage so he could work on the brakes.  He told us he would come in if it got “real bad” which I guess meant having the tornado travel down our street and pass in front of the open garage door for his own personal viewing.

Memorial Day weekend:

Dear Diary, This weekend is Adam’s 5^th birthday.  In true Melissa fashion we had a blowout, over-the-top birthday party.  We rented a giant slide that measured taller than George and Carolyn’s house and invited the four and five year old crowd to come and party.  Not to be out done by his younger brother and seeing as how we rented the “slide of death” for two days, Alex had the nine year old crowd over the next day to party.  When sliding the regular way became too boring for them, they all donned swim suits and held the hose on the slide to create a giant slip and slide. (Did I mention the slide spit the rider out in the direction of the street?)  I don’t have many pictures of that day as I spent most of it on the phone with my home owner’s insurance representative who just LOVES me…….

June 13, 2009:

Dear Diary, Today is my birthday and James surprised me by renting a limo and inviting George and Carolyn, Amy and Jerry, Joe and (can’t remember the name of his wife—too many adult beverages) to the Pear Tree for dinner and then on to Boonville to Harrah’s.  WOW, did I have a good time.  I mean a REALLY good time.  It was my first real ride in a real non-funeral limo and I can’t remember EVER laughing so hard with my friends.  I have GOT to make this up to him somehow.  I must think of a plan……

July 4, 2009:

Dear Diary, We spent the weekend in Iowa with aunts Polly and Sherry.  Mom and Bob joined us and we went to the

parade, the pool, the farm and the fireworks display.  Maddie especially likes visiting Iowa because as Adam puts it “she can visit all of her doggie relatives.”

The next week: (Too busy to note the date)

Dear Diary, Today James’ brother and sister visited us along with some of their kids.  We had a BBQ in the driveway (have I mentioned that after we completed the addition on the house we never got around to building a deck so we celebrate everything in true NE Missouri fashion---on lawn chairs in the driveway).  It was very nice to see everyone and it was rewarding for Alex and Adam to reconnect with their Texas and Michigan cousins.

Later in July: (Too tired to note the date but have a firm grasp of the month Thank God)

Dear Diary,

Well, I rewarded James with an equally cool birthday present.  James and my dad went deep sea fishing off the Florida Keys for an extended weekend.  They were on a lovely yacht and caught tuna, red snapper and yellow tail.  He had a BLAST and best of all, the kids were not hanging on his ankles begging for his attention.  He got to enjoy his time and loved it!  Woooo Hoooooo! (Did I mention we need to thank the inventor of motion-sickness patches?!)

August 13, 2009

Dear Diary, We had a major cancer scare with mom and we’re all still shaking.  The good news is that with surgery, the doctors think they were able to remove all the cancerous tissue.  We have a lot of prayer warriors to thank for that!  While I hung out in Peoria with mom at the hospital, Alex and Adam went on vacation with James as previously planned.  They went to Hot Springs Village to spend time with dad and Ginny in their new retirement home.  While there, Adam Robert Hendler (remember the slide party?  He’s only 5!) successfully got up on water skis for the first time.  I have a picture of both boys skiing behind dad’s boat at the same time. It’s so cool!

September 14, 2009

Dear Diary, I’ve been prepping James for two weeks and have finally done it.  I had all of my long hair cut off!  It’s so much fun to wear earrings!   I’m now constantly freezing but maybe Santa will bring me a scarf. 

November 28, 2009

Dear Diary:  We spent thanksgiving in Illinois and Iowa. Today was especially fun since Mizzou beat Kansas in the last minutes of this year’s game.  (Thank goodness too because if not we would have been stuck with James in a rotten mood!  Thank you Mizzou!)

December 9, 2009

Dear Diary:  Today the boys had a snow day.  When I left they were all outside in snow suits wreaking havoc on the neighborhood.  Did I mention the extension ladder is strategically placed on the steps over the landing (remember re-model in progress?) so once it’s swung open someone is gonna end up in the hospital.  I’m considering just phoning the ER now and obtaining precertification for everyone since this scenario is a medical deductible in the making! 

December 17, 2009

Dear Diary:  Last night was the boys’ Christmas pageant.  Alex was a soldier and had one whole line to deliver:  “At Ease.”  He was brilliant.  The critics are still raving.  Adam was dressed as a giant Christmas present in a big blue box.  I spent hours hot gluing a giant blue bow to a head band so that his outfit was topped off perfectly.  He got 4 seconds into the song and his blue bow slid down in front of his face.  He was unable to lift it back up because his arms were pinned out ward like a giant cross from the box so he sang his little heart out from behind the bow.  I had mascara running down my face and spent the rest of the show doubled over in laughter.  On another note, the entire remodel is done with the exception of the front door which has not yet arrived.  The “other” news is that we lost the Christmas tree stand and the entire town of Kirksville is sold out of artificial tree stands. The substitute tree stand causes the tree to lean and threatens to fall when we walk across the room.  While gazing at the leaning tree the family snacks on my fudge which did not set up so we eat it from spoons out of bowls. Finally, due to stress overload, I’ve planned on serving chilli dogs and mac-n-cheese for Christmas Eve dinner.   Perhaps we’ll have KFC on Christmas day.  One never can tell in our house!

Blessings all!  With much love from,  Melissa and the boys  

Christmas Letter 2008--Alex, Adam and the "poor"

Season’s Greetings everyone!

For those of you who prefer the more traditional type of  Christmas letter I offer you the following sentence:  James and I are still teaching in the same places, we drive the same vehicles, we live in the same house and have the same dog.  We also have the same two children but this is where we veer from the “traditional” letter to the “Melissa”  Christmas letter.  Here goes…..

When I say we have the same two children what I really mean is that we still parent the same two children; Alex, age 8 and Adam age 4.  This is where we take leave of the word “same.”  There is nothing at all the “same” regarding these two boys. 

When Alex was born he was quiet and sweet.  He slept on time and ate on time and we thought that since this whole parent thing was such a breeze we should branch out and have another.  Alex was 4 years old when Adam came along.

Adam screamed.  Adam kicked.  Adam bit other children.  Adam was allergic to all formula and slept when and where he wanted to.  (He still does).  Alex is in the third grade and merely tolerates school.  Adam loves preschool.  He loves to read and write and do math.  Alex could take or leave all of that in lieu of just about anything else.  Alex never ever gets into trouble at school or any where else for that matter.  Adam spends his life in time out.  At the end of every school day we ask Alex, “how was school today?”  We ask Adam how many time-outs he had and do we have any notes from the teacher to read?  (Our most recent note indicated that Adam refused to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance claiming he was “bored” and could we please speak with him about God and Country?!)  Adam despises going to bed so his brother Alex voluntarily reads him bible stories so that he (Adam) will not get into any trouble.  Alex is ever the little peace maker and subsequently has an A+ in religion. 

With all of this said, it is no wonder that they have such different notions about how we (mom and dad as well as society) should treat the “poor.”  (OMG, where is Melissa going with this???  Hold on, I’m almost there.)

When it came time to write our letters to Santa this year, I told the children that before we asked Santa to bring a single item into the house that we were going to clean out the play room and give some of our toys to the poor.  After all, we give food to the poor at church, and we give mittens and coats and shoes to the poor at school.  We give the Salvation Army Santa some loose change every time we enter Walmart so that the poor can have more money.  So, in keeping with the many valuable teachable moments in life, I elected to carry this sentiment into our own home.   Alex, in his loving nature embraced this idea and began to find toys that the poor might like.  Adam began breaking toys claiming that “mom was just gonna give ‘em away anyway” which caused Alex to embark on a spontaneous lesson in “giving” and “stewardship.”

What happened next I was utterly unprepared for and thank God that I am able to think quickly on my feet.  Alex turns to me and says (in front of Adam and in the middle of his lecture oh why we give to the poor), “Mom, if Santa is REAL, why do we have to give our toys to the poor kids?  Why can’t Santa just bring them tons of stuff they want??”

Now please understand that we do not believe in lying to our children under any other circumstances.  Santa Claus is another idea entirely.  I will lie to these children even after they have children of their own and continue to wrap gifts in the “Santa” paper with the “Santa penmanship” until the day I take leave of this earth.  In my opinion, there has to be some magic in the world somewhere and in my book, it’s all wrapped up in a neat little package that Santa himself delivers each year in the early morning hours of the 25^th of December. 

I quickly explained to the boys (in keeping with the “poor” theme that we had going here) that usually the parents who are poor need to work two jobs in order to keep food on the table.  They are very very busy and often cannot help their children with their homework.  Because of this, the poor kids’ reading and writing may not be as good as it should be and thus their Santa letters are not as “up to snuff” as some of the other childrens’.  As a result, they may not get the gifts that they might like so we need to help the poor (and Santa) out in any way that we can.  Alex, looking at Adam, bought the entire story and silently nodded at Adam.  They then continued to select (and break) toys for the poor. 

In our house this year we are thankful for many things, some of which are the “same” old things.  We are thankful for our health, the fact that we each have the same old jobs and are able to drive the same cars that have (as of this moment) continue to run.  We are also thankful for our very different children and the privilege we have in guiding them each and every year toward adulthood.   It is never dull and we always continue to grow and learn from these two very different creatures.

This Christmas we wish you and your families a new year full of continued good things that will stay the same as well as perhaps some different things that will provide new and challenging experiences when and where you most need them.

Adam just walked in and asked me how many toys he needed to give up for these “poor” kids anyway?  What if they were poor kids who were not “good” this year?  Do poor “bad” kids still deserve toys?  Alex looked at me and rolled his eyes.  Clearly my work here is far from finished……..Merry Christmas everybody.

Love to all of you from James, Melissa, Alex and Adam (and Maddie the dog of course).   

The gift I am most grateful for -- the jar

Yesterday, two representatives from our student organization (CoDA) dropped by my office.  They said they had a Christmas gift for me.  Over the years I have received Christmas presents from many students, each of them unique and special to the relationship I have had with the giver.  This gift was quite different than any other I have ever received.  The girls handed me a medium sized glass jar that they had decorated.  It had ribbon around it, my initials glued onto it and paper decorations attached to it.  Inside the jar, were dozens of colorful slips of paper that contained a single sentence about how each of them appreciated me.  I was stunned.  I was humbled.  I was grateful.

I have worked late into the evening tonight and I took a break a few minutes ago to open a present that a special out-going graduate student had left me.  I am not very good at opening presents in front of other people and frankly, I like to just hold them awhile and look at them in their pretty wrapping.  When I opened my gift, I found a Willow Tree figurine entitled the bright star.  She had enclosed a Christmas card that spoke to how much she appreciated all of the time we had spent together while she was a student.(Sometimes the best learning happens in between college courses) She described me as her bright star.  When Christmas is over I will place her card inside my jar so that I can pull it out when things seem dark.  Again, I was amazed and I was humbled.

As I was locking up my office door to leave for home, I noticed something sticking out of the top of my in/out box that hangs outside my door.  It was a card from another departing graduate student.  She began by saying, "I don't know if you have ever known this or not but you have gotten me through some pretty tough moments in graduate school."  Another card for my jar. Wow.

As educators, we sometimes complain that the hours are long and hard (I was at work tonight until after 10:00 pm) and that we get paid very little.  In the new year I hope to try and remember that the gifts (or rather rewards) that we often receive are worth more than all of the money and vacation time in the world.

Thank you to those of you who take the time to share with a teacher what he/she means to you.  I have a sincere feeling that aside from the hand made gifts from my children, my favorite gift this year and perhaps ever, will be my new glass jar.  I may be exhausted and broke but I am so blessed!