Silver and Gold

In my younger days, I was a brownie and a girl scout. I remember well learning and singing a friendship song during those scout meetings:

Make new friends, but keep the old,

One is silver and the other gold.

This weekend, I had the true joy of reconnecting face-to-face with one of my oldest friends. I hopped on the Megabus, traveled up to Chicago, and spent a very short and fast 24 hours with her before heading back home to the Sunday responsibilities that awaited me. The bus ride was fun, but the visit was amazing. Simply put, there are some people who come into your lives and you become fast friends. Over time, the friendship grows closer and deeper. Over more time, chances are, you lose touch -- for no real reason other than life is just like that. Thankfully, reconnections happen. For a very few folks, reconnecting is about more than just catching up with what has happened over the years -- it's about picking up where you left off with the trust, the love, and the joy that you originally experienced with that friendship. I have had the true blessing of experiencing this kind of reconnection with this dear friend I haven't seen in 19 years. NINETEEN years. Do you know how much happens in 19 years?? A lifetime of events. And as much as we had each changed, and experienced very different things in life, we are each the same. I have said it before, and I say it now... it is well with my soul!

So yeah, make new friends, and take the time to really form a relationship, for one can never have too many true friends. But DO keep the old. For they just make the treasure of friendship even richer.

An Apple for the Teacher

Josie and Norah have just finished a stint of being sick with high temperatures and nasty coughs. After being more than 36 hours without a fever, I was looking forward to everyone getting back to their normal routines today.

Josie, having slept in the last five days, was having a difficult time waking up today. After I tried coaxing her several times to no avail, Eric took over (he really has a way with her that leaves me standing in awe). He walked into her room and cheerfully greeted her sleepy form with something to the effect of: "Congratulations on your first day back to school!" That got her up and excited as she let out a big "Yippee!!" and quickly went about the task of getting dressed for the day.

Norah, on the drive into town to go to her "school," was talking about how Josie goes to "Big School" and that Norah is a "big girl and goes to big school too." Who am I to argue? So I agreed and said that yes, preschool is big school, to which she yelled out, "School is FUN!"

Ahhh.... an apple to all the teachers who have impacted the lives of children and who make school something that our children joyfully look forward to. It is an admirable calling to be a teacher, and truly, I admire and appreciate you all. I can only hope and pray that my children continue to look as forward to school and learning as they do now.

The (Cute) Terrorist

Who knew a terrorist could be so cute and yet so mean? You wouldn't be able to tell just lookin' at her. You have to KNOW her - all 30 pounds of her with her big blue eyes. She may smile a beautiful smile, but the way she can hold the remote hostage rivals the bad-guys in Fox's 24. The most recent hostage in this terrorist plot of hers: the recliner chair - aka: Daddy's chair.

Here's my conversation with the sneaky one this morning:

NJ: Momma, see me in my chair?
Me: No, it's Daddy's chair.
NJ: NO, MY chair. (points to the sofa where I am sitting) Daddy's sofa.
Me: No, Daddy doesn't sit on the sofa. Momma does.
NJ: (pauses to consider this) MY CHAIR.

And this is how a 30 pound 2 year old gains control of the comfy recliner and the remote.
Sigh.
Who can argue with cute??

Simply put, a GREAT day!

There is no other way to say it -- today was fabulous! It was jammed pack with excitement that appealed to everyone in the family. In reality, the excitement started yesterday at dinner time when Eric and I revealed to Josie that we received a call from her principal informing us that Josie was the classroom winner for the reading contest that had been held over the last couple weeks. As a reward, she would get to ride in the homecoming parade today. Josie worked SO very hard on reading over the past few weeks in hopes of winning this contest. When we told her she won (over ice cream as Baskin Robbins), she was so excited that she screamed a silent scream and about bounced out of her chair. She then got a far-away look in her eyes as she imagined how great today was going to be.

But see, that was only the beginning. Today was Grandparents Day at the school. Josie was under the impression that her grandparents wouldn't be able to attend -- only to be surprised by them arriving and tucking her into bed last night. Such excitement for a seven year old. Truly... I have no idea how she was able to fall asleep last night. But let me tell you, she flew out of bed this morning without any problems!!

So today, Mema and Papa went with Josie to school for a couple hours. While they were at school, Eric hung out with Norah while I ran errands. Unfortunately, this is when Norah learned a painful lesson about where Lucy the cat's patience ends. Apparently, it ends with a karate kick from a toddler. Eeks! Anyway...

The day continued on with family fun and classroom fun. We got to see Josie in the parade -- she was so very thrilled and all smiles. Following the parade, Eric and I helped to host the classroom fall party where treats and games brought the school day to a close. Phew! I gotta tell ya, from just that little time in the classroom, I saw first hand how smart those second graders are! Look out world... here they come!!

While Josie spent a fun-filled day at school, Norah played hard with her grandparents. They laughed, they chased, they built, they did it all. So much so that Norah passed out for a good 2.5 hour nap! Following nap time, we were off to a surprise trip to the pumpkin patch and then out to supper! The pumpkin patch was at the local apple orchard where we were the only ones around and dinner was back in town where we were lucky enough to beat the Homecoming rush by a good 30 minutes!

How much more can a person jam into a day? I am sure someone out there can do more with the 24 hours they are given each day, but today, today was a great day for the Moore family. Today we had good quality fun together, fun that spanned the ages, and fun that will not soon be forgotten. It is days like today when I am so thankful that we live in a small town. There is nothing like the fun of fall activities experienced in the intimacy of a rural setting. Do I miss my former big cities? Sure I do. But today, today, I am reminded just why I so value our life in Small Town, USA.