dripping with passion

yesterday was my ten year high school reunion. it was a really fun evening, and felt like a total time warp. i left totally full of gratitude for my high school experience, for dear friends, and for the past ten years of my life.   i was really, really, really into high school. after watching my eight older siblings graduate from east high, i was so heartset on all the traditions and spirit and fun associated with high school (and particularly that high school). i felt like life began freshman year and totally ended at graduation. i was involved in as many things as possible: cheerleading, choir, student government, school plays, sports rivalries, going to every dance, assemblies, dance company, silly events like senior assassination and the mr. leopard pageant, etc etc etc. and although my expectations were sky-high and there were of course hard and dramatic times along the way, i absolutely loved  high school. i still get a swelling heart every time i drive past east hig...

right now i am sitting in my empty classroom. it's clear out day, and i still can't believe it's all over...it has felt surreal all weekend. i knew taking on this job would be difficult, and i also knew somewhere in my heart that it would be deeply rewarding, but i could not have realized in my wildest imaginations how intensely challenging and incredibly enriching this adventure has been. three and a half months ago i was praying so hard that they would find someone else to fill the role, and today i am praying with so much gratitude that i was the one to fill it. it's funny how life works like that. this whole experience feels like the epitome of one of my life's mantras - hard is good . i said those three little words to my students every single day, and told them in my graduation speech that that is the most important thing i want them to remember me teaching them. every challenge is an opportunity -- cherish the chances you have to do hard things. ther...

we did it! we made it to the end of the year, these thirty eight 8th graders and i. (two were missing for cap & gown pictures) yes, i've super been looking forward to this day - when these three months of craziness would end - so so much. but sheesh, i miss these kids tremendously already. aren't they just the cutest thing you've ever seen? i am so proud of them as my students and as my friends. the last day of school was pretty special. we wrote our dreams and goals on yellow balloons and sent them up into the wide blue sky, we signed yearbooks and reflected on things we have learned (toasting to a great year with some jamba juice). we got in a big circle and shared appreciations for each other, and many sweet genuine tears were shed. my heart was a big ole puddle. i was the last to share an appreciation, and this is what i told my students: when i was asked to take over teaching the 8th grade class, i was incredibly overwhelmed. i had to make a lot of sac...

this is my last week of teaching. i have chosen to return to a more administrative job at my school next year. i know this is the right decision for me in this time of my life, and in may ways i am relieved and excited to leave full-time teaching behind for now, but i am also feeling quite melancholy. i have really really loved many aspects of teaching, and i can't believe how much i have been positively stretched during these wild three months thrown into a crazy classroom. i will forever cherish this experience and how it has changed me. and oh! how i will miss my students. i've been having a hard time not getting misty the past few school days as i think about my days without these often difficult but so so wonderful kids. i'm really glad for this opportunity i've had to learn that "attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure." these 12 weeks of teaching have been quite the ordeal, but since i have strived to approach them with the ...

i've been so wildly busy at school that i nearly forgot i was turning a year older this week! june 12 felt swallowed up in the craziness of the end of the school year, but i made sure to do a few things to celebrate being alive and having another year to experience mortality on this glorious planet. and as i prayed to god last night i gave so many thanks for all the fullness and blessings and challenges and opportunities of the last twenty eight years. my students sang to me (twice!) and were quite well behaved just as a little gift :) after school i went on a beautiful run in the perfectly lovely tree-lined streets of palo alto, and then to dinner at my favourite  restaurant with my admirer. after, several of my best girls met at my neighbors' house to celebrate with cake and friendship. since i've been so consumed with work the past few months, all i really wanted for my birthday was some time with my amazing girlfriends. the incredible melinda made the most gorgeo...

i present to you: the first graduating class from alpha public schools: we took a class picture to hang in the office forever, and i hopped in at the last snap. these extraordinary (although often patience-trying!) young people have impacted my life in big, big ways. i love them. fun end of the year things: -we took a field trip to san francisco. somehow i got thirty-eight thirteen-year-olds from our school to fisherman's wharf to ocean beach to the san francisco zoo and back again without any major problem (we did loose a few students for a while at the wharf...). it was a totally crazy day. but it felt in a lot of ways like hanging out with thirty-eight of my best friends. we spend so much time together. i love them. aren't they darling? i am struck again by how angelic they mostly all look in this picture... in many ways deceiving, but also! they each have such a light. -we had a school dance! it was outside under the scorching sun right after school, and the teac...

it really feels like summer! (even though i have two more weeks of school -- grrr!) a few weeks ago i went to the tim mcgraw concert at shoreline amphitheater. it was my first time at that terrific venue and what's better than hearing big timmy sing "bbq stain" under a summer starlit sky? it was pretty great. last night i went for round two at shoreline to see one republic, and it was one of the most fun nights i've had in a long while. denise, kayce, christi and i rode our bikes from our neighborhood to the concert. it was the most kind and lovely early summer evening, and we rolled up to the amphitheater right as the opening band was singing that catchy/happy tune "best day of my life." we joined a few more friends in lawn seats on the hill way above the stage and out under the sunsetty sky. one republic was fantastic live, and there were songs i really like that i didn't even realize were one republic songs! they sang these lyrics...and i just fe...

eleven days! not that anyone is counting, but i have eleven days left of teaching. eleven days until summer. real, pure, total summer. i know i'm going to sob like a baby at graduation and miss my students like crazy...oh sweet sweet baby june 21, i am verrrrrrry excited about you. it has been a wild  school year. there's a lot of relaxing and celebrating to be done starting after eleven school days. i only have 3.5 weeks of summer break, but i sure am going to make the most of my time off. i was going to take some exotic trip abroad, but mostly i just want to chill . so some of my plans include: -a drive to utah with a day stop in lake tahoe -reveling in the glory that is summertime in park city -my ten year high school reunion (is that real? yes, ten years. wow.) -road trips to arches national park and zion national park -hiking mt timpanogos -spending the fourth of july in the best fourth of july spot - provo, utah (seriously!) -the golden, halcyon day...