Sorry I haven't been stopping by the blog too much lately, but I think I am getting my groove back. I promise you'll see more of my posts in days to come. I am sure you have been losing sleep over my delay. Don't worry, I have been too.
Really, ever since about midnight on New Year's Eve, I have just been in a strange but good (very good) state of mind.
It dawned on me that night that 2009 has the potential to be a powerful year, but it falls on my shoulders alone to seize it. The things I want to happen won't happen without a bit of hard work and sacrifice somewhere along the way. This has caused me to sit back and spend a lot of time thinking.
We are approaching the year of the Ox after all.
Changes have been keeping me busy at home this last week, and they are changes I feel really good about. I think we are entering a new phase of life around here.
My youngest and last born child has suddenly come into his big guy self. He is going to school 5 mornings a week, and more than that, just seems so READY to take in more of what life has to offer.
We have taken down baby gates, given away too small desks, culled baby toys and baby books, and made space for new frontiers. We've brought in more complex toys and tools, and the bigger books with greater depth and meaning, not to mention more fragile pages.
The little guy has such a proclivity toward creation. (Remember the 200+ stick puppets he made? Or the 100+ ornaments? or his new obsession of book making? . . .) Right now he is sitting behind me cutting yarn into various sized pieces and organizing them. He wants to glue them to a shirt. Go figure.
In honor of this trait of his, we decided he needed his own space to work, so we built him his own art & writing center.
It is amazing watching what giving a child their own space to explore and concentrate can do for them. He is growing so much; it brings tears to my eyes.
I also rehabbed an old easel to be a chalkboard easel, which has inspired efforts towards creation and drawing from a new vantage point. Chalk is such a wonderful medium for young children.
I believe this is because with chalk and an erasable board, children are given permission to submit fully to the process of drawing and are not preoccupied with any end product. Whatever they create will be whisked away to make room for the next process... and then the next.
We are also engaging in a family study of Mexico and the Spanish language.I am not 100% sure my children care about this subject, but I do. I need to drag someone else along for the ride with me. The best way to learn is to learn together.
This spring I am visiting one of my friends in Guadalajara, and I want to know a few things about the place before I go. On top of that, I'd at least like to be able to ask where the bathroom is when I get there.
The kids might not be thrilled about me quizzing them on Mexican geography, but they did seem to have fun playing a Spanish language game this morning.
I would write an object name on a post it note and ask the kids, "Donde esta . . . .?" and they would try and figure out what I was saying. The little guy had the most fun singing "Donde esta" over and over and running around putting stickers on things, but the older one seemed to enjoy the puzzle of figuring out what the word was. We had a great conversation on what the word "la ventana" could mean (the window).
Hopefully, my own interest in the subject won't wane and my kids will absorb something from the experience. I am only sad that I won't be able to bring them to Guadalajara with me. I think the 11 year old is a little offended I might go somewhere so wonderful without him.
Which brings this overdue and over long blog entry to the last points. What else have I been up to? I have been getting mentally ready for a very part time return to work this Spring. I have not taught outside of the home in 4 years, and I am ready. I think {bites nails as she types}.
Okay. I think this is enough. Congratulations and thanks if you made it this far. I hope you are all very well, and I'll be back before you know it, waxing on about my hula hoop maybe.
5 comments:
Hey, I'll go along for the ride, spanish is such a good one to learn.
Desi is quite the budding artist! Ruby spent the last 20 minutes she was here today putting her big crayons in her new desk & then drawing on it and it was so cool! I can't wait to see his shirt, what a great idea.
I could parallel some of your post, our family is going through some good transitioning. And I am feeling the same way about 2009 and it's potential, like this is really time for action. It may have even started around the same time, oddly enough.
Hula hoops, as a friend who was dazzled by your abilities ;), I look forward to hearing more!
thanks Kelly. I wanted to comment on your blog but still had a hard time. I did enjoy reading the two latest entries. I especially look fwd to chilling out around your woodstove. You guys did an amazing job with that.
"Hello! Are you still here? Anyone? I hope someone is . . . surely someone . . ."
Never fear, The Emerson Avenger is here! And passes through fairly regularly. Just because you have few commenters does not mean people are not reading your blog Kelly. The Emerson Avenger blog has had very few comments posted to it in recent months but the fact that my blogger profile views just passed the 6000 mark the other day, and some other indications, make it clear that it is being read by hundreds, and even thousands, of people. I am confident that it even has a handful of quite regular readers including U*U clergy and some of the not so good people at 25 Beacon Street in Boston. . . ;-)
"It dawned on me that night that 2009 has the potential to be a powerful year, but it falls on my shoulders alone to seize it. The things I want to happen won't happen without a bit of hard work and sacrifice somewhere along the way. This has caused me to sit back and spend a lot of time thinking."
2009 is off to a pretty powerful start for me Kelly. ;-) What with UUA elections at GA this year, and some other factors, I think that I will make some progress towards obtaining some real restorative justice for me and other victims of U*U clergy misconduct and/or other U*U injustices and abuses. I intend to send a version of this Open Letter To UUA President Bill Sinkford very soon. Indeed it has already been delayed by a few weeks due to the Christmas holidays and other factors. One way or another I am confident that 2009 will be a powerful year for me.
Happy Year of the Ox,
Robin Edgar aka The Emerson Avenger
I'm looking forward to your visit! I am proof that one can get along fine in Mexico without being fluent in Spanish. In fact, I'm still having difficulty with the menus! But the more one knows, the better. I would focus on general vocabulary; no one will be quizing you on where Lake Chapala or the Sierra Madre Mountain ranges are. :)
But "knowledge is power." It never hurts to know the obsure stuff - might come up in Trivial Pursuit someday.
I hope and trust that you will accomplish great things this year.
"obscure"
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