A sticker of love

The highlight of my four-year-old students' little lives are getting the stickers at the end of each unit in their English book. They all put stickers that say "Unit 4" on their hands or shirts and consider it the best day ever. While we were leaving the classroom in a line, I stopped to ask a little blonde boy with red glasses why he was crying hysterically. He explained it was because his sticker had ripped in half. I tried to calm him down and make him see how unimportant a ripped sticker is in the grander scheme of things and was having little to no success (as usual) when, suddenly, the little girl next to him took off her sticker and offered it to him. There was a brief moment of silence, then his entire face lit up and he gave her a hearty hug. I was touched. So it's true, she pushes other kids in line and always wants to be first, but we all have our faults. Right? And that was an act of true love. 

Presents from my 2nd grade CCD students (and the famous "July" spelling of my name)... 

Welcome mat

My informal-kind-of-spiritual-director told me this weekend I should pour out my love to more people: my students, my friends, etc. Less rational, fewer worries. There was an immediate click within me and that's what I hope will happen. 

I used to hide in a party crowd 

Bottled up inside 

Feeling so left out 

Standing in a corner wearing concrete shoes 

With my frozen smile 

And my lighted fuse 

Now every time I start to feel like that 

I roll out my heart like a welcome mat

- from "Happy Girl" by Martina McBride

Me and my friend Catia last weekend at her house...

Kneading

There is something comforting about knowing that every week I'll knead my own bread... and that I know how now! 

I've been kneading, house-hunting, soul-searching...

“There is nothing wrong with God's plan that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.” 

― Laura Ingalls Wilder, Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder - Volume One: On Wisdom and Virtues

“These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraphs and kerosene and coal stoves -- they're good to have but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em.” 

― Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter

Domestic sanctuary

We were able to pray a little (teensy weensy) bit together in a made-on-the-spot sanctuary, reading the notes from a "How St. Joseph and Mary overcame the crisis". My favorite thoughts: if you don't let someone go, you won't get to see them grow; the other side of the coin of suffering is growth; Mary at the foot of the cross was a new annunciation, a new motherhood. 

Bread

Inspired by a friend who invited me to her house last Friday, I successfully made my own homemade bread. I used her Bimby recipe, without the Bimby...and it was easier than I expected. Next time, I'm sure it will be even better with my kneading tips from pinterest. A clean house and freshly baked bread... that was a first for me yesterday (the bread part I mean...). 

Teacups

This Friday I was supposed to stay the night at my friend Catia's house, but we ended up spending the night at other friends' house instead. When I stopped by her house with her the next day, by chance, I was so touched to see she had set out two cups of tea, a tea pot and cookies for when we would arrive. Overlooking her grand view of the city...

Dry clothes

If you also rely on a line to dry clothes, you know there's nothing like bringing your {dry} clothes in right before a storm hits. It even threatened with a few sprinkles. And nothing like bringing those clothes inside and making yourself some nice tea with tea leaves stolen from your landlady and some lemon. 

You build me up... so I can stand on mountains

Every three months or so I start running regularly and feel really wonderful about it... for about a week. Here's to hoping this time it will finally stick! It's really just a 20 min liiight jog around the park, but maintaining these little habits of exercise and playing piano during the week are what BUILD ME up. And I think I've discovered the trick: get plenty of PEOPLE and relationship during the weekend to be able to stay motivated during the week. 

A special cupcake at my sister's house, my dark run in the park (and the ducks there), practicing piano...

The tragic Tess of D'Ubervilles

Life is made up of a lot of bad things and some good things... is something I heard this weekend. Upon further thought, I think it might be true. Life is tough, an uphill battle. However, I don't think it's as hopeless and terrible as it is portrayed in the book Tess of D'Ubervilles. I am still depressed today after finishing it yesterday. It's a page turner, and has a really strong and interesting female protagonist, but it is REALLY, REALLY, horribly tragic and depressing. If I had known how it would make me feel, I might not have read it.  On the other hand, it made me put my own life and blessings into perspective.

 

“The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not among things done, but among things willed.”
― Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles

 

“This hobble of being alive is rather serious, don’t you think so?”
― Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles

New year, fresh starts

How is your 2013 going? Mine was off to a good start on the 1st: cleaning my house, eating leftover Mexican food, riding bikes to the beach with the handsome man who will become my lifelong companion this year... something we love doing but unfortunately rarely do. Hopefully this year will be full of those things I love to do but rarely do. 

Our bikes supporting each other on their journey ;), D playing with a dog that isn't ours...

Sitting around

My parents have come and gone for Christmas and my life has returned to normal... and strange as it sounds I kind of miss sleeping on my sister's couch, family tension and arguments, sitting around in other people's houses with nothing to do. It's for sure: I need to infuse relationships and PEOPLE into my solitary, quasi-structured life. I've been becoming very "hobbit-ish", seeking the comfort and quiet of my home, but it's also good to balance it with coming home from far, from adventures, and perils, and discoveries everyday. 

Today on IgnitumToday...

Femininity and Acceptance

Julie Rodrigues | January 9, 2013 AD | Reply

“Don’t eat that”, “Don’t wear that”, “Don’t say that” or “Your vision of things is just… wrong”. This might sound familiar to you and, I would add, especially if you’re a woman. And this isn’t directed toward children: it’s usually for a spouse. I’m not talking about suggestions or being helpful. I’m talking about coddling, overprotecting, enabling, manipulating… however you want to put it.

Continue reading here:
http://www.ignitumtoday.com/2013/01/09/femininity-and-acceptance/

Food and cheer and song

I just finished reading The Hobbit and a word to describe it would be "enjoyable". One of my favorite lines from the book was the following:

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

 - from "The Return Journey" chapter in The Hobbit.