once more into the fray

well, another month has gone by with no blogging. i don't know that i have anything worth sharing...just an ordinary life. for all that, i can't go a day without checking in on facebook....

my son dylan got married last week to a wonderful girl from a wonderful family in charleston, sc. what a beautiful weekend we had there! and may i just say, i would be happy to live there! i wonder if the Lord will ever see fit to move us closer to our children and grands. it's certainly my heart's desire but i am content to be used of Him here while He would have it that way. sort of burger king theology...."have it your way. have it your way."

and now summer is here. i would like to stay on the beach (see last post) but already i feel myself pulled in several directions. i WILL read this summer. my short list: the abolition of man and that hideous strength by cs lewis, tears of the giraffe and morality for beautiful girls by alexander mc call smith, one of those murder mysteries by patterson from the series with numbers...i think it's the seventh one, and spurgeon's bio. and, of course, the perfect place to read is on the beach. i also need to totally revamp my history curriculum...it just needs help! too much social studies and not enough history.

and my question for the day is: what is the best candy? my answer is milk duds but my nephew says malted milk balls. my neice says reeses-no question. what say you?

it's may. my last blog? february! why? guess i have no real life to speak of...

anyway. taking a breath today now that my class play is over. we did anne of green gables and it went off without a hitch. i had to keep reminding myself they were only fourth graders so i shouldn't be looking for academy award quality. i just wanted them to be heard and understood. most of them rose to the occasion with a couple surpassing expectations and a couple never really meeting the mark. next, we do a mini-presentation of jonah and the whale and then our drama requirements will be fulfilled. the school year is winding down and, as it is with most teachers i think, i'm already planning on changes i'll be making next year. that being said, my ultimate goal for the summer is to sit by a pool or the ocean and close my eyes for three months. i'll let you know how that works out...

card club night results

here are my cards from last night's stamp club. we spend a great deal of time laughing, a good deal of time eating and-oh yeah-we stamp a bit, too. next month we are sharing designs. i only have to come with one which is a mercy. sometimes i stare at the stamps and can't think of a thing! oh- i didn't design the flower pot card. i got that idea from here: http://susiemccormick.blogspot.com/

just a card

made these for valentine's day stamp club. top to bottom: gift card cup. fill it w/ candy and a gift card. hey-it was for valentine's...candy had to be included! middle: treat boxes. bottom: um...cards! the one on the right has an acetate window. i had hoped it would look like you were looking out the window at a bird on a branch...use your imagination!

cannot believe they're predicting snow for tomorrow! wait. of COURSE i can believe it! i know better but hope springs up every groundhog day. well, perhaps it will result in no school on monday thus prolonging our precious vacation just one more day. speaking of vacation, mine certainly didn't go according to plan. MY plan was for a two day getaway with hubby at the beginning and a two day getaway with my sisters at the end...yeah--nada getaways. well, maybe for spring break. did manage to see a couple of movies with hubby and go shopping with one sister...all was not bad. saw slumdog millionaire, gran torino, and taken. my ratings: *****,****,*** respectively. had a swell time cruising around wrentham and decided on new china from villeroy and boch. don't tell. i think i'll just slip it into the house one plate at a time! what do you think? cute or what?

sheesh! where have i been???? well, school keeps me busy and i do facebook a lot cuz i can keep in touch w/ my chil'ns that way. and yes, i do like to play scrabble and packrat there. what can i say? more than that, i guess i don't have much to say, although my last rant-i mean entry-belies that somewhat. now i have a twitter account, too. have you heard of this? it's just a status reporter. i like to think of it as a mini-blog. you have to limit yourself to 140 or so characters and it's very big w/ the i-phone crowd. of course, i don't have an i-phone and i can only imagine how much MORE procrastinating i could do if i DID have one so i'm probably better off w/o it...yet i soooo want one! anyway, here's my twitter addy: https://twitter.com/uptonannie it's school vacation now and so i can check in here. it's been a busier week than i had thought but so far pretty relaxing. i'll try to be better about stopping by. sorry to any of you who have been wondering.

i know how job's wife felt. not that i've lost my children or any of my stuff...indeed, i have way too much stuff!
but sometimes i think about mrs. job and wonder about her motivation. just what made her say those awful words and seal her reputation forever? i think i know. (this is completely speculative and extra-biblical so don't take it as theology.) i think job's wife saw her husband devastated, afflicted, financially ruined, and all because of what? from all she could see, he'd lived his life as a Godly man, tried his best, and had set a good earthly example of a "Christian" in how he lived before her and his family. and not only did it all go terribly wrong, but to top it all off, he received NO solace from his friends and brothers in the Lord! no, instead, he received rebukes and accusations. i think THIS is what made job's wife despair. when her husband cried out to his own, they stabbed him in the back. why do i understand this to be the case? because i've seen it happen. and though she should have chosen her words FAR more carefully, i think she was just paralyzed because she had no words to comfort him when the men who should have bound his wounds and given him hope did neither. woe to those who do not bring comfort and kind words when it is within their power to do so! thank God for the few, the happy few, who are a blessing to their brothers and sisters in Christ and not a curse! it is hardest for a helpmate to see her spouse struggle with all the "shoulda-coulda-wouldas" and question himself to distraction when all along a kind word could be as gold in a setting of silver.
sometimes...i just want to go very far away from the ministry and wrap myself around a deserted isle.