Pigeon

One of my favorite shirts has Mo Willems's Pigeon on the front.  You know, Pigeon of "Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Bus" fame.

On my shirt, pigeon is reading a book entitled "How to Drive a Bus".  Over top is the caption "Driven to Read."  I love this shirt.  It's comfortable.  It's big enough on me that I can wear it with leggings and nobody is looking at my ass.  It's also full of warm memories.  I picked up this shirt at an ALA convention several years back, and it brings back warm memories of author encounters and library friends everywhere I turn!

Sadly, I am no longer able to wear this shirt to work.  I wore it to substitute teach not long after I bought it. 

Now you know, there are kids you work with when you teach that stick with you forever.  Something about them haunts you, and you find yourself thinking about them a lot.  For whatever reason, they are on your mind.  At this particular school, there was a very loving, very large, very neglectful family.  The kids were delightful, loving, and supportive of each other.  They were respectful of teachers and staff.  But they were woefully neglected.  Hygiene was not a priority for the family.  The kids would come to school in need of clean clothes and showers.  The school provided clothes, but not the showers.  I adored those kids.  They were very smart and very funny, but I knew that life was not easy for them and that the ends very rarely met each other.

This particular day found me back in their school for the first time in over a week.  I'd been thinking about the kids a lot.  We'd been on an extended break, and I was worried that the kids had not seen enough food during that time.

As the doors opened that morning, I was assigned to bus duty, and I stood in the hallway, greeting children and reminding them to slow down.  When I saw the youngest girl of the family, her face lit up and she ran into me, almost knocking me down as she gave me the best bear hug a substitute teacher could ever ask for.  Her older siblings, trailing behind her, saw the hug happening, and they all came and joined in the giant bear hug before they went on about their business.

As they walked off, the teacher working the hall with me looked down at my favorite pigeon shirt with a look of horror on her face.  "Ummm.... did you bring another shirt with you?" 

I hurriedly looked down and saw not only dirty arm and hand prints on my shirt, but this weird set of oily halos.  I looked up at the other teacher in dismay, and said "what"?

"Oh, it's those kids.  They're always so dirty.  Those are their hair marks.  Mom hasn't washed their hair in quite some time.  I'm surprised you'd let them hug you.  Most of us won't let them hug us because they ruin our clothes."

I mulled that thought over as arrival continued.  Think about that for a while yourself.  It's a sobering thought when you really put some thought behind it.

I saw the kids many more times over the years that I substituted.  If they asked for a hug, I would gladly give them one and be damned to my clothes.   Every once in a while, I see the family about town, at the grocery store or the park.  As the kids have gotten older, they've gotten better about meeting their own hygiene needs.  They are brilliant kids, and they continue to thrive.  As they've gotten older, they don't ask for hugs, but they do stop and talk with me for a while!

The hair stains never have come out of my favorite pigeon shirt.  I have tried everything to get them out, but they're just not going away.  As a result, I only wear the shirt around the house. 

When I wear the shirt, I look down and remember the love, joy, and enthusiasm of children.  In particular, I remember a family of brilliant if somewhat neglected children.  I see their enthusiasm, and their need for love and attention.  And it reminds me that ALL children need to feel love and acceptance from the world around them.  It's easy to judge those kids by how they looked, but if you looked past the surface appearance, you were privileged to meet genius kids who have the potential to change the world.  

The bigger question here is - how will they change the world?  For good or for bad?  How will the kindness and judgement of strangers impact their adult selves? 

Food for thought.

Starbucks Theater

This is absolutely wonderful!



Considering how much time I spend in Starbucks writing, attempting to write, or watching other people write, I really do appreciate the entire concept. 



Enjoy!

Monday's Musings

I'm just getting out from several days under the dreaded curse of the flu.  It's been a rough few days.  I was going to write a poem to humor you, then thought better of it.   It's a pretty annoying piece of work...  especially when I looked it over and realized that I had managed to rhyme a word with Phlegm.  

I'm sitting at Starbucks now, enjoying a very cold glass of tea, attempting to write a few pithy things - I'm editing a long term project that I wanted to publish before September.  I'm making progress, but I keep finding ways to derail myself.  Currently, it's the cute little birds hopping around just outside the window.

And the internet keeps slowing down.  I'm double checking old research, and I keep losing my internet connection.  That is a definite problem.  But, husband is at home with the flu, and I'm trying to stay out for a block of time so that he can sleep without interruptions.  So, I tolerate the bad internet connection.

And then there's this.  Do you see this?  What is it?  I can't tell, and it's driving me nuts!!!! 
If you look closely at the picture, you can see something metallic wrapped in that plastic sheeting... but what is that something?  The front seat on the passenger's side is pushed all the way forward - just to add to the mystery. 

(I think we all see now the real reason why I'm having trouble finishing my work!)

Sit Back and Listen

During the children's sermon on Sunday morning, our Director of Education gave the children each one of those little bamboo finger traps.  As they sat there, trying to get their fingers out of their little cages, the Education Director was talking to them about the importance of slowing down.  Of stopping what you are doing and listening to what God has to say to you, and paying attention.  She mentioned that if you slow down, and stop struggling, you will be released from the traps of this world.

The two little kids sitting on her left immediately quieted down, and pushed their hands together, releasing themselves from the traps.

The two on her right took a more innovative approach.  They quickly turned their fingers in opposite directions, ripping the bamboo apart in the middle.  Then they quickly pulled the shreds of the bamboo from their fingers, throwing the remains on the floor.

She compared the two methods of getting out of the finger traps, and commented on how the kids on her left had gotten out of their difficulties without leaving any mess behind.

She then pointed at the pile of trash left on the floor by the kids who had pulled their traps apart. 

"You got out of the trap, but you left a big mess on the floor."

"That's what the trash can is for" replied one of the boys.

And you know, that's a pretty good metaphor for life.  Sometimes, life requires you to get messy to get through or out of a situation.  But once you get out of that mess, you will be able to clean up the pieces and move on.

NoSpenduary Week 6

Our savings account continues to slowly creep upwards.  Knock on wood, we will have no major expenses before we renovate the hallway bathroom in March!

Things We Did This Week to Save Money:
1) Checked out DVD's from the library - AND we returned them on time so that we didn't have to pay overdue fines.

2) I worked on daughter's quilt.  Okay, not sure how this is saving money, but since I'm not actually out spending money because I'm trying to finish the darn thing, technically, this counts!

3) I picked up a couple of extra shifts at work to help add more money to the budget for the bathroom renovation.

4) I packed my lunch every day that I went to work.

5) I looked long and hard around the yard and found a place to put my garden this year.  It's time to lay that puppy out!  I currently have it marked on paper - but I'm going to get out this weekend and mark it out with string.

What We Ate for Dinner This Week.
1) Vegetarian Chili

2) Burritos made from the Vegetarian Chili

3) Some really hideous combination of vegetables that I put together in Spring Rolls.  It ended up tasting just as hideous as it sounds.  I think my biggest mistake was trying to broil them - hoping they'd taste more like egg rolls.  Yeah, no - don't do that.  It really doesn't work! 

4) Salmon Pasta Salad

5) Latkes and a big green salad

6) Baked potatoes (made with the potatoes we didn't use for the Latkes) and the leftover chili and veggies from the spring roll disaster.  Surprisingly, this turned out to be really, really good!

7) I picked up a box of Jammin' Jerk Shrimp from the grocery store before I went to work last night.  I had mine over brown rice with a side of green leafy stuff.  Husband had a side salad of green leafy stuff and foraged through the leftovers in the fridge.  He made a small batch of biscuits and had those with all of the leftover vegetable soup from last week.

Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing breaks before we get the bathroom replaced!

Change is in the Air

I've been thinking about the blog recently.  I've found that I've moved away from funny stories and tales and have moved into ground where I'm covering more books, more library stuff, and not following along with what was my original intent of this blog.  Mainly: crafting, raising kids, and making a house a home.  Over the years since I've started this blog, I've seen my three kids graduate from high school, and come this spring, two of them from college.  I've gone from juggling kids and working part time jobs to making that awkward transition to empty-nester with grown kids living in the house - sometimes.  It's a weird transition, to be sure.  And it's one that I need to explore more, because I'm certain I'm not the only person out there who's experiencing this phase of life.

On the other hand, I'm finding that this blog is beginning to reflect what I'm doing at work more and more - the larger number of book reviews, etc.  And I am getting further and further away from what I originally intended to do.

So, what to do?

I am going to be changing up a few things.  I already keep a blog of Young Adult Books that I read.  I began that blog many years ago when I took a class in Young Adult Literature while working on my Master's Degree.  I plan on keeping that blog.  I enjoy reading YA literature.  If you're interested in following that blog, you can find it here: http://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/

I'm going to start another blog - Library Nut's Library Blog.  My plan is to update it sporadically with programming ideas, books, and other library stuff.  Will I review books on that blog?  Yes, but it's going to be different.  I'm going to be reviewing the best books that I read.  Across all genres.  And, I'm going to talk more about books.  And library issues.  You can find my Library Blog here: http://librarynutblog.blogspot.com/

I have a Goodreads account.  Some of the books I read are reviewed on there.  You can see all of my shelves there.  I'll continue to list my books on the sidebar under books for this year, but I'm going to move away from reviewing the books on this blog.  If I can ever figure out how to link my Goodreads account to this blog, then I'll add the link onto the side bar! 

What does that mean for Mini-Van Mom?  It means I'm going to continue to post, but I'm going to do so less often.  I'll be posting at least once a week.  Maybe even twice a week.  I'd like to say I'm going to go for three times a week, but I wouldn't count on it.  For now, I will continue to post my Musings on Monday.  Look for something else around Wednesday or Thursday. I'm going to go for quality over quantity for now.  I want to get back to writing one funny something a week.  Something that makes you think and hopefully laugh a little bit.

Thanks so much for sticking with me through the past six months!  Adjusting to the new job, the change in the hours that I work, and the new work environment has taken some time.  I appreciate everyone who clicks in to check in on me!

Deeper Thoughts

In the past two weeks, I personally know of 6 people in their 50's who have died of Colon Cancer.

The oldest of these people was 54 years old.  Black, White, Male, Female, Asian, they all had one thing in common - they had never had a Colonoscopy.  They had tumors in their colons that grew to a size that blocked their colon, their colon ruptured, and they ended up dying from the complications.

I am familiar with the ravages of Colon Cancer.  A little over two years ago, my Mother's Colon ruptured.  At the age of 84, she had never had a colonoscopy.  She had a tumor in her colon that ruptured.  All of that stuff in her colon spilled into her abdominal cavity.  Two emergency surgeries, one bout with pneumonia, and one bout with congestive heart failure - she spent 6 weeks in the ICU before all was said and done.  She will never again poop the way the rest of us do.  She has a colostomy bag that will be her friend until the day she dies.

Four people had ruptured colons that same night as my Mom.  She was the only one who survived.

Did you know - Colon Cancer is the most treatable form of cancer - IF it is caught early?

A colonoscopy is not the worst thing that can happen to you.  Having your colon rupture is.  Dying early because of complications from colon cancer is a horrible thing.

I had my colonoscopy the summer after my Mom's bout with colon cancer.

The preparation wasn't pleasant.  But honestly, it was only one night.  I've had stomach bugs that were worse than the prep for the colonoscopy.

24 hours after the colon prep, I was enjoying a wonderful dinner with my family.  Happy and secure in the knowledge that three polyps - one of which was in the exact same place as my Mothers' was - removed.

I'll have to do it all over again in a couple of years.  But it's okay.  I'll be watching my youngest child graduate from the community college in May, and three days later, I'll be watching my middle child graduate from college.  After all, doesn't that matter more than a few hours of inconvenience the night before a colonoscopy?

Take the time to take care of yourself!