Stapling the Bulletins

At the end of last summer, one of our pastors--and someone I'm lucky enough to call a dear friend--left her position as Assistant Pastor of our church to become the lone pastor of her own church.  Kristin's departure made for a rough summer, and I remember crying for most of the week (okay, month) before she left.  People reminded me that she wasn't dying or even moving to a different area code, but it was a rough road nonetheless.

Soon after she left, I visisted her at her new church.  When I got there, she and her secretary were having a discussion about whether or not to staple the bulletins for Sunday morning.  "Should they be stapled?" Kristin asked.  "I just don't know.  Are they usually stapled?  Would you want a stapled bulletin?"  This went on for a while until Kristin asked the secretary how it's usually done.  Apparently, they usually weren't stapled.  So they left it at that.  No staples.

Last weekend, Matt and I drove out to Westminster for Kristin's installation as the new pastor of her very lucky church.  Once again, I found myself crying.  But this time, I wasn't sobbing or feeling sorry for a loss.  I was smiling.  She was so at home, so comfortable.  And while I'm still sad that I don't get to see my friend every week, I'm happier to see her so fulfilled and content where she obviously needs to be.

And at her installation, the bulletins were stapled.

Fall Getaways

Without a doubt, fall is my favorite time of year.  Even though I know fall will eventually leave me and I'll have to take up a tumultuous affair with winter, I still love it.  Matt and I have taken advantage of this most wonderful of seasons with a few stereotypical autumn getaways.

We went apple-picking in Westminster, Maryland.

(and nearly risked our lives climbing trees)

And we celebrated our anniversary in Frederick, Maryland.  Since this was a milestone anniversary, Matt let me handle all the details.  I booked us a room at a wonderful bed and breakfast, much to my husband's chagrin, as evidenced here by his "this is what people who stay at bed and breakfasts look like" pose:

That night, we enjoyed a "Taste of Frederick," opting for drinks and appetizers at Volt, the trendy hotspot, and dinner at the more affordable and low-key (yet equally tasty) Acacia down the road.

Our waiter at Acadia was a rather uptight young man named Frank.  Matt thought it would be hilarious to say to him, "I have to be frank..." then say something ridiculous.  For the rest of the meal, every time he saw Frank coming, Matt would threaten to say something like, "I have to be frank: this food is terrible," or "I have to be frank: have you ever waited on anyone before?"  Thankfully, restraint won out.

The next day, we visited some of Frederick's historic covered bridges.  All "Madison County" jokes aside, they were nice.  Anything historical is always nice.  But they were just bridges.

This fall has been one of great family time with Matt.  I'm so lucky to have a husband who indulges my frou-frou whims and finds ways to laugh at the seemingly mundane.  Memories like these make our endless love affair with winter just a bit more bearable.

Pearls of Teenage Wisdom

Hamartia (ha·mar·ti·a) -noun: A fatal flaw.

Student's written response: "My hamartia is that I over think thing."

Fighting Sirens

Whenever a fire engine passes within earshot of our house, Barley's hound dog instincts kick in, and he does his best to warn us.  He's so helpful.

'Weather' or not, here comes our anniversary

I knew Matt and I were taking a weather gamble when we decided to get married in mid-October in Minnesota.  I told myself not to stress about something I couldn't control.  I calmed myself down by reminding myself that, even if the weather was terrible on our wedding day, we would still have 50 anniversaries to enjoy good weather. 

The week before our wedding was cold and rainy.  But October 15, 2005, was stunning: 70 degrees and sunny.  We couldn't have asked for a more perfect fall day.

Then came the first of those 50 anniversaries.  On our first anniversary, October 15, 2006, we went to Hawaii and were greeted by an earthquake and subsequent power-outage.  The highlight of the island-wide blackout was the several hours we spent sipping Big Gulp margaritas out of paper cups at this Mexican restaurant:

The next three years were much of the same.
October 15, 2007:  Brutal cold snap
October 15, 2008:  Wind, rain and hail
October 15, 2009:  Cold, damp, drizzly and miserable

And now we've come to October 15, 2010.   We're celebrating our fifth anniversary with a weekend getaway, just in time for the massive nor'easter moving its way up the east coast.

Pearls of Teacher Wisdom

I was out of school at a meeting late last week, and another--far more seasoned--teacher covered one of my classes. 

I saw that teacher in the copy room this morning.  "So that class I covered last week," he began.  Little good ever comes from copy room conversations that start this way.

"They told me how hard your class is," he continued.  "Keep up the good work."

He's well-seasoned for a reason.

Jock Juxtapositions

Kickball...
Each teacher in our school has an assigned "duty."  Some stand in the cafeteria during a lunch shift.  Some monitor the parking lots before or after school.  I drew a short straw this year, so I'm on "coverage duty."  When a teacher is out for less than a full day, another teacher is sent to cover for him or her.

Usually I'm sent to cover in the foreign language department or for another English teacher.  I once had to cover for the Dance teacher, but she left her students wonderful busy work.  Then last week, I was notified that I would be covering for a gym teacher.  This teacher left me the following instructions: "After the girls change, take them out to the field hockey field.  Lead them in stretching and running, then start a game of kickball."  We have a field hockey field?  We used a random field behind the school instead.  What kind of stretching and running warms you up for kickball?  We skipped that part.  That left us 27 painful minutes of kickball.  The only contribution I made was when a girl yelled, "Our team is doing good!" and I replied "Your team is doing well!"

Football...
I spent much of yesterday at our first Speech competition of the year.  During one intense round of Exposition speaking, a very nervous sophomore was trying to convince us that "David Miliband will not, in fact, make the Labour Party less electable."  Meanwhile, the equally intense Baltimore City College High School football team was going through its pre-game grunting and hollering just below our classroom.  I don't remember much after, "David Miliband will not, in fact, make the Labour Party less electable."