1. Ive always thought Seamus looked like an elf. I think its a combo of the ears and the eyes. He looks so "bright eyed and bushy tailed" in this pic. I love it!
2. The term "bright eyed and bushy tailed" is one I picked up from my 7th grade teacher, Sr. Madeline. She used to reference good behavior in that way. Bright eyed and bushy tailed = eager to learn. These days Matt sees Sr. Madeline every single week. How trippy is that? He's going through classes to be Catholic and the classes are taught by Sr. Madeline and her staff. Sometimes Matt sees her twice a week: on Wednesday and at mass. The whole thing is really bizarre to me. I seriously feel like sometimes Im in a time warp. Seeing Sr. Madeline still causes me a bit of uneasiness. She was a very strict teacher and although she is very friendly and kind to me now, I cant seem to shake the little kid in me that was scared sh**less of her.
Shall we go for the third degree of "bright eyed and bushy tailed?" Matt's sponsor at his Catholic classes (taught by Sr. Madeline and her staff) is Mr. Hemenez - my oldest and best friend's father whom I met at St. Francis School. Yeah. Trip that. Linnea and I met in the first grade and remained the best of friends through grade and high school. She is like a sister to me and I am still close with her family. All these coincidental throwbacks to my childhood, sometimes make me feel like Im in an episode from the Twilight Zone. It feels very deja vu to me. There are days I pinch myself and/or shake my head in wonder cause my life honestly seems to be traveling backward. Its a really odd feeling.
3. Ive been listening to Elvis Costello this morning. That guy has a great catalog of music. I still enjoy so much of it to this day. "Whats so funny 'bout Peace Love and Understanding" came on and I couldnt help but think how profound those lyrics are to this day. When was this song recorded? Like early 80s right? Its astounds me sometimes when you click into something that was written years/decades ago and its still makes sense in present day. What IS so funny about peace, love and understanding??? Not much, if you ask me. That's serious shizz!
And more on the Elvis front, he has this show on the Sundance Channel called Spectacle. Its pretty cool. I recently saw a show where he was talking with Rufus Wainwright and I was loving it. If you're into music, this might be a neat show to tivo. I know I enjoy it.
4. I get to pick up little Michaelis Barela from preschool today. For those of you who dont know her, I'll add a picture. She is one of my best friend's daughters.
That little red head is a firecracker. I love that! Ive had her hello kitty umbrella for weeks and I'll finally be able to give it back to her today. She'll need it cause its pouring outside right now.
5. I found Seamus' rough draft for his John Adams paper this morning. Im pretty sure he's supposed to have it with him today, but its here at home instead. I also found his Math book - another item that is supposed to be with him. Whoops! The rough draft isnt too bad. It definitely needs some tweaking, but its totally workable. Shea's grown a lot since August and Im proud of him for that. I gotta give my boy props cause I know it hasnt been easy, but he's hanging in there and plowing through. In his 4.5 years in public school, he had done maybe 2 written reports at school. Since being at St. Francis, he's done double or triple that and we're only half way into the year.
The bummer thing with Seamus and his writing is that I would really love to help him with it, but he wont have it. For a kid who hasnt written much, his writing is really not that bad. If he could stay open minded and just listen to some of my advice, he could really grow as a writer. But I know that sitting down with him and trying to mentor him will just cause problems. In fact, it would cause more harm than good. So frustrating.
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