the tale of one wiggle worm and a piece of gum

i have music with kindergarteners on tuesdays ( aslan's child you will appreciate this as your genius is about to enter the halls of learning). this tuesday i taught them "wiggle worm". it is timeless. every class loves and sings it till their 30. so we were talking about spring and what animals and insects come out in the spring. this brought us to worms. i was explaining that there were little worms that you couldn't see that could change to the color of your skin and clothes and they made you wiggle around when you weren't supposed to. austin, a teeny ,adorable , black, just turned 5 , little lispy child says "Mrs. Teacher- please don't say that again- it makes my skin feel weird and itchy." this is the same boy who thought floss was in your eyeball and prayed for his father who didn't want to see him anymore ( not true- his dad is doctor and loves him very much) i thought i was going to laugh my self into crying spell. then harrison, the big-eyed, chubby cheeked son of an actor, magician, doctor, etc., game up to me and got right in my face and said with all seriousness "my dad is in mexico this week.... hey, you have gum in your mouth. it is orange. my mom has that gum." then in an excited whisper "she got hers at the airport, did you?" i love these kids. they keep me young.

purity of the silver

i stayed up last night and finished watching the ice-dancing competition in this winter olympics. i love the winter olympics- sledding and skiing and skating and hockey and curling- i love it. so back to the long program of the ice dancing. at the start of the show, the americans were in second. a chance at winning gold for america after a 3 decade absence of any american medal in this competition. the pair skated beautifully and they won the silver. now compared to first place, second is often sad. i have watched these two weeks as athlete after athlete "show themselves royally" (as my mother used to say to me ) because they didn't get what they wanted or thought they deserved. i watched our woman's snowboarder show-off her way out of a gold medal. observed two speedskaters hate each other on and off the ice- both of them on the american team. i listened as our number one guy singles skater whined about the absence of a hotel, room service and a limo. i watched our number one skier take fifth, sixth, and lower and brag about how cool it was to ski while you were drunk. those kind of representatives of american sports make me almost want to quit watching. but then there are athletes such as our american ice-dancers. they make me forget for a moment what diva-like attitudes have been presented in other arenas and focus on their tears of joy and pride for their country. it may not have been gold, but i saw more work, diligence, humility, gratefulness, honesty, pride, and honor in those beribboned silver rings than i have seen in many of our athletes combined. and therein lies the purity of the silver. congratulations team u.s.a!

a night at the spa

because i am a sucker and because i feel badly saying no to anyone when they ask me to do something, i promised a co-worker that i would have a beauty control party to help her out. so last night was the night of rest and relaxation. we manicured our hands and rubbed one foot with peppermint lotion and the other with margarita lotion and then we put on steaming hot footies and wrapped warm terry cloth stress relievers around our necks. we closed our eyes after putting on chilled eye pads, pushed up our sleeves for a one arm message, and felt the citrus smell of a herbal moisturizing mist being sprayed in our faces. and all this time i am supposed to be calm and relaxed and thinking of a far off place where serenity flows. this is also the time i realize why i am not cut out for these things. while everyone else is doing their proper breathing (in with the nose- out with the mouth) i'm thinking of how funny i must look with the dumb eye patches on and then start giggling wondering if anyone else is really that peaceful. when i peeked- they were. every one of them were being good, so i crawled back into my neck wrap and replaced the cooling eye bandages. the last time i went to one of these my mother dropped one of her heated footies into her foot bath right in the middle the zen moment. we started snickering- then giggling- then laughing- then out right roaring. the nice beauty control lady finally just turned on the lights and tried to sell a few things. we had ruined the moment. i remembered this last night and tried to be good. but i also remembered again why i hate these grown up ladies parties. i'm too silly. too immature. i'm supposed to be one of the grown-up's , but that little kid in me rears its head at the most innopportune times. spa-schmaw. at least my wrinkles are from happiness.

what i know

there are few things that i can say are for sure. but this i do know and i do believe and will forever. God works best when we step aside and let Him show his power and love and faithfulness. today, i, along with many other people, am stepping aside and calling on the awesomeness of God to show itself- believing and claiming the promise. for my friends- for those i don't know- i stand firm in the knowledge of what is promised will be fulfilled.