Randomday

I am thankful, so thankful, for working at a school with motivated students, caring parents, and wise administrators.  Sometimes, even that is not enough.  I packed up my Christmas teacher loot yesterday afternoon after class, along with two folders of papers to grade, and drove home.  Switching on the radio I heard the news.  My classroom borders the kindergarten classroom on one side and the first grade classroom on the other.  On some mornings we can hear the kindergartners singing through the thin walls.  One of the first grade reading groups comes in during first period, when I'm just arriving and setting up for the day.  Children that young, that cute, that sweet, were victims yesterday.  And the teachers did what teachers always do, and must have felt, as teachers always feel, that it just wasn't good enough.

If any good can come from such senseless violence, it will be if people turn to Christ for comfort and help, at this season of His birth.  That's all.  There aren't any other words I can really say.

This started out as a sad blog post and I'm not sure how to turn it around and be truly random, as is my habit on Saturdays.  There are a lot of sadnesses in my extended family and friends right now, too; parents preparing to say goodbye forever to their very much loved daughter, struggling in the hospital.  Another set of parents worried about their son after a concussion left him unable to complete his first semester of college.  Teenagers going through rebellion, families struggling to make ends meet.  MSNBC ran a piece about Petra Anderson earlier this week; she was the girl our family remembers from Colorado, who was shot in the Batman shooting last summer.  It's an uplifting piece and a small bit of hope in the midst of darkness.

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How about if I declare an asterisk line break, and everything under it is random and lighthearted?

The tree is up.  I looked it up in the little diagram of the landscaping that the Bronsons left for us, and it appears to be a Hinoki Cypress.  It's not such a bad little Christmas tree, in a Charlie Brown kind of way.  I haven't done any decorating... the girls did a little.  At least chopping it down didn't result in a fence repair bill like last year's tree.

Quarta had her first sleepover party last night and stayed up too late.  We can really tell the next day when she doesn't get enough sleep.  Or if she has too much sugar.

Daniel is in the middle of finals and really looking forward to his flight home Wednesday.

Secundus declined to go to the Cedar Tree protocol formal event yesterday and instead jumped on the chance to see the Hobbit.

Tertia is reading The Magician's Nephew for her book report.  She especially liked the part where the Elephant thought Uncle Andrew was a tree and squirted water on him with her trunk.

Grandma's home is still in lockdown mode... I think she's getting a bit tired of it.  Sure hope they get the germs under control soon.

I put on the binding of the Jack's Chain quilt yesterday and I'm stitching it down by hand now.  It's very scalloped all along the edges.  I also pieced a backing for the purple quilt today, and am halfway through the 4th clue of Easy Street.  Somehow the small activities of sewing and knitting and even (gasp!) cleaning and housework are good to focus on right now.