70 something good-bye hugs

Today was my last day working at The Shepherd's School. It was like any other normal day, I made lunch for 60 some children, filed some paperwork, picked up toys, and wiped a few runny noses. I said the same things I've said countless times, "finish your milk", "keep your hands to yourself please", "my friends why is it so loud in here?"...
To say I have loved every second of my job wouldn't be totally true. I had my days, like you would with just about any job. I mean getting puked on isn't glamorous and coming home with glitter in your hair and green marker all over your hands may increase your water bill. Caring for children requires more than just being on your toes, you have to keep them off each others too! You don't just read stories, you help write them. Children have this amazing ability to push you the the point of pulling out your hair one minute and then make you laugh so hard your sides hurt the next. The amount of energy they have may drain you of all yours. And somehow they wiggle their way into your heart. That made any bad day at work worth it, I loved every second of that!

Saying good-bye is hard. I wanted to help the kids understand and give them ways to process the fact that I was leaving, hence the paper chain count down. We read a book about saying good-byes, I showed them a picture of my house, and we talked about where NC is and how long it will take to drive there from TX. Today I walked around to each class and hugged all those precious little people. I couldn't help crying, no matter how much I tried. I will cherish so many memories of the dozens of children I cared for in my 3 years there.

Texas can't take the NC pride out of me...

"I was raised in NORTH CAROLINA, where flip flops come out in February,everyone pulls over to let a funeral pression pass, we don't have fire flies,we have lightin' bugs, taters are mandatory, y"all is a proper noun, chicken is fried, biscuits come with gravy, sweet tea is the house wine, and you never, ever disrespect your elders!"


I read this today and had to laugh at how true it is. You don't always notice the "culture" of your hometown, it's a comfortable normal you call home; it's when you leave that comfortable surrounding and travel to live in a completely different one that you realize how many little things make "home" feel like home.


After 3 years of living in Texas I can say that Texas pride is a living breathing fact (and yes it's bigger, all things are in TX)!! I've come to love several things about this area of the cowboy nation: amazing thunderstorms, boots are considered everyday footwear, Tex Mex, and the dedication of sports fans (seriously you can still hear MAVS WON ringing in the air if you listen closely). I learned to have a love/hate relationship with the highways and road construction, but I still have no idea why they call it a "spur" road... and either does anyone else. My Spanish vocabulary increased ever so slightly, and I mean just a tiny bit. Summer heat has taken on a whole new kind of meaning surrounded by the "concrete jungle", you may be able to fry an egg on your sidewalk, but here in the "Big D" we can fry a steak! Yes, Texas is flat, mostly but there are perks to that; fewer tunnels and the wide open sky that goes on and on and on. I'm sure you've seen the bumper sticker, "I wasn't born in TX but I got here as fast as I could" or something similar. I don't plan to put one on my car, and though I do truly love this little slice of Texas they call the "Metro-plex" I'm still a Carolina girl and I'm going home.

Pack to take, pack to store, Goodwill

I'm making a list.... shocking! Well I guess it's really 3 lists in 1, 3 different categories but 1 event/task... moving. "Pack to take"- aka whatever fits in my car! "Pack to store"- furniture, dishes, books, rugs, and all the "I'll probably need this again someday" items. "Goodwill"- coffee mugs from white elephant Christmas parties I can't believe I haven't gotten rid of yet, t-shirts from college (ok not all of them, but it's time for a few to graduate), and all the other stuff I rashly gather up in a trash bag before heading to the donation center. I feel like I need to walk around and label everything with a little sticker or post-it-note.
I took a story book about saying good-bye to read to the kids at work on Friday, in effort to help them understand and have time to adjust to the fact that I am leaving. After I read the story we talked about how many days are left before I move, where I'm going, and how lots of them will be "moving" to kindergarten or 1st grade. I made some statement about how they will have new teachers and caretakers and that even though I am leaving they will still have people who will teach them and take care of them. After thinking about that statement for a few seconds one of the kids said "But Miss Jamie that's not the same". 
Honestly, I think it's all the stuff that doesn't fit into one of my categories that make me feel a bit nostalgic. I guess it's good that precious memories and lessons learned can't be put in a box, I'd never have enough packing material to hold those treasures.  

Woof woof

One of my neighbors got a dog... said dog barks mostly during human sleeping hours, aka night time! At first I thought "no big deal, the dog just needs a few days to get use to his new surroundings." Yeah not so much... seems this dog simply likes to "howl at the moon", or the city lights as the case may be. On a positive note, it is a larger breed and so I'm not being kept awake by some yapping toy poodle. Just another reason I am completely fine admitting I'm a cat person. They are self-cleaning, non-barking, no walks required perfect pets! My cat, Miles, is a bit of a chatter box, but I'm pretty sure he's not keeping the neighbors awake at night.  

Changes pending

I started a blog 3 years ago just before I moved to Dallas and began my graduate studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.... yeah that lasted all of 6 weeks. My grand plan for using a blog to keep folks in my life updated on my life quickly took a backseat to my busy life... funny how that happens. The wonderful, crazy busy, and exhausting 3 years of grad school flew by, just like everyone tells you it will when you feel like time stands still (and that 25 page paper will never get done!). I can't believe it. Of course the end of this chapter of my life means a new chapter must begin... aka CHANGE.
I'm not sure many people readily admit liking "change", though lots of folks claim to be "flexible". I fall into the "not a big fan of change" category. So although graduating with my Master's degree is wonderful it is also a bit terrifying. My mind races with things like how would I answer an interview question about how I handle conflict? How long is the grace period for student loans again? What am I going to do with my life....? Change is good, change is a part of life, change is inevitable.
My hope is that I will be a little better at this whole blogging deal. My life changes, I'm slowly learning to adjust and even enjoy a bit of the process, and love knowing that no matter how much things may change in my life my God is constant and unchanging, always.