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.