what do crema, stamps, pigs and rainbows have in common? nothing really.

it's been a minute or two since my last post...i apologize- i've been exhausted! the beginning of this year has been nothing less than expected. EVERYONE's been busy! i've been busy, teachers have been busy, admin has been busy...i don't know how busy some people have been downtown, because when i emailed specialists to see about a district rubric for one of my grade levels, the response i got was a web address to a highlighted google search, which took me to some lady's pinterest account, which took me to Kim's blog, which i had to scour to find the rubric they suggested, which wasn't really what i needed. really? don't waste my time...i KNOW how to do a google search, and i am completely aware of the infinite world of pinterest, i even have several blogs favorited on my tool bar... all i wanted was for my district to provide me a rubric that was perhaps standard for our district (one of the largest districts in the state...just sayin').

something that has been of great soothing to the weary soul is this! i found it at the fiesta grocery store! and of course, when you purchase crema, you must continue to make beans until you run out!

crema catracha!

i fell out of the habit of writing letters awhile back-a hobby i had become quite an expert at back in the day of keeping up with former campers...then, for whatever reason, God laid it on my heart to get back in touch with friends through letter-writing. i know i've mentioned that before, and i have completely enjoyed getting back into the habit! i have to keep track of who i write to and when so that i can think back to what i may or may not have mentioned-i try not to repeat too much of what has been going on around here! anyhoo, this started back around november of last year, and it's been like having an extended conversation.

since then, i have gone through about 1 1/2 stamp rolls (rolls sell by the hundred). i have about 62 people on my list of recipients-and i still have others whom i would really like to be in touch with, but i just don't have their addresses yet. this is nothing compared to when i used to write to the campers in my units over the summer! THAT was ridiculous! but i LOVE having the opportunity to send something in the mail, always that thought of, "i hope it's just what you needed!" knowing at that point that it's out of my hands!

happiness= a new roll of stamps and fun cards! (easily satisfied)

the brighter the colors the better-i'm just hoping it motivates the mail carrier to get the letters where they need to get and maybe make him/her smile!

i don't mind not receiving a ton of correspondence in return-in fact, for the most part, i expect not to, so when i do get mail it's very exciting! unless i get something like this:

i wanted to punch this person in the face.

because THIS was in the envelope.

ok, so for starters, at seeing my name in letters that almost looked handwritten (curses to that font-maker), my heart skipped a beat, thinking i was receiving REAL mail!! but the worst part is what was inside- a "turning 65? medicare" letter...wwwhhhhaaaaaaattt??? way to make a gal feel older than she is! not ready to think about the future yet-still living in today!! leave me alone, jim!

so when i got these little ditties in the mail over the past few weeks, it made me smile! JACKPOT! hit the lottery!! (granted two were from family...) i've gotten a few others over the past 9 months-thanks to brandy, jp, lori and carrie! the most recent ones are actually from 3 iowa gals! (with the caveat that mom isn't currently IN iowa, just from there!)

THANKS!!! i LOVE letters!

and i found these little cutie air fresheners with a sweet note in my box the other day as well! LOVE IT! bruno and chaco approved and they agreed-in a perfect world, every home would have a dog!

and as i was putting one up on the mirrror in the car, i dropped one, and when i bent over to find it, i also found my lucky pig!!! he had fallen out of the alligator's mouth when i turned a corner a bit too quickly a couple of weeks ago.

lucky pig! this pig has been with me for a few years now. we're tight...and the alligator well, he's the pig's guardian! makes my car look tough.

and while lucky pig was a great part of my day, the BEST part of my day was the rainbow this morning! unfortunately i allowed circumstances to get in the way of thinking about the beauty of it and i got frustrated with circumstances instead. must work on this. i'm glad that i grabbed a pic of it this morning so that i did not completely forget about it. annoyed with myself for being so easily distracted from all that is good.

may our rainbows linger in spite of the hectic craziness of our days!
julie