A new era

Today marked a new era in American politics.  Voters elected Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.  While people around Philadelphia were--for the most part--extremely excited about this event, I know not all the country is not as thrilled.  But regardless of if people voted for Obama or against him, today was a historical event.  Part of me really wishes I had gone to DC last night to watch the Inauguration, but another part was glad I got to experience it with my students in West Philadelphia.

At 11AM, grades 3-8 walked down the street to the University of the Sciences building.  They let us use one of their lecture halls for the ceremonies.  After some sound issues, they got the technology working.  I have to say that I felt a little emotional as I looked around the room at 100+ African American students, so enthused and passionate about our country's new leader...one that finally looked like them.  I thought back to four years ago when I was teaching in the rural farming community of Hudsonville, Michigan, and how much deeper this meaning is for my students here in Philadelphia.  With the Phillies winning the World Series, the Eagles/Steelers making it to the conference championships, and Obama getting elected, this is a great time to be in Philly!

It's pretty cool that just yesterday we celebrated Martin Luther King day, and today we swore in our country's first black president.  As I showed my class MLK's I Have A Dream speech on Friday, I got choked up as I thought about Inauguration Day.  In a way, Martin Luther King's dream was fulfilled today at the same mall he shared it with the world.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

One of the tough parts of Christmas break for me was the organization of my old room at my parents' house.  They had several boxes of stuff just taking up space in there.  As a teacher and self-proclaimed pack rat, I have a hard time throwing anything away.  My motto is, "you never know when you'll need it again!"  Fortunately, God paired me with a spouse who is good as speaking truth into situations such as these.  Sarah was a champ at helping me cleanse my room from clutter with dignity and a sensitivity for my nostalgia.  For example, do I really need four pairs of old watches?  Old ticket stubs?  (granted, if I had kept all of them, I'd want them all.  However, I only have a few random ones) Trophies?  Now, I was able to talk Sarah into letting me keep a few trophies, but I had to throw away most of them.  As a kid, I remember being so proud of those trophies.  They were proof that even though I was homeschooled, I could make it in the sporting arena. 

Probably the best trick Sarah brought with her into this process was to take pictures of objects with sacred value.  Here are a few of our snapshots:

In the end, we made a lot of progress.  It felt good to create more space in my room, even though it cost me a few memories.  Does this mean I'm actually growing up??

(For my non-Facebook friends, here's a link to some of the pictures we took over break.)

Food of the year, 2008

The last year or two, I've talked with Sarah about my "food of the year"--in other words, the food that I discovered I LOVED and consequently consumed mass quantities of during the calendar year.  In 2006, it was pita and hummus.  In 2007, it was guacamole.  This past year?  *cue drum roll*

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2008 was the year of smoothies. The original inspiration came from our friends Mike and Anna, who introduced us to easy smoothies with just frozen strawberries, a banana, and milk in a blender.  Other fruits/berries can be added to taste, but that simple concoction goes a long way!  So, congratulations to the smoothie, my official food of the year 2008!