10 good things

I make several lists each week, which give me the deceptive glow of organization. At least half of the lists I create are promptly lost in the abyss of my schoolbag or crumpled with receipts on my dresser. Still, I think it is useful and pleasing to create mental files.

Right now, I want to make a list of good things. There are always so many, and I rarely count them. Here are a few from the past two days:

1. a recipe for roasted pears from this cookbook
2. watching my brother sing Ricky Martin at karaoke
3. daffodils just beginning to break through our tough front yard soil
4. reminiscing about CFFC, the Caley family alterna-Halloween
5. reading for fun
6. all the hugs and high-fives students gave each other yesterday as they began their state standardized tests
7. yellow tulips in vases all over the house
8. friends who are always there, and to whom you don't need to explain yourself
   
9. learning about micro-expressions
   
10. having an extremely light work week (because of MCAS testing) coincide with visits from Amos and Sarah

You? Can you think of ten good things?

recycling

Two years ago, these were my kids.


I loved them.
And I left them.

Now, these are my kids.


I love them just as much.
And still...

Why is it possible to hold both certainty and guilt in the same hand?