Monday #2!

I had an epiphany today at work.

The announcements for the day ahead came on at 7:32 right after the pledge of allegiance and moment of silence.  One of them was about a collection for donations to the local animal shelter and, if memory serves, it said “bring in warm soft blankets for poor puppies and kitties at the shelter so they can have a safe and warm holiday.”  Do dogs celebrate holidays?  Do cats? How do you wish an animal happy holiday and what is that holiday called? What kind of traditions are included in these holidays? How do the blankets make the animals in the shelter safe?

Ok before I continue, I feel I must say these two things so you don’t think I am heartless towards animals who have no voice….

I honor the school club that is taking donations for the animal shelter.  I think it is a good thing to take care of animals we have deemed domesticated in our US culture. I am glad it is something the students can buy into and feel a sense of philanthropy.  It is a good thing to collect these blankets.

I have two cats who rule the house.  The kitties were found and rescued from New Orleans after Katrina hit. I love them.  They are very important to me. Their desire to sit on my lap or the keyboard of the computer while I am working is very endearing.  I have a neighbor who has dogs and they are the sweetest things ever!  I grew up with a cute little black cocker spaniel and then when I was in college my parents got a dalmatian that helped teach my kids to walk (not really but she treated them like they were her puppies). I think animals love their humans.  Who else always greets us at the door no matter how long we have been gone from home?  Who isn’t afraid of us when we have the flu and will sleep curled up even when we are so ill we can’t reciprocate? Their love knows no bounds. They are important to our way of life.  We, as people living in the US, find them necessary and often as important as humans.  What other culture has cards for “grandcats” or “granddogs” (the pets of your children who may or may not have children)? Just saying.

As I was saying, before I got distracted, we were in school this morning…..

My first period was taking a test so I had some time to muse.

In second period I had to teach but luckily we were talking about The Canterbury Tales. I love Chaucer! I began to think back to the satire presented in many of the characterizations and one in particular, the Nun’s characterization. He like this character but finds some of her choices to be a bit odd for her profession.

I don’t want to go into detail or bore you with a lecture about the nun but, the short version is – Chaucer was pointing out that she loved animals so much that she fed her doggies fancy foods and became distraught when mice (who carried many diseases) were ensnared in a trap.  Her job as a nun in the 1300’s was to care for the poor, ill, widowed, orphans, among other disenfranchised people of the time. She doesn’t seem to be good at her job as Chaucer never mentions her taking care of humans at all.

Excerpt from The Prologue of The Canterbury Tales The characterization of the nun

 

As I was reading and considering this passage I began to think about our US culture.  Most of us aren’t nuns so maybe it isn’t our “job” to care for the disenfranchised. Maybe that’s why it seems that we care for animals so much but have a hard time believing that there are 29.8 million people held in slavery today. The staggering number of people that are held with out their consent is mind numbing, and it is so much easier to ignore it than it is to face.  So instead of talking about how to solve human suffering we talk about how to help animals in need.

This month I am wearing dresses every day, all day to bring awareness to human trafficking in the world.  I realize I am blessed to live in a country where I can choose what to wear, who to worship, to work outside the home or inside, to go out with ma honks on a Friday night , & so many other freedoms that are taken for granted every day.  I do not like to wear dresses. But every day I am considering the freedom more and more, to be able to choose whether I like wearing a dress or not.  This adventure is so much more than just a dress even after just 8 days of participation.  It is an awakening to a world that is in need.  It is an awakening I needed.

Will you help?  Here is a link to my donation site. If you are unable to give check out the IJM website and learn more about the very real tragedy of modern day human trafficking.  It is clear and present danger to many around the world.  Do not hold blind eyes to it any longer.

And because I am wearing dresses all month…here is today’s picture:

Today was Sunday funday!

 

I am changing.  Quickly I am becoming someone else.  It is a good metamorphosis. I am excited to see what becomes of me.  I am boldly stepping out of a shell.  I am realizing things about myself that I never knew existed.

WOW!

Talk about transformative, the last 7 days have been a whirlwind of change.  I have felt the incredible urge to share the story of the dress and therefore write about it AND share that writing.  Putting myself at risk for possible judgement of my writing style and ability.  That is a scary thought for an English teacher.

If you read back over the blogs I have posted in the last 6 days you will see change and if you go back even further you may even see a different writer.  I know that this change is due to all the thinking I have been doing about the choice to wear dresses for 31 days for a specific cause.  But it is going deeper than that too.  I am noticing things I never knew about myself. Things I am not quite ready to share here (but I am sure to share as I go along this journey).

That realization makes me think about the journey to freedom that the slaves go through.  IJM  posted on their facebook today that they had dozens of families graduate from an after-care program that lasted 2 years.  Could you imagine?  It is an after-care program that helps with career options, counseling, learning how to self-advocate, and I am sure so many other critical skills that we take for granted.  Could you imagine all the changes and incredible transformation that is happening in the lives of these people who were once in bondage?

I know I am overwhelmed with all that has transpired in my mind this week but I cannot even begin to imagine what is happening in their minds.  What that new idea of freedom tastes like!

After being rescued the, now free, people are given support and expected to work to earn a living for themselves.  They get to pick their job! They are so transformed that they likely do not recognize themselves or their families.  But they are free.

This month is about so much more than a dress for me and all the people who are working to the end of slavery in the world.  It is about transformation in our minds and extending kindness.  It is about awareness in subtle and not so subtle ways.  It is about finding out what you may not have known about yourself and others.  It is about assisting others who cannot help themselves without you.

Will you help?  You can of course donate money through my campaign but you can also learn about what IJM does and get involved there.

It is about so much more than just money.  Just awareness of this world-wide problem informs our everyday  movements but that is post for another day.

Saturday: waffles, visits from friends and family, Santa’s Workshop, & shopping

Today was one of those normal Saturday’s: busy and relaxing.  How is that dichotomy even possible?

Well, I got to sleep in, make a delicious pot of coffee, make a simple (but thrillingly received) breakfast for my family, do a little Christmas tree decorating, hug a friend and my mom, go to an event sponsored by my church to shop for a family we are sponsoring, & take my boys out to dinner & shopping (yes that was good).

The coffee and waffles I made were so delicious and while we ate in shifts, we all got a chance to talk and enjoy each others company.  That is such a wonderful way to start a weekend (or any) morning. Especially since my boys are growing up and going to be moving on soon enough.

Then, as if the day hadn’t started wonderfully enough, one of mah honks came over to say hello and give me a hug (she “just happened to be running errands”). Oh how I love mah honks! (PS that’s her in the picture above)

I scooted out to the Santa’s workshop my church set up for those of us who adopted a family for Christmas so we could shop for them.  That was so amazing: a room filled with donated toys, puzzles, & games for all ages and interest levels.  The planning and organization that went into it was fantastic!  And THEN the first question of the day:

“You mean you have to wear them on the weekends too?”

“For 31 days!”

“What are you doing? Why are you wearing a dress?”

So the sharing commenced about IJM, Dressember, & my fundraising campaign.  How wonderful that was for me to share with them about this little thing I could do that could impact so many people around the world.

And to up the ante on my day, my mom came over to tell me about her recent vacation and again to give me a hug.

Man, I love my village!

I got home tonight from being out of the house for about 9 hours.  That, in and of, itself should be exhausting. If I could add more fuel to the fire and complain about it a little it would be this: I drove for 3 hours of that 9 (and I may be underwhelming that number a bit), it rained the whole time, I was driving the 95 corridor (for those of you who do not live in this area it is the main thoroughfare for the mid-atlantic states), & I had two boys in the car with me.

However, I will not complain beyond what I typed above.  My boys were perfect in the car.  My eldest kept good music playing in the cd player (yes, I am that person) & conversation going and my youngest in the back quietly played his video game.  The rain, while tiresome, is also a comfort (and brings flowers in the spring) and makes me drive slower on the highway.  The shopping I was doing was pleasant shopping for others (and a tree topper for my family).  While I was shopping my boys were in guitar center (they are both amazing musicians!) “shopping” for themselves.  It is nice to have confident young men who can take care of themselves while “maaaahhhhm” (what they have chosen to call me) shops.

All of this in a dress; an outfit I would not normally choose to wear on a rainy cold Saturday.  Thinking all the time about how I was wearing a dress.  Walking around, sitting in Five Guys, riding in the car, all these things are “better done” in pants.  But today, I was oddly comfortable in a dress.  As I shopped, I thought about all the people I was doing this for.  I know my impact in the grand scheme is minuscule but if I am able to help one then I have done enough.  As I said in my first blog, one starfish! But maybe it isn’t even helping that one so far away in the bonds of slavery, maybe it is helping a student, friend, co-worker, or random person in Starbucks find worth in themselves.  Maybe finally noticing the worth in myself will help others see the what they are worth as well.

Day 3 Wheee!

My students finally noticed!

So this morning my co-worker came in to see the ensemble.  She asked me again what the reason was for doing the Dressember event.  I told her all about the event, IJM, and how raising money for this event was the main reason I was participating. My first period student who were in the room were interested in what we were talking about so, I told them a little more. In my next period class we were studying Chaucer and The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. As we talked about the satire and social changes that Chaucer hoped to see it made me realize that I could easily talk about Dressember and all the changes in our society that need to happen.

I know I am only on day 3 but I am feeling empowered and able.  I am feeling like I am able to be authentic with people about why I am passionate about this subject.

I feel like I am already planning next year!

I teach high school!

Yes, I said it.  And you know what I love it!  I feel good in the morning going to work.  Yes, I know teacher are underpaid (all of them) and underrated (most of them) but nonetheless, it is a job I look forward to doing every day.  I have to work.  It is part of my chemical make-up.  It is also part of my family financial make-up. Why should I do a job I like?  I rarely complain about the students or my daily routine.

I dreamed of being a stay at home mom all through my teen years.  I said to myself I would be a stay at home mom until my oldest was in high school, just like my mom did.  Then reality struck when I stayed home. I was bored!  I cooked, I cleaned, I took good care of my son, and I was still bored.  I worked part time during that period of my life and I was accused of talking down to my co-workers.  I was hurt by that accusation.  I wasn’t trying to be mean or talk down to them, I was around a baby all day and worked several nights a week and, well, you know, baby talk was my colloquial.  So after almost 2 years of being a stay at home mom I went back to work, outside of the home, full time.

I did that job for another 8 years.  I enjoyed it, mostly.  Well except for the part about: customer service, working nights, weekends, & holidays, being made to feel guilty for having to stay home with a sick child, and a myriad of other retail related woes.

Then an opportunity I have never regretted came up.  Teaching.  I had wanted to be a teacher before I decided to have a family.  Why not now?  It would take a little more education, time, & maybe even a slight pay cut but I would not be swayed.  My husband and I sat down and talked about it for a while.  Finances, schedules, and life changes were discussed.  We did not take this change lightly.  We prayed and talked to others about it.  We devised a plan for survival.  Luckily, we never had to implement any of the components of our plan.  I got the job!

In 2007 I started teaching and I have never looked back.  I have loved every minute of it.

There have been days, weeks, months, & yes, years that I have wondered if what I do is all worth it.  Is the money worth it?  No, I am in charge of 150 students.  I see 90 a day (first block of 30 students every day).  If you do the math I make less than the average babysitter.  Are the hours worth it? Sometimes, I am NOT a morning person so getting up at 5:45 usually becomes 6:00 and PUSHING it out the door.  Are the entitled students worth it?  Man, there are days I wonder how they got to be that way: wanting and demanding everything they say blaming me for their problem of not understanding simple directions, complaining that there is to much work in our class, need I go on?

So, you ask, what prompted this blog post.

I will tell you.

A student, or maybe three students, or maybe even more that that told me I have influenced them in some way, shape, or form. But this one in particular…

We do silent reading in our class.  That means we spend 15-20 minutes of each class reading, self selected text.  (My master’s research was driven by Readicide a book by Kelly Gallagher.) They pick out a book and read.  They do have to complete a book share presentation and write a review for a class book (this gives other students an opportunity to look through colleague testimonials and find a book they want to read) but other than that they just read in class.

He told me, “I hate reading!”

I said, “Let me try to help you?”

He said “OK”

Challenge accepted.

I helped him find a book about a war vet called Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy by Ilrario Pantano. That was his first quarter read. Today he selected his SECOND book for the year.  He is reading Burned by Ellen Hopkins.  He told me today he loves reading poetry.  His friend (who also made the same declaration at the beginning of the year) took him to the library today to get the book.  His friend (who says he has never read a book until he picked up Mob Boss by Jerry Capeci) just started reading Crank by Ellen Hopkins and is already (much to his pleasant surprise 3/4 of the way through) and told this student that Ellen Hopkins is a good author.

These young men hate reading, would never say they liked reading, like reading!

That, my friends, is why I love teaching.  That testimony is worth so much to me.

SO tonight….

This has been quite the whirlwind 24 hours.  In just a few hours I will be in the same room with one of the most awesome bands ever.  The show sold out even before the tickets went on sale.  But somehow, luck I guess, my son won the tickets. It is the most amazing thing ever to happen.  I cannot tell you how excited I am.

I haven’t been this excited since I saw U2 back in the day, just by chance at RFK.  A guy (who really wasn’t even a friend) said the person who was going to the show with him had backed out and he heard I liked U2 so could I go?  Sure, I mean, yeah, of course, we don’t want that ticket to go to waste do we?  Most,epic,concert.ever!! nosebleed seats, first large arena concert, free, yeah, just wow.  Still one of the best memories.

Or that time I went to Farm Aid and got to see John Mellencamp play?  Wow, that was amazing!!  I was working for Whole Foods Market at the time and we were the backstage caterers.  I was asked if I could be available to help be the face of WFM. Would I?  Well, if you can’t find anyone else?  I guess I would take one for the team…”YES” I wanted to scream.  Go see and hear Mellencamp?  OMG!  Be backstage with more of a chance to see him than I had ever had in my life?  (and get paid for the gig??) I didn’t see him up close (one of my coworkers did and she wasn’t impressed). That’s ok because I can tell you that man, he can rock!! So much energy! He is releasing a new album soon and has a tour coming up. I.want.to.go!

Or that time when my sister called me to tell me that one of our favorite Christian satirists, Steve Taylor, would be playing a tiny venue called The Fire Escape (or The Flood Zone, it was a really long time ago!) in Richmond and I should come down to hear him with her?  Would I how fast can I get there?  What do you mean I shouldn’t speed?  Why can’t I skip work to go?  I could “call in sick”.  That would’t be ethical?  Maybe I’ll just quit. (Nah, I wasn’t working that day, whew! crisis averted).  To get in the mosh pit and mosh around with others and watch him sing all the songs I knew by heart. My cousin had introduced me to the music of Steve back in the mid 80’s.  I in turn introduced my sister to his music and we rock out and bought every album.  Then I introduced my son’s to him. We went to Cornerstone NE 2013 just to see him open the show and were happy to have spent the money and time it too to stay for that one night.

Or the other time when I went, again with my sister, to Baltimore to see The Judybats in an extraordinarily small club under the highway overpass?  When we stood outside for the doors to open so we could get the best standing room only places with about 100 other fangirls and guys (although we didn’t call ourselves that back then).  Oh my goodness that was a night!  We had so much fun.  We didn’t sleep much after either.

Or the other time when we (again with my sister) went and saw The 77’s at a small DC venue that closed years ago?  Wow that was a show.  That was what I considered a once in a lifetime.  A concert to remember.  They were the first band I ever self-selected (no suggestions or radio play just a “this looks cool”) an album of our of the reduced bin in the Christian book store. I chose them over U2.  Cut me some slack, it was 1987 and I was a very sheltered child who had never heard of U2.  The 77’s had a rock singer laid out on the floor of the stage on the record cover and was titled All Fall Down, I wore a stylus (what others call a needle) out on that record listening to it over and over. They shaped my theology. I still have the t-shirt.  I still have the memories. I have so much love for this band!

I love music.  I love shows.  I have been to so many shows and I have loved them all.  They fill me with excitement that happens in few other places.  I loved going to shows with my sister.  She had such an effortless confidence about her.  She didn’t need to try very hard; not at big shows, Sting or REM, or at small shows, The Pietasters or a show at the famed Bayou on K Street.

I have now grown to love going to shows with my son.  He is old enough to enjoy and appreciate them.  He is also a musician, so he REALLY actually appreciates what they are doing on that stage.  It is fun to watch him at small shows and large venues!

After tonight we will likely attend a much larger event at the 2014 Concert for Valor on the Nation Mall (and no that isn’t a retail venue).  That will be equally exciting for all of us!

Until the next time.