Kickapoo

Kickapoo, originally uploaded by Jen!!.

I haven't posted in a while. Mark it up to sheer laziness. The camera hasn't been being picked up as much, I've been busy, *she* started it, there's gum in my hair and, oh, there's a really fun election coming up.

And in the midst of it all, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has decided to take action against the state budget shortfalls by closing some state parks (he's also cutting over 150 jobs at DCFS, and it appears that my employer, a state school, will also be feeling the pinch). The state park closures are, from what I understand, temporary. Temporary or not, it saddens me. I spend a fair amount of time at Kickapoo, one of the parks slated for closing, and will miss stomping through the snow there this coming winter.

This picture was taken by one of my kids when we went there yesterday. Some of the trees were changing, some were already missing all their leaves, and most were still green. The kids love going there. It always amazes me that they can leave behind their electronics, their board games and their books and open their eyes to the beauty that surrounds them. The smells yesterday were wonderful. Wet earth, with fresh, crunchy leaves underfoot, makes for a great day.

oh dear

oh dear, originally uploaded by Jen!!.

Is this what they're (or is that they'r?) teaching in public schools these days? This is from my son's homework notebook and his third grade class uses it to jot down notes about what they're talking about each day.

School is back in session

I love this time of year. Not only do I like having more of a routine (I could do without the overcrowded schedule though), but I love seeing the kids really excited about something. Some days it's what they learned or what game they played with their friends, some days it's what they ate for lunch. My son, at 8 1/2 is almost too cool for himself. At least he was trying to be. Then the smiles broke through and he started playing around. The best part of the first day was seeing all the kids who haven't seen one another all summer running up to each other. Any disagreements from last school year have been erased. All they remember is that they're friends.

Hands

Hands, originally uploaded by Jen!!.

Julia loves to use her new skills that she learned in kindergarten. She's reading books like a champ and writing stories whenever she gets a chance. She finds inspiration in everyday things and also uses stories to express her emotions (like the one she wrote in the middle of a crying fit to explain to me why she was crying. It all goes back to her taking the eggs out of the refrigerator, but that's a whole 'nother story right there.).

I love this story: Your hands can touch. You can use your hands to make a silly face that you can't do by yourself.

remember when. . .

rainbow, originally uploaded by Jen!!.

a rainbow could change your whole outlook?

This one put a smile on my face earlier this week, but didn't lift the weight off my shoulders. On the plus side, I'm sorta getting used to the weight and starting to think that it's just part of life. The unbearable lightness of being. The weight of living each day as if it's my last is starting to feel like a burden, even though it's just habit now. I realize that most people don't live that way. I certainly didn't live that way for years and years. What I've found that it means to me: not passing by opportunities. That's not just big things. That includes the chances to slow things down and stop to smell the flowers. Except for the short and loud people, I don't really seem to know or be close with anyone else who lives that way.

Call me out. Tell me I'm wrong. Then let's go do something.

Sky time!

On the way to the drive in, originally uploaded by Jen!!.

I love living in an area that still has a drive in movie theatre. It's about a 40 minute drive from my house and when we (me, my love and his dog) went to see a movie on Saturday night I was distracted by the sky. My camera phone doesn't begin to capture how beautiful it was. So many storms have been moving through the area that sunny skies alone are enough to put a smile on my face, but man oh man *this* sky was extra special. The multitude of textures and colors . . . simply awesome.

Mount Hope Cemetery

cemetery, originally uploaded by Jen!!.

So I had to decide--blog another photo of my kids or another one of a cemetery. How do you like my choice? I snapped this shot with my camera phone while out for a walk in the middle of the day a week or two ago. It was a beautiful day and I wish the camera could have captured more of that.

My kids are probably too young at this point for me to have a conversation about what to do with me when I die (besides having swag bags at the funeral!), but I'm not convinced that I want to be buried somewhere. If that's what they want, they'll get their way. Does anyone out there feel passionately about what happens to their remains after they're gone?