his greatest contribution is the ones you leave behind, raised on the ways of gentle kindness

The one thing that I worry about most....having something horrible happen at home when I am more than 900 miles away. check. Grandpa Black passed away, I'm sitting in the Memphis airport waiting for my flight to board, it's horribly surreal. There were 3 people at my gate, I sat facing the windows, not in the mood to bother trying to people watch. It's a cloudy and overcast day (a rarity) except for one spot in the sky. No clouds, no gray, the sun shining through. It's 7 a.m. and I'm crying in a public place. Damn, Grandpa is up there probably shaking his head popping unsalted peanuts thinking, "oh cripes. get a grip, Kami."

There are so many things I kept thinking about this week....and it always came back to the same thing, it was his time and God thought so too, he was ready. I was not. We were not. I think the longer he was in the hospital, the more he was trying to prepare us for that reality and not get our hopes up because it was okay, he is going to a better place.

I've learned so much from Grandpa and Grandma. They spent almost all of their time over last 56 years together. I can't even fathom the amount of time, memories and stories that they created and shared. Without a doubt, Grandma can. Their relationship defines what it means to love, to share your life with someone and I admire that immensely.

Being in the Delta hasn't let me laugh about the good times that we have shared. Although I'm SUPER glad that Grandpa was able to come visit last year, despite the dog stuck below our house directly under the bed they were sleeping in, the first ice storm in Mississippi in the last two years happening that weekend, the lack of electricity in our bathroom for things like shaving, etc. And to top it off, I think I gained four pounds from eating the candy that he happened to find during frequent trips in Wal-Mart. I'll forever laugh thinking about his "ring" from his "Mississippi girlfriend" that had my roommates and I cracking up during breakfast one morning. When I called Grandpa after his survey he answered the phone saying, "well, you're calling from a long ways away." And although he was probably bitter about only eating ice chips at the time, he still chatted about Mississippi, my job, and the horrendous weather. I'll forever cherish that conversation.

And although he wasn't a southern man, this Alan Jackson song is phrases things all too well. Word to the wise...don't read an obituary in an airport. I'm debating posting this and I might delete it later. My G key isn't working very well so I wonder how many words are missing that letter that I didn't catch. Anyway, getting ready for my last leg of this trip...ready to be home for a bit. I tried sleeping on the last flight but only ended up head-bobbing which always looks cool. Better do a little people watching, this guy next to me is eating ice cream (it's 10:30 in the morning). I'm sure there are other awesome things I can spot.

Love,

Kami

Dog Days of Summer

Wow so much has changed these last few months. I am currently in one of the warmest most humid places on earth. The heat index is on average 110 degrees. There is NEVER any wind, it's stifling. It's dangerous to not wear pants at night because the bugs will eat you alive in a matter of seconds. You take a sweater everywhere you go because you'll freeze in doors. And to top it off, the mosquito problem in doors is outrageous. And in true Minnesota fashion, I talked about the weather first...

So, a recap of my last month or so....I was home for the month of June enjoying every minute of my time spent in Minnesota. The weather, family, friends, etc. were amazing and made it incredibly hard to come back to the delta after only 4 weeks, particularly because I spent all of my time working on grad school or new PD work or something. However, I made the choice to take a new job, guess I have to own it. I drove back to Mississippi on July 5 and started my job on the 6th. It was pretty much a whirlwind for a few days as I was behind and felt like I didn't know anything, which was pretty much the case. However, that Monday all of the new program directors flew to Chicago for a New PD conference. We were there until Thursday then came back and had to get ready for two big days of orientation on Sunday and Monday. All of the new corps members finished institute that Friday and our orientation was getting them ready for the first days of school, planning for the year, etc. It was chaotic running between sessions facilitating sessions that I didn't really know much about, ha ha but still turned out okay. One of my sessions was to the elem, art, music and social studies teachers in Arkansas.

From there work has been CRAZY busy. I was assigned a "summer PD group" which would last until about the first week of school. This means I was responsible for a lot of the lower elementary folks, those who teach Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd. Because we still had a number of people not placed, we were each given a few unplaced folks as well. My people ended up getting elem positions that spanned into 5th grade so I had a wide range of people. AND as more and more people were placed kinder and 1st grade, I also obtained them. It was a little crazy, I felt as if I was constantly getting new people but never giving anyone away! I was responsible for looking at all of their foundational documents and giving feedback. These include their big goal, long term plan, unit assessment and unit plan. I didn't realize how long it takes to look at all of these documents. During the day we were busy with meetings and whatnot so I would be holed up in my room or office doing this until the wee hours of the night. It was exhausting but also important. As of last Thursday we now have our official PD groups that we will be with for the entire year. My group is in the Greenwood area and encompasses 3 school districts there. I have 31 people that grange from Kindergarten to high school english. However, the majority are elementary placements and am really looking forward to getting into their classrooms this week doing pop in visits.

Because we have been working on the weekends so much lately, we had a comp day on Friday. I spent the morning in Moorhead visiting my kiddos. I spent some time with my first year favorite L.G. in first grade. He didn't pass last year :( and I told him I was going to be stopping in. In fact, I missed this kid so much I took him out for lunch the week before school started, even by himself he was a handful! I do not envy the kindergarten teachers right now, they both have 29 kids in their rooms and have 3 severely special ed students. There aren't enough chairs for that many kids much less places for them to sit. It was mild chaos the entire time, but I guess you'll have to deal with that with so many students. However, my Principal just hired another teacher, a new corps member actually, she started today. That still makes 20 kids in each room which is plenty! While I missed my kiddos who are now in first and second grade, I don't miss all of the hitting, fighting and lack of listening from kindergartners. The toughest part about Kindergarten is teaching them how to act right, when they've gotten away with it for the last 5 years. The best part of the day was when I peeked into the 2nd grade room across the hall from mine (that teacher is one of my friends) and half the kids saw me and yelled, "Muh Ward's HERE!!" At that point I had to go in, but luckily they were just getting ready to go to the bathroom! I think I can say that I miss my kids more than I miss the classroom.

Changing the subject, I went to a new church yesterday. Someone stopped at our house this week and dropped off a loaf of bread they had made and invited us to their church in town here. While I really like my church in Cleveland, I decided I would check this one out. I really don't know anyone in this town and I have lived here for 2 years, that's pretty sad. Anyway, when I was walking up I realized I was about to stick out like a sore thumb. This is a Methodist church (don't worry Grandma, I'm not giving up on the Lutherans) and everyone walking in was over the age of 70. I sat in the pew for about 4 minutes before people were sitting next to me wondering who I was, where I was from, etc. They were all SUPER nice. The "Preacher" is an older woman who made me feel super comfortable and gave a great sermon (I generally have a hard time paying attention to sermons...actually make that every time). Although it was a small congregation (between 30 and 40 people probably), I'm pretty sure I met 90% of them by the time I left. The hilarity of this is that they asked me to spell my name so they could add me to facebook. I didn't realize so many grandparents were on facebook. I also got asked if I was a yankee or a damn yankee (this was by a spitfire woman from Iowa, so it was okay!) but I can't remember the difference right now. It has something to do with staying or visiting.

While it's been mostly work around here, there has been a little time for "play" as well. Last weekend after working all day on Saturday, a few of my friends packed up and headed for a friend's lake house in Arkansas. We stayed until early Tuesday morning. The beauty of this job is the ability to work remotely, so we all worked on Monday even though we were lounging around the lake house. At the last minute I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go. My Grandpa Black has been in the hospital after having survey the weekend before and took a turn for the worst. Being 900+ miles away from home, this is without a doubt the worst thing that can possibly happen. However, my friends were incredibly supportive and convinced me that being with them would be better than sitting in my house alone. Grandpa was moved out of but now back in to the ICU. While he may think he is ready to go meet God, I'm not sure if the rest of us are ready to let him. I know I'm not. Please pray for him and my Grandma.