Plain and Simple

So - this week is Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for a whole lot. I don't have to post it anywhere to prove it. Although, if I come up with a list I'll post it. (After all - I do LOVE lists!)

I just wanted to say on this hot and humid week of Thanksgiving...some things in life are plain STUPID! That's my bottom line today. Some things are just STUPID!

What can you do about stupid? NOTHING! Absolutely, positively NOTHING! Just smile.

Pretend you LOVE the stupid things in life! Pretend that this STUPID thing makes you're heart skip a beat! Pretend that STUPID is your new mantra! Pretend that STUPID is your slice of pie! Pretend that your flavor of STUPID is the new pumpkin spice!

YEAH! Let me hear it! STUPID! I love STUPID! STUPID makes coffee nervous!

(No, but for real - whatever this is on my to-do list is STUPID...or I'm taking CRAZY pills! I'm okay. I promise. See....:)....I'm smiling!)

Thanksgiving #8-12

So...This is where I can't keep up. This isn't date accurate anymore, but I'm still thankful for this stuff:

8. I'm thankful for my Tia RosaMaria's visit to Houston. Not only have I gotten to see her cheery self, she also made us the most delicious enchiladas!

9. I'm thankful for unexpected surprises. The good kind. (I mean - really - who likes a bad surprise?!?!?) I'm talking like a visit from someone you weren't expecting to come. Yes. It makes me happy!! My brother came to church with me. :o)

10. I'm thankful for the perfect amount of events in a weekend. After having a full October, it's SO stinken' nice to CHILL and have no good excuse to go to bed at 8 pm on a Saturday. Lame...you say? I think NOT! I think an 8 o'clock bed time is a DREAM COME TRUE! It doesn't happen often.

11. I'm thankful for being able to be technologically literate. One of my biggest fears - okay so "FEAR" is too strong of a word - but I'm really afraid of being the one person in a room that doesn't understand how to do a simple activity on a phone, a computer or something techy.

12. I'm thankful for design. It is amazing how something people create take your breath away or makes you think of how you can improve you're own work. Personally - I love creating stuff for school in word.

Thanks for noticing...

Up until I was 23, I had beautiful skin. No spots. No blemishes. Clean. Beautiful. Like really, super nice, skin. It was nice while it lasted...Wish it had lasted a bit longer, but my inner teenager decided to come out and my face broke out not quite to pizza face, but close.

I'll have mountain ranges on my face for months at a time. They'll go away for a short time and then come back like the revenge of the HIMALAYAS!

Today, I woke up with Mount Everest on the bridge of my nose and various other majestic mountaintops on my face. On top of that - I chose not to wear make-up. (Something I don't do anymore. My students haven't seen me without it.)

Well, I have really inquisitive students...One in particular who doesn't seem to have many reservations:

"Ms. Marquez, what happened to your face? Did a ball hit you on your nose?"

My response: "Thanks for noticing what's different on my face this morning. Let's focus on our work."

So there you have it...I have a PIMPLE face.

And thankfully - I don't struggle with insecurity on that front...or else...I would've never told you this incident and how much this made me laugh (on the inside!).

Thanksgiving, Nov. 7

After having an achy back and really lousy sleep, I decided it was time to go ahead and purchase a new mattress on Halloween night. I was waiting for the right time, the right mattress, and the right set of NEW furniture, my own place...But it had been YEARS and nearly an entire decade that I had this thing. It was ridiculous and if I waited any longer - circumstances would never be quite right. Really - it's a wonder why I waited so long!

On my way to the store to purchase the new mattress, I asked my mom what I should do with the old one. I was embarrassed to even put it out on the curb for heavy trash pickup the it was so OLD! I told her that I would prefer to burn it.

And then it dawned on me...if I put that ratty old thing out on the curb someone who actually NEEDS a mattress will be SO HAPPY to come pick it up.

I'm not kidding when I say this: I started to cry!

I just don't understand how this works....How some have and others don't.

And even then - How in the world did I end up as one who has and sometimes feel like I don't have enough? How am I not one who is happy to finally have somewhere to layer my precious blankets instead of a dusty floor?

It reminds me of this:

From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom
they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. -Luke 12:48

So - today, I am thankful that God has entrusted with a very explicit responsibility: To be a good steward of the things I have, and to share with those who are in need.

Thanksgiving

Count your blessings...You'll realize you have more than you could ever ask for. Then, praise the name of Jesus. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him.

November 1-6 Thanksgivings:

1. I'm thankful for the Love of Jesus. He's lavished His Love on me so that I could be a Daughter of the Most High King.
2. I'm thankful for my parents. They keep it real. My parents aren't just parents anymore...they are my friends. I'm beyond thankful to call them MY parents.
3. I'm thankful for my brothers. I want to see them be successful in life. And I would like their love for Jesus to be inspiring to those around them. They have the ability to make me laugh like no one else can. :o)
4. I'm thankful for my health. I can see God's beautiful creation...I can see hearts that He's placed around for us to find! I can hear incredible music and the sounds of children laughing. I can hear my mom when she's cheering for a team. I can feel the different textures of the things around me. I can taste the most incredible food on the planet! I love food! I can smell when the rain is coming...it's the best smell ever - especially when you haven't gotten much of it.
5. I'm thankful for my job. I could whine if I wanted to about this...but I'm blessed. I teach the best set of kids a teacher could ask for. I get paid to work with KIDS! :o) I get to use my talents...
6. I'm thankful for Casa Bernabe. Life is not the same because I've been there.... Life is not the same because my heart is still there. I love that place. I love the kids. I love the people that work there. I just love it there. You can pray for me on that front.

More to come next week.

Inventive speaking

In order to have my kids retain what is cause and effect, I had them do skits. After the skits they had to point out the cause and effects that occurred in their little skit...

So - of course, one skit is how a girl falls when she's playing tag and her mom put "oxygen water" to clean up her scraped knee.

Not only do they now know how to identify cause and effect, but they aslo know that agua oxigenada is not oxygen water, but hydrogen peroxide!

I thought that was super, super cute!! :o)