SOLC # 31 - Endings Good & Bittersweet

Blogging with my class, and we're on spring break! Find them at Linda and Jonathan's Class Blog.

             It's the final Slice of Life for this March. We'll be back every week, but not all together as we have been. Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna and Beth for keeping the party going, day by day by day. It was a pleasure!  Find all the final links at the Two Writing Teachers blog.

       They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I say that a thousand words--and more-- are worth a picture of a community.  I’ve collected one phrase from a slicer each day, read and loved so many more. What a joyous group. Although sometimes sad and often contemplative, each writer kept writing from her or his life. Congratulations to you all!

1 -   Ask me to stay for just awhile.

  I promise I'll exit with a smile.

2 -   Recently I came across an image of an old fashioned key hole.  In the open space you could see part of a room.  I loved that idea, that image.  It made many connections in my mind.

3 -   Being busy isn’t always bad.  And besides, I’ll have warm chicken chili waiting for me when I get home later.

4 -   How can they remember that they are special, unique, valuable people when they are wading through tests that tell them there is one right answer, one acceptable score, one way to become successful? They're losing the sense that they matter.

5 - The message was as crystal clear as the bubbling Colorado River: we all need to step outside of our everyday strife to take in the beauty of this earth and to remember that we are not on this journey alone.

6 -  I knew then what that "something" was when we held hands during prayer a year before. He was the one. We were married by the end of the year.

7 - This community has made me feel worthy as a writer. It helped me change my opinion of myself and be able to write those four words.  I am a writer.

8 - I think they are beautiful, but I also want them to understand that beauty is on the inside too.  We talk about being kind to friends.  Being helpful at home.  Saying nice words.

9 - We'll work on making the poems our own this week reading, questioning, re-reading, understanding and beginning the memorization process.

10 - I'm feeling really good about my cabinets now.   I may have company over just so I can show them Under the Sink.

11 -  Yikes.  Gulp.  Second thoughts.  Did we make the right decision?  What if it sells right away?  What will be do?  What if nobody likes it?

12 -  Well it was easy to strip down to shorts, tees and sandals but taking on Mexico’s heat, now that takes some getting used to,

13 -  I find you/in the wild flowers blooming/golden in the grass

14 -  Laughter that makes your sternum hurt the next day.  That's the best kind.  

15 - As everyone knows, a good scientist must had a quality control person to make sure rules and guidelines are followed.  Also, someone needs to check the result to see that it meets standards.

16 - Life moves so quickly during the week, things get disorganized. I have piles everywhere. Piles of clothes in the bedroom. Piles of dishes in the sink.

17 - My mother's boombox, as it sits on that counter, is a great reminder to me of how hard change can be. 

18 - I felt like the insurance commercial as a memory of a little girl prolonging her bedtime popped into my head. It never failed; her stories charmed me then and now.

19 - but J was late,/and so he sits there,/eating breakfast pizza/all by himself.

20 - But, oh, poor frog, trapped within/this jeweled enamel toy;/no longer can he jump and splash,/or sing his songs of joy.

21 -  This morning was for moving things around and gluing them. It's funny that one family event with coloring got me going on this. The book is helping too of course. Creating makes me happy.

22 - can clarify differences but more importantly recognize similarities and even though it might be exhausting and that it isn't always easy, I'm glad to try and believe that I can. Nena can do it.

23 -   Thinking back at it now, it was wonderful seeing the two cultures collide in celebration.  It warmed my heart to see two families from completely different backgrounds learn to accept each other and get along.

24 - In truth, I think most of my good fortune has come from the fact that I think of people as...well...people. I don't differentiate between a famous musician and a guy who runs the local gas station.

25 - It leaves me breathless/to consider /creating lean-to's with weeping/willow branches/sitting in the grass with all my dolls/mashing pyracantha berries for porridge 

26 - I thought the students would not be ready, and the day ahead might end in a disaster./Days change. /Feelings change./Today the student-led-conferences have made me smile.

27 - My life is richer because of the friendships that I have.  My friends have been generous, faithful, understanding, supportive, honest, reciprocal, humorous and wise.

 28 - The great space was filled to the rafters, literally, with teachers, teachers, teachers everywhere

29 - I smiled as we walked away.  They belong not only to me, but to this world, I thought.

30 - But that’s all changed. Now, anticipation runs high whenever the high pitched ding plays. It could be a picture sent half way across the country bringing my granddaughter into the palm of my hand.

31 - (really 30^th, too) - From my patio chair I enjoy.. the slow-down pace/reminding me not to take any of this for granted