Taking Things for Granted

I've been struggling this weekend. In the last 2 weeks friends of mine have been bombarded with terrible news. Two weeks ago one of my best friends, Sally, found out that her dear sweet mom had an obstruction in her bowel.  Sally's mom has been fighting ovarian cancer off and on for 5 years now. What seemed at first like no big deal, quickly changed to "it's the cancer" and "if you don't do this surgery you should contact a hospice". Of course the surgery was done and it went as well as it possibly could, only to give her mom "more time".  A week later (Friday), they were told that she has an infection in her blood.  I don't kow a whole lot more than that. I've been texting Sally almost daily to let her know we're thinking of her and her family.  I don't want to bother her and take away any more of her time away from her mom than I need to. Her family has definitely been on my mind a lot lately and my heart is breaking for her family. Her mom has been such a fighter with this cancer and has time after time "kicked it", but the cancer is a fighter too and it just.keeps.coming.back.  From what I understand, now it's just down to waiting...

I can't help but think about my dad and the scare that our family had with cancer almost 8 years ago now. My dad's diagnosis came as a complete shock to my family as well as the severity of his cancer. Fortunately for my dad, he was able to "kick it" and it's not fighting back. That experience alone was the second scariest experience of my life after having my daughter in the NICU for a week when she was born. 

Seeing the struggles and heartbreak that Sally is going through has made me realize how easy it is and how much I take things in my life for granted.  This Friday was another reminder of that.  One of the kids I went to high school with and graduated a year after I did, died in Afghanistan on Thursday.  He was 26-same as me. His batallion was ambushed and he was the sole casualty.  I wasn't best friends with him, but I remember talking to him off and on throughout his school and even having an occassional class here or there with him.  And now he's gone. My heart breaks for his family.  Being a mom now makes me believe that no parent should have to bury their children. That's not the way it's supposed to work. He was just a kid still...7 years out of high schoool...fighting for our freedom (yet another thing I take for granted). I am thankful for his courage and sacrifice, but I wish it was not at the expense of his family and his life. You will be missed but never forgotten Sgt. Kyle Osborn.

And as if it didn't seem like there could be any more heartbreak, some mutual friends of ours are expecting their second child, a girl named Scarlett.  Earlier this week, she was admitted to the hospital at 22 weeks pregnant due to bleeding. She has been diagnosed with some sort of serious pregnancy condition and will be staying at the hospital until delivery, which they are hoping will be past 24 weeks.  24 weeks!!! I keep hoping and praying that that little Scarlett can hold on and stay inside her mommy as long as possible and continue to stay healthy and grow.  Any baby before 36 weeks automatically goes into the NICU. She is coming up on the 24 week mark this week.  Please pray that things will get better for them and that precious baby girl can continue to grow in her mommy's belly and not fight for her life in a NICU.

I know this is all just life, but I'm struggling.  I've spent a lot of time in the past 2 weeks reflecting. Things I have done, things I haven't done, things I should've done, things I should do.  Do me favor-be sure to tell everyone how much you care about them.  We all know that in a moment's notice things can change.  These past couple of weeks have confirmed that. No matter how "boring" or simple our lives may seem at times enjoy it. It's a privilege to be here...to have the things we have....to be with the people we love. Our time is limited. Make the most of it.

So to my mom who will be reading this at some point-I love you more than you'll ever know. I am so grateful for you and dad. I'm so grateful that we're all healthy and that we still have more time.

To my best friend Jackie in Chicago-there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of you and wish you were still here in L-town with me, but I know L-town can't handle us both. I know we don't talk as much as we wish or we should, but I still love you more than ever and am thankful to have such a wonderful friend in you.

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. There is the annual walk in Indianapolis on Saturday, September 22nd.  You should think about joining.  In honor of Sally's mom, please say a prayer for her and her family.  Pray that God will give her mom peace and strength in what lies ahead for her.

 

Kindergarten Common Core

Okay so this is my first post totally devoted to work and my classroom, but I have got quite a few low kiddos this year and I am struggling with how to accomodate for them.  So tonight while I was blog stalking all of my teaching blogs I came acoss one for getting a free copy of the Kindergarten Common Core book. I was somewhat intrigued so I clicked the link to see if maybe there was a deal for the first grade one-not so much.  So I reluctantly pushed that thought aside.  However, I'm back to my teaching blog stalking and I just keep seeing all of these posts about it (you have to post to get the free copy) and I got curious again. So I looked at the free preview on the website and realized that even thought this is for the Kindergarten Common Core and I teach 1st grade, this is exactly what I need for my low kiddos, who might I note some of which should still be in kindergarten!!! So...here I am posting about this great deal. I would be even more excited if they were running the same deal for the 1st grade bundle, but beggars can't be choosers and I'll take what I can get.

Just from the small snippet from the free preview I can tell it is a fabulous resource for any kindergarten teacher and also 1st grade teachers looking for some additional support for some of our low kiddos. It obviously relates to the common core, it has meaningful activities, and has very cute clipart (which is always helpful). I'm still going to keep my fingers crossed that they will run the same deal for the 1st grade book.

 

 

Regardless, I am still ecstatic to use this resource in my classroom. I think many of the ideas and activities can crossover to 1st grade in many ways also.  I guess my laid back Sunday will not be a busy Sunday of browsing through this book and seeing what I can use this upcoming week.

 

You should take a look...it'll definitely be worth it.