Timothy Reginal Hughes, Jr.

Well, Timothy/Timo/Toolman is coming to the end of his high school career, and I have to say he has made us proud beyond measure.  He is a true Christ follower, a leader, a kind and gentle spirit but a hard working man's man...a person who lives right because he has a love for doing right.  Plus, I love the fact that he loves us despite all of our failings. :)

It's hard for me to see the picture of the little man before and the young man before me now, because I really miss the little guy, but he's gone so far beyond what we had envisioned for him.  We're proud, we love you, and we can't wait to see what your next adventure brings.  Whatever it is, though, we know it will be done with a passion for God and a passion for life.

We love you, buddy!  We're so, so proud!

Little man, Big man

Well, it's been a long time coming, but the time is near for my first little man to graduate from high school. Cap and gown is being purchased, FAFSA is filled out, future plans are discussed. And in the nearer future, tuxes are being rented, prom plans are set...the end of senior year is closer than ever. This journey for Timothy hasn't always been smooth. I remember when we sold our house to move overseas, and the moving truck came. He went and sat in the truck with his things, arms folded, tears rolling down his face, silently sending us the message, "I'm staying. It was heart breaking. But our adventures were not lost on him. Living overseas tapped into his adventurous spirit, which lended itself to eating strange foods, hiking in Tibet with his dad, and fishing on the Gulf of Thailand. And he opened himself up to the friendships that resulted, so that he made good, solid friendships wherever we went. It seems anti-climactic to end his childhood years in a small town in Texas, but that hasn't stopped him. His passion for God and for living out his Life as a true testimony (not just lip-service) to those he comes in contact with has sustained him, and has given him a strong, solid reputation to those who know him. He managed to find a refugee center and fulfilled his passion for internationals by going and playing soccer ("It's so cool, mom, you just go there and hold up a soccer ball, and they come running!). He's gone on mission trips, all paid for with his own money. And it's a path that he seems to be on for now. Medical missions is something he wants to pursue. There was a song that was popular back when we were first moving. It was called, "Live Out Loud." I do believe that has been his life's motto. He's taken all life has had to offer, and accepted it with arms open wide, and has lived it out loud. The little man, Toolman as we used to call him, is all grown up. Toolman has his choice of tools to offer up for service. It will be exciting to see where it all leads.

Spring Break

Well, this is a Spring Break I've truly needed.  Lots of reasons to be tired this year!  Handling testing for two schools is proving a little difficult, and I haven't even started grading the tests yet.  There will be close to 100 kids that will go through testing, each taking three tests.  Luckily, this year, the district is paying to have one of the tests graded through the company, but that still leaves the other two to grade, and all of the conversions that go with them.  It will be time consuming, but I really hope to be finished with them by the end of the month.

That said, I'm enjoying my time off.  Me and three of the kids are home, and we're just chilling.  Slowing down and enjoying the awesome weather going on outside!  A little bit of rain, cool enough to need a long sleeve shirt, but warm enough to open the windows.  It's nice.

I've decided to do a bit of decluttering.  I bought some tubs and I'm moving through the closets and storage areas and tossing what I can, storing what I can, and getting rid of what I can. We will have be in this house three years this July.  It's time! ha!

Enjoy the Spring.  It's the only one we get this year!

Rating again.

This one's a bit different than last time, but it'll be interesting. 

Amateurs, Professionals and Spelling Bees

One of my favorite books, and one that I find completely hilarious is a book called "It was on Fire when I Lay Down on it" by Robert Fulghum.  He was quite the story teller, and there were two stories that really stood out to me because they were, as he put it, moments within our traditional mindset when we put amateurs in the position of needing to act like professionals.  As a result, it can be quite an entertaining thing to watch. 

The first of these events is weddings.  I don't even want to pretend to do that story justice, but in "the MOTB" (Mother of the Bride), he describes one of his experiences as a minister in which he councils an MOTB and watches her come completely unwound at the announcement of her daughter's engagement.  Of course, she takes over the wedding, and the hilarity that ensues can only be appreciated from afar, I'm sure.

The second of these is the Christmas Pageant.  Seeing children, parents and teenagers act in such high pressure circumstances, with cameras flashing and the relative importance of the event at stake, that mistakes are almost certain.  His particular retelling of a pageant that decided to use real animals is enough to make you want to double over with laughter.

I want to add to these, without the presumption of being able to tell these stories as expertly as he, but Spelling Bees surely need to be added to this list.  There are such high pressure rules, and the nature of a bee is so serious, with students quietly observing, letters, words and phrases uttered in precise manner, and judges with disqualification bells ready to eliminate the next contestant, that there are bound to be memorable moments.  Potty dances, disappointed stomps and that moment of "Do I raise my hands in excitement or do I just sit here quietly after I won???" were the standard of this year's spelling bee.  It was dramatic, exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time.

But it was completely memorable.

The plight of our creative minds: the gifted child defined

The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this:

A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive.
To them... a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.

Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create --
so that without the creating of music
or poetry
or books
or buildings
or something of meaning,
their very breath is cut off...

They must create, must pour out creation.
By some strange, unknown, inward urgency
they are not really alive unless they are creating.

~Pearl S. Buck

Crazy Stuff

So during my presentation on Thursday, my eyes were drawn to a lady in the back. She looked very familiar, to the point that I thought I knew her from somewhere, but couldn't place her. After speaking, I tried to get back to her, but she left before I could get there. We went back to the hotel and packed up so that we could leave after the last session. I met her in the lobby, doing the same thing. "You're the lady from the workshop I've been talking about," she said. I thanked her, then told her she was very familiar to me. We discussed various places we've lived, and never came to a mutual agreement on where we could have met. She got on her elevator while I stayed back with my friends. Just as the elevator door was about to close, she held the door open and said, "WAIT! Where did you go to school?" "Missouri State," I said. "Then you had my mom. She was the only Special Ed professor there, and one of the first in the States," she said. "I look just like her." Wow. And we met. At my Visual Spatial session where we discussed visual memory. From two states away. Twenty three years later. Blew my mind. It sure validated my studies!