During the summer my teaching schedule relaxes considerably. On top of that, I usually don’t take summer classes myself. Viola! TIME TO READ! It is really one of my favorite seasons of the academic year because I get to take my time perusing new texts, sorting through old lesson plans, and make changes for the upcoming semesters.

Much to my husband’s dismay, my favorite way to do this kind of work is with as many books and binders as possible piled on my desk ready for inspection. I might like to read from the new Craft of Research along with the updated MLA Handbook. I might want to spend a few minutes previewing a worship foundations text and then switch over to reading about the Bible as literature. I want all of these choices at my fingertips so I can see my options. It helps that I can take my time doing it because my students are mostly out and about enjoying summer break and I don’t have tight deadlines for a change.

But, it does make for a messy desk! And I like it that way!

Enjoy this Israel Houghton video today! I heard the song a couple of months ago and this video captures the spirit perfectly. There is also a contest to enter if you are interested. If not, just skip to the start of the video at 1:52.

This is the reception table at the wedding Dan and I helped with on Saturday. The bride was Claire’s beloved kindergarten teacher and she wanted something special for all her students at the recption: huge lollipops! Big hit at our table. The centerpieces were two old-fashioned pitchers of lemonade, one pink and one regular, surrounded by colorful  Gerbera daisies. Isn’t it lovely? And so summery.

It was also very practical because by the time we walked from the OUTDOOR wedding to the OUTDOOR recpetion, we were ready for an icy cup of lemonade in any color! It was a perfect touch.

The next day we recived the best thank you gift EVER! On our front porch was one of the clear glass pitchers from the reception with three things tucked inside: a thank-you note, a package of instant lemonade, and a whole lemon. We’ve done worship music at weddings for years, but this thank-you was a very sweet way to be compensated!

I am T – H – I – S close to finishing all my finals for the semester. In the meantime, here are some things I’m enjoying right now:

1) Diet Coke Lime – seriously, I look forward to drinking this. I told Dan I think I have an idea of how people say certain wines go with specific food, only, I have that with Diet Coke. In the morning I like an icy Diet Coke Plus (it’s fortified!). With lunch I like the pick-me-up of Diet Coke Lime.

2) This blog post by my husband and his siblings. They hijacked their mom’s blog to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.

3) The knowledge that in a few days the stress of finals (the ones I’m taking and the ones I’m grading) will be over.

See you then!

. . . talk amongst yourselves while I finish up some things? Thanks!

Just kidding. I thought I’d post this super short video that Ada recorded of herself instead of leaving you unattended. She made this video on the same night that a mysterious tweet from my Twitter account was sent to my friend, writer May Vanderbilt:

@mayvanderbilt jghggh6bfvfh5vhdbdnvfbnczbnv    c cdbcnvvffhgdv n

Ada is the child of mine that most intrigues me. (I hope she appreciates this description someday; I totally say that as a  compliment to her!) What I mean is, I don’t have her totally figured out. She surprises me the most. And I love that about her. In this clip she is saying a million and one things with her face, even in just a few seconds. In the comments section you could  write a caption for what is going on in that pretty head. She’s a piece of work, I tell ya. Or maybe just watch a few times and smile.

Ada from Felicity White on Vimeo.

Today – Thursday, April 20th – is Poem in Your Pocket Day! We almost missed it! If you go to this Poets.org page you can download pocket-sized poems to print. Apparently cities and libraries all over the country are hosting special events, but the main idea is to keep a poem in your pocket and share it with people you meet all day long. Tell me your day would not be seriously better if the person in line in front of you at the grocery story pulled a poem out of his pocket and said, “Would like to hear some poetry?”

I have some favorite poetry, from the Bible and from other sources, but I will admit that my not-quite-literary favorite right now is in Macy’s bedtime book, This is the Sunflower by Lola M. Shaefer. It begins like this:

This is the sunflower

tall and bright

that stands in my garden

day and night.

Our favorite part is this:

these are the birds

full of song

that crack the seeds

black and brown

found in the blossom

yellow and round

that crowns the sunflower

tall and bright

that stands in my garden

day and night

The poem in this book rocks back and forth like the chair we sit in every night. By the time we get to the end, I’m ready for bed too. (I was also inspired to create a sunflower fort in our backyard garden this summer . . . more on that later!)

Share some poetry today if you get a chance!

I met Anne & May a couple of years ago after I read about them in Radiant magazine. They write “Christian fiction for the real world” and I felt at home visiting their blog right away (yes, we’re THAT kind of friends). This week they’re celebrating the release of their latest YA novel, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. This post is part of their blog party! My role at the party is to tell a story about one of my friends.

In keeping with the novels for teenage girls theme, I’m choosing my friend Jill for this post. I met Jill at a get-to-know-the-new-girl party in my honor the summer before my sixth grade year. Talk about trauma. I don’t remember much from the party except a few warnings about which boys were already claimed and what to avoid in the cafeteria. But I know Jill was there, and she has stuck with me even when I, as her father kindly notes, have taken the non-traditional path in so many ways!

Here’s my short list of the reasons Jill was an awesome friend:

She indulged my love for Kirk Cameron.

She invited me to sleep over and always ordered Casey’s pizza for the occassion.

She kept me up on school gossip when I transferred to a private school.

She let me tag along on her trips to the out-of-town doctor and hit the mall afterwards.

She threw me a surprise 18th birthday party!

She never missed one of my important events.

She let me sing a Celine Dion song at her wedding!

She took care of me when I was stuck in the hospital with a very sick baby.

She kept pushing me to finish my college degree – I’m almost there!

She never stopped calling me. Even when I was (am) a jerk and didn’t return her calls in a timely fashion.

You simply cannot have too many friends like this girl! Love you, Jill! (I know you’re out there reading this but never commenting!)