Ordinary Life

This semester, my 3rd and 4th grade students read ' Because of Winn-Dixie ' .  Well, I read aloud and they listened... because listening is an important skill and stories are vital.  We have since moved onto 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane' , because having one's heart smashed to pieces then put back together is also very important.  The miracle of Edward and his learning to love will certainly reflect here.    But it was as we were falling in love with that scruffy ol' Winn-Dixie dog, we came up with the idea to make our own Littmus Lozenges.   And so.   We started with Strawberry and Root Beer candies per the book's description, then each student wrote down a memory to add.  I didn't know I could love these kids any more... but now that they've told me about the time their trampoline blew across the yard during a scary storm, landing comically on their grandma's car, or that their baby sister died and to think of her still mak...

(For Delton)  There were more bottoms than seats in the waiting corral at Wafflebees, but we were so far south in Georgia, the only other late night bites required venturing across the state line into Florida. We shiftless late-shifters shifted around the small half-wall stall trying not to crowd one another or make eye contact of a duration requiring small talk.  Tamika, the tired and tireless hostess,  announced our turn to order the deep-fried Bad Lifestyle Choices Trio (with 3 sauces!) had arrived and bid us join her expedition for a still-damp yet still-sticky table at which to abandon us. We agreed to follow her raised menu torch only if she could lead us to a table directly under an A/C register and nearest the 'ambiance' of the late night kitchen. She did her best.  "How many?" she inquired. "There are 3" came our reply.  ::swoop, swoop, schlipfh::  Tamika counted out three oversized menus, the last one still slick from waiter Dwayne's One Rag Wi...