points to jaron.

a dude i worked on a couple films with at ball state pieced this together (an early film of his). this is where i live people.

a hand written note...

as i glanced at this month's NCTE (national council for the teachers of english) newsletter, i found this interesting article about the decline of handwriting. there are people out there who have become so dependent on typing, they are now unable to read their own handwriting. the article points to two men in particular. one has been banned from writing on the company white-board his penmanship is so bad. the other wrote a post-it note to himself, looked at it five minutes later and said, "i wonder what i was trying to tell myself."

waiting for the geese...

so. i was on my way home today from momma and daddy's - i spent the day with Ross (my brother) and momma - and decided to swing into mrs. curl for an ice cream cone. when i pulled into the parking lot i caught a glimpse of a man and woman necking in the parking lot. not my idea of fun for a family place, but hey, it's spring. :) i hopped out ruby and made my way up to the front to order a lime ice cream cone. if you've never had had, you simply MUST order one. anyway the man from the "necking incident" pulled out in front of me and we both made our way down main street. suddenly all of rush hour traffic pouring off the interstate came to s screeching halt. "what is going on!?" i muttered all to indignantly. to my shock and dismay the driver in the front of oncoming traffic began smiling and pointing. slowly one goose emerged from between the cars...along with 5 small fluffy goslings and one honking daddy in the rear. not only did this feathery family manage to stop traffic - they left them smiling. these honking mad geese, whom everyone generally curses, made the day of a few drivers stuck in traffic. i even caught the "necking man" on his cell phone later at a stoplight, retelling the person on the other end how the "cute little guys just waddled across the street." the guy even did the "neck thing" - which looks quite similar to an out of control swaying Stevie Wonder, only just a gangly goose neck - not their entire body! i realized as i drove that God does have small ways of reminding us to slow down, to look at the beauty of spring even in rush hour traffic!

Quotes from Kindergarteners

My Mom: "does anyone know who this is?" (pointing to me)
little boy: "a girl!"

little girl on the field trip to the farm: "are you really Mrs. Hewitt's daughter?"
me: "yes I am!"
girl: "Wow. Mrs. Hewitt must be REALLY old!"

Me: "George, please don't throw the gravel rocks."
boy: "okay."
...5 minutes later he has rocks again...
Me: "George what did I just ask you about the rocks."
boy: "Sorry."
...another 5 minutes...i see him slide his had slowly down the side of his body to the ground where he grabs a hand full of gravel...
Me: "Geo--"
boy: "Man you have sneakier eyes than my mom!?!"

Me: "What's your favorite color Susie?"
girl: "RED!"
Me: "What's your favorite color Ross?"
boy: "ALLIGATOR!"
Me: "Oh, is that a new crayon color?"
girl: "No, Ross just says animal names. I think he's afraid of colors."

I pretty much LOVED going on the field trip to the zoo with mom's class. (she volunteers a few times a week). Needless to say they could brighten any day! :)

God always gets His will...

i'm thinking about going back to school...already. i'm thinking that God's going to force me to be a teacher whether i want to or not. signs pointing in this direction include but are not limited to:

A) we're randomly studying Jonah in Wednesday morning Bible study...which is all about not doing what God tells you...and the consequences...and how despite your will and human excuses he works His will anyway...

B) i received a letter from a former teacher asking what i was up to. we've stayed in contact since the first class i had with her. she said "I hope you're teaching. Of all the student's I've had in the college classroom, you, by far, are the one I would choose to teach in my place."

C) my mom told me to teach...and write a devotional about the blessings in the first year of marriage. i trust her insight more than anyone, save Conrad, my husband. [side note for another post: it's amazing how much closer we (momma and I) have become since I've been married. :) She is wise beyond her years - something I never gave her credit for earlier in life.]

i think He's been trying to tell me for a long time now that i need to be in a classroom -which i've avoided at all costs. i tried it for a brief semester, but caved in when something went wrong. i suppose i never allowed myself to fall in love with the job - always caught up in how i was doing, was my teaching doing any good, was i explaining in a way the kids could grasp the concept - when in actuality teaching isn't' about how i feel at the end of the day, it's about the students.

So. here i am, jobless, still a little confused, but LOVING IT! :) God is teaching me patience right now - and what a grand job he is doing. :)

birds in hanging baskets.

so. today i nonchalantly waltzed out onto our balcony to groom my plants. yes. i just used the phrase "groom my plants." anyway, our balcony overlooks one of those wanna-be ponds or lakes that frequent the backyards of apartment complexes. despite it's short-comings it really is a much nicer view than, say, your neighbors bedroom window, or a parking lot.

but i digress.

as i pulled off dead leaves and prepared to water my hanging plants (lovingly name phil [he's a phlloxera plant] and diane [some name that starts with a d that i can't remember]) i realized that my step stool was unavailable. so. i reached up to pull phil down, only to have a sienna (yes that's right...i used the crayon name) colored morning dove flap in my face.

yes. it's true. i almost drop phil, screamed as if i were in a scene from "The Birds" and ran inside.

Jones, our friend and current house guest, had a look of true shock and dismay. "i've never heard you scream before." he promptly noted. Jones, being the wonderful person he is, went outside looked in phil and declared "yup. there's a nest in there. with eggs."



so now i have a dilemma. do i continue watering said plant, or do i allow him to die a slow waterless death so that the baby birds may one day be hatched?? i might have to call in the experts on this one. any thoughts? :)

box man.

okay. so when i was a wee lass of 6 or so my younger brother ross and i played several games: pot and pan band parade, ride the laundry basket down the steps, banister climbing superheroes and box man.

to most he's known as the UPS guy or delivery man. but not in the hewitt household. ross and i, after hearing from our mother that aunt becky sent us a package, would wait like a puppy watching out the window for a glimpse of the man clad in brown. oh the box man. we adored him. the simplicity of his attire. the sleekness of his massive brown truck. the dazzling awe of thousands of packages just lurking behind the large man-sized door in the side of the truck. oh. he was our real-life superhero.

on the day he finally arrived we would run, literally run, out the door screaming "box man, box man do you have our package?!?" and, being the good-humored delivery man he always said "i think i might. are either of you fred?" our faces would fall. "no." "oh. that's good because this is for emily and ross." then jumps of joy and enthused smiles spread across our faces.

and the box man's.

i never thought about it until the other day. this all happened quite randomly, as my life tends to unfold. mom and i finished up lunch and panera. this creepy old man with suspenders hiking his belt above the equator, but leaving his pants behind, followed us out the door. being the friendly people we are, momma and i humored his comments about being old, liking bagels and i think something was mentioned about family in the army (bear with me...i'm getting to the connection).

as i opened ruby's door, i happened to glance back. the man's car was filled to the hilt with boxes. large cardboard ones. with labels and untaped tops. i cracked up, looked and mom and said: "he's like a boxman without a truck!"

then the more I started thinking about it, momma chatting away about how one would describe this barney-fife-like character, i realized he must be taking the boxes somewhere! someone had to be waiting to get the boxes. even if they were empty. even if he was only taking them home to pack them - he would be re-opening them at some point. discovering each new item as if it were a new Christmas present. re-living the first time he saw the person in the photograph, the day he bought that salt-shaker, the time he dropped that favorite dish of his wife's giving it that quirky little chip or that time the box-man delivered his wheel-o for his birthday, from his aunt.