a can of peas for the whales

Well, friends . . . apparently yesterday I had a moment of confusion. It was not intentional, but it did work (for just a bit) in my favor! I stated in I Can Spell Organization that I was forty six. Most unfortunately, that fact is untrue; and even more unfortunately, two folks simultaneously figured it out and called me on it! My dear husband shrieked from the computer room, "Hey, that's my underwear drawer on the internet" and then he noticed the age mistake. And then my dear friend Shannon aptly realized that I am forty seven - ugghhhhh. I admit it. It is true. And, even though it would be awesome to receive the gift of an extra year, I was already gifted with that one day last summer.

You see, to further point to my confusion, I mistook my years at my last birthday celebration. I thought I was turning forty eight until my daughter Emma nudged me and said, "Mama, you haven't been forty seven yet!" It was a miracle! To quote that big-nosed hunk of man, Barry Manilow, it was a "true blue spectacle, a miracle come true." I had been given another year - right there - just like that! It was one beautiful moment, and I guess I wanted more. So, you see, yesterday's innocent mistake was just my subconscious screaming for another miracle and grabbing it.

But don't think I don't appreciate the kindly reminders. I am all about kindly reminders. In fact, I am quite sure that if I did not receive them from my children frequently throughout each and every day, I fear I would be unable to put this I've sort of got my act together look. I appreciate reminders. Life is confusing!

Whenever I am confused or hear about another's confusion I always remember a story that is my all-time favorite there are too many things swirling around to keep them all straight story. I think of it often, and I always smile. Sometimes when I hear it, I wonder if we are all filling up with too much - too much to do, too much to think about, too much to juggle and sometimes even too many good deeds.

I was a teacher for twelve years before I got married and had three amazing kids. I loved being a teacher, and I worked hard at it. I have a million wonderful moments inside me from those years, and I learned so much - I also hold on to a lot of laughs! Here is one, a great confusion story:

At our school, in the fall of the year, we were all fervently working towards the upcoming holiday season. There was much to do and many things swirling! As is done at schools all over our country, Thanksgiving was our time to hold a large canned good drive for needy families. We were doing well, and the children were very excited. We were using the food drive to teach throughout the day, and they loved thinking about what they were doing to make a difference and they looked forward to each day when they could count the cans from each classroom. Even my kindergarteners were thrilled with the project.

Along with the food drive, we had an exciting new project. Scientists had recently discovered that right whales had begun populating the areas around Georgia's coast, and everyone was excited about the news and photos abounding. Our school administration had made the commitment to 'adopt' a right whale and send money for the support of marine biologists to keep safe the habitat of our whale friends.

I was thrilled with the wonderful way I was tying together both of the good deeds of the families. "Look at the good we are doing, kids!" I would say each day. We learned about right whales, we plotted their sightings, and we learned about how many people right around us go to bed hungry each night and all that we could do to make that different. It was an amazing phase of wow, I'm a grand teacher! It was awesome!

And then - poof - I was reminded of just how confusing life can be. One of my most intelligent students, one who raised her hand for every answer, who always knew what was going on was sweet Rebecca. It was always wonderful to see her happily bopping in each day for another round of learning. This particular day, she bopped in as usual, proudly carrying a can of little green peas. She ran towards me as quickly as she could and held the can of peas high into the air. She reached towards me with the canned peas and confidently exclaimed, "Here's my can of peas for the whales!"

God bless the whales, the hungry and the confused!