Adventure is out there...on a Wednesday...on the River...

I've lived in Chicago for awhile, and I've done a number of awesome things (some one and done, while others on an annual or regular basis). But never had I been on the Chicago River (except by boat...once), and I definitely hadn't been on it at night...in a kayak. Nor had I been to Art on the Mart. 

So last Wednesday evening ended up being a 2 for 1 in terms of new things in Chicago! (I love it when that happens.)

We started at Ping Tom Memorial Park about an hour before sunset. We got our kayaks ready, and we received a quick review of how to paddle, turn, etc. And then we were off, up river first and then with the current on the way back. We had some wonderful skyline views, and some folks walking or eating near the river had good views of us. (haha)

When we arrived at Merchandise Mart, we maneuvered into a spot near the wall and out of the way of other boats and kayaks. The countdown to the show started at 5 minutes till the presentation was going to begin, and it was projected on the side of the building.

the countdown

We realized a little too late that you can access the audio from the website, so we mostly just carried on our own conversation and then watched in silence. I thought it was pretty cool; though, I have known some people to be far less impressed than I was. I guess to each his own.

part of this month's features are works from the Art Institute

Thank you REI. (And thank you, Mother Nature) It was a beautiful, perfect night!

Taking Ourselves Out of the Picture

Sometimes I can be pretty impulsive, I'll admit it. Most recently, it seemed like a good idea one day to join the Art Institute...so I did.

(It's this impulsivity that makes me realize the whole no buying new clothes in 2019 thing may help me with this in the long run...but that's another story.)

Back to the Art Institute...

As a member, I am able to always bring one friend or family member for free. (If you ever want to go, let me know - the offer's out there.) So, one of my friends joined me for this adventure (after getting ice cream, of course) on Saturday, which, by the way was absolutely beautiful and sunny; the perfect walking about downtown kind of day. Through the members entrance (oooooh) we went, and one of the volunteers helped orient us to the members lounge (again, ooooh), and there we made our game plan of what to see. I must say, it is very easy to get lost in that place - the rooms go on and on, and it's hard to tell at times if you've already seen one room or if it is just in the similar art style as the last one. So, while we had our game plan, we mostly just wandered.

What struck me most was the amount of people who were taking photographs of the artwork instead of spending time looking at it or reading about the history of it. As my friend pointed out, can't they just Google it and get a better image of it? Probably. Can't they just enjoy the artwork and not be worried about who they would show it to later? I don't know...it seems like we, as a society, have lost some of our ability to sit in contemplation and wonder of beauty that surrounds us.

Now, I'll admit I've gotten caught in this trap of photographing when I should just be enjoying various things a lot, especially on my trips to the National Parks. (Google's collection of pictures of those are surely better than the ones my own camera takes.) I'd like to argue that it's different in nature than in a museum...but is it? Truly?

In getting behind the lens, we (literally) take ourselves out of the picture. (No pun intended.)

I'm not advocating that photos are bad or that we should stop taking them altogether, for photos are such a beautiful way to keep memories alive. Instead, I'm arguing that there's a fine line, a balance to be met, especially since nowadays there's an unspoken pressure to make everything worthy of Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook. But life happens...and it doesn't look like that...nor should it have to. Some of my favorite things I've done of late don't have any photo evidence at all - time with my family, having good conversations over dinner with friends, getting caught up in a good book, taking a morning walk for fresh air before racing off to school... You get the picture. (Ok, pun somewhat intended on that one.)

I think it's important to ask ourselves, Did I take that photo to prove something or did I take that photo to make me happy (and remember something special) when I look back on it in the future? It's subtle, but there is a difference.

It's something I want to commit to working on myself - less photos, more be-in-the-moments; less proving something, more remembering with fondness and love. 

And I think this something that's on my heart today because I believe that engaging more mindfully with when I take pictures will help me on a spiritual level (and likely in other areas too). I have found myself of late often wondering if I have chosen to do things for myself, for someone else, or for God. While I know my answer should be the latter of all three, it's sadly not always (or maybe not even often) the case. I find myself thinking What would X say/think about this? or I need to make this decision for the school/student because X will be more satisfied with this way. But that's the wrong way of thinking. We're not on this earth to make other people happy. If we can lighten their loads, bring joy, and be true friends, that should be the beautiful effect of being on this earth for God and His purpose.

As we enter into this most holy week of our (Christian/Catholic) Church year, let us take time to contemplate God's love and ultimate sacrifice for us; let us be present to His Word and present to the presence of others who are walking and living this journey of faith with us. Have a blessed and beautiful Easter season, everyone!

And here we have it, where I can't even follow my own advice - As per usual, here are some (unrelated-to-the-blog) photos of things keeping me busy lately:

recent sketch of the Golden Gate Bridge

Teachers participated in a display where students had to guess whose baby picture was who, so with the help of my mom (who scanned and sent the picture) I joined in the fun. I'm not sure if any students guessed me correctly...

Went to support and celebrate my friend from church who directs the plays at her Catholic school - they did "Mary Poppins Jr" just like my school this year. What fun!

Fancy drinks before Paula Poundstone

Teacher observations are the best part of my job.

Just gonna leave that here.

Spring is putting up a fight against winter in Chicago...even though winter is winning with its snow and cold temperatures today...

When friends show up unexpectedly to work :D

a lovely thank you gift for helping with the school art fair

Fr. Greg Boyle came to speak at our church - what a gift to hear him again!

Nothing beats Saturday morning runs on the Lakefront, especially in beautiful weather

I miss Bobtail...but Johnson's will do! I can get used to this...

Triple Vanilla Bean - yum!

What's the story behind the painting?

To anyone else besides my dad, mom, or sister, the painting that now hangs above my office door would probably carry little meaning. In fact, it's hard to tell at first glance (or, perhaps, even a second or third glance) what the painting is really about. While I do like the painting itself, I am much more content that it found its home in my office because it belonged to my great aunt who passed away this summer.

What's the reason it came into my possession and not someone else's? Well, it's not a long story...but it's not a short story either, so bear with me.

My great aunt, Marg (or, as she fondly dubbed herself, "Aunt Marg, the Great") lived for quite some time most recently in an assisted living facility in a small town in Michigan, and we would go to visit her whenever we were in town. It wasn't necessarily a quick car ride, but we usually made a day out of it, bringing her coffee and soup from Panera and then visiting other family friends out that way later in the evening.

Now, you had to be careful around Aunt Marg - if you mentioned offhand that you liked something she had, you might end up taking it home. So, when she made a big deal out of liking a painting that hung by the elevators on the fifth floor of her complex, I couldn't help but take note of it. And she certainly talked about the painting many times - I wish I could remember what it was that exactly stood out to her in it. 

But that it mattered that much to her was enough for me. I decided I would figure out what this painting was called and how I could get a copy for her (because I surely couldn't steal it from the wall - not that anyone but Marg would have likely noticed). I must say that it's somewhat difficult to figure out a painting's title without the artist's name or some other concrete facts like when it was painted. I found myself typing into the Google search engine things like "woman in red dress dancing on the beach" and "umbrella" and "maid" until I found its title: "The Singing Butler." (See what Wikipedia has to say about it here.) The title really didn't make sense to me, but from that I was able to google it and find a decently priced poster version of it.

I'll never forget how the poster arrived - it came in a triangular tube, so it had some creases, which my dad couldn't help but point out to me. But I wasn't going to let that stop me or get me down - we flattened it out with some heavy books, and then we brought it to Aunt Marg on our next visit. She loved it, and her son and daughter-in-law ended up getting a nice frame for it, and it hung in her apartment until she passed away in June. I'm not sure if it was my dad or my great aunt who made note that I would get the artwork when she died, but this summer I was informed it was mine now.


So, when my dad came to Chicago to visit about a month or so ago, he brought it with him...and it sat on the floor of my office until today, when some of our wonderful maintenance staff hung it on the wall for me. I'm sure there will be plenty of people (students and adults, alike) who will be in and out of my office in the coming years and months who'll wonder why that painting means enough to me for it to hang above my door. And, if they ask, I can tell them about a wonderful woman who always looked at events and setbacks as "life's little adventures" and who definitely lived up to her name, "Aunt Marg, the Great."

Oh, the places we will go

Over the break, my family and I tried to count how many states we had each been to. Don't ask me the reason - I honestly don't remember. But it was challenging to keep track on our fingers - Was I on 25 or 20? Man, I need to start over again.

I figured it out - I'm up to 38 states visited, which means I only have 12 more to go. But now I have an easier (and prettier!) way to keep track. A few months ago I saw a flash sale advertised online about USA maps. But the map I was considering was unique - using a coin, you can scratch off the states you have been to, revealing a beautiful array of water colors below the golden surface.

I decided to finally take it out of the mailing tube yesterday and to get a frame for it. Best to get it up before the craziness of school starts again, that's what my thought was. When I got home with the frame (and a few other things from Michael's - they were having an 80% off clearance sale), I flattened out the poster with books, and I started scratching away. I don't know how long it took to get those 38 states cleared off - the ones that took the longest and required the most concentration were the small states in the Northeast as well as the biggest states - but I did it!

The final step was to put some nails in the wall - this was easier said than done because I am not known for my ability to hang things straight. But I ended up being pretty successful, and the map now hangs above a painting of the Chicago Theater marquee I did at one of those wine nights with my coworkers several years ago:

It looks like I better start planning a few more road trips...

Oh when the Saints come marching in...

As we were cleaning up from a Confirmation parent meeting, I told the eighth grade teacher today that if the upcoming 8th graders (this year's 7th graders) know nothing else, they'll know the saints. And we're not just talking the most well-known ones like St. Patrick, Mary, St. Joseph, St.Francis, etc. - no, we're talking as little known to as famous as you can get. In fact, a handful of students are obsessed with Padre Pio due to a simple "Think About the Saints" Tuesday prayer journal activity and me sharing about my trip to the north side of the city to see the relics (which I actually didn't end up seeing because I only made it in time for Mass). It's crazy what sticks with them!

This week, though All Saints Day is behind us, we spent some time with the Saints through an art project posted originally on the Look to Him and Be Radiant blog. I pared down the amount of Saint artwork for each student (from nine to three), and instructed students in the methods for carrying out the project. I encouraged students to do some lesser known Saints, which observers would be able to identify through the objects/symbols and dress/garb included in each image.

Here's what happened - can you recognize any of them?:

The Saints are now all over my cabinet - and it's absolutely wonderful!

So...happy belated All Saints Day! What good reminders of striving daily on this earth so that we may one day meet God in Heaven!

This is Halloween...This is Halloween...

Most kids prefer trick-or-treating...and most adults prefer costume parties...but me, I prefer pumpkin carving!

Growing up, we never had traditional jack-o-lanterns at our house. Not only were our pumpkins non-traditional, but my dad usually carved two, one for both of his daughters. Bert and Ernie, Gators and Spartans... What a champ.

It comes as no surprise, then, that when faced with my blank canvas (aka newly chosen pumpkin), I am ready for anything but ordinary. In honor of today's holiday of Halloween, I have compiled my 4 most recent pumpkin carvings below. In reading clockwise (starting with the top left), they are as follows: 2011 - Halloween in AZ (cactus and sun), 2013 - St Clement (my parish in Chicago), 2014 - Olaf (from Frozen), and 2015 (Mickey Mouse - this one's for Aunt Marg!).

I hope your Halloween is full of all of the good things you like to do. Happy Halloween!

A Trip to the Art Museum: A School Year Analogy

My family and I took a "field trip" to the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum on Wednesday. While taking in many intricate paintings and trying to make sense of the various eras and styles, I started thinking more and more about school. It dawned on me that a trip to the art museum was a pretty good analogy for the school year.

I know, crazy right? You're probably thinking that this girl has gone off the deep end in planning out her classroom, thinking through her first days of school, etc. But bear with me...

1. First Timer vs Old Timer:

Art Museum --> Whether it's your first visit (which may or may not have been the case for Marisa and me, we can't quite figure that one out) or your five hundredth visit to the museum, everyone is there to see the museum. Some may have trouble finding their way to a certain hall, the gift shop, or even the bathrooms, so it's the duty of the guides (or one of the 500+ time visitors) to help point the newcomers in the right direction.

School --> Each school year, there are going to be some new kids - if not in your classroom, there will at least be some wandering the halls of your school. Wouldn't you know it, things look foreign to them - it's up to the teachers, principal, and fellow students to extend a helping hand and make all the new kids (and teachers!) feel at home.


2. Same Trip, Different Experiences:

Art Museum --> After the first exhibit (which had something to do with Costa Rica and Native Americans), my family split up. My parents went one way, and Marisa and I went another. It's not that we didn't want to stay together; it's that we had different pacing and different goals for what we'd like to see. It worked out just fine - we saw pretty much the same exhibits (but in a different order and in a different amount of time) and no one got lost. (We found each other about an hour into our visit in a special exhibit on the 2nd floor.) Then, we split up again but ultimately rendezvoused at the gift shop. We all took the same trip, but if you asked each of us what we saw, I bet we'd give you a different account.

School --> You and your students are in the same classroom, but you're not all going to take the same learning path this year. (GASP!) You'll start together and (hopefully) end together, but what happens in between is somewhat magical (and, as a teacher, admittedly frustrating). Some kids will ace certain assignments and need enrichment while others will struggle to master the basics. Some students will eagerly devour your entire classroom library, allowing them to spread their wings in the world of their imaginations, while others will drag their feet in reading, thus limiting their ability to build background knowledge and stretch their thinking. Some may choose to complete certain types of projects based on their learning styles and preferences while others may choose the "easy way out" on projects. Some will need less time, some more time. There's no perfect formula; there's no easy balance. Start together, end together, and be sure they're learning something and enjoying the journey along the way.


3. What speaks to me vs. what speaks to you

Art Museum --> There are those select few pieces of art that tend to stand out to (just about) everybody. But most strike a nerve on a more individual level. For example, tucked away in a corner of the Native American exhibit, there was this piece of artwork:

It's nothing much, I would admit to that, but I stood and stared for longer than most people probably would. Maybe it's because it reminded me of the Southwest, or maybe it was the artist's use of light and natural colors. Who knows? I saw a lot of incredible art on Tuesday, ranging from religious to renaissance and from impressionist to modern, but this is the piece that stuck with me. If you ask anyone else in my family, I bet each of them would have their own favorite. 

School --> And so it is in the classroom: Jane's favorite read aloud is going to be different from Tom's; Susie is going to remember different activities from math class than Johnny (who is, meanwhile, going to do his best to blot out math class from his memory); Rachel will remember the field trips while Sam will remember the science experiments. You never know what's going to make a difference for each child. And you may never get any acknowledgement or verification that anything did, in fact, make a difference. But each year you keep on keeping on because the experience matters. The kiddos are learning, though not in a standardized, stringent way of thinking. And that's okay. In fact, it's more than okay - it's absolutely beautiful.

I'll leave you with these thoughts for now. There are probably more ways I could have drawn on this analogy, but that would have exhausted too much time (and finger dexterity). It's time for me to get back to reading some more PD books and thinking about planning for this year's incoming students. Let's go!

Brace Yourself: The Stress is Coming...

End of school year = stress

Brace yourself.

Well, I suppose I should phrase that as "brace myself" or "brace yourself to see evidence of stress overtaking my life." I can't really explain it, but the inevitable and quickly approaching "pack up, clean up, check off, and get out" strikes a chord each year.

Seeing as I have finished all immediately required tasks and grading (at least, I think I have), I chose to put my stressful energy to creative means. Please realize that I am no artist - I'm definitely not claiming to be one - but I think it's helpful to have artistic hobbies...

(image of girl adapted from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/72/2a/25/722a2564afdfeafed27c978fbc0fa51b.jpg) 

Bring it on, end of the year. I'm ready for you...

I think...

Paint Me Community

Community looks like teachers and students walking up and down hallways,
sticking student artwork with masking tape and posting it to the wall.
It looks like helping hands and thumbs up signs,
pats on the back and smiles.

That's what community looks like.

The hallway rings with thank-yous and laughter,
as teachers hum and sing songs
that are stuck in our heads from the spring show.

That's what community sounds like.

Wafts of pizza hit us,
a nice gesture of thanks from the art teacher.
Iced oatmeal and chocolate sandwich cookies
are sweet and crunchy.
The perfect snack.

That's what community smells and tastes like.

It feels just right in that hallway.
No one is cross,
Everyone is helpful,
asking where things go
and what can be done next.

That's what community feels like.


Last night I had the privilege of helping set up the student art show and then attending the spring band/choir concert. It was beautiful to witness so much talent (and talent-in-the-making - think "Music Man" beginning band...and try not to chuckle). I just loved being a part of it.