Five for Friday... um, I mean Saturday

I love Five for Friday! Hop over to DoodleBugs teaching and link up!

1. Today is the day! "Today you are you. That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!" I don't know why, but I woke up with this in my head (Thanks, Dr. Seuss!). As I was packing up I came across my Mother's Day gift from my oldest, and here is the photo of it.  She knows me so well.

2. Today I post as a teacher without a classroom. We will load my classroom boxes into a trailer today and I shed my tears on Thursday as I shut my door and walked away. My first year of teaching is over and conquered and there will never another one like it, for better or worse. I know without a doubt that teaching is my calling and I am trusting God that the right job for me will come along.

Goodbye little classroom with many happy memories!

3. Oklahoma tornado victims. I don't know what to say. Kudos to those teachers who participated in the TpT fundraiser and raised a significant amount of money! Love and respect to you! My youngest (Punky) is packing up her room and after she packed up kitchen trash bag full of stuffed animals, we found another storage tub full of stuffed animals. I put them in another trash bag... to give away, donate or trash. Many tears. Then I thought.... we can donate them. Of course, they are used, they won't have the same sentimental meaning to some other child as they did to mine.  But they might serve as an interim comfort until displaced children get their own comfort creatures again. So maybe, just maybe, a lesson in gratitude for all we have, and a lesson in humility can be learned by us who have everything, giving to those who have nothing. So maybe, even though it's summer, I can still teach the real meaning of citizenship to the young citizen that I have the most obligation to impart good morals to, my own little citizen. So here is praying that it will be less about what she's giving up and more about learning to give to others.  

4. Linkys. I have some I want to participate in and I hope I get them done before they close! One is the Summer Fun linky, where you show what you've accomplished on your bucket list. Another one is the Next year I will DEFINITELY... party.  I don't know if everyone participates in Five for Friday all summer, but it causes me to pull out my camera (aka phone) and snap pictures of all those "little things" in life I really need to remember. I hope I continue this trend all summer. 

5. BlogLovin'! As one who fears/avoids/hates (too strong of a word.... probably not) change, I am not lovin' the switch so far. But Lauren at Teach*Pray*Love has so generously made me a button at the top of my blog to make it easy for you to follow me. So you may look for the little heart at the top of my blog and follow me that way. Or there's a "follow me on Blog Lovin'" icon on the right you can use. But if I understand, we are going to need to make the switch, so there it is. Thanks Lauren, your blog makeover has been invaluable to me! Everyone, she has started her own design business and mine was one of the first, and it turned out awesome! Check it out!