Life and Times of the Sharp Family

Over the course of the past week or so, I have missed my home.  As much time as I had been at the high school between student council, cross-country, and just the regular school day itself, I was starting to confuse home with school.  It was terrible.  Today, I never left home.  I spent the entire day padding around the house in elastic-banded pants.  I took two naps.  I hung out with my kids.  I watched football.  It was wonderful. I am thankful that today gave me the chance to rest, relax, see my family, and to get reacquainted with my home. Thank God for a day at home! Lord, thank you for giving me an entire day to be at home in comfy clothes.  Thanks for a chance to get caught up on rest before facing another busy week.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Today, I got to run the Bakers' Dozen Beer Run in Marshall, Michigan.  It's a very fun, laid-back, half-marathon on some beautiful back roads.  It was a perfect fall morning.  The race promised free beer and donuts at the finish line.  What more could I ask for?  I was extremely happy with my run, finishing in my personal best time and noshing a Louie's nut roll in a comparable time at the finish line.  I also had a free beer (or two or three) from my favorite brewery, The Dark Horse, as a part of my post-race swag. I was a part of a large posse that signed up for the race, including four people who completed their first ever half-marathon.  April, Tonya, Jenna, and Casen each finished the race today looking great!  I was so proud of them and so thankful that they now have the opportunity to revel in that amazing feeling that comes after doing something you never thought possible.  It was a great day with wonderful people....

Today was Homecoming.  It's a pretty intense day for student council and the student council co-advisors.  We have a formal assembly in the morning, a pep assembly in the afternoon, and a half-time ceremony at the football game.  Each one entails a laundry list of things to organize and execute.  But, everything happened and it went extremely well. I have to say that probably my favorite part of being student council co-advisor is my co-advisor, Kim.  I love her more than I can say, but I can say that without a doubt I would not be doing this without her.  She is funny and smart, and I absolutely relish the time we get to spend together planning and working on things.  As crazy as Homecoming is, I know that it means quality time with one of my absolute favorite people. Thank God for Kim! Lord, thank you for my friend, Kim.  Thank you for the time we get to spend together.  Thank you for the way she makes my life easier, the way she make...

I showed this short video to my chemistry classes today to show how converting units is something we do all the time: I love Heywood Banks (the singer/songwriter) and his wacky sense of humor. "Toast" is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's hard to hear Heywood and not have a smile one your face. Today I was happy that I had a curriculum-based reason for showing his stuff in class. And, even though I watched it five times in a row, I still laughed every time. I would say my students found it nearly as funny as I did, but some of them definitely got a kick out of it. I am grateful that even when I'm talking about unit conversions, I can still have a little bit of fun at school. I am equally thankful for a comedian who can be funny, but clean enough to show at school. Thank God for Heywood Banks! Lord, thank you for ways to have fun even on the days you least expect to. Thank you for laughter. In your name I pray, Amen.

The title to this post is a little misleading. Although I am very thankful for my role in parenthood, tonight I am especially thankful for the TV show Parenthood. Colby and I enjoy watching an episode together on nights when we have our work done and the kids are asleep. Lord, thank you for giving us an opportunity to relax and enjoy a little bit of television tonight. In your name I pray, Amen.

For 80s character day, I got to be Ms. Pac-Man today.  My awesome girls' cross-country team offered to dress up as the ghosts: Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde for the day, so that we could all be 80s characters together. I felt so grateful to be a part of this group of girls, who are so fun and up for anything. Thank God for Ms. Pac-Man! God, thank you for the opporutnity to have some fun with my team today.  Thank you for giving me such a good group of girls to hang out with.  In your name I pray, Amen.

The girls accompanied me to Dollar General tonight to pick up some final touches for my "80s Character" outfit for tomorrow (it's Homecoming Week and our theme is The 1980s).  Dharia offered to carry the fluorescent pink poster board to the register, but in the process fell victim to a nasty paper cut.  While I carried her wailing through the store, I could think of one thing that was a sure bet for making her feel better -- Bandaids. Luckily, Dollar General not only had a fine selection of Bandaids, they had ones with Hello Kitty on them.  As soon as Dharia saw them, the wailing ceased and she said "These will make me feel much better, mommy."  Naturally, as soon as AJ saw them, she started wailing and saying that she needed a Bandaid too. Time to get out of Dollar General. We paid for our two pieces of poster board, 2 liter of Diet Coke, and box of Hello Kitty Bandaids. The best part of the whole event was when we got to the van.  I gave Dharia the box...

Today I am stiff and sore.  You see, I took a pretty nasty tumble off of my bike yesterday, crossing some wet railroad tracks.   Colby has done my posts for me the past couple of days, as you can probably tell by the grand total of 4 sentences that comprise them.  Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for his help.  It has been a rough couple of days. Long story short, yesterday I was crossing the railroad tracks by Albion College that I've gone over literally thousands of times.  It was a little wet, a little slick, and I hit the tracks at just the wrong angle to make my bike bounce and slam down on my right side.  I was pretty sure that I had broken something at first, and I laid there a good long while sort of out of it.  The Albion College Campus Security van saw me go down and spun around in the intersection of Erie and Hannah.  The man called an ambulance and stayed with me until it got there.  Since I was conscious and could bear ...

Today Breslin attended a birthday party of one of his friends in school. He was crazy excited all week, and he had a wonderful time today with his friends. It was a lot of fun to watch him walk into his friends house and say hi to all his kindergarten friends. Lord, thank you for allowing Breslin to have such a great time today at his friend's birthday party. In your name I pray, Amen.

After a long day at school and a long XC meet in the rain, I had KFC brought to me right after I got home. YUM. Lord, thank you for getting me through  this super long day. Thank you for providing me with a delicious dinner that had very little clean up. In your name I pray, Amen.

Today I was leaving to pick up the kids at day care when "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train came on the radio.  I had a lot on my mind and was feeling overwhelmed.  But, I love that song.  As soon as it came on, I broke out into a giant grin and started singing a long, belting out the lyrics, most of which I didn't know, exactly.  As I was sitting at the light, waiting to turn right onto M-60 from Reynolds Rd, I was singing and car-seat-dancing.  A couple of guys passed by me on M-60, waving and laughing at me, good naturedly.  I guess I was having a noticeably good time jamming to one of my favorite songs.  As I made the turn to pick up my kids, it was like a switch had flipped.  Hearing "Hey, Soul Sister" was somehow all I needed to niraculously go from anxious and irritable to happy and carefree.  It helped me be in a better state of mind -- making me capable of having a great night with my kids.  I am so thankful that God ...

This is what Breslin and I did for at least 45 minutes this evening: Any day you get to do the hokey pokey is a pretty good day. I'm thankful for the levity of this evening (that I so desperately needed)  provided by this inane, yet timeless dance.  I'm even more grateful that I got to watch my son enjoy its inherent entertainment while we spent a beautiful evening on our back porch. Thank God for the Hokey Pokey! God, thank you for small moments that change the entire course of a day.  Amen.

Our boys cross-country team tonight won their dual meet against Charlotte by a mere 2 points. But, I gotta say, that I will take a win, no matter the margin. Since I started coaching, we have had some great guys, but we've never really been competitive.  The best we've ever finished in an invitational is somewhere around the middle of the pack, but more often than not, it's really towards the bottom -- or worse yet ...the bottom . Going in to this meet, we knew we'd made great improvements this season and would match up well with Charlotte's top runners.  We discussed strategy yesterday, and today, those guys did exactly what we asked them to do.  They ran hard and smart and finished in the places they needed to in order to secure a win.  Albeit not by much. It was exciting to watch them come through at various stages of the race and do some quick math to see where we stood.  Coach Wilcox and I knew it was going to be extremely tight, but as we wat...

Colby and I just got done doing an Insanity workout together in our living room!   We are hot, sweaty, and exhausted. And hungry, but that's just normal for me. Even though it was late at night, we'd had a long day, we were both tired, and we had every reason in the world not to work out, we still did.  We both feel so much better mentally and physically for having done so too. Tonight I am so grateful that when I've missed every other boat -- I didn't work out after school, it's too dark to ride my bike, and the pool's closed -- I still have a perfectly good workout option available to me that I can do in my own home.  No excuses. Thank God for Insanity! Lord, thank you for giving Colby and I the opportunity to work out tonight.  Thank you for always providing options that help making good decisions seem easier.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Sundays are just hard, sometimes. They sneak up you, really.  Like Saturday, you can just kind of relax, because you know that you still have some weekend left to rest, recover, and prepare for the impending week.  Even if it's busy, in the back of your mind, Sunday is still there, looming large and hopeful on the horizon. But then, wham!  Just like that, Sunday comes and goes and you're looking Monday right in the face. It's hard for me to not feel sorry for myself sometimes on Sundays.  By the time we do all of our chores, take a nap, and workout, it's pretty much over. I was in full-out pout mode tonight, when I realized that Sundays just aren't what they used to be. When I was a student at Alma College, Sundays meant saying goodbye to Colby and being away from my family for another week.  Sure, I had good friends up at school, but as the years went by, Sundays became harder and harder to deal with.  By my junior year, most Sundays I would...

Not many things went well for the Spartans tonight against Notre Dame, but I still had a blast hanging out with Colby, my dad, and our great friend Brian. The highlight of the night may have been when Sparty gave me a kiss. Lord, thank you for allowing me to have a great night with family and friends. In your name I pray, Amen.   **Okay, so I have to add to this a little, because I was sleeping when we got home last night, so Colby was very gracious and did my post for me.    We decided to go to the game early enough to catch the drumline playing on Grand River outside of SBS and then see the whole band march across the bridge to the stadium.  The atmosphere is just charged and you can't help but want to be  a part of it.  As we were waiting on the bridge, Sparty comes sauntering by, and I went a little crazy.  Picture a 7th grade girl when Justin Bieber walks by -- that was me with Sparty.  Well, Sparty called me out fr...

We did it. We survived the first 5 day school week of the year. The Sharp kids and Sharp adults were exhausted, but we did it, and now we get to celebrate by hanging out and enjoying the weekend together. Lord, thank you for helping us get through this long week. Please help us to have a fun and relaxing weekend. In your name we pray, Amen.

Coach Wilcox is asking me to run with the girls' cross-country team quite often this year as a part of my coaching duties.  This is a good thing, because I can get a workout in during normal practice time--essentially killing two birds with one stone for me.  I don't have to try to do anything after getting home, which is wonderful considering my skills are limited to sitting on the couch, eating, and sleeping from the time I walk through my front door at night.  I am a slug. I also get to do a lot of coaching on the course, which is where I feel I have the most to offer these girls.  This makes me feel as though I am contributing more to their growth and success.  So that's good too. But, tonight I'm thankful for making it through a tough workout with girls half my age.  The girls did mile repeats today, which is the hardest workout we have them do during the season.  Essentially, you run a mile as fast as you can, then rest for three minutes....

My girls are best friends.  I see it every day, really.  Today, however, I have been especially struck by how much AJ looks up to her big sister, and how much Dharia looks out for her little sister. On the way into daycare this morning, AJ was crying uncontrollably because she wanted some fruit snacks, and there weren't any more in the car.  When we got inside, Dharia talked to AJ sweetly, then went into the other room.  When she came back, she had taken the applesauce out of her lunch that was packed and walked it over to AJ.  AJ was so happy, she instantly stopped crying and was happy again.  I don't know if Dharia somehow understood AJ saying she wanted applesauce, or if she just knew it would be an acceptable substitute; I was pretty astounded by the exchange, to be honest.  A similar thing happened tonight when AJ bonked her head pretty good on the counter.  I was holding her as she cried, and several minutes later, Dharia came ove...

Tonight, the girls and I were all in the van, headed to Battle Creek for gymnastics, when "The Drive at 5" came on the radio.  This evening's song?  " Party Rock Anthem " by LMFAO. Both of my girls love this song.  They squealed in delight, sang every lyric of the chorus with gusto, and danced as wildly as possible, given the constraints of their car seats. It was hard to look back in the rear view mirror and not crack up. Even after a long day, even driving in rush hour traffic, even when I'm hungry and grouch and tired --my girls still manage to make me smile with the simplest things.  They even got me to dance and sing, which was an instant lift to my spirits. Thank God for "Party Rock Anthem"! Lord, thank you for music that you can't help but dance to.  Thank you for my girls, who are always there to make me smile -- or sing or dance.  Thank you for the lift they gave me today.  In your name I pray, Amen.

It's the age-old question: What's for dinner? I ask it a lot.  I'm sorry, but not really sorry, to say that when I have to ask that question what turns out to be for dinner is often a Hot 'N Ready pizza from Little Caesar's. Not tonight, though. My sweet Dharia Lou loves to make pesto from the basil that grows in a pot on our back porch.  When I was rifling around my refrigerator tonight, I found a fresh batch we had just made.  I mixed it up with some Cream of Chicken soup, some cooked spaghetti, a little bit of milk, and some browned chicken breast, and voila!  Green Spaghetti is it's official name.  Booger-sketti didn't stick, thank the Lord. It was easy, different, delicious, and the girls loved it.  Colby too.  Breslin is still recovering from kindergarten and fell asleep before he could give it a try.  I liked it.  I was thankful to provide my family with a decent, decently-healthy, homemade meal tonight -- somet...

Today we had absolutely no obligations.  It was a day full of just nothing. I loved every minute.  We had a nap, went to the apple orchard, made pickles, played outside, and wrestled.  I needed to do just nothing with my favorite people in the world before facing a week of everything. Thank God for a day of just nothing! Lord, thank you for giving me so much time with my family today.  Thank you for a  day where we had nothing we had to go to or be at or get done.  In your name I pray, Amen.

It has been a crazy week. The first week of school was nuts, and today was filled with things to do. Tonight I'm thankful because we have a clear schedule tomorrow. I can't wait to hang out with my kids: Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3. Lord, thank you for giving me a day to look foward to with my kids. In your name I pray, Amen.

Today, I got to miss school, dress up like Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island , and see my friends and colleagues sink to the bottom of a pond. That's a good day. It was all part of the United Way's fundraiser, entitled, "What Floats Your (Cardboard) Boat?" that took place at Cascades Park today.  Western High School decided to enter a boat and crew.  The student council paid the donation entry fee, which went to United Way programming in Jackson County.  Students built and decorated our cardboard boat, which we spent the day transporting to the park in preparation for the race.  Teachers, however, had to make up the crew due to an age requirement, so 7 of us teachers had the day to prepare for our role as the cast and crew of the WHS Minnow. As part of the crew, we decided to have a theme.  We dressed up like the cast of Gilligan's Island .  I was given the role of Mary Ann.  We also had the Skipper, Gilligan, Ginger, The Howell's, a...

The first of school is a blur. Spending any amount of quality time together as a family is hard. We are all tired. Very very tired. Tonight we decided to pick up a pizza on the way home for dinner. It saved us from cooking and cleaning up, which I'd say gave us at least an extra 20 minutes to hang out together. Lord, thank you for allowing us to be able to put a quick and easy meal on the table this evening. In your name we pray, Amen.

So, I'll take whatever compliments I can get.  Especially at school. Today, I was standing in the hallway between periods, when I was approached by a paraprofessional I've known since I started working at Western High School.   She started off by looking at me and saying, "So, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but --" Any time something is prefaced by "So, I hope you don't take this the wrong way..." the little hairs on the back of my arms and neck start to go up a bit.    Anyway. She comes up and stands next to me and says, "So I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but yesterday when you walked out on the gym floor to be introduced, I looked at your legs and said, 'Those are either the legs of a true runner...or a pole dancer!' You look great!" I couldn't help but be shamelessly flattered.  I worked hard for these legs -- but no, not like that.  Nonetheless, it made me feel proud and good...and a littl...

It was a day of firsts. Of course, it was the first day of school for Colby and I.  I forgot how much I truly loathed 5 am.  Whatever.  We survived.  Within a couple of weeks, it will be like we were never gone. In more exciting news, it was the first day of kindergarten for Breslin, who at 6:30 am was so excited and looked exceedingly handsome in his checked shirt, khaki shorts, and robot backpack you couldn't help but just be thrilled for him. When I picked him up, I asked him to tell me all about his day.  This is what I got: "Ummmm....I can only tell you two things.  First, I colored a Warner busy bee.  Second, I really wanted a hamburger for lunch but grandma gave me cheese pizza." Grandma is the head cook at Warner Elementary, by the way.  I'm not sure how Breslin thought it would work, but apparently he was confused as to why grandma wasn't serving him up short-order style. Having family at the school your kid goes to is ...

I'm sure many of you went to the lake today.  But I can say with relative certainty that you didn't get the chance to experience Albion Beach on this beautiful, sunny Labor Day -- the last official day of summer...at least for us teachers.  I know this because my kids, my dad, my husband and I were the only ones there.  For hours. Albion Beach was created last year as the city's try at having a water feature for the community.  It was well-intentioned, but last year for the better part of the summer it served more as a dirty, goose-poop infested, algae-covered cess-pool than anything else.  That was last year.  This year, the city has managed to clean up the algae and get rid of the geese.  It still kind of smelled like we were swimming in the WHS biology pond, but the water was refreshing and the sand/dirt still packed into castles.  I knew that any lake we visited would most likely be crazy with  people today, so we didn't...

With summer winding down we took the opportunity to do one more summery thing tonight as a family, as we visited the band shell in Albion to listen to the Capital City Brass play on what was a beautiful evening in the park. Lord, thank you for the beautiful night with people we love. In your name we pray, Amen.

Tonight we met the Sharps at Cascades Falls for a night of dancing, laughing, and fireworks. It was perfect. Lord, thank you for a great night in a place we love with people we love. In your name I pray, Amen.