Stories with Sophie

I love celebrating the little JOY's of life. Taking a few moments to enjoy those little moments that make me smile keep me sane during a time when the whole world seems to be going crazy. This week I seemed to find lots of happiness--- My hibiscus plants are finally poking through the ground! The false spring we had early on faked me out and I kept thinking they hadn't survived the winter. But they are a lesson in patience. While we were getting ready for spring, the hibiscus knew winter wasn't quite over. And they were right. As soon as we hit some 75+ degree days, they emerged from their blanket of dead leaves and started reaching for the sun. Along with the hibiscus, I've got lots of little areas planted with annuals, little spots around the yard that just make me smile. Wish I would have taken pictures before I left for the lake! Maybe a future blog post will have to be a tour of those spots! Video chats with two of my grandsons. It's always

All weekend, little memories popped up in my life. A song started the trip down memory lane: The Doobie Brothers, Old Black Water. Every time I hear it, I smile and am immediately transported back to a school bus, traveling to a speech contest, singing at the top of my lungs with all of my best friends. It was such a happy, uncomplicated time in my life. And those memories of rehearsals, long bus rides, trips to "Mickey D's" make up a lot of my high school memories. I think it's why I loved coaching speech so much. I was able to help kids create those memories on their own and enjoy them again in the process. Then I grabbed this coffee mug out of the cupboard and was once again student teaching in a small town not far from where I live now. I ate a lot of instant mac and cheese out of this mug. As the first person in my family to go to college, none of us had a clue about the needs of a college student. I lived in an apartment above a store in downto