What Will Your Puzzle Pieces Say?

Sometimes what you get is so much more than you expect... Yesterday, I posted asking for help to raise enough money for a down payment on Oma's House. 140 1/2 puzzle pieces were purchased. That is AMAZING! 860 more pieces to go!

However, when two of my former students that I taught 15 years apart purchased the first few pieces, my heart swelled. I love both of them dearly. I asked them what they wanted on their puzzle pieces and both gave me a Bible verse. 

Madison asked for Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Man, let that be the first thing someone asks to be included on your puzzle and see if your heart does not about bust. God has plans to give me a hope and a future. Not just me, but you too. 

Tasha asked for Proverbs 24:3. "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established." How incredibly fitting is that! 

Jed gave next. I adore Jed and have watched him change random people's lives. A couple of Christmases ago, he collected for a server because he felt called to do it. It was my favorite part of that Christmas. Just watching people give out of kindness. He changed her life. Jed speaks truth and does not run from confrontation. His entire career is to inject fun into teaching. Go check out the Playful Classroom. He wrote that! He asked to have "Treat others as you would want them to treat you" written on his pieces. I live my life by that rule!  So does Jed and so do a lot of my friends. 

I knew that this was going to be a special puzzle at that moment. Then, it got even better. Amy asked for her pieces to say "I see the S" which literally made me laugh out loud. When a group of us were in Boston for NCSS, we went exploring on the Freedom Trail. It was beyond freezing and we were trying to walk back to the hotel. We walked and walked and walked and finally we could see the S on our hotel. We were so joyful. Just in case you didn't know, that hotel was still a loooooong way away. It's one of my favorite memories though. I am so glad laughter was added.

Adair added more laughter when she asked for her piece to say RUFUS. When I taught Adair, I was a new teacher and I came across one of those lessons that sounds wonderful to new teachers and new teachers only. We were going to recreate the Constitutional Convention. Each student was given a statesman to research and then, we would convene. Adair's person was Rufus King. I cannot tell you a single thing Rufus King did but I will always know Adair played him because I chanted Rufus, Rufus, Rufus while she did. Adair will always be Rufus. I love that is what her pieces will say. 

Some pieces are adorned with the names of the ones who gave; some are in honor of grandchildren, children, and past teachers. Some have funny inside jokes on them. All I know is that when they were coming in yesterday, I smiled, I cried, I laughed out loud... I felt loved and appreciated and validated. That's a rare gift! Thank you all who have given so far! Oma's House is going to be filled with so much love because of you.

860 pieces to go... What will your pieces say?

Be A Piece of the Puzzle

If you ever want to lose sleep, try to buy a house.  I was approved to buy a house up to a ridiculous amount of money. To be honest, I cried when the mortgage broker told me that I was approved and then, I laughed at the notion I would ever need to spend so much on a house. But don't believe whatever you see on television where houses can be bought for little. Houses are expensive.

I need $17,000 for a down payment and closing costs. I have about $7,000. I have tried to figure out a way to get the other $10,000. It's simply not happening. I cannot borrow it from my retirement because that's not how my pension works. My parents cannot simply loan it to me as they prepare to move to assisted living. I do not have stocks to sell. The down payment assistance programs raise my interest rate and charge fees that are close to $4000 on the $10000. I have lived my life on the theory of having adventures and not things. I have donated to causes I believe in, I have sponsored students, I have spent my resources on people. That doesn't help me get to $10,000 though. 

I have spent a lot of time obsessing over the number lately. $10,000 is $100 one hundred times. It's $50 two hundred times. It's $20 five hundred times.... $10 a thousand times... When I got to the $10 x 1,000 level, it hit me. I'm trying to solve a puzzle so lets make it an actual puzzle!! 

Years ago, a former student of mine was raising money for IVF and she collected money using puzzle pieces. She wrote the names of the people who helped her achieve her dream on the back of the puzzle pieces so she and her husband would remember who helped them. I love seeing the photos of her two little boys on social media so I know this can be done. Will you be a piece of the puzzle to help me raise $10,000?

Oma's House will be filled with love, laughter, and books. My grandson and I are going to snuggle together reading books. We are going to make ravioli from scratch. We are going to walk the beach and find the perfect shells to paint. The front bedroom has perfect natural light and just enough space for my desk, a book shelf, and a bed for little visitors with an affection for peanut butter sandwiches like his daddy used to eat. There's a sunroom that is small but absolutely perfect for matchbox cars to be strewn all about it or GI Joes to be immersed in all kids of adventures by the next generation. There are poles out back for a hammock to be hung and the yard is small enough for me to keep up with the maintenance. I can see my life there.

How does it work? I have bought a 1000 piece puzzle. I am going to write the name of each person who donates $10 or more on the back of the pieces so I can remember who made Oma's House possible. Donate $20 and I will write  your name twice, $50 and I will write it on 5 pieces, You can write a note on the pieces or it can simply be your name. You get the idea. You are welcome to write on the pieces yourself if you're local. The puzzle will be displayed on the front entry table. I want it to be visible so I will be constantly reminded that I am surrounded by people who literally support me in all my dreams. Be a piece of the puzzle!

Slice of Life on a Saturday

 I'm taking a break from the How to Buy a House blog series for a day or two. It's stressful and when I think too much about uprooting my entire existence, I end up laying on the couch pondering my entire life. I mean, how do I not have enough for a down payment in my savings? I want to attach my tax statements and say I donated this much to these causes and that does not count the ones too small to give receipts. I have used my income for good... I just didn't think to save enough for a down payment.  I have plenty of money in savings to travel, to fix my car if it breaks, to pay for medical bills if I break, to donate to this little league team or that Girl Scout troop, to give good gifts for holidays or searcies just because, to cover the cost of all the books I would need if Mr. K's had a big sale or Marshall's had the perfect clothing in my size... I just don't have thousands sitting there waiting to buy a house because I didn't think I would be buying a house. So, that whole topic is stressful... Instead, let's discuss things that have made me smile today. We should always always always take time to remember what made us HAPPY!

I started my day by finishing reading the book of Acts. If you're a FB friend of mine and you remember that I was reading it weeks ago, I promise I am not that slow of a reader. I have been reading it and re-reading it. I think Acts may be one of the most important books of the Bible because it says Jesus wanted non Jewish people covered by His blood as well. I am a Gentile. If you're not Jewish, you are also a Gentile. Acts matters and today when I was reading the last few chapters, Paul is being transported for trial and he has been beaten and jailed and taken from one place to the next. Through it all, he praises God. There's a whole blog in that but today, in the chapters I was reading Paul is bitten by a snake and no harm comes to him. Do you think this is from where the idea of handling snakes in the fundamentalist churches comes?? Anybody know? That's what I pictured when I read it though. Snake handlers... Go read Acts.

I made a list of things to accomplish today. Don't be impressed, I did like 3. I took the trash off. I did laundry. I picked a dress I had ordered up and when I finish this post, I will have completed #4. I did, however, meet G for breakfast at Eggs Up Grill. If you have never eaten their grilled blueberry muffin, go tomorrow. It is so good. I didn't eat that today but I usually do. G and I go often enough that I could order for her and Today, when she said she wanted water to drink, I knew we were heading to Starbucks afterward so she could order a drink with lots of Splenda and raspberry syrup. It's good to have friends who you can text simply the word Breakfast? and when she wakes up, she replies with give me 15 minutes. If I move, G will need way more than 15 minutes to meet me for breakfast. My friends will be the hardest to leave.

I truly spent a lot of time on the couch today avoiding grading papers, avoiding the registration sheets I need to do for each student in my first period class, avoiding thinking about the fact that I don't have enough money in savings for a down payment... I need to check things off this list but instead I took a nap. It's Saturday. Naps are allowed on Saturdays. They are a judgement-free activity on weekends.

This evening, I went to watch Indoor Percussion compete. Band has so many different aspects and they're all impressive. Indoor percussion gives each school 8 minutes to perform and its' theater, movement, and drums and xylophones and cymbals. I LOVE watching talented students perform. Easley's show is the Lighthouse and it features a huge lighthouse made by a parent. I am not musical AT ALL but I LOVE LOVE LOVE all things Band. 

Now, I am at home again. I may grade some papers or I may watch HGTV or maybe a Hallmark movie where the girl falls in love with the small town baker instead of the wealthy big city lawyer... and nobody ever asks the Hallmark heroine how much money is in her savings account. :) I apparently need to move to Vermont.

I hope your Saturday was as wonderfully unproductive as mine has been. We all need some downtime these days.  

Sometimes The Opposite Of What You Think Is True

 Every year when I teach about Alexander Hamilton's Financial Plan, I have to explain why he wanted the newly formed United States to borrow money. I have to explain that credit is not a dirty word and it actually means that people believe you can pay the money back enough to loan you the money in the first place. It's an odd concept to teenagers because we have done a good job as parents teaching them to save, save, save for what they want and that credit is BAD. What we should be stressing is that too much credit is bad BUT so is too little. You need credit to get credit.

I owe nothing but student loans. Now, my student loans are pretty massive but that's a story for another day. I paid off everything when student loan payments were paused. I drive an older car. I rent. I paid off my credit cards.. You would think this is an awesome thing... it's not when you want to make a big purchase like say... a house. According to the bank, you need multiple credit streams and the easiest way to raise your credit score is... WAIT FOR IT.... to get more credit... How crazy is that?

I don't use my credit cards enough. I don't have multiple credit cards. I pay off the balance every month... Ummmm... These are all true statements and apparently I needed to adjust these habits to up my chances at a mortgage and a better mortgage rate. TRUTH from more than one source... Okay, so what does that mean?

Even if you do not want to buy a house or a car or whatever, you need to check your credit score. You can do this for free and without a hit to your score by signing up for one of the free credit monitoring sites, like Credit Karma. You want as high of a score as you can get before making a big purchase. Credit Karma breaks down the factors that comprise your credit score. For example, it does matter how much you owe BUT it also matters how much available credit you have and for how long you have had certain accounts. It does indeed lower your score when someone checks your credit, so avoid that. Go check your credit score. You are trying to get above 700 or better for a home loan. I actually learned a lot about credit scores and how they work and I worked at raising my score this past year. I learned that I needed to actually use my credit cards and then, I learned to leave about $20 on them until the credit cycle restarts so the credit reporting services know they're being used. Good credit is more complicated than I knew. Like most things in life, you need to work at it.

So, go check your credit score. Fix anything that is fixable if your score is lower than you want. Change your habits, even if they seem like the opposite makes more sense. It may take a few months for it to increase. But....like most things in life, if you put in the time and effort, it pays off. 

Meet me back here tomorrow and we will discuss how to get pre-qualified to buy a house. We are almost to the fun stuff of house hunting.

Is It Even Possible?

I watch House Hunters, Home Town, Lottery Dream Home, or some random television show where the main goal is to find the perfect home every night. That's not an exaggeration... I fall asleep every single night to people looking for their dream homes. I have made list after list of what my perfect house would be but I have never even tried to buy a house. Why? That's complicated....

For years, I lived in the perfect house. The rooms were large. There was an open floor plan. The yard was huge and private. I could sit outside on the porch and listen to the silence of nature. Taylor had a playroom and a bedroom and a playhouse in the backyard. There was storage and it was just the ideal situation. I LOVED that house.

Then, I was downsized by my company, went back to school to become a teacher, and basically could not afford to live in my dream home. It was a hard time and it damaged my view of the possible, if I am being honest and since this is my blog for Lent, I will be completely honest. My heart got banged up a little and my confidence in myself was shaken but I kept moving forward so we literally moved.. to my grandmother's house, to a house in town with an upstairs neighbor who fought with her boyfriend loudly, to a converted barn house with crazy landlords, and finally to a lovely house out in the country with good neighbors and a friendly landlord. It wasn't the dream house, but it is a good house. I have lived there 12 years. 

Yes, my friends... I have rented for over a decade. Why? Because when you lose a dream, you lose the ability to dream for a little while. Is that a little too real for a Lent blog? I keep looking at it and thinking how sad that sounds but it's completely true....I lost the dream house and I found a suitable replacement and settled. I did not think I could do better... I did not think I could buy a house.. I was wrong.

Today's blog was going to be about where to start when you're ready to buy a house but it's not about that at all... it's about chasing your dreams even when you get knocked down and it's hard. It's about never settling for less because it feels less scary. Maybe I just needed to type the words that I want Oma's House to be MY Dream Home and not just a nice place I live. 

Is it even possible? I sure hope so... I sure hope so... Tomorrow, we will discuss where to start chasing the dream...

The Journey to Oma's House

I am going to be an Oma!! My amazing son and beautiful, smart, and incredibly kind daughter-in-love are having a boy due in August! To say I am excited is an understatement. I have wanted to be a grandmother since they married. Honestly, it's been hard to not be that annoying mom who asks constantly when they're going to have children. 7 years later, I am going to be an Oma!

The bad news is that Taylor & Molly live about 6 hours away from me. This is not an ideal Oma situation. I want to be there to snuggle him, to babysit him, to watch him crawl, and walk, and run. I want to be amazed by his cute little babbling IN PERSON. I want to be close enough that when he is sick and Molly has a full client schedule and Taylor cannot just call into the Marines that I can take the day off to rock him, feed him chicken soup, and read Where the Wild Things Are for the hundredth time. I need to move closer.

Full disclosure: I have never bought a house before. I honestly have no clue what's involved. I have asked a lot of people and what I have found is that it's complicated and scary and incredibly expensive. Not just the houses in this seller's market, but the entire process. I thought maybe other people haven't bought houses either. Maybe, you have also been through a divorce, a career change, have been a single mother, you have travelled, and bought books and donated to charities, maybe you have just lived life and never bought a house because you have rented really nice homes so why buy. Maybe, you are like me... Well, I need to move closer to my grandbaby and that puts me in a touristy area where purchasing a home is much cheaper than renting. So, I need to buy a house. For Lent, I thought I would sell something each day as I clean out the old house and I will blog each day so I could explain the process along the way. Just because you don't know how to do something doesn't mean you shouldn't learn. So, join me as we travel over the valley and through the woods to Oma's House. :) 

40 Days of the Journey to Oma's House for Lent... Life is always an adventure!

What's Your Legacy?

 Our sermon today was on Legacy. What will be people say about you when you leave? What is your legacy? 

My brother-in-law is laying in the Neuro ICU at a local hospital after an accident yesterday, so of course that is where my mind went first. He is a fighter and I do not believe it is his time to leave yet but I know exactly what his legacy is - his family. Every grandchild wants him over everyone else. He is the baby whisperer. His granddaughter adores him. That is not too strong of a word - they adore each other. He is this big tough guy but he would play Disney princess stories with her when she was little. The image of him carrying her in as part of Rapunzel is one of my all time favorite things. However, he also once told her that he could not be her friend any longer if she didn't do her homework. She is an honor student so they are still the best of friends. He coached his daughter and son's respective sports teams. Yelling at them to do better and shake it off when my sister and I wanted to baby them. He stood in the gap for my own son as well. He filled the role as the strong dad voice because I was always cautious and didn't want Taylor to get hurt. He threw into the water, let him flip across the water coming off a wake board, pulled him to safety off a dirt bike and then, put him right back on it. He shows up for anything my mom needs. So, while it is not his time to leave, his legacy is clear. He is all about family.

When I came home from church, I walked past a stone in my garden with a green E painted on it. I look at it every day as I come into the house. The E was gifted to me years ago by two of my favorite students. It was originally part of a Homecoming display. I asked if I could have it when the display was over and was told yes but it disappeared. These two students saw it at another person's house later, realized that it had been taken without permission, and returned it to me. It is part of my legacy. In the mud room, I have painted letters EHS sitting in my window. These were decorated by students for use in photographs at different events. Each one is unique and over-the-top creative. I wanted them to look great in photographs so I set the bar high. They reached that goal without a problem. Those letters are part of my legacy. As I sit at my desk typing this, there are 3 notes pinned to the board above my laptop. One is a note is from my principal telling me "my dedication to my students is obvious and appreciated" (Legacy). Another is the Robing Ceremony card from one of my favorite students saying "knowing you has changed my life" (Legacy).The final is a thank you note from a student telling me I "saved her" by coming to her a freshman and asking her to serve on Student Council. She told me she was heading in the wrong direction and I turned her around. I never knew that but that counts as Legacy too. I have awards hanging on the office wall but they don't reflect my legacy s much as these 3 cards do. 

I love my school. I am Ms. EHS or Ms. Easley. A student gave me that name and I fully embrace it. I can tell you the traditions of the school and why we do them. Just yesterday, I was telling a class how Easley broke their 30+ game losing streak with a flea flicker play against Pickens and how the entire town celebrated with a party in the stadium after driving back from Pickens. How Mrs. Garrison honored the promise of letting the students take down the goal posts. I told another social studies teacher that the portrait of George Washington hanging in my room had hung in a social studies classroom since 1939 and is passed down from teacher to teacher when they retire. Traditions matter. I can quote the Alma Mater but I also mean the Alma Mater when I say My Love will ever be, Easley for Thee. I know how we did things back in the day, why we changed certain things and why we keep certain things too. I house a lot of the institutional memory. I know who Barney is and why we love him. I know exactly why Mrs. Garrison is so special to so many. I once saw her quiet a parent who was ranting about a punishment given to a child by saying "I'm so sorry your child chose to disrespect you by breaking the rules". In that moment, I wanted to be just like her. Every time I write a student a personal note, I think of how Dr. Carmichael wrote one to every single student he had every single year. I will never forget how students wore their IDs to the funeral honoring O. The church was packed and all these kids who loathed their ID tags wore them for him. LEGACY.  Chair races, Friday breakfasts, and practical jokes with Dr. Mullis. Legacy. When the band won State a couple of years ago, Mr. Culler cried openly. Every single member of that band, their parents, their friends, and the faculty that were present knew they had his full support. Legacy. 

When Mr. Culler was named principal, he said it was the best day of his life. His wife was there and I am sure he wishes he had qualified the statement by saying outside of the day I married Melissa or the birth of my boys. However, I understand the sentiment. When Mrs. Garrison asked if I was ready to come home to teach, it was the best day. Sometimes, I get overwhelmed. People who do not know the history of our amazing school come in and want to change everything and I go into defense mode. I push back. When I am told that someone new to EHS wants to "fix our culture", I get protective. I even go as far as applying at another school... Am I ready to leave EHS? NO! It's my school. IT. IS. MY. SCHOOL. My blood is Kelly Green. I can tell you all the stories from the last few decades. I can celebrate all the victories. I mourn all the losses. Do some things need to change? Yeah. But as a good friend told me, lets don't make major changes in the middle of a pandemic because it looks worse than it is.... because we are after all in a pandemic. Don't let other people make you lose sight of your Legacy. My legacy is empowering the next generation. What's yours?