Three Beautiful Things 07/26/08: Mutual Admiration, Back in the Groove, The Deke

1. I'm happy and proud to say that JBelle over at Notes from the 'Kan EWA praised my blog and its authenticity. JBelle's blog is fascinating: she writes everything from family stories, chronicles of her world travels, stories about her chows, recipes, comments on food and restaurants to comments on Gonzaga basketball, road trips in North Idaho, meditations on her gardens and gardening, and reflections on her devotion to Roman Catholicism. By keeping a blog, JBelle wants her children to have a lasting record of what's on her mind and in her heart whether she's laboring through another tax season or bicycling in Vietnam. I hope those of you who read my blog will go over and read hers, too. She's a terrific writer, full of intelligence, passion, and acute observations. She's a wonderful photographer, too.

2. It's been months since I contributed to Sunday Scribblings and Photo Hunt and I enjoyed getting back into that groove again and am going to try to get back to my weekly submissions.

3. The Deke will be teaching at Fox Hollow Elementary as a full time teacher. I've probably mentioned this before. It's a great accomplishment and today the Deke talked with me for a while about how that fact is just beginning to soak in and I think she is feeling proud of herself. She's stoked. She's eager for the school year to begin and meet the challenge of instructing children in math and science while speaking French to them. It's fun for me to see evidence of her different strategies starting to emerge as I see decks of playing cards and workbooks and other things around that she is going to play with with her students to help them learn.