lost in west texas

Little girls and me
Originally uploaded by marmahan.

Petting a sheep
Originally uploaded by marmahan.

corn maze was excellent. they even had a petting zoo.

the future's for discoverin

there's an escaped murderer on the loose in lubbock which made watching scary movies all the more fun last night. today i'm gonig to buy a sweater, go to a corn maze and carve a pumpkin. i love fall.

our december sun is setting

relationships are based on establishing intimacy. we meet someone and over time, long or short, we begin to feel connected. barriers come down and we confide in each other. there is great freedom in true intimacy. words are honest and direct, there are no ulterior motives. our actions are unguarded. we are free to simply be. then, sometimes, that intimacy begins to crumble. it may be a harsh word, a lie, a fight, or sometimes simply nothing at all. it just happens. we lose our faith in the relationship and everything changes. each word is carefully chosen and often stifled. actions are strategically planned. slowly, the relationship we once cherished becomes nothing more than a memory.

thankfully, there are those relationships that maintain their intimacy in spite of time, distance, tragedy and everything in between.

it's ok to be jealous

tess and i will be spending new year's eve in italy with real, live italians. this is what will be driving me for the rest of the semester.

the unexplanable and unexpressable

last night was spent searching for words that could never be enough. my brother (in-law) kevin's father died completely unexpectedly early monday morning. the entire ideal is overwhemingly depressing and i find that there are no words that accurately express the gravity of it. please just keep kevin, his mother debbie, my sister kat and all of their family in your prayers.

stuck in between

a few big issues - both good and bad - are up in the air right now. tomorrow should bring some answers and prayers are greatly appreciated.

my kids are watching "fiddler on the roof" this week. 3 hours = 2 days per class = happy miss mahan.

there's a feeling in the air

my favorite time of year has arrived. i'm not quite sure what it is about fall that makes me absurdly happy and/or nostalgic, but it happens nonetheless. fluffy sweaters, wool jackets, hot tea, stews and soups, crisp night air, flushed cheeks, changing leaves, fast approaching holidays and family time....all these things lift my spirits. i find myself smiling for absolutely no reason at all and i love it.

the only thing that sucks about the fall is that it always makes me yearn for romance. it just seems that there are too many things i'd love to share with some ridiculously charming man. alas, i'm stuck in lubbock and there's apparently a shortage of charming men here. i guess tess will just have to serve as a substitute for now.

i suck

at blogging, but my kids suck at writing....so it all evens out. last week was probably the hardest week of my long and industrious teaching career. i went through some incredibly emotional stuff with kids and parents and then spent the weekend worrying about one kid in particular. i think the hardest thing for me to accept is the fact that i can't fix my students' problems, whatever they may be. this job is lovely and horrendous all at once. and yes, i do realize that i talk about it entirely too much.

in other non-school related news: i spent the weekend discovering that everyone who is my age in lubbock is in law school. tess and i also had an impromptu junior high reunion saturday night. those happen entirely too often here.

sunday i lost 1/3 of my friends in lubbock. joel sold out and moved to dallas. i'm quite afraid that every single person i know will live in that town in about 2.34 years. you suckers will have to come visit me in austin.

off to grade a bajillion papers and get ready for my communism simulation tomorrow.