Friday Five-O #41 {Wow...What a Ride This Week Has Been!}

Good Evening, Everyone!

I hope this finds you doing well!

This week has been...a Roller-Coaster for me.

(How is THAT anything new?!)

And I don't mean in a good way.

I'm very excited to put this week behind me

and never think of it again.

(We'll see how well that works...)

(Hey, doesn't that sentiment remind you of this post?)

Well, just like in that post,
I'm going to focus on the positives of the week
rather than allow myself to drudge around in the negatives.

Welcome to this Week's

Friday, I started reading (again) Cast of Characters by Max Lucado.

If you've never read his books,
YOU SHOULD!
This guy makes Jesus seem amazingly powerful,
constantly forgiving, eternally loving,
and endearingly real all at the same time.
In a nut shell, his books give me hope.

On a completely separate note,
you know how when you're looking for a specific item for a long period of time
and you can't find it, and you can't find it, and you can't find it.
Then you (quite sadly) give up the search
and try to carry on with you life without the item.
Then one day when you're looking for something completely different
you stumble upon the original item you were looking for
and you can quite literally hear the Hallelujah Chorus 
echoing off the walls of your house.
(Anybody else experienced this phenomenon?!)
Well, that is exactly what happened to me on Saturday.
Last year in April, I purchased a black and red and orange "snakeskin" purse
and a black and red and orange and tan leopard print scarf
to wear for a special church service.
I wore the ensemble for the service and maybe once or twice more
and then SOMEHOW (not really sure how),
I misplaced the purse.
Well, on Saturday while digging through the coat closet
looking for a draft dodger, what do you think I stumbled across?
That's right! My BEAUTIFUL "snakeskin" purse!
I let out a very loud (probably somewhat off-key)
"AAAAWWWW!!!!"
I rushed into the living room and showed my mother
my discovered treasure!
(She wasn't near as excited as I was...)
Then I rushed to my room and put my church outfit together for the next day.

What a Sweet Reunion! :)

Tuesday evening on the way home from work,
I was struck by this sight
and just had to pull over and snap a quick photo.

As you can tell from the vehicles in the background,
this is just a parking lot.
But there was something magical about the light
reflecting off these snow-covered leaves.

Wednesday evening with the children at TJ was...
CA-RAZY! Seriously!
We haven't had an afternoon that bad in a LONG time!
I think part of the problem was they are sick and tired
of being cooped up inside all the time.
Maybe, I'll make them bundle up and do exercises on the sidewalk tonight...
Anyway...despite the craziness,
I did have a really fun moment with one of my fifth graders
while I was assisting him with his homework. :)
The question was: "Which animal eats carrion? whales, vultures, or moose".
The student asked, "What is carrion?"
I answered, "The decaying flesh of dead animals."
Silence followed.
Then the student gulped and said in astonishment,
"You said that with a big 'o smile on your face.
What. Is. Wrong. With. You?!?!?!?!"

Lol! Yep, that's me...changing lives one kid at a time! :)

As many of you (or possibly ALL of you) know,
I am an AVID photographer.
I participate in photo challenges on a regular basis.
Sometimes monthly, sometimes not.
I am currently involved with a January Photo-A-Day Challenge.
Thursday's challenge was "Hair".
Now, I have had this provocation
(okay, I was trying to find a synonym for "challenge"
so I wouldn't be using "challenge" twice in the same sentence
and that's the only one I found that made sense...Anyway...)
I have had this provocation before in other challenges
and I never know what to do with it.
Previously I took photos of like 7 different people's hair-dos
(including my own) and made a collage out of it.
But I really wasn't happy with the result.
So this time, I decided I just HAD to take a photo
of someone revamping Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair".
(Laugh if you want, but I wanted something AWESOME!)
And this is what I got...

Now, tell me that's not Awesome!?!?!?!? :)
(Never heard that song?
Check it out!)

I work with School-Age kids...
I HAVE to know songs like this!

How was your week?
I sincerely hope it was better than mine!
How do you impact children's lives for the better?
(HAHAHAHA! Is THAT what I do?)
How would you respond to the challenge (or provocation)
of photographing "Hair"?

I would love to hear your stories and advice!

Thank you so much for visiting today!
I hope you will come back soon!