Every time it rains...

It's really too cold for rain (it's snowing instead), but I thought this an appropriate title.  Boy, has there been a lot going on in my life recently!  It's caused my ambitious goal of writing every week to turn into monthly management, instead! 

I could spend my time blogging about the holiday rush, grading, seeing friends, hosting my first official Team Sisenshelly-Extended Thanksgiving, a literacy audit at school, rushing around here and there to make sure that things get done, heading up "hair and makeup" for the high school fall play...well, the list could go on and on. 

For the most part, it's been a blast--there's been so much going on in my life, and there's just as much happening in the lives of those who I love.  Such is life I suppose.  The saying begun above goes a little something like "Every time it rains, it pours."  And I suppose you could look at the title of my blog that way, too.  But, no, that is not the purpose of this blog entry...

I took some space in my previous blog entry to express my gratitude for a dear friend of Jeff's and mine, Penny; she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer about a year ago now.  Just a little over two weeks ago, in the comfort of her home, and surrounded by those she loved most, Penny passed into heaven...I have thought of her every day since, and will think of her in all my days to come.  I shed tears frequently to begin with, so crying is not out of my normal behavioral pattern, but my tears fall frequently for Penny these days.  Most of them come at the most random of times--and today is no different.

As a connected side note, Jeff and I watched part of Elf, one of my favorite holiday movies, yesterday.  I laughed, I cried (from side-splitting laughter), and I laughed some more at each hilarious line. 

And this morning, as I woke up to my new alarm song, U2's "Beautiful Day," I got ready to face school, a day grading students' open-ended responses, thinking that nothing out of the ordinary would make this day beautiful...I was wrong.

I am a music lover, and often have songs trapped in my head at various points during the day.  I often can be heard humming or singing each lyric under my breath, and today was no different.  But, if you were sitting close by my side, you would not have heard "Beautiful Day" or any variation thereof, as you might have expected.  Instead, the lyrics trapped inside of my brain, eagerly awaiting permission to travel forth from my vocal chords were these:  "Every time it rains, it rains pennies from Heaven, shoo-bee, doo-bee."  I sang this lyric all day, without realizing where I'd heard it, or why I was so intently focused on nothing but it (usually, lyrics of many songs shoot through my consciousness at once). 

I came home early (meaning that I left school at quarter of four) today and promptly fell asleep on the couch...and in my dream, Penny, smiling from Heaven, was the only one I could see.

Rain those smiles down, Penny.  I promise to catch every single one!  Love you.