Spa 200

I'll never forget this post my friend Ally wrote last year in December on the idea of giving experiences as presents instead of material goods. I've always been a big fan of this idea.

Don't get me wrong I'm not ungrateful. I love the gesture that people make. I love the sentiment. I love the idea that people thought about you as they made their purchase. But really I'd rather go to concert with you or out to dinner or read a heart felt card you made than put another paper weight on my desk or another coffee mug in my cabinet. Oh yeah as a teacher I get them by the dozens with very creative titles like "My Favorite Teacher's cup of Joe" or "A+ Teacher."
Thankfully my mom is now the proud owner of all these mugs. Every summer she fishes them out of my"to be garage saled" bin.

How could you get rid of these 'mija? I will save them for your retirement. tsk tsk.

So than what do you get your child's teacher if you wanna give them an experience?

One clever mom at our school decided to create a "spa" atmoshpere in the faculty bathroom for the teachers in our hallway.

This is what the faculty bathroom usually looks like (the poor suckers in the 300 hall didn't get the spa make-over). Very institutional: four cement walls, toilet paper that melts in your mouth it's so thin, cardboard paper towel that rubs you raw and pink soap that comes out like frog spawn.

Spa 200 looks like this now....

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On the rickety school desk in the corner this parent laid out a festive tablecloth and placed all the teacher esstentials (Ibuprofen, Vitamin C, Candy canes, and a hand held massager for those really stressful days). In a basket she added a fancy shmancy collection of creams, body oils, hairspray etc.

At the sink a nice vase of flowers and lovely soaps and creams.
And for the sports fans in our hallway (which are many) she included a copy of the lastest Sports Almanac toilet side.

I can't tell you how our staff has reacted to this very simple but creative gesture.

Have you been to the spa today? my colleague asks, Try the Vanilla Mint cream its very nice..(in her best Borat impression) very, very nice.

I leave every day from work now sucking on a candy cane and smelling like jasmine and oranges.

Now that is the gift of experience.

Any other clever ideas? Send 'em my way...

I've Got Sunshine

It has been raining for days and even when the rain stops the sky still looks like this.

I know it is Seattle and we are supposed to be waterproof but in the hallways students are dragging their feet, they are limp in their chairs, they are falling over from the routine. Ok maybe it's just my first period!

So today I invited the Sun back into our classroom.

Literally I brought the sun, tied her down so her glittery face would hang above us all.

On each student's desk I placed one single piece of Dot candy, in lip smacking tropical flavors like pineapple, mango and papaya.

"If the sun cannot come to you then you must bring the sun.... We need some energy in this place again my friends. So whose birthday is coming up next? D get on up here!"

With my son's pitiful ukuele in hand I hopped up on a desk and led the class in singing my version of "Happy Birthday." This includes belting it out punk style and ending every verse with the phrase"cha cha cha" while you shake your hips.

I was a little hesitant to do this with my first period they are the shyest most self concious group of middle schoolers you will ever meet. I am always challenging them to loosen up and to stop looking over their shoulders all the time.

At first I was the only one singing to D.

"Come on people I know you have better voices than I do. What about if we rapped it?"

S0 we sang it rap style "yo happy birthday to you D-unit"

We sang it country style "yee haaaa you little birthday cowboy."

We sang it in Spanish too.

By the end of it all every kid was smiling, every kid laughing, nobody seemed to care if we were making fools of ourselves or not.

I ended the class with this proposal...

"Your challenge today my friends if you so choose to accept it is to spread a little sunshine all over this place. Break it up mis amigos give somebody a reason to laugh today. I wanna feel the warmth of your energy in these halls. And report back to me..."

Ms. B

"As her husband, K, considered how to describe his wife, he paused.

'She was the one with the words,' he said. 'She was such a powerhouse - she could walk into a room and people were drawn to her.'"

Steph was definitely the one with the words, the crazy creative writing teacher we all called "our resident hippie." Since the first day I met her she has always been the kind of woman who would hug you so tight that you'd lose your breath. It wasn't uncommon to hear bongos coming from her classroom and students shouting "yes" to the universe from their desk tops. I'll never forget her rendition of Othello (a one woman act, costumes and all). I literally hyperventilated with laughter watching her from the hallway between our classrooms. At four months pregnant, she convinced me to perform with her in our school talent show, a modern dance of all things. I didn't think I had it in me but she was always egging me on like that pushing me to live la vida Steph style.

When I was with her I felt on fire. I felt the charge of lightning.

When I called her in early November she greeted me with that same gusto, "Hey Girl."

I asked her about the Leukemia but it wasn't her style to talk about it.

"You know I'm going to beat this shit Ms. D. I'm not going out without a fight, so tell me about the G what's that smartie up to?"

This was the last time I spoke to her. I'm scrambling now to remember her every last word.

I got an email from her husband just yesterday linking me to this news article.

I'm heartbroken.

I'm sad to know that her energy is not knocking around out there, that she's not climbing some mountain or dancing down those hallways in her crazy striped socks and mismatched scarves.

I love you Ms. B. I love you my beautiful sister. You lived a thousand lives in your 39 years.

Join me this week in celebrating her life, do something crazy.

Do something you'd never expect of yourself, even if that means wearing clashing colors or sticking your head out the car window and screaming "yes" to the universe.

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Steph was the one with the words so I'm going to end with the very last post she wrote on the caringbridge site that was created to support her in her battle.

Monday, June 25, 2007-
Well. This is it for me. I'm officially and celebratorily signing off the caring bridge. All of my friends, supporters, family, loves, teachers, students, doctors, nurses, and freaks... THANK YOU.It is an amazing trip that here I sit- about 1 year later and so much healthier. Unbeknownest to me last year this time I was visiting home in Seattle when the leukemia peaked its rude and ugly head again. We have all covered so much ground, truly, and managed various stresses, struggles, and heartache during the last year. A war still rages in Iraq, gas is over $3 a gallon, the ozone is dissipating, fires are raging... need I go on? However, amidst all of the hurt and suffering, I still maintain hope.Why?Why do any of us choose to invite love and healing into our lives? Because it IS the natural order of things. It is the way. Buddha was reborn 549 times before he knew it was time to stay in his own form and body. As a descendent of a wandering ascetic I understand the philosophy that speaks no language- but is communal language for us all to hear. It is within ourselves, our light and our truth. It is the wind, a flower, the river, a wave, the birdcall, a cat's meow, our mother nature in her silent beauty reaching for all of us. I hear babies cry in my dreams- and I also hear children laugh. I encompass all of these deities. As do you- together, us.I sit here today facing new struggles and wondering if I have what it takes to write a paper. We are simply met with what we doubt within ourselves. Why? In order to achieve success and continue moving. This is what I love most. Moving energy. Coming into my own light source and the symbiotic energy of the moving world around me.Kevin and I have been blessed. We spent 2 months traveling- Costa Rica among other stellar places. The home is where the heart is as our external environments also reflect internal landscapes. I loved my Costa Rican brothers and sisters- gracious and daring and funny and small in stature. Compared to my long, big body. At times, I felt out of sorts and insecure. Struggling with Spanish, self-conscious. And then, I would simply relinquish this identity and breathe into myself and simply feel Stephanie.I love her. I love you.Eventually, in the 2nd century, Buddha was given a face. An identity in the way of man. Before that Buddha image was simply a composite of similes and metaphors. Buddha was the image of the water, the parrot, the banana tree, the fish, the universal truth. As we all continue along our path it is my desire that we are able to continue to relinquish and surrender. I obsess when I lose something- an almost daily event. I am working on letting go of my desire to attach my identity to material objects. I still have a long way to go...I hope that as you meet yourself and others on your path that you can create an image of absence with your own breath of presence. That you, too, may entertain and respect the paradox of which we are all a part. That you continue to reflect on your own blessed life and walk through fear and negativity into your own sacred space.Namaste.Pura vida.Peace out.Love Love Love stephanie