Day Ten - Collard Greens

Cooked up a huge batch of collard greens yesterday and had enough to bring to work today as leftovers. I don't know why I never wanted to taste this dish before, maybe because I thought they were weird (who mixes meat with spinach looking stuff?) or because they smelled reminiscent of cabbage (whew stinky) but the salty, garlicky wonderfulness of collards is simply amazing. The kids weren't impressed, but boy oh boy, I loved em.

Day Six - A Bad@ss day

My daughter approached me yesterday and says "Mom?" "Yes sweetie?" "You look bad@ss". While that's not quite the look I am going for, it made me smile all the same.

Day Four - giving a little something back to the world

There are no desks in their two schoolrooms yet. Just tarps over a dirt floor.

Today's joy is brought to you by my boss. She gave me a Christmas bonus this year and I was able to donate some of it so that others less fortunate than I am can learn to read and write and better themselves. I was blessed by being born into a country where I have many opportunities open to me, and I can work at a job in relative comfort and health. Many others are not as fortunate. If you'd like to participate in this joy, find a worthy cause and donate money, time, or resources. I guarantee you'll find many worthy causes needing help.

These kids soak up knowledge like a sponge. 

I donated to KAM Public School in India, where they invest in the children of poor and indigent castes through education and other outreach programs. They're just starting, so right now all funds are being routed through Truthseekers until they can get the paperwork filed for nonprofit status. Read more at www.truthseekersinternational.org and at the KAM public school web page here:  www.kampublicschool.org.

Day three - pink hair!

Pink hair with a flip!

Pink hair. Yep, this brought me joy today. My daughter dyed her hair pink the other day and we're not talking a soft pastel hue but a rich deep VIBRANT cotton candy/bubblegum pink. I really wasn't sure how I'd feel about this color, but then I figured that she's young, hair will grow out, and it's not MY head, so I agreed. It is actually the cutest most darling look!