The ALIVE stuff!

I have written and remarked often in this chapter about the sense of aliveness that has consumed my life in this chapter......so fully......and yesterday was exercising that so freely....we had a virtual instruction day....and I am not going to lie, it brought back lots of memories from teaching during the pandemic.....which have I mentioned was such a crazy and strange time lol:) Like what???? It was like living some surreal reality.....time and space feeling bent some, as our new reality took hold.....but teaching online was part of that story....so it has been a long time since I have done it.....and the sweet part is this group of kids, were not Covid kids.....they have never learned online....so for them it was this amazing and novel thing.....and I decided that I was going to approach it with a good attitude, and have fun with them.....and we really did.....we had so much fun.....we did math, spelling, reading....read aloud.....rode a roller coaster together....twice:) And did pet show and tell.....and I had them put their feedback in the chat box.....looking to add anything they wanted, and tell me one thing they loved, and they had such positive feedback....one of my kiddos putting that my smile and happy face was her favorite....and I just felt alive.....and maybe it struck me more, since the last time I did online teaching my world was falling down, crumbling....my ex leaving during all of that....so full circle stuff is my favorite:) And then my girl and I went out to shovel and she laid down in the driveway to catch snow on her face....and it was so still and magical out.....and I laid down next to her....and she grinned....loving that, and we caught snow in our faces.....and I haven't done that in YEARS......and I have been writing for a couple of months about the nostalgia that is gripping me as I am inching toward my 5 years of my new life.....like gosh there is so much road that I have traveled since that fateful day.....the most painful day, but the luckiest day of my life.....setting me FREE in ways I did not even know I needed.....and then there I was scared, small, and alone.....and simultaneously ready to rise, and find my aliveness, worth, and self love.....I know I say it so often and maybe it gets old....but it never does for me.....but shedding all of the stuff that was tethering me in my old life has been pure magic.....and knowing that this version of me is so much better for my kids.....and for me....my daughter hugged me last night when we came in, telling me how much fun she had with me.....we built a snowman after shoveling.....and it was so lovely out there....I love dusk after a snowstorm....there is something in the air....the stillness.... and in my old life I was often too stressed to stop and smell the flowers so to speak....and I am not now:) and I am fully conscious now as I travel into 2026, of the things that nourish my spirit or hurt it....period....and things that make me feel alive and things that don't....and I don't plan on living any other way for the next 50 years:) Amen! xoxo Enjoy the day:)