So, let’s get the big questions over with quickly:

Still on strike? Yes. (23 days on the picket line now . . . )

Still sane? Debatable.

Still celebrating? Indeed. When I can’t do this, it is really bad.

This week I celebrate the small and big acts of kindness that have helped me get through, helped me smile and helped me feel gratitude to the wonderful people in my life – some friends and some strangers.

In no particular order (and I am sure I have missed a few), here are the kind gestures that I treasured this week.

• A very dear friend took me for lunch at her son’s restaurant. Delicious food, impeccable service and a lovely few hours of conversation and connecting.
• My husband gets up every morning and makes me strong coffee, even on the days when my morning starts much earlier than his.
• Another teacher that I actually first met on twitter has been sharing some wonderful insight and optimism with me this week. I even have permission to call her at 4 a.m. if I can’t sleep with worry over all of this and she will “talk me through” it. Wow.
• I get almost daily Luna kisses from this beautiful dog (pictured above) as she is out for her daily walk past our school/picket line. Isn’t she gorgeous? I appreciate that her owners always say goodbye with some variation of this, “Well, nice to see you but hope we don’t see you again.” While it is wonderful to connect with new people (and animals), these circumstances are far from ideal.
• I have another favourite visitor that walks by and stops for a visit everyday. This one is of the little person variety and is usually accompanied by Mom or Dad and adorable baby brother. We talk books, brothers and various other things. She arrived one day in a gorgeous outfit (from India I think) that her Dad had bought for her. I commented that she looked much more amazing than me and that I would love a similar outfit in my size. The next day she looked me up and down and said, “I think today that you look much better than I do.” I have carried this wonderfully genuine compliment with me all week!
• I am especially grateful to one man who walked by with his dog and at our request “stayed near” for an extra 5 minutes. It was yesterday on the picket line early in the morning. Nobody was around and our line consisted of three women. We asked for this “support” because behind him we spotted a gentleman walking down the sidewalk who had made some nasty comments to us back in June. While he stayed with his dog and talked, the man walked right by. Unfortunately, after he left, the “unpleasant” man returned. We had to endure an ugly three minutes or so of verbal aggression and physical intimidation. It was bad. But, our “people” rallied around us and now we will have a male teacher on the early morning shift next week (if we are still out . . . ) In all of this, the kindness of strangers shone above the cruelty of one.

Thank you to Ruth Ayres, for the inspiration and her Celebration Link up that she hosts each week. I treasure this #celebratelu community. Despite our busy days, time is always found to share what we celebrate. It’s like passing a virtual gratitude stone!

I think if you arrive at my blog on a Celebration Saturday and I am sharing news that the strike has ended and I am back in my classroom, you will have to close your eyes and plug your ears. Somehow, I will have figured out how to install a brass band and fireworks exploding everywhere as soon as you click on the link.

But today, is obviously not that day. Monday, I will be on a picket line for the eighteenth day since May of this year (rotating strike days with full scale walk out beginning mid June) and have sat through two study session days organized by my union, which confirmed, if I hadn’t figured it out that we are really truly on strike.

There are weeks where I shed a few tears trying to dig deep and find something to celebrate.

But. Breathing deep, here I go. I still have the power to find things despite my sadness.

This week, I celebrate voice. There is so much feeling out of control in prolonged job actions. This week, I was invited into the CBC studios a few times to talk about how low income children are faring during this strike. I am very concerned about my students and their well being. It felt many shades of right to be able to talk about it. I am grateful to both CBC television and CBC radio for sharing this aspect to the strike that many might not be thinking about. The impact on children, especially those most vulnerable, matters.

I do have the clip to the radio segment. If you want to listen, the link is here.

Thank you to Ruth Ayres, for the inspiration and her Celebration Link up that she hosts each week. I treasure this #celebratelu community. Despite our busy days, time is always found to share what we celebrate. It’s like passing a virtual gratitude stone!

If you are a teacher in B.C. right now, you can’t think. Coherence is next to impossible. Logic? Out the window. Just breathing and moving at the same time? Quite remarkable. As I type, both parties involved in the BC Education dispute are holed up with experienced (thank goodness times a thousand) mediator Vince Ready trying to get a negotiated settlement. Which would mean we might actually make it back to school in the month of September. After months of striking, it is more than time. I am not so good at sitting by while huge discussions are happening that impact my life, my children’s lives and the lives of each my students and their families. But sit by, I must.

And the best I can do, is make a list. List making is like one foot in front of the next. One, two, three, four . . . So here we go . . . While everything hangs in the balance and I can barely breathe, I am going to make a list that allows me to slow down and celebrate. Inhale, exhale, here we go.

Right now, I celebrate how very much I love my job. How being a teacher brings me joy. How lucky I am to be part of a classroom community. Let me be back here soon!

I celebrate . . .

 Energy

Balance

Pride

Mentorship

Expression

Focus

Engagement

Current obsessions

Play

Embracing our Inner Goofy

All of it? The magic I desperately miss.

Do your thing Mr. Ready.

Thank you to Ruth Ayres, for the inspiration and her Celebration Link up that she hosts each week. I treasure this #celebratelu community. Despite our busy days, time is always found to share what we celebrate. It’s like passing a virtual gratitude stone!

Thank you to Ruth Ayres, for the inspiration and her Celebration Link up that she hosts each week. I treasure this #celebratelu community who always find moments of gratitude in our busy weeks.

This week, I want to celebrate visits. Time with those we haven’t seen in a while is precious.

Our very good friends are here from Toronto. They have brought their charming dogs who we also love. Two friends and one dog we welcomed back and one little dog (new to them) we were thrilled to meet. Over the last week, we have had lots of time for walks and talks, dinners, parks and snuggles. As it should be 🙂 My children loved it all, especially the dog bonding!

An early end to the school year (teacher strike) means I haven’t seen my students in three weeks. I arranged to go visit at a park near the community center where many of our students attend summer programming. My daughter was eager to come along. She played cards, skipped rope and built in the sand with some of the kids. I brought along some picture books and had a read aloud session in the shade. So wonderful to see all of the smiles, collect a few hugs and check in with everyone.

Visits quell the missing. They remind us of what and who is important. They lighten our step. Hurrah for little visits!