it's all about the details

frustration...then realization

I'm really frustrated right now.  There just seem to be so many feelings of inadequacy at this point in my life, and I struggle with how to handle it all. 

The Frustration

School - School is just tough right now. 

• I feel like I am working harder than ever in my job these days, but the criticisms are highly outweighing the praise.
• I received 160 papers to grade in the last week.  I want to give good feedback on each and every one, but it seems impossible.  I even have about 20 in my bag to grade over the weekend.  What a drag!
• I never, ever catch up.  Ever.
• I'm trying desperately to get ten students to commit to coming to the spell bowl meet on Monday, but the commitment just isn't there.  On top of that, I have to drive the mini-bus which makes me feel like a world class dork.

Scrapbooking - I'm feeling blue about that, too.

• There is NO place good to get up-to-date scrap stuff in the city limits.  None. Zip.
• I just don't have time to do it.  I get to the weekend, and I am so worn down from the week and all of the chores that I need to attack in those few precious hours that I get to 5 pm on Sunday and can't even begin.
• We do not have a place to scrapbook, instead we store all of our stuff in a mudroom attached to our kitchen.  When there actually is time to scrapbook, our house is a mess and completely disrupted.  There's just no place to leave a project in progress.
• We have a really cool photo printer that we have yet to get to work properly (or at all for that matter).
• I keep trying out for contests and magazine calls and seem to come up empty.
• My style doesn't seem to fit the current trend, and I'm really not willing to change what I do.

Life - It seems out of my control.

• My roots are grey.
• My thighs are enormous.
• I have no male prospects in sight.
• The interior of my car is absolutely filthy.
• The Tigers are not going to win the World Series.
• Our next door neighbor is waging war over mowing a patch of grass that he is certain is on OUR property.
• My brother and sister-in-law are moving to Turkey this month and taking my nephews with them.

But then today, as I ran some of those errands I was talking about, I started thinking that I really need to reassess.  And then I came to ...

The Realization

School

• I have a job that pays decently.
• The kids are good kids. 
• I feel safe in my classroom.
• I have a classroom rather than a cart like some of the newer teachers at our school. 

Scrapbooking

• I am on a design team that treats me well.  There are many scrapbookers who would give their right arm to design for Deja Views.
• I have been published in two different magazines more than once.  Again, I am very honored!
• I've met a whole lot of really cool people through scrapbooking (see list to left)!
• I did that whole super cool filming of the DVD in Utah.  Can't wait to see it IRL! 
• I am able to participate in fun online communities (when I get a precious moment to myself) like SIStv, Scrap Etc., and Create My Keepsake.
• I'm going to the Scrap Etc Event 2008 in Nashville for my birthday!
• I create beautiful and meaningful pages that I adore.
• I have a room chock full of gorgeous supplies.

Life

• I have a great sister who will color my hair for me.
• I have a full head of pretty hair.
• I have the ability to go to the gym and also to buy healthy food.
• Though I have no male attention, I have enough self-confidence that I can live without a man.
• I have never been in an abusive relationship, nor have I ever been divorced.
• My car is reliable and paid off.
• The Tigers can try again next year. 
• I have a cozy home to come home to after every frustrating day at school.
• My brother Paul is coming to visit!
• I have a DVR full of fun TV to watch.
• We have a friend and colleague (we call him our polygamous husband) who mows our lawn for us.
• We have an awesome and supportive family.
• We have friends who adore us.
• We have mad party planning skills.
• Maybe I will finally visit Europe now that my brother and his family are moving.
• I am not fighting cancer like my cousin Sandy.
• I am not fighting a custody battle like her daughter Julie.
• I am not pregnant with triplets and anticipating a long time on bedrest like my friend Gabriella. 
• I did not suffer a stroke like Karen, one of the secretaries at our school.
• I am not, like my friend J'Nelle, nursing my husband back to health after he fell two stories from the roof of their home to the concrete patio below.  Thank God for the miracle that Bob is alive and healing well.
• I have not lost a child in the war in Iraq like the Woodward family.
• I am a child of God.

I guess I am done complaining now.  There's so much to be thankful for, really!  I think that I am off to scrapbook!

Susan

deep AND fun

In the last post, Susan described our differences.  Apparently, I tend to be the deep one, and she's more attuned to fun.  Well, in an effort to appeal to all our readers, today I offer you a dual post.

First, I need to recognize and honor the life of Ryan Woodward.  Ryan was a 2003 graduate of Carroll and one of my former students.  His sister Brooke (class of 2006) also had me for English 12, and his brother Ben is in Susan's class this year.  On September 8th he was killed in Iraq.

The funeral (which we attended on Wednesday) was a heart-wrenching affair.  The local fire department had erected a gigantic flag across the entrance to Aboite Lutheran Church.  The Freedom Riders circled the driveway, each flag-holding member offering a silent tribute to the fallen patriot.  It was very difficult to see his family in anguish and to remember the sensitive and hardworking young man I'd known.  Representatives from the Army lauded his excellence of character and skill.  Our collective grief was expressed in a DVD presentation tracing his life from infant to soldier, put to music and featuring lyrics such as:

How do I say goodbye to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad.

I thought we'd get to see forever
But forever's gone away
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday...

And I will always do my duty
No matter what the price
I've counted up the cost
I know the sacrifice
Oh and I don't wanna die for you
But if dying's asked of me
I'll bear that cross with honor
Cause freedom don't come free
I'm an American soldier...

May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

I'm comin' back home

Rest in peace, Corporal Woodward.  Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

And now for the FUN! 

On a completely shallow note, I am obsessed with the Hollywood Hair Makeover at InStyle.com.  You upload a photo to the site, try on celebrity hairstyles, and see what looks good on you!  I do like some of the shorter styles on me, but there's no chance I'll be choppin' it all off any time soon.  Yep, I'm a CHICKEN!  Baaawk!!!

A few tips:

1.  Try to choose a photo where you're facing forward and no bangs or wisps cover any part of your face.

2.  You can even flip them or move them up or down or even make "bigger" hair to fit your face better.

3. Get crazy with colors or highlights!

4. Email me your results!

Beth

 

the opel sisters in a nutshell

Shortly after my brother Kurt introduced my sister and me to his girlfriend, Anna, (our future sister-in-law) he was interested to see what she thought of his dynamic sisters.  Her apt response has made us laugh and nod our heads ever since.  Just a few words of interaction and she was able to hit the nail on the head with deadly accuracy.  Her verdict?  Beth is deep, and Susan is fun.

 

Take some of our blog posts for example…  Beth has waxed poetic on many occasions and drummed up serious emotions from our readers along the way with dating is a drag and twenty four days.  I, on the other hand, have planted my tongue firmly in my cheek more than once with posts like seriously and stop the madness.

 

And then there are the layouts…  Oh, the heartfelt journaling that flows from Beth Opel’s brain.  The deep, sensitive, and philosophical musings on life.

 

 

 

 

I, on the other hand, tend to look at things in a different and sometimes crazy light, using my layouts as stand up comedy.

 

 

 

 

I’ve often wondered if I should have been offended by my sister-in-law's comment.  Should I be?  I mean what’s so wrong with being fun?  Beth has been likened to Oprah Winfrey on more than one occasion, probing into the deep whys and hows of life.  Is it so wrong that my eyes glaze over when things get too deep?  I don’t know, maybe I need to work on getting deeper, thinking harder, and contemplating the existence of the universe.  But I’m wondering why should I?  I’ve got Beth to do all of that.  I am content to concoct the next fun time.  I want people to laugh and experience the joys of life.  I am just sunny like that!

 

So I am here to proclaim, I’m glad that I’m fun, and I have no desire to be all that deep.  It’s more fun this way.

 

Susan

 

PS.  Beth is much better at being fun than I am at being deep!

here's to our daddy-o!

Today's the 72nd anniversary of the birth of Edgar Lee Opel, our father.  We are daddy's girls from way back.  Here's a little retrospective:

 

He's changed a little over the years, but he's really still that awesome dad who pitched short hops to us until we learned how to field them (well, Susan never really got the hang of it totally).  We all had him as our seventh and eighth grade teacher and were star pupils (except for Kurt, sometimes).  He's passed on to us his calm demeanor and ability to go with the flow (OK, so Beth could take a few more cues from him in this respect). With his tutelage, we learned the proper methods for making a bed and vacuuming (not sure if Paul really mastered these). 

We've all seemed to inherit his fascination with maps and compasses, planning and organization, the Wolverines and the Tigers.  Though he's no longer the physical specimen he once was, he'll still get up on the roof for us and repair our gutter.  He is the father everyone hopes to have and the parent we all aspire to be.  He loves our mommy and shows us every day what being a Christian husband is all about.

 

So happy birthday, Daddy!  We love you forever and ever!

Your Girls

a national holiday just for beth!

Today is a day off from work for many U.S. Americans, but at our house it is time to celebrate another year of Bethie O.!  Leave some love for the multi-talented Elizabeth Ann Opel on the occasion of her (still ten years older than me) birthday!

Can't wait for her to open her gifts!

Susan