27-2007

Hey there blog=world. I've been reflecting recently on the whole blogging phenonemon. How there are so many sub-groups of bloggers. The group I read the most are the SAHM (stay at home moms) and the crafty-bloggers (scrapbookers, knitters, and such). Some of them have begun to add advertisements to their blogs and others have begun to attach codenames to their friends and loved ones names for privacy's sake. It is interesting, to be sure. So many of the blogs I read are snapshots of moments or ideas in people's lives. Others have specific purposes, such as blogs about specific places or people.
Personally, I enjoy blogging because it provides a place to share, and the people who read are interested in being shared with. At the same time, I remember that blogs are searchable and not private. I enjoy the blog format, but it feels somewhat limiting to me in some ways. So, for those friends who mostly keep up with me via the blog, call or email sometime!

Do you hear what I hear?

Is it all hype and promotional marketing for the sluggish retail market or is Christmas spirit spreading a little early this year? Are people buying in to the early retail decorating and marketing or is it just that we need a little more holiday spirit for a little longer due to the current state of affairs (real estate market, war in iraq etc.) Some stores such as Nordstrom's have held off with the marketing push and will not decorate their stores until today, saying "they like to celebrate one holiday at a time". Others put holiday decorations up right after Halloween. I am looking at Thanksgiving a little differently this year. Am I just that much more grateful, or is it because it signals the start of a six to eight week season of light and love? I rose at 4:30 a.m. today and penned letters to the three people I am sharing the day with today. Then I came downstairs and tiptoed slippershod out to the garage in search of a christmas box or two. Before I could stop myself, I had hung the stockings with care, switched out the halloween kitty fingertip towel in the guest bath for a stack of fancy snowman guest paper towels, and switched out the cafe au lait tealights for the sugar cinnamon ones to cast that festive glow. I strung the mantel with teardrop lights woven into a strand of greenery, feeling a sense of secretive joy. We plan to stay home this holiday, put up a real tree (my first!), hang hand-crocheted ornaments made by my paternal grandmother and the new family angel we first put up last year. We plan to bask in familial love, and hopefully spread some around the community. I am very excited about the arrival of this holiday season, and I am happy that tonight the neighbors will click on their holiday lights as is their tradition on Thanksgiving night, and that love begins to dominate, at least for a while. May your holiday seasons be full of love and light. Happy Thanksgiving.

10,20,30 meme

What were you doing 10, 20, and 30 years ago?

10 years ago, I was living in Miami teaching first grade ~

20 years ago, I was a freshman in high school, playing the drums in marching band~

30 years ago, I was in preschool in Kent, Ohio at the University Lab School preschool~
I will try to add pix soon.


Thinking forward and backward, I am feeling like I am definitely at that certain midpoint of my life...whoa!
Maybe I'll stick to thinking about what a great day it is TODAY!

I tag: J,K,M,G and E

St. Clare

Apparently, the namesake of our little valley is also the patron saint of good weather. No wonder! Wikipedia also lists her as the patron saint of television writers. Hmmm. Have a great Monday!

Gobble Gobble

At my new school, all the parent/teacher conferences are held in the cafeteria. It's great. I had imagined the resulting din would be unbearable; but there was no real noise issue at all. It really felt like a community having all this going on at once.
The pace was just right; time for exchange and information sharing. Everyone showed up and everyone was on time, if not a few minutes early! What a wonderful experience!

I finished up before lunch and after some coworkers and I took a colleague out for a birthday lunch (lunch out is a rare treat for teachers!), I spent a leisurely few hours in my classroom, doing all those things there is never time to do. It was wonderful.

We have the entire week off for Fall break next week, and since we have just sent report cards and conferenced, it is a natural transition time as well. I took down the fall displays and put up the winter ones. The student work folders that had cutouts of leaves and pumpkins are now an energetic red with snowmen on them. I realize there is a paradox here; making such a big deal about snowflakes and snowmen in a place that received exactly one snowfall last year (and it melted almost on contact) But holidays are often untouchable at school anymore, so we are left with seasonal symbols to mark the changing time of year. I'm fine with this.

I am planning two big themes for the last month before winter break:
an author study of Jan Brett and a gingerbread related theme. Due to the literary
contribution of The Gingerbread Man, this is allowable, though arguably Christmas related. We will creat gingerbread people glyphs, graphs, and recipes. We will
read and compare versions of the original story such as The Gingerbread Baby, by (who else) Jan Brett, and a newer favorite, The Gingerbread Cowboy. And of course, at the end of all this there will be gingerbread to eat. YAY!



Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

but tomorrow's wednesday!

Wow- nearly 1/2 way through the week? how did that happen? So what made your day great today? For me, it was my students. comment on...

farmer's market lunch

Bear with me as I continue to utilize this blog as a sort of "to do" list.
I am currently enjoying a little sunshine out on the patio. It is a sunny 70 degree afternoon (a great relief after yesterday's overcast and cloudy/chilly day). I have a plate full of sliced pommelo (chinese grapefruit), slices of persimmon, and yellow tomatoes accompanied by two medium sized chunks of french bread and 3 tiny pieces of brownie. I am drinking a merlot spritzer (the spritz part being blood orange italian soda from target). After all, isn't that what days off are all about?

So far this morning, I have:
*submitted my response paper for graduate unit class #!
*played with Lu (she has loads of energy in the morning)
*emptied half a dozen boxes in the garage
and
*watered the camelia, the lavender, the hydrangea(another heirloom cutting which hasn't taken yet), and the lilac

After lunch, I will
*clean up the kitchen/clean out refrigerator
*work on tasks for graduate unit class #2 (microsoft word/excel/powerpoint course)
*exercise at the park

Hope your Monday is swell...

heirloom lilac and a cat nap

Had a leisurely Sunday; omelets at The Egg Plantation (101 to choose from) w/A and N, then a stop at the farmer's market for pommelos and persimmons, followed by a trip to the Tigerlily Rescue Cat adoption room at Petco and a stop at Target for those essentials (who said toffee flavored hot chocolate and a 4 pack of Starbuck's peppermint mocha drinks are not essentials?)
Home for a viewing of the first DVD I've ever bought myself "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (a Tar-jzay bargain at $6.50) and a milestone nap w/the Lu. I say milestone because she has never, and I repeat never, napped lying along my side like this. Perhaps she's trying to convince us that we are fine being a one-cat family? Have a wonderful evening. Among our plans:
toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, a game of scrabble, and finishing up two netflix movies to mail back later this week.

The second pic is a planting I brought by hand from PA and my father-in-law planted it in the back. It is from a lilac passed from my great-grandmother to my grandmother to my aunt to me. It's sprouting! This is definitely a good thing!
pix won't post right now.

IT's not too late ladies....

to chase your man and ask HIM out! Celebrate Sadie Hawkins day (usually celebrated the Saturday after Nov. 9) though the famous Li'l Abner strip came out Nov. 15, 1937 and the first SH Day was the year after. We celebrated at our house!

I invited D. to a date across the street at the neighborhood spa for a dip. With the temp. in the mid-fifties it wasn't too bad.
Empty too. Happy SH Day!

Happy Saturday! (anyone else have a 3 day weekend?)

Here is a snapshot of the weekend thus far:

Friday afternoon:
4:25 pm- bring in garbage and recycling bins, break down more empty boxes in garage and refill recycle bin immediately for next week's pick-up
4:45 pm - get mail, chat w/neighbor, send scholastic book order, find molding halloween jack-o-lantern on front porch
(it is not alone; there are SWARMS of tiny black flying annoyances everywhere) Garbage day was, mind you, TODAY.
5:00 pm- turn on news; clean out school bags and open box from :reusable bags: (yay girls, your bags are going out today!)
5:49 pm-D. calls and is 1/2 hour away so I call my folks; we decide to SKYPE*
5:55-6:07 pm- try to figure out how to hide my forehead wrinkles from my webcam while skyping; dad suggests applying duct tape overnight (:)
6:30 pm-D. arrives. We decide to go jogging at the park
7:15 pm-we order pizza from Ameci's and get cozy to watch "The Good Shepherd" This is a 2 hr and 48 min. flick, people.
7:32 pm-I decide to start some laundry
8:11 pm- actually start the movie
9:54 pm-I beg to go to bed instead of watching the last hour.

Saturday morning;
8:08 am-feed Lu; turn on dryer (for clothes from last night's laundry :)
8:25 am-drink coffee and read the Children's Books special section on the NY Times website
8:32 am- become reinspired to submit some writing
8:40 am- check out L.A. Land blog at the LA Times site, then watch audioslideshow on foreclosure in Georgia :(
8:44 am-start writing this post
Rest of the Day:
*organize garage and closets (I actually consider this fun!)
*organize photos currently spread out in guest room (guest countdown: 10 days!)
*work on graduate classwork
*post office
*water garden
*more laundry
*something fun? order holiday cards? go to library?
Hope yours is fun! Feel free to send me a play by play on the comments!

Happy Birthday this weekend to G and J!
*www.skype.com talk and see friends and family via internet using your webcam~ it's free!

positive energy

just sending out a bolt of energy to anyone who wants a little extra today!
Have a great Tuesday~then let me know what made your day great! (Fishing for comments again, I know!) Also, feel free to take an exclamation point if you'd like! I have plenty! (heehee)

Sunday Dinner

I am attempting to cook more these days. Try this easy, delicious crock-pot recipe:

White Bean and Sausage Soup

1 pkg. Knorr leek soup and recipe mix
1 lb. red fat kielbasa or sausage (we use turkey)
2 cans (16 oz. each) white kidney beans, rinsed
6 oz. Swiss chard (we used red chard)
Serve w/grated parmesan
Mix soups with 6 cups water
Add kielbasa and beans
Cover and cook low for 7-9 hours
Remove sausage and cut diagonal slices.
Add slices and chard and cook 10 minutes more
Sprinkle grated parmesan and serve with crusty bread!
Enjoy!

And the winner is...

E. from www.watchusgo.blogspot.com
She guessed a $44 coupon savings and our coupon total was $47 that trip.
She wins this:


It folds up into a tiny bag that hooks inside your purse! A great substitute for those annoying ubiquitous plastic bags, especially when you're stopping in for a few items! The "Easter bunny" brought me one last year and it's awesome!

(pick yellow or green)
G. also wins one just for playing (twice) and because it's her birthday next week!
So girls, pick your color!

P.S. Our total savings (including store specials) was $114. This includes several "free" items like a container of kitty treats that we got free with a coupon. The game works by listing what's on special and then using your coupons on those same cheaper items. (I think.) Check it out at www.thegrocerygame.com

If you like the bags above, check out this link for more eco-friendly bags and bottles:

http://www.reusablebags.com/

photo credit: from website

The Cat Doctor

"Get me outta here!"
here is where we went this afternoon.
www.catdoctor.com

Lu and I that is.
Lu was not impressed.
I was.

Our new vet Dr. J is wonderful. The office is all cats all the time.
And Lu was just as hissy and growly as you'd expect her to be.
Which is why the following may surprise you.
We are considering adding two rescue kittens to the R. mix.
or not.
It's fun to think about anyway. But may be just too torturous for our lu.

We'll keep you posted!