Very happy today to wake up and realize it was Saturday.
Today is November 21 and a very special day for all the world, but especially those with Cute Overload Page a day calendars. Violet and Kevin are today!!!!
There might be some sewing today. Thought I would make a batch of Java Jumpers, or coffee sleeves, or whatever you want to call them, for the holiday season at Stelmos. Not putting the pocket on it this year. Too much extra work.
Chris, Melissa and Michael arrive tomorrow. Pretty exciting!
Paul and I went to see 1984 at school last night and it was quite good. I am always so impressed with what the kids do, especially in those black box productions.
Watching Survivor. I think if you have to pick a leader, it isn’t going to work out.
Disappointment today that the numbers didn’t come up for me to get a second section of Ancient Civ, and thereby drop Sociology. Just don’t enjoy Soc. all that much. Blah.
Did a painting yesterday. I call it Despair No. 17. I also toyed with the name Roadside Diner No. 64.
It’s possible I may be over painting. Either that or I need to satisfy the urge to sculpt tin using hammers before I can return to more traditional forms of expression.
Items are beginning to pile up on my to do list. The wheels are wobbling…threatening to come off….I have such trouble concentrating.
Clipped another 2 minutes off of my scary workout challenge time. Am still fat, however. And why when the kids pass us (we workout in the hall) does everyone say Go Rebecca or Go Neil, but never say anything to me? Many many years after I graduated, I still wander unnoticed through the halls of high school.
Violet is my little familiar. She follows me everywhere, and even now is resting on my wrists, purring, as I type. Sweet and tiny little thing.
Why can’t I find any of my pants? And why does dressed up mean the same grey pants and a black sweater?
My sweet digital TV gets channel 4.3. Do you know what 4.3 has been showing this afternoon? LIVE coverage of the 2010 Team Curling Trails. Hell Yeah. They even have little drawing on the screen of where the optimal placement of the next stone would be. Jason Smith is shooting 94% after two ends. That’s what I am talking about Jason. Broom that ice baby.
I sometimes hit fallow points in my crafting when I don’t feel like knitting or sewing etc. This is a shame since I have two scarves promised as Christmas presents on the needles. Sorry Mom and AB. I’m an artist (pronounced ar-teest). I must wait for the muse.
I do have an urge to paint. Or perhaps bang pieces of tin with a hammer, but that would require the purchase of new equipment.
I wasn’t sure which I was more excited about when the UPS man came, my TomTom GPS or the Stitch and Bitch “Happy Hooker” book about learning to crochet.
Paul has the car, so I started with the crochet, but as in other times I have attempted this, it feels all wrong, and I have set it aside for a while. I would really like to master it, by my head feels very confused about the endeavor.
It’s yarn and a hook, why is it so hard? Anyway, now I am updating the maps on the GPS. I shall return to the crochet in due time.
Ab and I went to see “the day the earth stood still.” Ehn. Not great, not terrible. She didn’t really want to see it, but it was starting next so she went for it, and I promised I would go with her to a movie of her choice nexttime. I turn her down on movies alot, so this is a notable promise.
I found myself a bit blue with the turning of the year yesterday. I am a-fearing going back to school I think.
Yesterday was the crazy workout circuit. They keep upping the ante. 100 pushup situp and squats, 25 laps and now 200 jump ropes (it used to be only ropes, then only laps, now we’ve got it all.) I’m slow like a turtle on those laps and was last to finish, but I finished. Hooray!
I’ve completed my wreath based on the Starbucks Yarn Ball Wreath concept. I think it came out nicely. It hangs on the front door, giving a warm yarny greeting to all.
In a total impulsive move, I said I’d take a student teacher from January to March. I kind of thought I had waited too long to answer the memo, but I got a response back pretty quickly. I had a student teacher once before at my other school, and that was a pretty good experience, and that teacher is now a really great one. I didn’t have much to do with her being good, but I feel good that I gave her a place to get going. I think that is the idea that I like, that I am giving up my time so someone else can get started. Also, frankly, this could really help me, if it allows me to focus on my high school classes while she does the middle school.
Our long term sub was part of the impetus for this. He is going to teacher school, and in the course of a misunderstanding about when I need him for a field trip (I thought this week, it is next) he went ahead and taught the lesson yesterday. I observed him and then we talked about it later. Seeing someone else do it is kind of engergizing and gives me new ideas.
I’m trying a little experiment from now until the break where I try to get out of the house by 5:50 and have from 6:10 to 8:20 to work at school. These times are all A.M. F.Y.I. I just don’t have the time I need in any other spot. I used to do this many years ago, regularly got moving by 6. We shall see….
Did I say I was feeling excited about being altar guild president? Did I say I thought it would be fun? Did I? Well that must have been before I started looking through the binders (The three, three inch binders. A holy trinity of information.) See, I never thought about things like cleaning off and rebagging the billion plastic candle holders, and other such things. I’m not cowering under the bed. Trembling. And I’m only through the first quarter of the first binder!
One issue that must be solved is that of a desk. I need to have a place where all these items and my computer are out and handy. It would be good to be hooked up to the printer all the time too. Maybe for 6 months the craft table with have to go into retirement. It’s not like I’ll have time to play around with yarn and Styrofoam balls anyway. Also, when I sit in the big chair and use the computer, Violet comes and has an extended period of walking on my stomach and kneading, then she lies down on my forearms. While this is cozy, it make typing a little awkward, and flipping though papers and making notes absolutely out of the question.
Time management will be critical. There is basically no time to work on things at school. Even answering emails is challenging. So everything will need to be done on weekends and in the afternoon and evening. I’ve got to bring all the organizational pieces together here in the next month, so I don’t go insane.
Speaking of Styrofoam balls and yarn, I am working on my own version of the Starbuck’s Christmas wreath. I saw it Thanksgiving day when the put out the Christmas decorations and it is very cool. I wish I would think of things like that. Very clever. They also have used sweaters (or sweater fabric) to cover the bottoms of the tables and that made me think that it would be great to make a felted sweater tree skirt, but when I stopped by Goodwill yesterday afternoon, they didn’t have any red wool sweaters available.
I am going too fast in classes. I am rushing them through stuff, and they aren’t all getting it, and not really connecting with the material. Must slow down. Must have more fun.
Thanksgiving day was panic trip to church, thinking I might be serving. Then leisurely trip home when it turned out I was not. Coffee and watching a little of the old Battlestar Gallactica (not yet sure I want to commit to that) and then back to church for the 10.
Got a little teary singing America on the “O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife.” That always gets me, but since our boy is over in liberating strife, especially tender. He is well and sent a picture of the fancy display that was made for the Thanksgiving feast at Camp Phoenix. Chris, of course, noted that they were Plains Indians, not Eastern Woodland Indians, as would be appropriate for Thanksgiving. How can you not love that guy?
I’m extremely concerned that the locals who put it together will not get credit for the time and attention they put into that display. Had I the power I would pencil a citation at once.
At thanksgiving dinner we were with a fun crowd. The coffee shop gang. The four kids danced and tumbled in a fabulous show. They are all so unique and fun!
It’s been a tough day for me and the service industry. Not feeling the carpet was thouroughly done, nothing fixed by the plumber, but the 5 minute diagnosis cost $78, and the computer guy, who said he would be here wednesday, finally arrived, changed then rechanged the mother board, and now the strip at the top of the computer is clearly not posititioned correctly. All these people seemed very nice, but my milque toast attitude makes me too accepting of work that is not to par.
Note to self, write about the lady and her shopping cart full o yarn.
Very long, but good weekend, busy with altar guild. Also watched the whole of a football game. Washington, not Sooners. Someone told me today that they (sooners) lost to Texas. How is this possible?
Still sick Tuesday and my frail spirit made me weaken and stay out another day, even though I went in Monday.
I watched about 12 episodes of Heroes, which I just discovered and it is a very entertaining show, and available to watch on demand on Netflix.
So I parked in the big chair, with two cats on me and rested. I was feeling much better today and my pitiful mood has lifted at last, and I only have the tiniest cough left.
The knit along Saturday was fun. This general came only with his aide and driver in tow. He takes a bunch of these helmet liners with him when he goes to Iraq and Afghanistan. I had made the one helmet liner too big, so I gave it to them to give to some big headed marine and began another. The General did make the Sargent try it on. I am working away on the new one to try to get it done before Chris leaves.
I will probably go tomorrow, because we have a field trip, and I don’t want to leave the Other teacher hanging. I’ll load up on medicine, and won’t say much. I’m sure that will be a relief to the children.
Kevin’s fine. He went back to the vet, got knocked out again, and had blood taken and was x-rayed. They didn’t find anything wrong. Hooray! He has lost a little more weight, but that could be because of his time in the cone.
I have to go to back to work tomorrow? Are you kidding me?
It all seemed so quiet and idyllic until about 3 hours ago when I realized I had to go back to work.
I’m actually not dreading it, it just seems unreal that the summer has passed.
There was a sale at Knit Happens, the yarn store. I really should not be allowed to go in there with out some sort of escort. There was a frenzy of yarn clutching. I got some great deals, but I think I might have blacked out at one point.
I’ve got nothing else. Between school and the yarn, I’m in shock.
ok, I can say more.
I really worked hard at cleaning and decorating my room. My last indulgence was buying a quote to put up on my wall. (There are places that make nifty vinyl decals you can put up) Lots of places have pretty cheesy quotes, so I did some searching, and had almost settled on Mark Twain’s “I never let my schooling interfere with my education, but was debating the wisdom of using that since they might turn it against me, what with me being “the man” and all, when I found this from Winston Churchill:
“All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. “ Now I really like this, and even though I could argue it should also have love and faith, the above are things are heartily believe in, but now I am having second thoughts, and am worried that it seems, preachy or weird or something, but it is kind of too bad, because even though I only ordered it Thursday, it is already here! It will be fine right? Right?
