Getting in that Christmas spirit!

Already, this isn't usually me not at all. I'm usually a bah humbug, but not this year, I'm wanting to do so many fun things with my students and I'm getting in that crafting mood too. I want to sew myself a fleese coat. I'm searching for some fun, inexpensive decorating projects too. I found one I really love today on Martha Stewart.


I've got a pass through window from my kitchen to my living room. I can just imagine this little decoration sitting on that little windowsill.

I'm trying to get my Christmas list of items to buy all planned out. There isn't much extra cash here this year, so I want to make my gifts extra special.

Hope you're getting in the gifting and decorating mood too!

Be happy, stay healthy!

A great beginning to a school year

the first quarter of the year is over. 1 down, 3 to go. I'm quite a lucky girl this year, I've got a very managable class size, 20 now and I've got really, REALLY nice kids. People are amazed how nice, polite, and kind they are. A total 180 from last year. Last year there we so many low kids who had so many needs. There were bullies, horribly misbehaved students, clicky girls who would get their older sisters to beat the other girl up.

This year, I'm trying to be home earlier, keep my mind on other things rather than school. I'm enjoying being home at night and not having to run from one teaching job to another. That being said, not teaching at the college this semester has put quite a dent into the ole checkbook though. I keep trying to believe that God is telling me that less is more sometimes. Use what you have and enjoy people and not things.

It has been a stressful start to the school year in other ways. Don wound up with a kidneystone. He needed surgery and was in the hospital almost 3 days. He had two other surgeries and we still think there are still stone fragments in his kidney.
After that, he was getting out of his car and his foot slipped on some wet pavement and leaves. He reached around into the car to try to catch himself from really falling. When he reached back into the car to grab inside, he ripped his intercoastal muscle and dented the cartledge between two of his ribs. Now after visiting the urilogist again for a check up, they found he has double hernias and he'll be headed to the surgeon next week for a consultation. We need to have this done before the end of the year for deductible purposes. So it appears that sometime soon, he'll be having another surgery.

Ok, so I know you take the good with the bad. I think that it's just crazy. When something slows down in my ife that something else gets crazy. I've been trying to knit to keep busy and now I've also pinched a nerve in my hand. I'm trying to not knit quite as much to try to let the swelling go down. It's been a couple weeks and it's not working either.

So now that you've gotten an update, I want to say thanks for stopping by!
I'm always glad to see a comment from a friend or two!

Peace people!

It's that busy, busy time of year

That time of year from the last week of August through December seems to always be busy. Then it is again from April through mid June. But right now, I'm busy but not crazy busy. I know, so unusual for me.

I've been extremely tired lately. I mean on Friday night, I was falling asleep at 8:30 with the laptop on my lap. I can't stay awake past 10 on any night. I don't know if I'm trying to fight off any germs floating around, my diet, or something else. I know I just worry a lot about tiredness because of my previous experience with a close call with lymphoma. That was one of the symptoms I exhibited.

I've got a ton of papers to grade and the first quarter is almost over already. We, my grade level team, is in charge of planning October's positive behavior celebration, and report cards are due soon.

Well I'm going to split. I think I'm going to get a jumpstart on getting ready to go out tonight with Don and some friends.

Also, I don't think I mentioned that it's been about a month since Don had a kidney stone and finally, just this week he's been almost completely pain free.

Hope all is well with you. Enjoy this fall season. The trees have been beautiful. Some trees have been two colors, one color on the outside and the inside close to the trunk is a different color. I've seen trees that look rose and pink colored and just a wonderful mix of colors. We've had winter weather already and there wasn't any heat at school all week. I attribute that to me also being tired. When I get warmed up, I think I just get extremely tired.

Well hope you have a good week!

We interupt your regularly scheduled life...

to help you remember that God's in charge...not you!

I found that out Friday. We had discussed dinner and a video, a quiet Friday night at home. A trip to meet my dad at the stained glass store Saturday, and just a calm weekend. That didn't happen. A wrench, or should I say scapel and a kidney stone got thrown into the mix.

I got a call at lunch that my wonderful hubby called the school office to report he was on his way to the hospital. Not sure why or by whom, but he was on his way. The message was to call on his cell. Good plan if the dumb hospital would have had cell signals. So after a phone call to the hospital, transfered to the ER, then to the triage, then to a nurse's phone, I finally found out what I suspected...a kidney stone.

I've never seen anyone in so much pain, personally. I do have to say that I'm a little horrified that when they give someone a drug and it's not working, we got the answer, "Sorry, you have another hour before the next dose." Obviously, although super strong, not effective on the pain from a kidney stone. He went about 7 hours without effective pain control. I would liken it to heavy labor without any pain drugs. That I have done twice, so I do understand the pain of that. Many who have had babies and kidney stones say however, the kidney stone is worse.

After a good dose of new medicine from the urlogist, the pain was gone within 10 minutes not to return for over 24 hours. Now that was some good stuff!

So Don had surgery, a stint, half the stone come out, and is now finally home after almost 3 days in the hospital. I then had to juggle my house, my son, my dogs, the trips to the hospital, the phone calls all around, and then the trip to the pharmacy for all the drugs. Thankfully, Don's home and on the road to recovery, tomorrow is Monday, and I can get back to my regularly scheduled life.

This makes me Very happy!

Ever since I saw these wind turbines in Copenhagen, for some reason they make me happy. I guess it's green energy and sustainable.



Now in Illinois there are two large wind farms. They are about an hour west of Chicago. I was shocked at seeing them as we passed them on our way out of town, and knew I needed some photos to add to my wind turbine photos from Copenhagen. These were not active yet. Some had no blades, some had 1 or 2 blades, and some were fully built, but not yet active. I can't wait to drive down by there again when they are doing their thing.

I kept looking around thinking...a turbine could be there. Now, I understand these photos are far from professional. They haven't even been edited. They are sotc or straight out of the camera. Also note...they were taken while driving 85 MPH. Not be me...I took them, but wasn't driving! OMG that would be scary to think I was driving that fast AND was looking off the road taking pictures. Enjoy!

a last weekend before school getaway

Last weekend we dropped the dogs off at my mom's and headed for a short weekend getaway to somewhere in the midwest. We went to see Don's dad's grave since it was the 5 year anniversay of his death. We saw his only living male relative from his dad's side of the family. We also went to see a national monument. Here are some pictures. Guess to see if you can figure out where we went.









We were in St. Louis. Don's family has lived there for a very long time. His uncle has actually lived in his house for 45 years. I had only been to St. Louis for his dad's funeral and burial. In all the times Don's been there, he's never been to the Arch. The three of us got to enjoy a little afternoon of fun seeing the Arch together for the first time.

Some photos to share

I still don't have any photos of my kitchen redo, but I have a few fun other photos. First are a few of where my son lives at the university. He and 2 other guys have moved into an apartment.






A great shot from out the back door of the place where he got a job YES!!! I said got a job! Also of one of the taller university buildings.


Here are two helpful movers taking a rest, Brian and his girlfriend.

Wow...has it really been that long??

Yep, it's been nearly a month since I've been by to post up the daily happenings of my life. Well, I guess that I've been trying to lay low. Some may say that I've fallen off the face of the earth. Not really, but I have been immensely bored and haven't been doing much. I've been thinking about school, and how I want to try new things this year. I've been thinking of how I didn't like the teacher I was last year. But last year is over and luckily, each year, I get a brand new start.
Just like each year brings me brand new students, I get a chance to be a brand new teacher. Luckily, one with more and more experience. So I did my very best with what I was dealt last year, and now I get a chance to do my very best again, and also get to recreate myself into someone with more experience. Someone who is able to try new ways, better ways to help students learn more and love learning.

Ok, so much about my private soul searching and personal teacher recreation. What have I really been up to. Well nothing. Absolutely, really, nothing. We have gotten the kitchen 95% finished now. It is painted, appliances in and working, new shelves up, new rails up (wall rails) and we are trying to decide what else we need to do.

I also am sending condolences to my brother-in-law whose mother passed away. Last week we went to the wake.

We also moved my oldest back to school. He moved into an apartment with 2 friends this year. There were very few slotted dates to move in so he had the early one or two that were after school started. So he's moved in, living there alone. One other guy has been out there a couple times, and the third came to help move furniture and hasn't been seen or heard from. We've been on a hunt all summer for things for his apartment. Thankfully, we have some really good friends who have 2 older sons who have finished college. They kindly gave Doug a matching couch and love seat, a captain's bed that he built for his son's dorm room, and a tv. Then they've also been on the look out for other things and called with a chair he got. We were able to find silverware, dishes, a desk, and other things to get him started.


We've also (especially Don) have been having fun with keeping our pond. Unfortunately, we had a raccoon get into the pond and snatched out our turtle and now several of our fish. At garage sales, I found a fish tank that I was going to use to take the turtle in for the winter. I'm either going to have to give up that idea or buy a new one. Haven't decided on that yet.

I've also found a lot of good stuff for my classroom at garage sales. I actually found a retired teacher garage sale. I got classroom/school related chair pads, some great posters, books, teacher books, plastic bins (which you can never have enough of, and 2 easels. I've already looked up the lexile level of my books to have a jump start on getting them leveled and labed for my classroom library.

So now as summer is ending, I'm patiently waiting to find out if I'll have enough students enrolled into my college class. If so, they all usually register the last week as a prerequisite class that they don't know they can't take other classes until they register for this or pass the test. I have 2 now and usually they require between 10 and 20. I also start back on the 24th for 2 days of training. I also have a full day of training on August 20, then we will take a short weekend trip to St. Louis that weekend before school starts.

Anyone been to St. Louis? Got any must visit locations? We will for sure see the Arch. I'm thinking maybe the botanic garden or the zoo. I'd love to go to the Anheiser Busch brewery, but with Brian going, all tour members must be 21.

He starts school on the 26th so this will be his FINAL year. Finally, locked up, secured to be a senior. We've had to fight and make up class after class but he's got all the credits he needs to be able to finish this year. This will be quite a year, the year that all of my kids finish public school. I'm getting excited about that!

Well it seems like I've been able to ramble on about a bunch of nothing really. Considering I feel that I've been laying low, this seems long. Maybe I'll snap a few shots of my finished kitchen and add on here before school starts too!

The summer's ticking away

Yesterday was a fun and yummy lunch at The Olive Garden, with coworkers from school. Some I've gone to class with, taught with, and other staff members from my school. Of course the food was good and I even splurged on dessert. The conversation was the best part. You know gossip of the position changes, and what others have seen and heard, and what's happening with everyone over the summer.

I've not really been doing much, but have been getting things done. I've cleaned and decluttered my bedroom, deep cleaning, like I tore the bed apart and cleaned out the under the bed boxes. I've been working my way through the book, The Kite Runner.
I'm happy that Harry Potter is out in the theaters now and we're planning on seeing it rather soon. I'm actually considering seeing it at the drive-in theater.

Today we also got some good news, Don has a job interview. If this jobs works out, this job will allow Don to also continue with school.

Well it's July 15 and i've already been to the teacher store to get a few things for the beginning of the school year. I have 1 month and 5 days before I have a beginning of the year workshop. I hope we will be able to still have a few fun weekends. I can't believe summer is flying by.