Still Trying to Channel...

The Christmas Spirit.

One time on Hollywood Boulevard I saw a young girl with a baby. It was a crisp winter morning & her hair shone dark purple in the sun. She was panhandling outside the Holiday Inn & the door clerk came out & told her to be on her way & I wondered if anyone would recognize the Christ child if they happened to meet. I remember thinking it's not like there are any published pictures & purple seemed like a good color for a Madonna so I gave her a dollar just in case.

-Brian Andreas

Happy Birthday, Jesus

Happy Birthday, Jesus. I can't even begin to list all the reasons I'm glad you were born. I do want to tell you that I love you. I want to know you more and better. I want to see the world through your eyes and love people the way you love them. Thanks so much for loving me, for being there for me, for loving and caring for those I love (and even for the ones I don't, boy, do I need to grow up some more). I don't really have a gift for you personally (sorry, you're one of those "you have everything" kind of guys), but the Word says that when I do something for "the least of these," I'm doing it for you, so I'll be looking for opportunities to reach out to the needy, the broken, the heartsick. I am so glad you are here.
Love, Nancy

Ugh!!

Yesterday before I went to dinner at Danette's house, I forced my family to sit for a Christmas Card picture. We took about a dozen, and this one is the best of the bunch. Not great, but decent. I uploaded them to Costco and today I went to pick them up and they looked horrible. Ever since I got my new expensive lense Costco can't develop a single picture for me. They come out all wonky and dark. So, I returned the cards and went online for a new set from scrapbookpictures.com. They cost twice as much and who knows when they will arrive, but if they look decent it will be worth it. Look for your Christmas cards somewhere around New Year's.

Love, Nancy

Granny's Christmas Party

Every year my little granny puts on a HUGE Christmas party. She rents the hall at the Trinity County Fairgrounds and people come from all over to get together and catch up. Yesterday my mom and I drove over to Hayfork for it. My cousin Andy and his girlfriend Danielle have a sweet new baby named Cherilynn.
My cousin Logan (who was Santa) and his little daughter Josie.

My sweet Granny
Me and my Mama and Granny

I took loads of pictures and couldn't possibly upload them all here since Blogger is slow to upload and I am too lazy to resize them all. But I hope you find time to get together with people you haven't seen in a while. That's what Christmas is all about.

Love, Nancy

My Angel Tree

One of my favorite holiday traditions is putting up my angel tree. It's a solitary activity. The tree goes up in a flash, and that always puts me in a good mood. Then I carefully unwrap each ornament. Most of them have a story or association with someone that fills my heart up.

This angel was brought to me by my sweet friend Gina from Italy. I also have a pink glass ornament my Aunt Roni gave me that she bought when Uncle Blue was stationed in Germany almost 40 years ago. I have two clothespin angels with my babies handprints printed on muslin as wings. There is a cross given to me by my dear friend Marie when I was becoming a Christian. The raffia angel I bought on our trip to Kauaii is also a favorite. There is just something about that tree that touches me and helps me to remember what Christmas is all about.
Rejoice! Love, Nancy

Post a Day

Because it's the first day of Winter Break and th days of vacation seem to be stretched out before me like an endless row of unopened packages. My optimistic self is planning on posting every day until the end of 2010! Today I give you my fabulous theme wrap for this year. All of packages are wrapped in white paper, red paper with snowflakes or red, green and white striped paper with poinsettias on top. Aren't they pretty? I just love looking at them under the tree.

(Now let's just hope Pepper doesn't eat any of them like he did last year!)

Merry Christmas! Love, Nancy

Finding the Christmas Spirit...

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? [Christmas] came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more? Dr. Suess

Just about....

I was just about to start complaining about all the things I should be doing, but am ignoring while I have a little relaxation/computer time.... when I realized my 2 faithful blog readers are probably sick of listening to me complain, so here are some of the hilarious pictures from our Thanksgivng football game. Taken by Liz, photographer extraordinaire!
Mark's team: Mark, Saeng, Cheryl, Livi, Charles, Dennis


John's team: John, Dave, Me, Alyssa, Kyla, Madi


Mark's team started out by handing off the ball to expert runner, Charles. He got a first down. Yay Charles!


When it was our turn with the ball, we tried running Kyla. She ran straight into a crowd screaming the whole way!


John punting. I was sure he was going to kick by arm.


When Mason arrived he had to switch from team to team according to who was behind


Our cheering section


The football gang. I hope it becomes a family tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving

I had this great idea to make a Thanksgiving mini album with pictures of all my food and the guests and all of our festivities. And (I know you will be so horribly shocked by this...) I got all carried away and forgot to take pictures!! I made the Portabella Mushroom Bisque and the Cranberry Chutney early, so at least I have pictures of those. I'm off to go try to arrange the leftovers to get a couple of shots!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Love, Nancy

October Ending

The last week of October felt like a freight train tunneling right through me. And now it's over and my hair is tousled and my heart is racing and I'm trying to get a grip on what just happened. I hardly caught my breath last month.

Mark had a birthday which we celebrated quietly here at home.

I went on a camping trip for 3 days in the rain with my 5th graders. I spent most of my time cuddled up in the lodge while they all tramped around in the rain. Then when they got back I consoled their tired, wet selves.... Kept an eye on them for mischief.... Tried to help them contain their energy after eating giant brownies... Encouraged them to get full nights of sleep.... And laughed and sang with them and parented and shushed them.


Then it was John's surprise 40th birthday.... With a gorgeous cake and punch filled with worms.

Then Halloween with trick or treaters at our door from 5:00 to 9:00. We actually gave out all of our candy this year. There were lots of cute kids, but more often than not, there were adults at our door with more than one bag and the speech that their "babies were asleep in the car" or adults accompanying kids with their own bags or even a few adults with the audacity to trick or treat kidless. I didn't mind, just found it odd.

Now it's November and I am trying to make a last grasp at sanity and organization before the holidays hit. But I woke up with every centimeter of my body aching yesterday so I am trying to rest and recover for another busy week, but there is laundry to do and work waiting in Fieldbrook, and shopping and cooking and the ever present cleaning. Thank God for the extra hour. Wish me luck!!

Super Swamped

Well, the camping trip with the 5th grade them immediately into Halloween weekend totally got me. I am officially exhausted and it's only 8:48 on Tuesday. Have some great pictures to post and stories to share, but it will have to wait. I am doing the dishes and going to bed early. Night all!

What's going on?

1. I went to a workshop today.
2. I got to sleep in until 7:30 and leave the house at 8:50 (as opposed to waking up at 6:00 and leaving the house at 7:15). It was nice.

3. I got my new lens in the mail Monday, and this is the only picture I've taken all week.
4. I have to go to the workshop again tomorrow.
5. I am sad Michael C. from Project Runway was eliminated. I can relate to his feelings of inadequacy and trying to prove to his parents he is good enough to be a designer. I am praying he will realize he is talented and deserving just the way he is... with out winning a contest.
6. I haven't been working out at all lately, and this is affecting my energy level, weight, quality of life, etc. Have to get back at it.
7. Stayed at work until 9 p.m. last night getting ready for my sub. That is just too crazy late to be at work.
8. Had pancakes for dinner tonight.
9. Just started reading 1,000 Days in Tuscany by Marlena de Blasi. Love it. Thanks Cindy for the Borders gift card. :-)
10. Am ready for bed at 7:53. See what I mean about energy level?

Savory Sundays

Tomorrow we are having a potluck at work, and I signed up for dessert. So I thought I'd better make double cobblers... one for home, one for school.

I use lots of different types of fruit for this. My favorite is blackberry. I pick the berries out at my parent's house. It's also great with peaches, apples, apples and pears, or like this:

Apple Berry Cobbler


Peel and slice the apples. Sprinkle some sugar and lemon juice on them. Throw some berries in too.

For the topping: Put 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl and mix up. Sprinkle over fruit. Melt a cube of butter in the microwave. Pour the butter over the top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for as long as it takes the fruit to cook through. Apples-45 minutes or so, Berries or peaches- 30 minutes or so.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Thankful Thursdays (It's back!)

1. Thankful my daughter came home from school today with a couple of friends.
2. Thankful the mashed potatoes for dinner came out well.
3. So very thankful that occasionally adult people I like to talk to come into my classroom and we have pleasant conversation.
4. Thankful I have a new ipod and dock for my classroom. Now if only I could get the hang of that teeny tiny touch screen.
5. Extra thankful for my sweet mama (who celebrated her birthday yesterday) and for her sobriety and newfound joy in life. Looking forward to a dinner out with family in honor of her.
6. Thankful for changing the math portion of my day which is now going MUCH better thanks to "stations"
7. Thankful I get to hang out with Cindy on Saturday at the Fire and Light Sale. I am planning to bring my chair and a Diet Mtn. Dew for the wait in line.

Happy Thankful Thursday! Love, Nancy

Savory Sundays

Tonight I tried a new recipe, and it was yuuuuuummmmmmmy and easy!

Chicken Sausage Kabobs

Marinade: 2/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup dry sherry, 3Tbsp. sugar, 3Tbsp. oil. Mix together and pour over cubed chicken. Marinate 30 minutes.

Alternate chicken on skewers with chunk pineapple, sausage slices (I used aidell's chicken apple), and green onions (about 1-2 inches long)

Broil for 10-12 minutes basting with leftover marinade often and turning once.

That's it! I had planned to have ours with rice, but forgot to buy rice, so we had thin spaghetti with butter and soy sauce on it for our base.

ENJOY! Love, Nancy

Weekend

I want to document my life more. I want to reflect and remember. But right now I am still in survival mode. I am struggling to make my curriculum the best it can be. I am getting to know the 25 souls I spend my days with... their quirks, their fears, their likes and dislikes, their strengths, their wit. At 9 and 10 they are harder nuts to crack than the 5 year olds. They are less likely to share, more reticent. More private. But they want to be known. They love answering the "Question of the day" each day. They try really hard to make each other laugh. They blush when they speak out in front of everyone. But their eyes sparkle and they grin. They make me grin.
I finally received the money that unemployment owed me from August. And I got to spend all of it on whatever my heart desired. So today I bought a 50 mm fixed aperture lens to go with my new camera. And, and ipod. I was the last member of the family around here without one, and I really wanted my own. Mostly for my classroom. I want to put fun music on it so when someone says something really brilliant I can puch a button and James Brown will yell out, "I feel good! nanananananana! You knew that I would now! nananananana!" It will be great! So now I'm off to upload my music. Yay!

Fearless

This weekend I went with my sweet friend, Danette to her church's annual women's retreat. The food was delicious. The company was great. I met some lovely, funny, kind and supportive ladies. I got to reconnect with a couple of people I hadn't seen in a long time. I got to spend time with Danette, who is always so kind and encouraging. And the program was just exactly what I needed. It was all about knowing and believing that we are each created specifically by God with a purpose. That He loves me just as I am. That He gave me special gifts to make a difference in this world. That I do not need to fear any of the trials of this life because He will always be there.
This doesn't mean that things will always be wonderful. It is not a recipe for happiness. But it does give me hope. And with hope I can keep on living this messy life of mine. Doing my best each day to be the best me I can be. And not beat myself up too badly when I fall short.

Thankful Thursdays

Well, I almost made it on a Thursday! It's 12:01 as I type this, so just barely in to Friday.

I am so thankful for my understanding family. For them putting up with me working insane hours and being cranky and doing less than my fair share around the house the last few weeks.

I am also thankful for the beginning of routine and focus and lots of laughter and fun and learning in Room 6. The stress is lessening and I am starting to love it.

I am blessed by my sweet friend, Danette, who is taking me to a women's retreat this weekend. Almost 3 whole days of not thinking about curriculum and classroom management (not in the behavior sense, their behavior is good... just in the teaching of 2 separate grade levels in the same 7 hours you would get for one!) and especially for not grading papers over the weekend! And not having to cook and being treated to terrific food! And hearing Betty Chinn speak!

I will try to post back on Sunday... wishing you weekend full of blessings!

Love, Nancy

Moments of wonderful

So many difficult moments these last few weeks. Moments when my eyes filled up with tears and my heart squeezed closed in my chest and seemed to stay that way. When my breath was frozen and stuck in my throat. When the air seemed to push in around me and my brain felt trapped in a vice. But then between these difficult moments there were moments filled with wonder.
Like when my niece called me on the phone to let me know her science fair project was due in February so could she please borrow my incubator in January to hatch some chicks.

Or when a girl in my class brought me a beautiful bouquet of red tulips (my favorite)

Or getting to meet this adorable boy
And take pictures of his adorable selfAnd watching his sweet sister kiss him and dance around him and call him "Co co".
When I put up the vocabulary chart and students kept laughing and trying to work the words "predict" and "confirm" and "overseas" into our everyday classroom conversation. Or when I said "It's time to stop writing." And one of my hardest, least-interested-in-academics 4th graders moaned because he didn't want to stop. When one of my new colleagues said, "Thank you for staying here" after I was offered a position back in Ferndale (which I declined). Or almost everyday when Mark muted the political conversation on the TV he loves so much to listen to me talk about my day. It has been a hard couple of weeks. But each day there is joy and wonder and cause for celebration. And I plan to revel in the wonder of all of them.

My fantasy life

So I always had fantasies of getting a fabulous digital camera and wowing my thousands of blog readers with my spectacular photograpy skills combined with wit and humor. Not suprisingly, that isn't happening. First of all, I still don't know how to use my camera very well (even though I love it). Secondly, whenever I think of uploading pictures my brain gets all wiggly and agitated because I have to shrink the pictures so much to get them to load. I have 2 hilarious shots of the 17 individual letters the Employment Development Department sent me informing me that I would not be paid for unemployment the week I was unavailable for work while in Mexico. That cost our state $7.48 in postage alone. No wonder our budget is in such bad shape! I also have numerous wonderful shots of my cute nieces from Labor Day weekend. And the clincher is I have pictures of adorable, new, precious Colton Price Taylor at the age of exactly 14 days. But I guess you'll all just have to wait because I have no desire to attach my camera and fiddle with them. I am off to play Bejewled Blitz!
Happy Weekend! Love, Nancy :-)