I should be doing so much right now…grading, cleaning, lesson planning, working on my application for grad school, enjoying the lovely sunny weather we are getting. However, the blog calls and it’s feeling rather neglected. I think my blog is jealous of twitter. This is how I’ve been keeping the world updated lately…one mini-post at a time. This post will be a BIG one about what’s going on in my life, and I think I will structure it based on the categories I have to the right here:

Books:
Currently reading Surprised by Joy (C.S. Lewis) and No One Belongs “Here More Than You (Miranda July)–both for book groups.

Music:
Just got DMB and Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City and Grey’s Anatomy Season 3 Soundtrack for Christmas. In awe at Reynold’s guitar skillz.

Movies:
Depressed myself by watching A Crude Awakening about the upcoming oil shortage. Makes me want to live on a farm.

Trips I want to take in the near future:

I’d love to go to Portland for a long weekend trip to visit Powell’s. I also want to visit The Bridge church and stay at McMenamin’s Edgefield outside of Portland in Troutdale.
Quebec–just to feel like I’m in Old World Europe in the “New World”
New Zealand/Australia: it’s all about the wildlife and scenery….plus they speak English
Kenya or South Africa on adventurous days
New England/East Coast: we have lots of friends and family there
Idaho: visit J’s parents; ski or snowboard; play in snow; sit in hot springs in the cold weather

Knitting Projects:
Finished Anna’s Alpaca fuzzy black scarf. Still working on baby kimono. Might finish when baby is a teenager. Started making baby bib in purple and green jewel tones.

Seattle Weather:
Boring. Just boring. I prefer exciting weather, for instance snow and drastic changes in temperature. At least the past two days there has been some sun! I really should live further inland somewhere if I prefer such excitement.

Education:
I still have bitten off more than I can chew in my current teaching assignment: 3 preps in a high needs school is overwhelming, so I spend a lot of my “free” time working on school related work. Nevertheless, I am applying for a doctoral program called Leadership for Learning at the University of Washington (L4L at UW, shorthand). The program is mainly geared to people preparing for superintendent duties, but my focus would be on leadership for educators at the school-based level. My application is due February 1, and I still have so much to do on it. I have 2, 3-day weekends coming up.

TV:
Not much of this in my life, but I have enjoyed watching the Colbert Report and The/”A” Daily Show with John Stewart this week. I watch it online, though, which means it’s a day late.

Theater:
One of my new year’s resolutions is to actually get to the plays we have season tickets to. Seattle Rep won’t let you in late, and we inevitably get there 5-10 minutes late, at least the last few times. We have one coming up in February. Here’s to punctuality.

Technology:
Not much new in this category. I am working off of Justin’s old Vaio so we can both have wireless in the same room. Since the addition of Lesley’s cat to the household, we have not been working in the office, as we’d have to keep the door closed, and that’s a rather confined space.

Science:
I’m teaching AP Bio this year, so this week I will be working with Sordaria in a mitosis/meiosis lab. Woohoo!

Grrr…
I have too many for this category. Let me first state that I began to dislike being asked how my break was, because overall, it was a pleasant experience with friends and family, but a series of unfortunate events seemed to befall us. Let me explain.

The first leg of our trip went fine, except that I got sick the day after Christmas with a cold, right after having a sinus infection earlier that month. Being sick again meant that flying, which we did 2 days after I got sick, became ridiculously painful on my ears….and we had to do it twice that day. I couldn’t hear normally out of one of my ears, and a few days later (New Year’s Eve) I went to the doctor in my hometown. I ended up having an ear infection and got put on antibiotics that I just finished. Justin got the same bug, but it wasn’t as bad.

The next Grrr….comes from our flying experience. We just made our connecting flight from Salt Lake to Cincinnati, but our luggage apparently didn’t make it. My sis picked us up from the airport (and we got pulled over for speeding on the way to my Papa’s), and we decided to make our return trip to the airport the next morning, since our next stop would put us through Little Rock anyway. No luggage. Flight didn’t make it. “We’ll deliver it,” they said, “between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m.” 3 a.m……still no luggage. We called them. “We’ll deliver sometime today.” 4:30 pm: we got our luggage…2 days late. All of the presents I had for family I wouldn’t see again that trip was in there. Thanks, airline and baggage delivery service, for your convenience.

The time had come for our trip home. I called the night before to confirm that we had a 7 a.m. flight, which meant getting up at 4 to leave for Little Rock. “Yes,” the live person at Expedia said, “that’s correct.” 5:30 a.m. at the airport: “Your flight has been changed to 2 p.m.” Justin discussed this with an agent for an hour; they both made many phone calls. 2 p.m. remained the departure time. The glorious byproduct of this situation is that my parents were able to take us to Cracker Barrel and we has a scrumptious country breakfast (I, of course, had biscuits and gravy).

More rants: Why does UPS try to do deliveries that require signature confirmation on M-F during normal working hours? If I wasn’t there today between 10-2, why would I be there tomorrow at that time? And then, why are you not open on Saturdays?

Running:
Can we skip this one? OK, so I haven’t done much of this since Aaron, my running buddy, left. Also, I don’t have a gym membership anymore, and it’s dark before I get home (any more excuses?), so this isn’t so much part of my life right now, although I’d like it to be.

Church
So since our group isn’t meeting on Sundays anymore, we’re trying to figure out what to do next. For some, it means individual spiritual time on Sunday mornings. For others, it is visiting churches. For yet others, it is a combination of the two, depending on the week. That’s where I fit in. We’re still doing our other activities, but we’re trying to figure out what Sundays should really look like.

Exercise
I’m getting this some days, thanks to exercise videos for abs, buns, arms, and cardio. Yay! I like being sore, as it means I am making progress and working hard.

Food
I like cooking, but I don’t like HAVING to cook. I like being creative and I like having a choice. I think sometimes getting the pioneer organics box stresses me out because it’s like the fruits and veggies are a ticking time bomb that need to be cooked…RIGHT NOW!! We postponed our order for the last month, and I’m a lot more relaxed, although I haven’t been eating as many fruits and veggies. This AM I made blueberry pancakes and meatless bacon. I want to eat more healthily, so I like planning my menu ahead of time.

Friends and Family
I love you all and I don’t see you enough!

I posted more photos to flickr recently–they are of wildlife from when I went with my students to Northwest Trek. I tried to link there but my site got switched to a different server and well, it didn’t work. Anyway, check those out!

Right now I’m just enjoying summer (or what’s left of it). We’re cleaning the house today, or at least doing all those de-cluttering and purging things that people do when it’s summer. We’re getting rid of lots of tech stuff we’ve been keeping for no real reason and I’ve started some new filing systems. All in all, I’m feeling more organized, even if it feels like we’re moving and a million boxes are still in the hall.

On a more fun note, I’ll probably work on one or more books this evening and possibly lesson plan a little for this week. I recently started Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book Love in the Time of Cholera, and I’m almost finished with Eat, Pray, Love. I’m reading so much more this summer than I usually do, and I hope to be finished with 10 books by the end of summer (I’m only at almost-4 right now).

Other plans for this week include:
Wii game night (and chicken curry dinner) Monday
Bela Fleck concert at the Zoo Wednesday
New Soccer Season starts Thursday
Film night Friday at Daniel’s

I want to start knitting again, as this stopped for me in April. I have plans for a baby kimono for Joanna’s little girl, but I think I need yarn for it. This will be a perfect project for our road trip.

I also want to start running again, which is not perfect for a road trip…I haven’t really run since last fall. I’ve been relying on indoor bikes, 10 lb weights, exercise videos, and soccer to serve as my workouts, but there’s nothing like a good run. We’ll see how that goes.

Well…until my next post…adieu!

It’s been a rather cool and drizzly weekend even though the end of the school year is quickly approaching. We have only 5 days of school left, but a stressful 5 days it will be! This is mainly because tomorrow is graduation and rehearsal, which is hectic as I have to make sure the show runs smoothly. This year I created documents with directions. It took me all afternoon, but it will be worth it.
Also, I’ve spent part of the afternoon working with a student who is trying to graduate and has resubmitted his paper about three times today. Sheesh. The other factors that make this a hectic week are that we’re going on a field trip Tuesday, and finals are Thursday and Friday. I have to be packed and checked out, with all grades done, by Friday afternoon. As you can tell, I’m a bit concerned about this.

In other news, I may be running in a 24-hour relay with a team in late July. It will be a bit pricey, but I may decide to go ahead with it for the adventure. Plus, I’ll have something to start training for when I run again this summer.

Lastly, I just bought tickets for my cousin’s wedding back in Arkansas. I’ll be there July 11-15, although I leave and arrive at ungodly hours.

Well, gotta go grade. I’ve been putting it off all weekend.

Since I didn’t really sit down and make a list of new year’s resolutions, here’s a list of things I want to accomplish or do more of this year and throughout my life. I am sure I will come back to throughout the year and after this year is over to “check things off” or re-evaluate my priorities. Many of these may seem selfish, overambitious, expensive, or even impossible. I know I probably won’t get all of these done this year, but I want to spend more time doing the activities I enjoy

Here goes:

finish reading “New Testament and the People of God”
read the Bible (exclusively) during Lent
look for more opportunities to serve
visit other churches’ activities to get reconnected with our brothers and sisters in Christ
sign up for co-rec soccer this summer
learn Mandarin Chinese from Lan this summer (keep in practice with my Spanish and Italian, for starters!)
more hiking and camping
knit socks, mittens, baby kimono, baby blanket, baby bibs, and wrist warmers
run in more 5Ks and 10Ks; run more regularly
be more proactive with Mary Kay business
become more organized; get rid of several items a week (I hate having so much stuff that I don’t use just lying around!)
go to Portland, Vancouver, New England/Northeastern States, and San Francisco with Justin
sing/play french horn again? learn bass (I picked up some in December!) and acoustic so that I am able to play
garden (veggies and decorative)
have friends over more often for dinner, etc.
become more professional as a teacher, as far as reading journals, presenting more, and getting published; research PhD programs in Science Education or other areas of interest
blog…with pictures!
be more money savvy

Christmas is over and we’ve finished the first leg of our trip. Arkansas felt like a whirlwind–we spent our first three days in three different homes! All of the Christmas preparations left us hustling and bustling for the most part, but never before 11 on most days. We stayed up late and enjoyed every moment of the day. We got to see my Papa, my Granny and Pa, my Aunt Robin and her boyfriend, my cousin Heather and her fiance, my cousin Chuck, my half-brother Oliver and his wife, Meredith, and their son Layne. We got to see Justin’s sister and her husband, as well as his parents. We stayed with my parents, my brother, and my sister. We got to see my sister’s boyfriend, and he taught me to play about 5 songs on the bass guitar. We saw my other brother, some hometown friends from church and school, and Marvin and Judith Crowson. I got to see my cute little cousins (all 4) and my aunt Lori and uncle Craig. My mom took my sister and I for manicures (my mom’s first!), and Justin and I got to go to Searcy and see the new additions to campus. We ate a lot, caroled, went to Wal-Mart (no fewer than three times) and Sonic (also three times), went to my family’s church a couple of times, and ate at the local Chinese restaurant. I went to a yarn shop, I went running, and Justin and I stayed in a bed and breakfast. Whew. I’m tired already.

I haven’t graded many papers, and I intend to while I’m here, though I have done everything I can think of to avoid grading. I even finished a book on the plane rather than grade.

We’re in Idaho now–we got here last night and slept really well. I went for a walk with Justin (almost 2 1/2 miles) this afternoon around downtown Pocatello and we went to Justin’s parents church tonight after a homemade veggie alfredo lasagna. They’re expecting snow tonight!

Tata for now…..

We leave for Arkansas tomorrow morning! I’m so excited to see family and friends. After that we go to Pocatello, ID to visit Justin’s family.

While I’m on break, I hope to do a lot of visiting with everyone, but I also want to run, knit, read, take pictures, and grade papers.

I’ll probably post a travel log as much as possible while I’m gone.

Today we had church at our place–we had a gift exchange and lots of food: lentil soup and cornbread, pasta and breadsticks, fruit salad, a peach pie, yam, black bean, and spinach quesadillas with jalapeno jack cheese, baked yams, corn pudding, collard greens and butternut squash, chips and salsa, banana bread, cookies, and bruschetta with spinach dip! There’s probably more that I forgot, but we had quite the spread, as well as a “group sermon” on Advent and carol singing.

Tonight we went to a Christmas open house for one of Justin’s Danforth colleagues and now I’m back home trying to remember what I need to do before we leave….

Toodles!

This Thanksgiving break I have been a grading machine! Senior papers were due this Wednesday and I have graded several of them. I like to give comments galore so they can make changes as needed at this stage. Sometimes it feels like the papers will never end.

In other news, I have resumed running outdoors on the weekends, if two Saturdays in a row are enough to establish a pattern. I ran this morning around Green Lake (it was NOT raining!). I would like for this to be something that occurs throughout the week. If only I could break through the barrier that the 4:30 p.m. darkness creates in my mind, this would be much easier. Justin and I are going to try to work out every night this week. Ah, yeah.

As far as the crazy Seattle weather is concerned, not only have we gotten more rain this month than any other month in Seattle’s records, we are also expecting snow this week! I hope we get it because I could use another day of grading….Sad, isn’t it?

At least I’ve gotten to do one fun thing this weekend–Justin and I went to see The Great Gatsby at the Seattle Rep this Friday night. This play was much more impressive than the previous Seattle Rep play we saw. It had more than one character, an actual set, and an interesting plot–amazing! Not only that, adding to the intrigue was the car and pool that were onstage.

Well, I’m off to grade one more paper before relaxing for the evening. Here’s to revising and editing–may my students appreciate my efforts!

Today has been a rather quiet day, but I can’t say I don’t relish it, especially after spending the better part of my week with almost 200 high school students for eight hours a day.

I began the day with my weekly long run. We did 7 miles on a surprisingly sunny morning, considering the clouds to the west of us and the drenching rains we had the day before. Seven of us ran–almost all of them were from Aaron’s workplace–and we attempted the additional mile by going up a hill of mass proportions. I’m getting better because I never fail to do my three mile runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at least for three weeks now. Next weekend is my 5K, so we’l see if it pushes me to be any faster than I was last year.

After my run, Lesley left for a work party and Justin was still at Danforth, so I made a list of what needed to be done. Shower, grocery shopping, bank, cooking, and cleaning were all on my list. However, I spent a great deal of my day reading or listening to my book on CD while cooking and cleaning.

Right now I am working on a Mitford series book and I just finished In the Company of Cheerful Ladies on CD. I don’t know why it is called that, but it’s in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I like series in books because I get to know the characters and I can follow them throughout their life. It’s not like you just get to know them and 300 or 400 pages later, they are yanked from your attention. I think I’ll get another book on CD because it’s something to do while driving, cooking, and cleaning besides talking on a cell phone. Let’s just give a big “hurrah” for the public libraries for making all of this entertainment possible!

Speaking of entertainment, last night, Justin, Lesley and I went to the Intiman Theater (our member venue) to see Moonlight and Magnolias, a play about the legendary producer David Selznick and his team’s adventure in writing the screenplay for Gone With the Wind. Hilarious as it was, the main message seemed to be how producers really control the content and message of a movie, and they sometimes feel that they have to please “the masses” rather than themselves when making a movie.

More about our weekend adventures another day…

Today I ran my first 6 miles since June, and I can already tell it will take a while to get back to where I was then. 8 of us ran–most of them from Aaron’s workplace–and some of them are rather fast for 6 miles. I have been running 3 miles twice a week for two weeks, as the Fremont Oktoberfest 5K is in 2 weeks. I signed up for that and a 10K in late October. Here’s to my feet! One strategy that I am trying out is listening to books on tape (on i-pod?) while I run. I just need earbuds that actually stay in my ear for that to work.

I’ll blog about school next…we’ve done our first week, and it’s going great!

I did it!! I wasn’t fast and I didn’t win (HA!), but I made it. I ran 13 miles today in a nice drizzle in the San Juans. My knees are quite sore and I need to be drinking more water (my headache says so). It feels like someone punched me repeatedly in my kidneys and other places in my body cavity. Other than that, I feel good and I didn’t get “side stitches” or anything.

The day before the race was heavenly–65F, sunny, warm-ish breezes. I napped, ate, walked, ate, read, and watched one CSI Miami and went to bed at 10. I RELAXED for one day this week–this month–this spring. I could really get used to this…but I have 2 more classes to wrap up for grad school, so I won’t celebrate too soon.
BTW, Lesley moved in with us today, so yay for a full house!