30 Days of Thanks: Days 6-8 & Other Nice Things

Pair of Shoes, Scent, and Restaurant... those are the topics for days 6-8.  Um, yeah.  I'm going rogue.

Day 6:  Instead of a pair of shoes, I'm grateful to be wearing shoes at all after my foot surgery last December.  It's been almost a year, and I think things are almost back to normal.  I'm back to walking (not as much as I should be), and even though I probably won't ever wear heels again, and I definitely won't wear Danskos again, I'm back to regular shoes.

Day 7: Scent.  Instead of being thankful for a scent, I'll be thankful for what a scent means.  Yesterday we had an early Thanksgiving since Andrew & I will be with his son & daughter-in-law for actual Thanksgiving.  Matt came down on Friday night, and we all went to Cider House.  Holly was home by Saturday morning, and we had a nice morning cooking and getting ready.  Since we put the turkey on before we went to bed Friday night, the whole house smelled like delicious turkey when we got up.  YUM!  Dad, Alice, Dale, Matt, Holly, and Andrew's brother-in-law Jeff came over for the meal, and it was delightful.  Good food and good company... and good leftovers!  :)

Day 8: Restaurant.  Hm.  I like far too many restaurants for my own good, but today I was going through our honeymoon photos, and I found a picture from Seattle when we ate at a place called Ray's Boathouse.  This was my favorite meal of the trip because I love trying new things.  I tried a vegetable called broccoli romanesco.  I had only seen it in pictures until our trip when I saw it in person at Pike Place Market, and then I got to actually eat it when we went out with our friend James Gibson.  It was delicious, especially when paired with my seared fresh tuna and pistachio creme brulee for dessert!

The last exciting piece of news is that we're getting a puppy.  We chose her from the other girls in her litter on Saturday and I am so excited.  She's a miniature golden doodle, and her name is going to be Georgie.  We'll get her during the first week of December, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

2013

I only blogged 27 times in 2012.  That's a record, and not a good one.  I could easily analyze why.  I know it's because I've been dealing with a  lot of inner stuff this year.  I feel like I've been surviving.  It takes work to survive, but it's not always work you want to share with the world.  I've been sad.  I can usually keep it at bay, but reflecting and letting my guard down sometimes hurts too much when I'm sad... even if I'm just reflecting about nothing important.  I know I'm emotionally strained because I cry every time I do my centering prayer, every time I quiet myself enough to let the wall down for a little bit.  But this is a new year.  It's going to be better this year.  :)

I had a nice holiday.  I went to Altoona to do annual Christmas baking with the Kurths, Matt & Omara came down for several days, and it was nice to see them.  I got to see Tracy for a day.  My dad got a kidney stone, which was not good, but he's finally home from the hospital and resting comfortably.  He can't do anything half-assed.  The thing was the size of a pencil eraser!!!  Andrew is still recovering from knee replacement surgery.  He's working hard in therapy, and despite the facts that I'm a terrible nurse and he's a terribly impatient patient, we're hanging in there.  :)

Back to Tracy... this was my big Christmas present from Tracy: a pink cheetah bike helmet.  She wasn't sure I'd like it, and honestly, I wasn't sure either.  It's kind of a weird present to get.  But... after 4.2 seconds of looking at it, I fell in love.  I can't wait for spring to be able to use it!  Her rationale behind it was that I always say how ridiculous I look in my bike helmet.  It's just a silver bike helmet, but let's face it, bike helmets look RIDICULOUS.  She thought that if I'm going to look ridiculous, I should totally embrace it and REALLY look ridiculous!  I LOVE IT!

Here's my bike helmet story (the reason I always wear one even though I hate them so much):  One summer while teaching at the Wabash Arts Camp in Shenandoah, my class helper (my dearest Brenton) told me that he would have to miss class the next day because he had to pick his dad up from the hospital.  I told him that was fine, and I asked him about his dad.  It turns out his dad had been in the hospital for 4 months, recovering from a brain injury.  Brenton's dad had gone to pick up a bike they bought for Brenton's sister.  The bike wouldn't fit in the car, so Brenton's dad decided to ride it home.  The front wheel fell off, and his head hit the street curb.  This caused a brain injury that basically put Brenton's dad in a coma and left him in a state where he would need 24-hour care for the rest of his life.  After hearing this story, I was blown away.  When I could finally speak, I told Brenton that he had just saved my life.  I would never again ride my bike without wearing a helmet.  When I got home from camp, I went to Wal-Mart and bought my ridiculous silver bike helmet, and I never ride without it.  Never.  I think of Brenton's dad, and that makes me put that thing on my head every time, even though I hate it so much.  I didn't grow up wearing bike helmets.  No one my age did.  If you wore a helmet, you were a freak, and your parents were overprotective.  I don't think I'd ever even actually seen a bike helmet until I was in high school.  Anyway, things are different with me now.  Really different, considering the next time I strap on my bike helmet, it will be this awesome pink cheetah one.  If I'm going to look ridiculous, I'm going all out!

Happy 2013, everyone.  Let's make it a good one!

November Gratitude #26

November 26: It's my baby brother's birthday today. He's 37 years old. Today I'm grateful for him. I don't see him as often as I'd like, but he'll always be my little brother.

When our parents divorced, he was my constant. Wherever we were, whichever parent we were with, we had each other, and we were together. I was always his mother hen when we were with my dad.

My mom told me I was never jealous of Matt when he came home from the hospital. I was 2 1/2, and I thought they brought him home just for me. He was MY baby.

It was hard for me when Matt went to live with my dad. I can remember being sad one day, and my mom asked me what was wrong. "I miss Matt," I said, and we both cried. We missed him terribly.

I love how I can make him roll his eyes and make him laugh all in the same breath. I love all our memories. He's my only real sibling.

I love you, Matt. Happy birthday, baby brother!

November Gratitude #24

November 24: Today I'm grateful for the wonderful Thanksgiving Day I had. My brother Matt and his fiancee Omara came down to my dad's. There were 8 of us for dinner... Dad, Alice, Alice's cousin Mary Fran and her husband Tony, Matt, Omara, Andrew, and myself. It was a beautiful day filled with wonderful food. My stepmom's stuffing is a wonder of the world. Since Matt's birthday is Saturday, I baked him a brownie sheet cake like my mom & grandma used to make. He was happy. It was just a lovely time with love and laughter. I'm blessed.

Christmas in a Nutshell

Dec. 22: Last day of school. Kids dismissed at 2:30.

Dec. 23: Frantic cleaning, shopping, wrapping, and cooking.

Dec. 24: Snowed all day... the perfect Christmas snow. Finished last minute things around the house. Repairman tried to fix fridge... still leaking and not dispensing water. Part ordered. Was smart enough not to drive down into the cemetery, but hiked down in the snow to take flowers, diet coke, and chocolate covered cherries. Matt & Omara got here around 8:30. Andrew joined us for dinner (pickled ham, shrimp, chili, cheese bread, Christmas goodies, and cranberry tea). I went to church at the 11:00 service at the Methodist Church. It was the perfect Christmas Eve feeling.

Dec. 25: Matt & Omara & I went out to Dad's. We took a breakfast pizza. Opened gifts and had a fantastic lunch. Andrew & I had our Christmas that night. Watched The Departed and got a wonderful call from the McLeods.

Dec. 26: Took Andrew to the airport and exchanged a gift at the mall in Coralville. Found good deals on next year's Christmas cards and a few other things.

Dec. 27: Tracy arrived! Had a long talk, exchanged gifts, and went to Vivo for dinner.

Dec. 28: Tracy & I putzed around town, checking out all the stores around the square. Coffee at Revelations. Watched Eat, Pray, Love and had a snack. Played Mario Kart and Dance on Broadway on the Wii. Went to see the Rock Paper Scissors concert at Cafe Paradiso. Had pizza at Torino's.

Dec. 29: Tracy went home. Quiet, lonely house. Going to take it easy today before digging into a month's worth of school work that needs to be done in 4 days. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday... I know I have so far!

Weekly Update

Random Thoughts for a Friday Night...

* I just saw a cat circus. I'm still processing it.

* We found out this morning our school district will be cutting the budget by $800,000 next school year. That means cuts everywhere, including teaching jobs. That thought alone is enough to make my ulcer flare up. No details yet. Instead, we get to fret about it for a few months. Sigh...

* I'm singing in a Broadway benefit concert at the Sondheim next weekend. What turned out as a small commitment has grown into something rather large, but it's for a great cause. The money will be split 1/3 to the Crisis Center which is a shelter for women and children in southeast Iowa, 1/3 to a local Jefferson County organization that helps needy people pay their electric bills in winter and also helps families during the holidays, and 1/3 to an organization helping children in Haiti. I'm sorry I don't know the specific names of these organizations, but the organizer of this benefit, Jonas Magram, has been doing this for many years. I feel lucky to be helping out this year.

* Andrew is narrating a very interesting Stravinsky piece at the Sondheim tomorrow night. It's called A Soldier's Tale, and it combines narration, acting, and a chamber ensemble of 7 instruments. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

* We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Dad, Alice, Matt, & Omara. Andrew survived his first holiday w/ my family. He lived to tell about it!

* My baby brother turned 36! Crazy!

* I was again reminded today why I love teaching middle school talented & gifted. After school, one of my students was telling me all about his research for his independent project. He chose to research viruses, and he was telling me all kinds of stuff that was way over my head about nucleotides, horizontal evolution, and experimental gene therapy. He has a very good grasp of all of these things. Pretty amazing. I proceeded to ask him what he wanted to be when he grows up, and he emphatically stated, "a geneticist." I smiled and nodded. He then added, "I want to grow new things with octopus tentacles on them." I love it.