Nov. 7 (Knitting)

I had my very own private knitting class tonight. I learned to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off. All in all, I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm still rather clumsy. When I got home to work on my project, I dropped stitches all over the place. I didn't spend a fortune on the yarn, so I'm not really worried about it, but I would like to know what happened and exactly how one begins to drop stitches. I have enough yarn that I think I might start over again tomorrow to see how I do. I am so excited that I'm learning how to do this new hobby! The local knitting/yarn store has the MOST beautiful yarn I've ever seen in my life. They also offer really neat classes. I hope I'm good enough soon to take a class.

Pictures soon, I promise!

Nov. 6 (Wonderful Shawl)

Tonight....ah, the first night of complete freedom. The thesis projects were stamped and mailed today. I promised to hem my nephews' pants, however when I got to them tonight, I realized that I didn't have any khaki thread. I returned the pants to my SIL, wrapped myself in my hand-made shawl (a gift from my co-teacher), and sat at my new patio table and in my new swivel rocking chair. The wind was chilly. There was a nip in the air. I was warm and cozy, snuggled in my shawl, rocking in my chair, sipping Hot Cran-Apple Toddy.

H asked if the shawl really kept me warm.
"Yes," I replied. "Try it on."
So he did.
And then he grabbed my glasses.
And our Mrs. Claus hot mit.

And we laughed and we laughed and we laughed.

What a perfect night.

Nov. 5 (MBS)

These are most definitely not MBS, but the story that goes with them qualifies.

These images so depict where M is in life right now. Completely yearning for independence, but not quite brave enough yet.

"No, Mommy. ME!"

So I let her go...all by herself, up those tall, tall steps to the big, BIG, BIG! slide.

About 2/3 of the way up (two or three steps after first image), she started crying, but it was too late then.

She had to finish by herself.

And she did.

With lots of sobbing and squeezing tight at the bottom.

A sucker fixed it all.

My sweet baby so wants to do everything by herself, but she's still MY BABY. I'm trying to let go and she's trying to go. Somehow, we keep finding ourselves squeezing tight at the end. And I am so thankful.

For REAL MBS, click below. I'm sure you'll be TREATED to some great pictures this week.

Nov. 4 (Random Thoughts)

Nothing particular to post about today. I was going to give you a little insight into the public education system where I work (specifically about how we place special needs students), but that seems too taxing. So, I'm just going to post a few random thoughts.

1.) Supper club went GREAT last night. Dinner was late (around 8:30), but turned out very nice. After dinner, the men wanted to smoke cigars on the new deck while the women wanted to play games. We turned on the Wii and had a pretty intense boxing match. Then we calmed down and bowled for a while. I have no idea what the men discussed, but they seemed to have as much fun as we did.

2.) My thesis projects are going in the mail tomorrow. It's 7:13 EST right now and I'm heading off to write my arts rationale. As soon as that is complete, I'm printing it, putting it in the envelop and everything will go by snail mail to my professor tomorrow. I meet with my thesis group to finalize everything tomorrow afternoon and then I am COMPLETELY finished!

3.) H did get me knitting class for my birthday. My fingers and brain are ITCHING for something creative to do. I can't wait to start a knitting project. On top of knitting, I need to design our family Christmas card. I also have a few sewing projects to work on. I have a large stack of photos I need to scrapbook. I can't wait for a little bit of free time!

4.) I'm reading The Magician's Nephew so I know what's coming before I read to my class. It's REALLY a great book. I highly recommend it to anyone with school age children. It is a wonderful read-aloud. I think even older elementary, middle school children would enjoy reading it with an adult. I love how CS Lewis interacts with his audience.

5.) There are at least 8 loads of laundry waiting for my attention downstairs.

6.) I'm going to start my weight loss trek again tomorrow. It's taken a while since the miscarriage to feel up to tackling my weight. I've planned a menu for the week, so no eating out and I actually want *gulp* to go to the gym to walk! Something must be wrong with me. Seriously wrong.

There you go--random things to read about. Tomorrow is MBS. I've got an idea to post, so check back tomorrow!

Nov. 3 (Supper Club)

I can't believe I've posted three days in a row! YEAH!

We're hosting supper club tonight at our house. I've been so stressed out the past two weeks that I've just come to a major decision to NOT let this stress me out. It will be what it is. If the house isn't perfect, that's okay. The food will be delicious and the company wonderful.

Here is the menu:
Appetizers when the guests arrive (pepper jelly and cream cheese)
Soup: Tomato and roasted red pepper
Main Course: Creamy Herb Polenta and Bistro Italian Sausage and Chicken (recipes below), steamed vegetables, and bread with herbed oil
Dessert: Cannoli
Beverage: Spiced Cran-apple Toddy (recipe below), Bellinis, Soft drinks, and sweet tea (we are SOUTHERN, you know)

Games to follow dinner if anyone would like to play.

Creamy Herb Polenta (AMAZING)
4 T butter
1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6 c. hot water
2 c. polenta (coarse cornmeal)
1/2 c. whipping cream

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute' corn in butter. Add Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir in hot water and bring to a boil. Gradually add polenta, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer. Cook until polenta thickens and grain is tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in whipping cream. Serve hot. Serves 8.

Bistro Italian Sausage and Chicken
1 1/2 lb. Italian sausage, removed from casing
4 chicken breast, cut into thin strips
2 lg. bell peppers, cut into thin strips
2 med. onions, cut into slivers
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. flour
2 T. minced fresh basil OR 2 tsp. dried
1 T. minced fresh tarragon OR 1 tsp. dried
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 c. dry white wine
2 c. chicken stock
1 (15 oz.) can solid pack pumpkin
1 c. whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

Cook sausage thoroughly, stirring to crumble. Reserve drippings. Transfer sausage to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. In reserved dripping, cook chicken strips until done. Add peppers and onions. Cook until crisp tender. Remove chicken, onion, and bell pepper from pan. Cover to keep warm. In pan drippings, saute' garlic briefly. Stir in flour, basil, tarragon, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook a few minutes. Stir in wine and cook off heady alcohol. Blend together chicken stock, pumpkin, and whipping cream. Whisk into the pot creating sauce. When heated through, add previously cooked sausage, chicken, peppers, and onions. Heat through. Serve over hot pasta or polenta. Serves 8-10.

Hot Cran-Apple Toddy
1/2 gallon apple juice or cider
2 c. cranberry juice cocktail
peeled zest of 1 orange
1 1/2 c. (+/-) brandy
1/2 c. ASPEN mulling spices

In large saucepan combine first 3 ingredients. Bring to a gentle boil. Add brandy and ASPEN mulling spices. Stir to dissolve. Serve hot. Store, covered, in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Makes about 3 quarts.

If you decide to use any of these recipes or have any cooking tips to share, please do! I'd love to know some of your favorite fall recipes. Now that the thesis project is over (almost), I want to start being a real wife and mother again--okay, okay, I want to attempt at being a real wife and mother.

Nov. 2 (Phrase Friday)

Okay, y'all. It's seriously time for you to play along. Don't leave me hanging out here in the land of cute phrases all by myself! Leave me a comment or post a link to your blog and we'll all head over there to read your fun phrases for Friday! (Mom--aka Nona--come on and play! Surely one of us said something cute when we were little!)

Here are a few cute things M is saying now:

1. She has a cousin named Joshua. She calls him ISH-OO-AH (ish as in f-ish, oo as in oo, that's so cool, and ah as in ah, cool water on a hot day)

2. ya-dee-o means radio. It took about 3 mornings before I realized she was asking for me to turn the radio up. She would repeat ya-dee-o UP! all the way to school. Finally I realized Thursday what she wanted. Ah, the peace that brought on our morning commute.

3. We have a chocolate lab named Mocha. Every single dog and horse we see is called Mocha. Every now and then she'll label the other animals correctly, but everything from the tiniest teacup puppy to the most gigantic stallion is a Mocha.

I think three might be enough this week. I'll save some more for your complete and utter enjoyment next week. Or maybe she'll develop something cute between now and next Friday.

Remember, I'm posting every day in November. Be sure to leave a little comment when you drop by!

Nov 1

I've heard of something about blog every day for the month of November or some-such-nonsense. Of course, I can't walk away from a challenge. I need to find the actual name of the challenge, so I can fully participate.

So, here is the first post for November. And it's a funny school story.

You've heard of the novel (and major motion picture) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Well, little did I know that it was part of a series...and it's not the first book. (Sorry, Mom...must have read the cliff notes on this assigned reading!) It's actually the second book. So, my students and I decided to use some of our free book order money to order the entire collection. The order arrived Monday. Tuesday afternoon we busted open our new novels and I started reading #1: The Magician's Nephew. (Please keep in mind that I've never read ANY of these books--teachers should always preview everything!) It's a fascinating novel, actually, but probably entirely too difficult for 7 and 8 year olds.

Here's the scene:
We read chapter one. It's good. The kids are enthralled. They can't take their sweet little eyes off me. When we come to the end of chapter one, they BEG me to read chapter two.

We read chapter two. It's even better. However, they get a little antsy. By antsy, I mean they are starting to count the ceiling tiles, picking dirt off the class rug, counting the leaves on the tree right outside of our window. But there are one or two who are still watching me.
Then Digory and his Uncle get into a rather heated discussion (the characters in the story). I notice that the students start to settle back down.
The argument escalates. The children return their attention to me.
The argument reaches a pivotal moment. The room is silent.
Digory says to his uncle, "If I was a man, I'd punch you!"
My room ERUPTS. My kids are falling all over themselves laughing and hooting.
I hear things like "Little boys shouldn't say that to a man!" "His uncle's gonna knock him out!" I'm trying not to get tickled at their response until I hear "Yeah...sometimes I feel like that, too."
That's when the teacher looses control of herself. Sometimes, you have to laugh with them or you'll go crazy yourself.

Today we read chapters 3 and 4. They can't get enough of this. C.S. Lewis is a fantastic author and uses some pretty amazing techniques to keep his audience engaged with the text. I can't believe that 7 and 8 year olds are so enthralled with this story line...it's very advanced. I'll keep reading it as long as they'll listen.

PS: I'm going to start a teacher blog...does anyone have any ideas how to protect it so the identity of my students are protected, but the parents have access? I'll definitely send home a permission slip to post stories about the children. I'm hoping it will be a place for parents to talk with one another through comments, etc, and for me to post questions for my students to answer, as well as just give the parents a small glimpse into their child's day. I'd love any ideas or suggestions or leads to other teacher blogs. Thanks!