Hints of Spring in Indiana

Spring is in the air in the Midwest and little hints of it are everywhere. For instance, windows are open to catch the first warm(er) breeze, grills are being prepped for the season, wedding invitations are starting to arrive, and new growth is developing on plants. Another sign of spring (not shown in the above collage) is the blooming of high school "love." Lady Lust has hit the high school where I teach and countless amounts of germs are being spread like wildfire. Apparently there has been an epidemic of hickeys hitting the 14-18 year olds of the nation, and the marks are displayed with pride (a battle wounds of sorts since "love is a battlefield"). Ah - sweet germy pubescent romance! While I doubt hickey season is in the Farmer's Almanac, it's the only true indicator I know of that shows spring is just around the corner.

Meeting myself

I'm one of those people who is constantly learning new things about themselves. Sounds strange doesn't it? I mean, shouldn't I already know myself pretty well? But sometimes I surprise even myself. For instance, I've recently discovered that I love vegetable gardens with a passion and I can't wait to have one of my very own. I would like to learn the "art" of canning. I enjoy (and James would say, I am addicted to) home improvement shows and am fascinated with the prospect of one day buying an old bungalow to fix up. I would like to someday design and build a wooden boat. While I love classic rock, I've found that I also enjoy Cajun music. (I found this out after listening to an NPR broadcast of American Routes and their recording of Feufollet's "Femme l'a dit" and other various songs.) I enjoy making homemade bread and cooking from scratch.

Its surprising how much we "evolve" as we age and have new experiences. So I was wondering, what have you learned about yourself lately?

Annoyance or blessing?

Snow Days! At first a couple of days off here and there was wonderful. I had time to work on some projects that I had been running behind on, relax, and do some reading. But after missing seven days of school this year for inclement weather, its starting to get a little annoying. It would be nice to have a full week of classes without delays/cancellations due to extreme temperatures/snow/ice since we haven't had one since before Winter Break. It would help the students stay on a regular schedule and I would certainly stay more motivated rather than sleeping in, wearing lounging pants all day, and eating junk (not that eating junk isn't a regular occurrence, it just tends to happen in copious amounts when I'm not working).

However, on the bright side, Indiana is having a winter that reminds me of my elementary school days and some of the coldest days in the last two decades (-15 degrees one day). I remember playing in the snow on cancellation days. We used to build snow forts, snow men, and Tyler would ruin shrubbery with his acrobatic ability (which you should really ask him about). We finally had a decent dumping of snow for the first time in quite a while. Officially we had 12+", although I measured only 9"...perhaps I should have taken another measurement after shoveling out the drive. I took a couple of pictures to share. So if you didn't get to experience this last "dusting" you could at least see the results. Enjoy!

The snow fall: early on.

The measurement: Check out those numbers!
It snowed at least an additional inch at our place, perhaps more.

The results:
After an hour of clearing the snow, I finally could see a small sliver of drive way.

The means: the organic snow remover!
How "green!"

January 20th, 2009 - Inauguration Day

I am proud to be an American despite our troubles. I am proud of how far our country has come since its inception. I am proud that I was able to witness history in today's inauguration of President Obama. Yet I am mindful of the struggles ahead and the journey that is still to come. God Bless America.

Extended Christmas Break

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It's coming to a close...Christmas break that is and I'm actually thrilled to have something to do besides watch tv, eat yummy treats, lounge around in my pjs all day, and just veg out. Am I nuts or what? However, we did have a wonderful Christmas break this year and it was a bit longer than normal as my school corporation had three snow/ice days prior to the official start of break. While that means horrible things for scheduling and ending the term, it also means I had a much needed rest and an opportunity to get ready for the festivities marathon. And a marathon it was!

We started out with James' family Christmas on the first weekend of break and finally finished that up on Christmas evening (sort of). We were able to spend time with his grandparents from SD and his younger brothers. We even got to ride in the not so eco-friendly truck that his brother purchased recently and see the new exercise facilities that will be opening in the area. After that it was a quick trip home, and then right back for my family's Christmas celebration. This year I was able to contribute something to family dinner (I guess you have t be a married person to do so...) and I brought a homemade wassail. It was extremely easy to make and tasted rather good after some slight adjustments to the recipe.

During this jaunt, we started out with the traditional Christmas Eve celebration at my grandparent's house (my dad's parents), then opening gifts on Christmas morning with my family, and to finish out the day Christmas lunch at my grandma's house (my mom's mom) and finally the quick stop at James' parents for stockings! It was quite the mid-break sprint but we even found time to goof around with family and participate in a very lively/animated Christmas exchange. I certainly wish I had video of Tyler trying out his new walking workout contraption. I think I could have submitted it to America's Funniest Home Videos or some other show and would have had a shot at winning.

After the Christmases were over (except for one more this evening), I had time to visit with my high school girlfriends at a post-Christmas brunch and to see a couple of extremely cute new additions to our group. I'm getting to the point that I'm starting to feel old as the majority of my friends are married and the conversations we had focused on babies, husbands, and jobs (and not in that wishful-someday manner either). I distinctly remember hearing my mom talk about these topics with her friends when I was younger and thinking "How boring!" Either way, it was great to catch up and catch my breath before the next adventure: our one year anniversary!

Towards the end of break we were able to get away from Indiana for a bit to head north to Boyne, MI to a little ski vacation to celebrate one year. I was really looking forward to this trip since we hadn't taken a vacation for a while and I hadn't skied in about ten years. Let's just say I was a bit rusty and am now extremely sore. However, it was worth it...even almost killing myself on a black diamond run known as "idiot's delight." Despite the bruises, we're considering turning this trip into a yearly tradition for our anniversary.

To finish out our vacation we spent time at my cousin Candice's house on New Year's Eve with Tyler and Lyndsi. While we didn't know a lot of the guests we had a great time and felt we rang the new year in right.

So while I'm hoping I'll have time to catch my breath this weekend, I'm not counting on it. However, on the drive home on New Year's Day, I did capture the following image. Seeing the first sunrise of the new year made me pause and wonder about all the new possibilities the year will bring.

I'm hoping it brings you and yours many wonderful blessings.

Attention Nation!

One of the things I love about my relationship with James is that we have very similar tastes when it comes to comedy (though we disagree on the cinematic importance of Dumb&Dumber). One of the shows we enjoy watching together is the Colbert Report and thus we were thrilled to find the new Ben&Jerry's flavor, Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream, in our local grocery. It's an amazing concoction of chocolate chunks, caramel, and waffle cone...a true feat of American ingenuity. I couldn't decide if I was more thrilled with the flavor or the description on the carton which described the treat as "Sweeter than the Bill of Rights, colder than Valley Forge, and with twice as much caramel as the Louisiana Purchase. " Either way, it was just the thing I needed after a long day of grading papers this past weekend.

Three weeks left

Ok, so I've decided that it may not be the most professional thing to do...but I've officially started a mental count down of how many more times I have to teach this current group of students until I get rid of them at the end of the term. I'm planning to celebrate with a dance of some sort. So I'm trying to decide: 1) moonwalk, 2) disco fever, 3) Elaine's move (Seinfield), or 4) the Chicken Dance (an "oldie but a goodie")?

While this semester haven't been the greatest, recently its been a little better at school. Well, as "better" as I can expect for this group as they still fail to turn in their work, take notes, listen, and participate, but at least I haven't had to write students up for disruptions this week. Yay for small victories! I'd like to think its because we're talking about the 1920s-1930s economy and the changing of the "guard" (i.e. president) and how it parallels well with our current age. Or perhaps not; if that were the case they'd be a considerably more decent group to teach on a regular basis.

Thus I'm leaning towards disco fever...