Miscellaneous Missives

While I'm certain I did not read 95 books this year as Dick Cheney said he read, I am would also question whether or not the man did indeed read 95 books. This, of course, is my prejudice since I find the man to be evil and a liar. As I was perusing the books I had to the side of my blog, I decided to see if I could figure out what I did indeed read this year. Although I couldn't really compile a list (one thing I'm working on for next year), I did choose five that were my favorites. 1. The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb All I can say is Wally Lamb knows how to weave a story!! 2. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo I think it's Russo's characterization that made this book so good. 3. Zahir by Paulo Coelho I really enjoy the spiritual quest and storyline of his novels. This is my favorite. 4. The Attack by Yasmina Khadra This was fast paced and full of action... an easy read and a must read. 5. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David David Wroblewski...

One of my Christmas gifts was Nestle Abuelita hot cocoa. Michael and Holly bought it for me to warm me in the morning while I was a bit chilly (damn cold) in their home. It, the cocoa, was wonderful. When I was leaving Santa Cruz, I made sure to put it in my bag, so I wouldn't forget it. Although I've been home for a couple of days, I forgot about it in the cupboard until this evening. It's the perfect winter drink for reading and looking out at the snow. I hope I can find it here in Minneapolis.

This is the second week of my two week vacation and to this point I have ignored the work I should do for school. Part of my being productive today relied upon doing some tasks such as grading papers and entering scores. Of course before I could do anything I needed to clean out my school bag although in the back of my mind, I realize it is part of my procrastination. Alas, I now have a clean school back, papers graded, and scores entered. If only I had the ambition to do lesson plans too.

As I was standing in line at the post office to pick up my vacation hold mail, I had no choice but to listen to the conversation the man behind me was having on his phone. At first I thought he was selling Vikings playoff tickets. He talked about the $185 tickets that were upper level. As he continued, I started to think maybe he was talking about hockey because he kept talking about the blue line. After listening to this conversation for fifteen minutes, I was confused. What's the blue line? Why would anyone pay $185 for a hockey ticket? Is it the hockey playoffs? Why does this man feel it is OK to scalp tickets via the cell phone in the United States Post Office? This phone conversation ended with the scalper on his way to meet the purchaser of the $185 ticket... gray Mercedes meets black Blazer... and no, I'm not making this up!

Although the vacation was wonderful and quite relaxing, there were times of distress. 1) At the airport in Minneapolis, Dad had to have his bag opened and checked over thoroughly. It seems candles look like explosives under the x-ray. Since I didn't have room in my bag, I put the eight boxes of candles in Dad's bag. 2) Dad set off the alarm causing the police to come (at least an hour later) at the church across the street when we were trying to figure out if they had a Christmas eve service. They did not, but Dad spoke with the police when they final arrived. 3) Michael and Holly live in a Victorian style house. The heat is 60 or 70 years old, and heats one room of the house. When we awake in the morning, it is 50º in the house, and this is no exaggeration. In the morning we can all see our breath. Since I am a princess, I have my own space heater in the room where I sleep. 4) Michael has a potty mouth. Christmas we had to pull out a change jar and deposit money ever...

Even though it was a bit chilly in the shade, today we went to a state park and walked beneath the redwoods. Dad and I were able to see a Banana Slug which is actually the mascot of UCSC. We also took a little walk near their house later in the afternoon past a moss colored graveyard. As with all of my walks, I am amazed at the smells of Santa Cruz. This afternoon it was the fragrance of eucalyptus. Everything is fragrant and wonderful.

We also spent time on the boardwalk enjoying the beautiful day. As I am posting, Dad and Holly are also both on their laptops while Michael serves us our choice of wine.

Today was the first day I took my morning walk without any rain. It was beautiful, and we enjoyed the tourist sites.

Last night Dad and I attended a Christmas Eve service at a Methodist Church in Santa Cruz. I left feeling that I had wasted an hour of my time. The church service missed the meaning of Christmas. As much time was spent on Santa Claus and the reindeer as the birth of Jesus. In our already commercialized world, I found this difficult to understand. This morning I read my pastor's blog . She understands the meaning of Christmas. Part of her blog says, "The beauty of the liturgical church year is that we would do this even without the commercial reminders that it is Christmas. Years before malls and coupons and the message to buy, buy, buy, this story has grounded Christians in a simple, yet profound telling of the birth of Jesus." As I walked in the rain this morning feeling sad about the absence of snow, I also realized Christmas is more than snow. A manger scene was surrounded by green grass and trees. It is celebrating the birth of our Savior and family. I am b...

Merry Christmas Eve

Today I arrived in Santa Cruz. Our first excursion was to UCSC. The campus is beautiful, and we saw at least three sets of three deer. They seem to be roaming the campus. The vegetation is wonderful. One can also see the ocean, Monterey Bay, and across to Monterey from the campus. I would love to have taken classes on such a campus.

The truth is that I really don't know how to pack. Oh, I can get EVERYTHING in my suitcase, but I don't know how to pack. Tomorrow, "bright and early," we leave for Santa Cruz. The weather is going to be in the 50s and rainy, and I've been warned that the house is somewhat chilly. Since I am a baby about the cold, go figure living in Minnesota, I have packed layers (upon layers). My problem is that I feel the need to have walking clothes, relaxing clothes, sleeping clothes, taking in the sites clothes, etc. I don't know the itinerary, so I want to be prepared. This means tomorrow the attendant who checks in my bag will charge me an extra fee for my overweight bag. Maybe I should do something about this or maybe not.

Just Delicate Needles It's so delicate, the light. And there's so little of it. The dark is huge. Just delicate needles, the light, in an endless night. And it has such a long way to go through such desolate space. So let's be gentle with it. Cherish it. So it will come again in the morning. We hope. Rolf Jacobsen Translated by Robert Hedin Copper Canyon Press Today is Winter Solstice which means standing still sun. The weather is conducive with -35º windchills. Cultures across the world celebrate this day which bring more darkness than light. We celebrate knowing more light is on the way. This morning in church we celebrated the Winter Solstice, the fourth Sunday of Advent and the sharing of communion as the darkness fades and more light begins. Happy Winter Solstice

This morning as I was trudging through the snow on the way to the grocery store, I listened to Christmas music on my iPod. With the snow falling and settling in on the trees, I couldn't resist. Today is the first day of my winter break. The snow really makes it feel like winter and Christmas.

Yesterday I changed my blog template and realized I didn't have my recently read books, not that I have a lot of time to read with schoolwork, from Librarything.com. Of course I thought I knew how to get it back, but to no avail. The first thing I did was e-mail my tech guru friend for help. Her suggestions, as always, were "right on," and I now have my blog back to normal. Over break I would like to try to make my own template for my blog, but I'll see if I have time or the patience once I get back from California.

It's cold and miserable outside making it seem as though a dark cloud is dumping bad stuff as well as the snow. My garage door opener has been problematic lately. This morning it went up but not down. Although they say what goes up must come down, it isn't necessarily true. After school I messed around with it until I had it working. Of course it was already starting to get dark by the time I finished. When I looked at my blog, I decided it was too dark. There is enough dark this time of year, so I changed the background of my blog. Needless to say a dark cloud still looms since I lost the pictures of my read books from Librarything.com on the side.

Today a student said, "You eat a lot of candy canes." "I do," I replied without giving any more explanation. The truth is I love candy canes. I like to suck on the straight end of the cane first. Then when that is super sharp, I crunch it. Finally I like to take the rounded edge and add it like a middle row of teeth. With eight days until Christmas, I have already eaten 36 candy canes. Each day I actually take three candy canes to school in the morning with me. It's a holiday tradition. They have to be the peppermint canes. No fruit or cinnamon canes allowed. Yes, I do eat a lot of candy canes.

My typical half hour commute became a 1 1/2 hour commute with the snow and ice. I'm not really sure there was ice, but people were driving super slow. I left at 3:45 and returned home at 5:15 in time for weather on the 5:00 news. Most of today I was feeling guilty about skipping the seventh grade music concert tonight. After the drive the guilt was gone. Since it started at 6:30, I would have had to get back in the car, and I still would have been late. The good news is my Bookmarks magazine and Oprah Magazine were waiting for me in my mailbox. Instead of correcting papers, I am going to read my magazines, light my candles, and watch the snow fall outside.

A year ago tomorrow I sat in an Iowa gym and listened to Barack Obama and spoke with him. When he came to Minneapolis, I waited hours outside and inside the Target Center to listen to him again. Over the last year I have followed his campaign and finally had the opportunity to vote for him. A couple of weeks ago I sent an e-mail to my friend in Washington DC and asked if she had tickets for me to attend the Inaugural festivities. Late last week she e-mailed and said I should come. She mentioned that she had no tickets but had a spare room and bathroom for me. After doing some checking, I realized I had enough vacation days and frequent flier miles to make the trip. I haven't been to Washington DC as an adult, and now I will spend a long weekend (short week) enjoying the city with a million other tourists. Together we will stand on the mall and celebrate the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Hee Hee

When my dad returned from Germany, he brought me a fancy nutcracker. By 9:00 this morning I had bought nuts and tried my new gadget. Although it looks a little strange, it is AMAZING. Typically I hurt myself and/or break the nutcracker numerous times during the holiday season. I am certain neither will happen with my new gift. It's soooo exciting. BTW- Isn't Kitty Klaus adorable?

Instead of driving tomorrow in the rain/ice/snow mixture, I left Okoboji this evening. Before I left I drove west to buy more candles in a small, small town. On the way over, wind turbines were scattered across fields. I saw an old rickety windmill in the midst of these wind turbines and couldn't resist the picture. As I was leaving heading north and east to Minneapolis the sky in the background was wondrous, so I pulled over again to take pictures. It's amazing how beautiful it is when one can see for miles. Oh, I also listened and sang to Pat Benatar's Gravity's Rainbow (1993?)on the way back to Minneapolis.

Paulo Coelho is one of my favorite authors. He is the author of The Alchemist. Tonight as I was almost late to dinner with a high school friend, I played my final Scrabble turns on Facebook. Remembering this from his blog, I thought it was fitting. Paulo and I have similar problems with Facebook although the friend I am to meet is more interesting than Facebook. Now I am late because of my blog and Facebook.

Today I read a Caring Bridge post of a former co-worker, A, who is suffering from cancer with four small children. One is less than a year old and was in utero when she realized she had cancer. She is a brave young lady who always has something positive to say about her condition even though they can only hope to alleviate the pain at this point. This afternoon as I was returning home from the second laser treatment on my dog bite scar, I started to feel sorry for myself again since the doctor suggested that I might need a plastic surgeon cut the scar out if the treatments don't progress better. As I was feeling sorry for myself over a scar on my face, I thought about A. If she can remain positive in the midst of the final stages in her fight with cancer, I can handle this.

Earlier this school year our principals gave us a "Get out of Class Free" card, similar to the Monopoly "Get out of Jail Free." We were told we could use it as we chose. The stipulation was they would come into our classroom and talk to the students. They had questions and conversations they wanted to have with the students. I was quite certain I wouldn't use mine because I hate being away from my classroom and like to monitor what's being taught. After the e-mail from yesterday's sub, I decided to use it today for the one class that behaved. Since I felt miserable today (and still do), I knew I wouldn't be a good teacher, so I left my class to the principal. While he talked with my students, I sat in the team room and corrected papers I hadn't felt up to correcting... a "win-win" situation.

Today I am home sick. It's three o'clock in the afternoon, and I have been awake for a total of two hours all day. One thing I did was check my school e-mail. The sub sent me an e-mail. When I saw the name, it shocked me. If it's the crazy guy I think it is, I'm surprised he can e-mail. Of course he sent two or three kids out each hour. This is no surprise to me although we have good kids. Maybe I should have left a movie instead of trying to do something educational. The good news is it is snowing big flakes, and I am inside under the blanket!

After listening to a rabbi from Temple Israel this morning, I would like to learn more about Kabbalah. This is too simplistic, but Kabbalah is basically says our main duty is to receive love in order to give love. It was only an hour talk, so I need to read more. I've received in a different way this weekend. Kabbalah scholars would be sickened by my adding the receiving of gifts to this post, but then I don't have many Kabbalah scholars reading my blog. ... or do I? Holly made fabulous curtains for my laundry room. It almost (almost) makes me want to paint and clean the walls. Last night a friend came over for pizza and conversation and brought me a Blue Sky Guide . This was after the lady at Whole Foods told me I should buy one after I used my five dollars worth of coupons. Now I have one! It's a fantastic resource. Today I also received a brief phone call from my dad in Germany. He has had enough of brats and sauerkraut... I would think one serving would be e...

I would like to be overly dramatic and say I was awaken by a leaf blower this morning, but I was awake. One might ask, "Leaf blower? In winter?" I would answer, "Yes!!" This morning I heard what sounded like a leaf blower and looked out the window to see a man blowing snow off my walk with a leaf blower. Are you kidding me? Not a broom. Not a shovel. A leaf blower. Since he wasn't moving too fast, I had time to get my camera and take this picture out the window. Why use a leaf blower if it's not that fast anyway?

This is wrong! I saw this ad and was appalled. It seems insane. On the other hand, maybe I should use it as an inference (read between the lines) lesson in my seventh grade language arts class.

After meeting for a colleague's capstone (final master's paper), I remembered the process of writing my final paper. I had already moved to Minneapolis when my adviser finally gave me a deadline. My difficulty wasn't the research or writing. My difficulty was narrowing my topic and putting the two together. Sitting in today's meeting was somewhat frustrating. I found the adviser to be pushy and "on her own agenda." Maybe this is unfair, but I was glad she wasn't my adviser. While she was telling my colleague to narrow her focus, her examples seemed to be those of enlarging the focus. She, of course, would regroup her ideas and say it would be another topic. I thought about what I would do if she was my adviser. It's difficult, but I would probably follow the suggestions even though I didn't agree with them, so I could be finished. At least we agreed to do the rest via e-mail, and my degree is finished.

Saturday I walked to Uptown and bought a book (more later?) from Magers and Quinn. I was a little disgruntled that they were charging me $7.00 for an ARC (advanced readers copy... not for sale). It seemed a bit unfair. Today I am taking the above picture from their blog, so I feel vindicated. They, of course, took it from boingboing.net. Oh the vicious circle of blogging. Where's the originality?

I have a student in my class because he wasn't doing well in his other class. Because I am more "structured" (my guess this means strict and not as fun), I was chosen. Things are going well. He is not a disruption in my class. It seems he used to do things such as hit kids in his other class. In fact I think he's currently getting a 'B' in my class. Since he works well on interaction (positive or negative), I make sure I talk to him each time I see him out of my class. Tonight was a little difficult. When I was leaving school, he was out front with his two pit bulls (super cute, rather heavy, dogs... you know dogs like dog bite). Although I am doing better around dogs, it's difficult to see a dog I don't know without thinking of the dog bite incident. I admit I feel a little nervous. Knowing dogs can sense this only makes me a bit more anxious. Walking towards my student and the dog, I mustered courage. "Hi," I said, "Your d...

Can you believe it's already December? Tonight I drank hot chocolate and wrote on the back of my Christmas picture (card) with candles lit. As I was looking at the pictures on the card, I realized they're not the best. I wish: 1) I had a better picture of my brother and father helping me. 2) I had taken more recent pictures with stuff on the walls. 3) I had added a picture of Kitty Klaus. Although the card isn't perfect, I am glad to take the time to remember my friends and loved ones during the holiday season. It gives me the chance to keep in touch with everyone. Each card contains a short hand-written note on the back. More importantly each card is sent with a little prayer for the recipient. This is the time of year to connect and remember.