Today was one long streak of stuff to do!
Up at six (grrrrrrrrrrrrreat sleep. Yay!)
Walk dog in lovely snow. One of the big trees on Argonne Street still has its lights up and against the snow they were especially beautiful. It was nice to walk through the houses; there were several people out shoveling but everything was very muffled.
Drop dog at home. Walk "the block" to finish workout.
Home--b'fast--shower--nearly going to be on time for class planning session when Elder called from school having forgotten his Bio. . . could I?
Drop Bio book at h.s.--park in lot, walk in snow to door, go into office, etc.
Drive to school.
Planning session. Not very good--felt like facilitator (usually very good) was pulling us in a direction we didn't need to go in NOW and not letting us do what we needed to do. BUT did get pulled out of meeting by Superintendent to meet principal candidate and was introduced to him as "one of our most excellent teachers"--that felt pretty darn great.
Home from planning session; let dog out. Get Elder son.
Pick up younger son.
Drive to orthodontist in Brewer.
Do ortho stuff, then listen to Dr. Dentist as he talked on and on about Younger's braces.
Drive home, stopping to get boys a snack at McD's
Eat dinner
clean up from dinner
Go to Mission meeting (pretty good one)
Come home; realize we have to pick up for our cleaning lady
Do that: lie on couch to write this!
Whhhhoooooosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I want to finish my Thirkell that I am LABORING through.
So! Due to be sunny tomorrow, but 21 with a zippy wind for -12 windchill. Not summer yet.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Feb. 3: Back to snowy cold!
But not as cold. . . only mid-twenties, and now around 5 pm it's 19. However, the wind is from the north, as BH pointed out, and there's fine snow in it. Brrrr. Wrap up in your scarf!
Today I want to write about audiobooks. Right now I am listening to Jumpa Lahiri's newest short story collection, Unaccustomed Earth. It is excellent, for many reasons: first, the woman can write. Period, amen. Secondly, hearing the stories read by two Indian readers, one female (Sarita Choudhury), one male (Ajay Naidu), makes them come alive: I never knew it was pronounced "CALcutta", for example. Thirdly, and closely related to reason #2: I have a weakness for an Anglo-Indian accent. . . though maybe it's just an "Indian accent," since I have never heard an Indian speaking French, for example. BUT: something about the way the syllables are presented, the way the consonants are aspirated, the way the vowels are held in the back of the mouth--appeals to me immensely. I could listen to Choudhury and Naidu read the phone book, I think!
The collection consists of several longish stories, and Lahiri takes a variety of views, characters, narrators, etc., in them. My least favorite is the title story, which seemed to drag a bit; right now I am listening to the last set of three linked stories, called, judging by the reviews, "Hema and Kashik". . .and it's compelling and fascinating; when I turn the car off and come into the house, I want to read it still!
Highly recommended!
Today I want to write about audiobooks. Right now I am listening to Jumpa Lahiri's newest short story collection, Unaccustomed Earth. It is excellent, for many reasons: first, the woman can write. Period, amen. Secondly, hearing the stories read by two Indian readers, one female (Sarita Choudhury), one male (Ajay Naidu), makes them come alive: I never knew it was pronounced "CALcutta", for example. Thirdly, and closely related to reason #2: I have a weakness for an Anglo-Indian accent. . . though maybe it's just an "Indian accent," since I have never heard an Indian speaking French, for example. BUT: something about the way the syllables are presented, the way the consonants are aspirated, the way the vowels are held in the back of the mouth--appeals to me immensely. I could listen to Choudhury and Naidu read the phone book, I think!
The collection consists of several longish stories, and Lahiri takes a variety of views, characters, narrators, etc., in them. My least favorite is the title story, which seemed to drag a bit; right now I am listening to the last set of three linked stories, called, judging by the reviews, "Hema and Kashik". . .and it's compelling and fascinating; when I turn the car off and come into the house, I want to read it still!
Highly recommended!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Groundhog's Day
And it was warm and moist today--easily up in the mid-thirties, even without (much) sunshine! It felt terrific: it's been so dry, to say nothing of the cold, that the soft air felt like a gift. So, yay, February!
Today was a good day to pull out some old material and deal with it, partly because I did good correcting work last night and yesterday afternoon so I was less stressed than usual in that department, and partly because. . . well, if you don't deal with stuff for a while, it gets to the point where you have to deal with it, or else! So. . . I did some brainstorming with W. about Library Trustees, and managed to work past the "Aiieeeeee!" stage that I have been at for a while, since I am maturing as a chairperson and realizing that I have a weak grasp of our true function and responsibilities, and since the issues surrounding the crazy busy Friday afternoons have been coming to a head. It was great to have W. to talk to: as she said, "leadership is leadership no matter where it is!" and she's got a lot of experience in that. So. I have a better handle on that situation and a sense of where to go when and why. Now doing it is all that needs to happen.
I also did various prep and photocopying of things for classes. Yes. Then I came home, ordered BH's valentine present, and emailed a friend to see if we can have tea sometime since I have hardly seen her since November!
Another affirming thing was that I sat down with a cup of Lapsang Souchon (yum) and read over our church's annual report and bulletin for February. And I felt amazed and proud: in that church family there are a lot of people working really hard to make things work, and to show love, whether community love or Christ's love or their individual love, to other people, and that makes me really happy and proud. The icing on the cake was that the Evening Circle, a staunch and staid group of traditional "church ladies," donated $500 to the Downeast Aids Network. Now that's something you probably wouldn't have seen 20 years ago!
I'd say Groundhog's Day was pretty darn good.
Inspirational picture to close:
Today was a good day to pull out some old material and deal with it, partly because I did good correcting work last night and yesterday afternoon so I was less stressed than usual in that department, and partly because. . . well, if you don't deal with stuff for a while, it gets to the point where you have to deal with it, or else! So. . . I did some brainstorming with W. about Library Trustees, and managed to work past the "Aiieeeeee!" stage that I have been at for a while, since I am maturing as a chairperson and realizing that I have a weak grasp of our true function and responsibilities, and since the issues surrounding the crazy busy Friday afternoons have been coming to a head. It was great to have W. to talk to: as she said, "leadership is leadership no matter where it is!" and she's got a lot of experience in that. So. I have a better handle on that situation and a sense of where to go when and why. Now doing it is all that needs to happen.
I also did various prep and photocopying of things for classes. Yes. Then I came home, ordered BH's valentine present, and emailed a friend to see if we can have tea sometime since I have hardly seen her since November!
Another affirming thing was that I sat down with a cup of Lapsang Souchon (yum) and read over our church's annual report and bulletin for February. And I felt amazed and proud: in that church family there are a lot of people working really hard to make things work, and to show love, whether community love or Christ's love or their individual love, to other people, and that makes me really happy and proud. The icing on the cake was that the Evening Circle, a staunch and staid group of traditional "church ladies," donated $500 to the Downeast Aids Network. Now that's something you probably wouldn't have seen 20 years ago!
I'd say Groundhog's Day was pretty darn good.
Inspirational picture to close:
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Pondering February
Well, I love the starts of months, and I am, for some reason, especially happy to see February start this year. Part of it is that Elder Son arrived home today after a week in the Dominican Republic, and part of it is that January has been a fairly unsettled month for me (as well as a bitter cold and snowy one) and I'm glad to see the back of it. I am hoping to jolt myself into some different patterns, as I'm in a fairly predictable cabin fevery place, where it seems way too much to invite people over or to go out, but at the same time life seems drearily the same. So: one idea I had was to try to blog a bit every day in February. Every day. That would certainly get me doing more writing, but I'm not sure why I would bother to write publicly rather than just in a notebook--I guess just because it's more fun.
So. Here's day one, and entry one.
Five things:
1. I'd like to get a pedicure. Maybe this weekend, maybe with Andrea. I'll see.
2. I'd love to have some flowers in the house. My amaryllis was underwhelming this year, both in color and in size--a pale greeny white yellow, four small blossoms, and only one plant. Compared to last year's extravaganza of blooms and colors--quite a letdown.
3. It is so nice to look over to the blue chair and see that tall lanky body of The Returned Son!
4. I love the color of my study, freshly painted over the summer. Even tho at times I think it looks like pepto bismol, I just love it.
5. I like Elizabeth Zimmerman's writings about knitting, but it is almost impossible for me to understand what she's saying without pictures. I am truly a visual learner when it comes to knitting techniques!
In closing, I will post a pic that will present the color of my study. . . . just for inspiration (or for the reduction of heartburn, though feel free to keep it to yourself if that's your response!). (On reflection: I took it right after the Great Paintjob and it's sort of silly, as the proud owner and color-chooser herself is front and center. BUT: there it is.
And February Post #1 is done!
So. Here's day one, and entry one.
Five things:
1. I'd like to get a pedicure. Maybe this weekend, maybe with Andrea. I'll see.
2. I'd love to have some flowers in the house. My amaryllis was underwhelming this year, both in color and in size--a pale greeny white yellow, four small blossoms, and only one plant. Compared to last year's extravaganza of blooms and colors--quite a letdown.
3. It is so nice to look over to the blue chair and see that tall lanky body of The Returned Son!
4. I love the color of my study, freshly painted over the summer. Even tho at times I think it looks like pepto bismol, I just love it.
5. I like Elizabeth Zimmerman's writings about knitting, but it is almost impossible for me to understand what she's saying without pictures. I am truly a visual learner when it comes to knitting techniques!
In closing, I will post a pic that will present the color of my study. . . . just for inspiration (or for the reduction of heartburn, though feel free to keep it to yourself if that's your response!). (On reflection: I took it right after the Great Paintjob and it's sort of silly, as the proud owner and color-chooser herself is front and center. BUT: there it is.
And February Post #1 is done!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
11/11: Great New World
I just can't get over it: whenever I forget about the election, the delight of the thought will swim up and overwhelm me again. BARACK OBAMA WON THE ELECTION! Isn't that great? I just can't stop feeling delighted. What a change.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
9/27: Small Contentments
We are moving out of the minutia-packed days of early school (sorry; my hair is being chewed by our old cat; she loves wet hair with chlorine in it and I just finished my swim. It's funny and quite distracting as she switches chewing with lovingly rubbing her head all over mine, purring) and into a more stable fall feeling. Whew! We're due for a wet, wet weekend due to Hurricane Ike, which, depending upon which weather service one believes, might make landfall in Bar Harbor; Younger Son and I just finished our morning of chores; Elder is in New Hampshire for an xc meet that he's not even running in, and BH cancelled his planning fishing trip, planned on visiting his dad, dad said no, so BH made happy plans to stay home, then Dad said please come. In other words: BH is being a good son. My hat is off to him, and. . .
to show my respect for his goodness as a son, Younger and I went to the dump for the family today. This trip led to little contentment #1: I drove the pickup flawlessly (more cat love on the hair; this is a riot. Younger just said, "I think chlorine gets cats high like catnip" and I am thinking I agree.), we got all the garbage, we didn't lose any lids or bags, and even though I had never done a dump run solo, I didn't do anything dumb. Twelve bucks for a month's worth of garbage; we used to pay $40 for the service. Yay!
AND (contentment #2) we got 4 bags of bulbs--two of daffs (my favorites), one of tulips and one of hyacinths--and after my swim I headed out to the newly flattened remnants of the fill/manure piles in the front yard and planted all four. It's earlyish, but Mom has taught me well: the time to do most garden things is WHEN YOU HAVE TIME. So my bulbs are in, due for a good soaking, and my tasks are done; we hope next spring we'll be honored and surprised by a gorgeous display of flowers right when we most need them--April and May.
I plan on a toasted cheese for lunch, then Younger and I will work on his flannel pj pants for a bit and then I plan to finish the random sock I started that turned into a sock for BH since there was enough yarn in one skein for his big foot--and I have two skeins! That's a contentment too, even though there's another one to do now. But small graces suffice these days: I'll also make some bread, thus filling our cups nearly up. The enormous sock is pictured below; the smile is that of a woman who can drive a standard pickup, make a dump run, swim for 40 mins, and plant 40 bulbs. Content, indeed!
to show my respect for his goodness as a son, Younger and I went to the dump for the family today. This trip led to little contentment #1: I drove the pickup flawlessly (more cat love on the hair; this is a riot. Younger just said, "I think chlorine gets cats high like catnip" and I am thinking I agree.), we got all the garbage, we didn't lose any lids or bags, and even though I had never done a dump run solo, I didn't do anything dumb. Twelve bucks for a month's worth of garbage; we used to pay $40 for the service. Yay!
AND (contentment #2) we got 4 bags of bulbs--two of daffs (my favorites), one of tulips and one of hyacinths--and after my swim I headed out to the newly flattened remnants of the fill/manure piles in the front yard and planted all four. It's earlyish, but Mom has taught me well: the time to do most garden things is WHEN YOU HAVE TIME. So my bulbs are in, due for a good soaking, and my tasks are done; we hope next spring we'll be honored and surprised by a gorgeous display of flowers right when we most need them--April and May.
I plan on a toasted cheese for lunch, then Younger and I will work on his flannel pj pants for a bit and then I plan to finish the random sock I started that turned into a sock for BH since there was enough yarn in one skein for his big foot--and I have two skeins! That's a contentment too, even though there's another one to do now. But small graces suffice these days: I'll also make some bread, thus filling our cups nearly up. The enormous sock is pictured below; the smile is that of a woman who can drive a standard pickup, make a dump run, swim for 40 mins, and plant 40 bulbs. Content, indeed!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
9/13: Back to School and the Outside World
Well, that golden summer is over, and we're all back to various busy-nesses and pleasures. School with two brand new classes--one that must be invented from the ground up!--is "professionally challenging" indeed, but good things are happening. I admire our willingness to change stuff and to take risks in our teaching, and also our commitment to mixing it up: we had both a guest speaker and a day out and about the campus with GPS this week! Yay, us!
Knitting right now is a huge pair of socks for BH with some destash yarn from a friend. It is crazy striped and quite loud, but so far the press I've gotten, while knitting at various Younger Son school meetings, has been positive. I'm on the heel--making my favorite "eye of partridge" version. We'll see how it all comes out!
And. . the house is a mess, mess, mess. I will do the necessaries today: picking up, scrubbing toilets and sinks, wiping counters, but will also draft a want ad for the local paper to ask for a cleaning person once every two weeks. We thought we had someone lined up, but turns out TUESDAY and "can squeeze us in, tho not happy about it" were deal-breakers. If I'm parting with my hard-earned cash, I'd like it Thursday or Friday, and I'd like to have someone who's pleased to have the work. Seems simple enough. AND if push comes to shove, I can do it myself once a month, completely thoroughly, and then do a "whore's bath" as planned for today more often.
The political situation continues to worry me, though donating $50 to Obama and firing off an email to my family and friends asking them to do the same has made me feel a little more hopeful. I simply cannot understand how people can consider continuing the trend of the last eight years in any way: war, skyrocketing costs, loss of options and support for people enduring hard times, basic freedoms under attack, did I mention war? And the Palin thing, I have suddenly realized, is a huge non-issue: she has ovaries, yes, but she represents a party which has continuously and gleefully shown its disregard for women and for issues that affect them and all human beings. End of story. The wolf in Little Red Riding Hood put on a nightie to dress up as Grandma but it was still a wolf! I sincerely hope that the people whose rights and lives are the most in the balance--the lower and middle classes, women, minorities, young people who will inherit this world, new immigrants, teachers, real Christians who get Jesus' message, any religious people who get their religion's message--will rise up and speak their needs and hopes in this election. Still, I get a sick feeling in my stomach every time I see a McCain sticker. Breathing and hoping help!
Knitting right now is a huge pair of socks for BH with some destash yarn from a friend. It is crazy striped and quite loud, but so far the press I've gotten, while knitting at various Younger Son school meetings, has been positive. I'm on the heel--making my favorite "eye of partridge" version. We'll see how it all comes out!
And. . the house is a mess, mess, mess. I will do the necessaries today: picking up, scrubbing toilets and sinks, wiping counters, but will also draft a want ad for the local paper to ask for a cleaning person once every two weeks. We thought we had someone lined up, but turns out TUESDAY and "can squeeze us in, tho not happy about it" were deal-breakers. If I'm parting with my hard-earned cash, I'd like it Thursday or Friday, and I'd like to have someone who's pleased to have the work. Seems simple enough. AND if push comes to shove, I can do it myself once a month, completely thoroughly, and then do a "whore's bath" as planned for today more often.
The political situation continues to worry me, though donating $50 to Obama and firing off an email to my family and friends asking them to do the same has made me feel a little more hopeful. I simply cannot understand how people can consider continuing the trend of the last eight years in any way: war, skyrocketing costs, loss of options and support for people enduring hard times, basic freedoms under attack, did I mention war? And the Palin thing, I have suddenly realized, is a huge non-issue: she has ovaries, yes, but she represents a party which has continuously and gleefully shown its disregard for women and for issues that affect them and all human beings. End of story. The wolf in Little Red Riding Hood put on a nightie to dress up as Grandma but it was still a wolf! I sincerely hope that the people whose rights and lives are the most in the balance--the lower and middle classes, women, minorities, young people who will inherit this world, new immigrants, teachers, real Christians who get Jesus' message, any religious people who get their religion's message--will rise up and speak their needs and hopes in this election. Still, I get a sick feeling in my stomach every time I see a McCain sticker. Breathing and hoping help!
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