nor’easter
Now this, Pennsylvania, is a snowstorm.
(Saturday though? Really? Why not Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday??)
But, I’m not complaining.
I’m in sweatpants. I’m under a down blanket. All the window blinds are open so I feel like I’m living in the middle of a snowball. I’m drinking a mug of hot chocolate and planning how I can get outside and explore this winter wonderland.
01.24.10
thank you saxby’s
Do you have a Saxby’s coffee near you? It’s a chain, sad to say, but it’s not quite as world dominating as Starbuck’s yet. And what’s even better about Saxby’s is their chai lattes. I do not like chai at Starbuck’s. I’ve tried several times to like it. It’s gross. This morning, after spending the night at church with the youth group and feeling a little droopy as a result, I walked over to Saxby’s sincerely hoping that they could deliver a delicious chia latte. The barista asked me how my morning was and I wanted to say, “Well, this will be the deciding factor.” I didn’t even take a drink on my walk back to church. I was still savoring the idea that it would be perfect. I little bit of foaminess splashed out as I opened the church door and so I licked it off and it was heavenly. Just right. Just what I needed (except maybe a little more caffeine would have been good). So thank you Saxby’s. I will be back for more of your horrendously overpriced warm winter treat…although probably not for awhile.
That’s how my day started. Then I had sort of a dilemma because I had never been to church so early on Sunday. Should I risk it and go home and come back? Should I stay and find a class to sit in on that would have a rousing enough discussion to keep me awake? Should I sit and watch the kids musical practice? Should I just sit?
I decided to go home and clean up and unpack so that after church I could just get right to work on my lesson plans and not procrastinate. (Which clearly did not go as planned.)
I still returned to church on time for those of you who were wondering.
Now here’s my plan:
1) Do not fall asleep.
2) Do not begin other projects.
3) Do not watch TV online.
4) Do lesson plans for 2 hours and then stop.
5) I repeat, do lesson plans.
6) NOW!
7) Do not fall asleep.
8) Go to the grocery store.
9) Do not decide to just go to the grocery store some other time.
10) Make lunches for the week.
11) Do 1 project.
12) Definitely, do not fall asleep.
13) Shower, have dinner, get ready for bed.
14) Watch a little TV.
15) Read a little.
16) Finally fall asleep.
It’s not exactly my ideal Sunday afternoon, but it does not have to be horrible. Not at all.
ready. go.
01.19.10
words
Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
01.18.10
3 day weekend
It was a good 3 day weekend for me. I was content and busy and productive. I was safe. I had food to eat and I knew my family was safe.
I realize that makes me lucky. I realize that makes me almost unique in this world.
Why do I get to have this life? Why do I get to organize papers and sort through all the “stuff” I have, while at the very same time, some people who already had so little, now have even less and are living in tents and waiting for food and water and doctors and grieving?
It doesn’t help to sit and cry for these people so I continue living as usual, but when I think about it, my daily life seems so silly and disconnected from the real world.
And now I’m meeting a friend for dinner out. I’ll be spending money. I’ll be eating more food than I really need. I wonder what it would really take to for me to change the way I live. Does an earthquake have to hit right next door to me not just right next door to my country?
01.08.10
the good things
There are some benefits to living in Pennsylvania.
For example, this morning at 5:30 I got a phone call (that’s not the good part) saying that school was delayed 2 hours due to inclement weather.
At 8:15 I finally got out of bed and looked out the window. There was about 1 inch of lovely, light snow covering the ground. I still do not understand the reasoning behind the decision, but I won’t complain.
This is not a picture of Pennsylvania, but there was really only a tiny bit more snow than in this picture by Anna Inghardt. 
It was a pretty drive to work. Snow or ice on bare tree branches is really a beautiful sight.
This was rough week, but I’m trying to remember the good parts of it:
starting 2 hours late – seeing John, Vanessa, Sophia and Mia in their new house – planning a visit from Marta – discovering green tea is not disgusting – getting help from friendly people at work to solve some of my problems – talking to mom on the way home from work – laughing (i need to do more of that) – hearing about the latest ultrasound of baby K
I feel like Martha Stewart with my “good things” section.
12.30.09
the last decade
I have done a lot of things in the last decade. Things have changed a lot in the last 10 years. It makes a pretty big difference I guess, to go from being 13 to 23 years old.
A list of some of the bigger things that happened from 2000-2009
-graduated from middle school
-graduated from high school
-graduated from college
-earned 12 graduate credits
-went out of the country from the first time (canada)
-went overseas for the first time (spain)
-lost 3 loved ones and learned about grief
-first apartment with roommates
-first apartment on my own
-learned to drive
-first car accident
-first long car trip on my own (WI to PA)
-first date
-first kiss
-first flight on my own
-first job
-first cell phone :)
-first drink
-first perm (haha remember that? it was my last as well)
-first time voting (voted twice for president)
-paid my first bill
-opened my first checking account
-took out my first loan
-got my first paycheck
-watched HGTV for the first time (monumental)
The theme seems to be becoming independent. I doubt that another decade will hold as many “firsts,” but I don’t think that will make them any less exciting to experience. I guess things to slow down in way as you get older. For a long time, each year makes such a big difference in what you physically and mentally capable of doing and then it starts to slow down. Now it seems like things will change mostly as much as I make them. Things can always happen to you, but it really is mostly about what you do with it and what you make happen on your own.
We saw Invictus tonight. Good good movie. Good music. Invictus means “unconquerable” and is the title of a poem by William Ernest Henley that gave Nelson Mandela strength while he was in prison for 27 years. The last two lines of the poem:
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
12.20.09
snow- by cynthia rylant
The best snow
is the snow that
comes softly in the night,
like a shy friend
afraid to knock,
so she thinks she’ll
just wait in the yard
until you see her.
This is the snow
that brings you peace.
And then there is the snow
that begins to fall
in fat, cheerful flakes
while you are somewhere
you’d rather not be.
Maybe school.
Maybe work.
And this snow
tells you, as if falls, that
it will send you home early,
don’t worry.
Home is where you
need to be,
and this snow
will take you there.
It will send you back,
over slippery white roads,
to the rooms you love so well.
And it will say
that it is all right
to be happy.
Some snows fall only lightly
just enough
to make you notice
the delicate limbs of trees,
the light falling
from the lamppost,
a sparrow’s small feet.
And some snows fall so heavy
they bury
cars up to their noses,
and make evergreens bow,
and keep your kitties
curled up awhile.
Children love snow
better than anyone does,
and they never complain
as they pull on their
red boots and mittens
and make plans
to catch
wet flakes on their tongues
and roll their small bodies
to the bottom of a hill.
The snow loves them back.
It gives them angels
and new friends.
And the snow,
while it is here,
reminds us of this:
that nothing lasts forever
except memories.
And while the snow
is here
this brief moment,
let us take a walk
and see how beautiful
the world is
and then come back
to our white, quiet homes
and make something
warm to drink
and maybe read
or play a game
or tell each other
all that
we’ve been thinking.
The snow is falling
while the flowers sleep
and the sun sleeps
and the soft green gardens are waiting.
It is the snow’s turn now.
We’ll watch it fall.
-all pictures from flickr (hold your mouse over the pic to see the source)
-poem again, by cynthia rylant (just beautiful)
how i changed my life – and a wreath
Changing my life was It was actually quite simple. Simple. But not easy. The key is what time you go to bed. I know, I know. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me this? It turns out that I feel pretty good when I go to bed before 10:30 at night.
John, Vanessa, Jesssica, Sophia and Mia are moving. Have I told you that? They’re not moving far, but they still won’t be in the same house that I used to live in with them. When I come over to their new house, Mia won’t say, “Your room is upthairth” (upstairs). When I really start to look at it, I am amazed with every family that has ever moved. I cannot imagine undertaking the task of packing up an entire house. When I was little, I used to think about what would happen if my family moved. I remember 2 or 3 times when my parents mentioned the possibility of moving. I got really excited about packing. I imagined boxing up everything I owned neatly and in a very organized fashion. It seemed wonderful. When I got to college and I actually had to do that, it didn’t turn out to be as great as I thought it would be. And somehow, even if you start out with the best of organized intentions, as you get closer to the end, it’s just a free-for-all.
Last night, I spent the night snowed in at Bec and Mark’s. So, I stayed up a little later and I didn’t sleep quite as well being in a new bed. Therefore, I don’t have as much energy as I had the past 2 days, but there are still a lot of things to do. The roads are cleared and the snow has stopped and Mark dug out my car (thank you!) so I’m off to gather the last things I need for some Christmas presents. My family shouldn’t get too excited. I have 2 presents to bring home for my family. That’s it. I do have something for my aide at school….maybe something for the secretaries.
Anna got home yesterday. I’m sure she’s busily shopping for me right now. I have 3 more days of school and several hours before I’m home. I hope I have enough patience left to get me through the week.
This was a rather disjointed, unfocused post, but I guess I’m a little rusty after my long absence. Maybe this is also the beginning of a change….we’ll see.
Some Christmas crafting:
The beginning of wreath – 
You’ll have to wait to see the finish project because my camera is rejecting all batteries and saying they’re dead.
Adios.
