Monthly Archives: October 2006

>random thoughts on a long drive on back roads

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>Street names noticed:
Harmony Circle
Is there a Melody Lane nearby?
Triple Kay Road
Is this someone’s example of creative spelling or did three women named Kay really live here?
Homestead Drive
I wonder how many of those are in our fair state? It’s very descriptive of our history.
Twinkle Star Road
What, no “little”?

General observations:
Small towns are a lot prettier than the Big Giant Box Stores and their companion strip malls.
Variety is the spice of life, and the variety of homes and farms and other buildings provides a lot more aesthetic enjoyment than “clone” subdivisions.
Fewer speeders, manic passers, and Road Ragers drive the back highways. Drivers seem more patient.
A sign that says “48 Waterfront Acres for sale” might not be posted on the actual waterfront. At least, I hope the tiny marshy stream wasn’t the “waterfront” they were selling.
Trails that parallel the highway were largely unused today, probably because it’s that season in between: too cold for summer passtimes, not cold enough for snow activities.
There are many, many shades of brown in the world. Whoever decided that brown was boring never lived in Wisconsin. Pale dried cornstalks against deep brown soil, lighter brown bales of hay, weathered unpainted outbuildings, and more exist on this route. And even this late in autumn, there are many shades of green around as well.
I enjoy the drive to take La Petite back to school after a weekend home. The view from the driver’s seat is, well, priceless.

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>Dressed for success

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>During the workweek, I set out my clothes next to the shower every night for the next morning. I’m not a fashionista (“What Not to Wear” would have a field day with me); I just like to be prepared for my early morning alarm each school day.
On Saturdays, I take great pride in wearing my pajamas as long as possible.
That doesn’t mean I am lazy or a slacker on weekends. On the contrary, here is a list of my many accomplishments thus far today, all done in my jammies.
While still in my pajamas, I:

  1. fed the rabbits
  2. made coffee
  3. brought in the newspaper
  4. read the newspaper
  5. had breakfast (bagel & coffee)
  6. washed three loads of laundry
  7. dried three loads of laundry
  8. folded and put away three loads of laundry
  9. took a small can of kitchen scraps to the compost bin
  10. emptied wastebaskets
  11. took out the garbage
  12. convinced Amigo to get dressed so he could go outside and pet Shelby
  13. cooked lunch
  14. cleaned up lunch
  15. ran the dishwasher
  16. hand-washed the pots and pans that didn’t fit in the dishwasher
  17. contributed to the grocery list (Husband and Amigo do the shopping)
  18. planned supper
  19. tried unsuccessfully to convince Husband to start the fiber regimen his doctor recommended

Okay, in case the last one needs some explanation, the dialogue went something like this.

“Here, dear, I found a jar of Metamucil for you.”
“I’m not ready.”
“Not ready?”
“I like my Saturn. I don’t want to drive a Buick yet.”
“I took it 15 years ago when I was pregnant with Amigo.”
“And look what you drive now!”

My minivan — he’s dissing my minivan! The minivan that took us on more than a few vacations, moved La Petite to and from college, brings big batches of yard waste to the brush dump every summer, took my carpool to graduate classes for two years, and more!

Oh, well, the honeymoon is over. I guess I’d better get dressed.

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>Simple Pleasures

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>I hear the dogs barking next door. Maybe the boys are home! They left early this afternoon to pick up La Petite at school and bring her home for a fun and relaxing weekend of sleeping in and carving a pumpkin or two. Actually, it’s a bit too early, so meanwhile, it’s just me.

I stayed at work late and got an enormous amount of prep work completed. I didn’t leave until 5:00. I put together a simple supper, watched the news, and watched Jeopardy. Now I’ll blog a little, and then I’ll make fire in the fireplace and read a book. That is, a simple, lighthearted, fiction novel that will let me relax and totally lose myself in its fantasy world. I enjoy quality books that challenge me and I read a lot of professional journals and research, but once in a while I read something with no purpose other than to entertain. Entertainment, after all, is a valid purpose and an often bestselling genre.

So off I go — I’ll find a snuggly mug, make some herbal tea, and then start the fire. If I feel adventurous, I’ll make popcorn. Maybe I’ll even put my pajamas on early. Ooh, now that’s a tempting thought.

TGIF. Time to Get Into Firebuilding.

‘Night, all.

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>Love Thursday

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>
I’m a little late in the day, but it’s still Thursday.

These are NOT from a giant big box store. The mug on the right belongs to Amigo; the smile is so big that even he can see it if he gets close enough. The cup on the left is one of a pair; La Petite has the other in her dorm room. It is a relic from the seventies, when the smiley face and the “Have a happy day” phrase were all the rage. It’s amazing that I still have it — and can track down its twin, too.

So smile, readers, and have a happy day!

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>Observations on an autumn day

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>

Things I can do now until the cold weather strikes:
*Clean the bunny litter boxes outside with the hose
*Take small amounts of easily digestible compost out to the bin
*Shake rugs out on the deck in my stocking feet
*Take out garbage and recycling without a coat or jacket
*Rake leaves (a simple pleasure)

I can’t:
*Harvest from the garden, the last frost did it in
*Sit out on the backyard swing, it’s just a bit too cold to enjoy
*Leave the windows open, because the heat is on

But I can enjoy:
*Coffee or tea or hot spiced apple cider in a favorite mug
*A wood fire blazing in the fireplace
*Watching NFL or college football on television
*Watching the leaves fall outside as I read a book in the cozy, warm den

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>NaBloWriMo

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>Yes, you read that correctly. As if I didn’t have enough to do, I signed up for one more. This is for fun, though, so I can take it or leave it if I get too stressed out. NaBloWriMo stands for National Blog Writing Month. The idea came from the fabulous Fussy, who looks at this as a lead-in to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. When is that? I have no idea. I can’t see my way clear to write a novel in a month, or write a novel at all… unless it’s a book of poetry, which is not a novel. A poem a day? Now that would be both a challenge and great fun. Maybe in June… but I digress.

My challenge will be to blog every single day in November. If this turns out to be too tough, I’ll try it again in February. (teehee) If I run out of topics, I’ll dig into my coffee mug collection for a freshly brewed story or two. I’ll see what the bunnies are up to. November won’t have much garden or compost talk; up here in the North Woods, the gardens are dead already. I could take the camera outside and show what a snow day looks like. And that’s not even mentioning the children… ….

Well, if I could ramble on about nothing and even provide links to six other posts, I think November will go just fine. Now, gentle lurkers, your challenge is to post a comment on a blog (not necessarily mine) every day of November. Try it! You might like it! See you at NaBloWriMo!

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>random thoughts

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>No topic today — or rather, too many topics.
I haven’t read the paper yet because I’ve been too busy correcting and recording grades in preparation for parent-teacher conferences.
I haven’t finished preparing for parent-teacher conferences because I’m waiting for the laundry to finish drying itself.
I haven’t folded the already-dry laundry because I was helping Amigo with his homework.
Amigo is taking a break because he is feeling overworked from difficult homework. He’ll — well, we’ll — finish after supper.
I actually started Christmas shopping already.
What?
Yes, that has some relevance, sort of. Our family loads up on birthdays in November, December, and January, so shopping ahead is the only way to handle these three months without totally breaking the bank. I shopped the back-to-school sales for clothing (no specifics, I know some of you read the blog!) and picked up a couple of random things from a book sale. I have a few leads as to online order possibilities, and I may get to those later tonight or later this week. I have a hidden storage space in the attic (snicker, I said hidden!) for gifts I’ve already bought.
So…Hence… Well, anyway, even though I haven’t finished the newspaper, the laundry, or prepping for conferences, I can pat myself on the back for getting a head start on holiday shopping.

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>Say what?

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>I can’t blog about my job in detail for several reasons.
One: teaching requires a large amount of confidentiality. Too much revealed would mean a child’s life revealed.
Two: my co-workers might read about themselves.
Three: most readers wouldn’t believe it anyway.

Truth is stranger than fiction. If I wrote a book, no one would believe it.

The past week could be described in the alphabet soup jargon of my profession. I worked closely with the EBD and PSL after an OSS for an AOP, prompting a need to use my NVCI training. Afterwards, the GC, along with the aforementioned EBD & PSL, took the matter to BCT with the SP and SSW to be sure we followed the IEP. S&L and PT/OT were informed, as was SPE. Or was that APE? Just be sure to include an SASE. No PhDs intervened, just an MS or two, and fortunately, we had no need for an MD. The EA gave RCFA instead. Applying our knowledge of ASD, we used TLC to make everything A-OK.

And that was just TGIF.

PBR me ASAP!

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>TGIF!!

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>
I missed Love Thursday on the BlogHer network because my computer was in the process of being repaired. I say “my”, but it’s not really mine alone. You know the drill: the family computer needs repair and everyone suffers from withdrawal. Well, it’s fixed now. The Braille embosser (printer) works, too. The only small nonfunctional item is one USB port, and we can live with that. There are enough functional ports to meet our needs.

Love is: two little bunnies learning to like each other. All together now, everybody sing, “Getting to Know You!”

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>the first real, true, killer frost

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> I thought the killer frost was coming quite a while ago, but we got lucky. Only the beans were finished. Tonight we’re looking at 30 degrees with a (gasp) wind chill, so I picked the last few things hanging — a few plum tomatoes that can ripen indoors, and the weirdest shaped zucchini I’ve ever seen! I’m not sure how this one happened. I think it’s going to end up in soup.
I fed the bean vines to the rabbits after they stopped yielding actual beans. I’ve picked all the broccoli and fed most of that to the rabbits, too. They were ecstatic. Bunnies will eat all of the stalks and leaves, so nothing goes to waste.
I guess the tomatoes will just be a memory now. Here are a couple of shots from late August as they were coming ripe. The big ones turned out to be a pale orange type instead of the ordinary Early Girls we thought we’d planted. I think they were mislabeled in the store. Mmmm, were they good!
The Romas were delicious, too. I liked packing them in my lunch. One of my students noticed these and exclaimed, “Did you grow those? Wow!” City kids, I tell you. Snicker.
To give credit where credit is due: La Petite took the tomato pictures. She is very, very talented with a camera. Fortunately, she is willing to share with me. Thanks, sweetie! I guess I owe you a care package one of these days.
Now I’m off to drink cinnamon tea by the fireplace. Really.

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