preocupada

The title of this post is translated: worried. I am worried about something. Please let me share.

I've been teaching for 1.3 years now. Last year when I started, parents often looked at me with a curious or suspicious face...as if they were asking, "How old are you, child? You don't look old enough to have graduated from college..." Luckily my students were six years old, so the age difference was still quite large, and I could introduce myself as Mrs. which implies a certain amount of age and/or maturity, I think.

The worrisome thing is that...parents don't give me that look anymore. Which is fine! I don't particularly want to look like a baby for my whole entire life! I just thought that the questioning glances would fade gradually. But let me illustrate.

This was me 14 months ago. Young, fresh faced, and eager to teach the children of the world. I knew that I looked young, but I was ready to blow parents away with my best teaching practices and clever strategies.

This is me now. Well technically this was me a month ago. Knowing that people older than me are reading this, I won't go into the wrinkles that are so apparent now...the bags under my eyes...I will only ask you to acknowledge this: I look older. Strikingly older. Still youngish...but in an old way.

And this is my concern...if one year of teaching can take me from child to adult like the snap of my fingers...what will 40 years of this profession do to me? I can only hope that this aging trajectory evens out before it is too late...

Yoga

I've been practicing my yoga moves with the Wii Fit. I don't do it every day, but several times a week. There are some poses that I'm really good at, and others where I wobble around uncontrolably. But my yoga instructor, Sven, tells me that if I practice regularly, I'll build up the strength to hold the poses for the whole set.

This is Sven. I named him that...just now. He's my strong yoga instructor that talks with his hands, teaches me how to do each pose and why that pose is good for me, and generally motivates me to come back each day.

There's only one drawback. When he starts to talk he sounds...well...not very masculine. Luckily for me I have a manly-man husband. Who is usually sitting on the couch when I do my yoga. He likes to give me tips...even though he never does it himself. So really I have two yoga instructors. The feminine sounding man, Sven, and my handsome, bossy husband who is much cuter than the televised man...but less experienced with yoga.

The kitty is working on patenting his own special kind of yoga. Sleeping Yoga. It's gonna be a big hit.

One lump or two?

I went to a tea party today! My friend from work had a birthday party in a cute shopping center in a nearby town.We were so distracted by the delicious tea, hearty tea sandwiches, and crumbly scones with with lemon curd and creme...that we forgot to take any pictures of the party! But we did return to the tea room to take pictures before we left the shopping village.

Look at what a fun group of ladies I get to work with! (Ok, the girl in the brown jacket works at a different school in our district...but we'll count her too:) The vintage hats were a fun touch!

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday! No laundry involved!

Dreambars

If you are looking for something simple and delicious to eat....I'm about to give you an idea.

Dreambars

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9x9 pan.
Lay 5 graham crackers on top of the butter. (Crush them if you want.)
Sprinkle some coconut on top of the crackers. Maybe 1 and 1/2 cups? I didn't measure.
Then sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. Not too many.
Pour some sweetened condensed milk on top of everything. 1/2 to 3/4 of the can.

Mmmmm.



Now cook it for 17 minutes. You will be delighted with the results. This recipe is written the way my friend K taught me to make them....I think. I wouldn't want to write down a recipe for something like this! Thank goodness for friends....especially friends with good recipes!

Play Date

Last night we had some friends over for dinner. They brought their adorable baby boy.

This was taken in September....he looks so much older now. What a cutie! My husband and I love having the little guy around. We get to play with a fun, happy baby. And when he's not being fun or happy we can pass him back to his parents! ;)

The kitty is not used to having a baby around. But he seemed to adapt to it pretty well.

It was hilarious watching the baby chase the cat. And watching the cat stare at the baby. They even shared their toys nicely.

The "grown-ups" played Wii while the kids played. We won't be seeing our friends again until this summer...so we were glad to have one last evening to hang out and have fun.

Backpain, Moons, and Miracles

My new job has brought about some challenges that I never would have considered. Primarily--pain in the back. I realized that I spend probably 75% of the day sitting on the floor, crouching down to the kids' level. So my back hurts. I've started sitting in chairs whenever possible, and I'm paying attention to my posture. Also, my Wii Fit male yoga trainer is pretty motivating. So I'll be doing yoga every day;)

The Moon has been amazing lately. But I'm really bad at taking pictures of it. Yesterday morning the sky was already alight in soft blue...but the moon was as full and bright as ever!

This was the coolest shot...but the moon looks kinda puny and the rest of the world looks much darker than it actually was. Oh well. It's not like I pretend to be a professional.

Also on today's agenda: Miracles. Or one in particular. And it's not really a miracle, it is just a great accomplishment of my ever talented husband. Remember our "office?" If you've never seen it before, I'm glad. If you have seen it, I'm blushing. "The Office" is the second bedroom of our little apartment, and it housed our storage and junk, an excercise machine, etc. It was impossible to walk through, sleep in, or do any kind of office work at all. I couldn't even remember what the floor looked like. Was it carpet? Wood? There was a floor, right? And by the way, why are the walls such a sickly salmon color?

On Veterans Day our Office was transformed.

I told you he's a talented man. Now if we just had some furniture....or even some paint.

(P.S.) The floor is wood.

One of my favorite things...

I love my bed. First of all, the gorgeous bedframe was a wedding gift from my husband. He and his brother lovingly created it the summer we got married. There's a matching footboard too.

But a few months ago, we bought a mattress. Not just any mattress. A Tempur-Pedic mattress. We LOVE it! It is the coziest, most comfortable mattress ever, I'm sure!

If you're wondering, the picture is not actually of my new mattress. This picture was taken right after we got married. The mattress under the comforter was our much cheaper, much more back pain-causing first mattress. But today, my comforter is not as shiny, my bedroom is not as clean, and my walls are a sickening shade of peach. So I thought we'd all enjoy this picture more.

Honor

Today is Veterans Day. This is a holiday I've always considered important. But in recent years it has become even more close to my heart. Let me share...

I have a cousin. Ok, I actually have 42 cousins...huge family, I know. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I have this one cousin in particular. His name is Ian. And for as long as I can remember, he's been one of my best friends.


Awww...see? He always felt so special when I tried to squeeze his head off. We grew up together, even though we spent most of our childhoods in different cities. His family would visit us, and we would visit them. I bet we spent every Christmas together until we were like, 18. I always thought he was so cool because he had a big trampoline and the movie Hook.

(Umm...Don't mention that movie to him. I'm pretty sure I forced him to watch it every single time I visited. He finally gave it to my sisters and I so that we would stop watching it at his house.)

He's always been a good sport. And I always look that happy when he's around. We have great memories...Many Easters, Christmases and Birthdays. Camping trips, road trips, and walks. He was my partner in crime...never tattling if I did something naughty...like climb on top of the station wagon to see the view....

Don't ask.

A couple of years ago, my cousin enlisted in the Marines.

If you have a family member in the Armed Forces, I'm sure you understand the kind of pride these pictures bring. Today Ian is in Iraq. He endures the heat and sandstorms and danger to keep us at home safe. Of course, if you ask him about the trials he'll say something about how it's not bad...something like living in Arizona...with a few more guns.

His humor cracks me up.

We chat online and email each other...but that's never as good as having my cousin here. So today, I honor my cousin Ian. I pray for his health and safety. And I eagerly await the day he comes home. We've got some plans.

If there's anyone that deserves a day off today, it's him.

Why I do what I do....or at least one of the reasons!

I was having a rough day at work yesterday. The sadness of losing my first grade position has been catching up with me ever since the weather turned cold and rainy. And in my new position, I have been feeling a lot of tension. Teachers at my school are overloaded with new stuff this year...and working with people like me is one of those stressful new things.

Anyway, for whatever reason, yesterday I felt totally out of sorts. I was stressed and tired of hearing that other people were stressed too...because other people are doing the same job they always have, so who cares if they have to adjust to some new procedures, right?!

No, not really right, but how I felt, nonetheless. When one of my co-workers saw that I was frustrated with life, she said, "Do you want to hear something good about one of your previous students?" Of course I did! And she said, "Miss S. is almost reading above grade level. Like, 90 words per minute."

Now, let me explain about sweet, precocious little Miss S. She came to my first grade class with some very scattered skills. She did not know her letters or sounds. And her parents were worried about her reading.

Barely a year later, she is above grade level and flourishing! I certainly cannot take a lot of credit for that because there were some great reading specialists at our school that worked with her last year and she has quite a bit of support from her family. But still, being her first grade teacher was a pretty important job, and she is being so successful!

What a beautiful thing!

Pray for his health...

My husband has suddenly come down with an odd kind of growth that we aren't sure what to do about. It is uneven and lumpy and protrudes about 8 inches from his stomach. It also tends to wiggle around, which is weird. We have an appointment with a specialist.

Ooooooohhhh. Nevermind about the whole tumor thing. I was worried for a minute.

It's just my boys...doing their thing.

Election Day?!

I title this post with a little trepidation...This election seems like it will play a huge part in our lives...it will affect us all....

And then I remember that I thought that four years ago. I remember speeding to the post office to make sure my ballot was sent in time. Actually, I wasn't the one driving. My boyfriend back then was driving. Sheesh...four years ago we were already dating....and we had already been dating for a year! Crazy...

Anyway, like I said, that election was a scary one too. And I lived through it just fine. I will be praying today that our nation will come to a wise decision. Besides, God will work out anything for the good of those who love him, right? So what have I got to worry about?

Chill

It is now November, and all the vibrancy of autumn seems to be slowing fading into winter. Already. This weekend we had to turn on the heater...the dampness here creeps into my very bones! The leaves that were in glorious color just a week ago are now scattered and trampled on the ground.

Let's take a moment now to revel in the beauty of Fall.

This past month or so has been amazingly beautiful. But now I am preparing myself for the rain. I've got to go grab my rainboots. Happy Monday!