Conferences

I have to say that I don't even remember any parent-teacher conferences when I was a kid. Is that weird? I'm sure they happened, I'm sure my parents went...but I have no recollection.

This week el maestro and I are teaching half-days at school and then working until 7:00 at night conferencing with parents. I'm visiting half of my families in their homes doing a "home visit" style conference. It is soooo interesting to see the kids on their own turf and to get an idea of what home means to them.

A funny story for you...our school has so many students that are learning English that the population tends to invent words that become widely used. My favorite as of yet--hanitizer.

What is hanitizer, you ask? Well it's simple. Hand Sanitizer. Of course!

Of course, regular hand washing is one of the best ways to avoid the flu this season, but if you aren't around any running water, just opt for an alcohol based hanitizer!

Note to Self

DO NOT EVER GET SICK. Particularly if it is during the school year.

Missing three days of work will cause your classroom to be a wreck, your students to be in chaos, the homework to go uncorrected, and the parent conferences unscheduled.

Don't do it! Er...ever again, that is.

I'm still catching up.

The Problem

In the last year and a half I have found a new love in my life--blogs. I love to post on blogs, read blogs, reference blogs, quote blogs, and...well maybe that's it.

But the problem with this obsession is that there's always another blog to read. On my favorites list are no less than 10 blogs that I check almost every day. It doesn't take as much time as you might think since not everyone posts every single day. But the problem is that bloggers tend to link to other bloggers, and if I like one blog, chances are I will like the blogs they're linked to.

For example, Ollie's Mom has a blog. I read it, and she's linked to another old friend who has a blog. And she's linked to another blog called Centsational Girl.

Centsational Girl is a thrifty home-decor goddess. She posts all kinds of ideas about how to make your house look fabulous for less. In fact, today she's hosting a giveaway for a new beautiful faucet. Check out her blog to enter!

Another blog I've found through the jungle of links is called Chickpea Sewing Studio. Talk about adorable and inspiring sewing ideas! It makes me want to hide away in the office and talk to no one but my ole' Kenmore.

My aunt recently recommended In Praise of Leftovers, a blog dedicated to food and feeding a family on a budget--gourmet style! There are claims that she has posted the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe...which I have yet to test. But I will. Oh, I will.

Why do you read blogs? Is my little life your only venture into the blogging world, or are you a professional? What are your favorite blogs to read? Let's all share our favorite links so that we can spend yet another few minutes browsing the creativity of this world!

I could have danced all night...

Or more truthfully...played the Wii and giggled uncontrollably all night.

I submit to you the perfect fall evening:

-Start out with some Taco Soup to warm you right to your toes.

-Add brownies for dessert...El maestro got a special brownie pan for his birthday...it makes all edge pieces! He was totally in heaven.

-Finish off the evening with a rousing round of Wii Sports Resort.

Wii Sports in which I beat the boys in the first round:

-canoeing

-swordplay

-basketball

Once again, let me explain that I love the Wii for this reason--I can beat my husband at it! Muah ha ha ha ha. But it is not because I'm competitive.



Even with this pesky cold hanging on, I've managed to have a delightful night. And I'm finishing things off with a nice hot mug of Theraflu and a little blog post.

Goodnight Moon.

Autumn

This evening the sun was beautifully highlighting the changing colors in our neighborhood. I grabbed the camera to try and capture a shot of this lovely season.

And the winner is...

Emily!

Congratulations on your new dishtowels. May they dry many a dish. And yes, I put your name in twice...mostly because Shirley thought I should.

Now go ye forth and wash dishes.

Amen.

Delightful time of year

It's Autumn! Officially and for sure. I wore a sweater all day yesterday and a jacket whenever I went outside! The air was cool and crisp, and Fred Meyer has all their crockpots out and on sale!

In honor of this most lovely season, I'm holding another giveaway. Maybe that will make up for the fact that I've been lacking in the new blog posts lately.

To enter to win these lovely fall dish towels (embellished by moi!) leave a comment that answers the following question:

What is your favorite Autumn dinner?

Are you a crockpot lover like me? Or a chicky-noodle soup fiend? (I'll never call it anything else, Nancy. It's just too cute!) A dinner idea in the comments gets your name in the drawing once. A dinner idea with recipe...that'll get your name in the drawing twice!

Contest ends Sunday, October 4th, 12:00 noon.