Snow Day!

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Laura

We’re in the middle of a big (by Baltimore standards) snow storm so they sent us home 2 hours early today.  When they made that decision, there was probably less than an inch of snow on the ground.  Meggan told me that in Anchorage they’ve gotten around 8 inches in just a couple days so I went to the Anchorage Daily News website to find an article about it to link to.  There wasn’t one.  That much snow really just is not newsworthy in Alaska.  But, here, give us an inch with more threatened and oh yeah, baby – no school!  By now we’re probably up to about 2-3  inches now but it’s slowing down.

Check out Nik’s blog for some snow pictures.  Also, check out the rest of his blog of Blog Fest 2008.

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Vegetarian Groundnut Stew

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Laura

Nik was skeptical and I admit, I was  a little bit too.  But we made this recipe out of the Simply in Season Mennonite cookbook (p. 207).  Kristen gave it to me for Christmas!!  I was so excited to get the book because I’ve really been wanting it.  So I used a butternut squash that I’ve had since before Thanksgiving, and this was the result.

        

Nik doesn’t like coconut so he didn’t put any on top of his but we were both a fan of the green onions and peanuts on top.  With green beans, lots of cabbage, and squash, it was a surprising good and nutritious meal for us.  We really liked it!  And, it’s even vegan!  Aren’t we so modern?

E-mail me if you want the recipe and don’t have the cookbook.  I’m too lazy to type it in today.

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Poetry Thursday

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Laura

It’s a good thing Mom and Aunt Zona are such faithful Poetry Thursday participants because otherwise, I would never remember to post a poem.  (And it was my idea to begin with!)  Here’s a poem written by my former student Sarai B., a 6th grader at the time.  She was using a poem form that I gave to the class – I gave them the verbs (I am, I heard, I see, etc.) and they had to fill in the second half of each phrase.  I asked them to choose a character from one of the poems we had read.  She decided to be Hanna’s friend from the poem, “When Hanna Moved Away” (which you should read first if you haven’t done so already.)

I am Hanna’s Friend
by Sarai B.

I am a sad and pretty girl.
I heard her saying goodbye.
I see her leave.
I want to see her again.
I am Hanna’s friend.

I pretend not to feel sad.
I feel like crying.
I worry that she will not come back.
I cry because I miss Hanna.
I am Hanna’s friend.

I understand that she might not move back.
I say that I miss her.
I try to forget but I can’t.
I hope that she comes back.
I am Hanna’s friend.

Posted in books, school | 1 Comment

Trying

Posted on January 14, 2008 by Laura

Living here in suburban Baltimore, it sometimes feels like there’s not much we can do to help the environment, be connected to our neighbors, or much else that Wendell Berry and others seem to promote – and which Nik and I also are realizing more and more is important.  But we are trying.  So on Saturday, we walked (rather than drove) to Home Depot to buy the right kind of bolts to finally put my table together.  We also ended up buying potting soil for my jade (and thankfully, for me, Nik carried that one home!) and also new towel hooks for our bathroom.  We discovered that Home Depot is only about a 10-15 minute walk away and it’s a nice walk, mostly through our park, to get there!

Also, we’re attempting to use cloth bags now instead of plastic at the grocery store.  Today was the first time I managed to remember to take them.  So here is a picture of the inaugural use of our cloth bags!

They are bags that I found at Old Navy a year or so ago for $.99.  I bought a lot, figuring I’d find something to do with them. And now I have!  It actually felt really good to come home and not have all those plastic bags everywhere!  I still came home with a lot of little plastic bags that the vegetables were in.  Any suggestions?  I try to put anything dry just in the cart without a bag but that doesn’t seem so sanitary to do with other things like lettuce or herbs.
Posted in KIOS | 2 Comments

H&G (shades of Sleepless in Seattle for you!)

Posted on January 14, 2008 by Laura
Hello new purse! 
Thanks for bringing me into the fashionable world of slightly larger, two handled bags which seem to be all rage this season.  I’m sorry that you’ll be out of fashion in another season because I’ll probably be carrying you for many seasons to come.  But that’s OK.  I like your roomy (but not too big) pockets and your buckle.  I think we’re a good match.



Goodbye old purse!
 You served me well for many years.  I especially loved your light blue lining.  I will miss you but you were really getting old, feeling a little bit too small, and besides, that beautiful light blue lining wasn’t so beautiful any more.  I hope the trash man treats you well.

Posted in health and beauty, just for fun | Leave a comment

Poetry Thursday

Posted on January 10, 2008 by Laura

Thanks for posting your beautiful poem Mom!  (And thanks for the indirect reminder to post mine!)

Here’s mine for this week:  It’s a fairly sad children’s poem but I’m posting it this week because next week, I want to post an amazing poem that one of my students wrote in response to this one last year.   I remember feeling like this when Rachel M. moved away at the end of my junior year of high school.  Remember Mom?

Since Hanna Moved Away
by Judith Viorst

The tires on my bike are flat.
The sky is grouchy gray.
At least it sure feels like that
Since Hanna moved away.

Chocolate ice cream tastes like prunes.
December’s come to stay.
They’ve taken back the Mays and Junes
Since Hanna moved away.

Flowers smell like halibut.
Velvet smells like hay.
Every handsome dog’s a mutt
Since Hanna moved away.

Nothing’s fun to laugh about.
Nothing’s fun to play.
They call me, but I won’t come out
Since Hanna moved away.

Posted in books, school | 4 Comments

How Mom spends her days, Take Two

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Laura

Last year, I posted a list of what Mom did with her time (in the opinion of my students).  Well, this year, we’ve arrived at the end of that unit again.  So here’s this year’s batch of ideas.

They were instructed to write about the daily activities of Mrs. B’s mother:

Mom:
1.  does a lot of cooking for various people – especially her grandchildren and Mrs. B. (If Mom did all the cooking these kids claim she does, she’d probably never leave the kitchen).
2.  goes to the store every day because she needs more chocolate.
3.  plays tennis with me in the park and then we drive to Alaska (every day?!?!)
4.  wakes Nik and I up at 6:30 am
5. teaches at my school with me
6. plays computer for 5 hours
7.  eats grass/40 burgers/pizza for breakfast
8.  drives her wagon to her job
9.  comes to my house to play Wii.  We play for a long time.  “Mrs. Priscilla always beats Mrs. B!”
10.  goes to her beautiful garden and waters her plants
11. goes shopping in her Ferrari
12. runs 10 miles before breakfast
13. tries to rob a bank (That would be one way to make money, Mom.  Forget about being a doula!)
14. runs all the way to India to buy souvenirs
15. goes to her son’s house to take care of her grandchildren

In conclusion, from L.’s concluding sentence of her paragraph,
“What a nice woman!  That’s what she does every day!”

Posted in school | 1 Comment

No results yet

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Laura

I didn’t get to go to the neurologist today because they didn’t get my referral from Kaiser Permanente in time.  So I had to reschedule until Friday at 9:30 am.  A little frustrating but oh well.  At this point, it’s been over a month since I fainted so I guess there really isn’t any rush.  I’ll let you know when I find out what the EEG results are.  In the meantime, I am recovering from a bad cold that I had this weekend, an exact replica of the cold I had just before Christmas vacation.  I know they say that you can’t get the same cold twice but I would swear that I’m getting the same cold over and over.  I guess I’m just getting a “kissing cousin” cold every time!   Thankfully, both times I”ve gotten this cold this year, I’ve started coming down with it on a Thursday, felt pretty miserable on Friday but my worst day has been on Saturday both times.  So at least I haven’t had to try to push through a cold and teach at the same time.  Nik never gets sick.  Maybe I need to eat more bananas and Snaps.  He eats those for lunch every day and I don’t.  Maybe that’s his secret weapon.  But I refuse to eat Snaps.  Don’t even try suggesting that Nik eat Sticks.  They are the superior pretzel but he won’t concede.

(When you don’t have anything else to fight about, you fight about a choice of pretzel.  It could be worse!)
Posted in health and beauty | 6 Comments

You can get a lot of stuff done if you stay up four hours longer than you usually do!

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Laura

First, Nik and I took down the queen bed frame that was in my room and sort of set up my table.  We were missing a few bolts.  But we were able to get it functional at least, if not fully stable.  Also, Nik set up an extra stereo that we have for me so I can listen to music/NPR up there!  Those things left me free to:

1.  Complete a fun project that will bring three people a little bit of fun over the next couple of months.  I can’t say what it is in case that person is reading.  I’ll tell you when the project is finally all delivered!

2.  Find a $10 gift card to Target among a bunch of year-end thank you notes from last year!

3.  Put a bunch of year-end well intentioned but unwanted thank you/wedding gifts into a Good will box, including this doll.  I mean, obviously, if your teacher is getting married, she needs a bride doll!

4.  Unpack 6 boxes and put the stuff inside of them into their right places.  There were piles of papers that I just put on a shelf.  I will sort those at another time when I’m more well rested!

Here’s a few before and after pictures:
One direction from the door – aren’t those little built in drawers cute?

 

Another direction, before and after:

I still have a long ways to go but it feels oh, so good, to get started on this huge project and finally get some important parts of my life out of boxes.  Some of that stuff has been in boxes for over a year, since my first move. I feel like I’ve been in transition for a long time. So it’s good to start really settling in!

Posted in school, sewing, wedding | 1 Comment

Nik is amazing

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Laura
Here they are!!!!!!
(all 225 of them)
Posted in wedding | 1 Comment