Dear Family and Friends,

Dear family and friends,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  and the Happiest of New Years!

We aren't sending cards this year but we sure appreciate the ones we have received from you!  We'll be back next year with news and pictures!

2017 was a pretty good year for us.  Kiddo started out with a large role in Journey's James and the Giant Peach, Jr.  and then she decided that behind the spotlight would be more fun so she signed up for crew duty in three plays!  

We didn't do any traveling over the summer, just stayed at home and reorganized cupboards.  Well, I reorganized cupboards while kiddo attended Improv Invasion and Shakespeare camp with Journey Theater Arts Group, 

Worldview Academy Camp in Salem, OR, and our church high school camp.  Sometimes I wonder if there is summer camp for moms...

I was blessed to be able to teach Geometry last year to 8th graders.  It is typically a 10th grade class, but these kids were advanced two years in math.  We had a blast learning logic and proofs and even some trig.  We ended the year by firing rockets and calculating their height using homemade clinometers.  My classes this year are not quite as erudite, but still full of wonderful kids who like to learn.  As weird as teaching has gotten, I really appreciate my job and the people with whom I work.

Kiddo has switched to a local Christian school for the last two years of high school.  She is still drawing and is expanding her artistic outlook to photography as well.  We are looking ahead to college- exploring the options and learning a lot in the process.  Maybe George Fox, maybe Corban, maybe...?   She also got baptized this fall which was really cool.

We are ending the year by replacing our kitchen floor- not by choice, but because the fridge spewed water all over the laminate and we weren't fast enough to mop it all up before it got into the baseboards and drywall.  Ugh.  Not my favorite thing.

As of yesterday, the mold has been defeated, the new vinyl floor is in, and soon my wonderful brother will help me with the drywall.  Yay!
We are healthy, we are warm, we are out of the weather and we hope you are the same.  We pray for those affected by the hurricanes and fires this past year- may God hold them close.

Hoping for snow soon,
Love & peace,
Us

UPDATE:  We actually GOT snow!  Christmas Eve starting around 9am, and on through the day!  Made it tricky to get to family for festivities, but thanks to dad, we managed and we spent a leisurely day with my folks on Monday.  Yay!

Dear George Frideric Handel

Dear GFH,
Thanks for MESSIAH.  It's Just. So. Good.

Dear Standard Time

Dear Standard Time,

Welcome back!  I've missed you.  I feel normal again.  I wish you could stay longer.

Now if I could only convince the whiners at work that the amount of darkness we get during the winter has nothing to do with our clocks, and everything to do with the latitude at which we live...

Dear Wendy's

Dear Wendy's,

Whoa.  Your new chicken tenders and S'Awesome sauce are AMAZEBALLS.  Thank you.

Dear NFL

Dear NFL,

We need to break up.  It's not me, it's you.  You have changed.  You used to be entertaining and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  You used to provide a common culture at work and in my classroom, something to talk about when the other events of the day seemed too burdensome.  The strategic plays, the amazing runs, the physical feats of strength- all something to talk about and re-hash and groan or celebrate depending on one's team affiliation.

Now? You have gotten political and divisive.  The "men" that disrespect this great (albeit flawed) country have set themselves up as more important than their team or their league or their viewers.   If they don't like it here why don't they do something constructive to fix the perceived problems?  Or, if they are too lazy to be constructive, why don't they just move to another county?  There are lots of countries out there, plenty from which to choose.  No one is forcing them to stay in the dreaded USA and get fame and fortune from football.

More importantly, why are you allowing them to cause such disunity?  Aren't you the one that makes and enforces the contracts?  Why don't you fine them?  Are you afraid of them? 

I will miss you.  I know there are other things I can watch while running a couple of loads of laundry on a Sunday afternoon, but for decades you were my favorite.

Take care,
Me

Hiking in the heat

August was a cruel month indeed this year.  Hot.  Dusty.  Smoky.  Ugh.  Seemed like the AC was running 24/7 because we couldn't even open our windows at night for a breeze lest we bring in all the smoke from the wildfires.  September wasn't much better.
I know, I know, at least we have AC.

And yet in the midst of the misery, a little band of intrepid hikers decided to conquer a trail near Mt. St. Helens on Labor Day.  We couldn't really even see the mountain, but we had a good day tromping around and visiting with each other.  The older boys pretty much ran the whole trail, the moms... not so much.

Spirit Lake

The wildflowers want it to rain almost as much as I do.

Good times, my friends, good times.

How does the Man in the Moon cut his hair?

How does the Man in the Moon cut his hair?  Eclipse it!  (Get it?)

Anyhoo, we didn't get totality here in our little town, but we went to a neighbor's eclipse party all the same.
It was a potluck.
We brought Moon Pies.
Seemed fitting.

The really dark shot is with the special glasses over my phone lens. Those two selfies (I'm so not good at selfies) have a reflection of the eclipse on my neck and on my cheek.  I had no idea that would happen. 

What is this plant?

Someone please tell me what this plant is.  The things that look like clusters of tiny green tomatoes are so weird looking- and they turn dark orange later in the summer and fall.  Any info would be helpful!

And Happy Birthday to US!

As a nation, the US is almost 100 years older than Canada.  Do we look it?

Have we grown up?
Are we more mature than when we started?
Have we solved all the problems of the world, or have we created even more?

She is 150 years old!

Today is Canada's Birthday.  I swear she doesn't look a day over 140...

Makerspaces

The big word in education nowadays is "makerspaces".  What does it mean?  Well it means a room or space or class where kids can go to make things.
Hmmm...

Sounds suspiciously like what we used to do in classes called "home ec" or "woodshop".

Everything old is new again.

Ice Ice Baby

I love snow, but I feel the opposite about ice.

The thaw is in full swing, but will take some time to fully complete due to the freezing rainstorm we are currently experiencing. 

No school today.

In case you were wondering, water droplets are round.

I took this picture yesterday- took 5 in a row just in case I didn't time it right for the drip.  Then, my camera/phone informed me that it had made a video of my 5 pictures.  Um, what?  I hate it when the machines do stuff before they are asked to do stuff.  Creeps me out.  It was a cool video tho, but now I can't find it on my phone.  I guess it doesn't save stuff unless I get real bossy with it.  Machines.

Gotta go find something else to do...

A promise

Every morning I wake up and look outside and it looks the same as the day before- sparkly cold whiteness.  It's like being in Groundhog Day with Bill Murray.  (Ned?  Ned Ryerson?)

I don't know why I expected it to melt anytime soon- maybe because that is usually what happens around here.  But this time it is different, colder.  It's been around 12 degrees F at night and around 30 degrees F during the day.  The sun has caused some of the snow to sublimate, but mostly it is just sitting there on the trees or getting compacted to ice under someone's tires.  It's very light fluffy stuff- easy to shovel if you get to it on the first day.

Today it was finally above freezing.  Felt downright balmy.  The prediction is for warmer temps and lots of rain on Tuesday.  That will make for some nice slush.  

It's a good thing I am not in control of the weather.  I'd mess it up terribly.  God is in control and here is what He promises in Genesis 8:22:

“As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”

I find that very comforting.

Snow Daze

Did I say we were going to have to make up four days because of snow?  I meant seven.  SEVEN.  I've been teaching 30 years and I've never had to make up seven days in one school year.  Even when I was in high school and we had some snow days, there were never seven.

I guess this makes up for the last three wimpy winters we had. 

Went for a nice walk today to the mall.  Bought boots for kiddo, ate lunch, saw Rogue One.  A nice way to spend a day off, but tomorrow I should probably do some chores.  When I run out of those, I will invent some.

First the night shots- it snowed steadily for around 10 hours:

Then the daytime pics- it snowed on and off for much of the day yesterday:

9 inches and counting.

Today dawned clear and sparkly and cold.  I love the beauty and quiet that a deep snowfall brings.  I think heaven will be like this, only we won't be cold and wet.

Hooray for the UPS driver!

I used to ask kiddo to make a snow angel for me when it snowed.  But teenagers aren't really into that, so I made a mini one.

And here is my attempt to capture the cheeky backyard hummingbird on film- look for it in every pic because it often blends in with the tree:

That's it in the middle- shiny green chest on display.  I think it was posing for me...

 I love days like this where everything slows down- even the hummingbirds.

Stay warm and safe, friends!