I Want a Haircut

I like my hair. It's curly if I let it dry naturally or it can be straight if I blow it dry. I can wear it out or I can wear it in a ponytail and that's good for someone like me who would rather sleep in than spend time on my hair. And overall, I would say that versatility is good. Oh, and I think men prefer long hair, and being single you pay attention to details like that!! (Though who really knows what they prefer cause if they prefer short hair on women they aren't dating me, so I guess I wouldn't really know now, would I?! Heh.)

But it is dry and gets tangled and is thinning at the temples probably because I pull it back too tightly. So as much as I dream of having photos of me holding up my daughter with my hair cascading down my back, I think it's time for a cut. Maybe something like this? What do you think?

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom turned 81 today. Honestly, I can't believe it cause that sounds like an old woman but my mom is energetic and busy and looks 60! We went out to brunch (she's wearing the necklace I bought her) and had some cake. Love ya, Mom! Happy birthday!!

Christmas 2008 (in pictures) part I

Apricot Horns! (yum-my!)




The Beef Wellington. My sister Jane always makes this.



Decorations

Christmas 2008 (in pictures) part II

Darn it!

I missed a day. Darn it. Almost posted every day in December and it's already 12:50 am on December 27th but I'll post this on the 26th anyway. Well, I guess I am thankful for having so much fun that I wasn't obsessed with getting to a computer to post! Had a lot of fun with my niece and nephew today. My nephew joined my mom, dad, sister and me at the Heinz History Center to see the exhibit, "Free At Last?" depicting slavery that existed in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th centuries. Very interesting. Then my niece and sister and brother-in-law came over for dinner. We ordered pizza and my nephew had me listen to his iPod to find some hipper music for my collection. It was pretty fun. I enjoy them. I had planned on leaving tomorrow but I think I will extend my trip until the 28th.

NaBloPoMo #26 theme:thankful

Merry Christmas!

My mom is all about traditions. At our house the Christmas traditions that have lasted to adulthood include:

* an Advent wreath. My mom puts it on the dining room table and we light the candles before dinner on the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas (three purple, one pink). After it is lit my mother or father will say "Our King and Savior draweth nigh" to which we reply "Oh come let us adore him" and then sing Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel altogether
* attending the 11pm Christmas eve service
* putting up a Christmas tree (of course)
* wrapping gifts after church, late into the night
* eating apricot horns for breakfast (a homemade pastry with apricot filling)
* having the local, commercial-free classical music station playing all day long
* opening the gifts in age order, round robin so everyone can see what everyone else got
* taking tons of photographs
* eating Christmas dinner late
* eating homemade sugar cookies from my grandmother's recipe

(other kid traditions included doing an Advent calendar, participating in the Christmas pageant, hanging a stocking at the fireplace, leaving cookies out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, moving the three kings closer to the manger until they arrive on the 12th day of Christmas...)

I am all about tradition and family and that is one of the main reasons I can't wait to have children --to pass down and start creating traditions of my own. Yet, I find myself celebrating another Christmas without a family of my own. I am extremely grateful and blessed to still have my parents here with me to celebrate (they are in their 80's) and it's nice to see other family members, but I so yearn to have my own family and start my own traditions, and holidays are a reminder of the things that I want so badly but are still just out of reach. So, like last year, I wasn't really looking forward to the holiday. It didn't help this year that with my new job we had to work all the way until the 23rd. Then I was too tired to make the drive on the 24th which meant I missed the Christmas eve service. I didn't realize how much I was going to miss it, but when I think about it, I have attended that service for almost 40 years! Talk about tradition! Then I missed the early morning apricot horns and had a bowl of Cheerios instead! You can see how it felt like any other day.

Well, it didn't turn out to be so bad after all. The drive up here was quicker that usual (the weather cooperated) and there was barely any traffic. My mom handed me a plate of apricot horns when I arrived and I sat down at the table to enjoy them with the classical music station playing in the background. Yeah, there are no kids around (my niece and nephew are 21 and 18 respectively) and yeah, I was still wistful, but we laughed and drank wine and had an amazing meal and exchanged gifts and ate hundreds of sugar cookies. I survived. It wasn't so bad... but NEXT YEAR is going to be SO MUCH BETTER! I just know it! Mark my words.. I'm going to post a link to this post next year! lol

I hope you had a very merry Christmas!



NaBloPoMo #25 theme:thankful

Christmas Eve

I never made it home today. Too exhausted from the week (had to work all the way til the 23rd) and had dishes and laundry and packing to do as well as to take my car to be serviced and Xmas cards and shopping... and no time to just decompress and relax and try to get into the holiday. I decided at the 11th hour to not stress myself out further and to not make the drive to Pennsylvania until tomorrow. This is my first Xmas eve ever without my family. The first ever that I didn't go to church. I thought I might but when my friend Deidra said she'd like to stop by and hang out I thought that sounded like a nice idea. She came over and kept me company while I ate dinner and did dishes and laundry and now I'm off to bed. Kinda sad and lonely really... last year at this time I was sure that my daughter would be home by this Christmas.. sigh. Well, I am blessed and thankful for family and friends and the love of God and the infinite possibilities of the New Year! So, I am off to bed so I can get on the road tomorrow for a 4 hour drive to my parent's house in the morning. Good night!

I did some very basic decorating and below is a picture of a stocking at my mantle. I have two mini stockings which I hang with a silver star stocking hanger thingy. There are no photos in the star right now (well, just the one that it came with) but next year there will be!!




NaBloPoMo #24 theme: thankful

Beauty in Nature

Saw this on my ride home. Such a quiet, peaceful scene ...to balance out the craziness of 15 kindergartners over stimulated by candy and thoughts of vacation... which, by the way, I am on until Jan. 5th. Hallelujah!

NaBloPoMo #23 theme:thankful

my house

It is really cold outside. They say the temperature is 23 degrees but feels like 13. There is a cold, biting wind and a hat is mandatory. I was in the office this morning when a parent called to say her child would be absent today because it was too cold to send her child to school. I thought that was ridiculous, but it really is cold. It hadn't warmed up much by noon so the kids had indoor recess and on the way home I stopped off for some soup for dinner cause I know I will not be going anywhere tonight.

I will be going home. Home. I have that option. I can't imagine living on the street. My heating system is temperamental and when I woke up this morning it was only 66 degrees in here (and not at all comfortable) but when I opened the front door to go to work, suddenly it felt pretty darn toasty. My heart breaks for the homeless who have to brave these frigid temperatures if they can't find shelter. I complain about my house (it's too small, it attached, it's not in the best neighborhood, etc.) but today there are no complaints. I am simply grateful. Extremely grateful.

NaBloPoMo #22 theme:thankful

Old Friends

My good friend, Hattie, is one of those childhood friends whom you treasure. She and I have been friends since second grade. We met at church and our fathers were both professors at the same university so after we met and became friends, so did our parents. We have been talking about trying to live in the same city since we both left Pittsburgh after high school and now after many, many years we are both living in the same area and it's so fun to get together. Meanwhile, our parents still live in Pittsburgh area. But get this! Both her parents and mine sold our childhood homes and bought smaller townhouses and they are now next door neighbors! So now when we go home for the holidays we can walk over and see eachother whenever we want! Anyway, she's great. We are both teachers and both have a love of travel and dogs (she has a black lab rescue dog--the sweetest dog ever--and I am *this* close to getting my own lab) and always have so much fun and such great conversations when we are together.

Last night, I accompanied her to a cocktail party of a friend of hers and then we went to a wine bar for more conversation. We laughed as we retold the story to her friends about how we got kicked out of music class in second grade--not for our lack of love of music--but for constant talking. We literally got "kicked to the curb" as the music teacher put us out of the house where we sat on the curb until our parents could pick us up. It was funny at the time and even funnier now! Of course now, as teachers, we are getting paid back tenfold! lol

Here is a picture of us from last night. (and yes, I have on the same top as the night before!)



NaBloPoMo #21 theme:thankful

Impromptu Holiday Party

My neighbor, Allison, and I tend to talk on the phone on our way to work. With our busy schedules and her having a baby at home it's so hard to catch up, but driving to and from work is a good 30-minute uninterrupted block of time. So on Friday we were busy chatting and out of the blue she says, "Hey! Let's have a holiday party! I'll host!" So twelve hours later we were laughing and singing Christmas carols and drinking wine with neighbors and good friends.

me and Allison

Yay! Tami was there!

Allison's daughter, Tatiana (my Goddaughter)

good times


NaBloPoMo #19 theme:thankful

My kiddos

My kindergartners are so cute. Yes, they will test a sistah’s patience sometimes :) but mostly they are a lot of fun to be with each day. I have a great job! Here are a few (non-identifying so not the most interesting) shots of them from the past few days.










NaBloPoMo #19 theme:thankful

Modern Conveniences

I'm waaaay too tired to write. I have an observation tomorrow for my job, the Kindergarten team is doing a breakfast for the staff and I have to bake some goodies, I need to do Christmas cards, I haven't eaten dinner yet, I want to hang Christmas lights, I need to do another class tonight for my homestudy, etc, etc, etc.... and my eyes are barely staying open as I type this.

So let me just say I am thankful for all the conveniences that life offers.. the internet for ideas and materials for tomorrow's observation, a frozen shrimp and veggies meal and packaged brownie mix to name a few that will save me some time tonight!

What would I do if I had to come up with an idea for my observation all on my own and bake from scratch??? I am sooo not cut out for the 1950's! lol



NaBloPoMo #18 theme:thankful

my dad

he's so gentle and sweet.
one of the smartest men i know.
strong faith.
family man.
good father to us three girls.
true to his roots.
thoughtful.
great husband to my mom.
loves Snickers and pumpkin pie.
hates TV.
terrible cook- but always willing to do it.
athletic.
world traveler.
great writer.
painter.
determined.
passionate.
soft spoken.
intellectual.
caring.


love you dad!

NaBloPoMo #17 theme:thankful