Busy December

Well, we made it through the big storm. We must have had two feet of snow in our driveway. It was a HUGE job getting our driveway shoveled. It took all day on Sunday, working in shifts. We still have half the driveway covered in snow.. it was just too much doing it all by shovel. Daughter and her BF plan to come over this next weekend with their snow blower and help us finish the job. Meanwhile, more snow is on the way! Oh, boy. That's all we need.

It was even a big job for the snow blowers.. this is our neighbor. (We use shovels.)

our mailbox was buried but has now been revealed

Christmas plans are firming up, and I'm almost done shopping. Have been wrapping for a bit this evening. I used to love to wrap Christmas presents. After all these years, I'm starting to feel a bit tired of it. So I do it in an extended fashion over many days.

I've been working almost full time the last couple of weeks! It has been really fun, but I don't like being that busy. However, I've had a nice mix of jobs between my two school districts. (And soon I'll get the same winter break that the schools get, so I'm not feeling overworked by any means.)

This week I'll have two days in my old district, and I worked three days filling a vacant Teaching Assistant position in the other district. I just loved the schedule and the kids. If I were in the market, I would definitely apply for the job. I hope I'll be able to fill that position again before they hire someone... although it would be in the best interest of the students to get the vacancy filled.

Today I cried at the end of the day! I felt so filled up with wanting things to go well for those students and with my full respect for all the fabulous teachers I got to work with there.

Maybe it's just this great state of Minnesota, but I'm not seeing the disaster in the public schools that Oprah and others are crying about. I know things can definitely improve, but let me say this publicly: there are far more fabulous teachers out there than bad ones. I've been so lucky to work in the field of education!

Last night I attended the monthly meeting of my local quilt guild. It was a Christmas party, and we had a good time, ate lots of good food, and saw some great quilts.



This woman is wearing a small crazy-quilt-cape made by her great-grandmother (in the picture). It was recently discovered among her mother's things after her mother's death.

I haven't done much sewing or quilting lately, but I've been knitting now and then. I made this hat for me, and another hat which is a gift for someone. Notice the preponderance of blue yarn? Yes, I purchased many skeins of the blue wool while it was on sale. I'll be using it for a while.





One final note: while working these last three days, I was placed in a junior high English class which is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. The discussion was so interesting that I got excited and ordered the book for my Kindle. It cost a whopping 99 cents. I'm sure I've read Tom Sawyer in the past, but it was a long time ago, and I'm excited to read it again.