Month: October 2011

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween this year. Our county actually decided to let Beggar’s Night be on Halloween (not a regular occurrence, alas), so tonight I had kiddies a’visitin’.

Normally, I get around 40 kids. The most I’ve had in recent years was 49 in 2007 (and then 25 in 2008). So last month when Woot.com was selling glow-sticks one day, I decided to get those for giving out. I got 72 glow-sticks for under $13 including shipping. A deal, I thought. And when they arrived, they were actually pretty decent glow-sticks. (1 used, 71 to go!)

So I wasn’t too worried about running out tonight, seeing as the most kids I’d ever had was 49. But I think someone was busing them in this year. Beggar’s Night starts at 6pm. By 7pm I was giving away the one around my neck. And I had to turn one girl away without one – I felt so bad. (And of course, it was then that the senior girls who had promised they’d be there early arrived – sorry girls!)

71 kids (well, 72 + the senior girls) in an hour. Sheesh! If Woot.com does this deal again next year, I’ll call mom and have her order the max as well, then I’ll have a gross of glow-sticks to hand out.

So anyhoo, I’ve got the porch light off and most of the house lights off. I figure I can come out of hiding at 8pm when Beggar’s Night is over. Hope there’s not too much toilet paper on the house in the morning!!!

Elation

Ah… I no longer have the feeling that I’m drowning. The first quarter ended last Friday, and today was the confirmation of grades. And I got it done. Phew!

I’d say that this first quarter was probably the toughest I’ve had since my first year of teaching. Not due to kids or discipline – loving the students this year (as usual) – but because of the new dual enrollment chemistry course. It’s been interesting and I hope I’m doing my students a good service in my instruction. Next Friday is our fall meeting to see how things are going and I’ll definitely have questions to ask. 🙂

But other than the avalanche of work that I’ve been doing of late, it’s been a fun (and fast) school year. Tomorrow is Halloween dress up day, and Friday is a day off for kids and a work day for us. Thankfully I’ll have the time to work on my chemistry class and my storage room then. So looking forward to Friday for that reason.

Anywho, as I was walking home today, I was almost giddy. With the weight of Quarter 1 off my shoulder, and the lovely (but cloudy) autumn day, I felt as positive today as I’d felt in ages. It was good. 🙂

Ends & Odds

Actually had a weekend without any festivals. Kind of sad, but also good. The folks and I took the opportunity to do a Trader Joe’s run yesterday to get our usual assortment of chocolate and nuts and (for the folks) wine. Then last evening we went to a party at the Fisher’s. They had steaks and shrimp on the grill and we stuffed ourselves and enjoyed the company outside in the wonderful autumn evening.

Today I tried to be productive and was mostly successful. I got up late, but still finished laundry, did a bit more grocery shopping, baked a loaf of white bread (I think this is better than the prior batch, but still not quite what I’m looking for), and made some chicken and rice soup. I used brown rice in the soup, and I think that was ideal. It still has a bit of bite to it, despite the simmering time.

Things that I wanted to do but didn’t get around to include vacuuming floors and mopping the kitchen. And the poor kitties are on “old” food cuz I ordered their real food too late. It’ll probably show up tomorrow. Bad mommy!

Finally have the opportunity to sit & relax & read. But first I thought I’d post this entry. Lucy’s sitting beside me on the arm of the comfy chair. Since it’s gotten a bit chilly at night, she’s back to being my extra blanket at night. I like her using me as a full body pillow. 🙂

This week is the last week of the first quarter at school. Man, the year has flown by. I think I might be getting a better handle on the new chemistry course, but time will tell.

OK, back to relaxing. Ahhhhh.

The Trees are Purty

Lovely autumn weekend! Perfect weather. Friday was Fall Fair at school, which was fun, as usual. The class challenge, as usual, was hilarious. Yesterday, the folks and I went to Lost Creek for the Antique & Garden Show and for the FallFarmFest. Today was a trip to the Fairborn area for Doctor Who Magazines and Indian Fud.

But the highlight of the weekend was tonight at the Lake. The folks had a couple of friends from their “village” over and I was invited too. Dad grilled brats and veggies and mom made kraut. And dad had made his world famous (well, maybe not WORLD famous) slaw. So cabbage for all! Dessert was peach pie ala mode. Yum!

Autumn at the Lake
Autumn at the Lake

Sunset at the Lake
Sunset at the Lake

Oktoberfest 2011

Happy October everyone! I was checking on last year’s posts for something and noticed that I only posted twice last October. I hope I’m not so lax this year!

The original plan for the weekend was Oktoberfest on Saturday after mom got off from work. So I decided that Sunday would be cook chilli and bake bread day. Dad came over Saturday morning for breakfast with me at the local UCC that has an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast on the first Saturday of the month. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and eggs, chatted with lots of folks, then walked back, stopping in to talk to Jack at the bike shop.

Dad returned home, and I did some odds & ends at home, waiting for mom to get off work. But she called later and said it was too cold and rainy, we should go Sunday. I agreed, but later realized that sort of screwed up my chilli and bread plans. And laundry. So I decided to get onto that as early as I could Sunday.

So today, I got up at a sort of reasonable hour (but not as early as I should have). I started laundry, made myself a nice poached egg on toast breakfast (using my flaxseed bread for toast), and headed off to Troy for a few things. First I needed to pick up my new glasses. Got there half an hour early, but needed some stuff so I shopped a bit (my eye doc is at Walmart – heh).

Next to Lowe’s for an air filter for my central air, then Meijer for fruit and chilli supplies. Then back home for cooking, laundry, and baking. The goal was to be done with it all by 3, but it wound up being 4 before I was done. The bread didn’t rise as nice as last week’s – dunno if it’s because of the recipe or because it was cooler in my kitchen this weekend. Smells good – will get to eat some tomorrow.

The folks picked me up at 4 and we headed off to Minster for Oktoberfest. We’re usually there for lunch, and on Saturday. So Sunday afternoon was a bit more crowded than we were used to. Mom zipped us through the crafts pretty swiftly. None of us saw anything we had to have, so then it was on to the food booths.

After looking at all the options, I settled on my usual. Fries and lemon shake-up from one vendor (shared with the folks), and brat mit kraut from another. And the mini-donuts for dessert. Mom picked the elephant ear for dessert. So we shared desserts too. Yum!

It turned out we were only there for little over an hour. But it was a fun time. And I bought Yet Another Oktoberfest Mug to go with the others I’ve collected. Each year, Minster sells a glass mug with a new Oktoberfest logo. The price for the longest time was $8, but it was $9 this year. (Might have raised last year, but I didn’t note it in last year’s entry. Alas.)

Next weekend is more stuff – Fall Fair and the Lost Creek antique show. And this week is supposed to have great weather. Here’s hoping I take advantage of it and get lots of walks in.