Pioneer Day!

Pioneer Day was a huge success. I forgot to take my camera, but I wouldn't be able to post pictures anyway. My job was to have 5 first grade classes make butter and explore the differences between today and long ago in the making of cornbread, butter, and getting milk. I just loved every minute of it.

It says something, too, about the differences between teaching middle school, high school, and elementary school. When part of your day is just teaching the same lesson twice or more, it sure does go a lot faster and requires less planning. It also leads, I think, to a better lesson and maybe a better experience for the kids.

All the first graders at Highlands Elementary received five very involved, very planned, and very hands-on lessons today from 8:00 until 11:00. I hope we do things like this more often.

At our school, none of the classes switch, not even fourth and fifth grade. I don't know how the 4th and 5th grade teachers get really in depth with schedules like that. Yet they choose to do it that way. I wonder why. It makes sense for the little ones to stay in the same class, but I don't know about the bigger kids.

Someday I'll write something on here that's interesting.

Christmas Cards

Why do we send Christmas cards? To spread joy, to share news, to keep in touch with our friends and family, and many other reasons I'm sure. Like to show off our family, our pets, our talents, our money. Who knows, but a lot of work goes into this whole card business.

For one thing, I spent about an hour of my life searching for the perfectly worded, priced and painted card. I wanted something that said Merry Christmas. None of that Season's Greetings crap. Who the heck is happy about the SEASON? Well, unless you live in Florida. No Happy Holidays, either. I'm going to wish you a Merry Christmas like it or not, and if you want to wish me a Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, I will wish you a Happy Hannukah or Kwanzaa right back. But we do Christmas round these parts.

Then there's the issue of getting a Jesus card or a not Jesus card. A spiritual card or a goofy card, a cute card or a Santa card. Jesus cards are always a possibility for me, except all the Jesus cards have gold squiggly writing, lots of stars, Mary with a halo, or some other ridiculous hullaballoo. So I just look for cards with cute animals on them. You can't go wrong with cute animals.

Then there's price. Jesus cards always cost somewhere around twenty dollars a box. Jesus would so not be happy with you, Hallmark. Then they charge you extra if there's a Bible verse, as if God's agent is out trying to scavenge more money from us all whenever Scripture is quoted. God would so not be happy with you, either, American Greetings.

OK, so I finally found cards that fit my criteria. Nothing Jesus about them, but if you're moron enough to not figure out that I DO wish you a Merry Christmas, a blessed New Year, and that the grace of God be in your life, and praise the Lord that Jesus was born, come to the earth to save all humankind, yada yada, then I am sorry and will get the gold calligraphy card for you next year.

Then I had to deal with getting address labels that sort of match the card and try to figure out if I want the label to say Mr. and Mrs. Erdman, Mr. and Mrs. John Erdman, John and Amanda Erdman, The Erdman Family (which wouldn't leave Rosa out). Then I have to try to get special Christmas stamps, which will likely cost $950.00.

And of course, it's finding all the addresses that really takes a lot of time and makes you realize how much you suck as a friend. My best friends' addresses are still college addresses and we graduated 3 and a half years ago.

Then on the stinkin' cards you gotta figure out how on earth you should write everyone's name in the household on the card, seeing as the kids have different last names, sometimes the live-in boyfriend has a different name of course, illegitimate children, step children, grandchildren, children that are sorta-kinda moved out but not really...arrgh.

Sometimes people name their kids all these crazy names and you can't remember how to spell their names, so they just get left off the card.

Merry Christmas! I hope you all enjoy our Xmas cards this year!

All she ever does is complain.

Symptoms:

Tired. Body hurts all over.

I eat healthy, get enough exercise, drink enough water, and I eat good breakfasts. So what's the problem? My face hurts. My neck hurts. My feet hurt. What the heck?

Sigh. I don't know.

Anyway, with my sore body, lugging the new PLASMA television was not a pleasant experience, but thanks to John's MacGuyver skills, we got it into the elevator and into our condo just fine. Only one piece of crown molding was damaged. We used two of those huge water purifier bottles to develop a conveyor like system. I was in charge of replacing the bottles every two or three steps.

John put together an entertainment stand and a "media" stand yesterday, and we've pretty much been mesmorized by the TV since we plugged it in. I think I can actually get into football now that I can see the football.

I did take pictures of our new set up, but I STILL can't get my camera to download pictures onto the computer.

I invited 35 people to our house today for a Signature Homestyles party (that's like Tupperware, but baskets, blankets, and home decor) and only one person came. I pretty much hate myself now. But John bought me some tea from Teavana, so it's all right.

Sigh.

Black Friday

Today we will be going to Circuit City to look for an enormous LCD television. We have saved up enough money for our Mac computer, but now that I am having surgery, we're going to spend the money on a TV and use the leftovers for surgery.

This works out to be a pretty good deal, because I will finally get my Christmas wish of having an entertainment stand. We just realized today that we have nowhere to put our old TV, which is pretty large and doesn't have much to offer. It's not HDTV or LCD or any of those other acronyms.

We started decorating for Christmas lastnight. I will try to take pictures. Our camera has been on the fritz. I hate it when people say that, "on the fritz." I am going to try to remember not to ever use that expression again.

The Glass Castle

I just finished reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It was very good. It's one of those books that will keep me thinking for a while, and has probably altered my view of poverty, alcoholism and homelessness. I highly recommend it, but I don't really feel like writing a review. I'll give you a boring book report instead.

The Glass Castle is a memoir told by Jeannette starting with her earliest memories as a three year old living with her genius, impoverished, and mentally ill parents. Her father is a severe alcoholic and was probably suffering from some sort of paranoia. Either that, or he was one pretty sick liar. Her mother was an artist and writer who never sold anything and refused to do any house work or maintain any order in the household. You can imagine the tragedies that follow with these two adults trying to raise four young children.

Jeannette's way of telling her story is intriguing because she doesn't cast herself or her family in a pitiful light. Instead, her writing is sometimes very funny, but unavoidably sad. She paints her parents in a strangely positive way, so that you can't help but feel for them, love them, but hate them for their irresponsible ways and many mistakes.

Get the book. And while I wait for you to get it, I will be sneaking food into my students' backpacks just in case any of them is poor enough to go through the lunch room trash cans.

Teavana

John and I found treasure today! It's a little store called Teavana that sells loose leaf tea, and all kinds of other tea stuff to help you make it, store it, pour it, etc. Anyway, we both loved it and think everyone should try it. Unfortunately, there are no locations in Ohio, so please visit their website and remember to visit the store the next time you come to visit us.

http://www.teavana.com/

I've been trying to read as many books as possible lately in order to be inspired to write something, in hopes that I'll be the next out of nowhere genius author. Though the reading does get my mind turning, I think my main problem is that I'm not depressed enough to write anything good. My best writing period ever came and went sophomore year of high school, when I was a depressed teenager somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist. And since then I have been too happy to write anything good, and feel guilty when I write anything that isn't positive.

Obviously I would never want to stir up sadness or anything negative in anyone. My conscience simply can't deal with that, so I thought about writing under a pseudonym, maybe even taking on a whole different personality for a few weeks. I have a feeling God wouldn't be down with that, and the consequences of disobedience to God, I've learned, are not worth the meager earnings I would gain even if I did come up with something good enough for the clearance rack.

So I'm stuck hoping for a gift like C.S. Lewis instead of J.K. Rowling. Not holding my breath for that one.

I have been writing on this blog for over 5 years. Incredible. I just went back and read all my birthday entries. Very interesting.

The day has come

I don't remember my mother being 24 or 25, but I do remember her being 26. And today I turned that age, the age I remember my mother being. That is weird, my friends. Very weird.