Christmas Eve

There is still a lot of snow on the ground from the storm last weekend. We got about a foot and some. I don't know how much will be left by tomorrow, because it is raining. I can't remember if I have had a "White Christmas" since I moved here or not. Actually, since three of them were spent elsewhere, I don't think I have. It would be nice, but it is also nice to have a sunny Christmas, so we can walk the dogs.
It has been an interesting year. For the first time in my adult life, "THE ECONOMY" has been something tangible and worrisome, and for the first time in a long time, I don't have to say to people, "I didn't vote for him!" Because I DID vote for him, and Obama's taking office somehow makes me feel like, even though things will be tough, there is hope ahead. When we travel overseas this February, I won't be embarrassed to admit I'm an American, and feel like I have to defend myself.
My biggest goal for the next few days: attract as many birds as I can to our yard. We have a cardinal pair visiting again, and I'm hoping that when it's time they'll nest with us.
Here's to getting back to what's important.

Time Lapse

Time becomes more fluid when school starts. I lose track of how much I have left in class, how much has passed since I started to make dinner, how close it is to my bedtime. And so it is almost Thanksgiving...
This year is good. Challenging and busy, but good. I have students who work without complaining, which is a nice change from last year. But the most amazing thing I witnessed came Monday night at our parent report card conferences. I host portfolio conferences; the student comes in with his or her parent and leads them through the work in their portfolio. I have done these 10 times in the last five years, and they are usually successful. The parents love the close look at what their kids are doing, and the kids love the extra credit.
But this Monday, for the first time, I witnessed the majority of parents and children enjoying their time together. This was not a chore, or JUST an extra credit opportunity. This was a real conversation, with laughter, and explaining, and questions. And that was the norm, versus the exception.
What an amazing thing to see.

Shopping...

is fun again. It has been raining here since Friday morning, and Saturday afternoon I needed to get out of the house. I wanted to walk, and we needed to replace some kitchen equipment, so we went to the mall. I had recently gotten the Land's End catalogue, and there were some cute winter things I wanted to look for; we headed into Sears. Discovery: I don't fit in the "plus" sized clothes anymore!!!!! I bought some "misses" shirts from Land's End, and a pair of jeans, the first in about three years, and some cute "palazzo style" pants at J.Jill--and I didn't have to get size XL! I'm not melting or anything, but it sure is nice to know that I'm gradually shrinking down to a healthier size. Hopefully this realization will get me through the "It's Fall and I need to eat and pack on fat for winter" phase I go through every year at this time...

Teaching is kicking my tail...

Whew. It's been an intense four weeks. I have five classes with three preps this year, which is a first for me. It's fine, but I REALLY have to be organized. The good news is, I feel like I'm "on my game" this year, and I love my kids. And I'm still in love with our new 8th grade administrator.

I've been cooking up a storm to relax, recharge and focus. Lots of putting by for winter: roasted peppers, more tomato sauces, baked goods, and defrostable meals are packed into the freezers. I'm hoping they'll help save me on those winter days that all I want to do is crawl into bed as soon as I get home from work. I highly recommend finding a recipe for peach-pecan scones. I found it online and it is just amazing.

Sadly, as summer turns to autumn, my body is kicking into,"EAT, EAT, EAT," mode. It's like some ancient DNA is telling me to pack on the fat for the winter months. I never noticed this when I lived in Florida (though I suppose if it really is some kind of instinctive thing, it wouldn't kick in in the sub-tropics). I find myself fighting the urge...and frequently losing. If I ate any more carbs today I'd turn into a noodle.

Marge Piercy has a great poem on the topic in her book Mars and Her Children (can't remember the title--read the whole thing, it's great!). She really is one of my favorite poets ever.

MMM...veggies

I'm always a little sad as summer starts to fade. But it's softened by the beautiful change in light and the bumper harvest of things I wasn't sure would make it a month ago. Though my tomatoes look AWFUL, they're still producing, and I've frozen lots of sauce. The zucchini and melon have caught powdery mildew, but they're still growing. The green beans offer up new pods every other day, and the bell peppers are finally doing something other than dropping their flowers. (I hesitate to say they're producing peppers...I don't want to jinx them.)

I made a roasted root vegetable side dish tonight that outshone the grilled steak we had by a mile. (And the steak was good...) I highly recommend the recipe (from The Roasted Vegetable by Chesman).

3-4 pounds of root vegetables (I used 4 medium carrots, 3 large beets, 1 kohlrabi, 2 medium parsnips); peeled and cut into approximately 1-inch cubes
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered, root end left intact to hold layers together
head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (could also use rosemary or sage; can substitute dried but cut down to 2 tsp.)
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 c chopped walnuts (optional, but I highly recommend)
chopped parsley to add at end

Spread 1 tbsp olive oil in baking dish (I used a 13 x 9 glass dish). Preheat oven to 400. Add all ingredients except walnuts and parsley to dish; drizzle with rest of oil. Mix to coat evenly, spread veggies into as flat a layer as possible. Roast 20 minutes, stir. Roast 20 minutes, stir. If veggies seem close to done, roast 15 minutes and add walnuts, stir. (If veggies don't seem close to done, start stirring at 10 minute intervals.) Roast 5-10 minutes more. Sprinkle with parsley, serve. You don't really need anything else, but it's a nice accompaniment to grilled steak or pork tenderloin. :)

Whew!

First day of school: done.

I don't know if it's the same for other teachers, but the first day of school is such an adrenaline rush while the kids are there (Is my dress tucked in my underwear? Is there food in my teeth? Have I rubbed my make-up all over my face? Have I just said something stupid? Who are these children?) that when they leave, I'm DONE. It's like someone sticks a pin in me and I deflate almost instantly.

Strangely, it's not a bad thing. It just is. And obviously it lessens as the days pass.

It's early to say, but I'm going to put out there that I LOVE my new 8th grade administrator. She's a teacher and learner. What else needs to be said? :)

Excitement All Around

Well.

So much for not having enough to do during the summer. I'm making up for it this week.

Larry says one day last week, "I'm looking at Jeeps online." This is good, because I've wanted a Jeep Wrangler since I was 12, and I told him that if we got a boat I wanted a Wrangler to pull it. He was listening! (We don't have the boat yet. We're doing this in stages.)

On our fourth test drive, we found a used Wrangler with hard and soft tops and acceptable mileage. The dealer met our price, and voila! We own a Jeep.

Today we took said vehicle (we take turns driving but both would happily drive all the time) into Boston. Larry found a Boston Harbor Lighthouse tour, and we both love the harbor and islands so we jumped at the chance. The day was BEAUTIFUL--92 by the afternoon, but when we went it was about 75 and crept up to about 85.

The tour meets at Moakley Courthouse, which is a very cool building; the wall that faces the harbor is all glass. It sets some kind of record, but I can't remember what. Anyway, we boarded and left at 10 a.m. and it took about 45 minutes to get out to Little Brewster Island, which is where the Boston Harbor Light is; it's the only keepered light left in the U.S. (Keepered instead of manned because the keeper is a woman. She's the first appointed female keeper--at least of this light. She may be of all of them; there were other women who took over after husbands died, but the park ranger said he thought she was the first ever appointed to the job.)

We had about 1 1/4 hours on the island, so Larry and I walked around and spoke to some of the rangers on duty. The other two lights, Minot and Graves, are both visible from Little Brewster; they're automated. We can hear their fog beacons at home.

We were able to climb to the top and see the light itself. It was made in the 1850's, and I'm not 100% remembering, but I think it's called a Frenel (Franel?) light. It was amazing. The day was clear so we could see approximately 25 miles out to sea--we could see further if it weren't for the curvature of the earth. All around us were the other islands, and in the distance we could see Boston. She looked like a toy city hovering on the water. If you're ever in Boston, I highly recommend the trip. As soon as I figure out how to make the files small enough, I'll post some pictures.