Beginning

I’m not a Black Friday shopper (unless I am visiting my inlaws — then the womenfolk all drag me out of bed) but I am aware that the season has begun.  More specifically, tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent.  In recognition of that which I have been in denial (the imminent arrival of Christmas!), I give you:

I’ve seen David Harsh perform and he is amazing!  He trained classically as an opera singer, then taught himself guitar, then studied with some guitar greats (Alex deGrassi ring a bell anyone?).  David is also an accomplished pianist.  Enjoy!

This and That

I recently heard from an old friend – a very sweet “thinking of you” e-mail. She told me that she has been keeping up with me via my blog. Sometimes it is funny to be reminded that people who actually KNOW me do read my blog. I wonder, does it actually sound like me when I write, or do I sound like someone else?

Last Thursday I purchased a 12-lb frozen turkey and set it on the bottom shelf of my refrigerator. I’m hoping it will be thawed by Thursday morning; I left it in a couple of plastic bags just in case it thaws really well! In the past I’ve only given the bird 3 days of fridge time and it was still half-frozen on Thanksgiving morning!

I’m going to have to cut back on blogging over the holidays. My dh gets annoyed if I spend much time at the computer. Maybe this means I will actually get the house cleaned, the Christmas letter written, envelopes addressed…. What?? I can dream, can’t I?

If you are celebrating American Thanksgiving, I wish you a wonderful holiday. For my Canadian friends, why not go for round two? We have so much to be thankful for. 😉

I’ll miss you when I’m absent from the computer, but family needs come first!

Not 70-gazillion (more like 150)

Field trip update:  the bus I was on had “only” thirty-three 7th graders.  This was the group I stayed with during the entire trip; however, there were 3 other groups from our school of approximately the same size.

And I am happy to report that field trips with 7th graders are MUCH easier than field trips with 2nd graders.  The noise level is about the same, but the kids are more responsible so it is less like herding cats. 😉

WWC #62: Perfect and Flawed

I’m all about FLAWED. I’ve got that down solid. But PERFECT? Sheesh, the pressure of this assignment!

[click to enlarge]

[click to enlarge]

When I am lucky enough to get a nice macro shot, I often discover that the PERFECT subject is FLAWED. This does not ruin the picture; to the contrary, a slight flaw often highlights perfection.

Less can be more. The moon reflects the sun.

[click to enlarge]

Now could someone please explain to me why I get a pink haze when I use a flash in a dark environment?
Nevermind that I left the flash on when I took this photograph of the moon… or that I really need a significantly improved telephoto lens if I’m going to take pictures of the moon!

That’s what I’ve got this morning.

I’m off today on a 6 hour field trip with seventy-zillion 7th graders.

The Weekly Words Challenge is brought to us by the flawlessly perfect Tink of Pickled Beef.

awarding beauty (blog love)

I am feeling a bit reflective tonight. I suspect that it is because I just spent time over at Hilary’s blog The Smitten Image.

Have you been over there to visit? Hilary takes beautiful pictures and weaves them together with gentle prose. I often feel like I’ve been taken along on a magical hike. 🙂

So Hilary, for blessing my evening and putting me in a soft, peaceful mood for sleep, please accept this award:

Where are we going and why am I in this basket?

This morning I would like to thank Memarie Lane for making me sick to my stomach. No, really. Go read her post about how the U.N. has spent $23 Million on painting the ceiling. This was her source.

As I commented over at her place, I am sick to my stomach over this. Here’s a few tidbits that make me especially nauseous:

$633,000 came from Spain’s budget for overseas development aid.

• AND HOW MANY CHILDREN WOULD THAT FEED??

Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo told the press that his 16,000-square-foot ceiling artwork reminded him of “an image of the world dripping toward the sky”.

• I think it’s an image of morality dripping toward HELL.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised the piece and thanked Barcelo for putting his “unique talents to work in the service of the world.”

• Yeah, thanks a lot. NOT.

WWC #61: Public & Private

Since Tink was off on her honeymoon 🙂 our favorite cynic Jay was given free reign with the Weekly Words Challenge . The following is how I interpreted his words:

SuperDad finally agreed that our own PRIVATE fire pit was a good idea, and lickety-split, he & SnakeMaster made one for us! It still needs some big rocks around the edges but this will do fine for now:

PRIVATE fire pit completed and ready for lighting

First lighting after darkness fell

SnakeMaster asked for some hotdogs to cook on the fire

Gary suggested I wasn’t sharing when I failed to post pictures of things I had baked. Hmmmm…. should baking be kept PRIVATE or PUBLIC? What do you think? Fair warning: the next picture may or may not help you in your healthy eating plans.
In this household, it is considered bad form to bake something yummy for other people without baking some for those eating supper at home. Sooooo….. the pan on the left was for PRIVATE home consumption and the pan on the right was the identical item for PUBLIC consumption at church.

Amish friendship bread = pumpkin cake

People must feel sorry for me, because we often get additional leftovers sent home. Score! Four chocolate cupcakes for 4 hungry boys. Oh, and the Amish Friendship Bread, which normally calls for vanilla instant pudding, got an autumn makeover with pumpkin spice pudding.

**Why yes, they are being stored in my dirty oven! It’s actually a very good hiding place for leftover goodies: out of sight/out of mind for me, but they stay nice and fresh for everyone else.
Just don’t forget to check the oven before preheating….

CONGRATULATIONS, TINK & HOOP!!!

We all look forward to seeing the wedding pictures. 🙂

WWC #60: Diversity & Desire (a VERY LATE posting)

Tink is off on her honeymoon — CONGRATULATIONS, TINK & HOOP!!! — and she has left Jay in charge of the Weekly Words Challenge in her absence. Head on over to his place to connect with other entries this week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not only am I an entire week late in posting these pictures, I ended up using photos from my archives!  So really, I have no excuse for not posting these last Tuesday (except for the obvious brain cramp I was experiencing).   So what did I find?  ….

DIVERSITY

I found a field trip class photo.  Our last elementary school (before we moved across the country) had some wonderful DIVERSITY in the classrooms.

DESIRE of a young heart

Santa Claus came to a magical tree lighting ceremony.  The snowflakes were falling, the children’s choir was singing, and a young SnakeMaster told Santa the toy he most desired to find on Christmas morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s what I have for last week — in a few minutes, I’ll post this week’s words and photos.

Weather or not, here it comes!

Sorry about the mess off to the side.  Just look at the temps and the “RealFeel”
Oh, yeah, and the cute little snowflakes!

Currently at 12:39 AM

33 °F RealFeel®:33 °F

Mostly Cloudy

Humidity: 84% Dew Point: 28 °F

Pressure: 30.08 in Visibility: 6 Miles

Winds: W at 3 mph

Early Morning Tue, Nov 18

Low: 27 °F RealFeel®: 24 °F

A snow shower this evening; otherwise, mostly cloudy

Forecast Details | Hourly Forecast for Today | Hourly Forecast for Tonight | AccuPOP® Precipitation Forecast | Local Radar

Tuesday, Nov 18

High: 40 °F RealFeel®: 27 °F

Times of clouds and sun, breezy and colder with a flurry

Tuesday Night, Nov 18

Low: 24 °F RealFeel®: 12 °F

Partly cloudy, breezy and cold

Stargazing conditions

Forecast Details | Hourly Forecast for Tuesday | Hourly Forecast for Tuesday Night | AccuPOP® Precipitation Forecast

Wednesday, Nov 19

High: 41 °F RealFeel®: 35 °F

Cold with sunshine and patchy clouds

Wednesday Night, Nov 19

Low: 28 °F RealFeel®: 13 °F

Mostly cloudy and breezy

Forecast Details | Hourly Forecast for Wednesday | Hourly Forecast for Wednesday Night | AccuPOP® Precipitation Forecast

Thursday, Nov 20

High: 45 °F RealFeel®: 36 °F

Chilly with considerable cloudiness

atmosphere

Tonight is cold and spitting rain/sleet, so I thought a little atmosphere would do me good:

This is a sweet little glass pot with a stained glass design added by my loving DH (grouted instead of molten lead) and it looks wonderful with a lit candle in a darkened room.