Have a Laugh

Have you Elfed Yourself lately? I did: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/emGjwrzNjE4YqHqQlRPX

Check it out. Funny stuff. :o)

Update: Surgery, School

So much going on lately. Some I've wanted to share and some I haven't. Seems there is always some good to outweigh the bad and bad to outweigh the good. Balance, I suppose. So here's a bit of what's been up around here:

On October 15th I had surgery to remove a milk duct and surrounding tissue from my right breast. There were mammograms, ultrasounds and a core biopsy before this. According to studies, there was a 12% chance of my having breast cancer due to the condition found on the first mammogram. I didn't want a lot of people knowing I was going through this. I told more friends than anything because they are supportive without freaking out. (thank you) Many of my family members don't even know yet and this is probably where they will learn. I'm sorry if you are offended by this. Just know that I did what I had to do for myself here. The good news is that everything came back completely benign and the condition I have carries no increased risk of breast cancer. Yippeee!!!! All I have now is a big reminder to get regular mammograms, do regular self-exams, a nice big two to three inch scar across my boob and more gray hair. Well more like my gray hair went white and some of the brown went gray. A couple of people have actually asked me if I highlighted my hair because I have a new streak towards the front that almost looks like I put it there on purpose. Nope, ahhhh the wonders of anesthesia and stress. :)

So about two hours after I found out I did not have cancer I learned that a very special woman passed away. Here name is Colvin Carter. She was a high school teacher that was very sweet and comforting to me during my year teaching at Columbia High while Patsy was dyeing of cancer. She will be very missed around this town. There were a few other things that all happened within 48 hours of me getting my good news. The balance, I suppose?

In other news, I'm going back to school. Just got my acceptance letter from the mathematics department at UF for some post bac work. I most likely will not be accepted into the master's program there because I don't have a 4.0 in undergrad math and they are, apparently, extremely competitive like that. I have a few tricks in my pocket though so I'm not counting it out completely. And in totally related news, I interviewed at the community college here in Lake City a month or two ago. I just heard today that I will be teaching Elementary Algebra there in the spring. Which is awesome because I was starting to sweat about paying for my class at UF in the spring. I will be one busy woman come January. I already have my schedule all entered into a spreadsheet with driving time included. Best to be prepared for the craziness. Morning class as teacher at Blake every day. Afternoon class as teacher at Blake on Tuesday and Thursday. Afternoon class as student at UF Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Evening class as teacher at Lake City Community College on Tuesday and Thursday. Boys will be on their own for dinner those nights! Depending on enrollment, there is a possibility of me teaching more than one class at LCCC. And of course, Blake is way out west of town, LCCC is way out east of town and UF is down in Gainesville. The good news is that I'll get to make it through a ton of books on CD. Good thing the library has a large section to borrow from. :) And LCCC just had a name change approved .... it will now be Florida Gateway College and will begin offering four year degrees. They are even starting an engineering program. I'm so happy to get my foot in the door there. I love teaching but middle school students are tough. I love teaching, hate discipline. Shouldn't have too much of a problem with college classes.

Well speaking of school .... I better head that way. Got a math and science class to teach. Lab day!

Fashion Sense

Brody loves to pick out his own clothes. He was quite proud of this outfit today. Does he have good fashion sense or what? ;o)

Halloween Pics

Costume Update

Halloween Costume Progress

The theme of our Fall Festival at school this year is "magic and make believe". The boys decided they wanted to be wizards. I spent most of my weekend sewing Houston's wizard costume. I was hoping to have both done but they are taking much longer than I anticipated. I think it came out really good though and have to say I am proud to have sewn my first ever set-in sleeve. My grandma will be proud! :o)

I'm going to have some cute little wizards on Friday!

A Knitting Update

Just a little snippet because I can ....

The Revontuli (aka take forever) Shawl ... almost done!

And the Math Geek (aka Recovery) Scarf ... I have absolutely no idea what possessed me to make this or what I will do with it. I'm loving every minute of it though. Wheeee!!!!!

Soup!

There's a lot going on behind the scenes these days. I'll be able to let the cat out of the bag soon. In the meantime, here's the soup I made in the crock pot today. Cabbage Taco Soup ... yummy! :)

Brown some lean ground turkey in a pan with some onions and olive oil. Throw some tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, kidney beans, corn and shredded cabbage in a crock pot. Mix in the browned turkey and onions. Add some parsley and taco seasoning and let it ride for 6-8 hours on low. I'm a soup lover and this is some of the best ever!

Houston Can Swim!

This is awesome! Thanks Aunt Karena for sending the video. This was the weekend I was down in Sarasota at the Florida Fiber In so I missed Houston deciding to swim. Apparently he just decided it was time to take off the water wings. :)

Matt & Karla's Wedding

Some random pictures from my trip to Virginia a couple weekends ago. Lots of family, lots of love and lots of fun. It was a great weekend! The pictures are in reverse order (forgot about that deal in blogger when I was uploading). The first picture is the morning after the wedding when we were all beginning our trips home.

Kids

So much going on, so little time to blog. Here are some cute kid pics to entertain you for a bit.

Wrenda took these two pics of Brody while I was out of town this weekend. Too cute!

What Have I Been Up To?

Busy, busy, busy ....

Preparing for this: Florida Fiber In (check both the vendors and the demo schedule)

And teaching this: Earth Space Science @ Blake (also teaching Algebra II but don't have a website for that)

And ..... possibly some very exciting news to come. Send positive vibes my way around 10am on September 23rd. ;o)

Houston's Skating Rink Party

And his birthday socks!

Check Me Out

Blake School Faculty

Houston's Birthday

So this is what a 5-year-old looks like ...

I love the love!

We headed to the river for a bit in the afternoon.

Learning to drive the boat...

... and little brother too.

The slide at the sandbar ... good times!

One of his birthday presents. Big boy in kindergarten needs his own alarm clock.

Brownies for the birthday boy!

The First Day of School

We all had a great first day of school. Houston was a big help to the younger kids and Brody just fit right in like he had been there for years. His teacher was amazed at how good he was. I had a great day too. My students are great. So polite and respectful. I didn't even get any moans and groans when I gave an assignement on the first day of school. This private school thing is going to take some getting used to ... but in a good way! I love it so far. What a great facility and a great program. I told my students how lucky they are that their parents send them somewhere like this. And as a teacher, to have anything I need at my disposal is amazing. We had a great talk in science about our plans for the year. The kids have some great ideas too. Lots of good things ahead and hopefully a fun learning adventure for all. I'm really happy that life has lead me here. I love the Montessori method and am super excited to learn all I can about it. I went to a Montessori school through 3rd grade and I really attribute that to my success in school. Just thinking about this method with only 10 kids in a science class makes me very happy. The possibilities are endless. :)

Getting ready ... dress blues for the first day of school

Dress blues for mama too!

Houston & Brody ringing the bell for the start of the school year

The flag ceremony

Heading back to class ...

Staying busy in mama's classroom at the end of the day so she can get some things done

Brody had a big day and was so tired. He came into my classroom and asked if he could lay down.

Happy 5th Birthday Houston!

I can't believe Houston turns 5 today. Wow do the years go fast. He is such a great kid and I enjoy every minute with him. He's turning into quite the conversationalist. :) He starts Kindergarten on Monday and I start teaching at his school. I'm really excited to be teaching with my kids. I think we're going to have some great years together. I'm teaching high school level Earth Space Science to the entire middle school (10 students total ages 10 - 14) and I'm teaching Alebra II to one high school senior. I'm really looking forward to following the Montessori method and seeing what these kids can do. I got to meet them at orientation yesterday and I think they are excited too. We have lots of fun things planned that you just can't do when you are teaching 35+ kids in a public school. We're going to plant trees for Earth Day, have astronomy sessions at night to find constellations and map the craters on the moon, we're going down to UF to the observatory ..... so many things and I am really looking forward to it all!

Sister Hazel Rocks Again!

Andrew Copeland

Ryan Newell dripping sweat on me.

Andrew, Ryan & Ken

Cardboard versions of the guys came out first.

This is the playlist for the concert that was on the stage by Andrew's feet. We were leaning against the stage so I could read the whole thing. I didn't even zoom in to get this pic, that's how close we were.

Brett leaning against the stage waiting for the concert to start.

Signed CD inserts.

Me & Ryan Newell, lead guitarist.

Me & Ken Block, lead singer.

It was another great Sister Hazel concert. These guys never disappoint. Very talented musicians indeed! We got to meet Ken, Ryan and Jett after the concert. They were all really nice and very appreciative of our support. When I pulled out my CD inserts every one of them thanked me for buying all of their albums. They actually seemed surprised. Great guys, great night! :)

We also got to meet the opening band, Shawn Fisher and the Jukebox Gypsys. Never heard of them before but they absolutely rocked the house. Shawn has a little Steven Tyler in him for sure. Really nice guys too. We bought their CD (and had is signed of course) and I have listened to it about 15 times already. They have some new fans!

Great Post from the CEO of Whole Foods

Read here.

The Great Dumpling Disaster

So this past wednesday was Nancy's (aka Nana's) birthday and I thought it would be nice to cook dinner for everyone. I know she likes my salad bar setup and chicken and dumplings and I've made that recipe so many times that I know it works. Or so I thought. So we have eight adults and six kids over for dinner and I'm running a little behind but not too bad. Got the salad bar up so everyone can make salads and wait for the dumplings. Got the dough made, got it all balled up and pinched off into the broth. Wait about ten minutes then add the chicken and egg back in the pot. Wait another five or ten minutes and test a dumpling just to be sure they are done before I tell everyone to grab a bowl. OMG! They are pure flour in the middle. I'm talking bite it open and loose flour falls all over your mouth. What in the world???? So I cook and cook and cook .... add water and cook some more ... I'm talking these things boiled for over an hour, if not closer to two. And they still were not cooked. I have never had this happen and I just don't understand it. I was ready to order pizza but everyone said they would eat them anyone. They ended up cutting the dumplings in half and let them absorb some juice. This was the strangest incident I think I have ever had in the kitchen. The recipe that I always use calls for self-rising flour which I never have on hand so I add in the salt and baking powder to make it self-rising. Well this time I happened to have a bag that we bought for something else and didn't use. This is the only difference between this night and the probably twenty other times I've made this recipe. And of course this would happen when I have a house full of people to feed. I really just don't understand it. Could the flour be bad in some way? Has anyone ever had an experience like this before? I totally puzzled.

Bad Blogger

Here's something to enjoy while you wait for me to get back to family blogging. Come cruise down the Santa Fe River with us for about 25 seconds. :)




And here's Tiki chilling on the boat. She is in heaven at the river.

Are Those Gloves? Or Heads? Hmmm....

This is what happens when the kids play in my fiber room while I'm photographing and listing yarn. I don't know how those dyeing gloves turned into heads. Silliness all around. :)

A Few Pictures from My Reunion Weekend in Bradenton

Please excuse the lack of blog posting lately. I've been busy as a bee.


Friends from the "old neighborhood".


Catching up at the Meet 'n Greet.


The view from our hotel room.


Us with my cousin Eric and his wife.


Goofiness.


Me and my cuz.


Rose and I have been friends forever.


Sandy and I have also been friends for even longer ... since we were about 7 or 8 years old.


My brother doing what he does best ... and Brody right there with him.


At the pool with Grandma.


Houston was so excited to ride his bike in Grandma's neighborhood without training wheels. Never even fell down!

Florida Etsy Street Team Ads

The Florida Etsy Street Team (etsyFEST) is putting together a catalog. I was an ad angel and made an ad for two of my teammates. I am no graphic artist and all I had to work from was their etsy shops and a few pics in a photobucket account. I think they turned out okay though. Any thoughts?

Endeavor Set to Launch ... again

Let's hope launch attempt #6 at 6:03 pm today is a go. We drove three hours to Titusville on Sunday for the boys to see a launch up close. Got scrubbed with about ten minutes to go due to weather. We had a great meal at our favorite restaurant though so it wasn't a total loss. MMMmmmmm.... rock shrimp! It was a nice little trip down memory lane as well. I sure do miss living down there.

What Have I Been Up To?

The Tour de Fleece 2009! See the Rocket Yarn Blog for details. Here are a few pics to give you an idea...

Birthday Reflections

To me a birthday is much like the first day of the year. It is a time to reflect on life ... where you've been, where you are and where you are headed. It works out well for me that my birthday happens to fall smack dab in the middle of the year. It's also a time to celebrate life and all that you have ... friends, family, accomplishments, etc. Because if you don't celebrate your own life, nobody is going to do it for you.

I had a great birthday weekend. We spent Saturday on the river with family and had a really nice day. Nancy made me a really yummy birthday cake and everyone sung happy birthday to me. Sunday morning Brett made me a yummy veggie omelet. Then that afternoon I had my knitting group here in Lake City that I started back in October. It was a really great meeting. We had some guests from the Gainesville group and we even had a new member join us. Diane moved here two weeks ago and found us through Ravelry. (Yay Ravelry!) I even got birthday gifts! I was blown away by that ... totally unexpected. Really gave me the warm fuzzies. :) Starting this group is one of the best things I've done for myself since we moved to Lake City. It has brought all kinds of friendship and happiness into my life. Then Sunday evening we drove to Gainesville to meet up with our friends Andre and Stephanie and baby Simone at Chuck E. Cheese. Yep ... I went to Chuck E. Cheese for my birthday ... and you better bet I played some ski-ball!






I racked up quite a bit of birthday money this year too which is greatly appreciated. Apparently it was burning a hole in my pocket because I already spent it. I ordered a motor conversion kit for my drum carder along with a bunch of angelina and firestar to make some artsy batts with. Yay sparkles! :) I'm on an art yarn kick for the Tour de Fleece. If you want to know what i'm talking about ... go check out the Rocket Yarn Blog.

Our First Wine Making Adventure

Mashed up blackberries that Brett and the boys picked out in the yard along with sugar and lemon ...


After primary fermentation...


Strained and ready for secondary fermentation ...


And now in the final stage ... secondary fermentation

Interesting Article About Friendship Among Women

UCLA Study on Friendship Among Women

Very interesting article that I think all women need to read. The older I get, the more I realize how important (and necessary) female friendship is. This article makes so much sense.