Not Much to Say....

Since I don't have much to say this evening, I'll share a picture from my trip to West Virginia this summer.

Who Let the Dog Out?

Third week of back to school: the busiest one yet. But thankfully the Lord kept me going without burning out. I can't even begin to express my appreciation of that! Thursday ended up being a 7-8:30 workday split between the two schools. Not only was I able to get a ton done, but I was still smiling at the end of the day. Knowing me, myself and I, that is something only the Lord can accomplish.

Monday morning I opened the door to the staff room and found two adults and a dog. While I was trying to get my jaw up off of the floor, I apparently never thought to close the door and the dog got out. I should mention that this was taking place as kids were coming in for the day. So the dog took off into the school while various staff members chased it. I, on the other hand, tried to pick up the crumbled pieces of my brain and went back to my room, only to be confronted with numerous 4th graders and parent phone calls.

Found out later that the dog was from the surrounding neighborhood and had followed a kid into school that morning. Upon close examination, the dog appeared to be part pit bull. I'm guessing he was safely returned to his owner. Fun times.

My other fun story so far this year took place at my other school. I was "lecturing" the band kids about being good role models for the younger band kids when one 7th grader got up, rolled on the floor, and then struck a pose. It was priceless!

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

You are leaving port under sealed orders and in a troubled period. You cannot know whither you are going or what you are to do. But why not take the Pilot on board who knows the nature of your sealed orders from the outset, and who will shape your entire voyage accordingly? He knows the shoals and the sand banks, the rocks and the reefs, He will steer you safely into that celestial harbor where your anchor will be cast for eternity. Let His almighty nail-pierced hands hold the wheel, and you will be safe.

--Peter Marshall (1902 - 1949)

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Have I mentioned that I love reading? Always have and hopefully always will. Historical fiction is my favorite, but I do enjoy reading a variety of different genres.

So...apparently my niece loves to read as well. I found this out when I went down for a few days last month to help watch the kid while the rest of the family worked on my sister & bro-in-law's new house.

She was constantly asking to be read to. Thankfully she is not into chapter books yet and has a good collection of board books to keep the reader entertained. As you can see from the photo above, size doesn't matter.


Rumor has it my sister has taken to hiding certain books. Considering she is a teacher and most teachers encourage reading, the situation must be pretty desperate. But I enjoyed it while I was there!

Great Garden Gatherings

As summer is winding down, my food processor and I are gearing up. My teeny, tiny garden has been producing amazing amounts of tomatoes, along with awesome eggplant and new this year: beans! I am so excited. There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of watching tiny plants grow into something that is able to be put on the table as food. It takes work (even in a small garden), but fun because of the visible progress it makes.

I've been freezing stuff from my garden as well as zucchini from my mom's garden. Not only have I had enough to freeze, but also enough to give away. Part of the joy in having a garden is in being able to bless others with the bounty.

Someday, after my garage falls down and I have to rebuild it, I'll move it forward so I can have a bigger garden behind it. My brother suggested building raised beds...so now I'm drooling over it.

So yesterday I made tomato sauce for the first time. Considering my Italian background, it is probably a disgrace to only be making sauce for the first time at my age. But it was sooo easy and tasted so good, I'm sure I'll be making for a long time to come. The fun part is that you can make it different every time, depending on what you have in your fridge. It was pretty exciting.

The Rustling Begins....

At approximately 9:20 for the past couple of nights the rustling has begun as the nightly snacks of potato chips and ice cream appear from their various locations. The clan has gathered at my sister's new house for a week long work-a-thon. Thankfully there is enough space that we are not tripping over each other. It has been quite enjoyable: staining the house, turning a barn into a garage, watching the kid, cooking, cleaning and cleaning out brush and trees. It is very satisfying doing jobs where you can see immediate results.

Grill Fail #2

So grilling is not my greatest skill that I've ever tried to develop. The first time my brother and I broke out the charcoal grill this year, we forgot to pile the charcoal into a pyramid before trying to light the stack. We did not get a roaring fire. In fact, it took forever to cook the meat. Today was try #2. I remembered to stack the bricks and then proceeded to go through almost a whole box of matches trying to start the fire. At which point my brother came out and doused the whole thing with lighter fluid (note: the bricks came with fluid already on them). It burned for awhile, I went inside to prep the meat and veggies. My brother turned away from the fire and it promptly went out. A few more matches later we gave up and went to plan B: fry pans.

I'm sure the little old lady next door got a kick watching us out her window. I'm also thinking there is something wrong with our charcoal and perhaps buying a new bag would be a wise idea. It was from last year...and did sit out in the rotting garage all winter and spring. Maybe it got wet. Very possible since every time I mow I have to pick up pieces of rotting wood that have come off of the garage. But that's for another post...