anticipation

Christmas always makes me feel like a little kid.  There's a certain magic to the holiday ~ don't we all still want to believe in Santa? 
The Bartons are all ready.  Decorations are hung.  Presents are wrapped.  Food is bought.  Menus are planned.
So why do I have such anxiety?  Did I get just the right gifts?  Will the boys love what they are getting?  Will they feel slighted because we didn't go broke buying and buying and buying?  Will they understand the love and the thought it takes to buy special gifts?  Will they understand the responsibility we are attempting to have in order survive the commercialism and the overspending?
I hope we are teaching them the value of giving from the heart.
I pray for peace in my heart and within my family.  Merry Christmas Eve Eve :)

Winter Solstice

The Darkest Day ~ as the Earth leans its Northern Hemisphere at its farthest point from the Sun.

The first day of Hope ~ as the days will be getting longer and we are working toward the warmth that the Sun will bring when we get close enough.

We celebrate this day with food, friends, and poems.  Here is mine from Anne Bradstreet:  "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

Happy Winter

The highlight of the poem readings: 

Winter 2010
by Gracie Cassidy (age 9)

Here it comes
There it goes
Everywhere is snow.
Cold, shaking
Snow days yesssss.
We go by fires, heaters
under blankets.
Cuddle up with dogs and cats.
Winter 2010
Hello and goodbye.

day two

a second snow day in a row.  Wow ~ it's just snowed and snowed for two days.  Sunday we had a dusting (that was getting rained on)  Today:

I love the snowy view out my back door.  The red barn surrounded by a white world.  It's calming and peaceful . I'm thankful for the roof and the furnace as it's 16° out there.

Yesterday the boys played in the snow at Cassidy's house and played PS2 (old school) Yu-Gi-Oh! ~ which is hysterical ~ hearing teenage boys playing a game they LOVED as 8 and 9 year olds.  We were lazy and Mike plowed and plowed and went to bed at 8:00.  I always feel bad being such a slug when snow makes his life busy and stressful. 

What to do on our last "free" snow day?  I suppose I have to do something around the house.  I think today will be chocolate covered bacon making day ~ Patrick is going to take some to math class.  "What's better than math?  Math with food."   

SNOW DAY!

"Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, arrives the snow." ~ R.W. Emerson

There are really no other two words that can bring such joy and excitement as those two.  A day with no expectations.  A day with no responsibilities.  A day to wear the jammies.  A day to catch up.  A day to be lazy.  A SNOW DAY!

Today is a day to watch this blizzard.  It is beautiful outside, but I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere!

perserverence

Three (maybe four) years ago a friend gave me a little bit of his Christmas cactus from a repotting.  For the first two years, it did not grow.  I mean, it really did not grow.  Not a single leaf was added.  It didn't die either.  Just two little shoots in the dirt not doing anything.  Then I tried fertilizing it.  And that worked ~ it actually started to have new growth.  So I did what any impatient person would do, I added more fertilizer.  And it started to die ~ oops (too much of a good thing...)  So I repotted it into cleaner/fresher soil.  That was Spring 2010 ~ and it has taken off.  As a Christmas Miracle, it has bloomed.  One gloriously pink flower (and even  few buds more).

There is hope for my indoor gardening skills.

blessing

Today I was sitting at my desk while my class finished up their journals and got out their vocabulary work.  There was quite a bit of activity in the class so I didn't notice Girton and Betty Smith at my door at first.  They caught my eye and it took me a second, but I realized why Betty was there; sure enough, there was Adam Smith ~ all grown up.  I had Adam in class when he was in first, second and third grades.  He was special, even then.  One of the smartest kids I've ever had ~ understood everything and remembered everything the first time he heard it. 
Now he's in the Army ~ Airborn.  I had him tell my class a little bit about his job and some of the things he's done.  He's on leave and then will be leaving for Germany for the next three years doing training. 
What a blessing to see a student so successful all these years later.  I do love being a teacher.

dreadmill

I hate running on the treadmill.  Ask me.  I'll tell you.  I hate running on the treadmill.  However, there is a reason there are treadmills.  The most obvious, it's northeast Ohio.  It gets cold and it snows and the wind blows.  I went to the Y today for this very reason.  I'm proud of myself because I went, and I even realized a positive ~ I can speed train.  It's that amazing + button ~ so I'm practicing running at 6:58 minute miles.  Today I ran 1/2 a mile at that speed...not to shabby.
But that positive aside, I still hate running on the treadmill.  There are all sorts of ways running on the treadmill can go wrong.  I don't run straight, sometimes I go sideways.  If this happens, I'll fall off.  I might notice my shoe untied and bend over to tie it ~ woosh, I'll go shooting off the end.  I might just burst out in song ~ "All the Single Ladies" makes me sing out loud.  I might fart...really can't recover from that one... And it's just not fun to run on the treadmill.  There are TV's to look at, but again, I have to look up and I might lose my step and fall off.  I can look at the block wall, oh boy.  I can look at the people running in front of me and think all sorts of not-nice things...and then realize the people behind me are thinking those same not-nice things about me.
I will run this winter ~ at the Y ~ on the treadmill, but my opinion will not change.
I hate running on the treadmill.