Welcome to February!

Classes for the month of February have begun, and the new month is underway.  My day started off too damn early.  Mornings are not my thing.  I am definitely more of a night owl.  So are the Big and Little Guys, it seems.  Both were less than pleased at waking up at dark o'clock so that I could get to work.  But, awaken, they did and off we went.  

My day has gone well thus far.  I am sitting at my desk on campus typing and working on my (visiting) iPad.  There is a slight catch though.  We are working with the iPads to prepare us for their introduction to the student body over the summer, but the books in my Fundamentals course are not compatible with the iPad.  The labs require the use of the program Flash... Which Apple does not allow iPads to install.  How will this affect the future of the iPad/Fundamentals integration?  I don't know, and, to be honest, those are concerns for someone higher up the pay scale than I.  

The iPad has already proven to be useful in multiple ways, and, I hate to admit, has started winning me over.  My ebook collection has grown significantly and I also downloaded some free books and apps for Little Guy, including a Lego Builder game app and a handwriting app that he can use to practice his handwriting.  Project Gutenberg has many of my favorite classics available for download, and I totally took advantage of that.  

I remember going on road trips when I was younger and taking two bags - one with the clothes I needed and the other full of books.  Something like this would have very useful to have in those days.  It certainly would have cut down on the amount of space I needed in the car!  Seeing how Little Guy interacts with this technology has also been fascinating.  

He really took to it like he was born with an iPad in hand.  He learned rapidly how to work it and get things done and he came downstairs the other night to tell me he really liked the iPad and could he please have one...  I laughed, but don't think it hasn't crossed my mind, especially with the sheer amount of educational software available.  However, there are certain things an iPad cannot do that are slightly more pressing - like cook food, since our microwave went out, or stir things really fast, since our mixer started smoking and died after we moved in.  I tell myself that someday we will get to a point where we can afford what we need AND what we want...  For now, I will make do with what we've got. 

The calendar never lies...



Courtesy of Getty Images

I've found my month passing by rather rapidly. Every time I look at my calendar, I am left feeling kind of woozy at the passage of the days. Since classes are only a month long where I work, I find teaching to be white-hair inducing when the months are incredibly shortened... As they were this month.
We lost the first day of class thanks to the New Year's observation. We then lost another day this month for MLK Day. It wouldn't be so difficult if this were a traditional school setting, but we teach on a 1-class-per-month schedule. I did the math (with great difficulty) and discovered that each day of class is essentially 1 week in a traditional setting. That means I am cramming 2 weeks worth of material into other classes throughout the month. So, I've done that, my students have learned something despite their best efforts, and the month draws to a close.

On top of the two class shortened month, though, I also managed to hurt my back part of the way through the month. Usually I can catch it before it really gets bad, but this month it went from zero to "OH HOLY CHRIST THAT SMARTS" in a day. At one point I woke up, judged my back pain as "not too bad", stood up, and immediately sat back down on the bed. Apparently the process of standing caused a muscle spasm and that never goes well. Big Guy bought me a heating pad and made sure I had ibuprofen, so I spent a week hobbling through the house and ensconced on our sofa with a heating pad on my back.

What all of this has done, more than anything else, is make me cranky. I am cranky, I feel old, and I am tired. I am behind on so many things that I want to do because I've been babying myself. But, I've also avoided things I NEED to get done... Like write. I haven't worked on my story at all since the changing of the year and I'm irritated with myself for it. Part of it is more than internal frustration.

I'm feeling angsty and frustrated with certain things. I just need to suck it up and get over it. Instead, I intend to focus on what I am going to do in the spring and summer as the seasons change. Little Guy and I have already been discussing what plants we want to grow. Little Guy wants to plant peas and tomatos for sure. I'm surprised he didn't ask for carrots! I know I need to get sage, basil, oregano, mint, lemon balm, and other delicious plants to grow. For the first time in a couple years I am excited about the growing season. We are no living in a place where things can actually grow!

Life is good

It was a rather Green Christmas

Coming down off the holiday rush always takes time. This season was no exception. We had a truly wonderful holiday, filled with friends, family, warmth and laughter. The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve we held no fewer than 3 parties. There was food and drink flowing, stories, jokes, and games... It was a good holiday.

Crockpot Mulled Wine - Recipe below

But, now we get into the long, slow stretch of the winter. The snow was slow i n coming, but it has hit Indiana with a vengeance. Between Thursday night and today, the brownish-green winter grass has been covered with a thick, white blanket of snow. When I went in to work on Thursday, it was in the mid 40's. When I came home that night, the temperature had dropped and the snow had started to fall. Looking out of our bedroom window at the street below, the neighborhood appeared abandoned. No cars had driven down the length of the road, leaving the snow pristine and unmarred by tire tracks.

Yesterday, we left to run a few errands and then came home to our nice warm house (what a change!) and good food prepared by Big Guy. Little Guy vanished upstairs. He was supposed to clean his closet and put his clothes in his dresser, but I heard the unmistakable sound of battle as his knights fought off the encroaching dragon. Our plan this weekend is simple (especially since Monday is a holiday). Stay home.

I woke up this morning and made a pot of coffee. Shortly, I'll sit on the sofa, curled underneath a blanket as I work on a blanket I'm crocheting. I've been burning through Law & Order: Criminal Intent on Netflix as I work, so that will probably go on again. Little Guy will hopefully finish putting his clothes away and Big Guy will continue to play his Civ 5 Christmas gift.

It's peaceful here. Life is good.


MULLED WINE
2 bottle cheap red wine
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, cut into pieces
2 apples, wedged
Handful of cloves
Cinnamon stick
Brandy
Rum

Put the cinnamon stick and cloves on the bottom of the crockpot, top with the apples and oranges.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top and splash in the brandy and rum.  Add the two bottles of red wine.  Don't worry about brand or type, get whatever is on sale.  Put the lid on the mixture and set on low for about 6 hours.  Stir once in a while and make sure the lid is on so the entire mixture doesn't evaporate.  It is remarkably sweet, good, and warming. 

Game Day

Today is game day in the Kitten household.  We have friends coming over and I am preparing a rather hearty meal in order to feed the fam and anyone else who chooses to eat.  Game day is always fun despite the nerdiness that generally ensues.  

Big Guy has been running a “GURPS” game for the group.  I apparently managed to cement my nerdiness by commenting that I preferred the GURPS magic system to D&D.  *shrug* It just makes more sense.  Admittedly, it can be a pain to deal with, but magic shouldn’t be easy.  We’ve gone through our fair share of characters already in the game.  

Dinner to go along with game is pot roast, homemade bread and mashed potatoes.  A warm and filling meal to go with the snow-laden day.  I actually began cooking the pot roast last night.  Chopped the carrots and potatoes, seasoned the roast and stuck it in the crock pot to cook on low for 12 hours.  It smells delicious.  I woke up a few times throughout the night and smelled it.

The bread is shamelessly stolen from Oregon Cottage, who shamelessly stole and adapted it from the easy artisan bread in five minutes.  I slightly adapted it myself, mixing the dough in a gallon sized ziplock bag for easy fridge storage.  I think I also may have added less flour than the recipe called for, but I ran out of flour.  I popped it in the oven today and worried because it was definitely more liquidy than the pictures on the website.  I had visions of a flat, black, almost bread.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It puffed up and looks BEAUTIFUL.  Seriously, if the bread tastes half as good as it looks, I am excited.  

The mashed taters will come from a box, but that is because one of our friends prefers boxed, instant taters to homemade.  Meh, whatever makes him happy. 

Winter is still here.

Winter is supposed to be coming to an end, not that you would know it around here. Yesterday and the day before we got hit by major lake effect snow, the sticky, heavy kind. It's blanketed everything in a beautiful white covering, but right now, spring seems very far away.

I don't mind too much though. I actually prefer winter to the other seasons. At the end of winter there seems to be a long period of greyness and dismal weather. The grey clouds reflect off the wet pavement and everything gets covered with a coating of dirt and blech before the sun finally comes out.

In winter, however, the snow covers those ills and the white blanket muffles the urban sounds. No car sounds, no urban hum, just silence and sometimes the whispery sound of the snow falling. However, despite the recent snow fall, I can tell that winter is coming to an end. For the past few days, after Big Guy leaves for work, I can hear a bird calling outside the window. I feel bad for that bird because there is no way it's going to get the worm, no matter how early it gets up. Not with all the snow on the ground at least. 

Right now, the sun is shining and I can see the tracks made by the melting snow on the window.  By tonight, we'll be back to cold weather and that melted snow will turn to ice.  Ahh fun. 

Lazy Sunday

I've retreated to the sofa and Big Guy's laptop to write today's journal entry. When I am at my desk at this time of day, the sun manages to drive its shiny spikes right through my eyes and into my brain. I am not a day person. I don't approve of rising before noon, I am not fond of spending time in daylight, and this time of year only makes it worse.

It's January and it's raining. There's something seriously wrong with that. Give me great white blizzards where you cannot see three feet in front of you, give me cheerful little snow showers... But don't give me sun that shines of the snow and blinds you, don't give me dismal, grey days that are cheerless, and please, by all that is held dear, do not give me rain in January. It's a muddy, depressing mess outside and it's only made worse by the rapidly changing clouds.

I recognize and accept that both sun and rain have a place in the cycle of things. Both are needed to grow plants and refresh the earth. But not now. Now is a time for the ground to sleep and regain its strength for the growing season. This is a time where we wait with anticipation and excitement for the first buds of spring. Winter has its place in the cycle too and this rain and grey is throwing off the cycle.

As much as people complain about winter and snow, there is a need for it. Without this season, the ground would not have a chance to rest and our attempts to grow things will be thrown off. And, despite my love for winter, I do love the growing seasons. Last year, my garden didn't fare so well. This year, we're going to build a raised bed, fill it with wonderful dirt from my mom's yard, and, hopefully, actually be successful this year.

In the meantime, Big Guy, Little Guy and I will sit in our house and await the spring. Today, I do need to enter grades into the spreadsheet but I'll save that until after dark. Big Guy has started on the Song of Ice and Fire series, but for right now, he's watching a truly terrible movie called "The Time Guardian". It's apparently a 1989 rip-off of The Terminator and, despite starting only a few minutes ago, is already pretty horrible.

It stars Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap, Battlestar Galactica) and Carrie Fisher (Star Wars: The Original Trilogy) in what, I can only assume, is a part of their lives they'd rather forget. They use laser guns and the killer robots appear to be Space Barbarian Transformers with horned heads. They bear an astonishing resemblance to Optimus Prime. Dean Stockwell apparently plays the stock douchebag that he's known for, while Carrie Fisher is a Princess Leia type character circa "Return of the Jedi". They time travel from the 40th century back to 1988 in Austrailia. Why? Why would anyone want to travel back to 1988?

Even Little Guy couldn't watch it. After devouring about 10 crackers, he ran back to the front room to play with his cars and shoot up the Cantina in Lego Star Wars II. Big Guy did better than any of us and made it through 20 minutes before he decided enough was enough. We'll probably zone out now and read while not really paying attention to something on the television. Gotta love Sundays.

The measured tree overflows.