The calendar never lies...



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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!

Wordless Wednesday - Work in Progress

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. 

2011 in Review - Now with 2012 Resolutions!

This holiday season ate me up and spit me out.  I don’t know where time went and I don’t know how it got so crazy leading up to Christmas.  By the week before, I still had almost all of my shopping left to do, a party on Christmas Eve with no food, and we barely had a tree….  However, by the time Christmas did roll around, the tree was decorated, food was prepared (including some amazingly good mulled wine), gifts were wrapped, and much fun was had by all. 

Now, as I finish the holiday week, I look back over the year and it’s really been a very interesting year.  We moved, things changed, life evolved… And, most importantly, we survived.  In a way, I feel like a twig caught in the currents of my life.  I am buffeted to and fro, hither and yon, swept away by things I cannot see and cannot understand.  I’ve made it through, but I feel kind of overwhelmed and clueless.  I suppose that is a symptom of life as well. 

I am blessed in that it has been a good year, even despite difficulties.  I feel as though I am where I should be.  Even on boring nights at home, where I sit on the sofa with my crocheting or a book, and Big Guy putzes around on his computer while Little Guy plays a game/watches a movie/creates chaos, I feel at peace and content.  I like who and where I am. 

So, what lessons have I learned this year… 

I’ve learned that my tolerance for drama is at an all time low.  I’ve dealt with enough upheaval in my own life that if others want to create or bathe in drama, I can’t handle it anymore. It stresses me out, makes me tense, and I want to run away.  So, I’ve recognized that running from it may be the best option and I do. 

I’ve learned that I need to push myself harder to get things done.  I won NaNoWriMo.  Now I need to push myself to finish the book.  Get it written, get it revised, and get it out.  I have to stop caring whether or not it’s crap.  If Stephanie Meyer can get that misogynistic, cardboard drek published…  So can I. 

So, I resolve to complete my book and submit it for publication over the next year.  It’s grown in scope and I discovered as I wrote that I needed to go back even further.  I resolve to have a fantastic garden and to find new and wonderful opportunities to educate my child.  I resolve to create a peaceful, happy home for my family and to continue to put my best efforts into my marriage and my parenting. 

2011 was interesting and it ended on an extremely positive note.  Here’s hoping 2012 carries on getting better.