The Quilting Bee

To the four people who actually read my blog.....welcome!

I have been working on my quilt for the last five days about 6-8 hours a day.  I am bound and determined to finish my t-shirt quilt before I go back to school on the 5th.  Let me walk you through my journey. 

This is Courtney cutting out her shirts. This is the first step after you choose your shirts. You need 25 14x14 in squares.  This square will be made up of 4 7x7 squares. I am teaching Court how to make hers while I'm working on mine. 

Once you finish cutting the squares, you need to create a layout.  Thank goodness for my large bedroom and a digital camera to help with that. 

Once you have the layout, it's time to start sewing.  You sew a strip of fabric on the bottom and right sides of each square. Then you assemble the squares into columns.  Here is a pic of my first two columns.  

Everything is more complicated with a cat who wants to be in the middle of everything. Thanks Henry!

I will keep you posted as I work on it more and more.  

Merry Christmas

I've been inspired to write in my blog after my 3 month sabbatical.  Let me express the few things that have been keeping me busy lately.

* 66 8th Graders 5 days a week

* 30 small tikes in High Five kids choir

* HFBC Choir and our fabulous Celebration Christmas show. 

*Ignite (My Sunday School Class)

* Applying to grad school (I start in January!)

* Finishing my quilt

*Scrapbooking random life events

I promise for at least the next two weeks, while I'm on Christmas break, I will be posting more frequently.  After that....we'll see.  

Merry Christmas. Love to all.

Mere

Cloverfield aka The Galveston Alien Project

Tomorrow I say goodbye to my home of one year.  Tonight before I finished packing I wanted to curl up and watch a movie. The only problem with that is my Netfllix are in the mail and everything else is packed. Thank you faithful friend Video On Demand. I've been wanting to watch Cloverfield since it came out so I stretched out on the couch with a bed pillow and a sheet. (Blankets and Sofa pillows are packed.) I pushed play with my bowl of low fat no sugar added ice cream in my lap. I must say it is in my top ten list of movies not to watch followed by How to Deal and 2001 Space Odyssey. Don't get me wrong, I usually love sci-fi but this was terrible. 

It reminded me of the spoof of Blair Witch Project my friends and I made as a freshmen in high school. We were at the beach and we called it "the Galveston Alien Project."  We had ketchup blood and everything.  Same concept with a few more fireworks.  I would be fine with it if it were at least smart but it seemed like a movie to show off special effects.  I didn't much like the characters and they end up dying before you get to know them well anyway.  I heard lots of good things about this movie when it came out. To my friends who enjoyed it: What were you thinking? Thus ends my rant on Cloverfield.

One down, thirty five to go

The first week of school has come and gone, and what a blessing it was. It's amazing what a difference a year makes. My kiddos are super sweet this year and I am more sure of myself and what I'm teaching. Not one student turned in a paper with an obscene drawing. I'd say that's a step up. 

Life is hectic as I move in a week.  It looks like the cabinets threw up all over my living room. What is not already in boxes is strewn about.  The goal is to be fully packed by the end of the weekend. We shall see.

I made a big decision this week.  I was thinking about how much I missed school and thought about taking the GRE for fun.  That's when I realized it's time that I go back to school. I was accepted to start this fall but the timing just wasn't right.  Thankfully I still had everything together to reapply.  The application is in and now I wait.  

The plight of a young teacher

In service. Two words simply cannot express the inner turmoil that ensues during the week prior to school starting. Thank goodness for new district laptops and wireless Internet access. My friend Sara (Pronounced Sahrah) put it best by saying, "I think they make us endure this to make us look forward to school starting." Seriously, five days is a bit excessive.

My favorite quote from in service: "We feed the teachers so they don't eat the children."  Enough said. 

Slowly trucking through Poisonwood Bible. I am loving it but don't have as much time to read as summer is winding down. I heard of a Language Arts teacher at a low ses school in the district who said he hated to read. I was appalled. How can you get at risk kids to love reading if you don't read yourself. Ugh.

On a happier note, Happy Birthday Erin and Kim!

Love to all,

Mere

A good pair of shoes can change your life...

 ...just ask Cinderella.  

I sit here, writing to you, in my gym clothes and a new pair of heels. I don't have anything to wear them with (yet) but they spoke to me yesterday at Target.  This morning, I cleaned my apartment adorned in said heels.  They look so pretty on my smallish feet.  I thought I'd share.

I also wanted to express concern at the negative reviews of Breaking Dawn.  I agree with Matt Selman that we have had enough flirting between Edward and Bella and it's time to move on.  This installation in the series was much darker and more serious as the characters are "older."  I found it much more appealing that the previous three.  I conquered the 750 page volume in no less than three days.  I quite enjoyed it. 

Brooke Fraser was amazing in concert.  Her look reminds me of the 90s Alanis but her sound is just so pure.  My new favorite. 

I go back to school in less than one week.  I am not looking forward to the days of inservice. Bleh. I am looking forward to starting fresh with a new bunch of kiddos.  I'm praying this year goes more smoothly. (It can't get much worse than last year.)  I will miss the extra time for good books and coffee.  le sigh. With that I say,

Thanks and gig them. 

"I watched Waitress for the first time and loved it" Pie

So cute! Here are a few pies I'd make up, if I had the bakery skills good enough to invent pies. (I'm not a bad cook....I just need a recipe.)

"Your parents should have thought twice before procreating," Pie

"I'm late for church so I have to sit in the front row," Pie

"I'm going to read while I vaccuum," Pie

"My cat ate an SOS pad," Pie

"The humidity feels like a sweater," Pie

"I wish I could eat everything Paula Deen cooks and still loose weight," Pie

If you can think of any pie names, leave them for me. : )

Thanks and Gig 'em

Random Musings

Howdy Friends,

It's been a while but life has not been overly eventful the past week or so. Summer will do that for you. (Not that I'm complaining.) Some things worthy of mentioning....

Thanks to my friends and fam who have been keeping mom in your prayers. She is recovering well from surgery. The meds are managing the pain.

A question: Does anyone else ever get words stuck in your head? Like a song that would get stuck in your head, but it's a word? Maybe that's a testament to the fact that I'm a book nerd. I've had the word ubiquitious in my head for three days. Go figure.

Design Star: Yea Jennifer! I can't wait to see her new show. (I have watched copious amounts of HGTV lately, again, attributed to summer.)

Best new summer show: The Secret Life of the American Teenager

Breaking Dawn***SPOILER***

BELLA IS PREGNANT WITH A VAMP BABY!?!? Can we say Darla and Angel? I just hope it's not a repeat of Connor...boy did he get on my nerves.

The Tabernacle book is uber interesting. Especially if you love symbolism. Everything in the temple points to Christ. God left no detail out in his planning of it. So cool.

Flavor-Ice Light...the best summer popscicle ever.

That's about all friends. Hopefully the new school year will bring more philosophical musings, but for now, please be content with my random mind.

Gig 'em and God Bless

Recreational Revelations

You may have been wondering about my posting recently, or lack there of.  I have spent the last week on vacation away from phone, e-mail, and my computer.  I did much reading and reflecting. Although I love my friends very much, it was nice to have uninterrupted family time.  Some noteworthy things about the week.

* I finished The Pillars of the Earth. Good job Ken Follett.  So wonderfully written. It's well worth the time commitment.

* Stardust....I'm sorry Neil Gaiman, I read half of it and can't get into it. 

* Buffy the Vampire: Portal through Time Yes, this is glorified fan fiction, but it's just fun and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. 

* Family reunion t-shirts are awesome.

* Backing your car into a pole isn't fun.

* The pain of a miscarriage is largely overlooked by society.  I love you Beth Ann and Matt. 

* Brooke Fraiser is amazing.  Check her out on I-tunes

* Two Goals for the Near Future:

1) Loose Weight

2) Learn all the lyrics to Ice Ice Baby (I am half way there)

I love to serve others. 

In spite of all of our idiosyncrasies, I love my family more than anything. They're awesome.

Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog

Mr. Whedon has done it again.    Only Joss could conceive the idea of a musical blog.  It's worth sitting through the first few minutes of monologue to get to the humorous, melodic stylings of Dr. Horrible and his nemesis Captain Hammer. Enjoy!

Dr.Horrible's Singalong Blog

Lessons Learned

I have recently been pondering the subject of friendship. I have been blessed with many friendships and through the years have been taught several lessons. (Many were learned the hard way.) Here are a few that have been on my heart lately.

1) Sometimes you don't always get the apology you were looking for.

2) Conversations don't actually have to be spoken. The eyes say it all.

3) Making friends is hard, but keeping them is harder.

4) Being friends on facebook doesn't make it so.

5) Your true friends can understand when you speak "yawn," "cry" or "toothbrush."

6) Err on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion.

7) The truth hurts but sometimes is necessary.

8) Don't let things build until they blow up. If there's a problem talk about it.

9) It's better to be kind than right.

10) Time doesn't necessarily heal all wounds, but the Lord can mend a broken heart and lead you to forgiveness. 

Oh, Henry

While I like to say that I devour books, I mean this only in the figurative sense. Tonight, my beloved cat, Henry, decided to take this more literally.  He tore a page out of my Word Nerd book and started gnawing away. He was quite irritated when I, his mom, took it away proclaiming, "We don't eat books!"  So, friends, please remember that the phrase, "devour books," is only a metaphor. 

I Want to Believe

When I was in the 7th grade I had an obsession unlike most kids my age.  Rather than collecting posters of my favorite boy band I scoured magazines for info on The X-Files. I was convinced that I too would be a doctor like Scully and work for the FBI.  During my trip to DC last year I was giddy as we passed the J. Edgar Hoover Building during the trolley tour.  I have fond memories of watching Mulder search for his sister and wondering if the truth really was "out there."  That being said, I was thrilled to hear Chris Carter was making another X-Files movie.  It's a stand alone story that I will be in line to see on July 25th.  Here is a clip from the movie. Enjoy

I Don't Need a Super Power

I have always been fascinated by super heroes and things out of the norm (Although not until recently have I discovered the joys of comics. Thank you Amy!) In college we had many a conversation as to which would be the best super power. At the time wanted to orb but now I think I'd just like a lasso of truth like Wonder Woman.  I  thought about how disgusting it would be if someone had the ability to see people fart. (I'm thankful I don't have that power.)

Super powers would make life so much simpler.  It would be nice to orb to the grocery store rather than have to get in my car and drive there.  And really, spidey senses? How awesome is that? But recently, I realized that I don't need super powers.

This epiphany occurred tonight during Houston Project.  This is a church wide service project that includes over 800 volunteers serving in the areas of Houston that have the most need.  I've been looking forward to this week all year.  To be able to get my hands dirty and serve people.  When I got my assignment I have to admit that I was less than thrilled that I was assigned to the prayer team. It's not that I don't think prayer is important, but that I wanted action. To be with the people. 

So today, I reluctantly went to the prayer room (which funnily enough takes place in the probation office) I was intimidated at the thought for praying for three hours.  I pray a lot throughout the day but I've never sat and prayed for hours on end.  I knew it was so important for the whole success of Houston Project. Despite my hesitation, the hours went by rather quickly.  It was evident that the Holy Spirit was in that room. It was so neat to be there with five other people, joining together in prayer for a purpose. I left feeling blessed by the prayers that were lifted up to the Lord.   

I used to think as prayer as my many requests to God for my benefit. So many times I found myself saying, "Lord this is what I need from you."  I've realized that prayer is more than that. In the things that we ask for, blessings, healing etc, it's ultimately about His glory.  Many times by the act of praying we are brought closer to our Creator and our perspective is changed rather than the situation itself.  This is what I found to be true tonight.  My perspective on prayer changed as I spent the time in communion with Him. We prayed fervently for people to come to know Him, for VBS to run smoothly, for lives to be changed and boy was He faithful.  

I recognize tonight that I do not need a super power because I have the power of prayer. The amazing ability to go to the Lord directly, without having to go through anyone else. I can talk to Him as if He were my best friend.  As I close, whatever "it" is that is troubling you, I encourage you to "pray it up." I'd love to hear how I can be praying for you as well. 

Gig 'em and God Bless. 

One Nation Under God

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Let me start by saying Happy Independence Day. Please note, I did not say "Happy 4th of July." To me, naming a holiday by the date takes away the importance of the celebration. On Christmas, no one says, "Happy December 25th." We say, "Merry Christmas." Not calling the holiday what it really is adds to the cavalier attitude that surrounds said holiday. Many people don't even know what we celebrate, they just know that there is a day off work to party. (As an American History teacher I shudder at this thought.) Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness equate freedom.  So, today, I would like to talk about meaning of freedom.

When I think of freedom I think of it in two different settings.  First, the obvious, freedom to the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I am so grateful that the founding fathers did indeed sign this great document.  They risked more than a war, but their very lives for the cause in which they believed so strongly.  Were the Revolution to turn out differently than it did they would be hanged for treason to the Mother Country.

Secondly, I think of freedom in Christ.  In Paul's Epistle to the Galatians he tells us that it is for freedom that Christ set us free.  This is something that I have been learning recently in a whole new way.  From the world's perspective, it doesn't make sense at all. Freedom by following rules? It's so much more than that.  I've been learning to let His grace flow over me in order to give up the sins that hold me in bondage. That is true freedom. To no longer be bound by the emotions and things that hold me back. 

Generally these two aspects of freedom are not spoken of together thanks to the notion of separation of church and state.  Our nation was formed on Christian principles.  Ben Franklin wanted our national symbol to be Moses parting the Red Sea.  Although most believed in an agnostic god, the Christian ideas remain central.  

If then there is true freedom in Christ, at a time when we are arguing over wars in Iraq and the right way to fix the social security problem, it seems that these things might be better solved if church and state were once again reunited. Regardless of whether you fall to the left, right, or down the middle, Christ has a place in government.  (Please note, I am not suggesting to get rid of the notion of freedom of religion or that Christianity should be the only religion, but merely that we should revisit the original themes of government.) 

So on this Independence Day, I celebrate the freedoms I have as an American and as a follower of Christ. Have a wonderful holiday.  Be safe and God bless.  

Walter the Farting Dog

I fell in love with this book the moment I read the title.  Walter is an adorable canine plagued by a rather potent flatulence problem. Being a rather gaseous person, I can relate to Walter's plight.  There are several books in the Walter series including, Walter the Farting Dog: Trouble at the Yard Sale and Walter the Farting Dog: Banned from the Beach. I plan on incorporating this book into my curriculum, although I'm not entirely sure where.  Bottom Line: I heart Walter. 

Stargirl

I have a confession to make: I didn't read any of the books my students were assigned for summer reading last year. I'm sure I probably could've been more effective if I had a clue what they'd read, but knowing half of them didn't read it anyway and trying to prepare for the year as a new teacher, it just didn't happen.  Recently I read one of the books my 8th graders had to pick from last year, Stargirl. 

Stargirl Caraway unabashedly marches to the tune of a different drummer, so much so that the character is somewhat unbelievable. It seems Spenelli goes above and beyond with Stargirl to get his point across. (Which although frustrates me, the adult reader, can be effective with pubescent teens.)

There were several instances that brought me back to my days of watching Full House or Boy Meets world, where I had to turn my head to keep from living the embarrassment with the characters. (Cory and Sean could get themselves into some serious shenanigans.)

Unlike most YA literature, there is no pink boy at the end to wrap things up nicely, which was a refreshing change. Stargirl left me with a sad resonance in my soul and makes the reader think twice about inclusion and individuality. Although not perfect, Stargirl is a must read for any pre-adolescent and probably their parents too. 

Twilight Fever

In the last eight months, I have seen countless girls (and some boys too) get sucked into Stephanie Meyer's world of sparkling vampires and werewolves. Students who I couldn't get to read for the life of me were suddenly consuming 500 page books in a matter of days.

I like to think of myself as an independent woman, and mass trends turn me off. I love fantasy, but who can do vampires better than Joss Whedon? I was skeptical, to say the least. Despite this, I had to find out what was captivating my students and why there is so much darn facebook flair about Edward Cullen.

The beginning of Twilight is full of character background and description as to why Bella, our heroine, moves from sunny Arizona to the sleepy town of Forks, Washington. although the plot moves slowly, the back story is mesmerizing and you immediately fall in love with Isabella Swan.

Enter Edward Cullen. Pale, handsom and brooding. Once we meet Edward, the plot betings to move more rapidly. I enjoyed learning the rules of the vampire world, especially how vampires sparkle in the sunlight. The climax was rather weak and unbelievable, even for fantasy, but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed Twilight. (So much so I fangoriously devoured New Moon and Eclipse within a week)