Call me Crazy!

You can call me crazy - - but I love Iowa in the winter. I can complain about a lot of things but you will not usually hear me bitching about the weather. Granted, I don't like the Arctic blast that comes our way in December or January, but you can always put on more clothes.

I love the snow in February. They are wet, and sloppy and just right for playing in - - snowballs, sledding, snowmen, slick road-don't tell me I can't go somewhere - - and Avie frolicking in the wet mess.

Lately I have been thinking about my Grandma. This weekend I realized it has been 9 years ago on the 17th that she passed on. Funny how your senses can bring back memories. Someone staying at the hotel where the Knit In took place had on my Grandma's perfume. Then the snow today reminded me again. She died on a Thursday while wintering in Tempe. My family flew in from Arizona on the next day. We had a major snow storm that Thursday night and it made travel difficult. My nephew Jacob was 4 years old and had never seen snow before. He was amazed and baffled by the snow. He played....shoveling, throwing snowballs, making a snowman. Then by Tuesday the snow was melted and we were running around in sweatshirts. After that trip to Iowa, each year around Christmas my sister and her family go up north to Flagstaff, AZ to play in the snow. Funny how a trip to Iowa for a funeral could make such wonderful memories.

It's the Little Things in Life

It's the little things in life...

• the morning sun shining brightly in your window
• waking up to the sounds of birds singing
• the sweet sound of running water downhill (case in point in Iowa - the snow is melting!)
• your dog snuggling up beside you
• having one of your students profess this was the best day ever in school and it was!
• knitting with friends for a whole weekend
• having a friend tell you that yes you have to take it out
• same friends telling you it is okay to cry over the small things in life such as pulling (frogging) 8 hours of your life out and winding it back up into a ball
• starting over and knowing it is done right this time
• little pens that have toggles on them so you can clip it to your bag
• getting to wash your car because the temperature is over 32 degrees!
• having a child look at you and say they get and they do

....that bring you great pleasure.

So that when the big things come up I can handle them a little better....

And through it all, I will have my knitting sitting by my side waiting for me to pick up and work on it some more. Knitting will always be one of my favorite creative past times.

I have gone wireless - watchout world.

First the laptop, then the wireless router. A few technology snags but with a little time and patience or a checkbook - it will get figured out! What more could a person ask for??? A wireless printer! That is next on my list of must have technology.

This is all so new and exciting! I can't wait to try something new. M focus this month has to be school things. I have been looking for some new ideas for 100th day of school, Valentine's Day (AKA Clifford's birthday), Dr. Seuss' birthday and I have to turn in my Educational Portfolio at the end of this month. I want to do something different than the normal 3 ring notebook which is norm for my school. I am going electronic. I have downloaded most of my information into a PowerPoint presentation. We will see how it goes. Worse case - he hates it and I print it all out, put in the 3 ring notebook like the norm.

I lost over 4 hours last night and all I was doing was looking up "school stuff" and "knitting stuff" --- only planned on being online for a hour or so and then go to bed early get a good nights rest and be ready for the 100th day of school. I don't know how long I was online...I got lost in all that information. Seriously I didn't know where time went but when I looked up from all that information it was nearly

My knitting is still sitting next to me - begging to be worked on...The Einstein is not getting its fair share of time...my Valentine's deadline will be here before you know it! My lovely sock sits next to my sweater looking small and neglected. I can't wait until this weekend to spend with my knitting friends and just KNIT!

I have not shared my school days on this blog but I have to shout out how much I loved school today! I went to school exhausted from the night of Internet overdose but I came home feeling excited about the day. It was 100th day of school. The kids absolutely loved the day. They went home so excited and full of love for math and school. I LIVE FOR DAYS LIKE TODAY! I came home exhausted, a migraine headache...overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do yet excited for my next favorite day of teaching - Dr. Seuss' birthday - March 2nd. Today was all about math, March 2nd is all about reading. The confidence they have about their ability and the excitement for tomorrow is intoxicating.

Next blog - pictures - less words - something new and different - maybe something about actually knitting! HA HA