I Want Snow

If it's going to be 4 degrees. I want snow. Buckets of it. Where I have to shovel out for weeks and weeks and get to stay in my pj's all day and make warm chocolate chip cookies for breakfast if I want.

Snows Days when I was a young child were spent in coveralls and mittens and boots outside for the first part. By noon, back inside where Caron and I made grilled cheese sandwiches...and Chef Boy R Dee ravioli from the can.
Then a game of monopoly would ensue, where I most often would win just because I was the banker. And sometimes we would play checkers and 4-cross on a tattered cardboard checkerboard. The checkers were stored in a small round blue peanut tin, and our games, for that matter, were stored in an iron tub in the corner of the room on the fireplace hearth. That hearth was the best hearth I think I've ever seen. In fact, some day, if I ever build my own house, I think I want a replica of that hearth. It was made from Arkansas stone and spread across the entire wall of the living room. The ledge went across the room as well, and we stored things on it, like the iron tub for games, a stack for newspapers to help start the fire, the fire utensils, and wood. Man, I'd like to see that hearth again. It was the place for family portraits, from the day my sister won homecoming queen, to night Janet, Tina and I dressed in our formals and went to dinner. The beautiful mantel at the top of the hearth sported a grandfather clock, owl paintings, family antiques, family photos, and most unsightly school pictures.

Dancing Pencils

I love watching student writers. Fingers pluck keyboards. Pencils dance across the page, sometimes not fast enough to get down every idea. This is a distinct sound, lead on paper, transferring thoughts. Hands resting the head are placed on foreheads or cheekbones, feet tapping, earbuds neatly hid down sides of faces. Sometimes, they stop to think and stare off into the distance, or out the window. Sometimes they hand over journals and ask their neighbors opinion. Sometimes, brows are furrowed, and sometimes, smiles creep across faces. But the pencil still dances. I love watching student writers.

Come from behind Winners...a Tribute to Whitney and Caron

Where did we go wrong? Was it when we played the King too early and couldn't catch the three? Was it when we forgot about the Big Joker being able to trump the Little Joker? Was it when we bid 7 three times in a row and thought we might have a shot at winning our first match from a negative 8 deficit? I don't know, but Wanda and I could not seem to get our cards to fall in the right places together. And neither could Caron and Whitney. They got smoked so bad by Dad and and Tom the first game that they were finished well before our game and had to spend some quality time in the kitchen munching on cheesecake bites, fruit and dip, and chips and guacamole. (Of course, this didn't upset them at all.)

When Wanda and I finally lost and were met with the other first losers, we thought our game was going to turn around. We had come back from the negatives to actually playing competitive, so we figured our luck would come with us to our new table. And yes, it did. We lost that game in another landslide.

So Dad and Tom beat Faron and Spencer, and went to the table to play Caron and Whitney, who had to win two games in order to claim the championships. And this, much to everyone's dismay, they did. They both pocketed a whopping $7.25 and left full and happy.

During the championships, the rest of us, not too interested in watching someone else play, decided to play 9 rounds of Mormon Golf. This got a little intense when Wanda, a new player to golf, was kicking the daylights out of all of us. She did end up winning, but not before I got to hand out 20 points to everyone! :) (Oh, and so did Wanda, but since she won, it doesn't count, right?) :) Next time, we'll have to play for a few quarters.

Here are some super easy and super delicious recipes that were big hits Saturday night. They are perfect summer and spring recipes, but I think everyone was craving fresh fruit in the dead of winter.

Super Easy/Super Delicious Guacamole Dip
2 avocados
1 Roma tomato
1 lime
salt

Peel and mash the avocados, dice the tomato and add to the mixture. Slice the lime in half and squeeze one half of its juice into the mixture. Stir. Add salt to taste. Serve with tortilla chips (I'm in love with Tostitos Multi-grain.)

Super Easy/Super Delicious Devonshire Cream Fruit Dip
1 small Hiland whipping cream
1 cream cheese (softened)
1 cup sugar

Whip the cream cheese, (yes, it will stick in your beaters), add the whipping cream and when a little fluffy, add your sugar. Whip to your desired consistency. Serve with apples, grapes, kiwi, and other fruit of your desire.

I'm a Keeper

This is Preston. He wore this shirt today. Here are his thoughts on why he wore this shirt: "I always get the worst kind of girl...so I just thought I'd wear this shirt today to prove to everyone else that "I'M A KEEPER!"

So really, it's his tactic to attract the kind of girl he wants. So if someone actually believes his shirt, he should be swarmed by girls. But today, he says, "it's not workin' out too good, but maybe it will when I go to town tonight." Poor Preston. I know he will make a fine husband and father...someday.

It's the first Friday of this week. This class is behaving miserably. They are not writing, but smack-talking their way through the last 25 minutes. We had accomplished nothing until the yearbook girls walked in and had everyone complete a form to order their 2009 Williamizzou. This, I thought, might get us back on track...but nope. It didn't. They went crazy as usual.

The only thing I've accomplished is this:

Amanda, guess what I have?

What?

Since the summer I've been collecting the nice candles jars that the White Barn Company uses for their candles.

REALLY??!! How much do you want for them???

We'll talk about that later...but would they be something you are interested in for you senior project?

Oh, yeah. Definitely.

Crazy For You...by Madonna

I've been reading the latest of Edutopia. The entire December issue follows a theme called The Collaboration Age: Teachers Jump Into the We Generation. I couldn't help but snag it from the table in the teachers lounge. These types of magazines are always laying around in the lounge and I'm pretty sure very few people thumb through them.

I can't concentrate because it Cherish by Madonna is on. The kids want Akon, but I could only find 30 second segments of his songs.

Brittney is asleep today. We are all totally wiped out this week, the first week back. I wonder if she had to work last night. She woke up briefly, looked at me, and then put her head back down and pulled her hoodie over her neck and ears. She's cold, or she hates Madonna. Kayla is writing in her journal. Kyle is doing a pretty good job of writing for just recently starting the class; Blake's just looking at his paper...he's written about a half page. Matt is writing, then pausing, then writing some more. He sits quietly and unnoticed. Robert pretends to write, or maybe he's drawing today. Cali is here for the first time since Thanksgiving. Kayla writes. She used to have a fabulous journal but she is writing in a composition notebook now. I wonder where her pretty journal went. Shelby writes. She writes all the time. She works on things in here and she never seems to run out of things to write. I think her fluency has definitely improved. Morgan is writing as well, and her and Shelby are sharing Shelby's ipod. Samm is writing tucked away in the corner. The layout of this class amuses me. They all sit as close together as possible even though we have empty tables for them to spread out. It took a while for Cheyenne to get started, but she's . Jessica is stretching. Garrett and Bobby are writing s l o w l y. They don't write much. Fetty goes in spurts. We are listening to Vogue now.I can't stop singing in my mind.