Knitting Projects Finished

 
This first is the Green River Tunic. I am very happy with the quality of the knitting but not happy with the fit. The neckline/shoulders are too wide for me, and despite reknitting the sleeves twice, they are also too long. I love the top, but in order to make it fun to wear, I think I will have to completely re-do the bodice, narrowing the neckline and shortening the armholes. Is this something I'm going to tackle? Not at the moment. I wore this out Sat. night and kept pulling the neckline up on my shoulders.

 The Princess Mitts should have been a snap, but it took a couple of froggings and re-knittings because the left thumb gusset chart was wrong. I got some false starts too, due to knitter stupidity! Once I figured out that the chart was wrong, it was pretty easy - except for some more knitter brain freeze. I really like these though! I have another skein of Classic Elite Princess in a turquoise so I will probably make another pair.

 

A Day and A Half and I'm Sick

I'm down to counting the hours til school is out. This has been the longest week! And there's still a day and half to go. Don't get me wrong. This year's group of 6th graders has been the kindest, most compassionate group I've ever taught and I'm actually sad to be losing them. But we're all tired! It's been a long year with lots of bad weather that prolonged the school year. Since last week, we've basically been about fun - walks to the local ice cream parlor, field day, nature walks, another field day . . . more like crowd control than teaching. In between we've done grades, pod awards, academic awards, Pride Awards, (too many awards if you ask me!), placements, budgets, bid orders, and lots of packing for the next move. And on top of it all, since Monday I've had a sore throat, swollen glands, and general exhaustion -- but no fever. Not a great way to end the year. . . .

I did finish another book, A Ghost in the Machine by Caroline Graham. It's another Inspector Barnaby book, and it's very intricately plotted. I wish I'd waited to read it til school was out, because I lost track of a few things, I wish I hadn't --- too many interruptions! I liked it though.

Hot and Humid

Last week we were shivering and this week we're sweltering. We've broken several heat records over the last couple of days. We're in the low to mid 90's with incredible humidity. This is not normal June weather in NH. The ONLY saving grace for me is that my class room (temporary) is air conditioned. Since May 1st I've been enjoying a very spacious brand new classroom while the classrooms in the 1915 part of the building are being renovated. Unfortunately for me, I will be moving into a unrenovated 1950's classroom for fall. And it's tiny. Very tiny. I'm not sure how I will squeeze in there with my classes and still be able to do all the project work I like to do. I guess when it was built, it was all rows and worksheets. Not at all conducive to cooperative groups, project based work. Oh well. I'm enjoying the air conditioning for now. I don't have it at home so I haven't slept very well the past 3 nights. Last night, even with 2 fans going, my bedroom was 87° at 11 pm. It was down to 84° at 5 am. Outside was cooler, but by just a little. I prefer my usual winter bedroom temps (58-62°) better!


I just finished Elizabeth George's new book "Careless in Red." It was great! I've always enjoyed the Inspector Lynley series, and this one was one of her best. I think I especially enjoyed the fact that the whole story took place in Cornwall where I vacationed in April.

Counting down the days til school is out! (8 more!)

Ten More Days

Ten more LONG DAYS till school is out. Even after 13 years of teaching 6th grade I haven't figured out how to do the last 2 weeks of school so that it's more than just crowd control. The kids are done and the teachers are just about literally done because we have to have our report cards done almost a week before school actually closes! We have to all pretend though, and that's what makes it especially hard. We had a field trip scheduled for last Wed. but got rained out. Our rain date got rained out too, and now we can't go. My partner and I are going to try to do parts of the trip with our kids one nice day this week. (All the other 6th graders got to go on the trip. We had to go in 3 batches . . . ) We also have a mini trip scheduled Thursday - a walk to the local ice cream stand. Then we have the equivalent of 2 field days scheduled on June 16 and June 18. In between we're trying to keep everyone happy and in control! And then there are all the administrative tasks we have to get finished --- budgets for next year, placements for next year, awards, and of course the packing. As I said, 10 long days . . .


I just finished reading Mark of the Lion, by Suzanne Arruda. It was a really interesting adventure/mystery set in post WW I colonial Africa. The heroine is a former WW I ambulance driver in search of her dead boyfriend's half brother. She's plucky, beautiful, intelligent and unconventional, the storyline is fast-paced, and there are lots of other interesting characters. It's the debut novel of a new series, and I enjoyed it. I also think the author evoked the time period well.

Getting to Know Me

I'm tagged for this meme by Cathy, so here goes:

Rules: The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about himself or herself. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Ten years ago: 1998 - In my 3rd year of teaching 6th grade. My sons were in high school!

Five things on today's "to do" list:

1. Go to church for the first time in almost a month. Long story.
2. Finish the monthly billing for my husband's business and do some of his correspondence.
3. Go to a graduation party. Our neighbor's daughter (our "adopted" daughter) just graduated from nursing school.
4. Finish my Waving lace sock.
5. Sew the sleeves into my Green River Tunic - I hope. I've done this twice already and am not happy with how it looks.

Things I'd do if I was a billionaire:
1. Create a charitable foundation - I'd want to give some to small struggling, progressive/liberal churches; some to Special Olympics, some to education, and some to medical research.
2. Invest some so that we can live comfortably for the rest of our lives, and be able to travel.
3. Put the rest into a trust for my adult children and future(?) grandchildren. They could use interest but not principal.

Three bad habits:
1. overeating and underexercising
2. biting my nails
3. sloppy housekeeping

Five places I've lived:
1. Milford, CT
2. Bridgewater Township, NJ (back before it was its own town)
3. Chagrin Falls, OH
4. Storrs, CT
5. Jaffrey, NH

I also had ties to Madison, IN. My parents moved there while I was in Storrs. I never lived there, but visited during the summer.

Five jobs I've had:

1. Library page - high school
2. Cashier at Burger King - high school
3. Switchboard operator on college campus - college
4. Church secretary - college
5. Bank Teller - college and first out of college job
6. Office Manager - for 15 years, for my husband's business
7. Special Ed Associate - starting in 1992
8. Teacher - starting in 1995 and still going strong

I know that's more than 5. What can I say? I've been around a while!


I'm tagging some folks who might not know me, but I read their blogs regularly:

Rev. Songbird


Vamantaknits

Possible Water

Panhandle Jane