What I Did on my Spring Vacation

I am sure that if I assigned this topic to my 6th graders I would get the same title on most of their essays.  I guess that's why I won't be asking them to write about their breaks!  (I'm actually thinking about - What did you wish you did, but didn't!)

We spent a couple of days away on a 900 mile round trip get away.  We left on Sunday morning and headed for Cape May, NJ.  I wanted beach, I wanted further south than here, and I wanted a bed and breakfast.  I got 2 out of 3.  We stayed here, at the Marquis de Lafayette:

We had a balcony view of the beach and ocean, and it was in walking distance of all the sights. Since it was off season, we got our room for a very reasonable price  -- about a quarter of what it goes for during the summer.   Cape May is full of restored Victorian homes.  We took a guided trolley tour and we walked up and down all the side streets as well as the beach.

We spent 2 nights here and then headed back north, stopping in my home town in CT to visit my aunt and some cousins.  Tuesday night we traveled to Mystic, CT where we spent the night, and then on Wednesday morning, I went in search of an old family cemetery in Stonington.  I've been working on our genealogy in between knitting, reading, school work, and church.  My mother's family is an early New England family and a lot of work has already been done on her side.  My father's side is more difficult; he was born in Cuba, and his family is from Asturias, Spain.  My husband's family came to the US in the late 1800's and early 1900's from places that have changed countries a few times:  Sadagora which is now in the Ukraine but was part of the Austria-Hungary empire back when his father was born, and small villages near Minsk.  His family is also difficult because so many records were lost.    But I did find the cemetery I was looking for.

I love the mausoleum!  There is no record however of who's inside!  Someday I will contact whoever is in charge of the cemetery to find out.

This ancestor fought in the American Revolution and is one of the ancestors through which my DAR membership is traced.  There are a number of other family members here, but I haven't been able to yet to trace exactly when the family arrived in Stonington.  Family lore says the first relative came over with Gov. Winthrop on the Arbella in 1630, but I haven't substantiated that yet.














We finished up our trip through the past with a visit to the University of Connecticut.  It's our mutual alma mater.  I have to admit, the campus has mushroomed since we were there in the late '60's and early 70's, and it's not nearly as pretty as it used to be.  It's a veritable city now! 

The rest of the week was very low-key. I got some knitting done, read a lot, and watched a lot of DVR'd TV shows that had piled up.  Now it's back to the grind  (on my birthday no less!) for another 40 days.

Unfinished Business

I seem surrounded by unfinished projects, chores, books, plans, etc. It's bothering me today.

The Biggies:
1. A 3-5 page paper for a writing class I decided to take for credit. I could have just taken the workshop, learned what I wanted to learn, and then apply what I wanted to apply in my classroom. But no, I decide to take it for credit. How hard can a short paper be? Well, when you haven't written one for almost 20 years, it's hard. Never mind that it's a "simple" paper: Construct an argument for a principal, curriculum coordinator, or concerned parent that supports the reason why this program is worthwhile. But before I can write this paper, I have 2 books to read, and I must find at least 3 quotations from the reading material that support my argument. Again, simple --after all it's basically what I ask my 6th graders to do in their reading journals. The other part of the credit is that I have to complete a short story inspired by some art work I completed during the class. That's just about done, but again, it's only "almost done."


2. Finish developing the science project inspired by the above-mentioned class. I need to find the supplies (watercolors, paper, brushes) for 43 students, decide on which of 3 project ideas I've come up with to follow through on, and figure out when to teach the art lessons that need to be taught before implementing the science unit.

Other projects that are less important, but hanging over me:

3. My Vintage Vest. I've done the back, and the left front. I've started the right front. I really want to finish this so I can wear it. I also am sick of knitting it!

4. The Lace Reader. I have been reading this book for almost 2 weeks in bits and pieces. I am enjoying it, but I just haven't had the time to sit for any length of time to have a good reading session.

5. A Wrinkle in Time. This is the book I'm reading during sustained silent reading at school. It's hard to read and supervise 20 kids who are supposed to be reading. This is a re-read for me; probably about the 5th time. I still can't figure out why upper elementary teachers are so eager to teach this book, and I especially can't figure out why so many special ed teachers think this a good book for struggling readers. It's a terrific novel, one of my favorites, but I would never use it in my reading classes. It's difficult material to understand! And I can't see how I could steer appropriate public school conversations around it. I WOULD use this book in a confirmation class setting, or in a Sunday school setting in a minute. And I read it once in graduate school as part of a "Teaching Students with Special Needs" class. We had to choose one of the characters and create an appropriate educational program for that character.

6. Genealogy research: This is not a project that really can be finished, but I wish I had a long period of uninterrupted time to work on this one.

7. Renovations: We still haven't found anybody to help us with the work of replastering ceilings and walls.


8. Laundry: Is it ever done?


9. This list --- these are just the items that are most bothering me this rainy morning!

Midway Through

It's not much past mid-day and I think I have finally finished all the have-to's on the list I made yesterday. I didn't sleep very late (6:30 am) but it's an 1.75 hrs longer than during the school week. I spent the better part of the morning getting the business checkbook balanced, and I finished off the morning with grading papers and analyzing assessment data. I had wanted to make it to church but the timing was off. At the time I had to leave, I was on a roll, and knew that if I interrupted it, I'd lose too much ground. I've compensated by playing some sacred music and plan on heading out to the porch in a few minutes to ponder the lectionary for today.


I also hope to take some time later to pursue a new "addiction." I recently started researching my husband's genealogy. My family tree is well-researched on my maternal side, at least back to 1632 when the earliest members of her family arrived in the New World, and while I'd like to tackle my father's side, most of his records are in Cuba or Spain, not exactly accessible at the moment. My husband's family will be challenging. His father emigrated in 1920 from a Jewish town in what is now the Ukraine. In 1908, when his father was born, the town was in Austria. We have found the passenger manifest that lists his father, grandmother, and an aunt. We've also found at least 2 instances of his grandfather's trips across the Atlantic - once in 1900 and again in 1911. It's really fascinating and addicting. It's a bit like untangling a knotted skein of yarn. You find one end and follow it for a while, and then you get stuck and have to find another way through.

And of course, I want to get back to knitting my Vintage Vest which has been feeling lonely this past week or so. I've been too tired to knit when I've finally had some free time. While it's not a hard pattern, it is lace and I need a focused mind when I knit lace. So, after some quiet time on the porch, I will either research or knit. . . .