Vacation Days 2 and 3

Sunday was a quiet relaxing day.  I finished a book, and I played a lot of Words with Friends. I enjoyed an episode of Midsomer Murders (Death in a Chocolate Box), and made a favorite dinner - my version of arroz con pollo.  I sauted chicken thighs in olive oil with thyme, bay leaf, and lots of garlic in my electric skillet.  Then I add long grain rice, chicken broth and real saffron.  I let that simmer a bit, and add a jar of pimentos, a can of mushrooms (or fresh), some frozen shrimp, and frozen peas at the last.  I'd add some minced clams too, but my husband dislikes them.  This is a dish my mom made a lot.  We splurge on buying saffron from Penzeys.com.  It's incredibly expensive but a little goes a long way and there is no substitute.  We make choices --- saffron instead of other treats.  I ended the day with an all-out Oscar marathon and I finished a baby sweater for a friend. I'll try to get pics up later.

Today was a WORK day. I started at 8:30 this morning on the taxes and bookkeeping.  It's 5 pm and while I still have to file all the stuff I pulled out, I've compiled almost all the tax info we will need for the accountant, brought our business books up to date, balanced the January bank statements, and solved at least 3 puzzling bookkeeping problems.  I also figured out a more efficient way to organize all the receipts my husband collects for business cash purchases.  He'd been randomly throwing his cash receipts and credit card receipts into a plastic shoe box, plus he'd also throw in receipts from purchases he'd made with checks.  It takes me forever to sort out all the receipts and match them to credit card bill or check.  I think I've solved the problem without forcing him  to change his ways too much.  I really resent having to spend my vacation working my "other" job, but that's the way it is.  At least tonight I can look forward to staying up late to watch CASTLE during live air time instead of having to record it and watch it another day.

Tomorrow I have to get some house organizing accomplished - like finally getting the rest of the Christmas decorations put away in an ORGANIZED fashion, and maybe tackling a closet or two.  I also have to run a few errands and make a few phone calls.  I did not expect to spend a full day on the bookkeeping, I must admit.

Vacation Day 1

It was a long and busy day, but definitely a pleasant one!
As is usual, I was up early on a day I could sleep late.  We headed southeast down to N.Attleboro, MA to meet up with our 2 sons.  Elder Son lives there, and Younger Son had flown in Friday night from LA on some unexpected business.  Elder Son had picked him up at the airport, and hosted him, so we went down and took them out to lunch at a terrific Indian restaurant in Providence.  We usually get the buffet when we go there, but this time we ordered from the menu.  I'm glad I did.  I had the most delicious mango curry with chicken.  It had just enough heat to warm up the tongue without overpowering the flavors of the mango and cashews and all the other tasty spices.  After lunch we visited for a while and then we had to head back . . .. because we had haddinner plans and theater tickets with some good friends of ours.  We met up with them at the restaurant where everyone chose wisely, and then we headed to Gardner, MA to the Theater at the Mount, at Mt. Wachusetts Community College.  It's an amateur theater but their productions rival the best summer stock I've ever seen.  Last night's offering was an oldie, but goody, "Fiddler on the Roof."  Another good performance, although Tevye was played a little too much for laughs.  We have season tickets so we get 5 plays a year, most of them musicals.  By the time we got back to our little corner of NH, it was after 11 pm.  So, as I said, it was a LONG, busy, and pleasant day!

February Vacation At Last!

Today is the first day of our Feb. break.  It couldn't come soon enough!  Don't get me wrong, I'm having a terrific year with my kids.  However, it seems that my tank runs out around Thursdays nowadays, and it seems to take longer to refill it.  Must be my age!  Actually I think it's because of the increasing neediness of our students.  While many of my kids come from families who are truly struggling, it's not financial neediness as much as it's emotional and academic neediness.  I probably lose 10 minutes of every class to dealing with behavior issues that never used to be a problem.  The rise of ADHD kids and kids who are unable to focus in class is incredible.  Part of the problem is the way kids have come to expect entertainment and fun and games in school instead of work.  Not that I don't provide fun learning experiences, and a lot of hands-on activities so they don't have to sit in their seats all day, but the majority of kids in my school expect that school should be easy.  The minute I ask kids to do something hard, they fall apart.  I keep telling them if I don't challenge them to go beyond what they already know, they won't grow.   In each group of students I teach, there are 2 or 3 who put in tremendous effort.  They work hard all the time and take pride in producing quality work.  But the other 20 or students just give their work a glance and work just enough to turn something in regardless of quality.   D's are perfectly acceptable to them and apparently to their parents.  And then there are the parents who take their kids out of school for vacation the week or 2 BEFORE vacation.  You gather work for them to accomplish, and then they don't do it, not even when they get back.  And then their parents get upset that their kids are failing!  For the most part my parents are very supportive, but they too are quite needy and helicoptery.

Can you tell I'm tired?

I have no plans for the week other than to do our taxes, read, knit, sleep, and watch Midsomer Murders on Netflix as well as the hours of shows on my DVR!

Head Cold Coming On Strong

It looks like I am succumbing to the head cold that's going around.  Just in time for school tomorrow. Stuffy head, scratchy throat, and swollen glands.  Yuck!

Soup Day!

I have always loved soup, but over the last few months, my love affair with soup has intensified.  I'm constantly looking for soup recipes, and right now, if I had my way, I'd make it every day.  I like all kinds of soup too - clear soup, cream soup, spicy soups . . .

In the past 10 days I've enjoyed a fantastic mulligatawny soup with curry, chicken, and apples at a local restaurant, a superb lobster bisque at another eatery, a seafood chowder crowded with chunks of lobster, haddock, shrimp, and scallops, some decent canned chicken with white beans soup, and a lentil soup.  

Today's soup is a chicken vegetable barley soup - 1 cup pearled barley, several sliced carrots,  2 small onions, 2 cloves of garlic, a wilted bunch of celery, some herbs (heavy on thyme and parsley), leftover chicken,  and a mix of homemade and store bought chicken stock.  We will have that for dinner - or more likely lupper (late lunch/early dinner).    

Terrific Middle School Novel!

The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Calvin Schwa is convinced he's invisible.  And no wonder.  Nobody ever seems to recognize his presence.  Teachers ignore his wildly waving hand in class.  Kids ignore him everywhere he goes.  And then one day, Anthony "Antsy" Bonano sees him. Antsy and Calvin embark on a series of experiments that test how often Calvin is noticed.   When they discover that he does seem to be a nonentity, they go into business together using his "invisibility" to earn money.  One prank lands them on the bad side of "Old Man Cawley", the neighborhood curmudgeon.  As a consequence, Mr. Cawley assigns both boys some unappealing jobs, including pretending to date his visiting granddaughter.  This books is extremely funny, and touching at the same time.  It explores several themes:  belonging to a group, self-awareness, inclusivity, etc.  It's also a great "coming of age" novel.  Kids can relate to it on many levels -- it's a great read, but they can also connect to the various issues.  I really liked it too.  As a teacher and a parent, I am only too aware of how kids' notions of their invisibility can shape their outlook on life.  I am definitely going to recommend it to my 6th graders!


View all my reviews

A Random Post

This was inspired by 2 things.  A dear cousin and his wife achieved one of their lifetime goals recently by traveling to every single state in the U.S.   And their definition of visiting a state included the requirement that they spend at least a week there sightseeing.  The 2nd inspiration was running across a map similar to the one posted below while surfing Ravelry.   So, while I can't say that I've spent a week in each of the states I've visited, my definition of visiting means I've spent enough time in the state to get a feel for it.  In other words, I didn't include things like changing planes at an airport, or stepping over the state line at The Hoover Dam and say that I've visited Arizona.  (Although I have actually set  feet there!)


visited 25 states (50%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or jurisdische veraling duits?

Three More Books

The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ruth Galloway, forensic anthropologist, and DCI Nelson are once again teamed, as they attempt to uncover the identity of six German skeletons discovered in a sea cave in the small North Sea town of Broughton.  Why were these men executed and who did it?  The investigation leads to the town's past, and its WWII Home Guard, and through the course of the investigation other murders occur.  On a personal front, Ruth is struggling with raising Kate as a single mom, as well as keeping the secret of Kate's parentage.  Nelson too is struggling with his mixed feelings for Ruth and his wife.  My only "complaint" about the book is the present tense writing - it really grates on me.  But the story is compelling enough to keep me reading.


View all my reviews

Breakdown by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The latest V.I. Warshawski novel was a page turner.  A group of teenagers involved in a vampire book club decided to initiate a new member in an out-of-the-way cemetery.  While there, they discover the fresh corpse of man with a stake through his heart.  Several of the girls are the daughters of powerful  Chicago leaders and there is a hurried attempt to cover up their presence.  Unfortunately a conservative talk show host gets wind of the story and uses it to denigrate the parents of the girls, one of whom is running for state office.  Meanwhile, an old lawschool friend of Vic's who is known for her mental instability asks Vic for help.  But before she can explain her problem, she is pushed off a balcony and is seriously injured.  As V.I. investigates she discovers a link between the murder, the girls, and her friend.  And as in all V.I. Warshawski novels, V.I. takes physical punishment, ruffles many feathers, and eventually gets to the bottom of everything.

I really liked this installment.  The plot was complicated enough to keep me involved, and the pace was brisk and energetic.


View all my reviews

Invisible by Lorena McCourtney

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm glad I didn't pay for this book.  It was a free Kindle read. Widow and senior citizen Ivy Malone has just lost her best friend and confidante, and as she goes about her daily life she discovers that to most of the world she's "invisible."  Nobody pays attention to LOL's (little old ladies).  She decides to use this to advantage however, as she tries to find out who's responsible for the vandalism at a historic cemetery and investigate the mysterious disappearance of a former neighbor.  I rather enjoyed Ivy herself, an intrepid and plucky woman.   I enjoyed the humor - Ivy spending nights in the cemetery, searching under the bumper of a car for a possible key in a used car lot.  But the constant proselytizing for Christianity really interfered with the story.  Faith-filled novels don't bother me (think of Father Tim in the Jan Karon series, for example), but out and out evangelizing does.  I belong to the "show me, don't tell me" school of writing and real life action. By the end of the book I wondered what the author's true purpose in writing had been - to write a cozy, humorous mystery or to create Christians.  Although I really liked the premise of the novel and its main character I was completely turned off by the rest of the package. (And yes, I am actively involved in a church and have been so my entire life.)  

View all my reviews

Reading Roundup!

I've been reading up a storm since the beginning of the month.  Here are my reactions to what I've read so far:
 Book #1

Savage Run by C.J. Box
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a page-turner.  Joe Pickett once again raises the hackles of his superiors when he tries to charge an influential rancher with poaching.  At the same time, Stewie Woods, the head of a militant environmentalist group, is apparently murdered in a freak explosion.  A series of freak accidents kill other environmental leaders.  Things come to a head when Joe discovers that his wife once dated Stewie, and that perhaps he's not really dead.

This is the second in the Joe Pickett series.  I enjoyed the descriptions of the mountains, and the fast pace of the plot, kept me glued to the book.


View all my reviews

Book #2

Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood graduated from Smith College in the early years of the 20th century, and after a yearlong Grand Tour of Europe, returned home ready for more adventure.  The two women are hired as schoolteachers in a rural school in northwestern Colorado.  This fascinating book recounts that particular adventure.  I am fascinated by the time period of our history - the opening years of the century just prior to WWI.  Although the east coast of the US has long been established, our west is still largely unsettled.  Life is hard, but the 2 women meet it head-on with great enthusiasm.  It was also interesting to read about teaching a century ago.  Communities showed their appreciation for education and for teachers in very concrete ways, and those who taught were held in great esteem. As is still true today, teaching was not easy, and it consumed a great deal of the teacher's personal time - not just in lesson-planning and grading, but also with involvement in their students' lives.

This isn't a very long book.  The acknowledgments, notes, and bibiliography are almost as long as the narrative!  It is well-researched by Dorothy's granddaughter, and it's also a loving tribute to both women.

View all my reviews

Book #3

This one I listened to rather than read, but I'm counting it!

13 1/2 by Nevada Barr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was one of the most chilling books I've encountered in a very long time.  Experiencing it as an audio book was also an interesting experience.  I think in some ways, it added to the creepiness.  Eleven-year old Dillon Raines, also known as Butcher Boy, is sentenced to the Drummond Youth Center after his conviction for murdering his parents and baby sister with an ax.  He has no recollection of the the night other than terror, and he battles to keep his sanity as he comes to grip with the horrific crime.  Pollyanne Deschamps, growing up in a trailer park in Mississipi, runs away from home at 15 and winds up in New Orleans.  Many years later, she meets a fascinating man, Marshall Marshand, and they eventually marry.  However Marshall is surrounded by mystery, and he has an almost suffocating relationship with his older brother Danny.  Almost from the start of their marriage, Marshall begins to act oddly, and Polly begins to suspect that her husband isn't who he claims to be.

I've read a lot of other Nevada Barr books (Anna Pigeon series) and this standalone novel is a total departure from her usual storytelling.  The reader kept me glued to my computer all Sunday afternoon so that I could finish listening to it!

View all my reviews

Book #4

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fast-moving, creepy, suspenseful, scary, kept-me-on-the-edge-of-my-seat kind of book!  This is the first "Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles" book in a series that has become a TV program.  I picked it up because I've been watching and enjoying the show on TV and wanted to see where it came from.  Although it's been billed as a "Rizzoli and Isles" novel, Maura Isles doesn't appear in it at all.  That doesn't matter.  Rizzoli is a Boston homicide detective, the first female detective in the department.  She carries a huge chip on her shoulder because of this and because of family history.  The detectives are investigating a gruesome series of murders which may be connected to a presumed-solved case in Atlanta, Georgia.  During the course of the investigation, a mutual respect between Rizzoli and another detective has been growing, but that is completely shattered when Rizzoli makes a questionable shooting.  Because Tess Gerritsen, the author, is a physician, the medical details are graphic and accurate.  If you're a squeamish sort, you might choose to skim or skip some of them!  I find the TV Jane Rizzoli softer and gentler than the original, and easier to like.  But the grittiness is what makes the book work.  I've already started the 2nd book, The Apprentice.

View all my reviews

Book #5

The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure why I like this so much.  It's gritty, depressing, and Jane Rizzoli isn't the most likable protagonist.  In this second installment, Jane has physically recovered from the injuries inflicted by Warren Hoyt known The Surgeon, a serial killer.  Now a copycat killer seems to have emerged.  Because she hasn't yet dealt with the emotional damage, the case becomes a mental battle.  And then Warren Hoyt escapes from prison and teams up with the killer.  This is a tense, fast-moving story and it doesn't leave much to the imagination.  

View all my reviews

Book #6

The Wedding Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think I've read all of the Elm Creek Quilts novels.  I might have missed one or two along the way.  I was not enamored of this one.  It's set in the future.  Sarah and Matt's daughter Caroline is now 25 and it's the week of her wedding.  Most of the book consists of Sarah's reminiscences of her life at Elm Creek Manor.  Not much of a plot exists, and quite frankly, it was on the boring side.  It feels like a "wrap-the-series-up" novel.

View all my reviews

Book #7

A False Mirror by Charles Todd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was one of the best Inspector Rutledge books yet.  An influential diplomat has been attacked and left for dead and the main suspect is the diplomat's ex-fiance Stephen Mallory.  Mallory served at the front with Rutledge, and despite their shared negative history, Mallory asks Rutledge to prove he's not the perpetrator.  Once again, Rutledge battles his supervisor and his past, represented by Hamish.  I especially liked this installment because I was misled as to the true perpetrator.  I also liked how Rutledge was forced to deal with his past.  

View all my reviews

Book #8

Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rafe Kardashian's first day of middle school is worse than he ever imagined it.  Killer Miller, the resident bully, singles him out from the very start.  Rafe however, has a plan suggested by his sidekick, Leo the Silent.   Rafe will go out of his way to break every single one of the school's rules.  This is a humorous, yet poignant view of middle school seen from the perspective of a kid who doesn't fit in.  His homelife is troubled, and academics are not Rafe's forte.  The book is peppered with drawings reminiscent of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and these drawings figure into the grand conclusion.  This was an exremely fast read (about 45 minutes) for me, and I can't wait to share it with my 6th graders.  It definitely belongs in the classroom library!

View all my reviews

I

Making Lemonade

We were supposed to take our students on a field trip to the Boston Museum of Science yesterday.  We were going specifically to see the traveling exhibit of Pompeii artifacts since we study ancient Rome and volcanoes in our social studies and science classes.  We were also going to view an IMAX movie about Greek archaeology, again since we also study ancient Greece.  But alas!  Late Thursday afternoon the superintendent asked us to cancel our trip because of an impending ice storm.  The storm arrived on schedule . . . . BUT . . . ..it warmed up a whole lot faster than anticipated, and we didn't even have a delayed start!

So that meant quite a bit of scrambling.  When our trip was canceled we were certain that we'd have at least the delayed start, so we planned a short day.  My teaching partner wanted to show the kids Apollo 13 since they were finishing their study of space exploration so we decided that a shortened day would be a perfect time to that, plus give the kids a "fun" day since we were all disappointed about the trip.  He called me at 6 am Friday to let me know that he hadn't been able to locate a copy of the movie - his wife had lent their copy to a teacher at her school!  So 7:15 am found us both combing the school media collection for a curriculum related video.  Then, because we had a whole day rather than the abbreviated day (2 hour delay) -- we had 2 more hours to fill than we'd planned.  So I pulled out some "emergency" activities for social studies and he did the same for science.

The lemonade part of the day was due to my husband.  (He runs the bus company that supplies the school transportation).  He felt guilty that he'd told the superintendent the roads were clear enough for his drivers but knew that we were scrambling.  (The roads were barely adequate in my opinion!)  He arrived at my classroom door armed with coffee for my partner and me, and enough donut holes for all our students!  What a guy!

Overall, we were pretty stressed, but most of the day was fine.  I did have one incident with a student who called me a jerk because I asked her to move her seat.  She is a very troubled adolescent, and we are working hard on respect.  Fortunately she decided to rethink her response!  Unfortunately she found herself in trouble with another teacher because when she left my room (with a pass) to use the bathroom, she decided to fling soap foam all over the hallway.  On the big plus side:  I had done some midyear testing with my students - the Scholastic Reading Inventory.  When I gave the test at the beginning of the school year 12% of my students scored below basic.  At mid year, only 6% of them are below basic, and the percentage of student who are proficient or advanced has gone up 10% . So despite the poor performance of a number of students on day-to-day assignments in reading, they are progressing and learning something!  I can't tell you how happy that made me feel!  I know if you are or were a teacher, you understand the feeling, especially in this day and age of high-stakes testing.

We ended the day going out to dinner with friends which made for an extremely pleasant end to the day.

P.S.  I am fully recovered from my spill down the stairs earlier in the week!

And I Went Tumblin' Down

It's been an interesting week.  Monday began my week of lunch/recess duty and I grabbed my yogurt and coat and headed down the stairs to the cafeteria.  About 3 steps from the bottom of the stairs, something happened, and the next thing I knew I was on my knees at the foot of the stairs.  I landed hard on both knees, including the knee I've had problems with for several years due to a previous injury, and the wind certainly got knocked of me.  After a few moments, I realized nothing was broken and I managed to rise to a standing position and continue down to the cafe.  Once I got there, limping and somewhat dazed, I sat in the first available chair ---- only to discover that somebody had spilt something in it and hadn't wiped it up!   So not only was I hurting, now I had a very wet seat!  As soon as the other duty teacher arrived, I went down to the nurse for "injury" review --- icepacks, ibuprofen, and paperwork.  I took it easy the rest of the school day -- my students were quite soliticitous all afternoon, and I left school early.  Tuesday I woke up feeling a bit battered, and as the day went on I felt sorer and sorer despite the Advil regime.  By the end of the day I could barely walk!  Today thankfully, I am much less sore.  My knees luckily seem to be fine - most of the pain has been in my back and quadriceps!  Instead of my water aerobics class tonight, I stretched in the warmer therapy pool.    I do not recommend falling down stairs as a way to get out of recess duty!

This and That and Not Much of Anything

The weekend started out with promise.  We went out to dinner Friday night with good friends and had a good meal and great conversation.   When we got home, my husband announced that he wanted to go the movies Saturday afternoon, and we could combine some errands with the movie.  This is a momentous occasion, because he RARELY wants to go to the movies.  I, however, love to go and don't get to go very often.  So I looked forward to Saturday.  Unfortunately I woke up Saturday morning feeling horrible -- scratchy throat, headache, exhaustion.  I never made it out of my pjs and in fact, went back to bed at 9:30 am and slept til almost 1 pm.  However, even if I had felt fine, we wouldn't have made it to the movies because of the weather --- about 4 inches of slippery snow surprised us.    I did manage to get up and make a homemade (kind of) chicken pot pie with the help of prepared foods  --- leftover rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, some frozen mixed veggies, some cream of celery and cream of mushroom soup, fresh onion, a small can of mushrooms, and a ready-made piecrust.  And I did muster up enough energy to watch "Death and Dust" - an episode of my favorite series Midsomer Murders."  I did knit a few rows of a sock and I read a couple of chapters of The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen.  This morning I woke up feeling fine, and went to church.  We are planning to leave shortly to fulfill the errands we didn't do yesterday, and then hope to see "War Horse" at the movies.    So with luck, the weekend will end on a high note.

A Sweater for All Seasons AKA Lace Notes

I FINALLY finished this sweater on the first day of the new year.  I started it in Jan. 2011, abandoned it to complete some gift knitting, then when on to summer knitting, and finally picked it up again in December.  It is published in two Family Circle books:  Easy Plus Size Knits where it's called Lace Notes, and in Easy Family Knits where it's called A Sweater for All Seasons.  That's how it's listed on Ravelry too. I used Valley Yarns Goshen from Webs in colonial blue, and I knit the 2nd smallest size (plus size pattern).

It took me a long time to seam --- and that's a finishing skill I need to improve!  Patience would help.  I am very happy with the fit and length.  Because Goshen is cotton, silk, and modal, I'm hoping it won't be too hot to wear in classroom.

An Approximate Total

Just for my curiousity, I added up the number of pages I read this year.  I use Goodreads.com to keep track so  the number of pages for each book read come from that resource.  And there were 4 books with no page counts -- I think they were only available through Kindle, and not in print.  I didn't add those pages, although  since they are all by the same author I could estimate that each book was about 140 pages long.  I haven't gone back to previous years totals to compare . . .and I don't plan to at this point.  So I don't know how this total compares.  So here it is  ---- 47258 pages.    The average book length (108) was 437.57 pages.  (Includes the 4 books with no page count, and all of the George RR Martin books.)  It means I read an average of 13 pages a day. . .   So I plan to keep track of both books and pages this year to see how 2012 compares.

My goal --- 125 books AND 50,000 pages.

A Book Review

My first entry for the new year is a review of book #108, the last book for 2011.  I didn't make my goal of reading 125 books, and I missed my 2010 record of 109 by one.  Oh well.  A new year, and another chance at the goal.  This is the first book of a new-to-me series.



The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Joe Sandilands is looking forward to returning to England after a tour of duty in India.  Just as he about to leave, he's asked to postpone his trip to investigate a series of mysterious deaths.  Five Anglo women have died under odd circumstances over a long period of time.  As Joe investigates, he uncovers an intricate web of deceit, and at the same time, meets Nancy Drummond and falls in love with her.  This was an interesting novel set in 1920's India.  My only "complaint" was the use of a lot of Indian words to describe places or situations.  A few were explained, and a few I could figure out from context.  My vocabulary lack didn't interfere with my comprehension of the story, but my teacher brain was annoyed that I couldn't check references or that there wasn't a glossary.  Neither my Kindle dictionary, nor my physical dictionary had the references either.  I am looking forward to reading other novels in this new-to-me series.


View all my reviews

In Which I Learn Something New

I never knew you could sprain a jaw.  Apparently I have done so.  For the past 10 days or so, the left side of my jaw, at the joint, has been sore to the touch.  I thought I had a swollen gland since I've also been fighting the ubiquitous cold.  Then it started to hurt to open my mouth wide - like when you take a big bite of something, or when you yawn.  Last week I decided that if it still hurt after Christmas, I'd call my doctor. On Tuesday, I saw the nurse practitioner who diagnosed an undetermined infection (perhaps a sebaceous cyst infection) so she put me on an antibiotic.  She told me that if it didn't feel better after 24 hours on the meds,  I should call my dentist. Yesterday I called the dentist, and he fit me in right at the end of the day.  He examined my jaw thoroughly, eliminated a number of possibilities, and then took a panoramic xray of my jaw.  After examining it, he hurriedly left the room.   When he returned, he told me that he'd made me an appointment with an oral surgeon for today.  He said "I maybe an alarmist, but there's something not right and I want a surgeon to look at it."  Of course, that made me feel quite calm (NOT!) and I spent a sleepless night.  My husband changed his work plans so that he could accompany me to the oral surgeon (about an hour's drive away) so I knew he was equally worried.  The oral surgeon did a thorough exam of my jaw, took a 2nd Xray, and finally told me that he was 99% sure it was a variety of TMJ and that I had sprained my jaw!  So for the next week, I am undergoing a regime of ibuprofen, warm compresses, and soft food.  If there is no improvement, he will set me up with some physical therapy - who knew you could get PT for a sprained jaw!  If that doesn't help there's an expensive diagnostic test he can do.  I asked him if he was sure enough that it wasn't something scarier because I'd be willing to pay for the test if he thought there was a strong possibility I would need it.  He reassured me, but also told me that it could take weeks for my jaw to feel better.  He did tell me that USUALLY he sees this in athletes or trauma, but very occasionally it's stress related.  He also said there might be a possibility that it's an arthritic condition, in which case, the treatment would be similar.

So I learned that you can sprain a jaw, and that you can get physical therapy for it.  I was also reminded of how much I like my dentist - he was worried enough to send me to a specialist, but also honest enough to tell me that he might be overreacting.  I also learned that I don't mind waiting in a doctor's office when the receptionist tells you the surgery the doctor was performing was taking a bit longer than usual, so he was running about 20 minutes behind and then she checks in with you twice to let you know what was going on.  Plus there was a help-yourself Keurig with many varieties of Kcups in the waiting room, new magazines, and lots of lovely plants.  And when the doctor finally sees you he apologizes for keeping you waiting.    As I told him, I'd rather wait than have you hurry the surgery!!

Unachievable Goal: My Year in Books

I set a goal this year of reading 125 books.  I am not going to make it, and I may not even get to last year's level of 109 books.   I was probably overly-optimistic when I set it.  I did read a lot however, this year, and if I kept track of numbers of pages, I probably read  many more pages this year.  I realized that quite a few of the ooks I read were longer-than-usual books.  One of my achievements this summer was to read the entire George R.R. Martin Song of Ice and Fire series - those books totaled over 5000 pages.  Another goal I'd set was to read more nonfiction.

 I read 14 nonfiction books --- from a knitting memoir to a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to a history of the number zero--- quite a variety of topics and quite frankly, several were somewhat challenging reads.  (Especially Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea.  The writing was terrific, but the abstract mathematics got to me eventually.) A couple of the nonfiction books I read stand out:  Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend , which described not only the dog(s) but chronicled the changes in American culture, and Packing for Mars:The Curious Science of Life in the Void.   I was fascinated with the descriptions of astronaut training, and I learned a lot about space travel.  I especially like books which answer questions I didn't know I had!

 I discovered  some new-to-me authors and series this year.  I especially enjoyed Louise Penny's Inspector Armand Gamache series, and I loved Mark Schweitzer's Hayden Konig series!  I can't wait to read new works by either author.  I continued to read the Charles Todd Inspector Rutledge series and continued visiting with Martha Grimes' Richard Jury, and Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco.

Staying abreast of middle school literature is a professional goal as well as a personal goal.  I read a number of books that either appeal to my students or that go along with our curricula.  I read several books about the Holocaust when I was teaching 7th grade.  Hana's Suitcase in particular stands out, and I also read it aloud to my students.  I was also very impressed by the 7th grade novel Swallowing Stones.  This book was a page turner and it really appealed to my students with its accurate depiction of adolescence and the moral dilemmas.

So what are  my goals for this year?  To keep reading of course.  I will probably keep the 125 books read as my goal, and see if I get any closer!

To see more in-depth reviews of the books I've read, check my books out on Goodreads. com . You can access them by clicking on the Goodreads button at the left.

Knitting Content

I have been knitting this sweater since last spring, but I finally finished it last week.  Now that the Christmas entertaining is done, I have started it blocking.  It's from Family Circle Easy Plus Size Knits  (Ravelry link) where it's called "A Sweater for All Seasons."  It's also in another FC book where it's called Lace Notes.  I used Valley Yarns Goshen.  in Colonial Blue. It was a fairly straightforward pattern, and an easy stitch pattern to memorize.    My only fear is that it is going to be too big.  We'll see.

Merry Christmas!

Before . . . .Notice, I never got beyond getting lights on my tree.  No matter, it's the lights I like the best anyway.

Considering that only 3 people are celebrating together in this home this year, there seems to be quite a few gifts under this tree.  

And the after shot . . . .Most of the boxes have been recycled for several years.  Part of the fun is wondering   how many other gifts the box has held!  I mailed my sister her gifts in a box that someone sent us last year.  She mailed her gifts to us in the same box!

We had a lovely Christmas Eve with 2 friends we'd invited over for dinner and Elder Son.  We talked to Younger Son (in CA)  last evening, and again this morning.  Later we will call far-flung siblings.   We've been laughing a lot --- some very unique gifts from my husband!    All in all, an almost perfect day --- (Perfection being having the whole family here!)

Stop the Clock, Please!

I had to take a sick day yesterday . . . a stomach bug laid me low for about 15 hours.  I was up all night, and at 5:15 am I requested a sub.  Then I had to pull together some sub plans.  On the rare occasions I'm out sick, I usually have some warning.  Usually I go in to school and realize by the end of the day that I might need plans so I have something ready to go and all I have to do is email the plans in.  Not so yesterday.  Not only did I have to pull some stuff together, I had to physically go into my classroom to pull out things the sub would need, and to clear off the mound of stuff on my desk!  I have a terrific husband however. He offered to drive me in and help me.  And boy, did he.  He ran the copy machine and stapled a packet together while I wrote plans, and then he drove me home.  I immediately went to sleep and except for some rapid trips to the bathroom, that's all I did all day.  With all that being said, I lost a most of the day to oblivion, not an ideal way to try to get ahead of all the holiday tasks.

I did wake up today energized, and feeling really good.  I've gotten a bunch of stuff crossed off my list, but of course still keep finding more things that should get done.  I wrapped and mailed all my niece and nephew gifts, and then went with my husband on a shopping expedition to find stocking stuffers, and few last select gifts.  I think we're done.  Now it's time to tackle some holiday cleaning and the usual laundry. I hope also to get some holiday baking done.  I just realized that Christmas Eve is next Saturday.  We have invited some dear friends over for dinner so I need to decide on the menu.  What's really got me a bit edgy about time, is that we have a full week of school . . . .no day before Christmas Eve off, to do the baking and last minute grocery shopping.  All that will have to be done after work this week  --- on top of all the regular weekly commitments.  So, my ardent wish right now is to get the clock to stop ticking, or at least to tick much more slowly  --- as long as I can continue working at a fairly quick clip!