Knitting (Not Much)

My knitting has slowed to a crawl with my shoulder/arm issues. I miss it! However, I am making very slow progress on this:

From Knitting Gallery

It's the Radiance Cabled Jacket from Melissa Morgan-Oakes. I'm using Valley Yarns Colrain and I got it all at WEBS, of course. I love the drape and silkiness of the yarn.

February Flatness

I haven't had much to say lately. I think it's the February flatness. The weather is dreary, there's way too much school year stretching out ahead, I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps it's the tease of the light too -- the sun is rising as I go to school and it's still light at 5 or so. Yet then we get socked by snow and sleet, and you realize it's still winter.

It's been a tough few weeks. Our church secretary died very suddenly and unexpectedly. She leaves a HUGE hole in hearts, and in the life of our church. We are still pastorless, and she has been the constant presence and our glue, reminding us that it's time to do the Easter letter, it's time for the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, it's time to register for Annual Meeting, etc. etc. A group of members have volunteered to staff the office during office hours, and we are blessed that there are at least a couple folks who can access the church computer and do the weekly service bulletins. A couple of us (moderator, vice moderator (me), the treasurer, and a trustee) will meet later this week to go through the church office to "inventory" things --- our secretary was the person who knew where everything is.

School has been hard too. Morale is low due to some major budget cuts, and some other internal "politics".

I am on vacation this week, but we're not doing anything special. I do love being able to leave the alarm in the off position, and have the luxury of sleeping in. I will say that sleeping in nowadays, means to maybe 7 am! I've spent the last 3 days working on my husband's billing and bookkeeping, and starting the taxes. I've also read a couple of China Bayles' books, and a little knitting. I'm still having trouble with the knitting. My hand/shoulder isn't 100% so I can't knit for long. Physical therapy has definitely been helping though. I've been trying to persuade my other half to go to the movies and see some of the movies that were up for Oscars, but he really doesn't like to go, and I don't like going alone. I'm in the mood to go shopping, but my shopping buddy is on vacation out of state, I don't need anything, and I don't want to spend the money. . . . So . . . I've been spending too much time surfing the internet and Facebook, and I've been playing too many games of Super Mah Jong!

Contests

Just in case you haven't seen these contests, check them out.

Over on Knit Purl Gurl you can win an awesome bag of WEBS goodies from Kathy Elkins.

And on Mommatudes you can win a gorgeous pair of hammered silver earrings.

Two great give-aways to brighten up a midwinter.

Middle School Historical Fiction

Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues by Harriette Gillem Robinet

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is excellent. Alfa is a 6th grader in 1956 Montgomery, Alabama. Alfa lives with his 15 year old sister Zinnia and their great-grandmother "Big Mama". They live in 2 room tar paper shack and need to find another 10 dollars for their rent. Alfa and his family are accused of stealing money from a "wealthy" white doctor's home. This book depicts quite realistically life for an African-American family during the 1950's. The bus boycott is 6 months old. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr has just become pastor of the Dexter Ave church and Alfa is trying hard to "walk the walk" and "talk the talk" of nonviolence.



I'm currently reading this aloud to my 6th graders to help lay some background for their novel study of Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. They are really engaged, and we've had some good discussions about segregation and the differences in lifestyle. They are having a tough time understanding "having to work" and having to put whatever money Alfa earns toward food and rent.






View all my reviews.

Heresy

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
This is probably heresy, but I didn't like this book. It was compelling however, so I guess that means it's a "good" book. I wanted to quit reading about 1/2 way through but I had to see it to the end. So, why didn't I like it? I think the first reason I disliked it was because I never felt connected to the characters. The third person "objective" narration kept me an observer rather than a participant in the story -- I never felt like I understood Edgar's motivation, and I especially felt distanced from any understanding of his mother's. The other reason I disliked it was the overall feeling of depression and doom that it left me with. I really don't like books that leave me feeling hopeless. Perhaps I missed the point, but that's how it left me.


View all my reviews.

Randomness

1. I am constantly tired and sleepy. I've been going to bed earlier than normal -- between 8 and 9 pm instead of my usual 10 pm. I've been sleeping soundly and have had a hard time waking up with my 4:45 am alarm. I was home Thursday - slept soundly until 8:30 am, got up, dressed, and then napped for another couple of hours. Then up for a while, and another nap. ... Bed early on Thursday night too. Last night I hit the hay at 8:30, slept til 7:30 am. I'm feeling sleepy now at 6 pm. I'm not sure what's going on. . . .

2. I'm making progress with my physical therapy. . . Much fewer episodes of tingling and numbness, and aside from the development of "trigger finger" my shoulder is also improving.

3. It's amazing to see it still light at 5 pm. Spring is coming.

4. 6.5 hours of school work on a Saturday is too much.

5. My house is a mess. The kitchen table is covered and the floors need vacuuming and cleaning. I don't care -- much.

6. I haven't been knitting because of the above issues with my hand and shoulder.

More China Bayles

Lavender Lies by Susan Wittig Albert

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Let's see, a murder, a recuperating groom to be, the wedding cake baker leaving town, Leatha's arrival, a tea-room opening, and a hurricane, what else could go wrong in the week before for China and McQuaid's eagerly-anticipated wedding? The complications multiply but as usual the murder is solved and the other problems resolved, in this light-hearted installment of China Bayles.


View all my reviews.

Mistletoe Man by Susan Wittig Albert

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I liked this installment too. Ruby has a big secret and China is sure she's done something to hurt her. However, China finds out that all of their friends are worried about Ruby. Meanwhile, her mistletoe supplier Carl Swenson, is killed ostensibly in a "hit and run" accident. The Fletcher sisters and their Aunt Velda (who's been kidnapped and returned by the Klingons) come under suspicion as all of the law enforcement folks try to figure out exactly what happened to Carl. And then there is Mrs. Kendall, the British cook extraordinaire who has come to China's rescue in the tearoom. But what mystery is she hiding??


View all my reviews.

A Little of This and a Little of That

It seemed like a very long week, but that's probably because we had FIVE days of school in a row! Next week things will get interesting as we add 30 minutes to the end of each school day from now til May 8th in an effort to make up time lost because of the ice storm in December. The upside is that we get 10 minutes added on to our core classes so that now I have an hour to teach reading/language arts and an hour for science. An hour is still not long enough to do everything I should be doing for reading and writing. When I started teaching I had an hour for reading and an hour for writing everyday. Then it was cut to 90 minutes daily. Then to 50 minutes. And guess what, our reading and writing scores dropped!! Does anyone but we RLA teachers see a correlation? Anyway, I'm not going there right now.

We had a very depressing school budget session this past week too. Our school board (all good people, all interested in providing a quality education for our kids) has faced some of the toughest decisions they've had to face in a long time. They have been forced to make significant cuts in programming that result in 4 teachers losing their jobs. At my school we are losing a guidance counselor. Aside from the fact that the person whose job is cut is the best guidance counselor we've ever had, the loss of the position will have a real impact on the support we can offer our kids. The plan is for the remaining guidance counselor to cover the 6th and 7th graders and one of the high school counselors will cover the 8th graders. It remains to be seen how effective that will be. Morale in the buildings is the lowest I've seen it since I've been teaching which makes it hard to go to school.

I'm struggling too with new curriculum --- I haven't taught science before, and I'm not a science person. I don't particular enjoy it either. I work really hard at bringing enthusiasm and energy into the classroom; the kids have no idea that I really don't have a passion for the subject. I also am working hard at figuring out how to teach the concepts that I have to teach. While I have a lot of cool projects and ideas for teaching ancient civilizations, I don't have a repertoire of science activities, so everything (including the concepts at times!) is new to me. February is a tough month even though it's short, and believe it or not, we have a vacation scheduled for the last week!

I am not doing much knitting because of my shoulder and pinched nerve issues. I started the Radiance Cabled Jacket by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. I'm using the Colrain yarn in steel gray. I love the way it has started out, and it's not a difficult pattern, but I can only manage to knit 3-4 rows a night before I have to stop. I love the way the yarn drapes and it has a nice sheen to it.

On the book front, I just finished this one.

Bones by Jonathan Kellerman

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
This finally got interesting in the last few chapters. I was going to abandon it as a dull read but didn't have another book ready to replace it. I thought it was strange that although the story was told from Alex Delaware's perspective, he was mostly a "ride-along" through much of the book. I missed his personal involvement as well as the tension between Alex and Robin. I used to like this series, but I think it's time for Alex to retire.


View all my reviews.

Book Review

Burn Out by Marcia Muller

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I haven't read Marcia Muller in a long time, so it was good to get reacquainted with Sharon McCone and Hy Ripinsky. I think I missed the book just previous to this one, so it took me a bit to get re-oriented. (It doesn't help that I've read so many series -- Kinsey Milhone, China Bayles, VI Warsharski,etc. - you have to keep complicated backstories in your memory banks). I liked this one. Sharon is recuperating from a traumatizing near-death experience, and is burned out. She's spending time at Hy's ranch in Lake Tufa. She gets drawn into investigating the disappearance of the ranch manager's niece despite herself. There were enough clues strewn about the story to have some good guesses as to "who-dunnit" but only if you wanted to work at it. I've missed this series.


View all my reviews.

A New(ish) Adventure

I live in a very small town with TWO United Church of Christ (UCC) churches. Both are small churches (my church has about 90 "official" members, with average attendance around 40) and the other congregation is about the same. My church was actually "planted" by the original Congregational church (called what else, First Church) back around 1850. At the time, one end of town was mushrooming with mill workers. Some very mission-oriented members of First Church recognized that the distance from the "East Village" to the First Church was too great for many of the millworkers and their families to travel, so they petitioned the church to separate and plant a new church down in "East Village". And so they did. For about 125 years the two congregations, less than 2 miles apart, flourished. Both churches developed separate identities and focused on different ministries. At some point in the history of the 2 churches some "snobbishness" evolved and for some years there was little to no contact between the two churches. When I arrived in town, about 30 years ago, the 2 churches worshiped together on Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday services and also worshiped together as part of the community's Interfaith Thanksgiving service. And then as has happened with many main line churches, both congregations have fallen upon hard times --- aging congregations, diminished membership rosters, financial woes, and right now, both congregations are pastorless. Three years ago a group of lay leaders appointed from both churches started meeting together to brainstorm ways that the 2 congregations could help each other. Not by merging, but by collaborating where possible on mutual ministries, and even on more regular joint worship. This has been an extremely enriching experience (I'm one of the "ambassadors" as we're called). So for the past several years we've intentionally held regular joint worship services --- 7 or 8 a year. And now we embark on our newest adventure. For the months of February and March we will hold joint services every Sunday. Starting today my church will journey "up the road" to our parent church for all our February services. In March we will host all the services in our sanctuary "down the street." We are excited because each church is tired -- in my church we have had no pastor since September so our worship planners are exhausted from either finding guest ministers or planning and leading worship themselves. We also have no music leadership at this time -- there just aren't many organists available, or other musicians who are called to lead musically in a worship setting in our neck of the woods. So another benefit is that for two months we will have the benefit of the superb music leadership of First Church. We don't know where these experiments in mutually supporting each other will grow. While there are a few of us who are interested in the potential of merger, there are many more who fear that. Perhaps we will evolve into a yoked parish. We are all praying that we stay open to God's voice and willing to go where the Spirit leads. It's exciting!!

Knit Two

Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
This continues the story of the knitting group that gathered at Walker and Daughter. Georgia Walker has died, and this book picks up several years later. Each of the people introduced in the previous novel are dealing with their grief in their individual ways, but few have "moved on", including Georgia's daughter Dakota. It took me a while to reconnect with the characters, and at a few points I wanted to shake a few of them into their senses. It was an okay read.


View all my reviews.

A LONG LONG WEEK

This past week seemed to drag by even though it was full of events and busy-ness. I started the week by attending the school board meeting and ended it by going out to a fabulous dinner with friends. I had an hour long physical therapy appointment, 2 water aerobics classes, a snow day, a 2 hour delay day, and a 2 hour association meeting after school. Oh, and I had a formal observation done too. And in between I taught, did my PT exercises, ran errands, and tried to sleep.

Because of all the days we missed from the ICE STORM, our school board has decided to add 30 minutes to our teaching day from Feb. 9 to May 8th (55 days!). This is what a majority of middle school and high school teacher wanted to have happen, though that wasn't necessarily true of the elementary schools. The 30 minutes will be added at the end of the day. In our school that means that our core classes (math, reading/la, science, and social studies) will have 10 minutes added to them, while a skills class will be cut by 10 minutes. We're happy about having 60 minute classes. Of course this has an impact on our contract which was the topic of the 2 hour association meeting. At any rate it will make the next three months of school VERY interesting.

On the physical therapy front I've been dealing with a pinched nerve combined with a shoulder impingment and possible carpal tunnel syndrome. So I had to figure out how to schedule 8 appts before 4 pm with a longer school day. The toughest part of the PT is that I have to severely limit my knitting. I am having major withdrawal symptoms.

My observation went well, and I got good feedback. Of course WHILE I was teaching the lesson, I felt like nothing was going well. I had not been formally observed for over 5 years so it was especially nerve-wracking.

Finally last night, we went with friends to a fabulous restaurant, tucked away in the woods. The food is superb and the ambience and service are excellent. It's definitely on the upper end of affordability for us, but it's well-worth it once or twice a year.

Next week should be a little less crazy -- no meetings scheduled, only one appointment, and fingers crossed, no weather incidents to cancel school!

On Pins and Needles for the Reading Round Up

I've been getting quite a bit of reading done so far this month. I've already lapsed into the area of "light" reading, but between that and knitting, it's how I relax. I haven't been quite as able to knit as I'd like either. I apparently have a pinched nerve and/or some carpal tunnel issues, along with a chronic shoulder impingement that's acting up, and knitting is exacerbating the symptoms. I'm in the "diagnostic" stages of determining what's going on. I have constant pins and needles and numbness in my right hand, a severely aching shoulder, and some issues with a ring finger joint locking up. All of this started just before Christmas, and I am slowly making my way from my PCP to a specialist to physical therapy and so on.

So the first book this week is on my Middle School books Read:

A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
As I was reading this novel at school, one of my 6th grade girls stopped by my chair and gushed, "Oh I LOVED this book! It was SO good!" She is an avid reader, and is truly gifted in the areas of reading and language arts. I was still at the beginning of the book so I just said, I'd let her know how I liked it when I was done.



I'd like to say I loved it too. I can't say that. It was only okay as far as I was concerned. But I can see the appeal for some of my readers. The author bills it as a melodrama, and that is certainly what it is. It's 1908-1909 and Maudy is an orphan in the cliched bleak orphanage. She's the girl who's always in trouble, not pretty in the classic sense, and a bit of a rebel. She is adopted by 3 spinster sisters who turn out to be spiritualists and are looking for a young girl to assist them in the "family business." Maudy is glad to be away from the orphanage, and is enjoying a somewhat luxurious life, but is puzzled about why she has to be a "secret daughter" and is concerned a bit about what she's eventually asked to do. This novel has all the ingredients of a melodrama, and the author does a nice job of using them all. I think that this book will appeal to those stronger adolescent readers with a leaning towards books like "The Secret Garden" and "The Little Princess". I think that if I had read this book as a 12 year old, I would have gushed over it too.


View all my reviews.


Next on my list is another China Bayles installment:

Chile Death by Susan Wittig Albert

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a lighter-hearted installment. McQuaid is recuperating and starting to join back into everyday life by judging an annual chili fest. There's a death, an investigation, and romance is back on track. A quick, easy read.


View all my reviews.


This next book is also part of a series == I bought it last year when I was reading the series, and apparently never read it. I found it under a stack of books I was moving. So I read it "out of order" which I hate to do. I still enjoyed it!

Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was fun! The twins are 4 months old, Lori is overwhelmed by new motherhood, and Finch is in an uproar! The vicar has promised the schoolhouse to an archeologist so he can use it as his base, but has forgotten Peggy Kitchener's need for it for the Annual Harvest Festival. All of the villagers are taking sides in the ensuing battle royale that is developing, and a mysterious document is stolen from the vicar's home. But never fear, here comes Francesca, a gorgeous nanny, and of course Dimity to bring order to the chaos Lori is embroiled in.


View all my reviews.

2009 Books - #9

Love Lies Bleeding by Susan Wittig Albert

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This installment in the China Bayles series was really good! Susan Wittig Albert throws a very realistic twist into China's relationship with McQuaid, and the title of this particular volume is particularly apt in several ways. I don't want to say anymore! I can't wait to read the next book.


View all my reviews.

Jennifer gave me this award which surprised and humbled me. Thank you! Be sure to visit her blog. I've been blogging now for just about 3 years, and my blog has evolved during that time. It's kind of exciting to "meet" people in other parts of the world and get to know them in this way. Maybe I'll have a chance to meet some of my new friends in person in the future.


The sentiment behind the reward is this: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."


I nominate these friends whose blogs I read regularly:

Cathy
Jan
Melissa
bunnits

and these bloggers who have been nominated by others, I second! I follow their blogs too.


Songbird
juniper
lutheranchik
jerseyknitter

A Sensitive Book on a Sensitive Topic

Totally Joe by James Howe

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is awesome! And I found it entirely by accident. I picked up a bunch of new books in my library, and recognizing the author as the "Bunnicula" author, grabbed this one. This book is VERY different, and deals with a much-needed, though sensitive, topic. Joe is in 7th grade and his teacher has assigned a year-long writing project -- an alphabiography. For each letter of the alpabet, Joe has to write about himself. Early in the alphabet, we learn that when Joe was little, he preferred Barbies to GI Joes, and hated the trucks his grandparents gave him. We soon learn that Joe has always known he's different, and in fact, he knows that he is gay. As he writes in his diary/alphabiography he's always been attracted to guys, loves E.T., thinks Keanu Reeves is hot, and has a crush on another 7th grade boy who likes him back. Joe is not afraid to be "different" but he is picked on and most of his classmates know, at least on some level, that Joe is gay. His boyfriend also knows he's gay, but unlike Joe doesn't have a supportive family to lean on. I like the way the subject is dealt with -- with great sensitivity and honesty. I would love to find a way to teach with this book. I am glad it's available in the library.


View all my reviews.

Knitting Content

From knitting2

This is the first project I've finished (except for blocking and facing). It's from Family Circle Easy Knitting and it's called the Modern Classic. This is the 2nd time I've knit it. The first one was knit in the summer of 2005 and it kept me occupied while I took the night watch at my mom's death bed. It was the first knitting project I'd done in over 20 years and the simple stockinette helped me center myself, and stay present for my mom during that bittersweet summer. Every night for almost 6 weeks I sat with her during the long watches of the night and as she drifted off into sleep, I knit. She never saw the finished sweater; and it was really too big, but I still wear it schlepping around the house. This sweater fits really well, although despite all my efforts, the sleeves could still be shorter. I need to do a final block, and I am looking for the grosgrain ribbon I need to face the front bands. I have been to Joanne's, Michael's, 2 Walmarts, and an independent fabric store to no avail. Either they have the color but not enough (I only need two yards of 7/8 inch ribbon) or it's too narrow, or they don't have it. I wish now I'd gone with my first idea and made the bands a teeny bit wider and put buttons on it!

From knitting2

These are Spirogyra, from Knitty.com. I used Berroco Sox. They took me 4-5 evenings of about an hour each to complete. They were easy to knit, and they make me smile when I wear them!

From knitting2

Two Middle School Novels and A Mystery for Adults

Here are two books I read from my school library this week. The first will appeal to younger readers while the second is aimed at the older middle school reader. I think both books are interesting, and will appeal more to the girls than the boys. I still continue to be encouraged by the number of good books out for our middle readers that also appeal to adults!

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
An enjoyable book that will appeal to some of the girls in my 6th grade class, especially the "younger" ones. Four sisters spend a summer in a rental cottage on a large estate. They make friends with the snobby estate owner's son, get into all sorts of scrapes, and make new friends. It's a gentle story.


View all my reviews.


And the second recommendation is this:

Peeled by Joan Bauer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hildy is a journalist, working for the high school newspaper. Her family owns an apple orchard and she splits her time between school and the family business. Her small town is experiencing some scary times that are centered on the town's alleged haunted house, and fear is building in the town. At the same time, the mayor has announced a new economic initiative that threatens the orchards of some of the town's growers. Hildy uses her journalism skills to get to the bottom of things, and she and her friends "break the story." Joan Bauer creates believable teenagers, engaging stories, and I think this story will appeal to many middle school girls.


View all my reviews.


And for the grown-ups I offer this next book in the China Bayles series:

Rosemary Remembered by Susan Wittig Albert

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is book #4 in the China Bayles series. While I did end up suspecting the correct villain, I was surprised by the means, and I wasn't sure of my suspect until close to the end. I really like this series. The characters are believable, the plots are twisty enough to confound the casual armchair detective, and I'm always interested in how all the relationships evolve in Pecan Springs. Pecan Springs is alive in my imagination, and I enjoy spending time there.


View all my reviews.

I Forgot!

I forgot to mention this book, one of the last I read for 2008. I like books like this -- I learn something new, since the book is based on historical fact, it's engrossing, 0and it has that gentleness and genuineness I like.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a gentle, enjoyable read. A writer, looking for an idea, stumbles upon a love story, and becomes part of a small community on the island of Guernsey. The time is just past WWII and she discovers how a small community survived German occupation by creating a literary society. She also discovers that love knows no boundaries. The entire novel is based on a series of letters from the writer to various islanders, to her editor and her friends, and from the islanders and her friends back. Through the various letters, a very vivid picture of the community emerges.


View all my reviews.

Book #2

I guess this should be partly 2008 since I started it during Advent. But I am counting my books when I can add them to my finished shelf.

The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Birth by Marcus J. Borg

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Another interesting offering from Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. I am one of those who take the Bible seriously, but not literally. I would be interested in the reactions to this book of folks who are encountering these theologians for the first time. I don't think I learned anything brand new, perhaps just stated a little differently. The stories are not diminished in any way. In fact I feel as though the truth of the stories is enriched and enhanced.


View all my reviews.