A Wonderful Saturday

Blair and I had a great and productive day today. We ran a lot of errands and got several things done at home. We planted spinach and mint, made bread, went for a walk, and assembled a new patio set just to name a few. We bought a collapsible kennel for Petey and a new leash for Murray (since he broke his yesterday). We went grocery shopping and made a trip to Lowe's. All in all, a beautiful and well-spent Saturday.

Spring Inside

It might not quite be spring outside, but it definitely is inside my classroom!!

A Great Week

I had a great week at school with my kids, but it still seemed like a long week. Not bad, just long. Last night Blair and I went to a Nathan Gunn concert on campus. Mr. Gunn is a very accomplished opera singer who performed for a very bad audience. I felt like that proverbial mother in the grocery store with the screaming child. People walked in and out. They clapped between all the parts of the Schubert song cycle. Someone's hearing aid was screeching, and the ladies in front of us knocked over their cane. The words were printed with the English translation, and the entire audience felt the need to follow along for the entire performance and loudly turn their pages when it was required. Forget just listening to the beautiful sound this man was producing. Forget watching his performance. Let's just follow along. Blair and I sitting among many of the Music Department faculty, and one could almost hear our collective groan when something happened.

This morning I went to my beloved Barnes and Noble and sat and read all morning and walked away with several purchases. I got two books for my kids at school (Little Critter), and The Wizard of Oz, Emma, Robinson Crusoe, and a new journal. I'm very excited about diving into one of these, I just haven't decided yet which one it will be.

When I left Barnes and Noble, I visited the buttercup field right down from our house. It isn't in full bloom yet, but it's still quite lovely.

New Knitting

I worked hard on my knitting in January (16 finished items) and am now working on a bamboo cowl. I'm excited about getting this finished. I'm about halfway through and hoping to complete it by the weekend.



One of my sweet girls brought her sunglasses to school today to share with me. She's so cute.

Back to School

We had a three-hour delay this morning, but other than that it was back to normal today. I had two kids out, and the ones there were ready to be back. I bought eight new Little Critter books for them, and we read four today.

Most of the snow is gone now. It was pretty while it lasted, but I guess we can't have it forever.





Petey has decided he likes his sweater after all. He literally begs for it now and refuses to cooperate when the time comes to take it off.

A Second Snow Day

After driving to school on the ice, we decided to cancel for the day. So I got to come home and take a two hour nap. It was lovely, as was the snow left-over from yesterday. I've updated Flickr with today's photos, so you can see the rest of them there.

The Snowy Day

Here are some more photos of the day:

Tomorrow's activities are still up in the air. We have about six inches of snow right now, and it's still snowing. It's supposed to be about 18 degrees tonight, so the roads will be very icy in the morning. I'm hoping for another snow day. Today is the first time in eight years this area has had this much snow, and there's no telling when it will happen again. This is the first time my students have seen snow like this, and I really hope they get another day to enjoy it.

Snow Day!!

So, after I woke up at 5:00 this morning and had Blair drive me to school at 6:20, I get there to find out my administrator has JUST canceled school. I spent the next hour making phone calls and answering more. Now that I'm home, I intend to knit, drink hot chocolate, and watch the Inauguration all day. I will post more photos to my blog and Flickr later on tonight after the snow has really started to thicken and settle in for the night. There's a possibility of no school tomorrow as well, and if that's the case, I intend to do the same as today, minus the Inauguration coverage.

New Hats

Cold weather calls for a hat but why wear one that you already have? I have two new hats that I finished; one a week ago and one last night. They're both made from organic cotton, so they're really cozy, and they both also have cables. The cables make the fabric thicker so it's warmer. The lighting on these isn't the best because It's cloudy here today, so use your imagination.

I currently have a brown tweed hat on my needles for Blair. It doesn't have any cables on it, but the yarn is fantastic!

A Day for Hot Tea

...and hot chocolate. It's cold and rainy outside today with the possibility of snow tonight and tomorrow night (please please).

Yesterday I went shopping because Blair was at a school event. I went to the book store and Target. Great finds at both, by the way. Then I went to Michael's, where I also picked up some fun items. When I was done at Michael's, I walked next door to PetSmart where I purchased an argyle sweater for Pete. I know, I know. I have become one of "those" dog owners. It looks really cute on him, but he was really mad at me last night after I put it on him. He laid on his pillow and glowered at me for a while and then progressed to not even looking at me at all. He ignored my attempts to make nice; he snubbed the invites to sit in my lap. I believe his anger was compounded by the fact that I bought a new tug toy for Murray. Petey gets the sweater and Murray gets the toy. I promise I will not do this to my children. Really. Petey was mad all night, but seems more used to it today (yes, I am making him wear it again). It's just so darlin' on him!

It Finally got Cold!

Really Really Really cold! My kids and I talked about drinking hot chocolate and watching movies with blankets all day today. It's a great day for that!

Fun New Things

I had a good day at school despite the fact that I had a three-year-old terrified of death and another throw rice at me after threatening to take away all my toys.

As promised, these are my new coats. With the rain gone, I had great lighting this afternoon to photograph them. I know I probably could have chosen better backgrounds, but this is what I have.

I really feel like Audrey Hepburn when I wear it. It's very comfortable and swingy. Not to mention the fact that I only paid $4.80 for it!!

This one is the softest wool on the planet! It feels so great, and it's light but very warm.

A Rainy Day

This meant we read our rainy day book, Raindrop Plop, and sang, ALL DAY, our rainy day song. It also meant that the light wasn't good enough to take a picture of my new coat. Maybe later. As I mentioned yesterday, my photos for A Year of Photos are on the other blog. Go. See. Comment.

A Year in Photos ::January 12

I've been working on this at nap time on and off for a couple of months, and I've finished up my other projects and thought I'd come back to this one. It's a seed stitch scarf done in Koigu wool.

Overall, I had a good day in the classroom with my munchkins. I put some new stuff up on the walls, which always gets them excited. It makes it look more like the classrooms of their older siblings. I'm looking forward to a good, and very cold week, at school.

When I finished tutoring today, I made the short drive to Old Navy to look around. After just a few minutes in the store, I walked out with an $80 coat for just $4.80. I was stoked!! It's a super cute swing jacket in a winter white (think Audrey Hepburn). As soon as I have good lighting (i.e. tomorrow), I will take a picture to post.

I'm also thinking about moving A Year of Photos over to my other blog. My in-laws have dial-up, and all the pictures make it impossible for them to view my blog. So, if you don't see the picture here tomorrow, check the other site.

A Year in Photos ::January 11

Yes, this is a pirate. They are all over town. The whole city is Pirate-crazy. There's just no escaping them.

A Year in Photos ::January 10

A Year in Photos ::January 9

It's Done!

I got the baby blanket finished today and off of the needles. There's always a wonderful feeling that comes with finishing something so large, especially when it is for someone else. I am still working on a large (and secret) project, but I do have a couple of small items to work on. I want to make another set of gloves, and I need to make a bean bag for my Sunday School class. My goal for this year is to complete at least two projects a month, and so far I'm on track.

A Great Wednesday

It was truly a blustery day in North Carolina today. At one point, every raindrop in the sky was falling as fast as it could. Big splaty drops. I turned the lights out, and we stood at the window and watched the rain fall. All of that rain disappeared and turned to sun about an hour later (just in time for nap time). I did some knitting, as usual, during nap time. I'm working on a baby afghan for my assistant teacher. Here's the progress so far.

I'm almost finished with it, so hopefully tomorrow I'll get it done.



Here's my photo for AYOP:



The hand of a non-napper.

Rainy Day Boots