Boxing Day

Had a Boxing Day party Saturday night which some of my former students attended…they graduated in ’98, ’99, and ’02…they are so like daughters to me. Life is good.

I stay in touch with many of my graduates on Facebook, even the ones from 1987, my first year teaching at my current school. The newly fledged are all about the college party scene. Then the middle group is very career focused. Then I see many of them become young caring mothers. Patterns and cycles…

Greetings

Happy Holidays! Make a great day!

Love is All You Need!

Happy Holidays...All You Need is Love!

On December 7th, 2009 at 1:30pm GMT Starbucks invited musicians from all over the world to sing together at the same time to raise awareness for AIDS in Africa. In that one breathtaking moment, musicians from 156 countries played "All You Need is Love" together. Watch now, as musicians from all around the world come together and share a song.

Join in by lending your own voice to http://StarbucksLoveProject.com Watch streaming video from countries around the world and then join in by singing All You Need is Love yourself. For each video submitted, Starbucks will make a contribution to the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa. You can also help increase the Starbucks contribution to the Global Fund by submitting a drawing to the Love Gallery.

The global sing-along is part of our continuing efforts to help fight AIDS in Africa. In just one year in partnership with (RED)™, Starbucks has generated money equivalent to more than 7 million days of medicine to help those living with HIV in Africa.

Sunshine at last

We actually had a sunny day yesterday. We have had weeks and weeks of rain here…even my dogs were smelling a little moldy. They sunbathed all day and were so happy.

I had a date Saturday night…not ready to talk about it till I overcome my trust issues a bit. Anyway, we had dinner and then went to see Avatar in 3-D. It was a beautiful creation and the 3-D was well done. I enjoyed the environment a bit more than the story line, but I still recommend it. If you go see it, go early as it is a long movie.

Breath

I am, as most teachers are at this time of year, swamped with work. I can see the end now, with a two week holiday break starting Friday. Big breath...

This month my department put on a wonderful Winter Concert and I held auditions for the spring play. I will be doing the play Radium Girls this year. Now I am grading projects and portfolios, both photography and studio art, and proctoring exams. I love it.

I will leave you with a few images. (I do not show student faces)

Happy Holiday Season to you all.

(After the St Francis of Assisi mass we have the Blessing of the Pets…so cool!)

What?

It’s Friday already?

November?

Mid November?

Twelve hours a day is not enough to get my work done.

I have so much to do before Thanksgiving.

I sure need the holiday break.

Ginkgo Tree at work.

Recap of my week

Last weekend I did my best to do all of my domestic necessities, except the laundry, on Saturday because Sunday I had to work. I went in to school Sunday morning at 9:00 to photograph the Primary Father-Daughter Mass and Brunch (primary is Pre-K through fourth grade). After that, I set up a small art exhibit of my studio art students’ work, cleaned and set up my rooms for visitors, displayed computer students’ work in the hall, and set up a PowerPoint of students photography . From 2 to 4 it was Open House (Meet and Greet) for interested new families. I was back home by 5:00.

My plans were to cook chili for the week and do the laundry. I jumped right in. I chopped up two onions and started them in the pot, then went to the refrigerator to get the stew meat (I like a chunky chili) …that is when my day took a nose dive. When I opened the door it was warm… not cold… I had to toss a lot of food. No worries I thought, I can cook from the pantry. I decided to started a load of laundry and then regroup…so I did. Back to the kitchen … I decide to make a quick tomato sauce, using the onions, with some spelt pasta. As I am getting that stared, I hear a very bad noise from the laundry room. I go check it out and the washer is making the horrible noise… I open the lid and smoke billows out… and of course it is filled with water. So, between tending my supper I wrung out clothes. Now, in Louisiana you cannot leave wet clothes in a pile…they mildew over night. You can put wet clothes in the frig, but that was not an option…so I put my wet, soapy clothes through the dryer…poor dryer …poor clothes. Two appliances out in one day…I smiled …I carried on …but I was feeling the budget tension inside. I did not sleep well Sunday night.

Monday I went to work as usual… I called the repairman and made an appointment for Tuesday morning… I arranged to take the day off.

Tuesday… The repairman calls at 7:15am to say I am first on the list and that he would be over soon… waiting… repairman arrives at 9:30. He works on the frig first and in about 45 minutes has it repaired… cost $125.00… not too bad. The frig is old and I was thinking it might not be fixable. The washer, which is less than five years old, is next. He starts testing and replacing parts. When he gets to over $250.00 in parts alone, he stops and announces the time of death… removes replaced parts... no charge.

Nothing for it… “Suck it up, Peaches; you’re off to Lowes to buy a new washer.” I walk in…go to the appliance section… locate the cheapest Whirlpool washer… flag down a salesman… order… arrange for next day delivery… check out with plastic… home by 11:00.
Now, you know I brought paper work home and sense my school has a laptop program and we are online (Moodle-virtual classroom, RenWeb-virtual grade book/Homework Board/Lesson Plans, and Rubicon Atlas-virtual curriculum mapping) I had plenty to do… so I worked on a bit of that… then I read a bit as a treat to myself.

At 5:00 Lowes calls to say they would like to deliver the washer now as they have a lot for Wednesday… I say yes, come now… waiting… they arrive at 6:30 and finishes at 7:30… long, expensive day.

This made the Parent/Teacher conferences on Thursday seem like a piece of cake…

Now it’s Friday a 5:45 pm and I am still at work… processing senior pictures, which takes time. I am typing this in-between-time.

I think I might make chili this weekend…

not my forte...

A leg cramp woke me up at four o'clock this morning. I have been having server leg cramps lately...the kind that turns your calf to rock and makes your toes flex in seemingly imposable directions. I could not get back to sleep so here I am in blogland.

I have not been posting much in this blog space. I work so much that I really only have three hours at home in the evening during the week. That seems to evaporate with making super, eating, cleaning the kitchen, taking care of my pets. The weekend is a flurry of domestic catch-up activity which this week had to all be done on one day.

It is Sunday morning and I have a long day ahead...going in to work to photograph the primary father/daughter mass & brunch from 10-12...doing paper work, setting up a small art exhibit of my student's work, and cleaning my classroom till 2...then it's meet and greet/open house from 2-4...then it's home to do laundry and cook food for next week-I bring my own lunch...my life is so exciting....

Don't get me wrong. I love my job, even all the extra duties I taken on to earn extra income, but it does consume me. And I know that the job, the time restraints...all of that is not the only reason I have not posted much... Part of it is that I think...who wants to hear about your day over and over...part of it is that I spend my time reading your blogs and think...they really have something to say...their life is so interesting...they really know how to connect...they have it together...

So...so I am trying to let my comparison go, that is not why I started this thing...I will try to post more often and not worry about it's worthiness. Know that I am not a writer, have no desire to be one...I am a teacher of the arts, an artist, mother, friend, etc, but writing is not my forte.

Rain

I love this clip called Rain. You need to have the volume up for this one. So creative. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZVpZqistk

Cello Music...beyond Bach

I was just listening to Adam Hurst, who plays cello with a Middle Eastern, Indian, Gypsy influence...I am loving it! I'm putting this CD on my wish list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT0lRqGKU4k&feature=player_embedded

I could have been dancing...

I wish I was at this celebration over the weekend...but I was all about the yard work, the house work, and the prep work for mid quarter progress reports. Yes, I have been back in class for one month already. Enjoy the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNertKngNU

Dizzy Domestic

I am trying to do a weeks' worth of chores in one day ... but as you see, I am taking a break with my blog and a cup of chocolate truffle coffee. The coffee smells great...but I smell like wet dog, as I just bathed my two doggies. Before that I was weeding and wacking and cleaning the patio so you know I am looking and smelling my best...

Two weeks into the school year and I feel swamped with paper work already. I love teaching, but I am not a fan of all the documentation attached to it. I will get ahead of it all soon, no doubt.

I finally decided on the play for the spring stage production, Radium Girls. It will be very challenging to produce on my postage-stamp-sized stage, which does not have theatrical lights. It has a low plaster ceiling with a few strip lights. Anyway, I will make it work. After reading plays all summer, this one was by far the best of the bunch.

Well...my cup is empty..back to the chores. Still so much to do.

Moth visits

This moth hung out on my back porch all weekend. It looks like a White-lined Sphinx moth, but the marking are not quite the same.

One week down...

I spent the weekend...

Writing lesson plans and such for classes.

I read the play Waiting for Godet.

I would like to see it done.

I went to the movies with friends to watch Julie and Julia.

It was the best laugh I have had in a long time...fun!

Didn't get to work in the garden, but the movie was worth it.

Did the regular domestic chores: clean, laundry, market, mail.

Cooked food for this weeks lunches.

Took pictures of a moth that was hanging out on the back porch.

I haven't downloaded it yet, I'll share when I do.

I have a super busy week ahead...

I will acclimate soon, so I will get back to posting more often...

I hope.

I do keep up with all of your posts.

That is good.

Feeling Better

After many trips to the chiropractor and several massages I think that I will live. I am almost pain free, free enough to get back to exercising, which is, at my age, the biggest help. It's true--use it or lose it. Exercise is hard to fit in during the school year so I will have to incorporate short sessions. The weekend gardening, though intense, is not enough.

Here are a few more pictures from my yard. Have a great week everyone.

Back to work

Summer break is over for me.

I returned to school today for freshman orientation.

Great bunch of girls this year, as always,

and a very productive day was had by all.

It was nice to see the returning students

who came to help, even a graduate,

because they love the school.

I hope all of you love your jobs as much as I do.

Here are a few photos of campus.

My Little Corner

Just a little peak into my world...the top of my dresser.

15 Books

Name 15 books challenge.

I am playing along with Allie, but I will not be passing this along. Not my style.

I did this in about four minutes...I thought of the first book in my youth that I remembered then moved forward in time. I stayed away from classic works, except for Midsummer, which I read in sixth grade.

The Instructions: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

2. The Good Earth - Buck

3. Cheaper By the Dozen

4. A Midsummer Night's Dream - Willy

5. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut

6. The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury

7. Hawkline Monster, a Gothic Western - Richard Brautigan ( I count too)

8. A Clockwork Orange - Burgess

9. Mists of Avalon - Bradley

10. Hatrack River - Card

11.Newford Books (all 16 plus) - Charles de Lint

12.The Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, Tawny Man Trilogy - Robin Hobb

13.Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon

14. The Black Jewels Trilogy - Anne Bishop

15. The Sevenwaters Trilogy - Juliet Marillier ( love all her work)

Zorba

I have just finished the book, "Zorba the Greek," by Nikos Kazantzakis. It was very earthy...makes me want to see the old B&W movie with Anthony Quinn again, now that I have read the book. My friend, Roxanne, said she wanted to see the movie before traveling to Greece, but the story has very little to do with Greece. It is more a character study between a pagan/peasant and a Christian turned Buddhist/intellectual. The book has a lot more grit. It was written a year before I was born.

I posted recently about designating Mondays as a snippet day, then preceded to read two books that presented no snippets, a very rare thing, though they were interesting period pieces. (Well...it's not Monday, I know, but I am snippet-ing none the less. I think I am too loose for designated days.) Zorba, however was full of snippet-able lines. Here are two.

I think this snippet captures the essence of the 'Boss' character very well:

The stars were traveling round, the hours were passing—and, when I arose, I had, without knowing how, engraved on my mind the double task I had to accomplish on this shore: Escape from Buddha, rid myself by words of all my metaphysical cares and free my mind from vain anxiety; Make direct and firm contact with men (humankind), starting from this very moment. I said to myself, “Perhaps it is not too late.”

Earthy as Divine:

The imperishable force which transforms matter into spirit is divine. Each man has within him an element of the divine whirlwind and that is how he can convert bread, water and meat into thought and action. Zorba was right: 'Tell me what you do with what you eat and I will tell you who you are!”

….

I am off to the Chiropractor today to work on hips that have gone astray, which are giving me a pain in the neck, literally.

Happy Tuesday to you all.

Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...hot but beautiful.

Just a walk around the yard today...and pictures.

Feast

Feast or famine? That's the cycle of my life on so many levels. I have had a feast the last week, socially. I have had lunch with many different friends, far and near, and lovely visits with several friends I have not seen in years.

I have the tendency to get lost in my job/life and not pick my head up and look around. I neglect my friends, myself, my personal life. I find myself living in a tight little circle of work-home-sleep-work. It's not healthy. And, it amazes me that my friends still remember me and like me. I am endeavoring to be a better friend this year...truly I am...and it's a gift to myself...but I hope my friends will enjoy it as well. I hope I can stick to that.

On Sunday I went antique browsing and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do not need another thing in my house, but I do love to look. I love writing desks and library tables, hutches and enameled kitchen tables, side chairs, jewelry, books, glass...I have a thing for green and blue glass. I can spend many hours looking.

Monday I spent with my friend Jeannine who lives in Florida. It was so great to spend time with her. She is a very key part to who I am today...she is the person who taught me how to drive and so much more. I promised to scan and send her pictures from the summer of 1973. We took a mega road trip that summer which we reminisced about and laughed about. So yesterday I pulled out my old photo albums and scanned and send them off. I had a great time looking through these old albums. I haven't looked at them for many years. Damn, I looked good in the 70's.

Today I am being very good to myself...I am having a massage. I love and really need massage. I am fortunate that I have found a great masseur. She has great rates, too.

Hey new friends...treat yourself to a massage soon.

Keanu Fred and Ginger Carrie-Anne

Keanu Fred


Ginger Carrie-Anne

Here are my dogs, Keanu Fred and Ginger Carrie-Anne.

Well, I named them Fred and Ginger,

but my son calls them Keanu and Carrie-Anne.

So, we put the names together.

I must apologize to them and to you.

They are very dirty and are in need of some grooming.

They are rescued litter mates and they are mutts. Fred is carefree (read not the sharpest knife in the drawer) but very loving. He would like to be in your lap 24-7.Ginger is more independent and incredibly intelligent. Look at her eyes. I think they are beautiful and say so much.

They miss my mom very much as she was always home during the day with them.

The Gate

I intended to go out and take pictures of old downtown this afternoon, but it rained and rained. We need it; it has been so hot and dry. Anyway, I have uploaded a few old pictures.

I love high contrast...love it. I always push my black and white prints to a very high contrast. That doesn't work with some subjects, but I like it here with the iron gate.

And here is another picture of the oaks, but with the same gate. Love these beauties.

And one more...

That's all I have in me today.

My thanks to all of you wonderful bloggers.

Three's enough, thank you.

"Sometimes I think I must have a Guardian Idiot.

A little invisible spirit just behind my shoulder,

looking out for me...only he's an imbecile."

~Spider Robinson (Off the Wall at Callahan's)

I still have A/C problems...and now a major plumbing issue...and to top it off nicely my roof, my new roof, leaked during the rain yesterday.

Can I please catch a break here?

Three's enough, thank you...my plate is full!

Waiting and rambling...

I was held captive all day waiting for the A/C repairman to come. He came yesterday and was to come back today...he was a no show, no phone call. You know, I consider my time very valuable, even though I don't always get paid for it. I had planned to run errands and such. Well, I'm not one to rant and complain so I rearranged my day.

I did get to finish a book. I got many little projects done...like putting together the new spice rack/swivel-Susie thingy, that I have had for weeks, and put it in, in place of the old one which was scotch-taped together, but leaning dangerously...did some purging in my studio. Yep, lots of puttering and waiting...uncovered surfaces I haven't seen for a while...found the Tai-Chi DVD I have been looking for...wondered many times, why did I kept that?

I remade some earrings...I had a pair of chandeliers that I took apart and made into two nice pair of drop earrings. The chandelier earrings are just too big for me. I also changed a pair from post to hooks. If I find a pair of drop earrings I like that have posts I will buy them and change them to French hooks. Post are not comfortable to me. I do this a lot with my jewelry.

See...see how I am rambling...It's that kind of day...

Slip-sliding away...

It was definitely a two steps back day....

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

I walked in my neighborhood this morning, instead of the Ridge. It was good, bad, and ugly. The good thing was that there was a great breeze out today, which as very nice in the heat. The bad and the ugly was that it is garbage day in the neighborhood, which smelled bad and looked ugly. Why do people produce so much Trash?

Now I must admit that I have three cans out for trash pickup, but the two big cans are full of yard waste-weeds, sticks, pruning, and trash I pick up from the street. The small can has one kitchen sized bag in it.

First of all, most people here do not recycle. The city tried to have curbside pick up but so many people complained about it that it was stopped. It's embarrassing to me that my city is so lazy and selfish. I recycled before this venture and I still recycle. I just have to load up the car and drive it to the recycling plant myself.

Unfortunately, my local recycling business has stopped taking glass. They could not find a buyer close enough to break even. That is very sad.

Working in the summer heat

I have put in many hours of work in my front yard as most of the flowers there have finished for the season. All the daisies needed to be cut and the seed heads clipped and spread for next year. I let them go through that dead, drying, seeding phase that I'm sure my neighbors don't understand at all. The daylily stalks needed pulling as they bloomed very early this year...they knew the drought and high heat were coming. It is high summer now, so not much is happening in the garden because of the intense heat.

The pictures were taken awhile back.

Good Morning

Good morning to all of you. I am off to mow the lawn. Have a great day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0j3-tmQLjg&feature=related

Girl Talk

I have been getting together with different friends these last two days. I had lunch out with the Tri-Ya Girls on Tuesday and the Crones Club on Wednesday.

And yes, I have names for the different groups of women. We all live in different local towns now, but we try to meet up at regular intervals to stay connected.

I tell ya, spending time with friends is such good medicine.

Photo by Peaches

pure and endless light

A great ring of pure and endless light

Dazzles the darkness in my heart

And breaks apart the dusky clouds of night.

The end of all is hinted in the start.

When we are born we bear the seeds of blight;

Around us life and death are torn apart,

Yet a great ring of pure and endless light

Dazzles the darkness in my heart.

It lights the world to my delight.

Infinity is present in each part.

A loving smile contains all art.

The motes of starlight spark and dart.

A grain of sand holds power and might.

Infinity is present in each part,

And a great ring of pure and endless light

Dazzles the darkness in my heart.

-M. L'Engle

holding pattern

I need to clean out mom's room. I have not touched a thing. It has been over four months. I need to do it now while I have time. Once the school year starts I really don't have much extra time. But I can't seen to get started. It's so personal. I don't want anyone to touch it. I want to do it; I don't want to do it.

I feel like I'm in a holding pattern. If I was burning it up in some other activity, getting something done, I'd feel better, but I'm not. I'm not getting very much of anything accomplished, and I always have a list of things waiting to be done, especially in the summer.. I'm doing the minimal daily activities, very minimal. Still the day is gone in a blink of an eye and then...it's one more day I coasted through.

And I understand the logic of the situation. I recognize all the little sabotages. I know that the lethargy will lift. But, I am standing still.

Photo by Peaches

Our values are shifting

"...The great problem of our time

is that we don't understand

what is happening to the world.

We are confronted

with the darkness of our soul,

the unconscious.

It sends up its dark

and unrecognizable urges.

It hollows out and hacks up

the shapes of our culture

and its historical dominants.

We have no dominants anymore,

they are in the future.

Our values are shifting,

everything loses its certainty,

even sanctissima cusalitas

has descended from the throne

of the axioma and has become

a mere field of probability.

Who is the awe-inspiring guest

who knocks at our door portentously?

Fear precedes him,

showing that ultimate values

already flow towards him.

Our hitherto believed values decay accordingly

and our only certainty is that the new world

will be something different from what we were used to.”

-letter from Dr. C. G. Jung to Sir Herbert Read, 2 September. 1960

Photo by Peaches

The art of laughter

"Suffering....confers no privileges.

It all depends on what one makes of that suffering.
It is possible to suffer and despair an entire lifetime
and still not give up the art of laughter.”

Elie Wiesel
photo by Peaches