Spring Break, How Great

Hello!

Yep, I've been missing.  Went under the radar for Spring Break.  It was kind of nice.

Here's a recap....

Monday I did all the errands I needed to do for the week (post office, grocery store, etc) and then I swung by the Verizon store because my new-every-two was up and I decided to use that $30 credit (WHAT?! booo) toward one of these bad boys:

And they aren't kidding.  I was actually kind of nervous about getting one (BIG CHANGE from the Crackberries I've had for the past 4 years) but I knew I'd love it.  And I do.  It's awesome.   I immediately downloaded:

Words with Friends.  

And I haven't stopped playing since I got it.  I am in, literally, 20 games with different people.  (Ok, 3 with my brother).  But it's awesome because I get to "play" scrabble with people all over the country!  Californians, West Virginians, Virginians, people from the District... it's a blast.   Super addicting but it also challenges your brain.   Love it.  So much.

This is currently my game with Joy.  Now she will know some of my letters.  But I'm ok with that :)  **also, I like that it says that I played flute for 8 points.  I've heard my flute playing.  I'm no Ron Burgundy.  8 points is a lot.

Tuesday... I had a very lazy day!  I know I slept in, cuddled my pup (that's her, the little spoon):

And took Pheebs for a walk while testing out my new camera:

The day ended with Trivia and Kelly.  It was great!  I actually was able to identify "calcium carbonate" as the main component of eggshells.  I felt like Joey Tribbiani "Hey! I'm a dork!!"  :)

Wednesday, I woke up and baked Joy's 30th birthday cake:

Then I went to the dentist on the most beautiful, warm and sunny day.  I was definitely a grumpy gus.  I ran a few more errands then I met my friend Jaime at her place on the river in Alexandria and we took her pup, Lovie, for an hour walk along the water.  It was EXACTLY what I needed.  Jaime is really good at advice and she was just the person I needed that day.

Later that night, I drove out to Dulles to pick up Mandy!  She was flying in from Albuquerque (having visited her most quotable grandparents) and we got to spend some hours together catching up, eating, sharing stories, cameras and laughs.  I miss her!  We then proceeded to get locked out of her in-laws house and needed to wake them up at 1:30am.  Oh, teachers on Spring Break.  Yeah, Peep!

Thursday, I went out to West Virginia.  I got to be with my Joy and the little person who I fall more in love with every time I see him.  He is just so EDIBLE:

He has the most expressive eyebrows.  And he smiles at me every time I look at him, like he knows that one day we'll be laughing together while causing mischief.  He also thinks he's grown (yes, I'd love some ginger ale, mom):

He went down for a nap and Joy and I sat outside in the sunshine, chatting and sharing and iPhone apps. :)  Of course, I took some pictures.  They aren't great, but somehow I managed to catch some Joy (and also my finger. Hey, I'm learning):

I left Joy's around dinnertime and then headed to Fairfax to visit Mayrides and Matt.  Matt cooked a yummy Moroccan meal for us (there was ginger in there!) and then we just chatted and caught up for a few hours.  Lots of laughs.  It was nice to see them!  And Phebe loves their house because they have an amazing backyard for a dog.  There's a hill so she can spy on all the neighborhood dogs and alert us when they are walking past the house.  Thanks, Pheebs, we appreciate that.

Friday, I.... did... nothing.   And it was awesome.  It was a gross, gross, gross rainy day.  Cold and blech.  I stayed inside with my sewing machine and worked on some crafts that I am not at liberty to share yet because the recipients have not received them yet.  Will post later.   Also, I made a case for my iPhone.  Duh.  I'll post that later, too, because the fabric is used pointedly in one of my other crafts.  Vague, vague.  But 5-6 hours on my sewing machine was really fun!   Later in the evening, Lou's parents were in town so we played some card games and laughed. A lot.

I like that laughing was very common this Spring Break.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty low key.  I made William his birthday carrot cake and sat outside in the yard because it was warm and sunny.  Even got my first light pink sunburn. Just very easy going.  And of course, I played with my iPhone a ton.

The first day back to school was pretty good.  I'm exhausted right this moment because I need to sleep to readjust myself but I have to share this song...

This is my Favorite hymn.   And this country girl absolutely brings the house down singing it... whether you're spirital, religious and or none of the above, listen... it's pretty darn powerful.



Spring Break and Life... How Great

All Kinds of Beautiful

Last weekend, Joy and I went to the Claude Moore Fall Craft Festival to man her booth. We did this last year, too, and it gets better every year.

Adorable magnets and pins.

Handmade envelopes.

An excellent salesdog.

The most adorable baby bibs. And a lot of them!

Handmade napkin sets. She sold the dishtowels!

All Kinds of Pregnant. :)

Happy and crafting. And 7 weeks until due date!

And my favorite bag she made. She called it "The Doodle Bag".

Close-up doodle.

She did well! More than last year and some orders! :)

Getting Earthier Still

I finally planted some herbs in my kitchen. I had all these small containers (courtesy of Jana and when I tried to grow herbs earlier this year) so I decided to really get serious about it. I planted some rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil, dill and chives...

I wrote on each container with chalk.

And luckily, I've got some watchpets.

Getting Crafty

I had an idea to make a craft for my classroom.

But, of course, mine look very different and incredibly homemade.

Here are the high-quality ones from a popular teaching goods website.

Here is one of mine: (fabric courtesy of Alison Schoew, benefactor of goods to my classrooms since 2004)

The stitching around the velcro. I like to measure and make sure things are straight. :) (please know that I'm joking)

Here's what it will look like with a book in it.

I had fun, I made something for my classroom and now we can be a little greener (hopefully) in room Q-6.

What a fun place!

Lou and I stumbled upon a really cool yarn store yesterday. We might even take some knitting classes this fall :)

The store was amazing! There was this awesome button display. Each of these are tubes with the button on the outside and the tube was filled with those buttons. This may be a regular staple at these kinds of stores, but it was my first so I loved it!! :)

Then I saw this yarn with the best name ever! :)

Yahoo crafting!