Day 89

No picture today. Sorry folks! I did have a great time with mom tonight in the town of Faribault (Shane, your favorite!!). We had a very nice evening talking about paint colors and home decor and ate at 1st of Thai. The food was great and the service was quick and very friendly. Our waiter saw that we were looking at paint swatches and we chatted about art for a while. Turns out he loves to draw and may come to my classroom sometime to show the students some of his work.
You know, wherever I go, I always make new friends!

Day 88

Have you ever used a pedometer? Each teacher was given one for our spring wellness week by our wellness committee. We are going to be tracking how many steps we take (and prizes will be awarded). Now, you know I LOVE prizes so I'm keeping track of my steps and taking this very seriously! The suggested number of steps is 10,000 per day. 10,000 steps.... 10,000! Have you ever counted your steps? Cause here are my steps:

That's right, only 5,148 steps in a full day. I'm thinking that this may be like one of Kala's giveaways. I'm pretty sure those prizes are for other folks... 

Day 87

Ok people, apparently you don't like it when I don't post any photos so here's one just for you!

Aubree you would be so proud of me. I went to the store tonight and saw that they had garlic naan (unbelievable for this small town). It is so delicious! And what goes with naan? Well, chicken curry of course. So, I was thinking back to one evening when I was at Tim and Aubree's for dinner and Aubree made the most delicious chicken curry dish. I stood in the store for 20 minutes trying my best to try to remember what she put in it and viola'! I got all the ingredients, came home and made dinner. 

It was excellent and even cooler than me remembering how to make it, was that G liked it. Who wants to  meet us at Everest on Grand next time we're in the cities? G might actually be willing to try it now. YEA!!!!! 

Day 86

It's been a few days without a photo I realize but do you know how hard it is to think of something interesting to post AND get a photo of an object that goes along with said interesting thing? It sure is tricky... Today was good and despite another day of not having a photo, some enjoyable events took place. I knit with some Waseca ladies and had a great meal sponsored by Mollie and then it was back to school to speak to the 8th grade parents about registering for classes. It's always a joy to be an arts advocate and I put on my happy shiny smiley face. I think I may have swayed one or two more students to sign up for art... cross your fingers! Then it was back home to cuddle with G. Ah, perfect end to a good day.

Day 85

Taxes make my head hurt...
G and I talked about paint colors all day long and played with the swatches and made some important decisions and then he went away to play basketball.
I worked on my taxes while he was gone. It did not go well. I filled in all the necessary blanks, entered all the numbers in what I believe to be the proper spots, I crossed my fingers, I hoped that I was doing it all right and then I pressed enter and it said I owed money. So I changed one thing and it said they owed me money. I suppose these are the only two scenarios but how is it that by clicking one button, your outcome can be so different? How do you know you've done the right thing if the outcome is so drastically different when you change one simple piece of info? Standard filing or itemized filing....

Day 84

Date night!
G and I (mostly I) decided that tonight would be date night. He's been busy this week being sick, going to a teaching workshop, with track practice and a track meet. TOO much going on for G and not enough for me. So we went for a run this afternoon (YES, you read that right! First one of the season for me and I feel like going again tomorrow so you know it went well..... it went ok but I'm trying to stay positive!) and then we headed to the big town of Owatonna for dinner at Famous Dave's. Delicious! We're back home now and getting ready to watch a movie on the couch. Once again, it's the little things in life. LOVE it. Hugs to all of you and hope that your evening was as fulfilling as mine.

Day 83

Just in time for my paint color selections... Look what arrived in the mail today!

Yea for half price local paint sales! Tomorrow is the day!

Day 82

WIPEOUT!
Have you seen this show, cause it is FUNNY. I know that it's absolutely ridiculous and silly and completely absurd but I just can't help myself.  It may be one of my most favorite shows- especially when you have a day that is a bit hectic. This show just makes me laugh and laugh.

Day 83

This evening is going to be a blast! G and I are picking out paint colors for our new house. Cast your votes and let me know what you think. The fabric under the paint swatches is our new comforter for our master bedroom with a KING sized bed. I'm so excited to sleep in that large of a bed... so cool.

Day 82

 G is at a meeting this evening and so I'm flying solo at home. We haven't lived together very long but when we are apart, I definitely miss him. It may sound strange but today I am thankful that I miss him. This is a different kind of missing him than last year when we lived apart. Today, I know that he will be home this evening and we can chat about how our days went and about the students that we have in common and how the school lunch was better today than yesterday... the regular things that people who are in a committed relationship talk about; the small day to day things. We have only this had this type of daily routine for a very short time and I am thankful that I only have to miss him for two more hours when he returns instead of waiting two more days to see him again....

Day 81

Happy news from my friend Farah.... She's going to be a mom to an 11 month old boy named Lucas Lee! I am so excited for her and her her husband, Mark. I've known this lady longer than I've known my G from back in my Philippines' days. We used to talk about how someday we'd marry a great guy and then finally be moms... we both wanted the same things: a husband, a family, a good teaching career, living back in the states near our families. Now, after many years of waiting and working towards our goals, Farah will finally be a mom. I'm so happy for her! Send her hugs!

Day 80

I have a lot of crafty friends and I am so proud of Kathy for her work on Kala's birthday present. Check out how amazing it is!

Before:

After:

Way to go Kathy! It turned out beautifully!

Check out Kala's post about it here: VeganCraftastic

Day 79

It was a beautiful morning today as G and I drove to Afton. I have a lovely picture to share but will have to do that once we return home. I actually got sunburned today while we were skiing. The last day of the season was spent with my brother, my husband and my husband's sister.... what a glorious day to be out. And my thighs hurt from all that edging so it must have been fun.

Edited to add photo:

Day 78

Hey, I checked out the local library today and was ready to be unimpressed but to my great surprise, there are bunches and bunches of knitting books!!!! That's right folks, if you lived here, you too could check out all the wonderful knitting books that the local library has to offer. So, when one of my students walked by restocking the shelves we chatted a bit about the quality of knitting books that they had and she told me, "Yeah, it's cause we have a lot of old ladies that like to knit." WEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! We may not be old  folks, but we sure do like to knit and now I'm going to tell my fiber arts students to get their behinds to the library and check out some of those books.
P.S. My principal is with the band students on their trip to Walt Disney World and she sent a special email to all the staff reporting that everyone was doing well and a p.s. to me that one of the students was knitting!!! ALLLLLL RIGHTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!

Day 77

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Today two students from the DCD (developmentally cognitively delayed) classroom came to show me their St. Patrick's Day masks. They were so cool. Both students were in my classroom last trimester- one for Drawing and one for Painting. They did such a good job. The Drawing student creates observational drawings that are amazing!!!!! I invited them in and we showed the current drawing students their masks. Good times for all.

Day 76

So G and I had a busy little weekend last week and I've only just now had time to reflect and take a close look at all the pictures from those two days.
I started by celebrating my friend's birthday with a crafternoon event at her place. She finally turned 12 and she received some cool pressies from her friends. Of course, the one that I wrapped had to have LOTS of tape.

All the cool kids were there and that loverly on the right is now engaged!!! We missed Nicole and Aubree obviously!!!

And we ended our weekend like this:

Exhausted at 5 pm. But it sure does feel good.

p.s. I walked home from work again today. The sun and a crisp breeze on my face. It's going to be a glorious spring.

Day 75

I posted about my flowers before but look at how much 

my amaryllis has changed. 

Before:

After:

There are four blossoms total and they are amazingly huge!

This is the third time I've seen this plant bloom and so far, 

these are the largest. Amazing.

Also, I walked home from school today and the weather was beautiful!!!

Day 74

So many great things that occurred this weekend! Thanks so much to Kala for guest posting for me while I was packing up my place in MPLS and moving it all down to Waseca- G and I are currently living in chaos for the next month until we close on our new place... we need more space so thank goodness the new house is quite a bit larger than our current rental.
As I was saying on Friday, I want to share the very cool knitting projects that my Fiber Arts students created. This is the last project that they created before the trimester ended. I will miss this class but am excited by their progress! Check it out!

I have a few more softies to share but haven't taken pictures yet. When I get them all, I'll make sure to share!

Guest Post 2 - Knit Yourself a Hedgehog!

Hi again, I'm here for another guest post!  Since Mz. JFibers is a huge fan of hedgehogs, I thought I'd poke around and see if I could find some cute knit and crochet patterns to share.  This one is my absolute fave, it's so adorable! 

Knit Hedgehog Pattern by Amy Gaines (here's the Ravelry link):

-kala

Guest Post - Knitting Styles

Since Mz. JFibers is having some internet "issues" I have been trusted to do a couple of guest posts on her blog!  Since most of the people who read this blog are friends of both of us, I feel a bit odd introducing myself, but here we go:  I'm Kala and my blog is called Vegancraftastic.  My blog is a chronicle of my crafty adventures from a vegan perspective and also features all kinds of goodies and foods that I love. Ok, I think that's enough of that, let's get to the post!

While chatting about knitting today with a group of my friends (including JFibers) the subject of knitting styles came up and whether gender or other factors influences which style someone will be drawn to.  While there are many many styles of knitting, the two big ones are Continental (picking) and English (throwing).  I personally throw, but in a bit of an odd way, or so I'm told!  JFibers does a variation of picking with some special Norwegian techniques thrown in and she knits WAY faster than I do - that girl is a machine!  The speed seems like the big draw to trying out picking, that and the smaller range of motion.  I learned to knit from reading the book Stitch and Bitch, at the time I lived in rural Minnesota and didn't know anybody that knit, so that's why I might hold my yarn a wee bit different that someone who learned from a friend or from taking a class, I had nobody to correct me.  But that's the wonderful thing about knitting, as long as you're getting a product you're happy with there is no "wrong" way to knit.

So what style of knitting do you love?

-kala

Day 71

Very slow internet when you're stealing it from your neighbor so I can't post all the amazing photos I want to today... will just have to catch up when I return home. For now though, check out the knitted softies by my Fiber Arts students. It was so much fun to teach them to how to knit!

ok. just joking... no photos today because the internet is so slow that it won't let me upload any.
Maybe tomorrow!

Day 70

Busy day....
Up SUPER early being nervous about our new house and my MPLS house being rented out. (yippie!)
Went to school, graded a whole bunch of artwork while students were taking their finals.
Came home not feeling well and took a nap.
Got up.
Played a double -header with my volleyball team.
Went out and threw some darts with my hubby and some other teachers.
Nice way to spend the day... all my happy things....

First phase of this final move begins on Sunday. Fingers crossed that it doesn't snow....

Day 69

Best thing about buying a new house? Finding out that credits scores can be as high as 800.... that's right. You thought 700 was high? Oh no, I've got scores in the 800's.... That's right folks, I'm awesome.

Even better than 800 though is knowing that mine were bigger than G's... 

hee hee.

(p.s. I thought they only went to 700. I had no idea about 800.)

(p.s.s. They do not go into the 900's. G asked about that too.)

Day 68

Find a house: check

Make an offer: check

Negotiate Price: check

Get an inspection: check

Re-negotiate for necessary repairs: tomorrow

Move in: oh, so soon.....

Yippie!!!!

Day 67

Well, just when I was having a hard time thinking of something to write about, my good friend Kala decided to sponsor a giveaway on her blog... Now that's something to be happy about, despite the fact I never win!!!

Pathways Shawl by ButterflyKnit

Day 66

So, you know when you're looking at a house and you dream about the colors that the walls could be, and the color of the new countertops in the kitchen, and where you're going to put your couch, bed, piano, chairs, dining room table.... well, in there somewhere, I tend to dream about doorknobs and kitchen cabinet knobs and pulls. I know, you may think I'm crazy (you wouldn't be alone- my whole family thinks that's nuts too) but I long to have all of the metal details in my new home have an oil rubbed bronze finish...... Dorky? Maybe. But just imagine this house with all those little details...

I'll invite you over after we sign the papers... then you can make fun of my fetish for oil rubbed bronze too.

Day 65

My new friend Mary Jo and I went for a walk around town today and the most interesting part was down by the railroad tracks.... 

such interesting textures and colors and........

signs....

This one says Do Not HUMP....

Wonder what that means?!?!?!?