Longing for Spring

Do you think it will arrive anytime soon? I haven't gone skiing once this winter so it seems like such a waste.... the snow is here for no reason and this sits waiting patiently for me and some fine weather.

Married

Most days everything goes as one plans. Get up, ready yourself for the day, work of some sort, and then home again for some family time and rest. Most days are like this. But my days are filled with the loneliness that comes from living away from one's spouse. My days are filled with longing to live near him, see him in his lounge pants, watch him play those insanely annoying video games, touch him and know that he is near. Our hopes continue into the spring. Will it work out this time around? Will the stars align so that we can live within the same walls and have a "normal" life as others around us do? Will I hear the cry of a newborn in the near future or will the waiting persist?

My friends are great!

Ok, so I read a lot of blogs and the majority of them belong to people I know personally and call my friends. I have many creative friends and admire them all greatly. Two, count them, two (Jennie & Trinity) of my dear friends posted this on their blogs and I am more than happy to play along! I've upped the antie a bit since I responded to both of their generous offers. 

The first seven (7) people to respond to this post will get something made by me.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. (No refunds... no exchanges!!!!)
2. What I create will be just for you, with love from me.
3. It'll be done this calendar year (2009). (most likely after the wedding!)
4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. I may even create something totally unbelievable and surprise you!! It will be handmade and may be any medium I choose. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange...or awesome...or lovely!
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note/post of your own and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to it. (I will make something for seven people but if you decide to play along, you will only need to make 5!)
7. Send your mailing address if you don't live close to me!

My friend

My good buddy is having a contest on her blog this week. Check it out!
Vegancraftastic

Big Weekend

G and I had a big weekend. Lots of wedding stuff was discussed, a gift registry was created, rings have been purchased, brown pants have been found, songs have been almost chosen... I'm so impressed. This weekend I was able to check, check, check things off the big scary list. G was a great big help and I didn't feel all that great but still loads of things were completed. Yippie! We even had his brother and sister over for dinner. Our first grilling of the season. Delicious burgers, fruit salad, and guacamole. Yummy.
I was surfing around on some new blogs and thought this was interesting. It's my first flickr mosaic and my first meme.
Here's how it works:
. type your answer to each question below into Flickr Search
. using only the first page of results, pick an image
. copy and paste each URL into fd's mosaic maker
. blog it!

Here's mine. (click to enlarge)


And the questions:
. What is your first name? Jen
. What is your favorite food? Fruit Pizza
. What high school did you go to? Red Wing
. What is your favorite color? Teal
. Who is your celebrity crush? Jude Law
. What is your favorite drink? Cranberry Juice
. Dream vacation? Switzerland
. Favorite dessert? Chocolate Mousse
. What do you want to be when you grow up? Mother
. What do you love most in life? Family
. One word to describe you? Organized
. Your flickr name? greenlady

Art

I've decided to try to focus on the positives. The little things are important and the rest will work itself out.
Every day I work with students who create. It's really amazing to watch students work through the creative process. In one day I get to help with drawing, painting, mosaics, and clay. It's a lot of prep work but when I see the results, and watch the students' positive reactions, it's pretty cool. I am fortunate in that I get to do two things I love- the art of teaching and working with art.

I believe that Andy Radorfman and Tanya Davis feel the same as I do.

Things to consider

There are so many changes happening right now in my life and decisions that need to be made but the information I have is not enough to make an informed decision that will impact my future. On Wednesday, I found out that my current job may be cut from a 1.0 position to a .6 and that the 9th grade Ceramics class for next year currently has 52 students in it. This is the information we have right now. This will change. There is obviously no way that a class can have 52 students in it, especially since the size of the classroom is only slightly larger than a standard hotel room. But with this cut and the increase in class sizes, all classes will have a minimum of 34 students, one wonders what the heck is going on. I mean seriously, we all know that these are "tough economic times" but really, really? Do we think that it is going to get any better by increasing class sizes, cutting teachers, and adding more standardized tests to our already overwhelmed students? What kind of future are we setting up for our kids? What are we teaching them? Can we even teach them when there are so many of them and so few of us? 

With huge life changes comes reflection and sometimes desperate decisions are made. I want to stay at my school, I want to get married, I want to someday have kids. So many things... so little information that I have right now to make an informed decision. G and I have agreed that we will make no decisions until May- about work, about where to live, about the number of kids we see in our future. But May is fast approaching and it's scary out there. 52 kids in one class or teach a program with the potential of kindergartens and seniors all in one day.