details and the poison sun

In response to Melissa's comment:

The holy undies were actually one of multiple pairs in a bag.  We also were given a mucky old toilet rug, a litter box that was NOT cleaned out, a grocery bag full of cloth and mouse poo, a foot bath...I think that covers all of the worst donations.   That being said, with everything else that was donated, we raised over $2000!  It was a big success, and despite the hellish heat, we had a really fun time.

For our dinner party I made that honey-soy sauce baked chicken I mentioned a few weeks ago, a potato salad (red wine vinegar, olive oil, green onions, red onion, garlic, red pepper, dill, fresh Italian parsley, and potatoes), a lettuce salad with cranberries and toasted almonds and feta.  Delicious cherries, bagel crisps with hummus and pesto, and trail mix for appetizers.  Three different flavored cheesecake "bites" for dessert.  Thank you Sam's Club for the frozen cheesecake bites, hummus and pesto all already prepared.   I've come a long way from the first time I hosted--- I made sesame chicken and some other Chinese dishes and was still cooking/preparing two hours after everyone had arrived.  I spent most of the night in the kitchen frantically trying to get everyone fed.  THIS time I had everything ready and wrapped and refrigerated before anyone arrived.  The chicken was in the oven and everything was ready to eat within 15 minutes of people arriving.  MUCH MUCH less stress than a year ago, or whenever it was that we first hosted.  

I have covered all of our windows downstairs with sheets to block out even more light today. Gabe and I are holed up like a couple of vampires, prepared to sleep off and on for as much of the day as we can.  We're hoping to keep out as much sun and heat as possible, while simultaneously recovering from the hectic-ness that was this weekend (which was great, but now it's DOWN TIME).

MORE Amelie, chicken, and Martha.

I never put these pictures from Amy up, but I meant to.  They're from last Wednesday at the Farmer's Market. Amy especially liked how in the second photo it looks like I'm about to joyfully smack her baby.  I wasn't really.  I would never do that.  Pictures can and do lie sometimes---if you look again, you'll see we're just giving each other "high ten".

Last night I made some VERY tasty chicken, and it was really easy.  Honey, a little soy sauce, water.  Dip chicken in mixture, pour the rest over the pan of chicken.  Bake at 475 for 30(-40) minutes.  

Well, The Today Show is about to show me how to avoid fashion disasters after the commercial, so I better go :)  ---Actually yesterday was (I think) the first time I watched morning television this summer.  I watched a little of the Today Show and most of Martha Stewart.  Martha Stewart was a first.  She might be cold and an ex-con, but that woman has some good ideas.  I'm going to watch again today, and that's it.  I will not become addicted to watching Martha in the mornings.  I can't promise anything about going to her website everyday.

collages and muffins

Well, I've been collaging for the last couple of days. 8th graders are currently working on a collage project, so I started doing some mini-collages myself in class. Yesterday was just a really rough day for some (hormonal) reason. I just felt really unhappy all day. Kids were fine, with about four exceptions, but I was just not myself.  At lunch Gabe had the car to take Calvin to the airport (he'll be in Nepal for 3 years and I'll link his blog to mine sometime soon), and my friend/co-worker Anne had kids in her room for lunch detention. So I walked a quarter mile, or so, to Starbucks.  It was beautiful out, and the walk was a good thing for me.  I was on the verge of tears as I walked out the door of the school.  I'm not sure why I felt SO overwhelmed and upset (well, I KNOW why, but the reasons wouldn't be enough to upset me on a normal day), but I was.  So I walked and prayed and fumed and eventually reached Starbucks.  I ate my $20 salad and drank my $12 juice and read the free newspaper.  

This combination of walking, sun, prayer and sitting in a coffee shop managed to calm me down.  By the time I got back to school, I felt slightly better.  But as soon as my 7th hour came in, I felt off again.  So while my last two classes of sixth graders learned how to draw cartoon animals from a video made in the early 1990's, I collaged. The lights were off, they were quiet and engaged, and happy to be drawing on 18" x 24" paper, so I felt less guilty for being that teacher who puts in a video to keep the kids busy on a Friday afternoon.  I really don't like doing that, but every once in awhile, it's best for all involved for me to detach from the class a little.  So while they drew horses and cats, I collaged. 

Melissa blogged yesterday about an experience she had at work.  It was a beautiful post that definitely brought tears to my eyes (especially considering they were teetering on the edge for most of the day).  Anyway,she 

wrote about comforting the mother of a 17 year old girl battling cancer.  She wrote about how precious it was to be given the opportunity to be that person for that woman on that day.  She wrote about how before every shift at the hospital she prays for God to use her to impact someone's life that day.  I used to pray for my students daily, but have done that less and less as the school year is winding down.  I've allowed myself to focus on getting this, and this, and that done (there is a LOT of "this, this, and that" everyday working in a public school) and focused less on loving my students.  The result is that I feel overwhelmed at work, resentful of students and life in general.  God gave me a sunny walk, a chance to cool down, and a reminder from an old friend that He has me where I am.  My contracted job is to teach, to grade, to attend meetings, to contribute to committees and the school, to keep records and write rubrics...but more importantly, my "job" is to love the people around me, to pour into the lives that cross 

mine, to remember how loved I am and share it. I think it's safe to say that when I am feeling overwhelmed, really I'm experiencing the consequence of jumbled priorities.  I mess this up a lot.

Thanks Melissa, for your perfectly-timed post.  It was a great reminder, and a great part of my not-so-great day.  God has given me a lot to be grateful for, especially those of you taking the time to read this.  Gabe is always so sweet when I get in these funks, and yesterday was no exception. Thank goodness I have a husband that doesn't just brush off my sadness/moodiness as PMS, but one who talks to me and hugs me and prays for me. Thank you G. Thank you everyone for your blogs, your comments on mine, phone calls, friendships, love and time. 

Since I wrote about breakfast last Saturday, here's a summary of breakfast today: I made muffins.  We don't have a muffin pan, but for some reason have multiple packs of muffin papers.  So our muffins were made in a square baking dish, hence the non-traditional shapes. Coincidentally, we just received in the mail, from my gifted chef of a mother, some of her invented recipes she's recently entered into contests.  She's that good. Enjoy the pic of my misshapen-from-a-box-muffins.  

**The recipes look great, Mom!  Can't wait to try some!

Happy week-ending all!

pancakes, pollen and paws

You CAN make buckwheat pancakes with one egg.  Yesterday's pancake-making event was my most successful to date.  I have never before managed to not ruin at least one (normally the first) pancake...until yesterday, that is.  I mixed  fresh-cut strawberries into the batter, along with a little cinnamon.  And for the last two I also mixed in white chocolate chips. To top it off we poured the homemade maple syrup G's grandpa makes and bottles. It was scrumptious.

I forgot to post a picture of the lovely sunflowers Gabe brought home for me the other evening. Since I've spent a combined total of six years working as a florist, Gabe is always a little skittish about buying me flowers.  Apparently I've given the impression that I'm picky when it comes to flowers.  I always love getting flowers, no matter what...but there are certain flowers that I personally like more than others.  Sunflowers in spring are a great pick (so are ranunculus, in case any husbands are curious :).
Below is a picture of Daly doing one of his favorite things in life.  Clean-sheet Day ignites all sorts of excitement and energy in our lil' feline.  The game begins when we "ripple" out the sheet over the mattress in order to spread it out.  As the sheet is in the air, Daly jumps with all his might up into the center.  Then the sheet falls on top of him and he assumes army-crawl position.  We poke him once or twice and he swiftly flips over onto his back, creating a tent of sorts with his four paws.  This position enables him to swipe at our pokes with cobra-like speed.  This entertains all three of us for at least a dozen minutes every time.