Best Coffee Ever - And Company

You would have laughed at me if you'd just seen me, friends. 

I have spent the last 15 minutes trying to get a good photo of myself holding a cup of coffee, using my cell phone camera, which for some reason, has a fuzzy film on it I couldn't get off.  I then made it worse by scratching at it, although for a minute it did make it a little less fuzzy.... but that moment was short lived. 

Upon realizing that 15 minutes had gone by and I had no good pictures to show you, I decided it was so funny I'd just upload the ridiculous and fuzzy pictures I took.  And then I just realized that, because I had to get a new phone last week (my old one broke), I don't have this one set up to send my pictures to my email, and I don't have the converter that makes your small memory card fit into the memory card slot on the computer.

Sigh.

All I wanted to do was show you my favorite cup of coffee ever.  Wait, this is a blog, right?  And, while I know that a picture is worth a 1000 words, I should be able to paint you a word picture.....we'll, I'll try.


It's the season I wait for all year long.  It brings me joy, puts me in a good mood no matter what else is going on in my life, and, I think, is God's personal gift to me, Beth.  I love the decorations each year, the sweet and spicy aromas that waft my way, the warm, fuzzy feeling I get.

I am, of course, talking about the Gingerbread Latte season at Starbucks.  You knew that, right?

I kid you not.  With a Gingerbread Latte in hand, nothing can stop me.  I'm unflappable, un-phaseable, un-depressable.  I hoard (not an exaggeration) any gift cards given to me the rest of the year and never spend any money at Starbucks until sometime in November, when the signs switch from orange and brown with the words Pumpkin Spice to elaborate drawings of coffee cups topped with whipped cream and the words Holiday Favorites are written in golds and reds.  I then go through those gift cards at what might seem an excessive rate, but really isn't, as I know I want to make them last until the new year.

A student brought me my first Gingerbread Latte of the season the week they came out, not long ago.  In the middle of a meeting, I glanced up and saw out the window that she was standing there, latte in hand.  No words of explanation needed, I quickly and quietly left the room, thanked her profusely, and almost reverantly sipped my first delicious sip.  Contentment.

I've postponed writing about it, because I've wanted to find the perfect day and have the perfect photo to accompany my post, but today I decided that you, my friends, need to know that I am happy.

This morning I went in for a Venti (a big splurge - but it's the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break), and the card scanner would not read my giftcard.  She tried three times.  I offered to let her try another card. Instead, like an angel or a Christmas elf, she replied, "Oh, it's fine. Just enjoy."

The barista then read the label on the cup wrong and made a Creme Brulee Latte (cbl) instead of a Gingerbread Latte (gbl).  Taking an extra minute, she made me a new latte and put it in the cutest Christmas cup ever.

Whether it's the fact that it's Friday and it's the day before a break, the fact that the coffee was free, or the fact that she made it extra special, this Gingerbread Latte is without a doubt ...

... the best cup of coffee ever.

May your day be merry!

Disclaimer: I know I'm a little out of control.  Like me anyway.  I do think God gave me the Gingerbread Latte as a gift, but the season I love more than the GBL is, truly, Christmas.  More to come on that after Thanksgiving.

5 Minutes in Which I Catch Up

Days go by without my blogging, but that doesn't mean I haven't had things to say or created posts in my head.  I just haven't done it.

So tonight I'm going to put into practice a new practice - the "do it for at least 5 minutes" system - because hey, 5 minutes is better than no minutes.

Let's begin.  It's 9:08.

It's finally gotten cold, which makes me happy, and we have even had our first two snows.  I use the word snows sort of loosely, since neither one resulted in much snow on the ground or a two-hour delay (it's true, teachers love delays just like students).  The first storm was bigger than the last, and I do have some pictures to show (but I fear that would cut into my 5 minutes).  It brought a huge smile to my face - I LOVE snow.  The second snow, today's wasn't much of anything, but still, I LOVE snow.  Did I mention that yet?

I have a firm policy that Christmas decorations can't go up before Thanksgiving, but I do confess, I saw that the neighbor's have started putting theirs up, and I am feeling a little wishful that next week were already here.

School has been good, but nuts.  This week (and last) Student Council has been partnerning in a food drive with a local organization.  Tomorrow night we're having our first annual dodgeball tournament  - we have 15 teams signed up and hope to have a lot of spectators.  It's going to be crazy, but ridiculously fun.  We're also selling cotton candy tomorrow.  I have no idea how to make cotton candy, but we rented the machine.  Hopefully it works.

There has been some hard stuff for me recently, particularly pertaining to how I feel about church and some struggles I'm having with feeling alone, but that will have to wait until another post, because the clock has just struck 5 minutes.

It's 9:12. 

Stay tuned for another 5 minute post where I continue catching up.

Seasons

Perhaps one of nature's constants is the changing of the seasons. Each year spring blooms into summer, summer morphs into fall, fall withers into winter, winter melts into spring.  Of course, where I live, our seasons are often jumbled together - it might be winter and summer in the same week.  And, of course, we could then get into the argument about whether or not global warming is messing up the climate and destroying the seasons.... but that conversation would just irk me and ruin my blog post. 

"What's your favorite season?" people often ask. 

I love them all.  I did write a post on why I do love fall, and you can read it here, but truly, I love seasons.  I love the crispness and colors of fall, the spirit and snow of winter, the thawing and newness of spring, and the warmth and fun of summer.

And I love how, each year, they come, and they go.

People are always telling me that this stage of my life is just a season, and that the season will change.  I'm not sure I really believe them anymore. I mean, I do believe that the particular circumstances of the season will change, but the season itself?  I don't see an end in sight.

Busyness is my life.  Sure, you could say it's because I choose to do too many things.  Trust me, though, I have already cut some things out and still am runnning to an end nowhere in sight.

The next season (kids, perhaps?  No annoucement being made, just a logical thought) surely will not be any less busy.  I will still have my job, and I will still want to be a teacher who is invested in her students.  I can't spend every free minute of the day working, not engaging, just so I can go home "empty handed."  I don't think I want to quit Student Council, because I think it's something that, not only do I do well, but that I love.  I would lose one of my favorite parts of teaching if I let it go.  I won't get to be a stay-at-home-mom, not when my kids are little, and not when they are at school.  Instead of taking things out of my busy life, I'll be adding more.

I hear you now.  Kids are worth it, and it is different, because they're you're kids, and you love them, and it changes everything.  And while I don't totally get it, I get it a little.  I do want kids, and I'm ready-ish for that new type of busy season.

I just keep thinking that there isn't really an end in sight.  I'm looking, but I can't see a season where there is a little more time to do other things, to rest, to read, to go on hikes, to exercise.  Perhaps it was my naivety and wishful thinking that led me to believe that all these women who have gone before me and keep telling me that "it's just a season," meant that the season of busyness would change.  Perhaps they really just meant that the circumstances in the busyness will change.

I think I'm having a bit of a 28-year-old-crisis.  I love what I do, and I don't want to not do it, I just want there to be a little more time in the day or the week.  I want to not be behind all the time.  I want to not feel guilty when I blow off work and do something for me.  I want to be healthy. 

Enough.  Please hear me - I do love what I do, and the problem probably comes from the fact that I refuse to do these things less than the best I can.  If I could cut out grading, then I would be golden, but alas, that's a pretty major part of teaching.  The only other thing that could go would be time spent investing in kids, and I refuse to do that, too, because that is what I actually love about my job. 

So season, although you appear to be a very, very, very long one, bring it on.  Perhaps my seasons are all jumbled together, much like in the Colorado way, with a little bit of winter and spring and summer and fall all at once, and I just need to learn to look for the differences in each day, or week, or month, or year.

Well, here's to living the seasons, whatever they may be.

A Day Off

Good morning!  Can you just wait a moment while I run to the kitchen and get my cup of coffee?  I turned the pot on about 20 minutes ago, but haven't gotten up yet to actually enjoy my morning beverage.  I'll be right back.

That's better.  I've got my favorite brew in hand - a homemade cup of Einstein's Hazelnut Coffee..... mmmmm delicious.  I've been drinking cup after cup of tea recentely (I have a nasty cough), but I just needed a cup of goodness this morning.

Today I have a day off. 

It's not like a day off, it is a day off. 

We worked parent-teacher conferences the last two nights, and since they can't pay us for it, we get the next day off.  Hence, no going to school for me today.  However, I apparently don't know how to take a day off.  I made my to-do list for this weekend, at least half of which I hope to accomplish today.... it includes grading all the work for my online class I got behind on when I was grading all the work for my IRL classes before PT conferences (I don't have any more abbreviations, or I'd throw them in just to be funny), grading workbooks, planning the next week of online curriculum and getting it uploaded, doing laundry and putting away the piles that are still out in the basket from last week, cleaning the living room, kitchen, dining room, birdcage, master bathroom, master bedroom, guestroom (and, in all that cleaning, hoping to freshen up the house from the "dog" smell we have now), walk the dog and walk the horse. 

But I'm also drinking my favorite coffee, wearing my favorite sweatpants.  And later, I'm going to spend the evening with some of my favorite friends at small group.  And walking the dog and horse (not simultaneously, of course), is fun for me and fun for them.  And I hope to see my parents and sister sometime this weekend.

And having the chance to stay home instead of go into work truly makes it, regardless of what I am doing here, a day off.

Love it.

Here are a few pictures I'm dying to show you!

A double rainbow (the top is very faint) we saw on our drive to Wyoming to see Husband's family.

The first leg of Grandma Harriett's retirement / birthday party - she's the one dressed like a prisoner.  The theme of the party was her parole, as she retired from working at the Wyoming State Penn.  It was quite a fun night - after this stage, the party continued with close family friends and their kids and kids' friends (all now in their 20s) talking, laughing, singing (oh yes, singing), and more.



Here's a picture of our little snuggle bug - she seriously loves to cuddle, although she still wants to play a lot of the time!  We decided to name her Ginger, but call her Ginny for short.

And I'm in love with fall (although it's a little warm again today) and wrote a post about it here, but wanted to show you my mantle.  I love it.  It's a little busy, I know, but it's beautiful to me.

Happy Friday!  May your day be like a day off, too.

Fall Has Arrived

I love fall.

Don't get me wrong - I also love summer, winter, and spring.  Each season claims something incredibly wonderful - winter brings snow days and Christmas and hot chocolate, spring brings flowers and newness and color, summer brings sunshine and outdoors and vacation. 

But fall, oh, I love fall.

Fall brings beautiful colors. 

When I first moved here, I missed the vibrant reds and oranges and yellows found in the fall colors of the East Coast.  I've learned that there is almost nothing more beautiful than a sea of dark evergreen and golden yellow as the aspen groves mingle among the pine trees.  And scrub oaks, while ordinarily nothing special, turn a brilliant red for a pop of sensational color every so often.

Fall brings crisper weather.

I do love sunshine and outdoors and summer fun, but after months of being hot, I love to put on a pair of jeans and a sweater.  To go outdoors and feel my cheeks get a little pink from the cold.  To go outside and watch a football game without being hot or cold, but just perfect.  And since this is truly the land of sunshine (sorry Florida, you're not really the sunshine state), crispness is usually accompanied by the sunshine, and it's lovely.

Fall brings muddy dirt roads and much needed moisture.

After a dry, almost rainless summer, you know fall has finally arrived when the clouds roll in one day, the fog is heavy, and finally, finally, the dusty roads out at my parents' house are no longer dusty, but even a little muddy.  When the grass has droplets of water and the air smells like rain. 

Fall brings special occasions.

Fall starts a series of my favorite occasions - college football games with family, high school football games where Husband and I cheer on the kids I spend so much time with.  My birthday comes towards the end of October - and while I'm not a huge birthday person, I still love celebrating the possibilities of what the next year may hold.  Thanksgiving, a family favorite, with good food, the Christmas tree, and the first watching of A Muppet Christmas Carol.  The holiday season, with decorations everywhere, goodwill towards others, time with friends and family, a respite from work, a chance to celebrate the best Gift ever.  And, of course, the arrival of the Gingerbread Latte, my personal gift from God.  (Seriously, if you know me at all, a Gingerbread Latte makes everything better.)

I love Fall.

And it has finally arrived. 

Stephanie's Ponytail

Have you ever read this story?

I hadn't, but my little sister read it to me the other day.  When I say little, I mean younger.  She's 22 years old and doing her student teaching this year.  She's just finished up a rotation in first grade, and it's been a really good experience for her, I think.

See, Sister went into this year pretty much freaking out about whether or not she was going to be able to be a teacher.  She wasn't sure she was grown up enough, or if she was brave enough, or if she could balance classroom management and good interaction with kids.  We of course, knew she could, but she needed to know herself.

So on Sunday I was at her house hanging out with her and saw "Stephanie's Ponytail" on the floor.  As it was a children's book I'd never read, I asked her if I could look at it.  Her response, "No..... But I'll read it to you!"  And so she took the book, sat on the floor "criss cross apple sauce" style (umm.... Indian style, from my days of elementary school) and read me the story.

And she was fantastic.  As she read it, she interjected little anecdotes about what had happened as she'd actually read it to the group of 1st graders - where they had laughed hysterically, when they clued in to the repetition of some of the lines and started saying them with her.  At one point, when even all the little boys in the story had ponytails "coming right out the top" of their heads, her little Haitian boy Djimmy grabbed the top of his head and said, "But I have no hair!" 

My point is this.  My sister is awesome, and, despite her own misgivings, is clearly going to be an incredible teacher.  Here's to you, future elementary-school teacher of the year.  You're the bestest.

Sister giving the best toast ever at our wedding a few years ago - already proving that she does a great job in front of a group of people.

What's in a Name?

Apparently, quite a bit of thinking, debating, discarding.......

Meet the newest member of our family.  We just got her yesterday from the Humane Society, and are already quite in love with her.  She's a 7 month-ish old pitbull-beagle (peagle?!), super sweet, calm, and has already interacted with about 30 of my high school kids since we're in Homecoming week and we had to set up for our Luau last night.  (Then she went home with Husband before all the hundreds of students showed up.)

Anyway, we're struggling to find her name.  We've rejected bazillions.  Okay, that was a slight exagerration, but at least a dozen have been thought of and discarded.

Who do you think she looks like?

Today I'm linking up with Emily and others at Chatting at the Sky, for Tuesdays Unwrapped.  I'm celebrating the cutest little peagle in the world, who is currently asleep at home, waiting for me to get there and take her for a walk at lunchtime.