Tonight we say good-bye to 2017 and all the good and not-so good it held.
Overall, it was a good year.
I am very happy teaching middle school. It is a pleasure to work at a well-run school, for administrators that have it together, with colleagues who are supportive and professional, and with students who enter my room eager to give it a go each and every day.
After a short foray into the world of MLM selling leggings, I decided that was definitely NOT for me. I have returned to my first love - selling thrifted high-end clothing on eBay. One of my favorite sounds is the cha-ching my phone makes when I make a sale, and I absolutely love thrifting.
Michaela made the transition from kinder to first grade, and from one private Christian school to another, easily. She is a super student and reads several grade levels above her own grade level. I am so blessed to have a bright and happy child!
We took our first big trip just the two of us successfully. We loved Idaho, and we hope to spend more time there in the near future.
We got a new dog! Friends from church have the sweetest Golden Retriever, and he was the inspiration for a new buddy of our own. Maui joined the family in June. He is handsome, smart, and has a nice bark when he senses somebody near our home - I really like that. We hope to make him a therapy dog one day. He would be a blessing to those convalescing or stressed out.
We took an amazing cruise from Montreal, Canada to Boston with my parents in July. I love cruising, and I loved all of the ports we spent time in. It was a great way to celebrate my mother's seventieth birthday, and my fiftieth - yes, I just turned fifty. How did that even happen?
We took another trip to visit friends in Michigan - friends we had never actually met in person! The Matts Fam were just as lovely in person as they have been online for many years, and we loved our time with them. Michigan is a beautiful state, and we enjoyed every minute there. They were such generous hosts.
Did I mention that I turned fifty? I think I did. Well, some might cringe at that, but I realize that it's a privilege to grow older. My Michael did not have that privilege. So, I do not worry about growing older. I have a little one to raise, and I hope I will always be here for her!
Lest you think my life is all rainbows and unicorns, I must say it is not. There are uncertainties. There are strained and estranged relationships. There are personal failures (mine!). There are challenges, disappointments, and loneliness. Nevertheless, God is good all the time.
As we move forward into 2018 I look forward to what it has to offer. And I trust that the Lord will guide our steps, meet our needs, and bless us.
Happy New Year!
It has been so long since I've visited my little blog. I doubt anyone is still checking in and looking for updated posts, but I've been thinking about writing.
What have we been up to? Well, life has been busy - more so after M entered kindergarten last year for some reason. If you have school-age children, I'm sure you understand. We get up, get ready for our day, leave the house early (too early!), spend our days on our respective campuses, reunite in the late afternoon, do homework, eat dinner, relax a bit, and climb into bed. Our days are usually very good, but they just fly by. Michaela loves school, and so do I. It's all good!
It has been a very full year in which we had several adventures, added a new family member (of the canine variety), reached various milestones, and have been mulling big plans for our future. We look forward to the New Year and what God has in store for us, and I look forward to sharing more here in the weeks and months to come.
Merry Christmas!
It's a good thing having a blog isn't like having a pet - or a houseplant. If it were, this thing would be dead from neglect. It's just hard to squeeze in an unbroken thought (or written sentence) around here. As I type this, Michaela is in the tub asking me what I would do in case of a "fire drill" in the house. She wants to know that if she were asleep, in the tub, or playing with her toys if I would get her. And if the fire burned up her toys would she get new ones...
Anyway, here's my attempt at blogging this month week.
Making: One pot meals on Sunday, and enjoying the leftovers again at least once during the work week. I have a love/hate relationship with cooking. If I can make something that makes leftovers so I don't have to cook again another night, that makes me happy. Here's a recipe for Skinny Turkey Taco Soup that Michaela and I really like, and it's super easy. I totally blew it this past Sunday and could not come up with anything that sounded good to me. We ended up going out...
Drinking: When I was doing the Arbonne 28-Day Detox, I fell in love with their pomegranate fizz drink mix. Not only does it taste great, but it has a little green tea extract (or something...) that gives me a boost in the afternoon. Sadly, I am out of that and nothing else I've tried compares. I might have to splurge and buy another box of it. On a side note, I've lost ten pounds since I did the detox. Yea, me! A protein shake in the morning, and a salad with chicken for lunch is my trick.
Reading: Named of the Dragon, by Susanna Kearsley. It's kind of slow, but kind of good. It's sort of a historical mystery. Not like anything else I've read recently. I'm reading it on my newish Kindle. I resisted the whole reader thing for a while, but I have to say that I like it.
Wanting: I've been wanting a new sofa for several years. The one I have is more than ten years old. It's threadbare, stained (potty training...), torn (cat prior to his, um, procedure), and all around awful. I've covered it with one of those Sure Fit slipcovers, but that is not all that great. That kind of slipcover gets messed up the first time you sit down on it. The cat put a hole in that, too. So I broke down and ordered a new sofa the other day from Pottery Barn. They were having a 20% off sale! Then I went back on Tuesday and ordered a new armchair (still 20% off!) They won't be here until sometime in December, so I'll be wanting them for a while longer.
Listening: I try to start my first period class with a happy song every day. It's good for me and good for them. Last year's class liked to dance to the happy song, but this year's class isn't ready to do that.
Playing: Now that school is back in session, we haven't had too much time for games. However, we did play lots of "No Stress Chess" over the summer. It's a great way to learn how to play chess. I did not know how to play chess before we started playing this. I still don't really know how to play chess, but I do know how the pieces move. Ha!
Wishing: I'm wishing for rain. It's been too long since it's rained. We've had some cloudy skies and light sprinkles the past couple of days, but I haven't seen a real shower.
Using: I got a super cute teacher plan book from May Designs this year. That's not an affiliate link. I just think their planners are pretty.
Loving: I'm loving the idea of fall. We have had cooler weather than usual for September, but it looks like it will be warming up this coming week. Did I mention that I'd like it to rain? To kick off fall, I picked up some inexpensive decor from Home Goods and Goodwill. I focused on pops of yellow, red, and white - yellow accent pillows for my ugly sofa, artificial apples in a green ceramic basket, and a couple of owls. I love pumpkins, but they can wait until next month.
Watching: I'm not watching anything. The second season of Outlander concluded in July, and I'm not expecting it to return until spring 2017. Maybe I'll break down and watch the debate on Monday night. I'll have to pour myself a generous glass of wine to endure it, though.
What's up with you?
