Spring Break Sponsorship- Wrap it up!

A busy weekend including a road trip to Charlotte today to see Uncle Brian and tour the Carolinas Aviation Museum.  More tomorrow for my local friends as this was a must do day trip with kidos, especially those in love with planes.

In the meantime we are back at school tomorrow for what I hope will be a full week.  After this many days home with the boys, I can wholeheartedly say I feel for Jack Torrance in The Shining right about now.

Whoever is continuing to shake a snow globe, please stop.

Thanks-

Spring Break Sponsorship Day 3 - You Sweet Thing

Ben and Ian woke up to Valentine's Day cakes.  Be the awesome mom I am... ahem... let them eat them for breakfast but then refused when they were going bat sh#t crazy just trying to get clothes on them to get out the door. Since school was out again today for both boys we decided that we would venture out for a bit and get out some energy.  First stop, a local bounce house for the first slot and least germfest time of the day.

Today we also sent out a couple of special Valentines.  First up, since I didn't manage to get Valentine cards to my mother in law before the snow hit, I decided that we would send a video card.  It just happened that over the Christmas holidays I found a box of old letters including a elementary V Day box filled with old Valentines from what looks like 3rd or 4th grade.  I just couldn't toss them so I showed them to Ben and we decided to use them to write messages to Grandmommy Pam.

I found an easy to sing (for Ian) song online and we practiced.  This is a screenshot of the final result:
I intended to post, but Bill reminded me that since we used commercial music in the background we didn't want YouTube to take it down.  Alas, we sent it privately to Pam.

Since today is ALSO my brother's birthday I decided to also create a similar video card for him as well.  I had to personalize Brian's card with lots of inside jokes and the worst cards of the lot.  I personally liked this one:

The boys and I are heading to Charlotte Sunday provided the snow continues to melt to meet up with Brian to celebrate his birthday plus visit the Carolinas Avaiation Museum.  Happy Weekend all, may you dig out from the snow and enjoy some time back in the real world.

Spring Break Sponsorship- Day 2- Cold Hands and Warm Hearts

Today's Spring Break day brought to you by a full on traditional snow day.  We spent an enormous amount of time outside sledding, building a snowman, walking the dog to the neighborhood lake to watch the ducks walk across the ice.  I shoveled the walk, porch, and driveway and declared any calories consumed had been burned off.  We made homemade chili and Valentine's treats and drank way too much hot chocolate.

Most of the afternoon was spent working on a surprise Valentine's Day event for both Grandmommy Pam (since we missed getting actual Valentine's into the mail) AND since it is Brian's birthday tomorrow I opted to make a similar surprise for him as well.

Here's a hint......

Like my 1980s Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and Garfield Valentines? They are the real deal from a found homemade V Day box made in elementary school.  Goodness knows why I still had them mixed in with some old birthday cards.

Tonight, I am refusing to do anything related to school work and am watching the final episode of House of Cards to get ready for tomorrow's premiere.

Seriously, this is the only Card I want on Valentine's Day.  Porn, people.  Political porn I tell you and so, so good.  I could watch this show for Robin Wright's killer style, but add in a plot line worthy of a Shakespearean drama, and I'm all in.  

  

Spring Break Sponsorships

Starting a little mini-series today.  We are out today with what appears to be around 4-5 inches of snow at Casa Vinson.  This makes day 5 of missed school due to weather.  Given the road conditions and the expected icing over tonight, my guess is we will return on Monday.

The snow was predicted to start midday and unlike the snow event of two weeks ago, it came on hard and fast.  At 12:30 pm there was a few flurries, but by 1:30 it was treacherous driving.  Bill took a big one for the team and took Ben to work with him for a few hours. Basically he found an empty office, raided the employee kitchen for snacks and let him play his DS for a good 3 hours.   I picked Ben up just in time to get home before the snow really kicked in.  Sorry boys, when I dropped the F bomb in the car screaming at a driver trying to make an illegal U turn IN THE SNOW!  

Ian's daycare graciously opened up during the morning so in he went for a few hours while I plowed through work that came home in anticipation of weather. At this point our spring break is effectively gone.  We were already eating into the week we had at the end of March after the last weather event.  With this snow we will get the Friday and maybe the Thursday of Spring Break but most likely the rest of the week is now going to be make-up days.  By state law we cannot take convertible days off so just calling in sick is not an option.

I went ahead and contacted my MIL to let her know plans to meet her in Atlanta during the week were off. Due to her job, she has to be available at the end of the quarter and cannot take takes off past the Wednesday of Spring Break week.  I promised we would come earlier that our usual August to see her in Florida and that in the meantime we need to make more of an effort to FaceTime.  The boys practiced being singing valentines today during the many hours were were inside. My intention is to call Pam Friday since I missed getting Valentines in the mail to her.

So in the best possible light of trying to make the best of the next days home I'm bringing you a mini-series of Spring Break sponsorships.  Today's Spring Break Day has been brought to you by the discovery of the
Air Bud Franchise of movies on Nextflix by the boys.  I watched the first one with them, but I HAD to excuse myself to other pressing things like cleaning pee off the floor from 3.75 year olds with bad aim.  As far as kid movies go, this was not bad, just CHEEZY and the mom I swear has made the circuit on some bad Lifetime movie about a predator I'm still trying to forget.

Happy Snow Day (s).  I hope you are staying warm, your loved ones are safe, and you are watching an endless supply of movies about dogs with superhuman capabilities.

Randomly hugging strangers

If you don't already know this about me, you wouldn't likely be surprised that I'm not a big touchy-feely person.  I am affectionate with my kids, but outside of Ben and Ian I'm the same stoic person I've been my entire life.  The retired Navy veteran turned History teacher I share my classroom with told me once that nothing seems to phase me at work. He commented that I'm as tough as many females he served with in Iraq (which I find very hard to believe), and I have a mouth of a sailor.  Coming from him I'll take that last comment as a compliment.

When I came home from Kenya last year, the one aspect of the trip that really resonated with me was to be intentional in my relationships.  Add to this motivation to focus on saying it, doing it, living it and not waiting around for some perfect chance.  Today is that perfect chance. Regret can take up residence with someone else.

I wish I could say that I live by this own outlook everyday, but I don't.  I can't tell you how many times the "woulda, shoulda, coulda" take up space in my head on a repeat loop.

Yesterday I went to my usual early service with the boys at church.  This series of messages has been especially what I needed to hear at the right time.  At the "turn to your neighbor and say hello moment," the same one that I really hate, I noticed that the woman sitting solo in front of me had been crying.  She wasn't Titanic movie ending crying, but it was obvious that she was upset.

The rest of the service moved on and she continued to keep dabbing at her eyes.   At the end of the service I tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I don't normally do this, like ever do this, but I'm really sorry that something is pressing on you today.  Could I give you a hug."  She first looked a little surprise, but said, "thank you, yes that would make me feel like I mattered to someone today."  I was almost surprised at myself for completely being out of my comfort zone offering to hug some random stranger.

Later in the afternoon I totally blew off the mountain of work I needed to get done to start the week.  Instead I did this...

then this....

and then packed up these for local delivery...

Sometime last week I was talking to my friend Eileen, that owns the cupcake business. I asked if I could pick up cupcakes for my student teacher and the 1st year teacher I mentor to keep them encouraged and let them know they are doing a great job with their students.  Eileen texted me that she had 3 dozen cupcakes and did I want them on Friday when she wraps up her business for the week and discounts whatever she has left.  At first I intended to say, sure I'll just put all of them back for the boys and take some to my brother next weekend.  But then I thought about those post Kenya thoughts.  I thought about how much I am not a fan of Valentine's Day from the standpoint of the commercialization and exploitation of what constitutes a relationship or better yet, a lack of a relationship.

I decided to make some local deliveries with Ian in the car to friends' mailboxes with cupcakes and cheezy Target kids valentines. I followed up with a short email saying to check their mailbox, that I wouldn't eat anonymous food including cupcakes from Sugar Mama's. I added that in a week that is focused on love and relationships, that I value their friendship as an important relationship.

Will I be randomly hugging strangers again soon?  Most likely no. Being intentional in telling those that make my life have purpose and meaning?  I hope I will continue this practice as important and worthy of the minuscule amount of time that it takes.

Frozen on Friday- #2

Paula Deen, you owes me one.  You heard me queen of butter and inappropriate comments, I remade one of your delights into something my health-nut brother would eat. (ok, he smokes, negating the fact he rides a mountain bike and has a pork-rind free diet.)

I was looking for a banana bread recipe to use up some overripe fruit plus to have something healthy to take to my brother when I saw him last.  I used a PD recipe I've used before with modification.

This bread freezes beautifully and has become a breakfast staple, toasted with a little light cream cheese.

**Healthier Paula Deen Banana Bread***
Original source credit- http://www.food.com/recipe/paula-deen-banana-bread-244423

2 cups all-purpose ( I used 1 1/2 cups whole wheat + 1/2 cup flax seed)
1 cup sugar ( reduced to 3/4 cup to account for the additional fruit sweetness)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup melted butter (I used 1/3 and replaced the moister with light sour cream)
4 very ripe bananas (I used 3 and mushed them up)
2 eggs
1/2 -cup pecans (reserve)

Additional items:
1/2- cup golden raisins
1/2- cup dried cranberries
1/2 light sour cream (extra moisture)

2  tablespoons melted butter +  1 tsp cinnamon +1/4 cup brown sugar + pecans- On a separate foil lined combine the melted butter plus sugar.  Coat the pecans and toast on 375 until caramelized.  Set aside.

Combine all dry ingredients and add melted butter, eggs and banana. mix well.  I typically by hand and not with my stand mixer to keep some banana chunkiness.

Fold in the raisins, cranberries and pour into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for 45 mins.  In the last 20 minutes sprinkled the caramelized pecans on top of bread and continue to bake.

Servings- 12 slices

Habits: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly Sad

Next week Ben's school is hosting a Healthy Habits Fair.  His Jazzercise teacher told us they would be performing and that we were welcome to attend and also participate by getting things like bone density tests and blood pressure checks.  Basically it is a "be good to your body aka mixer for the area old people" the day before Valentines Day.  Regardless, Ben is excited that he gets to be on the morning announcements advertising the event.

The school also ran a poster contest for all grades to help decorate the event space.  Ben designed a poster showing himself making good and bad choices.  I'm not quite sure how you change ethnicity when you smoke or appear to become a cyclops, but I'm proud of the time the effort he put into his poster.

The healthy habit talk has made it into Ben's current vocabulary with many discussions about making good food choices, making sure exercise is part of your day, going to bed at a reasonable time, choosing to play outside over playing video games.  A couple of the snow days he went with me to the gym and ran laps. He asked me to show him how to use the bike, the rowing machine, and the exercise ball.  I'm sure we looked funny as I showed him some yoga stretches. If I can encourage him in any way to think from a healthy state of mind, it is worth the second glances from folks wondering why we were doing down dogs together.

Ben asked me the other day what Mema had died from, that he knew she was sick and had a special chair . He asked if she died because she didn't have healthy habits? Wow, what a loaded question.  I thought about it and then responded that Mema had an illness that became very hard to treat, even going to the hospital did not make her well and that her sickness had made her die.  I said that she did do many things to try and get better but that many of the things that made her sick started a long time ago and over time became hard to reverse.

I used the chance to speak to how the little choices we make every day give us a chance to live a long and healthy life. It was the most honest answer I could give him on his level. It was also one that I could live with without unleashing some deep seeded anger that my mom was behind much of her own demise.

In a horrible segway, I've read or listened to several pieces remembering actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman this week  There have been discussions a plenty about drug use, celebrity, rehab, many with a resounding judgement that while a tragedy, that he did this to himself.  True, and no one can deny that drug use starts with personal choice.  Sadly, I have seen/read little in the way on the nature of addiction being spoken of as an illness and not a character flaw.  I have compassion for his kids who will one day read their names as part of a Google search about their dad's tragic demise.   I have compassion for his partner that seemed to be making a call of tough love of unimaginable proportion.   I am selfishly sorry for the next 20-30 years of films never to be made by such a talented actor.

Bill and I were talking about favorite films and characters the other night upon hearing the news of the death. For Bill, he loved "25th Hour" with Edward Norton and "Charlie Wilson's War" with Tom Hanks.  As much as I thought Capote and Doubt were Oscar worthy as anything else made in their respective year, my two favorite movie's were released in 2007.

Both used a sibling relationship as the centerpiece of the movie.  In "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" he plays brothers with Ethan Hawke in a story of a botched robbery and extortion of the family business with horrible consequences.  In "The Savages" he teams with another of my favorites, Laura Linney, to play siblings taking control of their aged father in the search for end of life care. In both movies, the relationship and dialogue between fictional siblings is seamless. Even non verbal body language exemplifies the unbelievable stress each character is under and the shared burden that ties them together.  They are completely believable as siblings experiencing the most stressful time in their lives and the need to rely on each other.

Of the several pieces I've read, A. O. Scott's article in the New York Times captured why his death is such a loss to those who considered him a master at his craft:

He did not care if we liked any of these sad specimens (of characters.) The point was to make us believe them and to recognize in them — in him — a truth about ourselves that we might otherwise have preferred to avoid. He had a rare ability to illuminate the varieties of human ugliness. No one ever did it so beautifully.

Weekend

After being housebound with our major snow event, we spent a bulk of the weekend outside.  From snow midweek to 65 degrees yesterday, hello NC weather.

Friday night my old neighborhood bookclub met.  The host had picked Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters, which once again I was the only person who liked the book.  Really?  The food was amazing as was the chance to get out of yoga pants and my well beat up UNC sweatshirt and into some real clothes.  See, all wasn't lost on trying to defend a top 2013 book.  If they trash Wonder, my book up next month, I swear I am not reading another book for this group this year.  I will only go for the food and the company.

Saturday I went to kickboxing and quick grocery run + errands.  Later, Bill and I did a date afternoon to see Gravity for a one week re-release at our local IMAX.  We had missed it last fall and I wanted to see it before awards season.  Not knowing the ending helped keep the tension going and oh boy does Sandy B rock it like a hurricane in some t-shirt and boy shorts action.  She is how old again?

After getting the boys we headed to a friend's family- friendly birthday party at a local Irish Pub.  Normally I would be not thinking "Irish pub" and "family friendly" belong in the same sentence, but alas our friend's spouse had rented out the back room.  The host had taken his love of Slim Jims and Scotch to new decorating heights.  We let the boys try a Sasquatch meat stick.  Take a wild guess who said, "nasty" and who polished off a giant "flamin' hot" variety in .912 sec.

Sunday we did church, library, haircuts, a walk with the dog, and bikes outside.  Bill and I traded time so I could attend a local chamber orchestra performance in the afternoon.  I swear other than the three kids nearby looking o-so-bored with their grandparents who had so obviously drug them to a cultural event, I was the youngest in attendance.  It was great concert despite the ironically named "hipster baroque event."
Believe me the only "hipster" this early bird special group had going for them was the desire not to break a hip just walking in.

Sunday night our neighbors came over to watch the Superbowl until halftime.  As am admitted  non sports person, I was there for the food but really didn't care who won the game.

It was a good weekend, relaxed with both nights with more than seven hours of sleep.  I told Bill that in my old age I cannot do it on less than 6 hours of sleep.  After a week basically at home, I'm starting to say that I can't do it on less than 7 hours of sleep.  Maybe I was right in my element on the whole "early bird special" crowd.

Happy start of February-

Wrap it Up- January 2014

For the first 31 days of 2014 much has been done including lots of days off from work.  We are on day four from being out of school after around 3 inches of snow in the Raleigh area.  No worries that I've had a four day vacation.  As I have to pay back the days, I've been at work with kids in tow anytime the building has been open. Luckily my daycare has been open for some of the time as well and my principal has been flexible about allowing us to come in later than our normal start time given child care.

As we now are eating into our Spring Break and I have to have written permission from my principal to take my own personal days, including a monetary deduction for the sub, I am ready to be back at school.  It is not like the College Board is going to let me have an extra week to cover the material I have to cram in before the AP exam in early May.

Enough bellyaching, at least I didn't spend the night in my car on some road, even worse if my kids had been stuck with me or all night at their school. My mother in law in Birmingham spent the night in her office as she couldn't get home.  Been there, done that in January, 2005 on my 30th birthday no less, when the school didn't call an early dismissal resulting in a 7 hour gridlock drive home.  It was awesome, NOT.

So what have I been up to this month.

-Celebrated the last year of my thirties with a Mexican fiesta complete a Mo' Money pinata, hats and moustaches, brunch with biscuits, and a trip to our favorite local park
-About to finish my 4th book of the month.  Oh yeah, didn't I have some plan to update GoodReads more?
- Met up with Uncle Brian at the NC Zoo with the boys
- Dinners out including Ethiopian and Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen to celebrate other friend's January birthday
- Got back in the saddle with exercise.  This week alone I've done a weightlifting class, kickboxing class, ran the track with Ben two days while showing him how to use the rowing machine and TRX system.  I'll take his, "mom, you are so cool to know how to do special push ups" as a compliment.
- Saw THREE, count it THREE movies in a real movie theater in prep for awards season.  I'll add that Amy Adams boobs deserve an award for best use of double stick tape. Wolf of Wall Street is the worst date night movie ever due to the amount of T and A including seeing Jonah Hill's junk. I owe Matthew McConaughey a huge apology for ever thinking he was just a hot bod with an accent as syrupy as sweet tea. Between Dallas Buyers Club and his new show on HBO, goodness gracious that man can act.

What is on board for February?

Meeting up with a high school friend for a mini-girl's spa overnight trip
More books and more HBO binge watching before it is gone
Planned meet up with Uncle Brian to visit the Carolinas Aviation Museum

And yes,
at some point getting back to work involving student attending. classes.

My favorite picture from January, what happens when you tell your kids, "I don't care what type of pinata you pick, I'll love it."  And I so, so, so did!

We interrupt this normally scheduled week.....

To play in the SNOW!!!!!

After waiting all.day.long with faces pressed to the windows yesterday after school was called without even a flake on the ground, finally justice around 8 pm.  Light snow fell all night leaving us with around 2-3 inches. Ben and Ian were crushed when at bedtime a little snow was in the air, but none appreciable on the ground.

Can you imagine the decibel level when they realized that not only was school cancelled, but that there was enough to sled for most of the the morning.  Our neighbors, being old school folk from real snow lovin' states built a snow ramp at the end of their driveway leading to many, "no really, let's not make going to the emergency room with a kid with a busted arm" moments.  Luckily we set some ground rules about going down and the boys had a blast.

Later we made snow cream, had a taco bar, and played Cattan Jr.  As school is closed again tomorrow, and cabin fever is starting to set in a bit for mom, we are planning on getting out of the house. Not early though, with a low tonight in the single digits, our warm beds will be enjoyed for longer than usual.

For the record, I am a true Southerner.  I love watching the snow fall, from the inside.  I personally don't love being in the freezing cold trying not to bust my butt but did so for hours on end yesterday to make sure the kids were supervised and enjoyed the rarity of snow.  Of all the pictures we took, this was my favorite, all the V boys (including the biggest one) shoveling the sidewalk and driveway while I sat inside, reading by the fire.

Weekend

Friday night Bill and I took advantage of one of our favorite places to eat minus kid meals.  They were hosting a special tasting menu that was featured during Triangle Restaurant week.  With two birthdays and Valentine's Day in the first two months of the year, we opted to knock out celebrating all three with one nice meal.   Since we had driven separately, I picked up the kids from the drop off child care and had them bathed and in bed by the time Bill got home.  Most Friday nights I am comatose by 9 pm, asleep on the couch.  This weekend, I stayed up all the way until 9:30 finishing up a book.

The rockin' lives of the middle aged.

 Saturday I carved out time to head to kickboxing.  I am proud that for all but one Saturday in January, my butt had been kickin' it old school for for new year's resolution time.  I took the boys to See Spot Read at our local library after lunch.  The Wake Country library has a rotation of therapy dogs that visit branches for children to practice reading.  As we were picking up our weekly books, Ben had books on the usual topics: WWII, Dolphins and Whales, Racing.  He picked a most fascinating (not really) book on the Pentagon.  Ian laid nearby narrating a book on hippos to me.  He is at a stage of wanting to read by retelling me what happens and pointing out letters and numbers that he recognizes.

The Town of Cary rescheduled their Winter Wonderland weekend due to the crazy warm temperatures a few weekends ago.  I had reserved an afternoon time for the boys to have an hour of sledding.  At first Ian was upset when his first trip down he was covered in mud and grass.  Ben was unbelievably helpful making sure Ian could make it to the top of the hill and that he was fully on his sled before taking off.  The boys convinced me to go down at some point. Sadly while there is no photos or video I can tell you I wiped out, loosing my shoes on the way down.

Later that night I met up with a friend to see the Wolf of Wall Street.  Holly Molly! While a good and very typical Martin Scorsese film, it was crazy intense from the opening credits of a full three hour film. Somewhere I read that if you took out all the F bombs it would have been nominated for live action short film instead of best picture of the year.  I can say that Leo is a long, long way from that big ass boat.

Sunday I took the boys to Marbles intending to only spend a couple of hours.  We got there when they opened hoping to beat the crowds. We wound up staying for 4 1/2 hours and hit every part of the museum. Add a couple of chocolate iced Krispy Kremes and the boys were tuckered out by the time we got home. Ben and Bill went to their monthly Y Guide meeting and Ian and I walked the dog, hit the grocery, and finished up some housework before calling it a weekend.

Love List- January

Last year I started my own monthly Friday series for things that are bringing me joy.  Here we go with the first installment of 2014.

Item 1- A kick ass toilet seat.  You heard me, a toilet seat like no other.  No matter how much I clean the kid's bathroom it still resembles a Greyhound bus station 95% of the time.  Bill found a new toilet seat that can easily and quickly be removed and submerged in a bucket of cleaning solution.  Bad aim, meet your match.

 Item 2- New items tried at Trader Joes

I am currently in love with their roasted veggie pizza (NO CHEESE!!!).  New favorites also include the sweet potato gnocchi and the Herb popcorn.  I took Ben with me the other day to buy healthy items for his lunch box.  Lo' and behold that he picked out new fruits and one veggie to try and actually like most.  

Item 3- My amazing student teacher.  believe it or not, I have never had a student teacher.  I've been asked multiple times but always declined believing that it was just more work.  With my National Boards up for renewal and also trying to add marketable skills for my teaching resume I said yes this year.

She is mature, uber organized, has great presence with the students, takes charge, and sees the student teaching experience as a semester long job interview.  We have developed a great working relationship and while she is only teaching one of my classes due to my AP spring load,  I could not have been more lucky to have been matched with her.  One her first (real) day of handling classes alone, I left her a note, school supplies that she was planning on buying, and her drink of choice that she can legally have at school.


Item 4- The return of the weekly flower budget.

This was what 10 bucks bought to brighten up my desk at work.  I'm thinking about asking the owner of a local floral shop that I know if she would consider taking me on as an apprentice during the busy prom and summer wedding season.  Sound crazy or a tiny baby step towards a dream?

Item 5- Thunder from Down Under

After talking to Bill about the timing and the affordability of a trip in light of a saving year, I am planning on flying to Vegas to meet up with my sorority sisters during the summer.  Last year I had to miss our annual summer meet up and missed the debate on where to go for the following year.  It appears that they went big for 2014.  We've been working out the details for hotel, spa, and show suggestions in our private FB group. Why not a stretch of the imagination, we have voted that we all need some thunder from down under.  There are only a handful of people that I would want to hoot and holler at a total campy performance, but my sorority ladies are on the short list.

A note from the Principal

Sunday as part of my birthday celebration I took the boys to the State Farmer's Market Restaurant for brunch with time at Pullen Park afterward.  As I was watching the boys a man came up to me totally in weekend clothes but wearing a hat embroidered with Ben's elementary school.  At first I didn't recognize him, but when he called me, "Mrs. Vinson" I knew it was the principal of Ben's school. Ben came over to say hello as well and the principal called Ben by name as well.  

We chatted for a short bit and I of course had to open mouth insert leg and commented on his "grandchildren" which were in fact his "children"  playing nearby. I figured I needed to own my mistake and apologized making a joke about how you never ask a women if she is pregnant.  I wanted in all sincerity to thank him.  I commented that as a parent and also a school district employee I respected the leadership of his school, the quality of the teaching, and the involvement of the faculty to reach out to the parents on a regular basis.  I noted that it was evident that with the very low turnover at the school that the continuity of teachers reflected great school leadership.  Many of the teachers are the same that helped open the school in the mid 1990s.  

I told him that I loved Ben's teacher this year and gave him an example of her lesson when to use formal vs informal speech using Mr. Mack as an example.  Ben's teacher remarked that you would not address the Principal as "hey dude, what are you doing after school." He laughed, I laughed and he thanked me for our family support and followed his kids to another part of the playground.

The reality is that the school is well run. It is reflected in every way that I have interacted with the school over the last three years.  The teachers have been quick and thoughtful with communication, they are clear about assignments and expectations. The after school program which at times I have disagreed at times remains a well run and organized.   Simply put, this is a school that is "working."  My hope is with all the upheaval in NC public schools with almost daily new mandates of new laws and more testing of our kids that schools like Ben's continue to be run like a well oiled machine.  While I'm sure there are problems beyond what is visible the average parent, it appears that they have a formula for making education work.

Yesterday as Ben was unpacking his backpack to complete homework, he told me he had gotten a GOOD note from his Principal.  Boy did he ever.

Thank you Mr. Mack for your leadership and the time you take to know our family by name.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Ben likes to lay out his school clothes down to the underwear as a person next to his bed each night.  I told him since it was going to be cold, to make sure he picked layers.  This ensamble plus a hoodie and coat, and he is all good for the minimual amout of time they likely will do after school on the playground later today.

Hello 2nd semester a startin' today with a two hour delay for a minimal amount of snow.

I could get used to this schedule!

A 39th birthday that was all about the Benjamins

Last week Ben convinced me that we needed a pinata for my birthday party.  I assured him that we had a cake and a special day planned already, but he insisted.  This is the mind of the seven year old, one planning his next birthday just as soon as the last guest leaves from his current party.

On Saturday I took the boys most of the day to run some errands, promising them that good behavior would result in a pinata purchase.  *Note to self, do not tell Ben and Ian that you don't care what pinata they pick out.  You will go home with the best of the Party City $Mo Money$ collection.

We stayed in the store trying on crazy hats and laughing our butts off.  Ben was particularly interested in the 80's party gear.  He asked me if he could buy a Micheal Jackson sequined glove with his tooth fairy money. Sure, but you are not taking it to school.

In addition to the pinata, they also talked me into buying hats and moustaches for the party.

I had a great birthday.  We went to church, to the State Farmers Market Restaurant for hush puppies and pancakes for the boys and a veggie plate of collard greens, pintos with chow chow, and grits with country ham gravy. Serious comfort food yum.  Afterwards we hit up one of our favorite area parks.  We stayed at Pullen Park for almost two hours playing on a warmish, sunny winter day.

Once home, we had birthday cake, (my favorite Orange Cremsicle from Sugar Mama's) and pulled out the pinata.  The boys could have cared less that we filled it with existing leftover Halloween and Christmas candy. They karate chopped, kicked, and hit every last bit of candy out of it.  The entire downstairs was covered in green streamers and the last vestiges of poor Benjamin Franklin.

I had plans to meet up for a late dinner with a friend that has a birthday tomorrow.  We had a chance to catch up and enjoy a little adult conversation and I wrapped up the night watching the new HBO series True Detective.

As I start the last year of my 30s, I think about what I want for this year.  I realized that 19 days into 2014 that I never really posted goals or resolutions.  They are much the same of most years: work to be on time, cognizant of my choices about health, eating, exercise, and sleep.  I want to make the time I have with Ben and Ian count.  I want to continue choosing reading over mindless tv watching with a goal of 50 books by year end.  Thinking before I speak in anger continues into the new year, again.  My weekly floral budget continues with plans for a pickup tomorrow and stealth bouquet for someone at work. Other goals are amorphous and need to be reflected on and considered  in my own head.  I want to make the last year of my 30s count as a set up for a positive next decade.

The numbers 41 and 43 weigh heavily on my mind as they are the ages at which my parents were diagnosed with diabetes.  While I know I am much healthier, it still seems like the deck is stacked against me.  I see this year as one to reflect on what types of decisions I want to make about work, marriage, kids, and doing whatever I can to stave off illness into what I hope will be a long, long way in my future.  I realize that I can live in fear, or I can take this year and any subsequent years and live for myself and my boys.  I also realize that I can stand still this year, hoping and wishing for things to change, all the time knowing that I am the one who can start decisions for change now.  I am reminded that small steps can drastically turn into large, life changing plans in a more positive direction.

May my 39th trip around the sun be filled with days filled with goodness and light.  May I live the life of the one in my dreams or at least one that leaves me knowing that the next decade starts in the best possible place.

Frozen on Fridays #1

I know it is now SATURDAY, but yesterday came and went and oh well, I meant to start this at the start of the month....

Carrie over at Curly Crafty Mom is posting a monthly installment of freezer cooking.  I mentioned that I would like to play along and join in how other readers of her blog make the six o'clock dinner rush easier.

Last fall my good friend Katie put together a cookbook of favorite recipes from our former teaching colleague and friend, Michelle Morrell, that passed away from breast cancer in the fall of 2013.  The sale of the cookbook was a fundraiser for her young daughters.  Most of the recipes were Michelle's, ones she used in teaching Foods I at our high school school, but Katie asked friends to also contribute.  She asked me in particular to submit one called "Old Settlers Baked Beans."

Before you say, of all your freezer cooking why did you submitted beans?  I did for several reasons:

1.  It goes from freezer to crockpot and can be parceled out as a side or as a main dish. It is perfect with a pan of cornbread and a green salad.
2.  It is a go-to dish for picnics, tailgating, covered dish events, and can be made customized vegetarian. It a four season dish in our house.
3.  My friend Carolyn used to make this dish for her annual kid-friendly Halloween party.  She once told me a particular touching story about the timing of the party and a particular cancer-related anniversary in her life. Each time I make this dish I think of her and am thankful for her remission.

Old Settler's Baked Beans (original source:  Taste of Home)

1/2 lb ground beef or turkey (can be omitted)
1/2 lb cooked and roughly diced bacon (can be omitted)
1 medium chopped onion
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 16 oz can pork and beans (drained, not rinsed)
1 16 oz can kidney beans (light or dark) (drained and rinsed)
1 16 oz can Great Northern Beans (drained and rinsed)

Cooking directions-

In a large skillet cook beef and bacon, drain off fat and return to pan.  Add onion and cook until tender. Combine all other ingredients except beans.  Stir well and transfer to crock pot.  Stir in beans and cook on low heat until ready to serve, minimum of 1 hour if using the crock pot, 30 minutes if using the stove top.

Yield:  8-10 servings 

** add one can beef broth and one can tomato sauce to thin and make a chili

Enjoy-

Bookin' It- The 2013 Wrap up

Yes I know that it is the 14th of January, but I have spent most of the last week in a fending off a cold and in a grading quagmire of reading research papers.  Over the weekend I finished the first of my plan for 50 books in 2014.  I wanted to start the year off with a book that reminds me how much I love reading as part of my daily life.

I fully give Wonder *****.  If I could give it six, I would.  I hope to share this book with each of my boys as a story of "when choosing to be right or be kind, choose kind".  I took a chance and picked it for my old neighborhood book club for my month to host. I hope they will actually read it as I have the reputation for the "worst book of the year" award.

Last night I started on A Constellation of Vital Phenomena as part of the six books I picked up over the weekend at the library.  While I doubt I will get through all six before they are due, I thoroughly enjoyed browsing the New York Times Top 100 books of 2013 for ideas for what to add to my Goodreads account.  I have a 2014 goal of trying to update my account more frequently as frankly it becomes a once a month recount of books read. I also have have a goal of finishing the dense 928 page The Bully Pulpit by year end.  As I own my copy, complete with a personal inscription from Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, I can read at my leisure.

I wrote back in July of my mid year progress. I ended the year with 49 books, surpassing my original Goodreads challenge of 30 books by August.

My top 10 books of the year (all 5 star books)

Nightfilm
And the Mountains Echoed
Where'd You Go Bernadette
We Live in Water
The Nobodies Album
The Dovekeepers
Tiny Beautiful Things
Beautiful Ruins
Five Days at Memorial- Non fiction
Half the Sky- Non fiction

Honorable Mentions for notable 4 star books

Lean In- Non fiction
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Wild
The Financial Lives of Poets
Mary Coin

I ended the year with at least 70% of my 2013 reads at 3 stars and above.  I would like to note that I would like my time back for reading Reconstructing Amelia, Serena, Looking for Alaska, A Land More Kind Than Home and After Visiting Friends. If they are on your to read list, reconsider.

Happy reading in 2014.

With Cold (and a little wet) bodies, but warm hearts

Sunday we met up with Brian at the NC Zoo.  One of our mutual 2014 goals is to try and meet up every 2-3 months on a Sunday 1/2 way between us.  This is a little more driving for Brian, but well worth the trip. Granted it wasn't the greatest day for a zoo trip and we practically had the place to ourselves due to the overcast, cold January weather, but the boys got out some much needed energy and Brian and I got to catch up.  Plans for a summer joint mountain vacation and the very sketchy idea of us sharing a time share as an investment came up.  Likely pie in the sky due to the money, but any amount of time spent with him is always good for my heart. I put together a quick puzzle to guess where we were going. Ben opened 7 envelopes and the boys put them in order.

I have never seen the zoo so empty.  The boys ran out all their energy on the trails.  Minus a little rain, we were all layered up and stayed warm.  Brian taught the boys how to give weggies and then Ian in all his 3.75 glory attempted to give my over 6 ft brother one.  Both boys loved not having to share the rescue helicopter with anyone else.

Since Brian and I were not together over Christmas we exchanged gifts courtesy of the US postal service. For him, a box of Trader Joes goodness, and for me a book and an extra special gift, one with over 45 years of experience.  From 1969-1970 my dad was in Vietnam, stationed at a military base seven miles from the Mekong River.  He rarely talked about his days as a mechanic in the Air Force, other than to say that a tradition that started the year his sister sent a box of my dad's favorite chocolate covered cherries as part of a larger gift box.  The cherries were destroyed once they arrived almost a month after she had originally sent the package.

Every Christmas from that year forward they exchanged a box of cherries with the one ground rule that the box had to be inedible.  He mircowaved, burned, even hammered out her gift every year with such happiness.  Brian has kept the tradition alive with a not box of cherries to be enjoyed, but rather a bunch of nasty including something that fell off his truck. I dearly wanted to be with him on Christmas, I laughed out loud at his thoughtfulness to carry on a tradition in our dad's honor.

Everyone should be so lucky to have a Brian in their life.

Weekend

At some point I need to post some 2014 goals. Heck, I need to finish up some 2013 posts like favorite books given I picked up SIX new books over the weekend to start in the new year.  If 2013 had a theme, it was, "I had good intentions to post, then life happened."

This weekend was a nice split of time with the kids and away from from 3.75 year old incessant ugliness that is Ian Vinson. Bill and I traded off time much needed time minus kids.

Friday afternoon, Ben got in the car and told me he had a big surprise.  His hanging on by a thread front tooth had finally come out at lunch. Ben was concerned that the tooth fairy would not be able to see in his mouth so he left her a note that said,

"Dear Tooth Fery (his spelling), 

I have lost a tooth.  In case you cannot find my tooth, it is on my desk  Look for the word, "tooth".

He included a picture showing the location of his lost tooth as well as the other front tooth that is loose and now looks like a fang. I question in what universe does the tooth fairy look inside your mouth to make sure you are legit, and not running some small-time money making operation.  Alas the thinking of your average seven year old.

I love that we are using the same pillow created by my maternal grandmother used by both Brian and myself complete with stains (how?) and her sewing handiwork.

Saturday I met my AP Gov't students for an optional work day at NC State's undergrad library for a morning of how to use a college library as brought to you by me and my student teacher.  I made it worth extra credit points on an upcoming public policy research paper to come and find academic journals.

As my Seniors are about to graduate I feel this is a really important skill I can expose them to as they transition from high school to college.  In the age of Google searches and Wikipedia as the go-to as what "research" constitutes as just being exposed to how to navigate the vast amount of resources available is worth time invested.

I appreciate my students getting up on a Saturday morning as well as my student teacher who organized the session and reserved a conference room for us to use as a homebase.  *Note that as we were making our way through the library we stopped at a card catalog.  At least 1/2 of my 17/18 year old Seniors had never seen one and I stated that before there was an Internet this is how you did research.  They were incredulous at such a method.  I felt about a million years old.

Later in the day I met up with a couple of friends at one of my favorite places, Chapel Hill's foodie heaven A Southern Season, for lunch and some post holiday sale shopping.  When I die, you can leave my body in front of the cheese case or next to a picture of the Cooking School manager, Marilyn Markel, whom I have severe hair envy. Seriously, I have a picture of her hair I stealthily took while at a cooking class a couple of years ago. I was going to post it but given it is of an innocent bystander, I won't.  I did Google her, and her hair looks just as lovely.

Saturday night I did time with the boys and bedtime, and I finished 1/2 of my 1st book of 2014.

Because karma comes with a tail

Just in case you missed it, but I love cheese.  As in I eat some type of cheese at nearly every meal. A cheese stick is my go-to snack, meal in the car, keep the kids quiet food item.  So it would be karma that we rang in the new year by catching a mouse in our kitchen just before midnight.

I gotta admit it was tiny baby mouse of many Christmas book lore.  It was kinda cute, so much that I took this crappy iPhone picture just before it was taken outside and released it into the wild aka...our backyard.

The words "If I were single, I would so keep that mouse as a pet," was uttered by someone in our house. *Hint- it wasn't me as I have already squashed that same person's dreams of building a multi-rabbit hutch in our backyard. Somehow, "multi-rabbit hutch" doesn't garner the same home resale value as "granite counter tops."

The rest of or New Years Eve was crazy (non) eventful. We grilled out and played new board games with the boys.  I love, love, love that Ben loves board games as much as I do.  So much that he and I played our new version of Settlers of Catan for kids again last night.  We melted chocolate and ran our own ghetto Melting Pot before getting the boys to bed a little later than normal.  I watched not Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve but rather a documentary on our illegal HBO before we loose it later this month.  I mean people, I can celebrate. Right?

This would be how I found the boys to ring in the new year:

One that refuses to sleep in a bed-

The other that has so many stuffed animals, books, a barricade against sharks in his bed I almost didn't notice he wore his NYE hat to bed.

As I head back to work, I spent the vacation doing what I really wanted and needed to do. I spent the bulk of the time being a homebody sleeping, reading, exercising at the gym or at least walking the dog an extended time. I watched more TV since Dec 20th since I have in the last 3 months. I saw a movie in a real theater, did some freezer cooking to replenish what has been eaten this fall.  I cleaned out 2 closets, worked on cleaning out our attic, and arranged for 3 different people to pick up loads off of FreeCycle yesterday alone.

I did such exciting things as cleaned the fridge top to bottom and reorganized with shelving for holiday storage. I spent oodles of time with the boys and our whole family is returning to work/school shed of the nasty cold we had most of last two weeks. What I didn't outside of maybe 5 hours max over the last week and a half was work on school related stuff. It was glorious. In the next days there will be resolutions a plenty.  For now, I'm happy that the most drama has involved baiting a mouse with cheese.

Cheese that I can assure you was part of the great variety currently in my now very clean fridge.