Updates

School went really well. By the time school ended the kids and I were all working together (not that there were more that 2 or 3 who didn't want to work with me).  We had a great time and I think there might even have been some learning going on.

On the knitting front, I ripped back dream in lace and think that yarn will make a great Icarus!! With beads!! I knit Grandma Helen's Lace shawl during test time at school.  It has a great stockinette center that is totally mindless knitting. Then I had two weeks or so of lace knitting to make the transition to summer vacation. Now I am working on Socks for Seniors (socks for the Seniors who were the most help to me, or showed a really great attitude) and that overdue Aran sweater.  I've also gone back to the niece wedding quilt and rethought the pattern.  I started one five or so years ago (well, maybe seven?) and I don't like the colors.  Sooo, I started a new quilt with beautiful autumn leaves scattered over it.  Should be pretty. Today I cut the background!!

On other fronts: I think I may have mostly recovered from the medicine mix up last year.  I have been working away in the garden and have about half of it back to pre-depression levels.  So far this summer has been on the cool side (with a few digressions to the second or third level of heat) so I am more willing to go our and dig.The Husband says I seem a lot more like normal (for me anyway).  Seems as though I have more energy and am far less likely to cry at the drop of a snide remark.

That being said, for the first time since, oh, last, um, December (?) I am ready to sit down and cry me a river.  I just got a call from the Sunday School principal and she (and the Rabbi) had a meeting and decided that I shouldn't be teaching the 2nd graders. I have taught 2nd grade for something like 20 of the last 25 years.  I have said several time that I really only like to teach 2nd or 3rd grade because those are my best set of lesson plans and the kids and I have a blast. The older kids are OK, but they are, by and large, not really interested in being at Sunday School and they are more work than fun. The reasoning from the loyal opposition is that there are only three students in 2nd grade so they should let the third grade teacher teach 2nd and 3rd and I can teach the 4th-5th class or the 8th grade. I'm thinking retirement sounds good. A little background: last April the local Rabbi told me it would "not be appropriate" for me to serve a Passover tea after services on the seventh day of Passover, because "we are Reform". Regardless of the fact that I have done this for the last 12 years and it's our Temple's tradition. Is it paranoid to think that the Rabbi has some agenda? My official bio on the web site (oh, yeah, I've been the secretary of the Temple board of trustees for the last 10 (?) years) says "I cook, I sew, and I teach small children." So far, Rabbi has  told me not to cook, and not to teach small children. Can sewing be far behind? It's starting to feel like I should cut my losses and find a new social network.. Rats. Thanks for listening. Now I know what I have to do.  If I can't teach the grade level I'm really good at, and more importantly find fun, I quit. I'd like to say no hard feelings, but I'm not that developed yet. Looks like I'll have some more free time this winter and it won't go to the Temple.

Good News/Bad News

Good news: I'm subbing for the Health Tech teacher who had a little girl last week. I'll be in for the rest of the school year. Yay, yarn money.
Bad news: Not a lot of time to knit.

Good news: I love the kiddos and they all want to be in the class.
Bad news: I have to write lesson plans in a subject where my knowledge is more general. Anatomy? Hello, I took a beginner's course eight years ago. I got an "A" but still....eight years.

Good new: The teacher left me two file cabinets full of her notes and plans. There should be enough in there to keep me going. I have an aide who has at least been there and knows a lot of what is going on.
Bad news: The aide is only allowed to work 40 more hours this year (she is paid from a grant that allows so many hours per year).

Good news: I finished knitting Dreams in Lace.
Bad news: I slipped it on before blocking and I can tell there is no way this will block out to fit. The arms are stretched to the limit and the length is barely to my waist. Frogs away!! I enjoyed knitting it and will try again. Larger needles for sure and maybe fingering weight instead of lace. What do you think? I'll check on Ravelry.

Now, how about a little help. I need something that is rather interesting to knit but not complicated. We all have plenty of socks and I've just finished two shawls. The Aran sweater I need to knit is too complicated for right now. Any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe a baby blanket for the new baby (teacher's remember?) but of course, I would have to get some more yarn. Huh, this might be a plan.....

Daily, or Weekly?

Well, looks like I missed a few days again. The good times just keep rolling. The Husband has finally hooked up the internet radio and has been listening to Glasgow. Today he heard the new band "Hot Chili Pipers". Sigh, at least it wasn't elevator jazz.
Elder Son was home for part of the weekend and I baked some cookies and cake. For Valentine's day I made some Chambord heart cookies and tried out some new ideas. Since I got the rose syrup I made some sugar cookies with almond flavoring instead of the vanilla and then made rose flavored poured fondant. Yum!
Tomorrow I teach, well, something. I am a roving sub which means I fill in for teachers at meetings. At least I get to see more kids.

Great Day in the Morning!!

Today was a wonderful day!! The temperature is 65 degrees F and I am sitting here in shorts and a tee thinking about taking a walk. I changed all the calendars (to February!!), downloaded a few knitting patterns (jewelery, whee!!), and ordered some rose flavoring to make a French classic cake (or so Dorrie Greenberg says). Now, I'm going to go outside and replant the terrarium. Seems I made the layers too deep and there is no room for the plants!

Found!

I think I may have enough yarn to knit the Triangle Junction shawl in the latest Knitters magazine. It should be interesting. The yarn has sequins and ranges from very dark grey to bright blue with a little fuchsia thrown in for fun. I have knit the first triangle and a half but should really be working on socks for a student and a sweater for a friend and a quilt or two for nieces.....but, hey, isn't this supposed to be about indulgences not guilt?

Once Again Behind

Hmmmm. It's getting harder to keep up with this. Not the indulgences (that's the easy part), just the daily posting. Anyway.......

Thursday I went into work and taught Senior High Music. That was a great way to spend the day.
Most of the classes were eager to be there and really wanted to make great music. A few were just movie watching (the teacher didn't know until last minute that I would be teaching and she doesn't know I have experience in music), some in the 7th grade were willfully ignorant. They didn't know who Mozart was and didn't want to. Sigh.

Friday was more of the same except the 7th grade agreed that they would stop talking during the test (and I had to make and agreement?) if I played for them. Naturally I played a whole lotta classical. HA.

Today The Husband and I went bargain hunting. I found some yarn (big surprise) and he found some food stuffs. Everyone came home happy. Now I just have to find a shawl pattern for 700+ yds of worsted weight. Ravelry here I come!

Oops!!

I missed reporting in yesterday, but I didn't skip the indulgence. On Tuesday I met a friend for lunch at a nice little restaurant in a small town nearby. I had some wonderful feta and spinach soup and it was delicious. I also had to go for a test in a local medical facility. One of the things I was trying to do this year is ask for help. I really have a hard time with this. I don't want to be a pain, but ya know there are times when people need to help just as much as I need to ask. I was going to drive myself to save The Husband the trouble, but he insisted. Once we got there he asked if I needed him to come in. I was trying to figure out how I would carry everything I had brought when it occurred to me that I could use some help. Hey, I actually asked. Yay, me!! (And yay to The Husband for nagging until I did.)
Today's indulgence was a nap, mostly because I had to sleep tied to a bunch of monitors last night.