Tag: February

Good-bye to January

I’m ready for February, even though we are still in the middle of winter, it puts us a little closer to Spring.  It’s very cold here with mounds of gorgeous snow, and I did make it outside for one long walk with the dogs.  I still feel bedraggled many days and overwhelmed on other days but there is still an inching toward feeling healthy and whole again. Soup always makes me feel better!

I made a delicious black bean soup from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook, a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law. This is the second soup I’ve made from the book and both recipes were easy to follow and tasted delicious. The first recipe I made a few days after Christmas and it fit the bill for how I was feeling: Spicy Chicken and Rice Flu Chaser Soup and my mother had just gifted me several local farm-raised chickens. Look at all the wonderful mothering help I’ve received! Grateful for that during this tough month. 

This black bean recipe was very easy to put together on a Saturday afternoon and even though I didn’t have any sherry in my cupboards it turned out amazing.  We added diced avocados as well because why not?

So, of course, I’ve been eating well. And reading lots in between creating major lesson plans for school. I had a library hold on The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, which I read an amazing review about and the book is short but worthy. It pokes into some philosophical ideas I’ve thought about over the last few years. The road less traveled or the road not taken…
Let’s dive into February and find ways to educate ourselves and celebrate Black history everyday through February and make it a part of who we are. 
Peaceful Reading…

February Peace

It’s here and it’s brought warmer weather so I’m happy. I’m not foolish enough to think that the cold snap or #PolarVortex won’t return yet for now I’m happy to see snow melting all around us. Drip Drip

(Sally’s Baking Addiction)

I made cinnamon rolls for an event yesterday. Insomnia had me up at 5am  and I thought “I should get up and make rolls” for the state speech event we volunteered our time at yesterday morning. We didn’t get to try the rolls as they were whisked off for the judges’ break room and making them was super easy so I plan to whip them up again real soon. Just maybe not at 5am.

Last week was a crazy school week; we had school on Friday only. I was pretty lazy and did a lot of reading. Some cleaning (Maria Kondo on Netflix is great motivation) but mostly reading.  I have several books to recommend to you.

Heads of the colored people by Nafissa Thompson-Spires (2018): Excellent short stories that lifted me and educated me.  Nafissa has an amazing array of characters in these 12 well-crafted tales including two mothers who sling insults at each other through notes sent back and forth in the backpacks of their daughters, Marjorie, a woman who tries therapy because of her anger issues, Riley, a young man headed to Comic -Con, a young woman obsessed with men who’ve become amputees, and a young woman struggling with social media likes and suicidal thoughts. Here’s a great article form Electric Lit highlighting these stories and an interview with Thompson-Spires. I enjoyed this book so much I’m going to order my own copy and probably give it as gifts this year. Thank you to Verda for bringing this book (and the next one) to my attention.

Black Girls must die exhausted; a novel for grown ups by Jayne Allen (2018): “The day I turned 30, I officially departed my childhood. Not the pigtail braids, devil may care, ‘don’t get your Sunday church clothes dirty’ kind of childhood. At 30, I just knew it was the end of the dress rehearsal. I was officially grown.”  So begins our journey with Tabitha as she navigates relationships with her friends and men, and the growing demands of her television reporter position and what it means to be the only one in the office with “black perspective” as she moves up into a lead position. I felt connected to Tabitha and held her pain throughout the book which most affected me when she  argued with her girlfriends and when she was pulled over by the police car.  The raw fear of what might happen juxtaposed against what actually happened was mind-boggling for me and for Tabitha. It made it very real and highlighted, even though her experience was pleasant, very easily can go the other way. good cops/bad cops situation. I loved this casual story and look forward to reading the second.

So make some cinnamon rolls and cuddle up with a good book as February brings us one month closer to Spring.

Peaceful Reading…

March has blown in and surrounds me now.

I need a break. I’m tired. Spring Break is just around the corner.

Our Scholastic Book Fair for the spring is up and running. Lots of books, lots of excitement from kids and parents. This time I requested less crap. You know the stuff, pencils with fuzz on top, pens that have heads with tongues that stick out, weird stuff but kids are always enamored with it) I want them to see the books. We have less days for the fair but I hope we do really well on our two conference nights.

Anton is getting along. He’s met a friend; the nephew of one of my friends and they’ve done a few things together. He misses having people his own age around all the time. He is getting more hours at his job which is a positive. He still has a difficult time getting up and going in the morning which reminds of so many mornings with my other son’s high school years. Slow as molasses we said. Now I have a repeat performance. I have to keep reminding myself that a 22-yr-old still has a developing brain, teen-like emotions. Part of me just wants to shout “get the hell in the car!” I don’t. Good or bad, I don’t know.

I’m getting ready to take off for sunny Indiana over my break. Visiting my friend Barb and her family. Groovy Girl and I love to make this road trip together. We have a yoga workshop planned, kayak’ing out her back door, and maybe a pedicure. Otherwise we will just be relaxing together.  Old, close friends are like that.  Comfortable.

Usually I like to post what I read in a month but February was a terrible reading time for me. I guess my husband’s desire to see all the Oscar movies took a toll. I read one book; My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.  I thought it was lovely but s-l-o-w going.  I got confused with the many quirky characters and I just could not pick up the pace.  I finished it though and moved on to my book club choice, Circling the Sun by Paula McClain. I didn’t finish it by our meeting date but I have finished it now. I liked it and am interested in many of the other stories like Out of Africa that go with this book.

I’m on to The Mothers by Brit Bennett which I am actually already half way through. It’s exciting and I love Nadia.  I’ll have more time to read this month.

I’ve also been cooking a lot but my cooking has changed with Anton in our house. I have lots of work to do to encourage him to eat healthier choices. Upward battle. He is used to eating processed foods, things that are quick and easy, microwavable. I try to balance a few good home cooked meals with some of his favorites. Suffice it to say he is NOT a fan of tofu.  He has eaten sweet potato burritos, fish, turkey lasagna, chicken cutlets, and he was quite happy the day I made fried chicken.  We are a work in progress. I try not to be grossed out as he gulps a bright blue or red “juice”-type soda.

I try and remember right now there are bigger worries than processed food.

Enjoy!

Peaceful Reading…

29 days of book love…

This is the perfect book to be snowed in with, the kind of book you could curl up on the sofa and read for the whole day. In front of a roaring fire. I love talking students into reading it-they always come back happy.  It’s mysterious, adventurous, and built on friendship.  A trifecta.

Totally loving my snow day today even though the amount of snow we got is not record breaking. I’m soon to head out to take some snow photos of Groovy Girl and her BF, BF’s brother and little sister building snow people.

Peaceful Reading…

28 Days of Things I love; #9

My mom.

     Simple.  She’s taken good care of me.  She’s passed on her love of reading, gardening, and cooking.  I’m happy when we get to cook together.  She helps me put in my garden every year.  We share books back and forth although she is way  more into the classics than I am but I’ll forgive her that.  I enjoy her company, a blessing, because in my 20’s I did not.  We were at that time on opposite ends of ideas but as I became a mother and a wife things evened out and I could see things more clearly.  This is one of my favorite photos of my mom and I; we are in the kitchen getting ready to freeze tomato sauce. It was August and my hair was unusually short for me.  The apron I am wearing was my Grandma B’s, very special. She knows just how to squeeze my hand when I need it.

Happy February, Mom-I’m happy you like getting my blog posts in your in-box.
Peaceful Reading…

28 Days of Things I Love; #8

(photo credit)

I love  what I do every day.  I love to help students find the perfect book choice.  I love to ask students if they finished the chapter book they are turning in only to be treated to a childish glare that says “of course, I did-I loved it, where’s the next one in the series.”  I love to have my kid’s book clubs make remarkable discoveries as they read something like Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever, 1793.  I had one group this week put together a slide show about yellow fever and the book.  It was impressive stuff and secretly it felt good to know that their tech skills came from a library lesson.  I love connecting a teacher to a book for a  literacy lesson and hearing later that it went great.

As the roles of librarians emerge and change we have a wide array of duties that fit in our hats.  We feel, at times, out of place.  We can learn a lot from teacher’s collaborative meetings but rarely get the opportunity to go.  As our district buys into reading plans we don’t feel needed in a meeting about reading.  Our role is ever more crucial to guide students into independent thinking, decision-making, and to nurture life-long readers.  It is a struggle to get administrators at the highest level to understand it is much greater and as simple as picking a book.  Long live librarians!

Peaceful Reading…

28 Days of Things I Love; #7

#7 I love my new refrigerator!
It came today. The trucking dude left it in our driveway, leaving my husband to maneuver it up and into the house.  It is not hooked up yet but I’m thrilled to own this new beauty.  I’ll be able to get a glass of cold water from the front door.  It has a mini-wine rack inside the door.  The freezer is ample for ice cream and organic chickens.  It is magnetic so we will feel free to junk it up with gaudy magnets and frayed photos!  The Sub-Zero that came with the house was not magnetic. Is it not sparkly and beautiful?
Happy Days!
Peaceful Reading…

28 Days of Things I Love; #6

(Groovy Girl in a rare meditative moment)

     Ohhh.  Been busy.  Love my life; not always happy with the chaos that comes with our hectic life.
So today I say I love calm.  I need to embrace it and bring it forth more each day.  My day at school is class after class and when I have a lot of student-led projects happening I end up working through my lunch to get supplies sorted and ready.  After busy work days I am grateful to come home and peacefully make dinner, enjoying my time with children.

     This week though I’ve yet to make a real dinner at home. Amy’s mac and cheese and some vegetables on a plate do not count for a family meal but that is what I left my children with as I pulled down the driveway headed to my daughter’s school conference and then to an art class I’m taking.  Last night was similar as Groovy Girl had a make-up skating lesson and I helped at a school fundraiser right after.  Two activities each night is exhaustive to my mind and spirit.  How do you deal with your hectic schedules?

Breathe.  Peace.  Calm is what I love.

Peaceful Reading…