relax – Peaceful Reader

Lazy summer days with yoga…

I’m in the middle of the only free days I’ll have for summer. I’ve done a little nannying, helped at a friend’s bakery, and in August we go on a little vacation.

{Society6}

So on these free days I’m simultaneously trying to deep clean my house as I can’t ever seem to get ahead of the clutter; while I also do some deep relaxing. I have a stack of books for school to read, I’m spending time with Groovy Teen, and I’m working on my yoga. I love yoga but I fall behind during the school year. My husband created a wonderful workout space in our basement and this summer I’ve used it almost ever day.

Anyone can do yoga from home because there is a huge amount of free sequences on youtube. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to yoga and the other day before I did my regular go-to video I clicked on an article I’d saved awhile back. Pinterest is, of course, only as good as it should be if you actually use it. I think of mine as a large filing cabinet most of the time but then there are folders I reach into constantly. 8 free yoga channels caught my eye this time and by clicking on the article I found some very good new teachers to try. If you do yoga at home try each of these unique channels for something new. My goal is to try several by each teacher to see which one fits. I’ve gone through three and loved how it changed up my regular routine. I tried a sequence with Boho Beautiful and I was (good) sore for days.

Be inspired – try something new this summer. Looking out into my backyard as I type this; it may be an outdoor yoga kind of day…

Namaste~

Weekend Cooking; New Year's Day Brunch recipe

photo courtesy of whatwhatwhat.com

This is what is cooking at my house right now!

I was a whirlwind yesterday; trying to get everything done. My goal was to begin the new year with a clean house and with the help of my new vacuum cleaner I accomplished that. I made three trips to various grocery stores to pick up items I needed. After shopping together husband and I made a light lunch for all five of us and then I set to the task of pretty much spending the rest of the day in the kitchen. I wanted to make the breakfast casserole that my mother-in-law created once before in my kitchen. My thought was to have something pre-made and extra yummy so I could properly relax today. After I finished making that I moved on to making dinner; my “family-famous” eggplant lasagna and two loaves of bread.

I got almost everything done on my list yesterday. I finished my 100 books in time; spending the whole morning immersed in Selznick’s Wonderstruck. I’m excited because last year I didn’t make it and really it seemed like such an attainable goal. It’s not unless you really read all the time or count picture books, which I choose not to. I also didn’t get my weekend cooking post completed yesterday like I’d planned but hey, I did what I could and feeding the family is pretty high up on the to-do list.

Here is the breakfast recipe we will be eating in about 30 minutes, if I can get the teenagers up…

Cinnamon Apple Baked French Toast Casserole

1 loaf French or Italian bread
8 farm fresh eggs
1/2 cup sugar, divided
3 1/2 cups milk
1 T. real vanilla
6-8 Apples, peeled, cored and sliced (McIntosh or Cortland, preferred)
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 T. butter
Maple syrup (warmed) for serving

Slice bread into 1 1/2-inch slices. Place the bread tightly together in a greased 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. In a bowl beat together the eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, milk and vanilla. Pour half of egg mixture over bread slices. Place sliced apples over bread to cover and pour remaining egg mixture over the top. Mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle over top of dish. Dot casserole with butter slices. Cover and refrigerate over night.
In the morning remove foil or pan cover. Bake at 350* for 1 hour. Place a cookie sheet under glass dish as casserole may overflow a little. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into big squares and serve with maple syrup.
Yum!

Later today we’re having black-eyed peas, salsa and spinach over brown rice for dinner. How many others participate in this tradition?

This post is connected to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme-drop by and check out all the food-related posts gathered there.

Happy New Year. Happy Reading.

Lists and Life-Crossing off my to-do list

(Not an exact image of me)

I have a mental picture of myself, the librarian, juggling a variety of tasks every day. I wish I could draw so I could make that image appear on paper-it must be so cool to make that happen. I got so much accomplished at work in the last two days. I love it when I can cross off all the way down the list-items that have been hanging over my head for a week, maybe two.

1. ~~Mandatory Training~~-took all of it in one day-the day before the deadline!
2. ~~Extra Pay form for Intensive After School teaching filled in and handed to principal~~
3. ~~Three Little Pig versions to Pre-K~~
4. ~~Next to Love review~~ (seriously attempted to write it all week long…)-at home project
5. ~~November lesson plans-~~fun ones-better to entertain me as well as students
6. ~~Book Fair financials called in to Scholastic and money handed to Sandy, our school secretary~~
7. ~~Book Fair new books cataloged, bar coded and out on the shelves for new week’s classes~~

I know, whew! It feels great even though I know my list come Monday will be long again but for this weekend I can focus on my house which needs a deep clean, go to lunch with a friend, read and do some minor tweaking to lesson plans for next week. Oh, and I must remember to skype with my brother tomorrow night-add that to the list. See how easily it grows!

I finished the second of the Books of Elsewhere, Spellbound, and will write a review soon of both books. I hope your weekend is peaceful whether you have a to-do list or not. Peace.