penn

The Christmas Report

I've been home for two weeks, and I've spent very little time on the internet. Good for my relaxation, but not good for my blog readers nor for my records. The following is a little bit of what has gone on here over the holidays:

1. Sushi! Josh and I found $20 in the washing machine: to the victor goes the spoils. We used it to get a delightful sushi lunch. I also had sushi with one of my friends from college. Sushi is one of my favorite things about being back in the Pacific NW.

2. Procrastination: bad, but sadly part of my nature. I finally admitted that my Washington state car title is sadly lost. This is unfortunate, as I need the title to make the state of Minnesota happy. I finally went to the office today (the day before I leave to go back to Minnesota) around 4:15, only to discover that I could have gotten a same-day title if only I had gone before 4. D'oh. I think we've sorted this one out, but it's long, complicated, and ultimately of little interest.

3. I have played a lot of blokus. My family is BIG on board games, and this has been the game for my whole vacation. It's a lot of fun, yes, but I think I've played enough to last me until the next time I come home. Maybe. I estimate I've played 5-7 games per day for the last week.

4. Josh, my mom, and I went to go see the Nutcracker at the Portland Ballet. Their choreography is different from the Nutcracker I've always seen before, so it was neat to get a different experience. Most notable: instead of Russian cossack dancers doing the low Russian-guy dance (you know, the one from the Lechaim scene in Fiddler on the Roof -- in the 4 minuteish range), they had some dancers who did amazing things with hula hoops, including multiply jumping through one as it twirled around his body.

5. A veritable blockus/tetris game myself in trying to fit everything into my suitcase. I don't think I'll be able to get away with doing a carryon like I did on my way here, but I should just have one bag to check. I packed nowhere near enough clothes for two weeks, but I apparently should have packed even less.

That's all for now. I'll try to come back with pictures at some point, but my computer is on the fritz (thankfully backed up so I won't lose any files), and I haven't gotten around to putting my pictures on anyone else's computers.

I hope all my readers had a fabulous Christmas. I'll check back in sometime in the next few days, but don't expect blogging to return in force until January.

Things I've learned today

1. Sometimes your goals change. Meeting someone "special" has definitely shifted my priorities, both consciously and subconsciously. (I'm still working on the 101 things, but I'm no longer sure that I'll achieve all of them.)

2. Four medium to large size apples is enough for four cups. You don't need twelve apples to make a pie. Hey, don't laugh! It's my first apple pie. Well, apple and cheese pie. More on this later

3. Initiative will go a long way. From going into my local school district office and just asking, I've now got paperwork to fill out in order to get a short-term sub license in Minnesota. Yes, you need a license even to substitute teach. At least I don't need a full teacher's license, though I would need one if I wanted to sub for the same teacher for more than 14 days.

4. Cleaning is a lovely mood lifter. Okay, I didn't just learn this today, but it's definitely lifting my mood to clean up our place. I'm still unpacking from Maine (one box left), but my problem now is finding places to put things. I see decluttering in my future.

Rejoice

I go to church in a nearby city that happens to be home to not one but two liberal arts colleges. We have a congregation full of families, and there are tons of little ones at the front on any given Sunday. Because of the colleges, we happen to have a lot of children who are a bit . . . precocious.

Today, the minister was talking about the third Sunday of Advent. See, it's the Sunday with the pink candle (as opposed to the three purple candles that mark the other Sundays of Advent). There's just one more Sunday to go before our celebration of Christmas here in the Christian church. And our minister explained that the candle is a different color because we're all just so excited for Advent and waiting is hard. The candle is kind of like a little squeal of excitement.

Apparently, the candle evokes gaudete. Or perhaps this is gaudete Sunday? I was unclear from the children's sermon. Guadete means "to rejoice," so we did a little rejoicing in church. The pastor asked, "should we speak in Latin or English today?" And the little voices? "Latin! English! Latin! English!" in darn near equal proportions.

I think the pastor was a little taken aback, but she rolled with the punches, and we rejoiced in both languages. Because who doesn't need a little bit of Latin with their Sunday service?

What is marriage?

Just finished a nice cry thanks to the following video. It's a speech from NY Senator Diane Savino in the state senate about the gay marriage bill. It's beautiful and brilliant, and it says more than we typically hear from politicians. I particularly like it because she differentiates a wedding from marriage, and she talks about the difference between the government contract and the religious institution. Plus, there's some funny jokes in there. I promise!

It's pretty darn beautiful. I hope you all enjoy.

101 things: months 19 and 20

Time is rushing by! I ran out of time in Maine to update people, so I now bring you my incremental work on the 101 things for both October and November.

14. Visit 5 of my unvisited lower 48 states 2/5 completed: Kentucky, New York,

I have now added two more states to this list. Matt and I went hiking in West Virginia, and we ate dinner and drove by the capitol in Indiana. I'd still like to revisit Indiana to go to Muncie (because of this video), but that will be another project for another time. Now, I just have one more new state to visit to finish this goal! Possibilities include New Mexico, Louisiana, North Carolina, and several more.

27. Memorize 5 new poems

A new in progress! I've been working on finding nice, pithy, interesting poems. The first one I happened to pick is actually not appropriate for mixed company, so I won't be reciting it here. For the record, it is "This be the Verse," by Philip Larkin.

58. Watch a sunrise

I worked really hard at this goal. I am, by nature, not much of a morning person. In the past year, I've actually happened to see a sunrise or two just by virtue of other happenings in my life, but I didn't want to count those. My intention with this goal was to sit on the beach somewhere to mindfully, intentionally watch the sunrise. And, oh, how I tried to achieve this goal! The week before daylight savings time, I got up early every single morning to watch the sunrise. And, every single morning, this greeted me:

Yes, a sky full of clouds. Of course, one morning I didn't wait it out; instead, I walked away and started chatting with a coworker. And then I turned around to this:

All in all, I saw a lot of beautiful views of the sun in various states of rising over the ocean. And I'm going to call this good.

70. Throw a theme party

We threw a Halloween party for each other and alums of our workplace! It was lots of fun. I was on the decorating committee, but I also helped set up in general for the party. A few of my coworkers created an amazing race type game all across our campus that required doing activities we taught in lesson, visiting significant areas, and making up lots of stories. All in all, one of the better parties I've helped with or attended in the last few years. In my mind, games make everything better.

I'll share one piece of decor that, while cheap, ended up being a crowd favorite. We then incorporated Whiskers into many skits for the rest of our time in Maine.

74. write 4 real letters to friends

One completed -- I sent a letter to April.

the tally:
2 more in progress for 7 total in progress
2 more completed for 46 total completed