penn

Black Friday

I have mixed feelings about Black Friday. As a teen, I avoided the shopping on principle. Then again, I was also much better at shopping locally, seeking out unique items, and shopping throughout the year. I don't know if it was more time or more opportunity to shop from living in a big city. I was really anti-conglomerate as a teen.

Years later, I have moved all around the country. And, like it or not, the continuity of chain stores has made it easier to shop there than locally. In my own small town, the stores have fairly limited hours, and I just don't make it in much other than during the summer.

Side note: I try to avoid Walmart on principle, even though it's the only big-box in my town. I usually try to combine trips to Target with other trips out of town to save gas.

These days, I do a little casual Black Friday shopping. We spend each Thanksgiving in Iowa with Matt's family, so I see Black Friday as a chance for some bonding with my mother in law. We wait until "late" to head out; we usually leave between 9.30 and 10 am. By then, most of the stores aren't too crowded. Kohls is more busy than usual, but Target was just fine today.

My other benefit from doing Black Friday down here is that I can pick up Christmas and birthday presents for my nieces and nephew, wrap them up, and leave them here so there is no shipping here for Christmas. Plus, I get to see what the kids are into before I go spend money on them. This year, purchases were Home Alone (the movie) and a puzzle for the 7 year old, tumbling classes for the 5 year old (so excited for this!), and a Little People set for the 1 year old.

I always am sure to thank the employees for working. I appreciate them being there for the day. I do refuse to shop on Thanksgiving, and I don't like the 3 am shopping either. I would like for people to spend at least some of the holidays with their family. But I am glad to have this opportunity to get a little shopping done and know I picked up items the kids will like.

Some day, I hope to know my area well enough (and the kids) to get back into more meaningful local shopping. But in the mean time, this tradition is working well.

Felt food fun

I sometimes struggle what to get my nieces and nephew for Christmas. I don't want to inundate them with toys. Sparkly pink clothing items are usually the key for one niece, but I like to give them something a little more.

Enter felt food. They have a play kitchen they all love (ages 1, 5, and 7), but they don't have a lot of food for it. After Thanksgiving dinner, I busted out the felt and embroidery floss. The kids were here, so I actually got some input from them about what they'd like. Note: this has not diminished the gift in the least. Rather, they seem extra thrilled to get to participate and ask for certain items.

Today, I made a broccoli floret, a fried egg, and two cookies. One cookie is below (my niece's sprinkled pink sugar cookie). Not pictured is my nephew's cookie. He was still embroidering a happy face on it while I took the pictures. Both my 5 year old niece and my 7 year old nephew learned a bit of sewing this weekend, and their mom is excited to try at home.

The best part is that my nephew had a wonderful creative idea to put the fried egg into an eggshell so he can "crack" the egg. Genius!

Here is the felt food. The broccoli floret is the first thing I did, and it turned out giant. I think that's the whole head of broccoli. I'm going to experiment with different patterns to see if I can do better next time.

I'm hooked now. This was easy enough to make, and I was able to do so while watching TV.

There's lots of free tutorials and patterns. I free-handed the eggs and the sugar cookies, but I follow a tutorial for broccoli. Here are some that I like and plan on using:

- the broccoli tutorial I'll adapt (I think her dimensions are wrong -- I made smaller florets and they were still way big, or else her other food is giant)
- a creative salad, especially for the cool way she does mushrooms
- Frugal Babe's felt food project and her part 2 and final installment
- a gigantic set of tutorials from Apartment Therapy
- a super cute idea to do ravioli, bow ties, and donuts including take-out bags

One thing is for sure: I'm busting out my sewing machine at home to do more of these. The hand sewing looks cute, and I'm sure I will still do some parts that way, but I think I can just fly if I do machine sewing. I will have to get some more bobbins (and thread in general) and get over my fear of the machine.

Lukewarm

Tonight, I want to share a lovely Seamus Heaney poem with you.

A Postcard from Iceland

As I dipped to test the stream some yards away
From a hot spring, I could hear nothing
But the whole mud-slick muttering and boiling.

And then my guide behind me saying,
'Lukewarm. And I think you'd want to know
That luk was an old Icelandic word for hand.'

And you would want to know (but you know already)
How usual that waft and pressure felt
When the inner palm of water found my palm.

A little etymology, courtesy of written art. Enjoy!

Grading

Binders are all stacked up and ready to grade. The last of my students take their tests tomorrow. Sorry to be MIA in this crazy finals period.

Science Quiz

I earned 100%. How can you do?

The Science Knowledge Quiz

My students take their final tomorrow, so tonight is a big study session. Always fun sharing biology with others!

Quiet energy

It is finals time around here. We are lucky to have the entire week of Thanksgiving off so that students can travel home. Thus, we complete the trimester before we leave and start fresh in December.

Some students are lagging these days. They truly are ready for break. At times, I feel like this too. The schedule here is demanding in many ways, and you don't truly get a break unless you leave campus.

Others are in a frantic mode of studying for finals. For some, this is the chance to final eke that A- up to their preferred grade. I feel this in myself, as I desperately try to plow through the last of my grading to hand back. I prefer to hand back work much quicker, but taking my own class this term has slowed me down. I'm also still writing my tests and must finish today so I have time to copy.

Still others have done the math and realized that simply passing their final will be sufficient to keep their grade stable. This is especially true for B and C students who are happy with their work (or those who realize that only a 99% can pop them up to the next level). These students are relaxed and ready to go home. This breed of student is rare, but it exists. I am not at all like this, but Matt fits the category well. His finals have been copied for a week. He knows what his preferred level of work is, and he can relax once he reaches that level.

In all areas of our school, we can see each of these students. While people can change, this definitely mirrors how they might approach life as an adult. We see similar habits as we approach large holidays and landmark celebrations.

Are you the major crafter who must pull off a homemade event, or are you the type who is happy to put out some beer, cheese, and crackers? In what spirit of mindfulness are you approaching the busy time that is coming up?

Arabella

On Saturday, Matt and I went to the Minnesota Opera's rendition of Arabella. We bought season tickets to the opera this year, so this is our second of four operas. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the music and environment.

This is an opera by Richard Strauss, and his composing abilities are evident. There was a really large orchestra that was sometimes so loud that the singers struggled to sing over the orchestra. Strauss spins a lot of complex melodies, many key changes, and repeated lyrical themes. Especially fun was a deep, rumbling theme when a bear was mentioned and a soft, high, romantic theme every time roses came up in the plot.

Arabella, like many operas, is a story of love and confusion. Arabella wants to marry for love, but her parents need her to marry for money. She's been courted by several suitors she finds dull. Thankfully, she meets a man who is both rich and attractive to her. They fall in love immediately and decide to marry. As in every opera, there is then some confusion and conflict, including a mistaken identity plot with Arabella's younger sister (who has been forced to live as a boy due to the cost of having two young women come out in society) and an army officer who thinks he's in love with Arabella and her kind notes, which are written by the younger sister.

At some point, the conflict and confusion comes to a head, and Arabella's chosen suitor is accusing her of infidelity with the Army officer. The Army officer thinks he just slept with Arabella, but he really was with the younger sister in a dark room. A duel is proposed, and the sister comes out just in time to avert deadly consequences. Best part is that the dad, an inveterate gambler, had tried to mediate the conflict. As soon as the solution looked clear, the dad throws up his hands and says "well, time to go play cards again! Problem solved!"

Matt and I decided that the Italian version of this opera would be much different. The first opera we went to, a Puccini tale called Manon Lescaut, ended in a 40 minute death scene (the most boring part of that opera). Strauss was content to leave his couples happy and intact, but Puccini would have woven some deaths by duel, the truth coming out, and the rest of the principles killing themselves out of grief. Best yet, the dad could still have the same punchline of problem solved, playing cards.

Opera is definitely a different genre than I am usually used to, but it is great fun to go experience the show. Lyric translations (more or less) are posted above the stage on a screen, so you can follow the plotline. We also go to the before-show talks to get a sense of the music and what points to watch or listen to in the show. I definitely recommend trying out an opera if you ever get the chance. If nothing else, the costumes are usually great, and the bounty of drama can be quite enjoyable.

Punch Pizza

Yesterday, Matt and I went to the opera. We bought season tickets, and this was our second outing. More on this tomorrow. Today, I want to highlight the great place we went for dinner.

We are big fans of Grand Avenue in St. Paul. The street is home to some of our favorite restaurants (Brasa, most notably). Last night, though, we were in the mood for something new. There's plenty of places on Grand we haven't been yet. We decided on Punch Neapolitan Pizza.

At Punch, you order at the counter and then take a seat. They have a long table all down the center of the restaurant, so you could conceivably sit next to others. We ended up at a little table for two right next to another couple on a date night, which worked out fine for us. The restaurant is popular with little space, so tables are all quite close, but people were good about keeping their conversations private.

The pizza is all thin yet chewy crust, Italian-style. Punch is part of a group that seeks to preserve the Neapolitan style of making pizza in a rounded wood-fired oven. The results spoke for themselves; our pizza was absolutely delicious.

Matt and I shared a starter Caesar salad with foccacia and a small margharita pizza with green olives, garlic, and mushrooms. All was absolutely delicious. Matt was also delighted to have local beer on tap to try.

Since we were dressed up for the opera (Matt in a suit and me in a sweater dress), we were overdressed for the place, but no one batted an eye.

We did find out that Punch is a local chain, with restaurants around the Twin Cities area. More the better, I say. We'll definitely be headed back, and it's worth checking out for a casual but delicious date night.

Travels

We have finally hung up almost all our art. I have a few more pieces to frame, but we are almost there. It feels great to have walls painted and art hung.

In our one hallway, we have a little ode to one of my favorite states: Oregon. The large print is from Ecola State Park, near the iconic Cannon Beach. The large rock there is Haystack rock, which is Cannon Beach's main ocean attraction.

I went to Cannon Beach often during college to enjoy kite flying and walks on the beach. There are also many good hikes on the 45 minute drive from my college town to the coast.

The rest of the frames are various postcards. Most are Oregon sites, but one is from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Matt and I stayed there a few years ago and really loved the park.

I'll share more as we keep decorating. It has been fun settling into our new space. Hopefully, we will be organized enough for pictures soon.

JFK

Next week, the 22nd, is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Consequently, there's been a flurry of media events. At the moment, we're watching some sort of TV movie of the timeline. I've watched a number of documentaries, but I have never seen a movie.

It's actually refreshing to see everything without any sort of analysis. There is obviously some bias in interpretation, as we see in any sort of historical piece. Fascinating to me is that I have learned new information despite being interested in Lee Harvey Oswald for a long time.

Some bits I didn't know about the surrounding events:

1. The Kennedy family lost a child due to premature birth and respiratory distress syndrome. In the modern era of medicine, Patrick would have had a 95% chance of survival.
2. Oswald also shot a police officer as he fled from the law.
3. Oswald hid in a movie theater and was arrested there not for the assassination but for killing Tippit.
4. According to the documentary, Oswald and Kennedy were buried on the same day: November 25th, 1963.