daybook

february 8

outside my window...sunshine (cue..."Here comes the sun, here comes the sun and I say, it's alright"...)above freezing temperatures, snow almost completely melted. Yesterday I walked to the post office without a jacket on. I would love that it would be spring already, but I know this is merely a reprieve. But I welcome it all the same. Here in CZ there is a saying "Jedna vlaštovka jaro nedělá " which loosely translated means that seeing one sparrow doesn't mean spring is here. More winter is sure to come. We haven't seen the end of Jack Frost.

I'm listening to...heavily loaded logging trucks gallumping down the road through the forest by our house on their way to the wood yard across the bridge. They are loud and going much too fast for such grossly unmaneuverable vehicles.

   

I'm wearing...a pink chiffon ruffly tank, slim white trousers, a crop brown short-sleeved blazer and brown wooden-heeled pumps.

I'm pondering...  Out of that terrible travail of soul,he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,will make many "righteous ones,"
as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—
   the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,he took up the cause of all the black sheep. Isaiah 53:11-12

I am reading..."'Salems Lot" by Stephen King. He is one of my favourite authors and this book is fabulous. It is not very often that I eagerly race home to read a book. So far it is intriguing and well written. And long. I loooove a good book that is long, so I can savour it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Salem's_Lot

from the kitchen...chicken and broccoli stirfry with pasta and pea pods, cashews, sesame oil and soy sauce. Oh, and I made a ton of gingerbread men this weekend and yesterday went around after school like the gingerbread fairy distributing cookies to everyone I could find, thanking them for their hard work at the school. Sometimes people need to hear "Thanks" and get a cookie. (Most of the Gingies turned out perfectly soft amd spicy...one batch got left for too long in the oven and came out more like ginger snaps. Danny and Roxie prefer the snaps and Rebekah and I prefer the squishy cookies...post a comment and tell me what you prefer...snaps or squishy...)

 
I am creating...a post office in my classroom so the children can learn about writing and sending letters and how a post office works. (The post office is a big hit. My kids love making the cards, addressing them, stamping them and then donning Postman gear and sorting them into the mailboxes.)

towards rhythm and beauty...the girls and I just started a daily devotional book that will last the entire year. Each morning we meet around the table to pray and recite our memory verse and read from the book.

I am hoping...my cough goes away soon...
 

I am praying...for wisdom with my schedule. I feel stretched (this is a life long theme) and I feel like there is so much I want to do or have to do and I don't have time for it. I also have no idea how to say "no".

around the house...paper bits, markers and tape as Rebekah makes a personalized comic book fro a friend's birthday.

one of my favourite things...that Danny gets home from teaching in the evenings in time for us to have tea together and play a few minutes of Baldur's Gate on the XBOX before I go to bed.

a few plans for the rest of the week...dinner tonight at school, a party here with Dan's high school business students, make dentist appointment (c'mon Krista, stop being soooo lazy!), Winter Ball at Townshend International School (we are chaperones), sleeping in on the weekend, my friend, Anna, coming over on Sunday.

a picture thought... 

my sister Misha, and her bridesmaids, Erin, me and Gina...a long time ago, but I found this on her facebook account and it brought back good memories